COLOMBO: The Maldives was without an effective government Wednesday, after the cabinet resigned en masse amid a power struggle between President Mohamed Nasheed and the opposition-controlled parliament. The 13-member cabinet quit on Tuesday, saying the majlis, or parliament, was blocking

KABUL: Gunmen set off a car bomb and fired rocket propelled grenades at one of the biggest NATO bases in Afghanistan on Wednesday in an attack claimed by the hardline Islamist Taliban. Several of the attackers were killed in the strike on the Jalalabad base in eastern Afghanistan, but

SRINAGAR: Thousands of Indian troops enforced a strict curfew in parts of Kashmir on Wednesday, after three teenagers were shot dead by security forces, sparking arson and rioting. Six people have been killed in the last four days and 11 in less than three weeks during demonstrations

WELLINGTON: An earthquake with a magnitude of 6.3 struck south of Fiji Wednesday, the United States Geological Survey said, but no tsunami warning was issued. The quake was centred 360 kilometres (220 miles) southwest of Fiji`s southern island of Ndoi and 565 kilometres south of the

CARACAS: Venezuela`s legislature voted Tuesday to nationalize 11 oil rigs owned by the US firm Helmerich & Payne.The rigs, located in Monagas, Anzoategui and Zulia states, will be taken over by state oil giant Petroleos de Venezuela (PDVSA), the official news agency AVN said.PDVSA had

Undated: Veteran broadcaster Larry King has announced that he will be ending his famous show on CNN in the autumn.Over 25 years of the show, King, famous for wearing braces, has conducted more than 40,000 interviews.Larry King Live recently made it into in the Guinness Book of World

MANILA: Benigno Aquino was set to be sworn in as president of the Philippines amid festive celebrations on Wednesday after vowing a new era of clean government for the corruption-wracked nation. Thousands of people wearing the Aquino family`s signature yellow braved stormy weather as

MIAMI: Alex strengthened into the first hurricane of the 2010 Atlantic season Tuesday, US experts said, threatening coastlines in Mexico and the United States and disrupting oil cleanup efforts in the Gulf of Mexico. "Maximum sustained winds have increased to near 75 miles (120

PERPIGNAN: French prosecutors said Tuesday they would not press charges against anyone over a 2008 Air New Zealand crash after they received an investigators` report that blamed pilot error.The crew lost control of the Airbus A320 and crashed it -- killing all seven people on board -- as

WASHINGTON: A close aide to Thailand`s ousted former prime minister Thaksin Shinawatra is seeking US help to resolve the kingdom`s turmoil as he tries to soften the image of the "Red Shirt" protest movement.Noppadon Pattama, a former foreign minister, is on a mission to Washington that

WASHINGTON: General David Petraeus, named as the new commander in Afghanistan, tried to reassure an anxious US Congress Tuesday that NATO-led troops are making headway in the country, amid fraying public support for the war.Petraeus, the United States` most revered military officer, told

BEIJING: Google faced a nervous wait Wednesday to see if a last-ditch attempt to renew its Chinese business licence would pay off as the Internet giant vies to circumvent official censorship. The US search leader said Tuesday it would stop automatically redirecting Chinese users to an

CHRISTCHURCH: A state of emergency was lifted in Christchurch Thursday, almost two weeks after a 7.0-magnitude earthquak struck the New Zealand city, officials said."The state of emergency has been lifted as planned" a civil defence spokesman said. "This does not mean the end of welfare,

CANCUN: Tropical storm Karl soaked parts of Mexico`s Yucatan Peninsula Wednesday and headed toward Gulf oil installations, as a rare duo of powerful hurricanes roiled waters in the Atlantic.Karl, the 11th named storm of the season which forecasters have predicted could be one of the worst

WASHINGTON: Defense Secretary Robert Gates on Wednesday hosted his Russian counterpart Anatoly Serdyukov in a high-profile visit symbolizing a "reset" in US-Russia ties. Both men vowed to expand military cooperation as they marked the first visit to the Pentagon by a Russian defense

WASHINGTON: Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad told US television Wednesday that more sanctions will not hurt the Islamic republic, as Western nations urged tougher action over Tehran`s nuclear program. "Our nation does not need the United States whatsoever," Ahmadinejad told NBC news

BRUSSELS: All eyes are on President Nicolas Sarkozy Thursday as Europe kicks off an explosive summit overshadowed by a slanging match over France`s expulsion of Roma Gypsies.While leaders are also wrestling with troublesome cross-border sanctions for budget bingers, favours for

COPIAPO: Rescuers could reach 33 trapped miners by early November, well before the initially projected date of Christmas, the chief engineer said Wednesday as drills edged closer to the men`s dank shelter.The two drills currently digging rescue shafts both surpassed the 300-meter

MONTERREY: Eight suspected gang members died in a clash with soldiers near the US border Thursday, an official said, as Mexico began celebrating 200 years of the start of its independence from Spain.The clash took place on a road in a rural area of northern Nuevo Leon state, said an

TOKYO: Japanese Prime Minister Naoto Kan said Thursday that Japan would take decisive steps in currency markets "if it`s necessary in the future," a day after intervening to stem the strength of the yen."We are determined not to allow the drastic fluctuation of the yen," Kan told a