South Asia

Rajapaksa vows to fight external forces for peace (05:46)
Colombo, May 19 (IANS) Sri Lankan President Mahinda Rajapaksa Saturday renewed his pledge to fight all "external elements" seeking to "disrupt" the country's peace.

Chinese Premier Li arrives Sunday; to discuss border and more (13:36)
New Delhi, May 18 (IANS) All issues would be on the table, including the India-China boundary question, when Chinese Premier Li Keqiang meets Prime Minister Manmohan Singh here Sunday evening.

Russia counting on UN for post-ISAF Afghanistan plans (07:30)
Moscow, May 18 (IANS/RIA Novosti) Moscow is counting on the UN to develop proposals regarding the international presence in Afghanistan after 2014, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said Friday.

Nine killed, 55 injured in Afghan attacks (01:04)
Kabul, May 18 (IANS) At least nine people were killed and over 55 injured Friday evening when two blasts rocked Afghanistan's Kandahar city, a government official said.

Twin blasts kill 15, injure 25 in Pakistan (Lead) (00:22)
Islamabad, May 18 (IANS) At least 15 people were killed and 25 injured when twin blasts hit two mosques in Pakistan's Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province ahead of the Friday prayers, Geo News reported.

Mukherjee, Karzai to attend varsity convocation in Jalandhar (23:06)
Jalandhar, May 17 (IANS) President Pranab Mukherjee will confer the first honoris causa degree of the Lovely Professional University (LPU) to Afghanistan President Hamid Karzai at the varsity's convocation to be held in this Punjab city Monday (May 20), a varsity official said.

12 killed, 25 injured as in twin mosque blasts in Pakistan (20:26)
Islamabad, May 17 (IANS) At least 12 people were killed and 25 others injured when twin blasts hit two mosques in Malakand town in Pakistan's Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province Friday afternoon, reported Xinhua citing local media.

Don't dilute autonomy, India tells Sri Lanka (19:17)
New Delhi, May 17 (IANS) India has told Sri Lanka not to dilute the autonomous powers granted to its Tamil-majority northern province ahead of provincial elections, official sources said Friday.

Rewind to 1999 bus journey that never happened (Comment) (15:50)
By Saeed Naqvi
She walked into my study with a sort of aggressive authority that has become the hallmark of younger TV interviewers, custom made for shrill current affairs chat shows.

Pakistan to free 51 Indian fishermen (14:55)
Islamabad, May 17 (IANS) Pakistan caretaker Prime Minister Mir Hazar Khan Khoso has decided to release 51 Indian fishermen on humanitarian grounds as a goodwill gesture, the prime minister's office said Friday.

Understanding Pakistani politics, the chicken way (10:52)
Islamabad, May 17 (IANS) High chicken prices in the run-up to Pakistan's May 11 elections are proof of the resourcefulness of contestants keen to feed their supporters and people are happy that some stability has been restored to chicken rates, a newspaper said in a tongue-in-cheek editorial Friday.

Karzai to visit India (17:48)
New Delhi, May 16 (IANS) Afghan President Hamid Karzai will pay a three-day official visit to India from May 20 to hold wide-ranging discussions with Indian leaders, the Afghan ambassador said Thursday.

India-Bangladesh meet on border 'haats' put off (16:31)
Agartala, May 16 (IANS) A high-level India-Bangladesh meeting on setting up of 'Border Haats' (border markets) along the frontier in Tripura has been postponed due to cyclonic storm 'Mahasen', a state minister said here Thursday.

Pakistan interim PM vows on-time transition to new government (13:58)
Islamabad, May 16 (IANS) Pakistan's interim Prime Minister Mir Hazar Khan Khoso Thursday promised to transfer power to the incoming government on time.

India-Pakistan peace process not easy: CPI-M (13:24)
New Delhi, May 16 (IANS) India and Pakistan have a long way to go before they can establish better relations, the CPI-M said Thursday.

India urged to protect Bangladesh war crimes witness (11:48)
New York, May 16, (IANS) Authorities in India and Bangladesh should take all necessary steps to protect Shukhoranjan Bali, a long-missing witness in the International Crimes Tribunal (ICT) in Bangladesh, Human Rights Watch said Thursday.

21 injured in Nepal plane crash (11:44)
Kathmandu, May 16 (IANS) Twentyone people were injured when an aircraft skidded off Nepal's Jomsom airport and fell into a river Thursday, police said.

Obama to host Myanmar president at White House (08:18)
Washington, May 16 (IANS) US President Barack Obama will meet his Myanmarese counterpart Thein Sein here May 20 and discuss democracy building in the Southeast Asian nation, the White House said.

Cyclone Mahasen: Thousands evacuated in Bangladesh (00:14)
Dhaka, May 16 (IANS) Around 200 cyclone centres have been set up across Bangladesh and thousands of residents in coastal areas evacuated following forecast of cyclone Mahasen hitting the country Thursday at 4 p.m.

India finishes phase I of Sri Lanka railway project (21:36)
New Delhi, May 15 (IANS) The Indian Railways have completed phase I of a 43-km rail link from Medawachchiya to Madhu Road in Sri Lanka at a cost of $81 million, an official statement said Wednesday.

Bangladesh evacuates one million ahead of storm (20:04)
Dhaka, May 15 (IANS) Bangladesh Wednesday ordered the evacuation of about one million people from its coastline as the cyclonic storm "Mahasen" in the Bay of Bengal was poised to cross the country's southern coast early Thursday.

Norway welcomes India in Arctic Council (19:42)
Oslo, May 15 (IANS) Norway welcomed India and five other countries after they secured permanent observer status in the inter-governmental forum Arctic Council Wednesday.

Sri Lankan Tamils protest land acquisition (19:34)
Colombo, May 15 (IANS) Over 1,000 land owners in Sri Lanka' s northern Jaffna town Wednesday filed cases against the government taking over their land to build military offices, a Tamil political party said.

35 militants killed in Afghanistan (18:08)
Kabul, May 15 (IANS) A total of 35 Taliban militants have been killed and 30 wounded during security operations launched across Afghanistan since Tuesday, the Afghan interior ministry said Wednesday.

Cyclone kills seven in Sri Lanka (17:14)
Colombo, May 15 (IANS) At least seven people have been killed by stormy weather that has affected over 7,000 people in Sri Lanka, authorities said Wednesday.