NEW DELHI: Illegal but often tolerated, caning is rife in India`s school system, but the recent suicide of a 12-year-old pupil after a beating has brought the practice out of the shadows.Rouvanjit Rawla, a pupil at the prestigious La Martiniere for Boys school in the eastern city of

SYDNEY: New Australian leader Julia Gillard`s peace accord with the powerful mining sector overcomes a significant political hurdle and sends a critical message as she clears the decks for national elections.Gillard made a tax row with the deep-pocketed resources industry her priority

WASHINGTON: US President Barack Obama is risking a revolt within his own party as he presses ahead on a free trade agreement with South Korea, setting the stage for a showdown after November legislative elections.Organized labor, a critical support base for Obama`s Democratic Party, and

NEW ORLEANS: Cleanup work resumed in some areas of the Gulf of Mexico oil spill Saturday, but heavy swells kept many boats docked, halting efforts to fight the ecological disaster.A Taiwanese mega-skimmer dubbed the "A Whale" was in position near the site of the leak and set to undergo 48

KARACHI: Tanvir Ahmed was 11 years old when he ran away from home and got drawn into life as a sex worker on the streets of Karachi. Now he takes art lessons and dreams of a better future."The four years I spent here were the worst. It was abuse. I never knew what would happen," said

KRAKOW - The United States and Poland on Saturday signed a deal on a future US anti-missile shield in Europe which Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said would help ward off threats from Iran.The document amends an accord signed in Washington in August 2008 after the administration of

MUZAFFARABAD - At least 14 people were killed and four others were injured on Saturday when their minibus fell into a ravine in Pakistani-administered Kashmir, an official said.The accident took place in mountainous Neelum valley, some 25 kilometres (15 miles) north of Muzaffarabad, the

TULINE - Villagers disarmed a French patrol of UN peacekeepers Saturday and attacked them with sticks, rocks and eggs in south Lebanon, in the latest in a string of such incidents, the Lebanese army said."Residents of the village of Tuline as well as some villagers from nearby Kabrikha

KABUL - NATO forces accidentally killed two civilians, including a woman, and wounded another during an operation against Taliban militants in southern Afghanistan, the alliance said on Saturday.Afghan and international forces killed the civilians overnight as they searched compounds for

SEOUL - Twelve passengers were killed and eight others were seriously injured when their bus fell from a bridge near Seoul`s international airport on Saturday, police said.The death toll rose to 12 from five within a few hours after the accident, with some passengers succumbing to

LAHORE - Shops and offices were shut in the eastern Pakistani city of Lahore on Saturday in a protest strike over suicide attacks on an Islamic shrine which killed 43 people.Police said they have "apprehended" several people in their investigation into Thursday`s bombings, which left a

KINSHASA - At least 200 people died when a tanker truck filled with oil exploded and set fire to a village in the eastern Democratic Republic of Congo, the Red Cross said Saturday, doubling an earlier toll."A tanker truck coming from Tanzania overturned in the village of Sange. There was

TEHRAN - Iranian authorities have cut off the hand of a convicted thief after a court ruling in the western city of Malayer, the hardline Kayhan newspaper reported on Saturday."Following a court ruling, a thief`s hand was amputated in Malayer," the report said, referring to the city

SEOUL - A third man has been arrested over a plot to assassinate a top ranking defector from North Korea, a report said Saturday.The man, whose family name is Han, was a former North Korean agent who has been living in South Korea since the 1960s, Yonhap news agency said, quoting

KABUL - US General David Petraeus made his public debut Saturday as commander of the war in Afghanistan, attending the celebration of US independence Day at the heavily-guarded American embassy. Commander Petraeus have call for united effort in Afghanistan.The four-star general, who

BISHKEK - Career diplomat Roza Otunbayeva was sworn in as conflict-torn Kyrgyzstan`s president on Saturday, making her the first female leader in the history of ex-Soviet Central Asia.Standing before a crowd of more than 1,000 cheering onlookers at a packed soviet-era concert hall in the

NEW DELHI - India inaugurated a multi-billion-dollar airport terminal in New Delhi on Saturday -- a shiny glass and steel symbol of the country`s aspirations as an emerging global powerThe state-of-the-art hub, which cost nearly three billion dollars and can handle 34 million passengers a

HONG KONG - Thirteen people were plucked to safety after a private helicopter plunged into Hong Kong harbour on Saturday, police said.Two passengers were slightly injured in the crash, and all on board the helicopter were taken to hospital for observation, including two crew members, a

WASHINGTON: The United States is urging Beijing to be more transparent in its restive northwestern region of Xinjiang ahead of the tense anniversary of China`s worst ethnic bloodshed in decades.Urumqi, the capital of the vast, arid but resource-rich region, erupted in violence on July 5,

WASHINGTON: Defense Secretary Robert Gates has tightened rules on media relations for the US military, only days after the top general in Afghanistan was sacked over disparaging comments he and aides made in an interview.In a three-page memo sent Friday to senior military and civilian