NEW YORK: Prime Minister Manmohan Singh has been honoured with the 2010 World Statesman Award by the Appeal of Conscience Foundation, an interfaith coalition which promotes mutual understanding, tolerance and peace.India's ambassador to the US, Meera Shankar, accepted the award on behalf of the prim

Things are on the up for US billionaires with more than half of them adding to their net worth in a year which once again saw Bill Gates as the richest of them all, Forbes magazine said on Wednesday.Gates, founder of Microsoft, was the richest person in the United States for the 17th year in a row w

Toronto - A top Canadian university will confer an honorary doctorate degree on former Indian president A.P.J. Abdul Kalam next week.The University of Waterloo, in the city of BlackBerry, will host the renowned space scientist and honour him with an honorary degree in the humanities. The world famou

WASHINGTON: India is listed as the third most powerful country in the world after the US and China and the fourth most powerful bloc after the US, China and the European Union in a new official US report.The new global power line-up for 2010 also predicted that New Delhi's clout in the world will fu

Islamabad - A powerful earthquake measuring 6.3 on Richter scale rocked many parts of Pakistan early on Friday, meteorological officials said.The tremor jolted Islamabad, central Punjab province, north-western Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa province, the tribal belt bordering Afghanistan, Pakistan-occupied Kash

GENEVA - The protective ozone layer in the earth's upper atmosphere has stopped thinning and should largely be restored by mid century thanks to a ban on harmful chemicals, UN scientists said on Thursday.The "Scientific Assessment of Ozone Depletion 2010" report said a 1987 treaty that phased out ch

Washington - US President Barack Obama has counselled American children to aim high as the country's success in the 21st century depends on them in the face of increasing competition from ''Bangalore, India'' and ''Beijing, China'' where students are ''working harder than ever''."You've got an oblig

BEIJING: Indian school students will soon begin learning Chinese in large numbers as it will soon be introduced in the CBSE curriculum, Human Resources Minister, Kapil Sibal said Wednesday after discussing with China's Education Minister Yuan Guiren the modalities of training Indian teachers for the

A ban will come into force early next year if latest law passed by French parliament is not overturned by senior judgesParis: The French parliament passed a law on Tuesday prohibiting wearing a full-face veil in public, meaning a ban will come into force early next year if it is not overturned by se

Abu Dhabi: The UAE has stopped issuing visas to Pakistanis holding handwritten passports, a senior official told Gulf News on Tuesday.The decision will affect Pakistanis who plan to travel to the UAE and Pakistani expatriates already in the country who plan to apply for a new visa after cancelling t

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WASHINGTON - Joining the widespread condemnation of Florida pastor Terry Jones, for his extreme views against Islam, President Barack Obama on Wednesday said that Mr. Jones' plans to attack the religion would be a "recruitment bonanza for al-Qaeda".In an interview with ABC News, Mr. Obama said, ther

KABUL - Afghan police went on alert on Wednesday to guard against demonstrations triggered by a US church's plan to burn a copy of the Holy Quran on the anniversary of the Sept. 11 attacks which has drawn global condemnation.Tension has risen with the approach of the ninth anniversary on Saturday of

LONDON: Christians in Europe must have more children or else the continent would become Islamised, said a Vatican official who predicted that Islam would "sooner rather than later conquer the majority in Europe".Italian Father Piero Gheddo said the poor birth rate among Europeans coupled with waves

WASHINGTON - US President Barack Obama will mark the ninth anniversary of the September 11 attacks at the Pentagon, and Vice President Joe Biden will be at the World Trade Center site in New York, the White House said Monday.Officials had previously announced that First Lady Michelle Obama and forme

NEW YORK - A Nepalese teenager set to be declared the planet's smallest person got the big star treatment Tuesday on a tour of New York.Crowds at Times Square jostled for a glimpse of Khagendra Thapa Magar who at 17 is the size of a baby and has stopped growing.The Nepalese teen was making his first

BAGHDAD - Hundreds of Iraqi artifacts looted from museums and archaeological sites across the country - including a 4,400-year-old statue of an ancient king stolen during the US-led invasion - have been returned to Iraq and were displayed Tuesday.Iraq is home to relics of the world's most ancient ur

Karachi: Pakistani authorities were Monday racing to protect two southern towns and their 360,000 residents from surging floods, as the nation struggles to cope with its worst natural disaster in living memory.A month-and-a-half after monsoons caused devastating floods throughout the country, submer