World

Washington, October 17: A decidedly more aggressive President Barack Obama went on the offensive right from the word go as he clashed with Republican challenger Mitt Romney over their conflicting visions in their second encounter. Romney, who by all accounts bested the president in their first encounter two weeks ago to put his campaign on an upswing, in turn used Tuesday night's pivotal second

Johannesburg, October 15: A white South African music teacher is facing racism charges after allegedly taunting a young Hindu boy for the past three years over a red string worn by the student for religious reasons. Sybil Jordaan, the teacher, is facing racism charges from the education authorities and the South African Human Rights Commission. She will have to answer to claims that she made

Washington, October 12: Without directly naming Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi, a senior State Department official has said that US will evaluate any visa application based on merits and according to US laws. "As you probably know, we don't get into questions of visa matters on any particular individual. That said, we of course will evaluate any visa application based on its merits and in

Islamabad, October 11: A 14-year-old Pakistani schoolgirl campaigner shot by the Taliban had defied threats for years, believing the good work she was doing for her community was her best protection, her father said on Wednesday. Malala Yousufzai was shot and seriously wounded on Tuesday as she was leaving her school in her hometown in the Swat valley, northwest of the capital, Islamabad. The

Rome, October 10: One out of every eight people in the world is chronically undernourished, the United Nations' food agencies said yesterday, and aid groups warned that rising food prices could reverse gains in the fight against hunger. In a report on food insecurity, the UN agencies said 868 million people were hungry in 2010-2012, or about 12.5 percent of the world's population, down more

Islamabad, October 9: A 14-year-old Pakistani girl, who emerged as an unlikely champion of peace in the former Taliban stronghold of Swat, was seriously injured when a suspected militant attacked her car in the country's restive northwest today. Malala Yousufzai, the first recipient of Pakistan's National Peace Award for Youth, was hit by at least two bullets when the gunman fired at her car in

October 7: A Pakistani parliamentary panel on Friday criticised the Interior Ministry for the delay in implementing a new visa agreement with India, with its members passing a resolution that called on the cabinet to ratify the pact at the earliest. Foreign Secretary Jalil Abbas Jillani informed the Foreign Affairs committee of the Senate or upper house of the parliament that the ratification of

Washington, October 6: The US unemployment rate dropped to a near four-year low of 7.8 percent in September, a potential boost to President Barack Obama's re-election bid. The Labor Department said on Friday the unemployment rate, a key focus in the race for the White House, dropped by 0.3 percentage point to its lowest point since January 2009 as employers added 114,000 workers to their payrolls

London, October 5: With an IQ of 162, a 12-year-old schoolgirl in UK has been rated brainier than even Albert Einstein and Stephen Hawking. Olivia Manning, from Liverpool, has been accepted into Mensa, the largest and oldest high IQ society in the world after she got a score of 162 in an Intelligence test. Her score is not only two points better than German genius Einstein and physicist Hawking

Paris, October 3: Amid a nationwide debate in France surrounding attitudes towards the Islamic veil, or hijab, a French rapper has surprised fans by announcing her conversion to Islam and choosing to wear a headscarf. Mélanie Georgiades, known as Diam's, has gone through what onlookers have described as a “complete transformation” from an image she had prior to 2009. Since 2009, Diam's had been