Colombo Suicide Blast Kills Nine, 95 Wounded
by P. Karunakharan
Seven police personnel and two civilians were killed and some 95 wounded when a suspected Tamil Tiger suicide bomber rammed his motorcycle into a police bus in the heart of the busy Sri Lankan capital at midday Friday. Read On

• Now PPP & PML-N Spat over Punjab Governor

Bush Stirs Hornet's Nest in US Presidential Race
by Arun Kumar
President George Bush has stirred a hornet's nest in the US presidential race with his perceived criticism of Barack Obama's foreign policy stance, sending Democratic leaders to rally round the party frontrunner. At issue are Bush's remarks, deliberate or not, that it is a "foolish delusion" to think that negotiations with terrorists and radicals would yield results and likening it to what he called the "false comfort of appeasement" of the Nazis and Hitler. Read On

• US House of Representatives Passes
  Troop Withdrawal Bill 
• Strikes Disrupt Transport and Government Services
  in Greece

US with Israel Against Iran's Nuclear Ambitions: Bush
Visiting US President George W. Bush expressed unequivocal support for Israel Thursday, saying it had a right to defend itself against attacks by extremists and had American backing in opposing Iran's nuclear ambitions. Read On

McCain too Blames India, China
for Global Warming by Arun Kumar 
Like President George Bush, the presumptive Republican Presidential candidate John McCain too has said a new global pact on climate change must include India and China, the "greatest contributors" to global warming. Read On

• China says Quake Toll Likely to Cross 50,000
• Britain Gets a First Indian Woman Lord Mayor

India Privy to No Pact to Save Nepal King: Envoy
by Sudeshna Sarkar
India's newly appointed envoy to Nepal, Rakesh Sood, categorically denied reports of a secret pact forged two years ago between his government, the major political parties and embattled King Gyanendra, and said India respected the Nepali people's verdict for a republic and was ready to work with whichever government that came to power with the people's mandate. Read On

Dalai Lama Begins Germany Tour
with Calls for Tibet's Autonomy
The Dalai Lama, the Tibetan spiritual leader who arrived here Thursday on a five-day tour of Germany, called for "genuine autonomy" in his native Tibet but stressed that he did not want the territory's complete independence from China. Read On

Reporting in 'Spy State' Myanmar
is a Daunting Task by Johanna Marten
They can allegedly be recognized by their sophisticated cell phones. Myanmar, a country ruled by the military for the past 46 years, is a spy state. Government agents lurk in every corner, and also in the hotels of the country's largest city and main port, Yangon, formerly known as Rangoon, where now many foreign journalists have gathered in the aftermath of Cyclone Nargis. Read On

• India Ready to Strengthen Democracy in Bhutan: PM
• Indian Equities Bounce Back to End on Upswing
• BSF Admits to Infiltration Along Kashmir Border

Investigators Flounder as Terrorists Strike at Will
by Murali Krishnan
Nearly 500 people have been killed in nine well-coordinated terrorist attacks across India since the Diwali-eve bombings here in 2005, but no case has been resolved and not one terrorist arrested. Read On

• Jaipur Blast Suspects Spoke Bengali,
  Bought Cycles without Bargaining 
• PM Arrives in Bhutan

World Bank Provides $600 Million
for India's Elementary Education Plan
The World Bank has approved a $600 million credit to support to India's Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan (SSA), a nationwide centrally sponsored programme designed to provide education to all children aged 6 to 14. Read On

Voting Begins in 66 Constituencies in Karnataka
Voting began Friday morning in 66 constituencies in 10 districts of central, coastal and parts of north Karnataka in the second phase of elections for the 224-member state assembly. Read On

• Mishra's Hat-trick Puts Back Daredevils in Race 

Put ISI on International Watch List: BJP
India's main opposition Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) Thursday demanded that Pakistan's Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) be put on the watch list of the international community "for fomenting divisive activities in this country". Read On

'We are in the Middle of War,' says a Shaken Raje
by Anil Sharma
"This is not a crime, we are in the middle of a war," Rajasthan Chief Minister Vasundhara Raje said Thursday as her government scaled down the number of dead in the horrific terrorist attack here to 61. Addressing her second press conference in as many days, Raje also sought a comprehensive anti-terrorist mechanism and a policy to deal with terror. Read On
► Cyber Café Owner Quizzed Over Jaipur Blast Email

Indian Equities on a Big Upswing 
Indian equities markets, which opened in the green Thursday, performed very well throughout the day and a key index climbed over 375 points, mirroring cues from other Asian markets. Read On

Don't Worry and Take Care,
Sonia Tells Jaipur Blast Survivors
By Kavita Bajeli-Datt
"Kahan lagi hai? Kuch dekha tha kya," (Where does it hurt? Did you see anything?) Congress president Sonia Gandhi asked a badly hurt 50-year-old Roshan Lal Sharma, one of the survivors of the terror bomb blasts that killed 61 people and injured 216. Read On

Nothing More to Say, We Don't Want N-deal: Karat
With the clock ticking away for the UPA-Left meeting May 28, CPI-M general secretary Prakash Karat has said that his party has "nothing new to say" and doesn't want the government to go ahead with the India-US civil nuclear deal. Read On