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ALTON BAY: Authorities are on the scene of a massive Easter fire that has damaged dozens of buildings on the grounds of a Christian center in New Hampshire.Firefighters tell a television station in Manchester that 52 buildings burned at the Alton Bay Christian Conference Center, 30 miles (48 kilometers) northeast of Concord. The buildings are cottage-type seasonal homes. There are no reports of civilian injuries. One firefighter has been hurt. The cause of the fire hasn't been determined. The center's Web site says its purpose is to change lives by “encouraging commitment to Jesus Christ and offering opportunities to mature in one's Christian life style.'' It says it tries to accomplish this through evangelism, encouragement of believers and equipping Christians to be effective leaders. The center was founded in 1863. It sits along New Hampshire's biggest lake.

CAIRO: With a deep baritone voice while reciting the Qur'an, Sheikh Adil Kalbani, the black imam of the Grand Mosque in Makkah, Islam's holiest shrine, gives an example of equality in the Islamic faith. "Any qualified individual, no matter what his color, no matter where from, will have a chance to be a leader, for his good and his country's good," Kalbani told US media on Saturday, April 11.Credited for his angelic recitation of the Noble Quran, Kalbani, 49, was chosen by Saudi King Abdullah bin Abdul-Aziz to lead millions of Muslim worshippers in the Grand Mosque."The king is trying to tell everybody that he wants to rule this land as one nation, with no racism and no segregation."Born in Riyadh in 1940, Kabani is the son of a poor immigrant from the United Arab Emirates.After finishing his high school, he took a job with Saudi Arabian Airlines while attending night classes at King Saud University on religion and memorization of the Qur'an.In 1984,...

BANGKOK: Thai troops launched a crackdown Monday to enforce a state of emergency in Bangkok, firing warning shots and tear gas as anti-government protesters hurled petrol bombs in clashes that left 70 injured.Columns of smoke rose over the capital Bangkok as hundreds of heavily-armed soldiers cleared a busy intersection blocked by demonstrators calling for Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva to quit after just four months in office.Abhisit issued an emergency decree in and around Bangkok on Sunday to curb mass protests against his government, a day after demonstrators forced the humiliating cancellation of a major Asian summit at the Pattaya beach resort.The government said soldiers had cleared the intersection and arrested several of the red-clad protesters, who are loyal to Thaksin Shinawatra, the fugitive former premier ousted in a 2006 military coup.

FLORIDA: Authorities say five people are dead and seven are seriously injured in a boating accident near St.Augustine, Florida.Investigators with the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission say at about 7 p.m. Sunday, a 22-foot (6.7-meter) Crownline boat rammed the rear of a 25-foot (7.6-meter) tugboat that was tied to a dock. The tug is registered to F&A Enterprises in St. Augustine, about 20 miles (32 kilometers) southeast of the accident site along Florida's east coast. Three of the injured were airlifted from the crash on the Intracoastal Waterway in St. Johns County near the Palm Valley Bridge.

NEW DELHI: Dozens of heavily armed Maoist rebels stormed a bauxite mine in eastern India and held roughly 100 mine employees hostage before police regained control of the mine early Monday morning, authorities said.At least eight police officers and four militants died in the nine-hour shootout in the Panchpatmali area of the state of Orissa, senior police official M.M. Praharaj told a news channel. Praharaj said the militants were hoping to steal large quantities of explosives used for mining, but they fled without them. C.R. Pradhan, director of the mine-company, National Aluminum Company Ltd., or NALCO, said the workers held inside the mine were not harmed. The rebels were likely trying to disrupt the upcoming national election, which begins Thursday, Praharaj said. ``We are trying our best to ensure that the polls are conducted peacefully,'' he said.

BANGKOK: Renewed gunfire erupted Monday at the scene of anti-government protests in Bangkok where dozens of people were wounded in earlier clashes with the army, foreign news agency reported. Gunshots have been heard in Thailand's capital and soldiers are firing water cannons at anti-government protesters as violence escalates in Bangkok. Red-shirted protesters have retreated slightly after soldiers moved in midday Monday to the area around Victory Monument, a major traffic circle in Bangkok.The clash comes after as soldiers tried to quell anti-government protests that have swelled, calling for the country's prime minister to resign. Earlier, in a different part of the city, soldiers sprayed automatic weapon fire into the air and threw tear gas to clear protesters blocking roads at a major intersection.

WARSAW: A blaze has gutted a hostel for the homeless in northwestern Poland and 18 people have died.Pawel Fratczak, a spokesman for Poland's national fire fighters says the fire broke out around 1 a.m. Monday in a hostel in the town of Kamien Pomorski. Fratczak says 20 people have been taken to the hospital with broken bones and other injuries after escaping the blaze in the three-story building. It was not immediately clear what caused the fire.

BEIRUT: Three Lebanese soldiers were killed in an attack on an army patrol in the east of the country on Monday, local television stations reported.

NEW DELHI: Indian Prime Minister, Manmohan Singh said Rahul Gandhi had all the qualities to become a good prime minister of the country, fuelling speculation that Gandhi, son of the former Prime Minister, Rajiv Gandhi, could take over from him at some stage and lead the country, if Congress formed the next government. Speaking at a media conference in the financial hub of Mumbai, Singh said power must pass to young people like Gandhi.

NEW DELHI: After taunting the Congress with his "budhiya" (aged woman) comments, Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader and Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi has termed the 125-year-old national party a "gudiya" (doll), eliciting sharp reaction from the opposite camp.Addressing a poll rally in Uttar Pradesh's Shrawasti district, Modi said: "Ab mein Congress ko budhiya nahin, gudiya kahoonga. Aisa karne se kya woh jawan ho jayegi (Now I will refer to the Congress not as an aged woman, but a doll. Will it make the party younger?)"Reacting to Modi's political barbs, Congress spokesperson Abhishek Manu Singhvi told media persons that Modi had "lost his balance" and was "causing humiliation to himself" every time he insulted the Congress.Referring to Modi's "budhiya" comment, Singhvi said that besides all the elderly people and women in the country, "he (Modi) should also apologise to L.K. Advani, who did not fall ...

KABUL: Afghan villagers told a public health official Monday that a NATO air strike killed six civilians in a mountainous region of eastern Afghanistan, but the military alliance said four to eight militants were killed. Thirty others died in a spate of violence around the country. Four people were wounded in the air strike, including one woman, and had been taken to a hospital in Asadabad, the capital of Kunarprovince, said Asadullah Fazli, Kunar's chief of public health. Fazli said that villagers from Wata Pur district told him that six civilians died during the air strike, and that three houses were destroyed. NATO's International Security Assistance Force said that ``four to eight'' enemy fighters were killed and that intelligence intercepts indicated ``the hostile intent of the enemy to attack ISAF posts.'' Still, a spokesman said it was possible civilians were wounded.

KABUL: Hizb-e-Islami Afghanistan claimed killing on Monday eight United States soldiers in Kunar province.According to Hizb-e-Islami spokesperson, a fierce clash took place between Hizb fighters and the US troops in Afghan Kunar province in which eight US soldiers were killed. The spokesperson said that two US tanks were also destroyed in the clash.