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NEW DELHI: Congress chief Sonia Gandhi Thursday strongly backed Prime Minister Manmohan Singh on the issue of the Indo-Pak joint statement and told partymen that there should be no confusion or misunderstanding on it among them.She also said that India's foreign policy vis-a-vis Pakistan has not changed."Till Pakistan shows concrete steps on anti-terror front there is no point of dialogue," she told a Congress Parliamentary Party meeting here, a day after the Prime Minister addressed Parliament on the issue of the joint statement with Pakistan in Egypt.Resumption of dialogue with Pakistan depends upon whether it fulfills its promises on taking action against perpetrators of Mumbai attacks and does not allow its soil to be used for terror activities against India, Congress spokesperson Manish Tewari quoted Gandhi as saying in the meeting.Dr. Singh told parliament on Wednesday that he would continue to try and improve ties with Pakistan. "I sincerely believe it is our...

Thursday, July 30, 2009 NEW DELHI: Indian External Affairs Minister S M Krishna told the Rajya Sabha (Upper House of Indian Parliament) on Thursday that there has been no positive response from the Pakistan Government to India's proposals to conclude an extradition treaty between the two countries. ''We have been impressing upon Pakistan that it is in the interest of both the countries that we enter into an extradition treaty. But till now, we have not succeeded,'' Krishna said during Question Hour.He, however, said the Government would continue to pursue efforts to sign an extradition treaty with Pakistan.Krishna also said that India has been asking Pakistan to hand over 42 fugitives including Dawood Ibrahim but Islamabad has refused to cooperate.Replying to questions, he said a list of 42 fugitives both Indian and Pakistani nationals, including ones involved in the 1993 Mumbai series bomb blasts and the 26/11 terror attacks in Mumbai, has been given to Islamabad.

Thursday, July 30, 2009,BERLIN: A German man set a new record for skating down a roller coaster at speeds up to 56 mph. Dirk Auer built his own custom skates with 16 wheels on each side and rode the entire Mammoth coaster at the Trip Drill theme park in Stuttgart, Germany. The stunt took two months to plan and 110 hours of work. Auer's record-setting ride included a 98-foot drop and speeds of 56 miles per hour. Auer also holds the world record for being dragged behind a Porsche GT2 at speeds of 190 mph.

Thursday, July 30, 2009 ALGIERS: At least 14 Algerian soldiers have been killed in an insurgent ambush, local newspapers reported late on Wednesday. A local newspaper, citing local sources, reported on its Internet site that 14 soldiers were killed when their convoy was attacked in the Tipaza province in the west of the country on Wednesday morning. Another newspaper cited unnamed sources assaying 20 soldiers were killed in the attack. There was no official confirmation of the reports.

A swimmer who had being playing with a dolphin got stranded after the creature decided it wanted to carry on playing - and would not let her swim to shore. Thursday, July 30, 2009 WELLINGTON: A New Zealand swimmer got into difficulty when a friendly dolphin stopped her returning to shore.The woman had been swimming with the dolphin, called Moko, at Mahia Beach on the North Island. But the playful dolphin did not want the fun to end. People at a nearby cafe eventually heard her cries for help, and rowed out to her rescue. She was found, exhausted and extremely cold, clinging to a buoy. She said the dolphin had meant no harm. The woman, who wanted to remain anonymous, was wearing a wetsuit. But even that eventually failed to protect her from the winter cold. She told the local newspaper: "I went out by myself quite late, which probably was not the wisest thing to do. "We were playing around for a while but then when I wanted to go back in, he just wanted to keep playing. I bec...

Thursday, July 30, 2009 ABUJA: At least 43 people have died in a gun battle in the northern Nigerian state of Yobe as security forces hunt down members of an Islamist sect.A police source said the killings happened in Hawan Malka, an area on the outskirts of Potiskum, Yobe's second largest city.The clash came as Nigerian soldiers patrolled the northern city of Maiduguri on Wednesday searching for the remaining members of Boko Haram.Nearly 300 people have been killed since Nigeria launched the crackdown, which included the shelling of a compound believed to be home to sect leader Mohammed Yusuf.The attack destroyed buildings including a small mosque, although the preacher's whereabouts remain unknown.Yusuf's supporters - armed with machetes, knives, home-made rifles and petrol bombs - have attacked churches, police stations, prisons and government buildings in parts of the mostly Muslim north.

Thursday, July 30, 2009 LONDON: Secretary of State Hillary Clinton has said the United States will restrict intelligence-sharing with the U.K. if a British court reveals secret details of a former Guantanamo Bay detainee's treatment, a British government lawyer said Wednesday.Karen Steyn, a lawyer acting on behalf of the British government, told Britain's High Court that Clinton had explained to her counterpart, Foreign Secretary David Miliband, that intelligence sharing between the two countries is at risk if a court makes public so far undisclosed sections of a 2008 ruling on the alleged torture of Binyam Mohamed.Mohamed, an Ethiopian who moved to Britain as a teenager, was arrested in 2002 in Pakistan. He alleges he was tortured there and in Morocco — where he says interrogators sliced his penis with a scalpel — before he was transferred to Afghanistan, and then to the U.S. prison at Guantanamo Bay in 2004.He was accused of plotting to explode a "dirty bomb" in th...

Thursday, July 30, 2009 LAHORE: The chairman national cricket selection committee Iqbal Qaism said Shaid Khan Afridi is the best option to captain national Twenty20 team following Younis Khan’s stepping down as T20 captain.Talking to media here at Gaddafi Stadium on Wednesday, he said Pakistan cricket team is rather experienced in one day cricket format as compared to Test cricket so Pakistan is expected to perform well against Sri Lanka in ODIs.He hoped to set future course of action to bring betterment in Pakistan cricket after Sri Lanka tour, which will surely help form a formidable squad for Champions Trophy.I am not agreed to Wasim Akram’s statement that Shoaib Akhter career has come to end as a fit Shoaib is still a great national asset, he concluded.

Wednesday, July 29, 2009 NEW DELHI: The matches of T20 Champions League scheduled in three major cities of India. The tournament will be held from October 8 to 23. Twelve clubs will take part in the league. Pakistan has not been invited for the championship. The matches will be played in Banglore, Hyderabad and Delhi. Three top teams of IPL, Banglore, Hyderabad, Delhi, two teams of South Africa, England and Australia whereas one team of West Indies, Sri Lanka and New Zealand will participate in the event.