
New Delhi: Facing criticism over her foreign visits, President Pratibha Patil on Sunday said there has been a "misconception" and wanted people to ascertain the factual position. "Right now, there has been a misconception so far as the visits of the President are concerned...The President does not go at his/her own will. The Government gives a suggestion on the places the President should visit," Patil said in an interview to...

11:14 PM, May 06, 2012

United Nations: Highlighting the need for reform of the UN Security Council, India has said it is important that the top body concentrate its time and efforts in dealing with issues of global peace and security rather than encroach upon the mandate of the General Assembly. Participating in the 8th round of Inter-governmental Negotiations on UNSC reform, India's Permanent Representative to the UN Hardeep Singh Puri said the working methods...

04:24 PM, May 05, 2012

Beijing: North Korea has almost completed preparations for a third nuclear test, a senior source with close ties to Pyongyang and Beijing told Reuters, which will draw further international condemnation following a failed rocket launch if it goes ahead. The isolated and impoverished state sacrificed the chance of closer ties with the United States when it launched the long-range rocket on April 13 and was censured by the UN Security...

02:03 AM, Apr 25, 2012

United Nations: The UN Security Council is calling on all countries to improve measures to detect, deter and disrupt illicit trafficking in nuclear materials. A presidential statement approved by all 15 council nations and read at a formal meeting on Thursday also encouraged countries to strengthen export controls in order to prevent the transfer of information and technology that could be used for weapons of mass destruction or the missiles...

01:53 AM, Apr 20, 2012

United Nations: Strongly condemning the attempted rocket launch by North Korea, the UN Security Council on Monday took steps to tighten sanctions against the country, ordering new "entities and items" to be added to the sanctions list. In a Presidential Statement, the 15-nation UNSC said it "deplores that such a launch has caused grave security concerns in the region." US Ambassador to the UN Susan Rice, president of the UNSC...

01:01 AM, Apr 17, 2012

Seoul: North Korea fired two short-range missiles off its west coast on Thursday believed to be part of a test to upgrade capabilities, said news reports published on Friday, quoting South Korean military officials. North Korea has raised tensions in recent weeks by announcing it would launch a rocket to put a satellite into orbit, but regional powers are urging Pyongyang to drop the plan, saying it would violate UN...

09:27 AM, Mar 30, 2012

United Nations: India on Wednesday said Iran should fully cooperate with the International Atomic Energy Agency with a view to restoring confidence of the international community that its nuclear programme is peaceful in nature. India's Permanent Representative to the UN Ambassador Hardeep Singh Puri said India has "consistently supported" the right of all nations to peaceful uses of nuclear energy in accordance with relevant international treaties to which they are...

04:02 AM, Mar 22, 2012

Washington: Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said on Tuesday that Syrian President Bashar al-Assad fits the definition of a war criminal for the violence he has unleashed on his people. "I think that based on definitions of war criminal and crimes against humanity there would be an argument to be made that he would fit into that category," Hillary said. Testifying before two Senate committees, Hillary was pressed about the...

05:18 AM, Feb 29, 2012

Amman: Syrian forces have killed more than 7,500 civilians since a revolt against President Bashar al-Assad began, a UN official said on Tuesday, and Hillary Clinton, the top US diplomat, suggested the Syrian leader may be a war criminal. The military again bombarded opposition strongholds, killing at least 25 people, Syrian activists said, though a wounded British news photographer managed to escape from the besieged city of Homs. "There are...

02:32 AM, Feb 29, 2012

Amman: Western and Arab nations will demand that Syrian forces implement an immediate ceasefire to allow relief supplies to reach desperate civilians in cities such as Homs which has endured a 20-day bombardment when they meet in Tunis on Friday. Piling pressure on President Bashar al-Assad, UN investigators accused his security apparatus of crimes against humanity as world outrage mounted over violence that has cost thousands of lives during an...

04:23 AM, Feb 24, 2012

Cairo: Syrian forces resumed their bombardment of the city of Homs on Monday after Arab countries called for UN peacekeepers and pledged their firm support for the opposition battling President Bashar al-Assad. Opposition campaigners said tank fire was concentrated on two large Sunni Muslim neighbourhoods that have been at the forefront of opposition to Assad. They said 23 people were killed on Sunday after a lull in shelling the previous...

09:11 AM, Feb 13, 2012

Beirut: In a barrage of mortar shells, Syrian forces killed 200 people and wounded hundreds in Homs in an offensive that appears to be the bloodiest episode in the nearly 11-month-old uprising, activists said Saturday. The assault in Homs, which has been one of the main flashpoints of opposition during the uprising, comes as the UN Security Council prepares to vote on a draft resolution backing an Arab call for...

11:39 AM, Feb 04, 2012

Moscow: Russia said on Wednesday it would veto any UN resolution on Syria that it finds unacceptable, after demanding any measure rule out military intervention to halt the bloodshed touched off by protests against President Bashar al-Assad's rule. The political violence in Syria has killed at least 5,000 people in the past 10 months and activists say Assad's forces have stepped up operations this week on opposition strongholds, from Damascus...

04:01 AM, Feb 02, 2012

Beirut: Two days of bloody turmoil in Syria killed at least 74 people, including small children, as forces loyal to President Bashar al-Assad shelled residential buildings and fired on crowds in a dramatic escalation of violence, activists said on Friday. Video posted online showed the bodies of five small children, five women and a man, all bloodied and piled on beds in what appeared to be an apartment after a...

09:34 AM, Jan 28, 2012

Tehran: Iran is ready to revive talks with the US and other world powers, President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad said on Thursday, but suggested that Tehran's foes will have to make compromises to prevent negotiations from again collapsing in stalemate. Iran's insistence that it will never give up uranium enrichment - the process that makes material for reactors as well as weapons - scuttled negotiations a year ago and still looms as...

01:02 AM, Jan 27, 2012