Bilaspur (Chhattisgarh),India :  BJP leader Narendra Modi Sunday accused the Congress of using secularism as a tool to divert attention from addressing the country's real problems.

"I talk about ending graft, benefitting the farmers, protecting our mothers and sisters, giving jobs to the youth but all they talk about is secularism... why are they not addressing the real problems of the country?" Modi asked at a public rally here.

"I am thinking of ways to solve these problems but the Congress is busy finding out a solution for Modi," he added.

Continuing his attack on Congress president Sonia Gandhi and her so

New Delhi,India : The BJP Sunday distanced itself from party leader Giriraj Singh's remark about sending those opposing Narendra Modi to Pakistan, as the comment drew flak from all sides, including the Congress.

Naming L.K. Advani, Sushma Swaraj and Murli Manohar Joshi, the Congress asked if the Bharatiya Janata Party leaders opposed to Modi will also be sent to Pakistan.

Sources in the BJP said Bihar unit leader Giriraj Singh was also pulled up by party president Rajnath Singh for his remarks.

Giriraj Singh, addressing a election rally in Deogarh in Jharkhand, said: "Those opposing Narendra Modi are looking at Pakistan, and such people w

Beijing, China's: Thirteen people were confirmed dead in a coal mine gas explosion in China's Yunnan province early Monday, authorities said.

A total of 56 people were working in the pit, of whom 42 escaped without injuries and 14 were trapped. As of 8 a.m., rescuers had retrieved 13 dead bodies and were searching all-out for the missing miner, Xinhua reported, citing a communique from the county government.

The accident occurred at around 12.30 a.m. in a pit of Hongtutian Coal Mine in Fuyuan County in Qujing city.

Hongtutian is a private mine and properly licensed for operation, authorities said.

Kiev, Ukraine:  Russia should be responsible for a fatal shootout between unidentified gunmen and pro-Moscow activists in the eastern Ukrainian town of Slavyansk, authorities said Sunday.

"Armed lawbreakers and saboteurs who are terrorising the local population around Slavyansk ... have turned to cynical provocation," Xinhua quoted the Ukrainian Security Service as saying in a statement.

Describing the incident as a "staged attack," the statement said no group was present "other than the saboteurs and crime figures, supported and armed by officers of Russia's GRU (military intelligence)".

Meanwhile, the Right

Jindo (South Korea): The toll in the South Korean ferry sinking reached 64 Monday in Jindo, as divers kept entering inside the hull of the submerged vessel while ships were scouring the waters, Xinhua reported.

So far, 64 people have been confirmed dead with 238 others still missing. The number of the rescued remained unchanged at 174.

The pan-government response centre will hold a regular press briefing at 10 a.m. local time to explain overnight rescue operations.

Unmanned submersibles called remotely-operated vehicle were sent to enter the hull on the bow side and search possible survivors.

Jigging fishing boats, which catch squid

Helsinki, Finland :  Eight people were killed in Finland's Satakunta region when a small plane carrying 10 skydivers crashed Sunday.

There were 11 people on board -- 10 passengers and a pilot -- when the accident happened around 3.30 p.m. (1230 GMT) near the Jamijarvi Airport, a popular gliding centre shared by parachuting clubs, Xinhua reported.

The pilot and two parachuters survived by ejecting from the aircraft before it crashed, and eight people were found dead around the wreckage.

Petri Kangas, chief inspector from the Finnish southwest police department said something went wrong with the plane and made it break apart three or four k

  Islamabad, April 21:  A two-week Pakistan-China joint military exercise started Sunday near the garrison city of Rawalpindi, the military said.

Flags of both countries were hoisted and national anthems played to mark the opening of the joint military exercise in a ceremony, Xinhua quoted Pakistani army's media wing as saying.

"The joint exercise is aimed at sharing mutual experience and information in medical field through a comprehensive training program in near real time environment," it said.

The exercise is particularly designed within the scope of disaster relief operations due to massive floods and terrorist attac

  Kabul, April 16 : Afghan security forces during operations against Taliban militants in the northern Badakhshan province killed a local commander and injured four others, Ahmad Naved Frotan, provincial government spokesman, said on Wednesday.

"Acting upon intelligence report, the security forces raided a Taliban hideout in Baharak district on late Tuesday night, killing a local Taliban commander named Qari Mahfuzullah and wounding four others," Frotan told Xinhua.

There were no casualties among the security personnel, he said. (IANS)

Riyadh, April 16 : The Saudi Arabian government has assured citizens that measures were in place to tackle the deadly Middle East Respiratory Syndrome (MERS) coronavirus that has so far claimed 69 lives in the country.

After a cabinet meeting on Monday, Culture and Information Minister Abdul Aziz Khoja said: "The Cabinet was reassured about the health situation in general and in Jeddah after the minister's (health minister) inspection of several public hospitals in the city."

Health Minister Abdullah Al-Rabeeah, after visiting several hospitals, assured the cabinet meeting that the situation was under control.

The statement comes in

Damascus, April 14 : A total of 189,000 children, aged below five, have been vaccinated against polio for the past week in the the central province of Homs, as part of a national government campaign in the war-torn country, state media reported.

The national vaccination campaign, the fifth one since last year, started on Sunday. It has provided children under the age of five with free vaccines in 50 towns of Homs and some of its hotspot suburbs, Xinhua quoted citing data from the health department of Homs.

The World Health Organisation (WHO) said recently that the recent polio outbreak in Syria is the first since 1999.

Preliminary evidence indicat

Mexico City, April 14 : At least 33 people were killed early on Sunday when a tour bus collided with a tractor-trailer and burst into flames on the Cosamalopan-Acayucan highway in the southern part of the Mexican Gulf state of Veracruz, officials said.

The accident occurred around 2:30 a.m. near the city of Isla when a bus heading from Villahermosa, the capital of Tabasco state, to Mexico City hit a truck that had stopped on the highway and did not have its hazard lights on.

Emergency services workers have recovered 33 charred bodies and identified four people injured in the crash.

The injured were transported to the Hospital Metropolitano in Acay

Vatican City, April 14 :  Pope Francis used his Palm Sunday Mass homily to call on Catholics to reflect, asking the faithful at the start of Holy Week if they were traitors like Judas or loved God like Joseph.

"Has my life fallen asleep?" the pope asked. "Am I like Pontius Pilate, who, when he sees the situation is difficult, washes my hands?"

The pope posed more questions for the crowd that gathered for Palm Sunday Mass, moving away from his prepared homily.

"Where is my heart?" Francis asked, adding that this was the "question which accompanies us" throughout Holy Week.

The pontiff remo

Moscow, April 14 : The situation in southeastern Ukraine is taking a dangerous turn, the Russian foreign ministry said Sunday.

A security officer and a pro-Russia activist were killed Sunday during a raid launched by Ukrainian special forces in a city, where pro-Russia gunmen seized buildings of police and security services a day earlier, Xinhua reported.

Russian foreign ministry also called it "outrageous" the Ukrainian acting President Alexandr Turchynov's order to use the armed forces for quelling protests.

"The Russian side is bringing up the crisis in southeastern Ukraine for urgent discussion at the UN Security Council and

Santiago, April 14 : At least 16 people have died in a huge fire that is still burning in the hillside neighbourhoods surrounding the Chilean capital in Valparaiso, the Carabineros militarised police force said Sunday.

Some 10,000 residents have been evacuated and more than 500 homes have been destroyed in the blaze, the largest in the history of this port city, where 250,000 people live and where Chile's parliament and navy are headquartered.

Some 20 aircraft, including helicopters and cistern planes, are being used to combat the fire's many active foci, while on the ground more than 3,500 men belonging to the forestry brigades, firefighters, police, ar

Jakarta, April 12 : As many as 22 people have been missing since Tuesday in Indonesia's Papua province as their boat sunk after getting hit by huge waves, local media reported Friday.

The wooden boat with 30 locals on board was hit by huge waves when sailing from Papua's Yapen island to Mamberamo Raya Regency in the Papua mainland, Xinhua quoted police officer Gatot Prasetyo as saying.

Eight people have been rescued and evacuated by a local search and rescue team, according to thejakartapost.com.(IANS)

Photo Credited- NewsNational Ramallah, April 12 : Palestinian Foreign Minister Riyad al-Malki Friday criticised Israel's decision to impose economic sanctions on the Palestinian National Authority (PNA) as peace talks falter between the two sides.

"We utterly condemn this move. Israel should stop violating the international law," Xinhua quoted Foreign Minister Riyad al-Malki as saying.

Israeli officials announced Thursday that tax revenues Israel collects from goods imports on behalf of the Palestinians, which exceeds $1 billion each year, would be frozen in response to the PNA's request to join 15 international UN conventions.

  (Photo: Kienthuc.net) Beijing, April 12: Wu Dawei, China's special representative for Korean Peninsula affairs, will hold talks with his South Korean counterpart Hwang Joon-kook during latter's China visit, the foreign ministry said Friday.

Hwang and Wu will exchange views on the current situation on the Korean Peninsula as well as on the resumption of the six-party talks, Xinhua quoted Hong Lei, foreign ministry's spokesperson, as saying at a regular press briefing.

According to Hong, Hwang was scheduled to meet with Chinese Vice Foreign Minister Liu Zhenmin and hold talks with Wu.

Hwang arrived in Beijing Friday, shortl

    Windhoek, April 12 : A military helicopter crashed Friday on the runway at an air base in central Namibia's Grootfontein, killing four people on board and injured others.

Namibian Defence Ministry confirmed the accident in a statement. It occcurred right after the helicopter had taken off. It then burst into flames on the runway, Xinhua reported.

The helicopter was on an official mission from Grootfontein to Windhoek. The injured passengers were evacuated to Windhoek for medical attention, according to the ministry.

The cause of the crash is yet to be investigated.(IANS)

  April 11, New Delhi: The BJP Friday warned the Congress against bringing the private matters of their leader's life in public, saying the Bharatiya Janata Party also knew about several "family issues" of the Gandhi family.

"There are several family issues of the Nehru-Gandhi family that we are aware of. Some of it is also recorded in documents..." BJP leader Ravi Shankar Prasad said Friday.

"But we will not discuss it in public because we have a standard," he said.

The comment came as Congress Vice-President Rahul Gandhi Friday taunted the BJP and said the party talks of women empowerment but refuses to t

  April 11, United Nations - General Ban Ki-moon, UN Secretary Thursday welcomed establishment of a UN peacekeeping operation in the war-torn Central African Republic (CAR) by the Security Council.

"The secretary-general welcomes the adoption today of Security Council Resolution 2149, establishing the United Nations Multidimensional Integrated Stabilisation Mission in the Central African Republic (MINUSCA)," reported Xinhua citing a statement issued by the UN chief's spokesperson.

"He trusts that this important decision of the international community will lead to the immediate, concrete and sustainable support that the Central African p