WELLINGTON: A 7.2 magnitude earthquake rocked New Zealand's second largest city Christchurch early today, causing widespread damage including the collapse of some buildings and power outages, witnesses and the US geological survey said.

The quake struck at a depth of 16.1 kilometres (10.0 miles)

Vancouver: M.S. Swaminathan, one of the pioneers of the Green Revolution in India, will receive an honorary doctorate from Canada's University of Alberta for his contribution to food security in the world.

The Edmonton-based university, which has forged strong relationship with India thanks to i

MANILA: Gunmen wearing police uniforms stopped a passenger bus in the southern Philippines early on Thursday and fatally shot four people, including two police marshals, officials said.

The attack came just three days after a disgruntled ex- policeman took hostage a busload of Hong Kong tourists

WASHINGTON: The White House today insisted that President Barack Obama is a Christian and his faith is not a topic of conversation, a day after a poll showed that nearly 18 per cent of Americans think he is a Muslim.

White House Deputy Press Secretary Bill Burton said most Americans care more abo

ISLAMABAD: A plane carrying 152 people on board today crashed into the Margalla Hills overlooking the Pakistani capital apparently due to bad weather, police said.

The aircraft of the private airline Air Blue, flying from Karachi to Islamabad, hit the Margalla Hills near the Daman-e-Koh viewpoint

London: Acute poverty prevails in eight Indian states, including Bihar, Uttar Pradesh and West Bengal, together accounting
for more poor people than in the 26 poorest African nations combined, a new 'multidimensional' measure of global poverty has said.The new measure, called the Multidimensional