Washington: The H-1B visa, the most sought after by Indian IT professionals opens to a lackluster response, with less than 6,000 applications received after it opened on April 1.
Islamabad: An anti-terrorism court adjourns the trial of LeT's Zakiur Rehman Lakhvi and six other suspects charged with involvement in the Mumbai attacks till April 16 after hearing arguments on an application filed by defence lawyers to expedite the proceedings.
Colombo: Sri Lanka says a humanitarian gesture in view of its ties with India has been inappropriately dubbed by a section of media here as a willful violation of immigration rules.
Beijing: China asks the "preacher" US to stop interfering in its internal affairs "under the pretext" of raising human rights issues, close on the heels of an annual State Department report slamming it for trying to limit freedom of speech and "arbitrarily" detaining activists.
Tripoli: Libya's opposition Transitional National Council rejects a peace plan proposed by the African Union mediators, saying longtime ruler Muammar Gaddafi must accept their demand to relinquish power before any talks.
Tokyo/Fukushima: Japan expands the evacuation zone around the wrecked Fukushima nuclear plant due to radiation concerns as a powerful magnitude-7.1 temblor in northeast killed one person while the country marked a month since the devastating earthquake and tsunami claimed thousands of lives.
On Board PM's Aircraft: In a first-of-its-kind step, Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa (BRICS) will be signing an agreement under which they would be able to give credit and grants to each other in their own currency instead of dollars.
Washington: Pakistan demands a drastic cut in number of CIA agents and special forces personnel operating on its soil and a halt to drone strikes in the country's restive northwest, in signs of near collapse of intelligence cooperation between the two nations.
Sanya (China): After a considerable pause, India is set to restore full defence cooperation with China, with a high-level Indian military delegation expected to visit this country in June.
Washington: The US reminds Pakistan of its "special" responsibility to bring perpetrators of 26/11 Mumbai terror attacks to justice and asks it to do so "urgently".
Sanya (China): In a significant step towards enhanced economic cooperation, India, China, Russia, Brazil and South Africa sign an agreement that will enable them to provide credit to each other in local currencies and collaborate in capital markets and other financial services.
Chicago: Two days after reports of Tahawwur Rana admitting to providing support to 26/11 terrorists at the behest of Pakistani government and ISI, his attorneys deny any "knowing involvement" of the Pakistani-Canadian in the attacks.
Beirut: Security forces fire tear gas and beat protesters with batons as tens of thousands of people march toward the Syrian capital demanding far greater reforms than the limited concessions offered by President Bashar Assad over the past four weeks.
Astana (Kazakhstan): Ahead of his talks with President Nursultan Nazarbaev, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh says India is keen to cooperate with hydrocarbon-rich Kazakhstan in upstream and downstream projects, like construction of oil refineries, and increase bilateral trade which was "regrettably" much below the potential.
