Palestinian and Israeli leaders met in Washington under the United States-brokered direct peace talks after 20 months hiatus, with Secretary of State Hillary Clinton pressing them to forget the long history of failed parleys and overcome "suspicion and skepticism".

Defense Secretary Robert M. Gates arrived on an unannounced visit for meetings with American military commanders and President Hamid Karzai of Afghanistan.

Among the four suspended wrestlers, three men and one woman, is Arjuna awardee Rajiv Tomar.

Maoists have killed Abhay Kumar Yadav, one of the four kidnapped Bihar policemen, following a decision taken by the 'people's court' after the deadline given by the Left-wing extremists to the state government expired.Avinash, a self-proclaimed Maoist spokesman, has confirmed that Maoists killed Yadav, a sub-inspector in the state police. "We killed him and warned the state government to release our comrades till 10 am on Friday morning," he said.

Pakistan's tainted trio of Salman Butt, Mohammad Asif and Mohammad Aamir were dropped from the Twenty20 and ODI series against England following their alleged involvement in the spot-fixing scandal.

Street markets remained closed early on Thursday and police mounted patrols after a suicide attack claimed 31 lives among a procession of Shiite Muslim worshippers.

A sporting equipment manufacturer has also said it will review its two-year deal with the team.

Pakistan cricketer Mohammad Asif's ex-girlfriend, actress-model Veena Malik, has handed over "proof" of his alleged links with Indian bookies to an official of the ICC's Anti-Corruption Unit.

Maoists have threatened to decide the fate of the four kidnapped policemen at a kangaroo court after the deadline given the by outlawed rebels to the Bihar government expired.

Chinese strategic planners will need to pay increasing attention to China's Indian Ocean flank, says an expert.

Did the attack hit a team of election campaign workers, including a parliamentary candidate, or a group connected with an Uzbek terrorist network?

India on Thursday asked Sri Lanka to move beyond the resettlement of people displaced due to the civil war in the country's north and find a political solution to the long-pending Tamil question.

Pakistan's envoy to England Wajid Hasan said Pakistan could take legal action to defend players.

The team manager said they had not been suspended but would not play in the remainder of the series.

The Pakistani media has blamed Indian Research and Analysis Wing (RAW) for the match fixing scandal and says that India wants to oust Pakistan from international cricket.

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Majeed had boasted he invested vast sums of money from the racket in Croydon Athletic Football Club.

Thousands of people, led by Congress leader Jaganmohan Reddy, paid tribute to his father and late Andhra Pradesh chief minister Dr Y S Rajashekhar Reddy on his death anniversary on Thursday.

If the Direct Taxes Code Bill does not undergo further changes, employees in the lower tax bracket will get more retirement benefits, provided they opt for a higher basic salary.

The corruption scandal that exploded this week is the latest damaging blow to Pakistan cricket and former players fear it could be the one that finally crushes the credibility of the sport in the South Asian nation.