Alabama ship is in Mombasa; FBI sequesters crew, ship

WASHINGTON/NAIROBI - The hijacked and liberated US-flagged ship Alabama arrived late Saturday in Mombasa in Kenya, where it has been declared a crime scene by US investigators, a top official from the ship’s company said.

Congress, BJP spar over Manmohan, Advani

NEW DELHI - Five days ahead of the Lok Sabha elections, the main rivals, the Congress and the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), Saturday exchanged strong words over their respective prime ministerial candidates Manmohan Singh and L.K. Advani.

US crew retakes ship from Somali pirates: report

WASHINGTON - Crew members may have retaken control of a US-operated ship that was hijacked off the coast of Somalia, CNN reported citing an unnamed Pentagon official.

Timely treatment saves Ohio girl with Natasha Richardson-like injury

WASHINGTON - An Ohio girl with an injury similar to the one that claimed Natasha Richardson’s life has been saved, after her parents read about the actress’ medical drama and rushed their child to hospital for timely treatment.

A non-Congress, non-BJP government can come to power: Bardhan

NEW DELHI - Communist Party of India (CPI) general secretary A.B. Bardhan says a non-Congress, non-Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) government has a distinct possibility of coming to power in the coming election on the basis of existing realities.

I’ll gift Gandhi memorabilia to government: Vijay Mallya

NEW DELHI - Liquor baron Vijay Mallya, who acquired Mahatma Gandhi’s memorabilia at an auction in New York with a $1.8 million bid, Friday said he had not been contacted by Indian officials on this and would gift the items to the government.

US newspaper industry in a free fall in internet age

WASHINGTON - One more American newspaper has bitten the dust as the print media faces the woes of a bad economy and the relentless onslaught of the internet.

Yet another finance scandal: Stanford Bank took $8 bn

MEXICO CITY/NEW YORK - Latin American countries have moved to stem losses from another US finance scandal, this time centred on Texas billionaire Robert Allen Stanford and his Antigua-based bank. Stanford is best-known in India as the big cricket moghul of the West Indies.

Sri Lanka warns diplomats, media, NGOs to act ‘responsibly’

COLOMBO - Sri Lanka’s Defence Secretary Gotabhaya Rajapaksa warned ambassadors, news agencies and international non-governmental organisations (NGOs) to act ‘with responsibility’ as security forces were set to defeat the Tamil rebels.

Senator Kennedy released from hospital

WASHINGTON - Veteran US Senator Edward M. Kennedy, who suffered a seizure and collapsed during President Barack Obama’s inaugural lunch Tuesday, has been released from hospital after treatment.

India soaks in Obama moment with parties - and some poetry too

NEW DELHI - Obamamania swept India in its warm embrace Tuesday. Soulful ghazals, a black-tie inaugural ball, diplomats and officers toasting the moment and gala parties were just some of the ways Indians and expatriate Americans celebrated the epochal swearing-in of America’s first black president Barack Obama.

Citi and Morgan Stanley to merge brokerages

WASHINGTON - In the first step of an expected overhaul of Citigroup by its Indian American chief executive Vikram Pandit, the bruised bank has agreed to sell 51 percent of its brokerage division to Morgan Stanley.

Wall Street starts new year with a bang

WASHINGTON - After an abysmal 2008, Wall Street started the new year with a bang as stocks rallied and the Dow Jones closed above 9,000 for the first time since November.

Pakistan says Mumbai attackers could be Pakistanis

NEW DELHI - After weeks of denial, Pakistan Tuesday said for the first time that the perpetrators of the Mumbai mayhem could be Pakistani nationals.