Prime Minister Manmohan Singh has congratulated Barack Obama on his election as the president of the United States and said his "journey to the White House" would inspire people around the world.

"Your extraordinary journey to the White House will inspire people not only in your country but also around the world," Manmohan Singh said in his congratulatory message.

Johannesburg - The last and the biggest of four exceptional auctions of ivory stockpiles got underway in South Africa Thursday, with Chinese and Japanese buyers vying to buy up 51 tonnes of the so- called "white gold."

The sale takes place nearly a decade after the last authorized sale of ivory in southern Africa in 1999.

The ivory trade has been banned since 1989 but the 171 members of the UN Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species (CITES) have given the go-ahead for four countries with thriving elephant populations to sell off ivory accumulated in their national parks.

Paris - French transport equipment manufacturer Alstom said Thursday it had registered record orders and a healthy profits rise in the first half of its current business year.

Vienna - OPEC said Thursday t

London, Nov 6: Muslim gangs inside Whitemoor Jail have created no-go areas for British jail officers and are policing the areas themselves.

The Daily Star quoted guards as claiming that the Islamic mobs are “a law unto themselves,” adding that the prison staff have passed a vote of no confidence in their governor.

MP Malcolm Moss, 65, said Whitemoor Prison, Cambridgeshire, was descending into turmoil. He added that staff blamed Governor Steve Rodford for pandering to political correctness and making the Muslims untouchable.

The Conservative MP warned that the unrest had created a “tense” atmosphere not seen since the 1990s when the IRA maintained an inner sanctum inside the maximum-security prison.

Los Angeles - Frenchman Tony Parker was unstoppable, and the San Antonio Spurs are no longer win-less.

Parker poured in a career-high 55 points, and the visiting Spurs outlasted the Minnesota Timberwolves 129-125 in double overtime on Wednesday night.

At 0-3, the four-time NBA Champion Spurs were off to their worst start since the 1973-74 campaign when they played in the old ABA. However, Parker put an end to that, hitting 22-of-36 field goals, mostly on a mixture of layups and soft jumpers.