Washington  - The US economy contracted by 0.3 per cent i

New Delhi - UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon arrived in India Thursday on his first official visit to the South Asian region that will also take him to Nepal and Bangladesh, officials said.

Ban flew to New Delhi from Manila for a two-day visit during which he is due to discuss regional and international matters with Indian leaders, including the global financial crisis.

Terrorism, the food crisis as well as efforts to push democracy in India's eastern neighbour, military-ruled Myanmar, will also figure in the discussions, UN officials said.

Nairobi, Kinshasa - Calm has returned to the east of the Democratic Republic of Congo, a spokesman for the United Nations peacekeeping mission said Thursday after four days of fighting that saw Tutsi rebels come close to taking the city of Goma.

General Laurent Nkunda, leader of the National Congress for the Defence of the People (CNDP), Wednesday evening announced a unilateral ceasefire to "prevent panic in Goma." The CNDP had been engaged in fighting with Congolese and UN troops.

Islamabad - Pakistan's president and prime mi

Jerusalem- Israel will hold e

Paris  - Roger Federer is keeping focus as he heads into the business end of the ATP season, with solid performances laying the groundwork for what he hopes in a return to world-class wins in 2009.

The Swiss claimed his home Swiss Indoors in Basle for the third time at the weekend before making a late confirmation of his entry into the Paris Masters.

He then leaves early next week for Shanghai to defend his title in the season-ending Masters Cup.