TOKYO: Suicides and depression cost the Japanese economy almost 32 billion dollars last year on top of their human toll, the government said Tuesday, the first time it released such an estimate.Welfare payments and medical costs for the depressed, the lost incomes of those in care and

KATHMANDU: Nepal`s parliament will Tuesday make its seventh attempt to elect a new prime minister and end a stalemate that has held up vital government spending and threatened the fragile peace process.The country has been without a government since June 30, when former prime minister

VIENNA: Iran is pushing ahead with its nuclear program in defiance of tougher sanctions and is hampering the U.N. atom watchdog`s work by barring some inspectors, the IAEA says in a new report.A confidential International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) report, obtained by Reuters on Monday,

America: President Barack Obama has called for a new comprehensive infrastructure plan as part of efforts to to jump-start the spluttering US economy.The plan will invest about $50bn (£32.5bn) in roads, railways and airports as well as high-speed rail and the creation of an

PARIS: The son of an Iranian woman sentenced to be stoned to death for adultery said Monday that he fears she will be executed shortly after this week`s end to the Muslim holy month of Ramadan. Sakineh Mohammadi Ashtiani`s 22-year-old son Sajjad Mohammadi Ashtiani was speaking by

Jerusalem: The current owner of Al Qaeda chief Osama bin Laden`s former house in Jerusalem has said he will consider selling it to him if he makes an offer, Xinhua reported Monday."This is a historic house, and to this day I have not talked about it with anybody," current owner Mu`in

Islamabad: In order to restore peace in the country, the Pakistan government should immediately hold a dialogue with the "Pakistan" Taliban on the pattern of the measures being taken by the Afghan government, an editorial in a Pakistani paper said Monday.However, in order to create a

MADRID: Spain`s government Monday rejected a ceasefire by Basque fighters ETA as totally inadequate and demanded it renounce guns and bombs forever in its battle for an independent homeland.The government, opposition, and media were united in their deep scepticism over Sunday`s video

BRUSSELS: The U.S. and NATO commander in Afghanistan has requested another 2,000 troops for the foreign force fighting the Taliban insurgency, despite waning support for the war in troop-contributing nations, NATO officials said.NATO officials said the request by General David Petraeus to

CANBERRA: Australia`s agonizing wait for a new government is expected to finally end on Tuesday, with independent lawmakers holding the balance of power in parliament due to decide their allegiances later in the day.Prime Minister Julia Gillard`s Labor Party is narrowly favored to win the

Sydney: Pieter Wessels, president of the Commonwealth Journalists Association (CJA) in Australia and a long-time member of the CJA international executive committee, is dead. He was 71, authorities said.Wessels died of bone cancer in a Sydney hospital, CJA headquarters in Toronto

KATHMANDU: Nepal`s Maoist party scrambled Monday to win fresh support for its bid to head the next government, a day ahead of a parliamentary vote on a new prime minister -- the seventh attempt to pick a leader.Six ballots in the 601-member parliament, the last on Sunday, have failed to

KATHMANDU: Nepal`s Maoist party scrambled Monday to win fresh support for its bid to head the next government, a day ahead of a parliamentary vote on a new prime minister -- the seventh attempt to pick a leader.Six ballots in the 601-member parliament, the last on Sunday, have failed to

Kinshasa: At least 200 people were feared dead after their boat caught fire and capsized on a river in the Congo, Xinhua reported.The boat overturned after its engine caught fire on the Kasai river in central Congo Saturday night, local media reports quoted a survivor as saying.BDST: 0954

Islamabad: At least 18 people, including nine school students, were killed and more than 40 injured Monday in yet another suicide attack in Pakistan, this time targeting a police station in Lakki Marwat, a town in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province. About 130 people have died in Pakistan in

Guatemala City: At least 42 people have died in mudslides that followed heavy rains in Guatemala, local media reported Sunday.Fifteen people were killed in one mudslide alone on the Pan-American Highway near Guatemala City. According to eyewitness reports Sunday, numerous other people had

CHRISTCHURCH: New Zealand extended a state of emergency in earthquake-hit Christchurch Monday as troops enforced a no-go zone amid reports of looting in the country`s second-biggest city.Authorities said strong aftershocks continued to rock Christchurch following the 7.0-magnitude quake

JERUSALEM: Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said on Sunday that creative thinking was needed to end the decades-old conflict with the Palestinians.Washington meanwhile announced that US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton would travel to the region later this month for the first

SEOUL: North Korea has finished preparing for a key meeting of its ruling communist party, a South Korean official said Monday, but there was still no indication when it would get under way.  The conference, the first of its type since 1966, is widely expected to confirm the youngest

TOKYO: More than six in ten Japanese want Prime Minister Naoto Kan to win his party leadership battle with powerbroker Ichiro Ozawa, polls showed Monday. In a survey conducted at the weekend by the Yomiuri Shimbun newspaper, 66 percent of voters said Kan would be a better choice than