Washington, Aug. 2 (bdnews24.com/Reuters) - The Bush administration said on Friday the U.N. nuclear watchdog's approval of an inspection plan for India's civilian atomic power plants would advance its efforts to have Congress consider a U.S.-India nuclear accord this year.

Panama City, USA, Aug 2 (bdnews24.com/Reuters) - Republican John McCain's presidential team mocked Democrat Barack Obama on Friday as an overconfident, Messiah-like candidate with a tendency toward exaggeration in a Web ad that closed out a week of attacks.

Hyderabad, India, Aug. 2 (bdnews24.com/Reuters) - At least 32 people died when a fire believed to have been sparked by a short-circuit spread through a train early on Friday while many passengers were asleep, the government and police said.

Tehran, Aug. 2 (bdnews24.com/Reuters) - Iran's president said on Friday the Islamic Republic would "stand against" its enemies with its "power", speaking just before a deadline set by Western officials in a dispute over Tehran's nuclear ambitions.

Tokyo, Aug. 2 (bdnews24.com/Reuters) - Japanese Prime Minister Yasuo Fukuda launched his new cabinet on Saturday after a reshuffle aimed at boosting his soggy ratings with voters, but domestic media said the unpopular leader was still at risk of losing his job.

Krittivas Mukherjee

COLOMBO, Aug 2 (bdnews24.com/Reuters) - A worsening of relations between nuclear-armed India and Pakistan hangs heavy over a summit of South Asian leaders beginning on Saturday, where discussions on terrorism will precede negotiations on trade and food security.

Matthew Bigg

ATLANTA, Aug 2 (bdnews24.com/Reuters) - A dispute over whether black U.S. presidential candidate Barack Obama has played the "race card" won't swing the election but could make it harder for voters to trust him, analysts said on Friday.

NAIROBI, Aug 02 (bdnews24.com/Reuters) - Livestock rustlers have killed at least 30 people in Kenya's remote Turkana region where clashes over scarce pasture and water resources often flare, a local leader said on Saturday.

COLOMBO, Aug 02 (bdnews24.com/Reuters) - Pakistan has offered to investigate last month's bomb attack on India's embassy in Kabul that killed two Indian diplomats among 58 people, India's top Foreign Ministry official said on Saturday.

REUTERS, NEW YORK: Negin Farsad, a filmmaker and comedian, recalled a time not long ago when European friends would visit New York just to see her, and not, she said, to use her apartment as a "temporary locker for their shopping bags."

Farsad, 32, recently escorted two friends from London on the inevitable Europeans-clean-out-the-Apple-store shopping excursion, where they purchased a top-of-the-line MacBook Pro for nearly $3,000, plus hundreds of dollars worth of extra memory (why not?), and continued on a spree that included East Village boutiques and Bloomingdale's downtown.

AFP, COLOMBO - The prime ministers of nuclear-armed India and Pakistan ended closed-door talks in Colombo on Saturday with an agreement to keep alive their peace process despite escalating tensions, diplomats said.

VIENNA Fri Aug 1,(bdnews24.com/Reuters) - UN nuclear watchdog chief Mohamed ElBaradei said on Friday a basic inspection plan for India met all safeguards standards and talks had begun on a system of extended checks.

ElBaradei spoke at the start of a meeting of the International Atomic Energy Agency's governing board that was widely expected to approve the plan on his recommendation.

BEIJING, Fri Aug 1,(bdnews24.com/Reuters) - Two aftershocks on Friday hit the southwestern Chinese province of Sichuan, the site of May's devastating earthquake, with the second felt strongly in the provincial capital Chengdu, Xinhua news agency said.

JERUSALEM, Fri Aug 1,(bdnews24.com/Reuters) - Israeli police questioned Prime Minister Ehud Olmert for a fourth time on Friday in their ongoing bribery and fraud investigation, two days after the Israeli leader said he would step down.

BRUSSELS, Fri Aug 1,(bdnews24.com/Reuters) - The clock is ticking for Iran to respond to an offer by major powers on its nuclear program, but European diplomats say they are ready to wait a few more days beyond Saturday's informal deadline for an answer.

TOKYO,Aug 01 (bdnews24.com/Reuters) - Hawkish former Japanese foreign minister Taro Aso returned to a top ruling party position in a reshuffle on Friday, an appointment that could help boost the government's popularity at home but may risk alienating Japan's Asian neighbours.

YANGON,Aug 01 (bdnews24.com/Reuters) - Myanmar's military junta has charged popular comedian and leading dissident Zarganar with public order offences, which could see him jailed for up to two years, a lawyer said on Friday.

WINNIPEG, Manitoba, Fri Aug 1, (bdnews24.com/Reuters) - A man sleeping on a Greyhound bus as it rolled across the Canadian Prairies was killed and decapitated by his seatmate as horrified passengers fled to safety in the night, witnesses and police said on Thursday.

RACINE, Wisconsin, August,1,(bdnews24.com/Reuters) - Republican White House hopeful John McCain accused Democrat Barack Obama on Thursday of playing racial politics in some of the most biting back-and-forth of the presidential campaign.

WASHINGTON, Fri Aug 1,(bdnews24.com/Reuters) - US federal agents have been given new powers to seize travelers' laptops and other electronic devices at the border and hold then for unspecified periods the Washington Post reported on Friday.