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Taliban suicide bombers disguised as police attacked a government compound on Wednesday in southwestern Afghanistan in an assault...

Taliban squad kills 13 in Afghan govt compound

Kabul: Taliban suicide bombers disguised as police attacked a government compound on Wednesday in southwestern Afghanistan in an assault that left 13 people dead,including a provincial council member and all nine attackers,authorities said. Eight of the bombers blew themselves up and police shot the ninth,President Hamid Karzais office said. The Taliban claimed responsibility for the attack,which came as the provincial council was meeting in Zaranj,the capital of Nimroz province.

Volcanic ash snarls Irish,Scottish air services

Dublin: A new wave of dense volcanic ash from Iceland snarled air traffic on Saturday in Ireland and Scotland and threatened to spill into the air space of England. Irelands key hub,Dublin Airport,admitted defeat for the day and canceled all flights until midnight. More than a dozen other airports throughout the Republic of Ireland,Northern Ireland and Scotland announced shorter closure periods as unseasonal winds pushed the engine-wrecking ash southwest back toward the Atlantic.

Nepal PM meets Indian,US envoys

Kathmandu: As thousands of Maoists laid a siege to the countrys power centre Singhdurbar in a bid to force Madhav Kumar Nepal to quit,the embattled Prime Minister on Wednesday held talks with Indian Ambassador Rakesh Sood and US envoy Delisi Scott and told them that the Maoists wanted to use their combatants in cantonments as their political leverage. He said the drafting of the constitution under the threat of the armed Maoists combatants is unlikely to enjoy the peoples genuine trust and confidence.

Harvard gets its first Indian-origin Dean

Chicago: Nitin Nohria,an IIT alumnus,has been named as the 10th dean of Harvard Business School,the first time an Indian-origin person has been named to the post in the prestigious institutions 102-year old history. An IIT Mumbai alumnus,Nohria is the Richard P Chapman Professor of Business Administration at Harvard Business School HBS. He will take up his new role on July 1,President Drew Faust said on Wednesday.

Picasso work sells for record 106.5 million

New York: A 1932 Pablo Picasso oil painting of his blond mistress Marie-Therese Walter has fetched a world record price of 106.5 million at a Christies sale here. Nude,Green Leaves and Bust,signed and dated Picasso XXXII was from a property from the collection of Sidney F Brody. It had a pre-sale estimate of 70-90 million. The previous world record was Alberto Giacomettis sculpture Walking Man I,which fetched 104.3 million at Sothebys on February 3.