India's Consul General in Haiti Marie Andrine is safe following the devastating earthquake there, but there is no information yet on the 60-100 Indian civilians living in the country.

A major quake of 7.3-magnitude rocked the Caribbean nation of Haiti and damaged the presidential palace besides other government buildings in the country's capital Port-au-Prince, an incident termed as 'catastrophe of major proportions'. The devastating quake struck at about 15 km south-west of the capital at 4.53 pm local time and was followed by three aftershocks. Several buildings, including the presidential palace and a hospital, have reportedly collapsed.

As US President Barack Obama conceded of systemic intelligence failure, media reports said the Central Intelligence Agency knew about the Nigerian terror suspect involved in a thwarted Christmas Day plane attack.

US President Barack Obama said on Wednesday that a "systemic failure" occurred in the intelligence network ahead of the thwarted attack on a US-bound flight from Amsterdam on Christmas Day.

US President Barack Obama has vowed to defeat the Al Qaeda terrorist network and hit them anywhere in the world from where they are plotting attack against the US.

The prototype of an aircraft, to be propelled entirely by solar power even at night, has already been successfully tested for a 'flea hop' or a short flight at Dubendorf air base in Switzerland.

The Northwest Airlines flight, targeted by a terror suspect on Christmas, came under scanner once again as the crew asked for emergency assistance for a disruptive passenger who was arrested after the plane landed in Detroit, but the FBI termed it as a "non-serious incident".

A man ignited a small explosive device on board an international flight headed to the United States on Friday, in a suspected terrorist attack, informed the White House.A fellow passenger, traveling on the flight from Amsterdam to Detroit, spotted the man and alerted the cabin crew. He put out the explosive with a blanket and isolated the terror suspect with the help of the cabin crew.The man carrying the explosive was identified as Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab, 23.

The US favours a significant role for India in ensuring peace in Afghanistan but said it has to decide whether it wants a military presence in the war-ravaged country, a top American military commander said on Friday.

Aviation pioneer's biopic is Indian-origin director's first big Hollywood film.

The good news that Tholen came up with is that the estimated probability of asteroid Apophis colliding with Earth in 2036 has been reduced from 1 chance in about 45,000 to 1 chance in about 250,000.

'Delayed gratification' is a fancy psychological phrase for an old lesson to forego immediate pleasures for later benefits. 'No gain without pain.' We have been brought up by our grandmothers believing in this. 'Don't waste all your time on the movie/television/cricket. Work now and if you do well, rewards will come later.'

Maria Francisca Perello, girlfriend of Spanish tennis star Rafael Nadal, is seen at US Open VIP gallery in New York.

Singer Shreya Ghosal is excited about her big win.

A landslide in Mumbai killed 12 and injured about 10 people, after heavy rains sent rocks \nand mud from a hill crashing into a slum late on Thursday.

In 1929, Rabindranath Tagore was so troubled when he applied for an American visa that he cancelled his lecture tour and returned to India, the historian Ronald Takaki often said.

No human is thought to have ever been there but it is expected to yield images of the heavens three times sharper than any ever taken from the ground.

Tamil actor Arjun Sarja's nephew Chiranjeevi speaks about his debut Kannada movie.

Italian Giancarlo Fisichella handed his Force India Formula One team an astonishing first pole position at the Belgian Grand Prix on Saturday. The 36-year-old took his first pole since Malaysia 2006, when he was at then-frontrunners Renault, to put a team that has yet to score a point in 29 races at the front of the starting grid.

Yudh Abhyas 2009 will impart a different trajectory to the military-to-military relationship. This is no longer about raids on insurgent hideouts or terrorist camps; strike corps training is for fighting a full-scale war together. This year, American and Indian mechanised forces will synchronise operations, planning, manoeuvring and firing together to capture a simulated objective.

Shazhan Padamsee talks about her film debut, Rocket Singh: Salesman Of The Year.

The actress lists how her ideal man should be.

Reader Aslam Khan sent us this photograph from Barbados.

Check out these beauties.

As you look forward to the once-in-a-lifetime total solar eclipse on July 22, 2009, keep these pointers in mind.

In an impressive ceremony at the White House, commemorating the 40 years of the Moon mission, Obama honoured Apollo 11 Mission Commander Neil Armstrong, Command Module Pilot Michael Collins and Lunar Module Pilot Edwin 'Buzz' Aldrin and hailed them as 'three iconic figures'.

GlaxoSmithKline Consumer Healthcare is leveraging on Horlicks' brand equity to get into new categories. Will the move pay off?

Sport's most enduring sibling rivalry will be played out on US. Independence Day after Venus Williams exacted brutal revenge and Serena Williams displayed raw desire to inflict a double defeat on Russia at Wimbledon.

Brazil's "Beautiful Game" came alive in the second half with three comeback goals in a 3-2 win over the United States in the Confederations Cup final.

Nagarjuna's nephew is ready with his second Telugu film Current.

Not a Starbucks in sight! Forbes Traveler takes the high road to the coffee-growing climes from Jamaica to Sumatra.

The counties and metro areas with the nation's poorest air quality.

Patna witnesses the real battle of the stars this election as the BJP's Shatrughan Sinha takes on the Congress's Shekhar Suman.

As the IPL second season reaches its half-way mark, it's time to take our own strategic break and identify every team's best and worst performers so far.

It is spring in Bengal, yet the scorching afternoon sun unleashed its unbearable heat as rediff.com decided to walk around Barrackpore, a sub-division under North 24 Parganas in West Bengal.

Citigroup chief Vikram Pandit will try to convince investors that the financial services major is on a recovery path, following fresh concerns about his future in the company, a media report said.

Entrepreneurs and venture capitalists are looking for the next 'small hit' in Internet search.

The unstoppable Sanjaya Malakar is back -- with a book.

To me, he cuts a symbolic figure as our first cosmopolitan president. He is, that is, a citizen of the world. I project cosmopolitanism onto Obama because of his background: The Kansan mother and Kenyan father, the upbringing in Hawaii and Indonesia. His political birth took place in Chicago. But to me Obama is a global citizen in the most reassuring way.

The store has also lowered its forecast for the fourth quarter and full year due to heavy markdowns, a report in the Chicago Sun Times said on Friday. Shutters would be brought down on stores in 9 locations, including Los Angeles, Colorado, Hawaii, Indianapolis, St Louis, among others. The company said the closures would cost about $65 million.