Italian Prime Minister Berlusconi likely to resign today

Rome: Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi is supposed to resign on Saturday after the lower chamber of the parliament passed a set of reforms, paving way for an emergency government and ending the 17-year political era in the European country.Berlusconi agreed to step down once the bill was passed earlier this week when it became clear he could no longer garner support to keep his coalition government intact.In a statement issued after his final cabinet meeting, Berlusconi confirmed he would go to see President Giorgio Napolitano to hand in his resignation, bringing an end to one of the most scandal-plagued periods in recent Italian history.The definitive approval of the package by the lower house will mark the final act...

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UN says poverty in India higher than Pakistan

New Delhi: India has the world’s largest number of citizens living under the poverty line, with 612 million, according to a UN report.Despite of the impression that India economy is fastest growing in the world, it has been ranked as poorer than its neighboring Pakistan, Daily Telegraph said quoted report of United Nations on global poverty.The report also finds more ‘gender equality’ in conservative Pakistan than in ‘tolerant’ India.Its findings amount to a wake-up call for a nation which has taken great pride in its rapid economic growth and the increasing clout of its billionaire business leaders but has failed to share the spoils with its poor. Britain’s Department for International Development has pointed to this chequered...

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Indo-Pak Express-Aisam,Bopanna wins Paris Masters final

Paris: Pakistani tennis star Aisam-ul-Haq Qureshi and his Indian partner Rohan Bopann defeaed Julien Benneteau and  Nicolas Mahut to clinch the title of Paris Masters Tennis Tournament. Aisam and Bopanna defeated the French duo in straight sets with score 6-2,6-4.Earlier in semi-finals, the seventh-seeded Pak-Indo pair won straight sets 6-3, 7-6 (7)  over the third seeded Belarusian-Canadian combination after battle of one hour and 27 minutes.On Friday, they had shocked second seeds Michael Llodra and Nead Zimonjic 3-6, 6-4, 10-6 in the quarter-finals of the euro 2,750,000 even...

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Climate change to bring more floods: World Bank

  A girl reacts as she gets hit with a wave of flood water while walking with her family in Bangkok November 9, 2011. - Photo by Reuters HANOI: Climate change will bring more floods and extreme weather to Southeast Asia, a World Bank official said on Thursday on a visit to the region, where hundreds have died in severe inundation. “What we are seeing is there are more floods, more extreme weather events, higher temperature, more variable rainfalls and we believe that is caused by the climate change. And we should expect this to increase, sadly,” Andrew Steer, the World Bank’s special envoy for the climate change, told reporters in the Vietnamese capital Hanoi. Thailand’s worst floods in half a century have killed 533 people...

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Award shows and reunions- entertainment this week

A collection of images from concerts and award shows that took place this past week. -Photos by agencies The audience watch Reyli perform “Al fin Me Arme De Valor” at the 12th annual Latin Grammy Awards in Las Vegas, Nevada November 10, 20...

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Bopanna-Qureshi Reach First ATP World Tour Masters 1000 Final

Rohan Bopanna and Aisam-Ul-Haq Qureshi advanced to their first ATP World Tour Masters 1000 doubles final on Saturday at the BNP Paribas Masters. The seventh seeds defeated in-form third seeds Max Mirnyi and Daniel Nestor 6-3, 7-6(7) in 89 minutes. Bopanna and Qureshi, who form 'The Indo-Pak Express', took a 6-3, 3-1 lead before Mirnyi and Nestor won four straight games to lead 5-4 in the second set. Bopanna and Qureshi could not convert two match point opportunities at 6-4 in the tie-break and were forced to save one set point at 6-7, before making it third-time lucky at 8-7 to record their 37th match win of the season (37-23 record). The duo have lifted two ATP World Tour titles at the Gerry Weber Open in Halle (d. Haase-Raonic) and...

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