Sharif wants US to be a mediator
Pakistani Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif is once again expected to urge the United States to mediate in Indo-Pak talks and help solve the Kashmir issue in the course of his meeting with American President Bill Clinton in Washington on December 2.

Conservatives win elections to Iranian assembly
Iran's conservatives won a decisive victory on Sunday in elections for a clergy-based assembly that oversees the country's supreme leader. The hard-liners won at least 54 places on the 86-seat Assembly of Experts and the moderates only 13.

Jewish settlers in West Bank protest Wye River accord
Militant Jewish settlers on Sunday blocked several dozen crossroads in the West Bank to protest at the Wye River accords signed between Israel and the Palestinians. Earlier, on Saturday, United States President Bill Clinton appealed for Israelis to support Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and the Wye River memorandum he signed with Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat.

  Fundamentals of change
  NATO on crucial Belgrade mission
  Koreas narrow gap, move towards peace
  The judiciary now on trial
  West looks towards East for healing touch
  Arvinda bowled by a "model" googly; to tie the knot in Dec
  Ivory Coast to liberalise cocoa trade
  Base metals outlook appears bleak
  Australian wool exports all set to doom, warns Japanese trader
  Embattled Mahathir pins recovery hopes on budget
  Russian prime minister Primakov promises economic plan soon
  Nasa launches spacecraft that hints of "Star Trek"
  Singapore Airlines profits may be better, say analysts
  Shanghai concedes defeat on reviving export sector's show
  China not to open up its gold market
  Ancient ayurveda medicines set to storm the West
  Rains, storm may affect Mexican coffee