WASHINGTON - The embattled Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak's "shocking" refusal to resign as widely anticipated has set off another round of speculation: Was it a major intelligence failure or a deal gone awry?

JAMMU - Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister Omar Abdullah has said that separate election and finance commissions would be set up for panchayats before the upcoming polls in conformity with the 73rd amendment of the Indian constitution.

CAIRO/WASHINGTON - Spurred on by President Hosni Mubarak declaring he was not quitting office, tens of thousands of Egyptians Friday vowed to hold a massive pro-democracy demonstration as US President Barack Obama also mounted more pressure on the embattled regime.

KOCHI - The Prime Minister, Dr. Manmohan Singh, will on Friday inaugurate India's first International Container Trans-shipment Terminal (ICTT) in the Special Economic Zone at nearby Vallarpadam Island.

Cairo, Feb 11 (IANS/AKI) The US' space agency NASA has okayed the naming of one of its spaceships after a young Egyptian woman killed in late January during an anti-government protest, according to Egyptian daily Al-Masry-al-Youm.