March 05 News International

Monday 05 March, 2012.

TOP STORY China hikes defence budget to USD 106.4 bn China announced it would hike its defence budget by 11.2 per cent to a whopping USD 106.4 billion, pushing its military spending for the first time to the triple digit, a move that may fuel concerns among neighbours and others about its growing might in Asia Pacific. HEADLINES Putin declares victory in Russian presidential elections  A teary-eyed Russian strongman Vladimir Putin on Monday claimed victory in the presidential election, storming into the Kremlin for a record third term amid opposition questioning the poll outcome which they said was rigged. Waheed adds more Gayoom loyalists to Maldivian cabinet  Maldivian President Mohamed Waheed on Monday picked up two more Gayoom-era officials to fill up the crucial cabinet berths of Foreign Affairs and Finance, even as the all-party talks to reconcile political differences and set out a future roadmap lay in shambles. 'Activities' at Iranian military site: Nuclear watchdog  The UN atomic agency chief said he had information of "activities" at Iran's Parchin military complex, which made a trip there by inspectors probing suspected weapons work all the more important. 'Qaeda fighters' kill 26 police in west Iraq  Suspected al-Qaeda gunmen, some wearing army uniforms, raged through a western Iraq city on Monday in a pre-dawn shooting spree that killed 26 policemen, including two officers shot execution-style. AFRICA & SOUTH AMERICA ASIA PACIFIC EUROPE NORTH AMERICA SOUTH ASIA WEST ASIA

OTHER TOP STORIES Khamenei allies trounce Ahmadinejad in Iran election Violent storms kill at least 37 in 4 US states  50 market goers killed, 27 injured in Guinea road accident