Gulf Air plane crashes into sea; 143 feared dead
A Gulf Air airliner crashed into the sea near the Bahrain capital of Manama today, witnesses said. First reports said 150 persons were on board the Airbus A-320 which was on a scheduled flight to Manama from the Egyptian capital of Cairo.

Kumaramangalam passes away
The Union Power Minister, Mr. P.R. Kumaramangalam, who was battling for life in the All-India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS) here for the past one week, died early this morning following a massive heart attack.

Vajpayee bids Ranga an affectionate farewell
The President, Mr. K.R. Narayanan, led the nation in mourning the death of the Power Minister, Mr. P.R. Kumarmangalam. ``Concerned as I was to hear of his illness, I remained hopeful of his recovery.

'Ceasefire only if India relents'
The Hizb-ul-Mujahideen chief, Mr. Syed Salahuddin, has stuck to his stand that his group is prepared to declare a new ceasefire only if India is willing to hold tripartite talks involving Pakistan to resolve the Kashmir problem.

'Veerappan's response holds the key'
The State Government, expecting a positive word from the emissary- journalist, Mr. R. R. Gopal, who is negotiating the release of the Kannada actor, Mr. Rajkumar and three others with the forest brigand Veerappan, has taken steps to withdraw all the cases against the five Tamil ultras.

Sailors' kin grill Putin
Angry relatives of the crew of the Russian nuclear submarine Kursk which sank in the Barents Sea rebelled against the Kremlin's decision to hold a day of mourning on Wednesday for the 118 sailors declared dead and demanded that the rescue operation be resumed.

Car blast case: 6 held
In a major breakthrough, police have arrested six militants, including a Pakistani national and a member of the Lashkar-e-Taiba, in connection with the August 10 car bomb explosion in Srinagar that left 15 people dead, including a photo-journalist of a Delhi-based national English daily, police official said today.

Kursk fallout: Defence Minister, Navy Chief quit
Russia's Defence Minister, Mr. Igor Sergeyev, the Navy chief, Admiral Vladimir Kuroyedov, and the Commander of the Northern Fleet, Admiral V. Popov, have submitted their resignations over the Kursk submarine tragedy that killed 118 sailors, the President, Mr. Vladimir Putin, told the RTR state television in an interview today.