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Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin has arrived in India for talks expected to focus on arms and energy contracts.

The two sides are due to sign two deals worth over $10bn in defence and civilian nuclear reactors and Russia will refit an aircraft carrier.

They will also try to boost bilateral trade, which is currently worth $8bn.

The two countries traditionally have had close links since Soviet times, with India remaining a top buyer of Russian weaponry.

However, the relationship faces new challenges, including competition from the West and the growing economic and military might of China.

Mr Putin’s foreign policy aide Yuri Ushakov has told reporters that Russia expects the "signing of 14-15 agreements after the talks and contracts worth over $10bn" during the prime minister’s two-day visit.

He said the two sides would hold talks on civilian nuclear energy, arms and production of telecom equipment.

The two sides also plan to sign agreements on retrofitting a Russian aircraft carrier, supply of additional 29 fighter aircraft and a deal to jointly develop transport aircraft.

Russia will build a number of nuclear reactors in energy-hungry India as well as increase atomic fuel exports to it.

Russia is among a number of countries seeking to expand their activities in India following its landmark nuclear deal with the US in 2005.

That accord ended India’s nuclear isolation after it tested an atom bomb in 1974. </p

This article is from the BBC News website. © British Broadcasting Corporation, The BBC is not responsible for the content of external internet sites.

<img src="http://www.world-biggest-news.com/wp-content/plugins/wp-o-matic/cache/d6816__47462075_sn310_zebra_hippo_teeth_2.jpg" align="left" width="466" height="260" alt="Zebra and hippo at Zurich Zoo – Image: Jill Sonsteby/Solent News ” border=”0″ vspace=”4″ hspace=”4″>

A zebra at Zurich Zoo appeared to be staring into the jaws of death when visitors saw it nose to nose with an open-mouthed hippopotamus.

But the hippo had no intention of having the zebra for lunch – it was having its teeth cleaned.

The extraordinary sight was captured by photographer Jill Sonsteby, from Jacksonville, Florida.

She said the teeth-cleaning session lasted 15 minutes and the zebra came to no harm.

"The zebra was in the same enclosure as the hippo and its baby," said Ms Sonsteby, 34.

"The hippo opened its mouth and let the zebra in there to clean.

"Everybody was snapping pictures. It was so great to be there at that moment."

Dangerous

The hippopotamus is regarded as one of the most aggressive creatures in the world and has a bite that can cut a small boat in half.

Hippos can weigh up to three tonnes and are the third largest land mammal in the world.

Although they rarely kill each other, hundreds of fatal attacks on people in Africa have been recorded.

Despite its bulky frame, the hippo can outrun a human on land over short distances.</p

This article is from the BBC News website. © British Broadcasting Corporation, The BBC is not responsible for the content of external internet sites.

A third explosion has rocked the eastern Pakistani city of Lahore, hours after suicide bombers killed at least 45 people and injured 100.

The earlier two attacks occurred within seconds of each other and targeted military vehicles as they passed through a crowded area.

At least nine soldiers were killed and some 100 people were wounded.

No immediate details were given of the third explosion but one report suggests it happened near a police station.

Emergency crews headed to the site amid fears of casualties.

The earlier explosions took place near the RA Bazaar, in a busy residential and shopping area where army and security agencies have facilities.

No group said it had carried out the bombings.

‘Smoke rising everywhere’

Officials said the earlier blasts had occurred within 15 to 20 seconds of each other.

ANALYSIS
By M Ilyas Khan, BBC News, Islamabad
These latest attacks are the first in this politically important city since December. It is the capital of Pakistan’s most populous province – a barometer of its stability.

One possible reason for this sudden escalation could be the recent death of Qari Zafar, a top leader of the so-called Punjabi Taliban, in a US drone strike in the north-west.

But it may also be simply a waxing and waning of pressure by the militants to wear down the government’s resolve.

Lahore is the only provincial capital which is still considered relatively safe. Other cities have borne the brunt of incessant militant attacks.

There are conflicting reports about whether the two bombers rode motorcycles or were on foot.

Police official Chaudhry Mohammad Shafiq said the severed heads of both attackers had been found. Suicide bombers often strap explosives to their bodies and are decapitated when they detonate.

An eyewitness, Mohammad Nadeem, said he had been praying in a mosque when he heard the first blast and rushed out only to hear a second.

"The second blast took place very near a military vehicle," Mr Nadeem, his clothes stained with blood, told AFP news agency.

"I sensed real danger and started running. There were scenes of destruction in nearby restaurants and shops.

"There were broken chairs and tables and other items lying everywhere on the ground."

Another eyewitness, Afzal Awan, said he had seen wounded people with limbs missing lying in pools of blood.

"I saw smoke rising everywhere," he told reporters. "A lot of people were crying."

Taliban threat

On Monday Taliban militants destroyed a building used by intelligence services in Lahore, killing 13 people.

ATTACKS ON LAHORE

• 12 March 2010: At least 45 die in three explosions
• 8 March 2010: 13 killed in attack on security agency building
• 7 December 2009: 48 killed in blast at a crowded market
• 15 October 2009: 40 die in assaults on security forces
• 27 May 2009: Car bomb attack on police buildings kills at least 23
• 30 March 2009: Gunmen attack a police academy, killing eight
• 3 March 2009: Six die in ambush on visiting Sri Lankan cricket team

In pictures: Lahore attacks

After that attack, the Pakistani Taliban promised to unleash up to 3,000 suicide bombers across the country unless Pakistan’s army stopped its operations against the militant group and US drone strikes ended.

Pakistan has been fighting insurgents in the volatile tribal areas bordering Afghanistan.

The military recently stepped up operations against the Taliban leadership, arresting the military commander of the Afghan Taliban, Mullah Abdul Ghani Baradar, who was hiding in the southern city of Karachi.

A number of other top figures in the Afghan Taliban are also reported to have been arrested across Pakistan over the last few weeks.

In the last six months, hundreds of civilians have been killed in militant attacks across the country. The BBC’s Aleem Maqbool in Islamabad says there are no signs the violence is coming to an end.

Last October simultaneous assaults on three security buildings across Lahore killed 38 people.

In December, two bomb blasts at a market in the city killed 48 and injured more than 100. </p

This article is from the BBC News website. © British Broadcasting Corporation, The BBC is not responsible for the content of external internet sites.

Five same-sex couples have tied the knot in Mexico City under Latin America’s first law that explicitly approves gay marriage.

Mayor Marcelo Ebrard was a guest of honour at the weddings, held in the colonial-era city hall and conducted by the head of the city’s civil registry.

The Catholic Church and conservative groups have opposed the move, which was backed by city legislators in December.

Certain parts of Latin America allow civil unions for same-sex couples.

Among the couples to marry were Judith Vazquez and her partner of more than six years Lol-kin Castaneda.

Raising her thumb, with which she had marked the official documents, Ms Vazquez said: "This is the mark of freedom."

‘Victory for all’

She said she and Ms Castaneda had previously considered themselves married, but still wanted official recognition.

"The difference today is that the state will recognise it," she said.

"This is a victory for all. For us this is a day of celebration."

Ms Castaneda added: "We are putting a face on a reality that has been denied, silenced and hidden."

Judge Hegel Cortes, who officiated at the weddings, said it was a "historic day" for Mexico City.

"With the signing of these marriage certificates, we leave behind the traditional idea of a family and we allow for two people, regardless of sexual orientation, to get married," he said.

The building’s courtyard was decorated with flowers, banners in the colours of the Mexican flag and a sign that read "Tolerance, Liberty, Equality, Solidarity".

The couples all handed in their papers to get married as soon as the law came into effect on 4 March.

Despite happy scenes inside the venue, about 20 protesters gathered outside holding banners denouncing gay marriage.

"This is not a good image for our children. A family is a man and a woman," said Terese Vasquez, 51.

Gay right activists have welcomed the new law in Mexico City but say homophobic attacks are still frequent across the country.

Harsh criticism of the move came from the Catholic Church, conservative groups and the centre-right government, which tried unsuccessfully to get the Supreme Court to block the law.

In Latin America, only Uruguay has legalised civil unions nationwide and allowed same-sex couples to adopt children.

A handful of cities – in Argentina, Ecuador and Colombia – allow gay unions.</p

This article is from the BBC News website. © British Broadcasting Corporation, The BBC is not responsible for the content of external internet sites.

Winnie Mandela, the former wife of ex-President Nelson Mandela, has denied giving an interview accusing him of letting down black South Africans.

Ms Madikizela-Mandela said the article, published in London’s Evening Standard newspaper this week, was a fabrication.

The article was written by Nadira Naipaul, the wife of Nobel prize-winning author VS Naipaul.

The Mandelas, who were both leaders in the struggle against South Africa’s minority white rule, divorced in 1996.

The article quoted Ms Madikizela-Mandela as saying her former husband had "agreed to a bad deal for the blacks".

She was also quoted as saying that the Mandela name was "an albatross around the necks of my family".

"Nadira Naipaul… visited Winnie Mandela at home and spoke to her at length about her experiences"

Evening Standard

She was said to have expressed disappointment that her former husband had lost some of his revolutionary spirit after 27 years in jail.

But in a statement released on Friday through the Nelson Mandela Foundation, Ms Madikizela-Mandela said the article had been based on a "fabricated interview".

She called it "an inexplicable attempt to undermine the unity of my family, the legacy of Nelson Mandela and the high regard with which the name Mandela is held here and across the globe".

The Evening Standard defended its article saying Nadira Naipaul had visited Madikizela-Mandela at her home in Soweto near Johannesburg and spoken to her "at length about her experiences".

The newspaper added: "We cannot understand Winnie Mandela’s denial of an event and conversation which clearly took place."

The BBC’s Jonah Fisher in Johannesburg says there are few taboos in South African politics, but criticising Nelson Mandela is one of them.

Mrs Madikizela-Mandela is a senior ANC member and sits on the party’s influential National Executive Committee (NEC).

Mr Mandela became South Africa’s first democratic president in 1994.</p

This article is from the BBC News website. © British Broadcasting Corporation, The BBC is not responsible for the content of external internet sites.