Between the Vermilion and Illinois rivers, 100 miles southwest of Chicago, is the glacier-born wilderness of caves, forests and canyons called Starved Rock State Park. There, according to Indian legend, a band of Illinois was besieged by an enemy tribe. Driven to the highest cliffs, they fought bravely until the last starved Illinois perished. There too, last week, along the snow-carpeted trails that weave into the panorama of canyons and frozen waterfalls, wandered three vacationing women. And there they died at the hands of a killer or killers ...

India and Pakistan blame each other's spies for just about everything that goes wrong. If there's an outbreak of plague or a riot, it's the work of the sinister "foreign hand." Indians are certain, for instance, that Pakistan's secret service, the Inter-Services Intelligence, or ISI, masterminded the December attack on the Indian Parliament in New Delhi. Do they have any concrete evidence? "Zilch," concedes an Indian official. "Quite honestly, we only know they are involved by implication." Equally, the Pakistanis ...

If there was any question of whether Sarah Palin's star-appeal translated overseas, the standing-room only crowd when she took the stage Saturday night in New Delhi provided an answer. Speaking at a two-day conference that boasted a lineup including a Nobel laureate and Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, the former Vice-Presidential candidate was clearly the main event. In her speech titled "My Vision of America," the former Governor of Alaska, who was on her first trip to India, ...

At least 17 police officers were killed in what Indian authorities say was a shootout with Maoists Thursday.

A suicide car bomb attack near the Indian Embassy in Kabul killed at least seven people and wounded 60 others on Thursday, officials said, adding that their offices were targeted. A similar attack last year killed at least 58 people. The bomb went off at about 8:30 a.m. (0400 GMT), just as offices and shops were opening for the day, and damaged a security checkpoint outside the embassy, said staffer J.P. Singh. "But there were no casualties on the Indian ...

A blanket of water hides the devastation underneath it. Miles and miles of villages, small cities, and farmland are spoiled by standing flood water. First the waters raged for days, then they seemed to pull back almost as fast as they came but the damage had been done with such fury that more than 1.5 million were left homeless. "Everything was drowned," flood victim Mohammed Farooq Basha said. "The water came to the second floor we called for help. No ...

As the only U.S. car manufacturer that didn't need a government bailout, Ford Motor was in better financial shape than its peers to ride out the recession. The question now is whether Ford is well positioned to prosper as the global economy begins to recover. The answer from Ford management appears to be: we're not quite where we want to be. Ford's problem is its low profile in what will likely be the key markets for auto sales growth ...

An Indian army officer, a naval commando and two top militant commanders were among eight people killed in two extended gunfights in Indian-administered Kashmir, a senior police officer said Wednesday. "Our nation is prepared to warmly shake all those hands which are honestly extended to us," he told the United Nations General Assembly. "We welcome real and human exchanges and stand ready to actively engage in fundamental global reforms." He called for a "return to monotheism and ...

"Where do you live?" Seems like a simple question, doesn't it But the answer is not clear-cut for everyone. Take people who live in Srinagar, the capital of Kashmir, which is wedged between India, Pakistan and China. India and Pakistan have gone to war repeatedly over the disputed territory. Technically, it's "Indian-administered." But on Facebook, it's simply in India. Shujaat Bukhari, a journalist in Srinagar, was slightly uncomfortable about the classification. "As far as the traditions of the ...

Indian tourism authorities will be holding English classes for auto-rickshaw drivers in New Delhi as the city prepares to host the Commonwealth Games in 2010. More than 40,000 natural gas-fueled auto-rickshaws, or motorized three-wheeled taxis, run on the Indian capital's dilapidated roads, according to the city government statistics. The city is expected to host around 100,000 tourists during the Commonwealth Games scheduled from October 3-14 in 2010. About 9,000 athletes and officials of 52 Commonwealth countries are likely to participate. ...