Havana: Cuban leader Fidel Castro will deliver Friday his first public speech since 2006, during a meeting with students of the Havana University. The speech would focus on "another war in the Middle East with unforeseeable consequences for the world", Cuba`s Granma newspaper said. It

HANOI: Military searchers have recovered the remains of around 74 communist troops who died in the Vietnam War`s Tet Offensive in January 1968, an official said Friday. "We also found watches, buttons from military uniforms and hammocks. This evidence confirmed they were Vietnamese

Gaza: Over a dozen Palestinian militant groups Thursday pledged to step up joint and separate attacks on Israeli targets to foil Israeli-Palestinian peace negotiations in Washington. "The factions agreed that all means are open to the Palestinian resistance to deal with Israel in the

Jakarta: An Indonesian volcano spewed another column of hot ash Friday, a vulcanologist said. Mount Sinabung in North Sumatra province erupted for the first time in about 400 years Sunday and Monday, forcing 30,000 people to flee their homes to temporary shelters. About 10,000 people

MEXICO CITY: At least 25 suspected drug gang members were killed in an army raid in rural northeastern Mexico on Thursday, the army said in a press release. Soldiers were sent to the location after an airborne patrol sighted armed men outside a building. Fighting began when the men

LONDON: Labour leadership candidate David Miliband told party members Thursday that he was "ready to lead" and would "change the way we do politics," before claiming that former leaders Gordon Brown and Tony Blair`s "time has passed".Voting began Wednesday to elect a new leader of the

TALOOQAN: An apparent air strike by foreign forces killed 10 election campaign workers in Afghanistan`s north on Thursday, a government spokesman said, and NATO-led forces said they were investigating the incident.Civilian casualties caused by foreign forces while hunting militants have

New Delhi: The process of re-election of Sonia Gandhi as Congress president was set in motion today with Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and Rahul Gandhi besides several prominent party leaders proposing her name for the top post.The leaders who proposed her name included party chief

London: British physicist Stephen Hawking has said the creation of the universe was a result of the inevitable laws of physics and it did not need God`s help.In his latest book titled "The Grand Design", Hawking writes: "Because there is a law such as gravity, the universe can and will

Washington: An armed man shot and killed by police after a tense four-hour standoff at the Discovery Channel`s headquarters told a TV channel he had several bombs strapped to his body "ready to go off."The gunman who had taken three hostages Wednesday in the Discovery building in the

ISLAMABAD: Relief efforts in flood-ravaged Pakistan are being stretched by the "unprecedented scale" of the disaster, while funding has almost stalled, the UN said Thursday."Given the number of those in need, this is a humanitarian operation of unprecedented scale," said Manuel Bessler,

Sydney: Independent MP from Tasmania, Andrew Wilkie decided Thursday to support the Labor Party, giving incumbent Australian Prime Minister Julia Gillard 74 seats in her bid to form a minority government.Wilkie, who won the Denison seat, however, said his support to a returned Gillard

Chile: Chilean miners trapped underground after a rock collapse have received their first hot meal in 26 days.Meatballs, chicken and rice were piped through a tube to the 33 miners, who are stuck 700m (2,300ft) below the surface.Previously the miners have been only been nourished with

LONDON: Ex-premier Tony Blair`s memoirs are a good read but they risk re-opening old wounds in his Labour party just as it struggles to fight back from electoral defeat, British newspapers said Thursday.The personal details and indiscreet remarks contained in "A Journey" -- including

LAHORE: The death toll from three suicide bombings in Pakistan`s eastern city of Lahore rose to 31 on Thursday as six people succumbed to their injuries, a rescue official said.Three suicide bombers targeted a Shiite mourning procession made up of thousands of people on Wednesday at the

BEIJING: At least three people died and 57 were missing after rain-triggered landslides struck a village in southwestern China, state media reported on Thursday.The landslides swept through the village of Wama in mountainous Yunnan province, Xinhua news agency said.State television said

WASHINGTON: Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Wednesday called Mahmud Abbas his "partner in peace," urging the Palestinian leader to join him in forging a "historic compromise" to end decades of conflict between their peoples."Our goal is to forge a secure and durable peace

WASHINGTON: US President Barack Obama on Wednesday pleaded with Israelis and Palestinians not to let slip a fleeting opportunity for peace, as he launched a landmark Middle East diplomatic initiative."This moment of opportunity may not soon come again," Obama warned after holding separate

TIJUANA: At least 17 migrants have been kidnapped near the US border in northern Mexico by human traffickers, Tijuana police said Wednesday.Two freed kinap victims reported the incident to authorities, saying "another 17 kidnapped people were inside a safe house," Tijuana Police Chief

COPIAPO: The morale of 33 miners trapped in Chile soared Wednesday after music and hot meals were supplied, while NASA advisers praised their "courage" and provided advice on daylight deprivation, as a rescue drill inched closer. A new video shot by the miners and broadcast on state