BAR HARBOR: US President Barack Obama and his family packed a full day of tennis, swimming and hiking into a weekend getaway in the northeastern state of Maine on Saturday.The Obamas began the day with rounds of tennis and some splashing in the pool, followed by lunch by the waterfront at

LONDON: Four members of Britain`s armed forces have died in southern Afghanistan within 24 hours, the Ministry of Defence in London said Saturday.A marine and two soldiers were killed in separate explosions, while an airman died in a vehicle accident near Camp Bastion, the main British

TEHRAN: Iranian authorities briefly detained the Swiss ambassador to Tehran, Livia Leu Agosti, while she was on a trip three days ago to North Khorasan province, state media reports said on Saturday.Agosti was detained on Wednesday by provincial security forces "because her identity was

LONDON - Two members of Britain`s armed forces have been killed in separate explosions in Afghanistan, the Ministry of Defence (MoD) in London said Saturday.In the first, a marine from 40 Commando Royal Marines died in an explosion while he was out on foot patrol in the Sangin district of

CANBERRA:  Australian Prime Minister Julia Gillard on Saturday called a general election for August 21, kicking off a bitter campaign battle over asylum seekers, economic management and climate change."Today I seek a mandate from the Australian people to lead Australia forward," she told

KAMATANDA: Barefoot with water up to his knees, seven-year-old Isaac sifts through sand to extract copper like hundreds of boys in southeast DR Congo, forced by poverty to quit school and work in the mines.Isaac abandoned his maths and language classes in February, leaving the only school

CIUDAD JUAREZ: Suspected drug gang members launched a car bomb attack on police in Mexico`s border city of Ciudad Juarez for the first time, killing two police and two medics, a general said Friday.The attack marked an escalation in Mexico`s brutal drug violence, which has left some 7,000

BEIRUT: Hezbollah chief Hassan Nasrallah on Friday claimed Israel had complete control over Lebanon`s telecom sector, calling for convicted spies to hang amid a widening probe into acts of espionage."The country is exposed and Israel... secures much information through its control over

ZAMBOANGA:  A Japanese man who went missing on a remote southern Philippine island may have been kidnapped, authorities said Saturday.The man, named by local police as Amer Katayama Mamaito, was last seen on Pangutaran island in the Sulu archipelago, a stronghold of Abu Sayyaf Islamic

MANILA: The death toll from a typhoon that hit the Philippines rose sharply to 53 Saturday, officials said, warning the number of dead could go up further with dozens of others missing days after the disaster.In some rare good news, three fishermen were plucked by passing colleagues from

WASHINGTON: Two US men have been jailed for up to 38 years for their roles in an online child pornography ring involving some 500 people worldwide, many of whom personally abused children, officials said Friday.Thomas Attebury, 40, was sentenced Thursday to 38 years in prison for using "a

UNITED NATIONS: UN chief Ban Ki-moon on Friday urged rival parties in the Maldives to cool rising tension and to resolve their differences through dialogue.Ban, currently on a visit to Spain, "is concerned by rising political tension in the Maldives, which culminated in some violent

UNITED NATIONS: The UN Security Council on Friday strongly condemned as a "terrorist attack" the twin suicide bombings on a mosque in southeastern Iran that left 27 people dead.Earlier in the day, UN chief Ban Ki-moon also slammed the bombings, which were claimed by the shadowy Sunni

KOLKATA: Sex workers in West Bengal are set to introduce Multipurpose Cooperative Bank across the Indian state under the aegis of their forum styled ‘Durbar’.The bank will allow them to deposit money from the red-light world and enjoy lone facilities.Acting member of Durbar

COLOMBO - India and China have clinched two separate contracts to build railway lines and communication links in Sri Lanka, the government said Friday.Indian Railway Construction International Ltd has won an 86.5 million dollar deal to reconstruct rail lines in the island`s northern

PESHAWAR - A bomb blast ripped through a busy market selling second-hand cars in a Pakistan`s infamous tribal district of Khyber on Friday, killing at least six civilians, officials said.The explosion rocked Kuki Khel town in Khyber, on the NATO supply route into Afghanistan and part of

SULAIMANIYAH: Guests leapt desperately to their deaths from upper-floor windows as a fire tore through a hotel in northern Iraq killing 29 people, 14 of them foreigners, including a Canadian, police and medics said on Friday.Citizens of Australia, Britain, Canada and several Asian and

PESHAWAR - A bomb blast ripped through a busy market selling second-hand cars in a Pakistan`s infamous tribal district of Khyber on Friday, killing at least six civilians, officials said.The explosion rocked Kuki Khel town in Khyber, on the NATO supply route into Afghanistan and part of

SULAIMANIYAH: Twenty-nine people, including children, women and foreigners, were killed in a late night fire at a hotel in northern Iraq`s Sulaimaniyah city, health and government officials said Friday.Four Americans were among 29 people killed in a hotel fire in northern Iraq, a hospital

SEOUL ` South Korea and the United States will stage a series of naval exercises this year to deter North Korea following the sinking of one of Seoul`s warships, the defence ministry said Friday.The ministry also announced that a separate anti`proliferation naval drill would be held off