BEIJING: Seventeen people were confirmed dead and 44 others were missing after torrential rains triggered landslides in southwest China on Tuesday, a local official and state media said. In Yunnan province, four people were killed and 42 others went missing when a mountain side came

HAVANA: Former Cuban leader Fidel Castro appeared on state-run television for the first time in nearly a year on Monday, looking alert and healthy but with a wavering voice that betrayed his advanced age.Castro, 83, appeared animated as he discussed for an hour his views on the Middle

SUVA: Fiji expelled Australia`s top diplomat Tuesday as Prime Minister Voreqe Bainimarama accused Australia and New Zealand of plotting to embarrass the Pacific island nation.The expulsion came hours after the five-member Melanesian Spearhead Group (MSG) cancelled this month`s summit in

WASHINGTON: President Barack Obama will Tuesday declare that America`s battle against AIDS is at a "crossroads" and roll out a plan to cut new infections and improve care for those who have the disease.Thirty years after the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) burst to global attention,

KAMPALA: Somalia`s Al-Qaeda-inspired Shebab rebels have claimed responsibility for bombings in Uganda that killed 74 people as they watched the World Cup final, in the region`s worst attacks in 12 years.The twin bombings in the Ugandan capital dampened Africa`s World Cup euphoria and drew

ISLAMABAD: The foreign ministers of nuclear-armed rivals Pakistan and India will Thursday hold wide-ranging talks aimed at building trust and resuming frozen peace talks.The two nations are unlikely to make headway over long-standing border disputes or Pakistani militant activities that

HAVANA: Six political prisoners released by Cuba traveled to Spain late Monday along with their close relatives, the first of 52 authorized to leave the country, an official at the Spanish embassy in Havana told AFP.Their release will be the culmination of a surprise deal between the

LONDON: The Taliban will escalate their attacks on international forces in Afghanistan if Western political support weakens in the face of the increasingly fierce insurgency, the head of NATO warned Tuesday.Anders Fogh Rasmussen also told the Daily Telegraph newspaper he could not give a

SEOUL: North Korea has delayed military talks scheduled for Tuesday with the US-led United Nations Command about the deadly sinking of a South Korean warship, the Command said.The meeting would have been the first of its kind since the warship went down in March near the disputed

WASHINGTON: BP confirmed said Monday it had successfully placed a new cap over the Gulf of Mexico oil leak, hoping the giant valve will seal the well or contain all the gushing crude.An integrity test lasting between six and 48 hours will begin on July 13 to properly assess the well, BP

LONDON - Three men from London were sentenced Monday to life imprisonment after being convicted over a plot to blow up transatlantic flights using liquid bombs.Ibrahim Savant, Arafat Waheed Khan and Waheed Zaman will serve at least 20 years in jail over the conspiracy that led to the

LONDON - Three men from London were sentenced Monday to life imprisonment after being convicted over a plot to blow up transatlantic flights using liquid bombs. Ibrahim Savant, Arafat Waheed Khan and Waheed Zaman will serve at least 20 years in jail over the conspiracy that led to the

BANGALORE - India successfully launched five satellites into orbit on Monday, three months after the country`s space ambitions suffered a setback when a rocket crashed at lift-off.The five satellites included an advanced remote sensing satellite called Cartosat-2B, as well as a satellite

KAMPALA: The death toll from twin blasts that hit the Ugandan capital as football fans gathered to watch the World Cup final has risen to 74, officials say. Another 70 were injured in the explosions at a Kampala rugby club and an Ethiopian restaurant. The blasts went off as crowds of

TOKYO: The centre-left government of Japan`s new Prime Minister Naoto Kan lost its narrow majority in parliament`s upper house in elections Sunday, spelling the threat of legislative paralysis.The government was not immediately threatened, because it holds a majority in the more powerful

BOGOTA: Soldiers killed 12 Marxist rebels in an overnight raid in central Colombia while 10 soldiers were killed in separate clashes with guerrillas near the Venezuelan border, the military said Sunday.The dead rebels included four women and eight men who were tasked with providing

SANTIAGO: A strong 6.2 magnitude earthquake rattled northeastern Chile late Sunday in the region of Antofagasta, home to one of the driest places on Earth, US seismologists said.The quake had a depth of 56.7 miles (91.3 kilometers) and was centered about 50 miles (80 kilometers)

BUENOS AIRES:  The Catholic Church stepped up its offensive against a gay marriage proposal, using Sunday Mass to urge its faithful to protest before Congress on the eve of a decisive Senate vote.Argentina, where 91 percent of the population says it is Catholic, could become the first

DUBAI: Ever wondered how to make a bomb at home, what to pack for a jihad or how to communicate in encrypted messages?A new English-language Al-Qaeda magazine has the answers.The first edition of Yemen-based Al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula`s (AQAP) Inspire magazine was released on

DAEJEON: Asian policemakers must brace for possible further shocks given risks to the global economy such as the eurozone turmoil, the International Monetary Fund chief said Monday.The continent also faces policy challenges such as managing the sharp rebound in capital inflows, and risks