JERUSALEM: Israel and the Palestinians are set to resume direct peace talks in Washington on September 2. Seventeen years after the Oslo peace accords were signed, the two sides remain far apart on these key issues.PALESTINIAN STATE AND POWERSThe Palestinians want an independent and fully

BRUSSELS: The man who would be Belgium`s next prime minister agreed Sunday to keep trying to form a coalition government, despite an ongoing deadlock between Flemish and francophone political parties.Socialist leader Elio Di Rupo, asked by King Albert II on July 9 to cobble together a

JERUSALEM: Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said on Sunday that Palestinian recognition of Israel as the Jewish homeland is chief among essential components for a peace deal, days ahead of renewed direct talks.Netanyahu repeated his conditions for a settlement ahead of Thursday`s summit

NUEVO LAREDO: Unidentified gunmen murdered the mayor of a small town in the Mexican border state of Tamaulipas where 72 migrants were massacred last week, a source in the state prosecutor`s office said Sunday."They`ve just killed the municipal president (mayor) of Hidalgo," the source

Washington: US President Barack Obama says he`s not concerned about rumours about his birthplace or faith blaming an online campaign of misinformation by his conservative enemies for perpetuating the myth that he`s a Muslim.There`s "a network of misinformation that in a new media era can

LISBON: Many parents give their children too large or frequent doses of non-prescription medicines for fever, coughs and colds, putting their health at risk, according to an Australian study released Monday."Many children are being put at risk by parents’ over-use of widely-available

SEOUL: North Korea`s ruling party holds its biggest meeting in 30 years early next month to pick a new leadership and likely anoint an heir to the dynasty as Kim Jong-il`s health deteriorates.Kim, suspected of suffering a stroke in 2008, is believed to have accelerated succession plans,

JOHANNESBURG: A powerful South African labour leader threatened on Sunday to withdraw support for President Jacob Zuma`s African National Congress, ending a long- standing alliance strained by a nearly three-week-old strike.Adding to the pressure, a union representing tyre makers

London: More than nine million adults in Britain have never used the internet, says a survey.The elderly, widowed and people in lower economic strata were less likely to be net savvy, says the the survey by the Office of National Statistics (ONS).A ‘digital divide’ in the country is

BEIJING/SEOUL:  China is lobbying neighbors to sign up to a road map for renewed nuclear disarmament talks with North Korea, whose leader Kim Jong-il is visiting China amid conciliatory words and threats of "holy war."The details of Beijing`s plan for restarting stalled six-party nuclear

HONG KONG: Tens of thousands are expected to join a rally in Hong Kong on Sunday to demand justice for victims of the Manila hostage bloodbath, as the city`s Filipino community holds an all-day memorial.The rally, which organisers said could draw as many as 50,000 people, will be a rare

Santiago: The start of drilling for a rescue shaft to reach 33 trapped Chilean miners was delayed until Monday because technical preparations had yet to be finished, the head of the rescue work said. They included reinforcing and settling the drill, Andre Sougarret said Saturday, the day

WASHINGTON: Fazel Ahmed Faqiryar, a leading prosecutor in Afghanistan, said President Hamid Karzai had fired him for refusing to block corruption investigations at the highest levels of government, The New York Times reported late Saturday.According to the report, Faqiryar, a former

LONDON: Reconstruction efforts must begin immediately in Pakistan to prevent the flooding disaster from becoming a long-term catastrophe, aid agency Oxfam said Sunday.The British-based international charity said in a statement released here that billions of dollars would be needed to

GORGA CHAL: When the US army ends its Iraq combat mission this week, Captain TJ Tepley will stay on the frontline -- keeping the peace at the centre of what commanders say is the country`s biggest challenge.The 27-year-old leads a company made up not only of US troops, but also of Arab

SEOUL: The man nominated to be South Korea`s next prime minister put himself out of contention on Sunday amid a mounting scandal over alleged misconduct while he was a provincial governor.Kim Tae-Ho, 47, was put forward for the job three weeks ago in President Lee Myung-Bank`s biggest

SYDNEY: Masked men, some armed with long poles, are standing on the roof of an Australian immigration centre in which a fire broke out Sunday, reports said.One section of the Darwin Immigration Detention Centre, which houses up to 500 asylum-seekers, had been on fire but the flames had

EDGARTOWN: President Barack Obama and his family spent the day at the beach on Saturday, as their summer vacation at the posh Massachusetts island of Martha`s Vineyard drew to a close.The first family left their rental farm in the late morning and headed to a private beach in Edgardtown,

JAKARTA:  Indonesia issued a red alert Sunday after the Sinabung volcano on the island of Sumatra erupted, spewing smoke and ash 1,500 metres into the air and forcing the evacuation of thousands of people."Initially we thought the ash and smoke were triggered by rain but now we know the

BRADFORD: Thirteen men were arrested Saturday in the ethnically-mixed British city of Bradford as a far-right, anti-Islamist group clashed with anti-fascist demonstrators in the streets.Members of the English Defence League (EDL) threw bottles, stones and smoke bombs during violent scenes