GAZA CITY: Israeli warplanes carried out four air strikes on the southern Gaza Strip late Tuesday that caused no injuries, Palestinian security sources and witnesses said. The raids struck targets near Rafah and north of Khan Yunis, near the border with Egypt, as well as targets near

WELLINGTON: Three people died and another three were missing after a New Zealand chartered fishing boat with a crew of 51 sank in icy waters in the Southern Ocean early Wednesday, rescuers said. Forty-five survivors had been recovered from life rafts and three people including the ship`s

KAMPALA: Uganda has charged 32 people in connection with the July 11 bomb attacks in Kampala which killed 76 people as they watched the World Cup final, the country`s chief prosecutor said Wednesday.Four Ugandan alleged masterminds were among the 32 who were charged with 76 counts of

SEOUL: North Korea proposed a summit with South Korea even after tensions mounted dramatically over the deadly sinking of one of Seoul`s warships, a newspaper reported on Wednesday.The impoverished communist state made the proposal last month in an apparent bid to secure economic aid from

BEIJING: Investigators are probing a crash involving a unidentified small aircraft in northeast China, state media said, amid reports from Seoul on Wednesday that it could have been a North Korean helicopter.China`s Xinhua news agency issued a brief dispatch about the incident in Liaoning

BEIJING: China said Wednesday that a Pentagon report on Beijing`s expanding defence capabilities was "not beneficial" for military ties between the two nations. "Issuing this report is not beneficial for the improvement and development of Sino-US military ties," Geng Yansheng, spokesman

KATHMANDU: Nepal`s parliament has delayed a vote to choose the country`s next prime minister, an official said Wednesday, further prolonging a leadership vacuum in the troubled Himalayan nation. Parliament was scheduled to hold the vote on Wednesday afternoon, more than six weeks after

ISLAMABAD: Pakistan won more aid pledges Tuesday as UN officials warned money needs to come through faster to help 20 million people hit by disastrous floods and stave off a "second wave of death" from disease. Torrential monsoon rain triggered catastrophic floods which have affected a

WASHINGTON: President Barack Obama`s administration has decided to support the creation of a UN inquiry into war crimes allegedly committed by Myanmar`s government, the Washington Post reported Tuesday. Citing US officials, who spoke on condition of anonymity, the newspaper said the

SOCHI: Russia on Wednesday hosts Pakistan`s embattled President Asif Ali Zardari and Afghan leader Hamid Karzai for a regional summit expected to focus on security in Afghanistan. The Pakistan leader is expected to fly in to the Black Sea resort of Sochi for only a few hours after he was

Beirut: A military court has sentenced to death two Lebanese after convicting them of spying for Israel, Labanon`s state-run National News Agency (NNA) reported. The judge, Nizar Khalil, pronounced the judgement Tuesday after convicting Ousama Ali Berri and fugitive Salim Atmeh of spying

BOGOTA: Colombia`s constitutional court Tuesday declared a US-Colombian accord that gave the US military access to at least seven Colombian bases to be unconstitutional. The court ordered the government to submit the agreement to the Colombian Congress, arguing that it should be executed

LONDON: Britain`s first coalition government since World War II is still enjoying a political honeymoon 100 days after coming into office, a poll suggested on Wednesday. The survey for the Guardian newspaper showed 46 percent of voters deemed the Conservative-Liberal Democrat coalition

Beijing: At least 67 people were missing after mudslides hit a remote town in southwest China`s Yunnan province early Wednesday, authorities said.Power supplies and telecommunications were cut following the mudslides in Puladi Township in Gongshan, Xinhua reported.Rescuers were sent to

BAGUIO: Thirty-five people were killed when a packed passenger bus plunged into a deep ravine in the northern Philippines on Wednesday, rescuers said. The bus, carrying 47 people, had just left the mountain resort city of Baguio, about 200 kilometres (120 miles) north of Manila, when its

KABUL: Afghan President Hamid Karzai Tuesday issued a decree ordering that all private security firms in the country should be disbanded within four months."I approve the full disbandment of private security companies, both national and international, within four months," Karzai said in

London: Eating bits of chocolate occasionally can help protect women from heart failure. However, daily consumption seems to negate its positive benefits.In a first ever nine-year study involving 31,823 Swedish women, researchers looked at the link between quantity of high-quality dark

BEIJING: The death toll from a massive explosion at a fireworks factory in northeastern China has risen to 19, with more than 150 others injured, state media said Tuesday.The blast early Monday shattered the windows of buildings one kilometre (half a mile) away from the plant near the

SEOUL: A group of South Koreans crossed the tense border into North Korea Tuesday for the first time since a travel ban was imposed three months ago, officials said. A doctor and four others from a relief group travelled to the North`s border city of Kaesong to deliver anti-malaria aid

BAGHDAD: A suicide bomber blew himself up at a crowded army recruitment centre in Baghdad killing 59 people Tuesday, officials said, as violence coinciding with the Muslim holy month of Ramadan raged across Iraq.The attack, the deadliest this year, wounded at least another 100 people and