TAIPEI: A Taiwanese man out of luck in earthly love has married a goddess after she ordered him to do so in a dream, a report said Wednesday. The man, identified by his family name Lin, claimed the Lotus Fairy, a Taoist deity, started coming to him in his sleep after he went to her

KATHMANDU: A court in Nepal was Wednesday due to give its verdict in the case of 36 villagers charged with a series of gruesome murders in a battle over a highly prized plant dubbed the "Himalayan Viagra." The defendants make up nearly all the male population of the tiny village of Nar,

SYDNEY: Australia`s Prime Minister Julia Gillard is lagging behind the opposition in key states, putting August 21 elections on a knife-edge, fresh opinion poll analysis showed on Wednesday. The latest Newspoll assessment gave Gillard`s Labor Party a narrowed 51-49 percent lead over the

New York: UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon Tuesday expressed sadness that the severe flooding in China had caused the loss of life and resulted in devastation. "He extends his deepest condolences to the families of those who have died or been injured or lost their homes and possessions,"

LIMA: At least 22 people were killed and another 27 were injured early Tuesday when a bus overturned on a road in northern Peru and rolled into a 200-meter (yard) deep ravine, an official said. The bus, which belonged to the Karungo bus company, was carrying more than 50 passengers from

WASHINGTON: Legendary former US Senator Ted Stevens was among five fatalities after a small plane carrying nine people slammed into a remote Alaska mountainside, officials said Tuesday. Stevens, 86, the longest-serving Republican in Senate history before being voted out of office in

WASHINGTON: A US lawyer who has successfully sued the US Roman Catholic church over the long-running child sex abuse scandal on Tuesday said cases against the Vatican are crumbling and he is throwing in the towel. "You have to have an impossible alignment of planets and moons to win any

Jerusalem: Israeli Defence Minister Ehud Barak told a government-appointed panel Tuesday that he took responsibility for the May 31 army raid on a Gaza-bound flotilla that left nine activists dead. "I carry overall responsibility for everything that took place in the systems under my

SEOUL: Torrential rain brought by the approach of Typhoon Dianmu has left three people dead and grounded dozens of flights in South Korea, the disaster control agency said Wednesday. Two hikers drowned as they crossed a swollen stream in northwestern Seoul where 120 millimetres (five

SANTA MARTA: The presidents of Colombia and Venezuela agreed to restore severed diplomatic ties on Tuesday, appearing to iron out many of the bitter disagreements that have separated the two countries in recent years. Conservative Colombian President Juan Manuel Santos, in office for a

SEOUL: South Korea Wednesday sent North Korea a message urging it to free the seven crewmen on a South Korean fishing boat seized last weekend, Seoul`s unification ministry said. The South, in a faxed message through a military hotline, called on the North to release the boat and its

BANGKOK: Thai Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva on Tuesday demanded Cambodian citizens leave a disputed border area that has been the focus of deadly clashes in recent years. The two countries have stepped up a war of words over the spat, with Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Sen warning it

TOKYO: A 5.8-magnitude earthquake hit northern Japan Tuesday, but there was no tsunami warning and no immediate reports of damage, US and Japanese seismologists said.The underwater quake occurred at 2:50 pm (0550 GMT) off Iwate prefecture in the Pacific, 515 kilometres (320 miles) north

KANDAHAR: Six police officers were killed in two insurgent attacks in volatile southern Afghanistan, police said Tuesday.In one attack, five policemen were killed when a bomb tore through their vehicle in Helmand province`s Khanishin district late Monday, deputy provincial police chief

SYDNEY:  A major 7.6-magnitude earthquake hit the Pacific island nation of Vanuatu on Tuesday, shaking buildings and generating a small tsunami, but there no immediate reports of injury or damage.The undersea earthquake struck at a depth of 60 kilometres (37 miles) roughly 40 kilometres

WASHINGTON: A former B-2 stealth bomber engineer was found guilty Monday of selling sensitive military technology to China, the United States Justice Department said in a statement.Noshir Gowadia, 66, was convicted of five offenses following trial in a federal court in Hawaii. Gowadia had

COVENTRY: "Follow the Prophet Mohammed, don`t follow bin Laden!" That was the message from an anti-terrorism summer camp led by a top scholar which attracted hundreds of young British Muslims this week.Al-Hidayah (The Guidance) was led by Dr Muhammad Tahir-ul-Qadri, who earlier this year

MEXICO CITY: Conservative Mexican ex-president Vicente Fox has spoken out in favor of legalizing the production, sale and distribution of illegal drugs, as his country sinks ever deeper into bloody drug wars."What has to be made legal are the production, sale and distribution" of illegal

NEW DELHI: A moderate 5.4-magnitude earthquake struck the Andaman Islands on Tuesday, seismologists said, but there were no immediate reports of damage and a tsunami warning was not issued.The quake hit 208 kilometres (130 miles) north of Port Blair, the capital of the islands, at 3:51 am

RIO DE JANEIRO: Colombia will shortly reestablish ties with Venezuela amid a long row over alleged harboring of rebels that sparked concerns of a wider conflict, a Brazilian presidential spokesman said Monday.Colombian President Juan Manuel Santos told his Brazilian counterpart by phone