SHARM EL-SHEIKH: US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton arrived in Egypt on Tuesday urging Israel and the Palestinians to find ways to clear the "hurdle" posed by a looming expiration of a freeze on Jewish settlements.The settlements issue could stall the new peace talks between Israeli

CARACAS: Fifteen people died in a plane crash in eastern Venezuela, but 36 others miraculously survived after the pilot alerted air traffic control that something was wrong moments before disaster struck.The plane, carrying 47 passengers and four crew from the resort city of Isla

CANBERRA: Julia Gillard was sworn in as Australia`s prime minister Tuesday, faced with leading a fragile coalition government after scraping back into power in the wake of a cliffhanger election. Gillard, Australia`s first woman prime minister, formally returned to office nearly a week

JERUSALEM: Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said on Sunday Israel could not extend a moratorium on housing construction in West Bank settlements but indicated he would limit the scope of future building, officials said.Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas has threatened to quit nascent

SEOUL: South Korea Monday released a full report into the deadly sinking of a warship blamed on North Korea, saying it was acting to quell "groundless" suspicions about who was to blame for the tragedy.The defence ministry report, numbering around 300 pages, reaffirms conclusions reached

NEW DELHI: Indian academics have long dreamt of resurrecting Nalanda University, one of the world`s oldest seats of learning which has lain in ruins for 800 years since being razed by foreign invaders.Now the chance of intellectual life returning to Nalanda has come one step closer after

Manila: Authorities in the Philippines on Monday tried to trace the mother who gave birth then abandoned her newborn baby on a flight from the Middle East. The baby boy, covered in blood and wrapped in tissue paper, was found by an airport security officer in a garbage bag unloaded from

TOKYO: Japan on Monday released the 14 crew of a Chinese fishing trawler that collided with two Japanese coastguard vessels in disputed waters last week, but kept its captain in detention.The incident has sparked a diplomatic row between the Asian powers, with China calling off planned

MEXICO CITY: Authorities have arrested one of Mexico`s most wanted men, alleged drug trafficker Sergio Villarreal, who is said to work for the Beltran Leyva cartel, a military source told AFP."Sergio Villarreal, `El Grande,` was arrested with two other people in a non-violent operation in

SYDNEY: An Australian lawyer tore pages from the Koran and the Bible and smoked them on YouTube, days after a US pastor`s threat to burn Islam`s holy book triggered deadly protests and global condemnation.In a 12-minute clip entitled "Bible or Koran -- which burns best?" Alex Stewart, who

BAGHDAD: Tens of thousands of detainees are being held without trial in Iraqi prisons and face violent and psychological abuse as well as other forms of mistreatment, Amnesty International said Monday.The London-based human rights watchdog estimates 30,000 people are held in Iraqi jails,

Washington: A man shot dead five people Saturday in a park in the US state of Kentucky before turning the weapon on himself, Xinhua reported. The attack took place around 11.35 a.m. in a trailer park in Mount Carmel community. The assailant was armed with a shotgun. Police found the

NEW YORK: President Barack Obama told a deeply polarized America on Saturday that Islam is not the enemy as ceremonies took place to mark an unusually tense, ninth anniversary of the 9/11 attacks.Moving remembrance ceremonies were held to honor the nearly 3,000 people killed when Islamist

NEW YORK: Remembrance ceremonies, marred by global tensions over a Florida pastor`s threat to burn the Koran, were to take place Saturday in New York and at the Pentagon on the ninth anniversary of the 9/11 attacks.The rituals honoring the nearly 3,000 people killed on September 11, 2001,

JOHANNESBURG: A Johannesburg court has blocked a South African businessman from burning Bibles on Saturday in response to a Florida pastor`s threat to burn the Koran, a local newspaper said.The Johannesburg High Court issued an urgent interdict late Friday blocking Mohammed Vawda from

Washington/New York: After a day of flip-flops, a Florida pastor, who earned international headlines and censure after threatening to burn copies of the Quran on the 9/11 anniversary Saturday, "has agreed in principle" not to go ahead with the controversial event.Pastor Terry Jones

MUZAFFARABAD: At least 13 people were killed on Friday when a passenger bus plunged into a ravine in Pakistani-administered Kashmir, police said.The accident took place near the town of Kotli, 50 kilometres (30 miles) south of regional capital Muzaffarabad, local police station chief

SAN FRANCISCO: California firefighters were battling a huge fire still raging Friday hours after a gas pipeline exploded destroying or damaging more than 170 homes, amid reports at least six people had been killed.The massive explosion and inferno ripped through a neighborhood in San

MECCA: The imam of Mecca said on Friday that a US pastor`s threat to burn copies of the Koran was an incitement to "terrorism.""The call to burn copies of our holy book is a form of terrorism and an incitement to terrorism," Saleh bin Humaid said in a sermon marking the Muslim feast of

GAINESVILLE: A Florida pastor suspended plans to burn hundreds of Korans but the move failed to stem a global tide of Muslim outrage Friday, as he warned the torching ceremony could yet take place. Radical evangelist Terry Jones first announced on Thursday he had scrapped Saturday`s mass