BEIJING - A leading Tibetan environmentalist has been jailed for subversion, the third such verdict amid an apparent crackdown on intellectuals in the Himalayan region, activists said Sunday.Rinchen Samdrup, 44, was sentenced to five years in prison on Saturday for attempting to incite

BAGHDAD - US Vice President Joe Biden was Sunday marking Independence Day with American troops in Iraq ahead of talks later in the day with the two men vying to lead the conflict-wracked nation`s next government.Biden, on day two of his second trip to Baghdad this year, had on Saturday

TEHRAN - A top Iranian lawmaker said on Sunday that Tehran could stop refining uranium to 20 percent purity level, the most controversial part of its atomic programme, if it gets nuclear fuel required for a research reactor."If the fuel for the Tehran research reactor is given, Iran will

NEW DELHI - Frequent travellers to India are in for quite a shock the next time they fly in to New Delhi`s international airport with its new state-of-the-art terminal.For years, arrivals at Delhi`s main airport were greeted by the grim sight of dingy walls, dim lighting, congested

CEBU - Fifteen people were killed and more than 40 others were hurt when a speeding bus slammed into a concrete fence in the central Philippines, police said Sunday.The bus crash outside of central Cebu city Saturday was the second deadly road accident in the area in less than a

TEHRAN - Iran has submitted "evidence" to the Swiss embassy that its nuclear scientist was abducted by US intelligence agents, the English language Press TV website reported on Sunday."The evidence related to the abduction of Shahram Amiri by the CIA (Central Intelligence Agency) has been

LONDON: The Lockerbie bomber could survive for 10 years or longer, according to the cancer specialist who said last year he would be dead within three months of his release, a newspaper reported on Sunday.Professor Karol Sikora, who assessed Abdelbaset Ali Mohmet al-Megrahi for the Libyan

JERUSALEM: When US President Barack Obama meets Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu at the White House, media handlers will try to convey a crosser image of the relationship than at their last encounter.But major decisions are not expected to be taken at the meeting on Tuesday,

MISHOR ADUMIM: Israeli settler and industrialist Avi Elkayam, 35, has no patience with the Palestinian boycott of settlement products. "It`s economic terrorism," he shouts shaking his fist.The months-old campaign has had a limited financial impact so far but it has a catastrophic

SEOUL: "Hurray!" a group of students yells exuberantly after cresting a green mountain peak and taking out cameras to snap the scenery.It`s a common sight in South Korea, where hikers in their thousands take every opportunity to flee the congested cities and ramble the mountains.But this

NEW DELHI: Illegal but often tolerated, caning is rife in India`s school system, but the recent suicide of a 12-year-old pupil after a beating has brought the practice out of the shadows.Rouvanjit Rawla, a pupil at the prestigious La Martiniere for Boys school in the eastern city of

SYDNEY: New Australian leader Julia Gillard`s peace accord with the powerful mining sector overcomes a significant political hurdle and sends a critical message as she clears the decks for national elections.Gillard made a tax row with the deep-pocketed resources industry her priority

WASHINGTON: US President Barack Obama is risking a revolt within his own party as he presses ahead on a free trade agreement with South Korea, setting the stage for a showdown after November legislative elections.Organized labor, a critical support base for Obama`s Democratic Party, and

NEW ORLEANS: Cleanup work resumed in some areas of the Gulf of Mexico oil spill Saturday, but heavy swells kept many boats docked, halting efforts to fight the ecological disaster.A Taiwanese mega-skimmer dubbed the "A Whale" was in position near the site of the leak and set to undergo 48

KARACHI: Tanvir Ahmed was 11 years old when he ran away from home and got drawn into life as a sex worker on the streets of Karachi. Now he takes art lessons and dreams of a better future."The four years I spent here were the worst. It was abuse. I never knew what would happen," said

KRAKOW - The United States and Poland on Saturday signed a deal on a future US anti-missile shield in Europe which Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said would help ward off threats from Iran.The document amends an accord signed in Washington in August 2008 after the administration of

MUZAFFARABAD - At least 14 people were killed and four others were injured on Saturday when their minibus fell into a ravine in Pakistani-administered Kashmir, an official said.The accident took place in mountainous Neelum valley, some 25 kilometres (15 miles) north of Muzaffarabad, the

TULINE - Villagers disarmed a French patrol of UN peacekeepers Saturday and attacked them with sticks, rocks and eggs in south Lebanon, in the latest in a string of such incidents, the Lebanese army said."Residents of the village of Tuline as well as some villagers from nearby Kabrikha

KABUL - NATO forces accidentally killed two civilians, including a woman, and wounded another during an operation against Taliban militants in southern Afghanistan, the alliance said on Saturday.Afghan and international forces killed the civilians overnight as they searched compounds for

SEOUL - Twelve passengers were killed and eight others were seriously injured when their bus fell from a bridge near Seoul`s international airport on Saturday, police said.The death toll rose to 12 from five within a few hours after the accident, with some passengers succumbing to