NEW ORLEANS:  British energy giant BP stopped the oil flowing into the Gulf of Mexico on Thursday for the first time in three months as it began key tests hoping to stem the spill for good. Shortly after BP engineers shut down the last of three valves on a giant new cap placed on the

PHOENIX: A controversial new Arizona immigration law was challenged for the first time in court here Thursday, at the start of one of seven suits brought against the heavily`criticized policy. The law, due to take effect on July 29, makes it a crime to be in the state, which borders

BANGKOK:  Thai police said Thursday they had arrested an anti-government "Red Shirt" who was a close aide to an assassinated rogue general in connection with a series of attacks in Bangkok. Surachai Thewarat, 25, is accused of being involved in incidents including a deadly drive-by

BANGKOK:  Thai police said Thursday they had arrested an anti-government "Red Shirt" who was a close aide to an assassinated rogue general in connection with a series of attacks in Bangkok. Surachai Thewarat, 25, is accused of being involved in incidents including a deadly drive-by

BEIJING: One child died and more than 100 villagers fell ill in southwestern China after they took anti-malarial medicine, state media reported, in the latest product-safety scare.A villager in Sichuan province was diagnosed with falciparum malaria, the most dangerous type of the disease,

BRUSSELS: Stalled nuclear talks on Iran could resume this autumn after both the European Union and Iran said they were ready to go back to the negotiation table, officials said Wednesday.The EU`s chief diplomat Catherine Ashton said Wednesday she was ready to pick a time and place to

PESHAWAR:  A bomb attack killed two people and wounded at least 15 others Thursday in the main town of Pakistan`s Swat valley, where the military put down a Taliban uprising last year, police said. It was the first such attack in the northwestern district since May and underscored

ISLAMABAD: The foreign ministers of nuclear-armed rivals Pakistan and India on Thursday opened their first key talks in Islamabad since the 2008 Mumbai attacks derailed a peace process.The talks are the third high-level contact in six months and the foreign ministers` first meeting since

SEOUL: North Korea`s military on Thursday held its first talks with the US-led UN Command since the sinking of a South Korean warship, as Washington announced naval exercises to deter the communist state.The two sides were meeting at the border village of Panmunjom to discuss the sinking,

YEKATERINBURG:  Russian President Dmitry Medvedev and German Chancellor Angela Merkel were set on Thursday to oversee a flurry of economic deals to further cement the Moscow-Berlin relationship.German government sources say Siemens will sign 2.2-billion-euro (2.8-billion-dollar) order to

FALLUJAH: A series of six attacks in Baghdad and a shooting west of the capital killed six people, including three daughters and the grandson of a Sufi Muslim order`s leader, Iraqi officials said Wednesday."Men with Kalashnikovs and anti-tank rockets attacked the house and adjacent tekiya

TEHRAN: An Iranian who claimed he was "abducted" by US spies last year denied on Thursday that he was a nuclear scientist, but said he was questioned by Israelis during his "harsh" captivity.Shahram Amiri, who vanished from Saudi Arabia in June 2009 while on a pilgrimage, arrived in

KABUL: A string of bomb, rocket and gun attacks across southern Afghanistan have killed 12 NATO troops in just two days, officials said Wednesday, throwing the spotlight on the spiralling cost of the war.The brazen assaults followed the killing of three British troops by a rogue Afghan

SOFIA:  Direct talks between the Palestinians and the Israelis would make no sense without the participation of the international community, Palestinian foreign minister Riyad Al-Maliki said on Wednesday. "We have always said we need the presence of a third party. Without a third party

MANILA: Typhoon Conson ripped across the Philippines on Wednesday, killing at least 20 people as it destroyed shanty towns and brought the nation`s capital to a standstill.Sixty other people were reported missing after Conson hit the Southeast Asian archipelago late on Tuesday, then

BEIJING: Four landslides triggered by heavy rains in China have left 37 people dead and nearly 40 others missing, an official and state media said Wednesday, as authorities brace for possible flooding.The landslides swept through villages in the southwestern provinces of Yunnan and

STOCKHOLM: From slimming supplements to prescription drugs, pharmacies are full of products destined to help lose weight, but their use can come at great expense, both financially and health-wise.At the 11th International Congress on Obesity hosted in Stockholm, experts were clear when it

WELLINGTON: A New Zealand man has good reason to question whether his dog is truly his best friend after his family pet shot him in the backside in a potentially fatal accident.The 40-year-old man was sitting in the backseat of his car when the dog stepped on the trigger of a loaded .22

JAKARTA: A moderate 5.6-magnitude earthquake struck the Indonesian province of Papua on Wednesday, seismologists said, but no tsunami warning was immediately issued.The quake struck at 8:56 am (2356 GMT Tuesday), 231 kilometres (144 miles) west of Jayapura at a depth of 15 kilometres, the

JERUSALEM: Israeli warships warily shadowed a Libyan aid ship on Tuesday even as officials said the vessel was diverting its course from Gaza and heading for a nearby Egyptian port.The standoff comes amid high tensions just six weeks after Israeli commandos launched a pre-dawn operation