MANILA: Incoming Philippine president Benigno Aquino announced Tuesday he would set up a "truth commission" to investigate the alleged crimes of outgoing leader Gloria Arroyo and her allies. He said the commission would look into a wide range of controversies surrounding Arroyo`s

JERUSALEM: Russia, France and the United States have proposed a UN-brokered meeting with experts from all three countries and Iran to discuss a nuclear fuel swap deal, Russia`s top diplomat said on Tuesday. The talks brokered by the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) would be held

CHONGQING: Taiwan and China signed a historic trade pact Tuesday in the boldest step yet towards reconciliation between the former archfoes, 60 years after the civil war that drove them apart. The Economic Cooperation Framework Agreement, hailed by both sides as a milestone and a

  JAKARTA - An Indonesian publisher and Islamist blogger known as the "Prince of Jihad" was sentenced to five years in jail Tuesday for abetting suicide attacks on two luxury hotels in Jakarta last year. Women robed from head-to-toe in black Islamic dress shouted abuse at the judges as

KOLKATA:  Indian Home Ministry has cautioned West Bengal government of a suspected attack on Bangladesh Deputy High Commission in Kolkata by banned Islamic outfit Harkat-ul Jihad (Huji).      Following a message from the centre, the West Bengal government has taken extra security

BAGHDAD - Magnetic bombs killed two people in Baghdad on Tuesday, one of them an Iraqi general, as insurgents sabotaged a key oil pipeline on the northern outskirts of the capital, security officials said. The general, who police identified only by his first name Khodr, was blown up in

YANGON: A rare white elephant, historically considered an omen of political change, has been captured in the west of military-ruled Myanmar, state media reported Tuesday.   The female pachyderm was captured by officials on Saturday in the coastal town of Maungtaw in Rakhine state, the

WASHINGTON :  US Supreme Court nominee Elena Kagan vowed at her first confirmation hearing Monday to be an impartial justice and seemed on track to become the fourth woman ever to sit on the history-shaping bench.   "I will work hard, and I will do my best to consider every case

SRINAGAR: Indian Kashmir is on the boil again: this time over the killing of eight young Kashmiris in less than three weeks allegedly at the hands of Indian security forces.   The deaths have brought thousands of war-weary residents out onto the streets chanting "Blood for Blood!" and

PESHAWAR: A US drone fired two missiles into a compound used by Islamist fighters in Pakistan`s tribal belt Tuesday, killing at least six militants, security officials said.The missiles targeted the compound in Karikot village, about 10 kilometres (six miles) southwest of Wana, the main

WASHINGTON - A senior US lawmaker on Monday angrily blocked billions of dollars in aid to Afghanistan, vowing not to give "one more dime" until Afghan President Hamid Karzai acts against corruption.   Representative Nita Lowey, who sits on the powerful committee in charge of the

BEIJING: China will kick off six days of live-fire military exercises off its eastern coast later this week, state press reported Tuesday, amid plans for US-South Korean war games in the nearby Yellow Sea.The People`s Liberation Army has banned all vessels from entering a large area of

KABUL: Deaths of foreign soldiers in Afghanistan fighting the Taliban insurgency have hit the unprecedented toll of 100 for the month of June alone, according to an AFP tally Tuesday.   BDST : 1114 HRS, 29 June, 2010 SIS  

BEIJING: Rescuers in southwest China struggled in treacherous conditions Tuesday to pull out 107 people buried the day before in a landslide, but they said there were only "slim" chances of finding survivors.Around 600 rescuers were searching through the mud and debris for signs of life

SEOUL: North Korea warned Tuesday that any accidental clash during an upcoming US-South Korea naval exercise could spark war, as tensions remained high over the sinking of a South Korean warship.Minju Josun, the cabinet`s official daily, accused the South and its US ally of "fabricating"

  BISHKEK ;Kyrgyz interim President Roza Otunbayeva was to meet with representatives of foreign observer missions Tuesday after voters overwhelmingly backed a new constitution in a controversial referendum.   More than 90 percent of voters in Sunday`s poll backed the new charter that

MIAMI: Hurricane warnings were issued in Texas and the northeastern Mexico as forecasters predicted that Tropical Storm Alex churning in the Gulf of Mexico would reach hurricane force on Tuesday.At 0300 GMT the center of Alex was located some 505 miles (810 kilometers) southeast of

KINSHASA : The Democratic Republic of Congo this week celebrates 50 years since it cast off Belgian rule but the vast mineral-rich nation, blighted by decades of war, corruption and poverty, has yet to fulfil the hopes of independence.Sung for the first time on June 30, 1960, as the

BEIJING: China`s state media on Tuesday slammed US President Barack Obama for suggesting Beijing had turned a blind eye to North Korea`s actions, calling his remarks "irresponsible and flippant".At the Group of 20 summit in Canada at the weekend, Obama said China must not show "willful

UNITED NATIONS: The UN Security Council met Monday on how to implement sanctions it adopted against Iran, hours after the Islamic Republic announced it would freeze nuclear talks for two months.   In a formal meeting, the 15-member council received a report on the implementation of all