HONG KONG: Tens of thousands of Hong Kong people are expected at a weekend rally to demand justice for the victims of this week`s hostage bloodbath in Manila, organisers said Friday.In a rare show of unity, Hong Kong`s pro-Beijing and opposition groups will jointly hold the march on

SEOUL: Former US president Jimmy Carter flew out of North Korea Friday after securing the release of an American citizen and a pledge from Pyongyang that it wants to resume nuclear disarmament talks.The Nobel peace laureate left the reclusive communist state with Aijalon Mahli Gomes, an

THATTA: Pakistan has ordered the evacuation of 300,000 people in a southern town after its flood-protection defences were breached."We have ordered people of Thatta city on Thursday night to move to safer places after floods breached an embankment at Faqir Jogoth village," top

Kolkata: Pro-Maoist leader Umakanta Mahato, a prime suspect in the Gyaneswari Express sabotage case, was killed in an encounter with joint security forces in Jhargram area of West Bengal`s West Midnapore district early Friday, a top police official said."Umakanta Mahato has been killed

MANILA: The bullets that killed eight Hong Kong tourists in a Manila siege likely all came from the hijacker holding them captive and not from the police rescue team, a police spokesman said."We can say that with a certain degreee of certainty," Philippine national police spokesman Senior

SEOUL: North Korea`s leader Kim Jong-Il may meet Chinese President Hu Jintao in northeastern China, where Kim arrived earlier, news reports said Friday.A 30-vehicle convoy believed to be carrying Kim pulled up at a hotel in the city of Changchun after driving some 90 minutes from Jilin

NEW DELHI: India has cancelled defence exchanges with China in a new flare-up in relations between the two Asian giants, reports said Friday.The Times of India newspaper said the move by New Delhi was retaliation after Beijing refused a visa to a leading Indian general who oversees

HONG KONG : Teeming Hong Kong observed a mournful silence Thursday for eight tourists killed in a Manila bloodbath, after their bodies returned home amid mounting outrage against Philippine authorities.The southern Chinese territory held three minutes of silence with flags lowered to

HONG KONG : Teeming Hong Kong observed a mournful silence Thursday for eight tourists killed in a Manila bloodbath, after their bodies returned home amid mounting outrage against Philippine authorities.The southern Chinese territory held three minutes of silence with flags lowered to

HONG KONG : Teeming Hong Kong observed a mournful silence Thursday for eight tourists killed in a Manila bloodbath, after their bodies returned home amid mounting outrage against Philippine authorities.The southern Chinese territory held three minutes of silence with flags lowered to

COLOMBO – A Saudi couple tortured their Sri Lankan maid after she complained of a too heavy workload by hammering 24 nails into her hands, legs and forehead, officials said on Thursday.Nearly 2 million Sri Lankans sought employment overseas last year and around 1.4 million, mostly

CANBERRA: Australian Prime Minister Julia Gillard`s hopes of forming a minority government received a boost on Thursday with "kingmaker" independents criticizing her conservative rival for refusing to meet a key demand.Gillard`s Labor party seems to be ahead in early negotiations to form

TEHRAN: Five rebels and two members of the Revolutionary Guards have been killed in clashes in Iran`s Kordestan province near the Iraqi border, government newspaper Iran reported on Thursday."During clashes in Kordestan`s border area five counter-revolutionaries and two guards were

NEW DELHI: Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh on Thursday said that the country`s widening divide between rich and poor was a factor that encouraged crime and caused difficulties for police.Singh told a conference of police chiefs in New Delhi that national security was being threatened

TEHRAN: Iran has made a proposal to Moscow to jointly produce nuclear fuel for its Russian-built Bushehr plant and future facilities, the head of Iran`s Atomic Energy Organisation was quoted as saying Thursday."We have made a proposal to Russia for the creation of a consortium, licensed

CAIRO: Egypt`s antiquities department announced Wednesday the discovery of a 3,500-year-old settlement in a desert oasis, showing the existence of vibrant desert trade routes that stretched from the Mediterranean down into Sudan from the early days of the Egyptian civilization.The

KOLKATA: The Indian city of Kolkata will mark Thursday the memory of a diminutive nun, born 100 years ago and half a world away, who became a global symbol of compassion for her work with the sick and destitute.Mother Teresa, the "Angel of Mercy," a Nobel peace prize winner and Roman

TOKYO: The former secretary general of Japan`s ruling party, Ichiro Ozawa, said Wednesday he values US democracy but believes Americans are "simple-minded," local media reported."Why is the United States so simple? I like Americans, but they are somewhat like single-cell (organisms),"

NEW YORK: A coalition that includes relatives of victims of the September 11, 2001 attacks staged a demonstration Wednesday in support of a plan to build a mosque near the attack site in lower Manhattan.The group, calling itself "New York Neighbors for American Values," gathered Wednesday

MOSCOW: Russian police have seized thousands of copies of a critical book on the country`s powerful Prime Minister Vladimir Putin penned by an opposition leader, his party said Wednesday.Liberal opposition leader Boris Nemtsov`s book entitled "Putin: the Toll, 10 years," was described by