World News
Browse all articles and features filed under the News desk.
Kadhafi loyalists hit back in Sirte
Libya's new regime fighters retreated Thursday under heavy fire from Moamer Kadhafi diehards in his hometown Sirte as their leaders backtracked on an announcement they had captured one of his sons. The fighters, who had been hoping to mop up the last pockets of resistance in two
NASA-backed space taxi to fly in test next summer
A seven-seat space taxi backed by NASA to ferry astronauts to the International Space Station will make a high-altitude test flight next summer, officials said on Tuesday. Sierra Nevada Corp's "Dream Chaser" space plane, which resembles a miniature space shuttle, is one of four s
World divided on new plan to combat global warming
A new plan to curb global warming risks becoming a battleground between rich and poor nations and could struggle to get off the ground as negotiators battle over the fate of the ailing Kyoto climate pact. The 1997 Kyoto Protocol covers only emissions from rich nations that produc
Nobel Medicine Prize opens week of awards
The 2011 Nobel season opens Monday with the announcement in Stockholm of the Medicine Prize, to be followed over the course of a week by the awards for physics, chemistry, literature, economics and peace. The Medicine Prize is scheduled to be announced at 11:30 am (0930 GMT) at t
Activists force Bolivia minister into protest march
Indigenous protesters in Bolivia's Amazon basin region forced a cabinet minister to join a march Saturday and break through a police blockade separating them from their northeastern rivals. Minority indigenous people from the poor South American country's steamy lowlands are ange
Two killed in Ankara blast
A bomb blast rocked the centre of the Turkish capital Ankara on Tuesday and some media reports said two people were killed, while a local mayor said nobody was dead but three people were seriously wounded. Police were not immediately available for comment, but a TV station report
1 killed in 2nd deadly air show crash in 24 hours
The second deadly air show crash in 24 hours has left one pilot dead in West Virginia and prompted the National Transportation Safety Board to dispatch an investigator to the site where an aerobatic demonstration plane plunged into a runway and exploded as spectators looked on. T
US won't sell new fighter jets to Taiwan
The United States has decided not to sell Taiwan new F-16 fighter jets and will instead provide upgrades to its existing planes, a US congressional source said Friday. The US State Department was to brief key lawmakers Friday on the decision, which was sure to anger China critics
Israel evacuates Jordan embassy: report
Israeli ambassador to Jordan, Danny Navon was returning to Israel on Thursday with his staff, fearing a large demonstration outside the embassy in Amman over the weekend, Israeli public radio reported. The Jerusalem Post newspaper said that calls for a mass rally had been posted
US astronomers find planet with two Suns
US astronomers said Thursday they have discovered the first planet that is orbiting two Suns, much like the fictional home of Luke Skywalker featured in Star Wars. Skywalker's native planet of Tatooine was hot and desert-like, but this planet, called Kepler-16b, is a freezing col
New monsoon system enters North
Northern areas of the country are expected to receive rain over the next two days, the MET office predicted on Wednesday. Heavy rains are expected in parts of Punjab and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa. Islamabad, Rawalpindi and other areas of Punjab received rain on Wednesday turning the wea
Piece of destroyed Space Shuttle Columbia found in lake
A piece of the space shuttle Columbia, which broke apart and burned on re-entry more than eight years ago, has been found in a lake, NASA officials said. Wreckage from shuttle Columbia was uncovered in East Texas this week, the result of a prolonged drought lowering water levels
Baghdad mosque attack kills MP, 27 others
An elderly bandage-swathed suicide bomber blew himself up in Baghdad's biggest Sunni mosque, killing an MP and at least 27 others in an attack that was blamed on al Qaeda on Monday. The blast was part of nationwide violence that left 35 dead on Sunday, just days before the conclu
No sign of Kadhafi as rebels overrun HQ
Tripoli celebrated into the early hours of Wednesday after rebels overran Moamer Kadhafi's compound, despite finding no sign of the Libyan strongman or his sons. Several hours later pro-Kadhafi media quoted him as saying he had abandoned the compound in a "tactical withdrawal" af
Libyan rebels control Tripoli airport
TUNIS: Libyan rebels have taken control of Tripoli airport, an Arab TV reported on Monday, citing a rebel spokesman. Meanwhile, rebels in the Libyan coastal enclave of Misrata said they had intercepted a column of troops from the city of Sirte, Moamer Kadhafi's hometown and a bas
World population will reach 7bn this year: study
The world population will reach seven billion later this year, with increases in the number of people in Africa off-setting birth rate drops elsewhere, according to a new French study published Thursday. Looking much further ahead, the National Institute for Demographic Studies (
Four die in attack near Afghan NATO base
Four security guards died Monday as suicide bombers targeted a fuel depot for NATO-led forces close to one of Afghanistan's biggest bases, where thousands of foreign troops are stationed. The attack happened at a facility belonging to logistics company Supreme, near the sprawling
Sri Lanka begins first elephant census
Thousands of workers, soldiers and volunteers fanned out across Sri Lanka on Friday to begin the country's first national elephant survey despite a boycott by some wildlife groups. Hundreds of conservationists decided not to take part because of fears prompted by comments from a
UK streets calmer after nights of riots and chaos
LONDON: Days of rioting and looting across Britain looked to be cooling on Wednesday after Prime Minister David Cameron's promised a fightback and flooded city streets with police to try to restore order. By 9.30 p.m., incidents were limited to isolated skirmishes and standoffs b
US drone attack kills 3 in Miranshah
US drone fired multiple missiles in tribal region of North Waziristan, leaving at least three people dead in the wee hours of Wednesday, Geo News reported. According to the sources, the unmanned plane fired two missiles at a house in Kharoni area of Miranshah, destroying the hous