Using twin telescopes at the Keck Observatory in Hawaii, astronomers have discovered 18 new Jupiter-like planets orbiting massive stars.Researchers at the California Institute of Technology (Caltech), surveyed about 300 stars, and focussed on those dubbed “retired” A-type stars that are more than one and…

US officials have expressed concern at the loss of a drone near Iran's eastern border with Afghanistan.A Pentagon spokesman said the US were worried especially as the unmanned aircraft was "in a place where we're not able to get to it".Iranian media say…

An upcoming cycle of stormy solar activity risks causing damage to electrical transformers and threatening vulnerable energy infrastructure around the globe, a report by an insurance group says.The sun follows a predictable 11 year activity cycle, with the next period of stormy activity expected…

Pakistan is refusing to take part in a US military investigation of air strikes near the Afghan border that left 24 Pakistani soldiers dead, the Pentagon said Friday.Pakistan was invited to cooperate in the probe into Saturday's incident, which has enraged Islamabad and plunged…

Clashes between forces loyal to Yemeni President Ali Abdullah Saleh and dissident tribesmen in the country's second-largest city Taez killed five people on Thursday, medics said."Five people were killed and 20 wounded," one medic told.Witnesses said the fighting erupted early in the day…

A fire engulfed a Hong Kong residential tower and popular tourist market early Wednesday, killing nine people and injuring 30, police said.Ambulances rushed the injured to nearby hospitals as firefighters battled to put out the blaze, which started before dawn at a stall in…

A least 14 people were killed when a Rawalpindi bound van went out of control and hit a tree catching fire later, Geo News reported Tuesday.According to details, the passenger van was on its way to Rawalpindi from Peshawar when the driver lost control…

A Russian Proton-M rocket completed the successful launch Saturday of an advanced Chinese communications satellite that should help expand television coverage in parts of Southeast Asia.The Roscosmos space agency said the AsiaSat 7 satellite was placed in its designed orbit after being launched from…

Russia on Thursday announced its scientists had for the first time made contact with its stranded Mars probe Phobos-Grunt, a day after the European Space Agency said it had received a signal."A signal from the probe has been received and some telemetry data. At…

Egyptians are set to vote on Monday in the first legislative elections since Hosni Mubarak was ousted, but a deadly countdown to the polls has cast a dark shadow over Egypt's first step to democratic rule.For days, bloody clashes have raged in Cairo's Tahrir…