TEHRAN: President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad said Iran is working on a three-stage rocket to carry a satellite 1,000 kilometres (more than 600 miles) into space, Fars news agency reported on Thursday. "The country`s scientists are working on a three-stage rocket that will take us to 1,000

HONG KONG: Hong Kong`s richest man said Thursday he would donate more generously to charities, but stopped short of following the 40 US billionaires who pledged to give at least half of their fortunes away. Li Ka-shing, who has amassed his estimated 21.3 billion US dollar fortune by

MUZAFFARABAD: At least 22 people were killed on Thursday when a passenger bus plunged into a river in Pakistani-administered Kashmir, officials said. The accident took place in Garhi Dupatta village, 22 kilometres (14 miles) east of regional capital Muzaffarabad, senior local

ZAMBOANGA: One person was killed and at least 12 others were injured when a bomb exploded at an airport in the restive southern Philippines on Thursday, authorities said. An improvised explosive device (IED) caused the blast near the arrivals area of Zamboanga airport, regional police

TOKYO: United Nations chief Ban Ki-moon on Thursday called for the total elimination of nuclear weapons, during a visit to Nagasaki, one of the two Japanese cities hit by US atom bombs in World War II. "The only way to ensure that such weapons will never again be used is to eliminate

GENEVA: Pakistan`s worst floods in generations brought on by torrential monsoon rains have affected more than four million people and killed some 1,600, the United Nations estimated Thursday. "Altogether, more than four million people are in a way or another affected," said Manuel

NOVO POKROVKA: Kyrgyz police Friday fired in the air to disperse 2,000 anti-government protestors rallying at a roadblock outside Bishkek to support a renegade businessman. Hundreds of members of the security forces were repeatedly firing in the air to disperse the protestors at the

BISHKEK: More than one thousand protestors gathered outside Kyrgyzstan`s parliament in the capital Bishkek on Thursday, demanding a meeting with the ex-Soviet state`s interim government.The demonstrators -- supporters of businessman and political leader Urmat Baryktobasov -- demanded that

BEIJING: Four protesters in Beijing cut off their fingertips and swallowed them in a desperate bid to bring attention to their cause, state media reported Thursday.The men, from the central province of Hunan, travelled to the capital to seek resolution of a dispute with their former

NAIROBI: Supporters of Kenya`s proposed new constitution have mustered twice as many votes as its opponents with more than six million ballots already tallied on Thursday, provisional results showed.No victor was yet declared by the Interim Independent Electoral Commission (IIEC) but the

ISLAMABAD: The United Nations rushed a top envoy to Pakistan on Thursday to address the urgent plight of 3.2 million people hit by the worst floods in generations as officials warned the crisis was spreading.As the humanitarian disaster pushed into a second week, fears are growing of a

SEOUL: A forum of 100 global business chiefs will be held alongside the next G20 summit to underscore the Group of 20`s role as the top world body for economic cooperation, officials said Thursday.South Korea, which chairs the G20 leaders` meeting on November 11-12 in Seoul, will push to

MAKASSAR: Up to 10 people were feared dead after two cargo ships collided in Indonesian waters, an official and survivors said Thursday.The Trisal Pratama, carrying 2,000 tonnes of cement, sank after it collided with the Indimatam, loaded with scrap metal, in the Makassar Strait early

WASHINGTON: The United States is in advanced negotiations to share nuclear fuel and technology with Vietnam, including a proviso that would allow Hanoi to enrich uranium on its own, the Wall Street Journal reported Friday.Congressional critics of the deal say the terms would undercut the

MANILA: The Philippines is suffering a crippling brain drain with many of its most talented and qualified workers heading overseas for higher-paid jobs and better lifestyles, employers say.The shock resignations last week of 25 Philippine Airlines pilots, who left for bigger salaries

HAMBURG: Marlon Brando started it, Diana Ross and Nicolas Cage picked up the trend and Johnny Depp perfected it. The ueber-rich and famous often dream of owning their own private island and a German-born Canadian entrepreneur has made a fortune making it happen for them.As founder of one

WASHINGTON: US officials said Wednesday they were highly confident no more oil would leak into the Gulf of Mexico after BP successfully plugged the well, but said there was still a lot more work to do.We "have reached a static condition in the well that allows us to have high confidence

NEW YORK: Bill Gates and Warren Buffett think fellow US billionaires should donate most of their vast fortunes to charity -- and they revealed Wednesday that 40 are set to do just that."Forty of the wealthiest families and individuals in the United States have committed to returning the

NEW DELHI: Violent protests in Indian Kashmir have forced the suspension of train services and fuel supplies to the Muslim-majority region, officials said Wednesday.Anand Sharma, president of the Jammu and Kashmir Tankers` Association, which supplies 2.4 million litres (634,000 gallons)

RAIPUR: Indian police and Maoist fighters were locked in a fierce gun battle on Wednesday in the central state of Chhattisgarh, one of the rebels` key strongholds, officials said.The clash took place in deep jungle about 500 kilometres (300 miles) south of the state capital Raipur, and no