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Fresh clashes in northeast India, toll rises to 22

New clashes took the death toll from ethnic violence in India’s remote northeast to 22 on Tuesday despite an official curfew backed by shoot-on-sight orders, the police said. Fighting flared overnight between Bodo... Full story

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‘40 India nuclear plant workers contaminated’

More than 40 workers at a nuclear power station in northern India have been exposed to tritium radiation in two separate leaks in the past five weeks, company managers said on Tuesday. Full story

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Pakistan govt asks Supreme Court to drop orders

the Pakistani government Tuesday asked the Supreme Court to withdraw orders over reopening corruption cases against the president in a legal wrangle which has already cost one prime minister his job. Full story

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US drone kills 12 in Pakistan

US drone aircraft struck a militant hideout in northwest Pakistan near the border with Afghanistan on Monday, killing at least 12 suspected militants, Pakistani intelligence officials said. Full story

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Syrian refugee numbers rise, plan needed, EU says

The number of Syrian refugees fleeing fighting in their country has reached 115,000 and aid agencies must develop a plan to deal with the growing humanitarian emergency, EU officials said on Monday. Full story

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Armed conflict possible in South China Sea: ICG

Tensions over competing claims in the South China Sea could escalate into conflict, with an arms build-up among rival nations raising the temperature, an international think tank warned Tuesday. Full story

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Young African women risk HIV infections from older men

Poverty drove single teenage mother Kate Mzungu to seek out a rich older man, who buys her food and pays for her housing in exchange for the pleasures of her young company. But that includes having unprotected... Full story

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Study raises hope for new drugs for resistant TB

A new combination of three drugs killed 99 per cent of patients’ tuberculosis bacteria in two weeks, raising hope for a new weapon against increasingly resistant forms of TB. Full story

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Afghans embrace social media as NATO pullout nears

Ten years after the fall of the Taliban, who banned modern technology as un-Islamic, the use of social media in Afghanistan is booming as politicians, warlords and even militants rush to get their message across. Full story

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Deadly fighting erupts in Tajikistan after general’s murder

At least 12 Tajik troops and 30 militants were killed in a military operation to reassert control over a restive region close to the Afghan border after the murder of a top security agent, officials said Tuesday. Full story

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Scores injured as typhoon lashes HK

More than 100 people were injured and trees were ripped from the ground as a typhoon lashed Hong Kong packing winds in excess of 140 kilometres an hour, officials said Tuesday. Full story

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China censors coverage of deadly Beijing floods

Beijing’s propaganda chief has ordered Chinese media to stick to good-news about weekend floods, according to a report, after the death of at least 37 people sparked fierce criticism of the government. Full story

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South Korea’s president apologises for graft scandal

The South Korean president, Lee Myung-bak, issued a public apology on Tuesday for what he said was ‘unsavory’ conduct by people close to him, two weeks after his brother was arrested in a graft scandal that also... Full story

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First US woman in space dies

Sally Ride, the first American woman to journey into space, died on Monday after a 17-month battle with pancreatic cancer, her foundation announced. She was 61. Ride first launched into space in 1983 aboard Challenger on the seventh Full story

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First court appearance for US movie house shooting suspect

Americans got a first look at presumed gunman James Holmes who made brief court hearing Monday, but remained perplexed over what triggered his alleged movie house shooting frenzy that took the lives of 12 people. Full story

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