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A Pakistani tribesman stands amongst the debris of a collapsed house hit by missiles in the North Waziristan district bordering Afghanistan on October 10, 2008. A missile strike by a suspected US spy drone hit a compound in a Pakistani tribal area bordering Afghanistan late Saturday, killing four people, security officials said.(AFP/File/Thir Khan)

More than 100 Taliban killed in Afghan clashes

4 minutes ago

KANDAHAR, Afghanistan - An Afghan official says more than 100 militants have been killed in separate battles in southern Afghanistan.

  • Indian paramilitary soldiers patrol a deserted street as shops, businesses and schools shut down a day after police killed two people during protests against the visit of Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, in Srinagar, India, Saturday, Oct. 11, 2008. On Saturday, Singh flagged off Kashmir's first-ever train in the outskirts of Srinagar. (AP Photo/Mukhtar Khan)
    Kashmir shuts down in protest as Indian PM visits 1 hour, 30 minutes ago

    SRINAGAR, India - Shops, businesses and schools were shut in the Indian portion of Kashmir on Saturday to protest a visit by the Indian prime minister who inaugurated the first train line in the disputed Himalayan region.

  • Pakistan cricket team captain Shoaib Malik (right) plays a shoot as Sri Lankan wicketkeeper Tillakaratne Dilshan looks on during the T20 Cricket tournament in King City, on October 11. Pakistan defeated Sri Lanka by three wickets.(AFP/Usman Khan)
    Officials: 3 killed in missile strike in Pakistan 2 hours, 9 minutes ago

    DERA ISMAIL KHAN, Pakistan - A suspected U.S. missile strike killed five tribesmen in a Pakistani town close to the Afghan border, the latest in a series of attacks in a region where top al-Qaida leaders are believed to be living, two intelligence officials said.

  • Mazda says no decision on sale of Ford's stake Sat Oct 11, 2:17 PM ET

    TOKYO - Mazda denied Saturday that a decision had been made by troubled Ford Motor Co. to sell its stake in the Japanese automaker, but didn't rule out a possible deal.

  • In this image provided by NASA the Soyuz spacecraft arrives at the launch pad at the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan, Friday, Oct. 10, 2008 for launch Oct. 12 to carry Expedition 18 Commander Michael Fincke, Flight Engineer Yury V. Lonchakov and American Space flight Participant Richard Garriott to the International Space Station. The three crew members will dock their Soyuz to the International Space Station on Oct. 14. Fincke and Lonchakov will spend six months on the station, while Garriott will return to Earth Oct. 24, 2008 with two of the Expedition 17 crew members currently on the International Space Station. Photo Credit: (AP Photo/NASA - Bill Ingalls)
    Russian space chief reassures US partners Sat Oct 11, 11:57 AM ET

    BAIKONUR, Kazakhstan - The ongoing global economic turmoil and increasingly strained ties between Moscow and Washington will not stand in the way of further space exploration, Russia's space agency chief said Saturday.

  • A Thai policeman removes riot shields away from a barricade separating the police headquarters from anti-government protesters occupying the Government House Saturday, Oct. 11, 2008, in Bangkok, Thailand. (AP Photo/Ed Wray)
    Supporters of Thai government rally near Bangkok Sat Oct 11, 9:46 AM ET

    BANGKOK, Thailand - Thousands of supporters of Thailand's ruling coalition gathered Saturday on the outskirts of Bangkok in a show of strength, two days ahead of a planned major protest by a group hoping to topple the elected government.

  • In this June 5, 2008 file photo, chickens look out of their pen in a downtown neighborhood in Jakarta, Indonesia. When Indonesia's health minister stopped sending bird flu viruses to a research laboratory in the U.S. out of fear Washington could use them to make biological weapons, Defense Secretary Robert Gates laughed and called it 'the nuttiest thing' he'd ever heard. Yet buried deep inside an 86-page supplement to U.S. export regulations is a single sentence barring U.S. exports of vaccines for avian bird flu for the same reason. (AP Photo/Irwin Fedriansyiah, File)
    US controls bird flu vaccines over bioweapon fears Sat Oct 11, 7:14 AM ET

    JAKARTA, Indonesia - When Indonesia's health minister stopped sending bird flu viruses to a research laboratory in the U.S. for fear Washington could use them to make biological weapons, Defense Secretary Robert Gates laughed and called it "the nuttiest thing" he'd ever heard.

  • In this frame grab made off undated North Korea's Korean Central Television (KCTV) footage aired on Saturday, Oct. 11, 2008 and distributed by South Korea's Yonhap news agency, North Korean leader Kim Jong Il claps as he inspects a female military unit in North Korea. North Korea released pictures of Kim on Saturday for the first time in nearly two months, showing the reclusive ruler looking generally well despite reports he had a serious health setback. (AP Photo/Korean Central Television via Yonhap)
    North Korea releases pictures of Kim Jong Il Sat Oct 11, 7:11 AM ET

    SEOUL, South Korea - North Korea released pictures of leader Kim Jong Il on Saturday for the first time in nearly two months, showing the reclusive ruler looking generally well despite reports he recently underwent brain surgery.

  • Tibetan spiritual leader the Dalai Lama, center, prepares to shake hands with an unidentified person at the Gaggal Airport in Dharamsala, India, Monday, Oct. 6, 2008 as he leaves for New Delhi. The Dalai Lama will undergo a second medical checkup in as many months while he recovers from exhaustion, a spokesman for the Tibetan spiritual leader said Monday.( AP Photo)
    Aide: Dalai Lama to be released from hospital soon Sat Oct 11, 7:04 AM ET

    NEW DELHI - The Dalai Lama is likely to be discharged from the hospital in the next few days, a senior aide said Saturday, a day after surgeons removed gallstones from the Tibetan spiritual leader.

  • An Afghan man is seen lying on the ground after being detained by U.S. soldiers, following a suicide attack on a U.S. military convoy in Behsood district, Nangahar province, east of Kabul, Afghanistan Friday, Oct 10, 2008. Two U.S. soldiers were wounded during the attack according to Syed Abdul Gaffar Pacha, the police chief of Nangahar. (AP Photo/Rahmat Gul)
    Afghan intel says attack on Afghan prison thwarted Sat Oct 11, 6:04 AM ET

    KABUL, Afghanistan - Afghanistan's intelligence service said Saturday it broke up a Taliban plot to attack the country's most notorious prison with a wave of suicide bombers, while the government named a new interior minister to lead the country's fledgling police.

  • Somali pirates off of Somalia's coast as seen from a US Navy ship on October 8. Pirates hijacked a Somali merchant vessel in the Indian Ocean, off the coast of Oman, an official said Friday.(AFP/US Navy/Ho)
    Official: Greek tanker hijacked near Somalia Sat Oct 11, 5:31 AM ET

    KUALA LUMPUR, Malaysia - A maritime official says a Greek chemical tanker with 20 crew members has been hijacked by armed pirates in the Gulf of Aden near Somalia.

  • A rescuer works his way down with the help of a rope, as a crane digs into the soil during an operation to rescue a 2-year-old boy trapped for more than 36 hours in a 150-foot (45-meter) -deep abandoned well in Leharkapurwa village near Agra, about 250 miles (400 kilometers) southwest of Lucknow, India, Saturday, Oct. 11, 2008. Rescue workers said the boy, Sonu Kumar, had stopped responding to his parents' voices and feared he may have lost consciousness. The army plans to dig a 75-foot (22-meter) tunnel to reach Sonu, said senior police official Raghuvir Lal. (AP Photo)
    Indian army works to rescue boy trapped in well Sat Oct 11, 4:52 AM ET

    LUCKNOW, India - Soldiers worked Saturday to rescue a 2-year-old boy trapped for more than 36 hours in a 150-foot-deep abandoned well in northern India.

  • A Chinese couple buy yogurt at a supermarket in Wuhan in central China's Hubei province Thursday, Oct. 9, 2008. More than 10,000 children remain hospitalized after being sickened in China's tainted milk scandal, officials said, as the government released its first rules on allowable levels of the chemical blamed in the ailments. (AP Photo)
    Chinese tighten dairy regulations after scandal Fri Oct 10, 2:56 PM ET

    BEIJING - China's State Council tightened quality control regulations for the dairy industry Friday, as authorities in Macau and Hong Kong reported several children had kidney stones blamed on Chinese tainted milk.

  • Lawyer appeals for freedom of Myanmar's Suu Kyi Fri Oct 10, 11:37 AM ET

    YANGON, Myanmar - A lawyer for Myanmar opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi said Friday that he has filed an appeal with the country's military government against her detention.

  • India to get first female Roman Catholic saint Fri Oct 10, 11:11 AM ET

    NEW DELHI - India is expected to get its first female Roman Catholic saint on Sunday at a time when Christians have increasingly come under attack in the predominantly Hindu country.

  • Crane collapses on Chinese kindergarten, killing 5 Fri Oct 10, 10:02 AM ET

    BEIJING - A crane at a construction site next to a Chinese kindergarten collapsed Friday, killing five children, the official Xinhua News Agency said.

  • Nepal struggling to identify plane crash victims Fri Oct 10, 9:16 AM ET

    KATMANDU, Nepal - Identification of the badly charred bodies of 14 foreign tourists who died in a plane crash near Mount Everest has been delayed by a shortage of experts and lack of equipment, a Nepalese doctor said Friday.

  • Alleged Russian arms trafficker Viktor Bout, center, is escorted by Thai prison guards to the criminal court room in Bangkok, Thailand Friday, Oct. 10, 2008. Bout, 41, has been indicted in the U.S. on four terrorism-related charges. He was arrested in Thailand on March 6 and denies any involvement in illicit activities. (AP Photo/Apichart Weerawong)
    Hearing for alleged Russian arms dealer continues Fri Oct 10, 9:14 AM ET

    BANGKOK, Thailand - The defense lawyer for a Russian man alleged to be one of the world's biggest arms dealers said Friday that his client would not receive a fair trial if extradited to the United States.

  • Vietnam to try journalists for corruption stories Fri Oct 10, 9:13 AM ET

    HANOI, Vietnam - Two Vietnamese journalists will go on trial next week for allegedly writing inaccurate stories about one of the country's most high-profile corruption cases, an official said Friday.

  • United States Defense Secretary Robert Gates, center, stands with other NATO defense ministers in front of a model of a C-17 airplane during a meeting of NATO defense ministers in Budapest, Thursday Oct. 9, 2008. The United States will push NATO allies Thursday to order their troops to target Afghanistan's heroin trade to stem the flow of drug money to the widening insurgency against the international military mission. (AP Photo/Virginia Mayo)
    NATO: Troops can target Afghan drug operations Fri Oct 10, 7:18 AM ET

    BUDAPEST, Hungary - NATO defense ministers Friday authorized their troops in Afghanistan to attack drug barons blamed for pumping up to $100 million a year into the coffers of resurgent Taliban fighters.

  • Chinese workers clean windows on the new Sanlitun shopping mall in Beijing, China Wednesday, Oct. 8, 2008. Although China's stock markets have seen significant drops following economy crisis worsens in recent days, the country's banks have largely escaped the impact of the U.S. financial crisis. (AP Photo/Andy Wong)
    Beijing to ban half its cars during high pollution Fri Oct 10, 6:57 AM ET

    BEIJING - Beijing will ban half of its 3.4 million cars from the roads during periods of very heavy pollution, a state news report said Friday.