News

Brown calls for pressure on OPEC on oil price

Prime Minister Gordon Brown called on Sunday for international pressure on oil producers' group OPEC to bring oil prices down.

WEA International Director visits key church leaders in Vietnam

During his first visit to Vietnam since becoming WEA's International Director, Dr. Geoff Tunnicliffe met with key church leaders in Ho Chi Minh City in early April, and invited a number of leaders to come as observers to the WEA General Assembly in Thailand later this year.

Microsoft withdraws offer for Yahoo

Microsoft Corp walked away from its bid to buy Yahoo on Saturday after the Internet company turned down its offer to raise the price by $5 billion (2.53 billion pounds) to $47.5 billion.

Rice and Barak meeting to focus on West Bank barriers

U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice on Sunday met Israel's defence minister to discuss removing West Bank roadblocks as she began a day of meetings that aim to speed up Israeli-Palestinian peace talks.

Torch arrives in China proper to thunderous welcome

Thunderous applause and cheers greeted the Olympic torch on Sunday as it began the first leg of its marathon relay through mainland China after a protest-harried overseas journey.

China seeking 'positive outcome' from Tibet talks

China's president said he was hoping for a "positive outcome" from talks with envoys of the Dalai Lama, which were due to open on Sunday, but state media kept up a barrage of attacks on Tibet's exiled spiritual leader.

Cyclone turns Burma city into 'war zone'

Burma's military government declared disaster areas in five states on Sunday after a Category 3 cyclone tore through the Irrawaddy delta region, killing at least four people in Yangon, state newspapers said.

Malaysia angers women with travel-restriction idea

Malaysian women's groups reacted with outrage on Sunday to a government proposal to impose restrictions on women planning to travel overseas on their own.

Bolivia's richest region votes on autonomy drive

Bolivia's richest region of Santa Cruz votes on greater autonomy from the central government on Sunday in a referendum that poses the biggest challenge yet for leftist President Evo Morales.

Japan and China keen to avoid 1998 Jiang visit rerun

Ten years after a disastrous visit to Japan by China's top leader dominated by their bitter wartime past, Beijing and Tokyo are keen to avoid a rerun that would risk damage to the deep economic ties between the Asian rivals.

Cruise ship runs aground off Latvian coast

A cruise ship with 984 people on board ran aground off the coast of Latvia on Sunday, the coast guard said.

U.S. rocket strike in Baghdad wounds 20

The U.S. military fired rockets at a target near a major hospital in eastern Baghdad on Saturday, wounding 20 people and damaging several ambulances, the head of the hospital said.

Johnson pledges to fight crime

Boris Johnson, fresh from being elected London's first Conservative mayor, pledged on Saturday to tackle crime and teenage delinquency as he prepared to replace Labour's Ken Livingstone in City Hall.

Plane with 4 Britons lost in Brazil

A small plane carrying six people, including four British businessmen, has disappeared along Brazil's northeastern coast, a Brazilian airline said on Saturday.

McCanns convinced Madeleine alive

The parents of Madeleine McCann remain convinced their daughter is still alive after she went missing from a sleepy Portuguese holiday resort a year ago, they said on Saturday.

The fiancÃ©e of a member of the Royal Family has renounced her Catholic faith, which effectively allows her future husband to stay in line to the throne.