A missile fired by a suspected US drone has killed at least five people in north-western Pakistan, security officials say. The missile destroyed a house in the Bannu district, they said.

US President-elect Barack Obama has pledged to "engage vigorously" on climate change, ahead of next month's UN summit on the issue. Mr Obama will not be at the talks in Poland but said the US would "help lead the world" once he has taken office.

LIMA (AFP) — Top officials from across the Pacific rim were set to open talks here Wednesday on the global economic crisis and to issue a joint appeal against protectionism.

Reading, chatting and texting are among the favourite activities of Britons on the toilet, a survey has found.

The University of Wisconsin-Madison and a Wausau, Wis., company have come up with a 37-inch, bullet and bomb-proof Humvee tire based on a polymeric web so cool looking there's no need for hub caps. Resilient Technologies and Wisconsin-Madison's Po...

Given the speed at which the federal government is throwing money at the financial crisis, the average taxpayer, never mind member of Congress, might not be faulted for losing track.

An extensive new research study has found that unhappy people watch more TV while those consider themselves happy spend more time reading and socializing.

(...) SketchUp is software you can use to build 3D models of anything: your house, killer robots, furniture, trees, abstract art — anything. Architects and engineers use it to design buildings and other structures. Woodworkers use it to plan their...

AUSTRALIA could play a key role in the 21st century space race, with competition heating up between Japan and the US to build the world's first "space elevator".

PETA has released a downloadable videogame parody of the Cooking Mama series usually found on Nintendo game consoles. The game includes such family friendly activities as plucking feathers and removing the internal organs from a dead turkey.

Usher kicked off the 2008 Victorias Secret Fashion Show in Miami Beach Florida. The show featured 35 supermodels including Heidi Klum and Adriana Lima. Models showcased 68 outfits but it was Limas 5 million dollar outfit that stole the show. Desig...

BRISBANE has been declared a natural disaster area, as soldiers help repair damage caused by one of the biggest storms to hit the city in two decades.

Seth MacFarlane just got a little more awesome. The "Family Guy" creator was majorly dissed outside Crown Bar last week by a cocky doorman. But instead of whining about his experience, he took the classy route and sent three bouquets totaling $5,0...

For Beatles fans across the world it has gained near mythical status. The 14-minute improvised track called 'Carnival of Light' was recorded in 1967 and played just once in public. It was never released because three of the Fab Four thought it too...

VANCOUVER, Canada (AFP) — Seven people died and one man survived a plane crash on an island off Canada's rugged west coast, a rescue center spokesman told AFP.

The disturbance of human remains in burial grounds is to be allowed for the first time since the early Victorian era to deal with a shortage of graves, The Times has learnt.

Maja, appropriately named after the Roman goddess of fertility, is a symbol of hope to millions of infertile women around the world who could benefit from the same pioneering procedure which enabled her mother Susanne to conceive naturally.

Everyone knew that Baby P was in danger. In eight months of abuse, he was seen no fewer than 60 times by health or social workers. But his mother was able to conceal the scale of the danger he was in by manipulating social workers, police and heal...

The residue of the Spygate controversy and the simmering bad blood between head coaches Bill Belichick and Eric Mangini will have to take a back seat on Thursday night.

Child vampires have it easy. They can lurk in the shadows beneath an overpass, feign a need for help, then pounce on an assisting stranger, the way 12-year-old Eli (Lina Leandersson) does in Tomas Alfredson's "Let the Right One In." She begs for h...

The Queen Elizabeth 2 has left its home port of Southampton for its last journey ever, heading for a new life as a floating hotel in Dubai.

BRUSSELS — The European Union said Monday that it would resume negotiations with Russia that it had halted following Russia’s invasion of Georgia, in a significant step toward normalizing ties with Moscow.

The Queen's son and heir passes yet another milestone in his life this week when he becomes the first Prince of Wales to reach the age of 60 without becoming monarch. It was in January, when he passed 59 years and 74 days, that Prince Charles reac...

Yash Raj Films timed the release of Rab Ne Bana Di Jodi's promo aptly and made sure Ghajini's promo became a stale news. The talk of the town soon became Shahrukh's matured and elderly look with a moustache in the movie. Now the secret of the look...

The issue of legalizing homosexuality has led to heated arguments in the corridors of power in New Delhi, but that hasn't stopped a Pakistani gay from professing his love for an Indian man.

WASHINGTON (AP) — Among the offices Barack Obama has yet to fill, one has a special importance to his family: first dog. At his first postelection news conference on Friday, the president-elect called choosing a dog a "major issue" in the Obama ho...

A Brooklyn-raised Marine sergeant and his new bride were tortured and killed execution-style in their California home - allegedly by four other Marines under his command.

LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - Best-selling U.S. author Michael Crichton, who wrote such novels as "The Andromeda Strain" and "Jurassic Park" and created the popular TV drama "ER," has died unexpectedly of cancer at age 66, his family said on Wednesday.

BANGKOK (AFP) — A Thai man was shot and injured on Sunday after an argument with volunteer guards at an anti-government protest camp in Bangkok, police said, as tensions heated up between rival political groups.

At 6.30 pm. on 26th October 2008 Pattaya police received a report from a Thai lady saying her friend had attempted to take her own life because a foreign man had stolen all her valuable possessions.

Toronto police raided a home in the city's east end Monday afternoon, hoping to close in on a man they suspect fired a gun into a crowd standing outside a bar, killing an innocent bystander.

Jennifer Hudson endured more heartbreak Monday when she identified the body of her 7-year-old nephew - found shot to death in an SUV - at the Chicago city morgue.

LONDON (Reuters) - An alleged U.S. attack on a Syrian village near the border with Iraq was an "outrageous crime," a Syrian diplomat told the BBC.

Prices drop, but the economy might not benefit

SHANGHAI -- As shock waves from the credit crisis began to spread around the world last month, China scrambled to protect itself. Among the most extreme measures it took was to impose new export taxes to keep critical supplies such as grains and f...

JERUSALEM (AFP) — Israeli Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni was set to call for early elections on Sunday after failing to form a new government, dashing faint hopes of reaching a peace deal with the Palestinians in 2008.

As financial markets tumble, the world's housing markets have continued to slide during the year to end-Q2 2008. Inflation-adjusted house prices fell in 21 out of the 33 countries for which there is up-to-date published data.