CANBERRA: Australia`s agonizing wait for a new government is expected to finally end on Tuesday, with independent lawmakers holding the balance of power in parliament due to decide their allegiances later in the day.Prime Minister Julia Gillard`s Labor Party is narrowly favored to win the

Sydney: Pieter Wessels, president of the Commonwealth Journalists Association (CJA) in Australia and a long-time member of the CJA international executive committee, is dead. He was 71, authorities said.Wessels died of bone cancer in a Sydney hospital, CJA headquarters in Toronto

KATHMANDU: Nepal`s Maoist party scrambled Monday to win fresh support for its bid to head the next government, a day ahead of a parliamentary vote on a new prime minister -- the seventh attempt to pick a leader.Six ballots in the 601-member parliament, the last on Sunday, have failed to

KATHMANDU: Nepal`s Maoist party scrambled Monday to win fresh support for its bid to head the next government, a day ahead of a parliamentary vote on a new prime minister -- the seventh attempt to pick a leader.Six ballots in the 601-member parliament, the last on Sunday, have failed to

Kinshasa: At least 200 people were feared dead after their boat caught fire and capsized on a river in the Congo, Xinhua reported.The boat overturned after its engine caught fire on the Kasai river in central Congo Saturday night, local media reports quoted a survivor as saying.BDST: 0954

Islamabad: At least 18 people, including nine school students, were killed and more than 40 injured Monday in yet another suicide attack in Pakistan, this time targeting a police station in Lakki Marwat, a town in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province. About 130 people have died in Pakistan in

Guatemala City: At least 42 people have died in mudslides that followed heavy rains in Guatemala, local media reported Sunday.Fifteen people were killed in one mudslide alone on the Pan-American Highway near Guatemala City. According to eyewitness reports Sunday, numerous other people had

CHRISTCHURCH: New Zealand extended a state of emergency in earthquake-hit Christchurch Monday as troops enforced a no-go zone amid reports of looting in the country`s second-biggest city.Authorities said strong aftershocks continued to rock Christchurch following the 7.0-magnitude quake

JERUSALEM: Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said on Sunday that creative thinking was needed to end the decades-old conflict with the Palestinians.Washington meanwhile announced that US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton would travel to the region later this month for the first

SEOUL: North Korea has finished preparing for a key meeting of its ruling communist party, a South Korean official said Monday, but there was still no indication when it would get under way.  The conference, the first of its type since 1966, is widely expected to confirm the youngest

TOKYO: More than six in ten Japanese want Prime Minister Naoto Kan to win his party leadership battle with powerbroker Ichiro Ozawa, polls showed Monday. In a survey conducted at the weekend by the Yomiuri Shimbun newspaper, 66 percent of voters said Kan would be a better choice than

Patna: Maoist guerrillas released three Bihar policemen Monday, seven days after they were abducted from Lakhisarai district, said state police chief Neelmani who added that they were safe and healthy."The three policemen have been freed by the Maoists. They are safe and healthy. They

BAGHDAD: Iraqi security forces were under the spotlight Monday after a coordinated suicide attack on an army complex killed 12 people, with US troops among those who fired back in a bid to repel the operation.American involvement in the response to Sunday`s attack was the first reported

TAIPEI: Taiwan has rejected a claim by the Chinese communist party that it played the major role in defending China from Japan`s invasion during the Second World War, it was reported Sunday.Taipei says the Kuomintang was the ruling party of China during the eight-year Sino-Japan War,

KATHMANDU: Nepal`s parliament failed for the sixth time to elect a prime minister on Sunday, as the house speaker warned of a "serious crisis" if a new government is not in place soon.The country has been without a government since June 30, when former prime minister Madhav Kumar Nepal

KARACHI: Pakistani authorities were Sunday trying to protect another town from floodwaters in southern Sindh province, as the nation continues to grapple with its worst natural disaster in living memory.A month after monsoons caused devastating floods throughout the country, submerging an

COPIAPO, Chile: Chilean miners trapped deep below ground mark a grim milestone Sunday -- a full month since a cave-in cut off their escape route to the surface.But officials warned it may take even longer to rescue them.On Saturday, the 33 men for the first time got to speak to their

KATHMANDU: Nepal`s parliament will on Sunday hold its sixth vote to try to elect a new prime minister and end a two-month leadership vacuum in the troubled Himalayan nation.Nepal has been without a government since June 30, when former prime minister Madhav Kumar Nepal stood down under

GUATEMALA CITY: President Alvaro Colom declared a national emergency in Guatemala after weeks of driving rains triggered landslides Saturday that killed 10 people on a bus and four inside a home."Top priority at present is dealing with this emergency. There are no funds left to deal with

CHRISTCHURCH: New Zealand braced for more destruction Sunday as aftershocks and an approaching storm threatened an area of the country hit by the most devastating earthquake in decades.Prime Minister John Key said it was "a miracle" no one had died when the major 7.0 magnitude quake