MOSCOW: Chechnya`s guerrilla chief and self-proclaimed "Emir of the Caucasus" Doku Umarov announced Sunday he was stepping down in a video posted on YouTube."We have unanimously decided that I shall leave my post today," said the bearded rebel fighter who claimed to be behind the Moscow

BRASILIA: Six sites located in Brazil, China, Mexico, France`s Reunion Island and the South Pacific nation of Kiribati won World Heritage status Sunday from a UNESCO panel meeting in Brazil.Four existing World Heritage sites were also expanded to include nearby natural or cultural

WASHINGTON: A failure of the cooling system on the International Space Station forced astronauts to reroute power Sunday as NASA planned emergency spacewalks to fix the problem.One of two cooling loops shut down Saturday night, triggering alarms throughout the orbiting station, which is

HAVANA: With government plans afoot to reshape Cuba`s work force by cutting the bloat out of some payrolls, President Raul Castro said Sunday he would allow more small private businesses.The economy is 95 percent in state hands at the moment. Castro`s move is aimed at limiting the

SRINAGAR: A third straight day of clashes between security forces and anti-India protesters in Kashmir killed seven people Sunday, four of them in blasts triggered by an attack on a police station.Despite strict curfews across the Muslim-majority Kashmir Valley -- including the main city

PESHAWAR: The death toll from Pakistan`s worst floods in living memory stood at over 1,100 on Monday, with water-borne disease emerging as a threat to survivors.More than 1.5 million people have been affected by flash floods and landslides brought on by monsoon rain in the northwest

SRINAGAR - Three protesters, including a girl, were killed Sunday in Indian Kashmir, taking to nine the number of young people shot dead by security forces in three days of street clashes, police said.The latest casualties mark the deadliest phase in the Muslim-majority Himalayan

KABUL - Dutch troops ended their mission in Afghanistan Sunday after four "proud" years, in a departure experts say signals the beginning of a drawdown of foreign forces that will leave a worrying void.The pull-out is the first significant drawdown of troops from the Afghan war, now in

ISLAMABAD, August 1, 2010 (AFP) - The death toll in the worst flooding to hit Pakistan topped 1,000, officials said on Sunday."More than 1,000 people have been killed by floods in different parts of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province," provincial information minister Mian Iftikhar Hussain told

MUZAFFARABAD: The death toll from floods in Pakistan passed 900 on Sunday as nearly 50 people were confirmed dead in the capital of Pakistani-controlled Kashmir, officials said."Forty-seven people have been killed and another 39 injured by floods in different parts of Muzaffarabad" since

KANDAHAR, Afghanistan (Reuters) - Six civilians were killed on Sunday by a roadside bomb in Afghanistan`s southern Kandahar province, an official said, as civilian casualties continued to mount amid an increase in violence by insurgents.Nine civilians were wounded in the blast, which hit

JERUSALEM - Israeli warplanes on Sunday launched two pre-dawn raids on two tunnels used by smugglers in the southern Gaza Strip, in response to a new rocket attack by Palestinian militants, the army said.A military spokesman said the tunnels targeted were used to smuggle arms into the

SEOUL: A North Korean mine which drifted along a river into the neighbouring South killed a man and badly injured another when it exploded, military officials said Sunday.Several wooden box mines have been retrieved by South Korean soldiers and police, but it was not immediately clear how

BRUSSELS: The European Commission said Saturday it had given 30 million euros in humanitarian aid to help the most needy in Pakistan, including those hit by flooding that has killed at least 800 people."The European Commission has adopted a 30-million-euro (39-million-dollar) humanitarian

WASHINGTON: Twenty years ago, Saddam Hussein`s forces invaded Kuwait, setting in motion US military action that is only now coming to a close, as American troops prepare to withdraw from Iraq.The ill-advised move by Saddam triggered a US-led response that quickly pushed his army out of

BOGOTA: Colombian President Alvaro Uribe denied Saturday that he planned to launch a military attack on neighboring Venezuela, denouncing President Hugo Chavez after Caracas ordered troops to the border."Colombia has never thought of attacking the brotherly people of the Bolivarian

JERUSALEM: A rocket fired by Gaza militants slammed into southern Israel on Saturday night for the second time in less than 36 hours, causing damages but no casualties, the military said."The rocket exploded near the town of Sderot (southern Israel), damaging a university building," an

RAMALLAH: US President Barack Obama has warned Palestinian leader Mahmud Abbas that failure to resume direct peace talks with Israel could undermine US-Palestinian ties, Palestinian officials said on Saturday.Obama made the warning in a letter to Abbas but also pledged to rally Arab,

BAGHDAD: July was the deadliest month in Iraq since May 2008 with a total of 535 people killed across the country as a result or violence, according to government figures released on Saturday.A total of 396 civilians, 89 policemen and 50 soldiers died in attacks in July, data compiled by

PESHAWAR: Rescue workers and troops in northwest Pakistan struggled Saturday to reach thousands of people affected by the country`s worst floods in living memory, as the death toll rose to 800.The United Nations said almost a million people had been affected by the flooding, and at least