The European Union (EU) brushed up its trade talks with Latin American regional blocs Saturday in Lima, making progress with Mexico, the Andean Community and Central America.

A barrier lake, which was formed by the blocking of a river following the quake in Sichuan province burst but no casualty has been reported, disaster relief officials said late Saturday.

Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva said Saturday at a business meeting in Lima that South America is in top form

A committee formed Saturday in Doha from six members of the Lebanese rivals has agreed on adopting a new election law, DPA learned from a delegate

Veteran US Democratic Senator Edward "Ted" Kennedy was taken to hospital Saturday after suffering a seizure, a spokeswoman said.

A strong aftershock, measuring 6 on the Richter scale, jolted Jiangyou city of southwest China's Sichuan province at 1.08 a.m. Sunday, according to the China Earthquake Networks Centre.

Ecuadorian President Rafael Correa said here Saturday that he is willing to step down from office if it is proved that his government backed the leftist Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC).

Veteran Democratic Senator Edward Kennedy was taken to hospital Saturday amid symptoms of a possible stroke, the television news network CNN reported

A French warship carrying 1,000 tonnes of aid for cyclone victims in Myanmar is off the south coast of the devastated Irrawaddy delta, the French Defence Ministry said in Paris Saturday.

The US House of Representatives passed legislation Thursday calling for the withdrawal of US troops from Iraq by the end of 2009, while rejecting a spending measure of $163 billion for the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan

Iran and a delegation of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) finished their three-day talks here without reaching any new results, Iran's envoy to the UN nuclear watchdog told ISNA news agency Thursday

Russia has shut down its third reactor at the Leningrad nuclear power station, located in north-western region of the country, state-controlled nuclear power corporation Rosenergoatom said Thursday.

A group of five Indian workers have launched a hunger strike in front of the White House demanding a US Congressional investigation into their "exploitation" by American companies.

US stocks rallied Wednesday after government data showed consumer prices had risen less than expected.

Under the pressure of a court-ordered deadline, the US Wednesday classified the polar bear as a threatened species because of global warming and rapidly melting Arctic ice.

British MPs belonging to the ruling Labour Party Wednesday issued a strong condemnation of the terrorist outrage in Jaipur, saying "the palace of India will not fall" to terrorism.

The Indian high commission in London and consulates general in Birmingham and Edinburgh - that often see snaking queues of visa seekers - are to start outsourcing visa-related work in order to cope with a spurt in the number of Britons visiting India, the high commission said Wednesday

Thirteen days after Cyclone Nargis smashed into Myanmar, the international community has made some progress in getting emergency aid and even aid workers into the reclusive, military-controlled nation, but not enough, the UN said Wednesday.

Pope Benedict XVI Wednesday urged the faithful to join him in "fervid prayer" for the victims of the earthquake in China.

China's justice ministry Wednesday issued an emergency notice urging judiciary departments in quake-stricken areas to mobilize personnel to save injured inmates and other staffs in jails.

Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad Tuesday predicted no changes in relations with Russia during the presidency of Dmitry Medvedev

Colombia Tuesday extradited to the US 14 commanders of extreme-right paramilitary groups who were suspected of drug trafficking

Bank of Baroda, a leading Indian public sector bank, has signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with Dubai-based real estate company Dubai Properties for financing buyers of the latter's products in the United Arab Emirates (UAE).

Nine Algerian soldiers were killed by suspected Islamic terrorists in two separate attacks, Algerian media reported Tuesday.

Benazir Bhutto, then prime minister of Pakistan, carried critical nuclear data on CDs in her overcoat to Pyongyang in 1993 and brought back North Korea's missile information on her return journey, says a new political biography of the late leader.