CULTURE AND SPORT

Rome was on high alert on Christmas Eve after parcel bomb blasts left two staffers at the Chilean and Swiss embassies in the Italian capital badly injured.

Pope Benedict XVI says that God is faithful to his promises but often surprises us by how he fulfils them.

Russia was due Friday to give initial approval to a historic nuclear arms pact with the US that opens the way for the former Cold War foes' cooperation.

South Korea's military Thursday held a live-fire drill involving tanks, artillery and jet fighters, in a major show of strength.

The long list of trade disputes between the United States and China lengthened further, as Washington asked the WTO to examine subsidies to the Chinese wind power sector.

India's animators are hoping that a film starring two of Bollywood's biggest stars will revive the sector's fortunes, after earlier efforts to popularise the cartoon genre fell flat.

Oil prices spiked to fresh two-year highs on Wednesday as traders reacted to news of plunging crude reserves in the United States.

Southern California was bracing for the most intense storm system yet, with evacuations ordered, roads covered by water and mud.

Hackers attacked the website of the World Taekwondo Federation after it punished a Taiwanese fighter for allegedly cheating at the Asian Games.

Scores of villagers on a remote Japanese island chain in the Pacific scrambled for higher ground after a major 7.4-magnitude offshore quake sparked a tsunami alert.

The southern central province of Binh Thuan will host the International Sailing Festival 2011 in Mui Ne Resort on January 15-18.

European airports fought to clear a backlog of thousands of stranded Christmas travellers as arctic conditions gripped the continent and sparked fresh delays and cancellations.

French families arrived in Haiti to fetch a group of Haitian children they adopted in the wake of a devastating earthquake that ravaged the impoverished country.

Skygazers with a clear view in N.America and Europe were greeted with a celestial treat

The number of international troops killed in Afghanistan this year has passed 700, an independent website said Tuesday.

Brazil this year overtook Germany as the fourth-biggest car market in the world -- and foreign investors see huge potential as the Latin American giant becomes increasingly prosperous.

Ho Chi Minh City Youth’s Cultural House has mapped out numerous cultural activities to welcome in the New Year from December 24 to 31.

Autistic children have difficulty finding things such as shoes in a bedroom or apples at a supermarket, impairing their ability to lead normal lives, according to a new study.

South Korea staged a live-fire exercise on a flashpoint island near the disputed border, but NK said it would not hit back.