ISLAMABAD: Pakistani Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif is among the few parliamentarians who are billionaires, revealed statements of assets and liabilities of lawmakers for the year 2012-13 issued by the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP).

JUBA: The United Nations on Thursday said that it was speeding reinforcements to its beleaguered peacekeeping force in South Sudan, where ferocious fighting was raging in the oil-producing north.

WASHINGTON: US secretary of state John Kerry has expressed concern over the crackdown on Muslim Brotherhood after Egypt's military-backed government designated it a terrorist group.

CAIRO: Egypt's military-installed government declared the Muslim Brotherhood of ousted president Mohamed Morsi a "terrorist" group Wednesday, banning all its activities, including demonstrations, ministers said after a cabinet meeting.

TOKYO: Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe visited Yasukuni war shrine on Thursday in a move sure to infuriate China and South Korea.

AUGUSTA, Maine: Utility crews from Maine to Michigan and into Canada worked Wednesday to restore power to more than half a million homes that were left in the dark by last weekend's ice storm, which has been linked to 27 deaths.

VATICAN CITY: Pope Francis held his first Christmas Eve mass in the Vatican on Tuesday by highlighting the role played by humble shepherds in the Nativity as thousands flocked to the historic site of Jesus's birth in Bethlehem

NAIROBI: UN investigators discovered a mass grave in a rebel-held city in South Sudan, the United Nations said on Tuesday, as a possible opening occurred for negotiations to avert civil war in the world's newest country where ethnic violence has erupted.

BETHLEHEM, WEST BANK: Thousands of Christian pilgrims from around the world packed the West Bank town of Bethlehem for Christmas Eve celebrations on Tuesday, bringing warm holiday cheer to the biblical birthplace of Jesus on a cool, clear night.

JERUSALEM: Israeli Mossad agents operating in Ethiopia in 1962 unwittingly trained Nelson Mandela in hand-to-hand combat, weaponry and sabotage, according to a document released by Israel's state archives.