BEIJING: At least 14 people were killed and eight others injured after a double-decker sleeper coach plunged off a bridge on the Yangtze River in China's central Hubei Province, authorities said on Wednesday.

LOS ANGELES: The Catholic Archdiocese of Los Angeles has agreed to pay nearly $10 million to four men who alleged they were molested by a former priest in the 1970s, their lawyers said Tuesday.

NEW YORK: A New York judge blocked mayor Michael Bloomberg's planned ban on giant sodas on Monday, dealing a setback to his public health agenda just hours before curbs on selling such drinks were due to begin.

Judge Milton Tingling ruled that measures to restrict soda servings to a maximum of 16 ounces (470 milliliters) in restaurants and other venues, were "arbitrary and capricious," and he was barring the plan "permanently."

SLAMABAD: Despite strong opposition from the US, Pakistan's President Asif Ali Zardari and Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmedinijad on Monday inaugurated construction work of a long-delayed $7.5 billion gas pipeline from Iran to Pakistan.

The inauguration ceremony of gas pipeline which will pass through Pakistan's restive Baluchistan province was held in the Iranian border city of Chabahar. Presidents of both states came with delegations of ministers and top officials as well as representatives of several Arab states.

MOSCOW: Prominent Afghan actor Nazar Mohammad Majnonyar Helmandi who starred in over a dozen films highlighting the struggle against drug trafficking and terrorism was killed in a Nato air strike in southern Afghanistan

STOCKHOLM: She was one of the better kept secrets of Sweden's royal household: a commoner and divorcee whose relationship with Prince Bertil was seen as a threat to the Bernadotte dynasty.

In a touching royal romance, Welsh-born Princess Lilian and her Bertil kept their love unofficial for decades and were both in their 60s when they finally received the king's blessing to get married.

SEOUL/BEIJING: North Korea formally rejected a UN Security Council resolution on Saturday that demands an end to its nuclear arms programme, as China called for calm, saying sanctions were not the "fundamental" way to resolve tensions on the Korean peninsula.

Pyongyang said it would pursue its goal of becoming a full-fledged nuclear weapons state, despite the sanctions which were unanimously imposed on Friday by the Security Council.

WASHINGTON: The Obama administration asked the Supreme Court on Thursday to overturn California's ban on same-sex marriage and take a skeptical view of similar bans elsewhere, making a historic argument for gay rights.

LONDON: Bruce Reynolds, the mastermind of the "Great Train Robbery" in Britain that brought its perpetrators cash, incarceration and popculture fame, died on Thursday . He was 81. Son Nick Reynolds said his father died of a brief illness.
Reynolds was part of a gang that stole sacks containing £2.6 million from a Glasgow-to-London mail train in August 1963. The haul would be worth more than £40 million ($60 million) today, and was then Britain's biggest-ever robbery.

Vatican City: Thousands gathered at the St Peter's Square in Vatican City to bid farewell to Pope Benedict XVI on Wednesday. The outgoing Pope made his last public appearance as he addressed well-wishers from his villa.