Asia News

China on Tuesday executed two people for their roles in a tainted milk powder scandal in which at least six children died and more than 300,000 became sick, AP reported.

Samak Sundaravej, a firebrand right-wing politician and TV cooking show host who briefly served as Thailand's prime minister and considered himself a proxy of ousted leader Thaksin Shinawatra, died of cancer Tuesday. He was 74, AP reported.

Philippine President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo placed two southern provinces under a state of emergency Tuesday after gunmen killed at least 24 people in an attack on an election caravan, AP reported.

Recently separated conjoined Bangladeshi twins left intensive care on Monday and were adjusting well after their marathon operation, hospital officials said.

In this April 5, 2000 file photo, Chinese computer engineer Huang Qi poses for photo in his office in Chengdu, in China 's Sichuan province.

Bombings and shootings killed 12 people across Afghanistan, including four American troops and three children, as President Barack Obama convened his war council again Monday to fine-tune a strategy to respond to the intransigent violence.

CHINESE and North Korean defence chiefs have pledged to strengthen their military alliance - dating back to the Korean War - during talks in Pyongyang, state media said on Monday.

Azerbaijan, Baku, Nov. 23 / Trend News T.Jafarov /

No swine flu case was revealed among the Azerbaijani pilgrims.

"Azerbaijani pilgrims traveling to Mecca have not had any health problems. All Hajjis are in good health," Akhund of the Taza Pir Mosque Haji Faiz Nagizade told Trend News today over the telephone.

Gunmen killed at least 21 people in the southern Philippines on Monday, apparently to prevent a woman from filing her husband's nomination to run for provincial governor in May next year, the military said, Reuters reported.

A South Korean forestry helicopter on Monday crashed into a reservoir, leaving the pilot and two crewmembers dead, authorities said, Xinhua reported.

At least 10 militants were killed and eight others were seriously injured in new clashes between security forces and militants in Pakistan's northwest on Monday, according to local TV channel reports.

The Democratic People's Republic of Korea's (DPRK) official newspaper Rodong Sinmun on Monday urged the United States to build a "peace mechanism" with Pyongyang to improve their relationship, Xinhua reported.

Chinese and North Korean defence chiefs have pledged to strengthen their long-standing military alliance, BBC reported.

İndian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh has started a state visit to the United States with a call on President Barack Obama to pressure India's historic rival, Pakistan, Press TV reported.

Pakistani Foreign Minister Shah Mehmood Qureshi has said that Islamabad has hard evidence of India's interference in the tribal areas and Balochistan, Press TV reported.

As Iran and the West have yet to come to a closing agreement on Tehran's nuclear case, China says more talks should be held between Iran and the five permanent members of the UN Security Council plus Germany on the matter, Press TV reported.

One of South Korea's most prolific mass murderers has killed himself while on death row.

India is likely to test nuclear- capable Agni II Intermediate Range Ballistic Missile in eastern state of Orissa Monday, said Defense Ministry sources on Sunday, Xinhua reported.

A teenager and three elderly people in Saudi Arabia for the hajj pilgrimage have died of the H1N1 flu virus, the Saudi Health Ministry said, CNN reported.