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KABUL: Seven members of the Afghan security forces were killed in a NATO air strike in remote western Afghanistan, the defence ministry said on Saturday.
"Due to a NATO forces air strike on November 6 in Badghis province seven Afghan security personnel (both Afghan army and national police) were martyred and also some were wounded," the ministry said in a statement.
"The commando brigade informs us that foreign forces also sustained some casualties," it said, adding: "The issue is under investigation by Afghan and NATO forces and the results will be announced soon."
KABUL: Afghanistan rejected criticism of President Hamid Karzai by foreign leaders and the senior UN official in the country, accusing them of disrespecting the country's sovereignty.
Kai Eide, the UN's special representative to Afghanistan, was among those who this week warned Karzai that he could lose international support unless his new government tackled endemic official corruption.
The Afghan foreign ministry issued a statement rejecting such criticism, saying it breached "accepted international norms" and "violated respect for Afghanistan's national sovereignty".
KADENA, Japan : Thousands of residents of Japan's southern island of Okinawa Saturday staged a protest against the presence of the US military on the eve of a major rally against a controversial airbase.
Some 2,500 people living in Kadena town, which already hosts a large US Air Force base that frequently provokes complaints over the noise of jet planes flying day and night, protested a government proposal the city accept another US military installation.
The demonstration came a day before Okinawans were to stage a major rally against a 2006 Japan-US military agreement ahead of US President Barack Obama's first visit to Tokyo.
TOKYO: The leaders of Japan and Southeast Asia's five Mekong River nations wrapped up a summit at which Tokyo pledged more than US$5.5 billion in loans and grants and vowed deeper ties.
Prime Minister Yukio Hatoyama told a press conference on Saturday the Mekong region was a "priority area" for Japan's official development assistance (ODA) as it seeks to boost development in the resource-rich area.
A joint declaration said "Japan commits more than 500 billion yen of ODA in the next three years" for the further development of the Mekong region, which includes Cambodia, Laos, Vietnam, Myanmar and Thailand.
TOKYO: Prime Minister Yukio Hatoyama on Saturday said Japan plans to increase aid to Myanmar gradually while hailing Washington's latest efforts to engage the military-ruled country.
"Japan plans to expand our humanitarian aid and assistance for human resources development gradually," a Japanese foreign ministry official quoted Hatoyama as saying at a meeting with his Myanmar counterpart Thein Sein.
Hatoyama did not mention a specific sum, according to the official who was in the bilateral meeting.
CAIRO : Chinese Prime Minister Wen Jiaobao sought to reassure the world's Muslims about his country's goodwill towards them in Cairo on Saturday, at a time when Beijing is criticised for the treatment of its own Muslim minority.
"The relationship between Chinese civilisation and Islamic civilisation goes back years," Wen said in a speech delivered at the Cairo-based headquarters of the 22-member Arab League.
"China is a multi-ethnic and multi-religious country. The basic policy of the Chinese government is to ensure equality among all ethnic groups and speed up the economic development of all regions," he said.
BANGKOK: The head of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations urged Thailand and Cambodia to show "maximum restraint" amid tensions over Phnom Penh's job offer to a fugitive former Thai premier.
ASEAN Secretary General Surin Pitsuwan said the 10-country bloc should not be seen to be divided by the dispute ahead of a historic meeting with US President Barack Obama and regional leaders later this month.
Cambodia and Thailand on Thursday recalled their respective ambassadors after Cambodia appointed Thaksin Shinawatra, who was ousted as Thailand's prime minister in a coup in 2006, as an economic adviser.
TAIPEI : Taiwanese breeders said Saturday they are hoping to make huge profits from a rare species of ornamental shrimp after a pair sold for 8,500 US dollars at auction.
The "Black King Kong" shrimps are gaining popularity among aquarium fans after it was developed by Taiwanese breeders last year, said Sharman Chou, secretary general of Taiwan Aquarium Association.
The shrimp are also among the main attractions at an aquarium show being held in Taipei this week, organisers said.
COLOMBO : A top French envoy on Saturday asked Sri Lanka to end its state of emergency and probe war crimes ahead of a key European Union ruling on trade concessions to the troubled island.
Ambassador for Human Rights, Francois Zimeray, said he hoped Colombo will signal the ending of its war with Tamil rebels in May by withdrawing emergency laws which allowed the detention of suspects for long periods without trial.
"Ending of the emergency (in force since 1983) should have been the first consequence of ending the war (in May)," he said at the end of three-days of talks with key Sri Lankan leaders on the island's human rights situation.
SYDNEY : Australian authorities declared a natural disaster along parts of the country's east coast as heavy floods cut the main road linking major cities, stranding thousands of people.
Torrential rain soaked the Coffs Harbour region north of Sydney overnight, swamping the arterial Pacific Highway with flash floodwaters that isolated almost 5,000 people, emergency officials said on Saturday.
About 40 people had to be evacuated from the area hit by the raging floods and New South Wales emergency services minister Steve Whan declared a natural disaster, releasing state funds.
NEW DELHI: The United States has given its backing to a visit by the Dalai Lama to a remote Buddhist region in India that is claimed by China, according to reports.
Beijing has strongly opposed the Dalai Lama's week-long visit, due to begin Sunday, to the Indian state of Arunachal Pradesh that is home to the ancient Tawang monastery.
The Buddhist spiritual leader, who has lived in India since fleeing Tibet half a century ago, stopped at the monastery after his escape and is due to give several days of religious teachings there.
HANOI: At least 13 people have been killed in a landslide in central Vietnam following storms and flooding that have now left almost 130 people dead, according to officials.
The 13 were killed and another person was seriously injured in the early hours of Friday in the coastal province of Quang Nam, local emergency official Vo Xuan Quang told AFP.
The landslide, triggered by rains that have lashed the country since Tropical Storm Mirinae hit on Monday, dumped thousands of tonnes of earth and mud on a group of gold miners, who were sleeping at the time, Quang said.
NELSON, New Zealand : Scientists have discovered the first evidence that dinosaurs roamed the South Island of New Zealand with 70-million-year-old footprints found in six locations.
They are the first dinosaur footprints found in the country although bones, mostly vertebrae, have been discovered in two North Island locations.
The footprints were found by scientist Greg Browne in the remote Whanganui Inlet in the northwest of Nelson at the top of the South Island.
BEIJING: Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao denied that Beijing was developing ties in Africa purely to satisfy its need for energy, as he headed for talks with the continent's leaders, according to state media.
Speaking while on the plane to Egypt, where he is due to meet Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak before the Forum on China-Africa Cooperation begins on Sunday, Wen said Beijing had an important role to play in Africa's development.
"Energy cooperation is just one area" where China and Africa were working together, he said. "In no way has China come to Africa solely for its energy sources," he added, according to comments carried by People's Daily.
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The Necessary Stage stages multilingual play with Russia's KnAM Theatre