WASHINGTON, Jan. 23 (Xinhua) — Severe storms hit U.S. South on Monday, killing at least 2 and wounding over 100 people.

Among the affected states, Alabama took the biggest hit, with both casualties of the storms occurred in the state, one in Oak Grove, another in Clay. Houses flattened, windows blown out of cars, and roofs peeled back in the areas where the storms hit.

According to the Birmingham News, in Clay, northeast of Birmingham, an initial sweep of neighborhoods found about …

ISLAMABAD, Nov. 7 (Xinhua) — Strong tremors were felt in many parts of Pakistan when a 6.3-magnitude earthquake hit the country on Monday afternoon, reported local Urdu TV channel Samaa.

According to the report, the epicentre of the earthquake was in the Kohe Hindukush mountainous region along the Pakistan- Afghanistan border area with the seismic origin some 200 kilometers down the earth.

No casualties or any loss of properties have been reported yet.

BEIJING, Nov 6, (Xinhua) — An earthquake measuring 5.2 on the Richter scale jolted central U.S. state of Oklahoma on Sunday at 03:53:10 GMT, the U.S. Geological Survey reported.

The epicenter, with a depth of 5.00 km, was initially determined to be at 35.5993 degrees north latitude and 96.7515 degrees west longitude.

There are no reports of casualties or damage so far.

Oklahoma City is located about 72 kilometers from the epicenter of the quake, which had been felt as far away as …

GHAZNI, Afghanistan, Nov. 2 (Xinhua) — Afghan forces, during a cleanup operation in Ghazni province, 125 km south of capital city Kabul, eliminated six anti-government insurgents on Wednesday, an army officer in the province Colonel Dillawar Shah said.

“The operation launched in Zargar area outside provincial capital the Ghazni city this morning and so far six rebels have been killed,” Shah told Xinhua.

There were no casualties on the troops and security forces, he said.
Taliban militants fighting Afghan government have yet to …

BEIJING, Oct. 24 (Xinhua) — China’s legislature on Monday began to read an anti-terror draft bill which is expected to pave the way for further crackdowns on terrorism by defining terrorist acts and organizations.

The bill was submitted to the bimonthly session of the Standing Committee of the National People’s Congress (NPC), China’s top legislature, for review.

Terrorist acts are defined by the draft bill as those acts which are intended to induce public fear or to coerce state organs or international …

ISLAMABAD, Oct. 16 (Xinhua) — The U.S. spy planes have killed up to 775 civilians, including 173 children, in 300 strikes in Pakistan tribal regions since the strikes had been started in June 2004, a report has said.

The report released Saturday by the London-based Bureau of Investigative Journalism said between 1,141 and 1,225 persons were also injured the strikes, mostly in Waziristan tribal areas near the Afghan border.

The report, quoted by the Dawn newspaper, has mentioned varying figures about the …

BAGHDAD, Oct. 7 (Xinhua) — Three people were killed and four others were wounded in separate attacks in central and northern Iraq on Friday, local police sources said.

A traffic police officer was killed in the southwest of Baghdad by unidentified gunmen using silenced weapons, a Baghdad police source told Xinhua on condition of anonymity.

An army checkpoint was attacked in west Mosul by gunmen on the same day without inflicting casualties on Iraqi army’s side. Soldiers at the checkpoint traded fire …

NEW DELHI, Sept. 20 (Xinhua) — The Indian army broke into the worst-hit area of the earthquake in Sikkim Tuesday after clearing landslides along the badly damaged roads, while the death toll is expected to rise as casualties are assessed there, reported local media.

Indian army reopened the road to Mangan, the epicenter of the 6. 8 magnitude quake on Sunday, after fighting for two days on the road against landslides and rain, reported the Press Trust of India. So far …

NEW DELHI, Sept. 18 (Xinhua) — An Indian army soldier and a child were killed in a strong earthquake which hit the northern Indian state of Sikkim Sunday evening, said local TV reports.

Meanwhile,some 200 rescuers are heading to Sikkim and its neighboring areas from other parts of India, while the Indian Air Force is sending planes to monitor the situation.

This was the initial report of casualties from the earthquake measuring 6.9 on the Richter scale with its epicenter being 68 …

An earthquake measuring 4.6 on the Richter scale jolted the border area between Ruichang City in Jiangxi province and Yangxin County in Hubei province late Saturday night.

With a depth of 17 km, the quake caused panic but no casualties.

Twenty-three small aftershocks were recorded within two hours after the quake.