As one of the largest cyclones in India’s history reaches its eastern coast, prompting a national red alert and sending some 440,000 people scurrying for shelter, the first deaths have been reported. Three people were killed in Odisha when trees uprooted by wind gusts fell on them, local media cited police officials as saying. Cyclone Phailin is likely to be the strongest to hit India since 1999,... 

North Korea has slammed the three-nation naval drills involving US, South Korean and Japanese warships, threatening to ‘bury in the sea’ a US aircraft carrier. The Friday warning came a day after the US started a two-day joint military exercise with South Korea and Japan off the southern coast of the peninsula. The nuclear-powered aircraft carrier USS George Washington, guided-missile ships, anti-submarine... 

Another cooling tank has sprung a leak at Japan’s troubled Fukushima nuclear power plant. As in previous instances, the highly radioactive water is thought to be seeping directly into the Pacific Ocean. This is the second such incident in two months. Although the Tokyo Electric Power Company (TEPCO) has promised more accountability following a series of blunders in recent months, it has become clear... 

Tokyo is to foot a $3.1 billion bill, which is part of the cost for relocating American troops from Okinawa. For the first time, it will also host US long-range surveillance drones, which would help to monitor disputed islands in the East China Sea. The cost-sharing agreement for the troop transfer and the future deployment of drones by next spring are both part of an effort aimed at updating the... 

Financial markets in Asia and Europe have been rocked over concerns that the United States’ government might be heading for a partial shutdown. Washington should agree to a new spending bill before the end of the financial year at midnight on Monday amid political divisions that have created a stalemate. If the American lawmakers fail to agree on the budget deal, essential federal services could... 

Hundreds of people were killed, and countless injured after a 7.8 magnitude earthquake hit Pakistan on Tuesday. Aftershocks were felt all throughout the middle east, and the surface of the earth has been changed forever. A new island rose from the seabed just off the coast of Pakistan. According to DIG Gwadar Moazzam Jah, the island’s altitude is 20 to 40 feet and width around 100 feet. Talking... 

Russia has threatened to forbid visa-free travel for Japanese officials to the disputed Kurile Islands if Tokyo goes on making statements assuming ownership of the islands. “If for some reason Japanese politicians cannot refrain from making public statements on the subject of the islands after a visit to Russian territory, we reserve the right to limit their participation in such trips,” the Russian... 

The Chinese plan to lease 5 percent of Ukraine’s total land to grow crops may be nothing more than a pipe dream. Ukrainian officials say they know nothing of the deal, reported in a Chinese newspaper over the weekend. Food demand in China is expected to grow along with industrialization, and China has been land-grabbing across the globe, with 7.4 million acres (3 million hectares) in Ukraine being... 

An international team of zoologists has identified a new genus of rat in the Moluccan province of Indonesia that represents a unique set of characteristics. The newly found animal was discovered on the Halmahera Island in Wallacea, an Eastern Indonesian region. Researchers believe that the species locally dubbed Halmaheramys bokimekot lives only in Wallacea region which has been named after the British... 

Christians have staged protest rallies across Pakistan to show their anger at a twin bombing outside a church in the country’s northwestern city of Peshawar. Protesters took to the streets in several cities including the capital Islamabad as well as Karachi, Lahore and Multan, shouting slogans against the attackers, local media reported. In the southern port city of Karachi, protesters clashed with... 

Filipino children scamper across wrecked floating shanties at a village in Paranaque city, south of Manila: The Filipino weather bureau warned that storm surges and heavy waves could cause more heavy damage tonight The most powerful typhoon of the year was eyeing landfall on Hong Kong today as it swept past the Philippines and Taiwan, sparing those countries from the worst of its wrath. Typhoon Usagi... 

U.S. experts say that North Korea, despite all bans, has launched the plutonium reactor again. According to the US-Korean Institute, recently taken satellite pictures show the white steam rising from the building with turbines and generators at Yongbyon. Pyongyang previously announced its intention to renew the program for the production of weapons-grade plutonium, which was suspended in accordance... 

China has supported the Russian proposal to Syria to put its chemical weapons stockpile under the control of the United Nations. “We welcome and support the Russian side’s suggestion,” China’s Foreign Ministry spokesman Hong Lei said on Tuesday in his regular briefing. “As long as the suggestion is conducive to easing the current tension in Syria, solving the Syria issue politically... 

A dead fish in the East Lake in Wuhan, Hubei province, on August 20, 2012. Hundreds of thousands of fish have died in the central Chinese province of Hubei after a chemical leak into a river, officials say. According to local sources on Wednesday, about 100,000 kilograms of dead fish were gathered from the Fu River, located in the capital city of Wuhan. Local environmental officials say the chemical... 

Several new hotspots reading potentially lethal doses of radiation have been detected near the tanks storing the radioactive water, forcing the operator to admit there might be even more leaks at the crippled Fukushima nuclear power plant. The high radiation readings were detected during the daily inspection on Saturday near three water tanks and one pipe stretched between the tanks and the plant,...