News Updates

BEIJING: Crew and passengers traveling on a plane that had just taken off from a restive city in China s far-western Xinjiang region on Friday thwarted a hijack attempt by six people, authorities said.The plane returned safely to the airport and the six have been detained, a brief statement on the Xinjiang government s news website said, without detailing who the hijackers were.

BEIJING: At least 20 people were killed and 14 others injured on Friday in an explosion caused by a leak of an oil tank truck in south China s Guangdong province.'The explosion, which sparked a massive fire, took place on an expressway in the provincial capital of Guangzhou around 5.15am local time, a spokesman with the city s public security bureau said.He said 20 people were killed in the explosion.State-run Xinhua news agency reported that the 14 others who were injured in the incident have been hospitalised.The fire caused by the blast was brought under control around 8.30am local time, according to firefighters.

WASHINGTON: President Barack Obama scored a major victory in the run-up to the November presidential poll with the US Supreme Court in a historic verdict largely upholding his signature health care law.Obama s stunning victory in a 5-4 split verdict on Thursday was all the more sweet as the majority decision upholding the core of the law, dubbed 'Obamacare', was written by conservative chief justice John Roberts appointed by Obama s Republican predecessor George Bush.With Roberts casting the fifth decisive vote, the conservative-dominated court essentially ruled that the so-called individual mandate requiring all people to have health insurance beginning 2014 or pay a fine was unconstitutional under the commerce clause, but would stand if seen as a tax.'The federal government does not have the power to order people to buy health insurance. Section 5000A would therefore be unconstitutional if read as a command. The federal government does have the power to impo...

BEIJING: Three Chinese astronauts returned to Earth on Friday after achieving China s first manual docking in orbit, a milestone in the country s effort to build a space station by the end of the decade.The return of the trio, including the country s first female astronaut, to a landing zone in remote grasslands of northern China was broadcast to a national audience on state television.

Andrew Garfield is a supporter of the no visible panty lines rule -- which is why he opted to go completely naked underneath his costume for The Amazing Spider-Man . "It's just me [under there]. It's terrifying," the British star tells Ellen DeGeneres during his Tuesday interview, after the Ellen host asked about his nicker situation -- or lack thereof. And despite him being male, the Social Network star admits that he's shy about his body just like his female friends. "One of the first nights we were out in location in downtown L.A. in a parking structure and I knew there were paparazzi taking terrible, unflattering shots of my, you know, everything," he tells DeGeneres. "Knowing that your keester is being shot from many different angles makes you very uncomfortable." DeGeneres sympathized with the the 28-year-old actor by saying, "no one wants their keester shot from an angle," before presenting him with a disguise so ...

She gets to keep the house, and he gets to enjoy his freedom. Russell Brand , 36, has surrendered all rights to the $6.5 million Hollywood Hills home he shared with ex-wife Katy Perry , according to a quitclaim deed obtained by TMZ . The two bought the sprawling seven-bedroom, nine-bathroom pad in June 2011. PHOTOS: Katy Perry's crazy cleavage They also purchased a two-bedroom, two-bathroom New York City penthouse for $2.68 million in 2010; they sold another L.A. property in July 2011 for $3.3 million. When the couple wed in October 2010, neither star signed a prenuptial agreement; Brand initially refused to take the $20 million he would have been entitled to under California law -- half of what Perry earned during their 14-month marriage.

An Oregon family is devastated after a tragic accident took the life of their toddler. Tiffany Hebb was doing laundry, while her 21-month-old Ollie kept her company. When she left the room briefly, he crawled into the washing machine and drowned. A frantic Hebb found her son minutes later trapped in the water-filled basin and tried desperately to resuscitate him. After suffering severe brain damage, he died the following day in the hospital. "It was the worst day of my life," the grieving mother told a local Fox affiliate through tears. Now Tiffany and her husband Chris are on a mission to educate parents about the dangers of the seemingly innocuous household appliance. "I want to make mothers and fathers aware that it's a possibility," she said. Read more: Toddler's trauma highlights laundry room dangers Between 2005 and 2009, two children under the age of five lost their lives in laundry room accidents , according to a report by the Consu...

Ashton Kutcher and Miranda Lambert When Ashton Kutcher showed up at the Academy of Country Music Awards on Sunday night, he was ostensibly there just to hand out the female vocalist of the year award. However, he managed to take everyone's minds off the nominees for a few minutes, by showing up dressed in over-the-top cowboy gear and taking a stab at singing George Strait's "I Cross My Heart." All in good fun. Right? Well, some country stars didn't take this little performance in a lighthearted manner. The artist to whom Kutcher presented the female vocalist award, Miranda Lambert, tweeted on Monday: "Was Ashton Kutcher making fun of country or is it just me?" Turns out, it wasn't just her. Singer Justin Moore, who records for the same label group as Taylor Swift, went so far as to call Kutcher a "douche" on his Twitter account . "I don't care for people making a mockery of the way country artists dress," he clarifie...