A Texas fertiliser factory exploded in a huge fireball on Wednesday, destroying many homes and killing between five and 15 people, with one official likening the blast to a nuclear bomb.

A fertiliser factory in Texas exploded in a massive fireball Wednesday, killing as many as 60 to 70 people, local media reported, amid fears a second tank at the plant could also erupt in flames.

Authorities in the United Arab Emirates have broken up an al-Qaida cell comprising seven Arabs who were plotting attacks in the Gulf state, an official statement said on Thursday.

More than a dozen earthquakes, one of them magnitude 6.2, rocked a volcanic island south of Tokyo today, the national meteorological agency said.

Oil rebounded in Asian trade today following better-than-expected industrial production figures from the United States, analysts said.

Margaret Thatcher made her final journey on Wednesday to St Paul’s Cathedral for her funeral, where Queen Elizabeth II led mourners from 170 countries to bid farewell to one of Britain’s most influential and divisive Prime Ministers.

Russian Opposition leader Alexei Navalny today went on trial on charges he says were ordered by President Vladimir Putin but the process was swiftly adjourned to allow the defence more time to prepare.

The Pakistani Taliban, which claimed the 2010 Times Square bomb plot, on Tuesday denied anything to do with explosions that killed three people and wounded more than 100 in Boston.

Amsterdam’s Anne Frank museum on Monday defended teen idol Justin Bieber amid a furore over his comments that he hoped the Jewish teen who died in a Nazi camp would have been a fan.

US secretary of state John Kerry said today he would be making a stop on the way home from a 10-day overseas tour to visit the family of a young diplomat killed in Afghanistan.