The United States has scrambled to reinforce its Pacific missile defences, preparing to send ground-based interceptors to Guam, as North Korea said Thursday it had approved plans for nuclear strikes on US targets.

Michael Jackson’s jailed former doctor refused on Tuesday to testify at a trial in which the singer’s mother is seeking massive damages from tour promoters she blames for hiring the medic.

Cricket Australia today unveiled a list of 20 contracted players for the new season amid reports that star bowler Mitchell Starc is celebrating a million dollar pay-day.

Astrophysicists have witnessed the rare event of a black hole awakening from its slumber to snack on a planet-sized object in a galaxy 47 million light years away, the University of Geneva said Tuesday.

The curtain went up once more at one of Japan’s most important theatres on Tuesday after the famous playhouse, dedicated to the centuries-old kabuki performing art, was rebuilt for the fourth time.

YouTube is shutting down, Twitter users have to pay for the use of vowels, and the new Google Nose search engine will bring a whiff of wet dog or daisies right to your computer or smartphone.
Smells fishy? These Internet giants went all-out to try and bamboozle their users with April Fool's gags on the most mischievous day of the year.

Pope Francis urged the faithful to translate the sacraments they received during Easter Sunday into their daily lives as he addressed tens of thousands the day after the holiest day in the Christian calendar.

Oil prices eased in Asia today as investors took profits after a run-up in prices last week before the long Easter break, analysts said.

A suicide bomber blew up a tanker truck at police headquarters in the Iraqi city of Tikrit Monday, killing seven people in the latest in a spike in unrest ahead of the first elections since 2010. Eleven people were also wounded in the 8:40 am (0540 GMT) bombing in the city, hometown of executed dictator Saddam Hussein and remains a focus for insurgents, the police and medics said.

South Korea’s new President on Monday promised a strong military response to any North Korean provocation after Pyongyang announced that the two countries were now in a state of war.