Assad says key battle afoot as UN says rebels have tanks Syrian President Bashar al-Assad said on Wednesday that the army was fighting for the nation's future as UN officials said the regime was using fighter jets against rebels armed with tanks.
02 August 2012
Olympics: Ye's Aussie mentor says doping claims wrong An Australian mentor of Chinese swimming sensation Ye Shiwen has slammed claims her Olympic achievements were fuelled by drugs, saying he was "100 percent certain" the teenager was clean.
N. Zealand school criticised for dead possum show A New Zealand school that staged a morbid fashion show in which children were encouraged to dress possum corpses in colourful costumes has come under fire from animal lovers.
Olympics: S. Korea media, netizens lament "disgrace" South Korean newspapers and netizens were generally scathing Thursday about their country's involvement in the Olympic badminton scandal, with one paper terming the affair a national embarrassment.
02 August 2012
NASA braces for 'terror' in Mars landing The biggest, baddest space rover ever built for exploring an alien planet is nearing its August 6 landing on Mars, and the US space agency is anxious for success despite huge risks.
Taliban executes four Afghans 'for Western links' Taliban insurgents near the Afghan capital Kabul executed four civilians working for a Western security company, officials said Wednesday, days after a similar execution in the area.
02 August 2012
Marilyn Monroe's blonde bombshell smolders on She was the prototype blonde bombshell and 50 years after her sudden death, the smoke from Marilyn Monroe's one-woman sexual revolution has yet to clear.
Iran tops agenda as Pentagon chief visits Israel US Defence Secretary Leon Panetta was on Wednesday to hold top-level talks in Israel expected to focus on ways of resolving the international standoff over Iran's disputed nuclear programme.
Mother knows best: finches choose chicks' gender Female parrot finches can match their offspring's gender to prevailing living conditions, producing more sons in lean times, scientists in Australia said Wednesday.