NAYPYITAW, Myanmar (AP) ― India agreed to provide Myanmar with a $500 million credit as one of 12 deals signed during Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh’s visit to the Southeast Asian country.Singh is on a three-day visit that underscores India’s quest for energy supplies and concerns about China’s strong influence in Myanmar.He met with Myanmar’s reformist President Thein Sein, and together they attended the signings for the credit line between the Myanmar Foreign Trade Bank and the Export an

VATICAN CITY (AP) ― The biggest scandal to rock the Vatican in decades widened Monday with the pope’s butler, arrested for allegedly having confidential documents in his home, agreeing to cooperate with investigators ― raising the specter that higher-ranking ecclesial heads may soon roll.Few believe butler Paolo Gabriele worked alone to leak dozens of documents shedding light on power struggles, corruption and intrigue inside the highest levels of the Catholic Church. The leaks have tormented th

DOHA (AP) ― Qatar’s Interior Ministry said 13 children were among 19 people killed in a fire that broke out in one of the country’s fanciest shopping malls late Monday morning, raising questions about building safety in the booming Gulf state.At least some of the victims died as rescuers struggled to reach a child care center at the Villaggio mall in the capital Doha, according to Qatar’s Minister of State for Interior Affairs, Sheik Abdullah bin Nasser Al Thani.“We tried our best, but when we g

BEIJING (AP) ― Social media sites and blogs have lit up after eagle-eyed viewers spotted a surprise cameo in a Chinese TV documentary about the country’s police force: Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg and his now-wife, Priscilla Chan.The documentary by CCTV was part of a series on Chinese police and high-tech crime-solving methods. A few seconds of footage showing Zuckerberg and Chan walking behind two police officers were shown included in a brief clip posted online by the Hebei province satell

Police in Pennsylvania said an officer was charged with trespassing and criminal mischief for allegedly breaking into a neighbor's home to do laundry.Investigators said Rankin police Officer Jason Rocco was arrested after the owner of the home, who had not lived in the house for several months, told police he noticed the electric bill was unusually high and he visited the residence to discover the

Supporters of Britain's Queen Elizabeth II have floated rival attempts to buy her a new yacht for her diamond jubilee to replace the decommissioned Royal Yacht Britannia.A self-described "group of ordinary people" have launched the Jubilee Yacht Appeal -- under the slogan "yacht or not" -- in which fans of the monarch can either donate to a yacht or to a group of charities supported by the queen.T

Qatar’s Interior Ministry said 13 children were among 19 people killed in a fire that broke out in one of the country’s fanciest shopping malls late Monday morning, raising questions about building safety in the booming Gulf state.At least some of the victims died as rescuers struggled to reach a child care center at the Villaggio mall in the capital Doha, according to Qatar’s Minister of State fo

UNITED NATIONS (AFP) ― The U.N. Security Council on Sunday strongly condemned the Syrian government for using artillery in a massacre in which at least 108 people were killed and 300 others injured.U.N. officials said the slaughter in Houla ― the subject of an emergency Security Council meeting ― claimed the lives of 49 children and 34 women.Russia, Syria’s main ally, signed up to the Security Council statement which “condemned in the strongest possible terms” the killings in the village near th

TOKYO (AFP) ― A Russian consul-general in Japan died after falling down a 30-meter cliff during a ball game at a campsite in the northwest of the country, police said Sunday.Vladimir Pushkov, 55, who was stationed at a consulate general in Niigata prefecture, was on a camping trip with 13 colleagues and their families, an official at Agano police station in Niigata told AFP.“He fell down a cliff and hit his head hard when he was chasing after a ball” on Saturday, the official said.Vice consul Ro

NAYPYIDAW (AFP) ― India’s prime minister held talks with Myanmar’s president Monday in a historic visit aimed at boosting trade and energy links and contesting the influence of regional rival China.Manmohan Singh, the first Indian premier to visit Myanmar in a quarter of a century, was greeted with a guard of honor as he met President Thein Sein in the capital Naypyidaw.Energy-hungry India is eyeing a raft of agreements with its neighbor after dramatic reforms in Myanmar ended its international