Al-Qaeda chief Osama bin Laden has termed the United States as "weak" in his new video which has appeared after three years. Osama also vowed to increase Al-Qaeda activities in many parts of the world, especially in Iraq. CIA Director Mr. Michael Hayden warned recently about plans of large-scale attacks of Al-Qaeda on US targets.

Washington: The U.S.

The WHO (World Health Organization) has confirmed that four people have died of bird flu in Vietnam since June.

100 cases are confirmed to date in Vietnam, 46 have been fatal. At global level, out of 327 known cases, the virus killed 199 people since it re-appeared in Hong Kong in 2003.

Millions of birds have died or have been culled. Following is a list of confirmed human cases of H5N1.

According to the Pakistani Military and police reports, two bomb blasts occurred in a bus and a business centre in the Pakistani city of Rawalpindi today, killing 29 people comprising 10 Pakistani Atomic Energy Commission employees, and injuring more than 60.

The blasts have heightened the sense of crisis in Pakistan amid political doubt prior to elections.

The British forces have quitted Basra Palace, Saddam Hussein’s quondam southern residence that became popular British base after the success of the US-led invasion.

The move has indicated the British disengagement from the conflict, and has highlighted the growing and public discord between Washington and London over Iraq. However, the America feels that the move will severely undermine security.

A South African mining company claimed to have discovered the world’s largest diamond, which is double the size of the current biggest known stone, the Cullinan.

Brett Jolly, a spokesman for the company, Two Point Five Construction, said the rough diamond - reportedly a 7,000-carat stone about the size of a coconut - had been transported under tight security to Johannesburg and deposited in a bank vault.