The Hong Kong authorities began destroying 15,000 chickens at a poultry market and suspended imports from mainland China after some birds were found to be infected with bird flu.

Chinese prosecutors have formally indicted the son of Hong Kong action film star Jackie Chan on the charge of sheltering others to use drugs, more than four months after he was first detained.

Jackie Chan has said he is ashamed and saddened over his son’s detention on drug charges in Beijing, and apologised to the public.

Hong Kong action superstar Jackie Chan’s actor-son Jaycee Chan has been detained in Beijing on drug-related charges.

A second civilian diver has died during the search for people still believed trapped inside a sunken South Korean ferry.

A civilian diver involved in searches for missing people from the South Korean ferry disaster has died as others helped by better weather and easing ocean currents picked up efforts to retrieve more bodies.

All 15 crew members involved in navigating the doomed South Korean ferry which left 302 people dead or missing after sinking, are now in custody, authorities said today.

Hundreds of world landmarks from Berlin’s Brandenburg Gate to the Great Wall of China went dark last night, part of a global effort to highlight climate change.

RESEARCHERS at Seoul National University in South Korea have created the world’s first transgenic dog.

Kerry will be without full back Michael McCarthy for Sunday's Division 1A clash with Dublin and the remainder of the League, should they progress to the knockout stages.

HONG KONG reported a record nine SARS deaths in a day yesterday, including its youngest victim to date, as the Chinese capital of Beijing woke up to a virus creeping into its hinterland.