World News

MOSCOW, May 1 (PNA/RIA Novosti) -- The World Health Organization (WHO) has officially confirmed 331 cases of influenza A/H1N1, the technical name for the virus commonly known as swine flu, in 11 countries.

UNITED NATIONS, May 1 (PNA/Itar-Tass) -- The Russian delegation will preside over the United Nations Security Council in May. Russia's Ambassador to the United Nations Vitaly Churkin will replace the Mexican ambassador to the U.N. Claude Eller on Friday in the post of chairman.

NEW YORK, May 1 (PNA/Xinhua) -- Wall Street ended mixed Thursday after the third largest U.S. automaker Chrysler announced it will file for Chapter 11 bankruptcy. Wall Street opened higher in the morning as investors welcomed a surprise decline in new jobless claims and earnings beating estimates.

BAGHDAD, April 24 -- A terrorist bombing in Diyala, east of Iraq, killed 45 and injured 67 Iranians on Thursday. Based on latest dispatches, the terrorist incident overall killed 47, including 45 Iranians, and injured 70 others, including 67 Iranians, who traveled to Iraq to visit the country's holy sites.

BANGKOK, April 24 (PNA/Xinhua) -- The US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton had expressed confidence in Thailand's politics and hoped the Thai government would be able to restore stability, Thai Foreign Minister Kasit Piromya said Friday.

LONDON, April 24 -- British Foreign Secretary David Miliband is to attend the next General Affairs and External Relations Council meeting in Luxembourg on Monday, where he will seek full backing of the European Union (EU) to the changed US policy towards Iran. "We will encourage the EU to state its clear support for the new US approach," Foreign Office Minister Lord Malloch-Brown (pictured) said in a written parliamentary statement published Friday.

MOGADISHU, April 18 (PNA/Xinhua) -- NATO forces on Saturday captured seven Somali pirates and freed 20 people taken hostage by the pirates in the Gulf of Aden, according to agencies reports. The reports quoted a NATO spokesperson as saying that a Dutch warship with NATO mission took action after the pirates launched attack on the tanker MT Handytankers Magic in the Gulf of Aden.

Bangkok (AsiaNews/Agencies) - Sondhi Limthongkul's the leader of the "yellow-shirts," which brought down former PM Thaksin Shinawatra in 2006, has been shot and injured. He was ambushed by gunmen who attacked his car in the Thai capital, Bangkok, spraying it with bullets and hitting Sondhi in the shoulder; another two people were injured in the attack. In 2006 Sondhi led People's Alliance of Democracy (PAD) protests which ended with Thaksin's resignation. The "yellow shirts" began a new round of protests in the summer of 2008, against the previous pro Thaksin government. The demonstrations which went on for months drew to an end in December 2008 with the installation of the current Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva and the outlawing of the People's Power Party (Ppp).

Kabul (AsiaNews/Agencies) - Two earthquakes have hit Nangarhar province in eastern Afghanistan near the border with Pakistan, killing at least 22 people and injuring another 30. A 5.5-magnitude quake struck at 01.57 local time (21.27 GMT), followed by a 5.1-magnitude aftershock two hours later.