A high-ranking Taliban official says the head of the Pakistani Taliban, Hakimullah Mehsud, has been killed in a drone strike.

The strike targeted a vehicle used by Mehsud with four missiles in the north-western region of North Waziristan.

Several previous claims of his death, made by US and Pakistani intelligence sources, have proven untrue.

Mehsud had a 5-million-dollar FBI bounty on his head and was thought to be responsible for the deaths of thousands of people.

He became leader of the Pakistani Taliban in 2009 after his predecessor died in a US drone strike.

 

Snowden ready to help German probe into U.S. Spying

U.S. whistleblower Edward Snowden says he is willing to help the German government in its probe into U.S. spying in Germany that included alleged monitoring of mobile phone communications of Chancellor Angela Merkel.

Snowden said this in a letter addressed to Merkel, the German parliament and German federal prosecutors.

The letter was released by the opposition Green party lawmaker Christian Stroebele who met Snowden in Moscow on Thursday.

Snowden's lawyer has said there could be a meeting with German investigators in Moscow, but not Germany.

The German government says it is keen to hear directly from Snowden.

 

One person killed in Los Angeles airport shooting

One person has died and seven others were wounded during a shooting at Los Angeles International Airport.

The Transportation Security Administration says a number of its employees were injured, one fatally. 

A lone suspect, armed with an assault rife, was wounded by police and detained. 

Flights in and out of the busy airport were temporarily halted.

 

Thousands protest across Egypt before Morsi's trial

Thousands of supporters of Egypt's toppled president Mohamed Morsi have taken to the street across the country, ahead of his trial in the coming days. 

There were some minor clashes between supporters of the Muslim Brotherhood group and residents in some places. 

The protests were called for by the National Alliance to Support Legitimacy, a coalition of parties and groups led by Muslim Brotherhood that demand the reinstatement of Morsi.

The Cairo Appeals Court is to begin the trial of Morsi along with 14 of top Muslim Brotherhood leaders on Monday.

They face charges of inciting the murder of protesters outside the presidential palace.

 

China cites East Turkistan Islamic Movement terrorist threat

China says the East Turkistan Islamic Movement has been the most direct and real threat to the country's security.

Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Hua Chunying was responding to a question regarding comments by China's top security chief Meng Jianzhu on Monday's terrorist attack in downtown Beijing.

Five people including two tourists were killed and 38 others were injured in the attack at the Tian'anmen Square.

According to Beijing police, the attack was "carefully planned, organized and premeditated." 

Five suspects have been detained.

 

China assumes rotating presidency of UN Security Council

China has assumed the rotating presidency of the UN Security Council for November.

China's UN ambassador Liu Jieyi says the 15-nation Security Council has a heavy work load this month, including more than 20 meetings or consultations on nearly 20 issues.

The hot issues in Africa and the Middle East are top on the council's agenda.

The last time China took over the rotating presidency was in June 2012.

 

Factory blast kills 7, injures 19

An explosion at a fireworks factory in south China has left seven people dead and 19 others injured.

The blast hit the factory in Sanbao county in Guangxi yesterday afternoon.

26 people were sent to hospital and seven of them died after emergency treatment failed.

An investigation is under way.

 

Chinese newspaper's heads removed after fabrication scandal

Both the head and vice president of a Chinese newspaper have been removed from their posts amid allegations of the paper fabricating reports.

This comes after one of the reporters of the Guangzhou-based The New Express was accused of fabricating stories which caused damage to a company's commercial reputation.

The 27-year-old reporter Chen Yongzhou has admitted his wrongdoings after being arrested.

His press pass has also been revoked.

 

Online Chinese travel search platform Qunar makes debut on Nasdaq

A prominent search-based online commercial platform for the Chinese travel industry, Qunar, has debuted at the Nasdaq Global Market, with the pricing of 15 U.S. dollars a share for its initial public offering.

Shares of the Beijing-based company skyrocketed 108 percent shortly after the shares began trading in the day. 

Qunar, which was registered in Cayman Islands, plans to raise about 167 million U.S. dollars through the IPO.

The company, founded in 2005, has been ranked the top in online private travel companies in China in terms of monthly unique visitors since November 2010.