BEIJING - At least 32 workers died Wednesday at a steel plant in China when tons of molten steel fell on them from a ladle that snapped off from the blast furnace. Chinese media reports said the incident occurred in a workshop of the Qinghe Special Steel Corp. in Tieling City in Liaoning province in northeast China. The China Daily, quoting the State Administration of Work Safety, said the steel ladle, used for pouring the ... [full story]

BAGHDAD - At least five bombings in Baghdad Wednesday killed at least 157 people and injured a like number, Iraq's Interior Ministry reported. The biggest death toll was from a blast at a central market, where 112 people were killed, the ministry said. Four police officers were also killed by a bomb at a police checkpoint, and nearly all the other fatalities were civilians, the report said. Earlier, the U.S. military said four insurgents were ... [full story]

MANILA, Philippines - The body of what's believed to be a U.S. Peace Corps volunteer missing for 10 days was found in rugged terrain Wednesday by Philippines army troops. In a text message to GMA News.tv, Major Gen. Rodrigo Maclang, chief of the Philippine Army's 5th Infantry Division, said it's believed the body is that of Julia Campbell, who was last seen April 8. "Dead body of Julia Campbell found by Army troops in Barangay ... [full story]

SYDNEY - Australian government officials released details of a refugee deal with the United States to exchange asylum seekers. Under the new scheme asylum seekers detained on the Pacific island of Nauru will be taken to the United States and Cuban refugees held at the U.S. military base in Cuba will be resettled in Australia. The resettlement agreement, worked out in Washington last week, was formalized Tuesday at a meeting of Australian, U.S., Canadian and ... [full story]

SEOUL - South Korean President Roh Moo-hyun issued a second message of condolence to the United States on Wednesday for the massacre at Virginia Tech. Roh sent a telegram to U.S. President George Bush through the South Korean Embassy in Washington about the deaths of 32 people and the South Korean gunman, Cho Seung-hui, on Monday, the Yonhap news agency reported. "I was gravely shocked and horrified to learn of the tragic incident that took ... [full story]

KANO, Nigeria - The Nigerian army has been deployed to rout about 300 Islamic militants who killed 12 policemen while holding part of the northeastern city of Kano. The group known as the Taliban descended on the city Tuesday and attacked a police station. A civilian was also killed in the gun battle and the decision was made to deploy the military, a BBC correspondent reported. The attack was apparently in retaliation for the shooting ... [full story]

NAGASAKI, Japan - The mayor of Nagasaki, Japan, died Wednesday, the day after he was rushed to the hospital with two gunshot wounds to his back. Police said Itcho Ito, 61, died of massive blood loss at the Nagasaki University Hospital of Medicine and Dentistry, Kyodo news reported. Ito, who was seeking a fourth four-year mayoral term in elections Sunday, was hit as he got out of a campaign vehicle at a train station. The ... [full story]

CAIRO - Egyptian prosecutors in Cairo announced Tuesday they had arrested one of the country's nuclear engineers on charges he was spying for Israel. Egyptian Chief Prosecutor Hisham Badawi told a news conference Mohammed Sayed Sabar Ali, 35, had been paid $17,000 for information obtained from computer systems on Egypt's newly restarted nuclear energy program, Arutz Sheva said in a broadcast report. Prosecutors allege Ali passed the information on to two men working for Israel, ... [full story]

BRAMPTON, Ontario - A Brampton, Canada, apartment cleaner survived a fall of four floors and impalement on a spiked fence. The cleaner, identified only as Andre, fell out of a window while cleaning it Sunday onto the fence, the Toronto Star reported Tuesday. Esron Duncan, a security supervisor, was attracted to the scene by witnesses. "I just did what I had to do. I held him up until help arrived," Duncan said. "He was conscious ... [full story]

ROME - Italy began a murder trial in Rome Tuesday of an absent U.S. soldier who allegedly killed an Italian secret agent in Iraq two years ago. Mario Lozano, 35, is accused of killing the agent by shooting into a car that failed to slow for a U.S. roadblock. Military Intelligence Service officer Nicola Calipari died in the incident. Calipari was escorting a newly released Italian journalist who had been released by insurgents. Their driver ... [full story]

SEOUL - North Korea will get a few more days to close its nuclear facilities required under the six-party agreement, the deadline for which expired last Saturday. South Korea announced Tuesday it had agreed along with the United States to give the extension to the Pyongyang government, the Korea Times reported. The agreement on granting the extension was reached between South Korean Foreign Minister Song Min-soon and U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice following their ... [full story]

DHAKA, Bangladesh - Former Bangladesh Prime Minister Khaleda Zia may accept exile under a deal with the largely Muslim country's military-backed interim government. The Daily Star reported Tuesday that Khaleda agreed to leave the country, possibly for Saudi Arabia, on condition her two sons are released and allowed to join her. "Her younger son Arafat Rahman will be going with her and the elder son Tarique Rahman will join them later on," the newspaper reported, ... [full story]

WARSAW, Poland - A state committee in Warsaw on Tuesday ruled former Communist President Wojciech Jaruzelski and eight others can be charged for imposing martial law in 1981. The Institute for National Commemoration ruled there was nothing stopping the charges against Jaruzelski, 83, and the others, who include former chiefs of military intelligence and Poland's then-official United Worker's Party, Deutsche Welle reported. If convicted on the charge of running a criminal organization, Jaruzelski could be ... [full story]