WORLD

Three wives and two elder daughters of Osama bin Laden have been sentenced to 45 days of jail time by a Pakistani court. They were also fined 10,000 rupees each. The women will serve just 14 more days before being deported back to their home countries.

Australia is looking at recruiting American workforce to solve the acute shortage of skilled labor in the country's civil engineering sector. Australia has been facing severe workforce crunch, but the relatively good economic growth has further increased the demand for the workers.

Burmese activist Aung San Suu Kyi and the opposition National League for Democracy declared victory after Sunday's by-elections. Speaking to thousands of supporters from party headquarters in Yangon, the Nobel Peace Prize laureate hailed the success as the beginning of a new era for politics in Burma.

International trade groups representing more than 250,000 companies have warned Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh that new taxation proposals by his government have led foreign businesses to reconsider their investments.

An ATR-72 twin-engine turboprop carrying 43 people crashed during an attempted emergency landing in a snow-covered field near Tyumen, in western Siberia.

Meanwhile, take a look at some of the historic moments of the Falklands War.

By deciding to field a candidate in Egypt's upcoming presidential election, the long-outlawed Muslim Brotherhood has turned a corner. So has Khairat al-Shater, the chosen Islamist contender for the top job in Egypt post-Hosni Mubarak.

At least 31 people were killed when a plane carrying 43 people, including children, crashed soon after takeoff in Siberia on Monday. The ATR-72 twin-engine airliner was flying from the western Siberian city of Tyumen to the oil town of Surgut. The accident has once again raised concerns over the substandard flight and safety conditions in Russia.

(Reuters) - Asia's manufacturers stepped up the pace in March to fill an influx of new orders as Europe's debt crisis subsided and U.S. growth picked up, dispelling some of the gloom that had shrouded the global economy.

At least 32 people were killed when a plane carrying 43 people, including children, crashed soon after takeoff in Siberia on Monday. The ATR-72 twin-engine airliner was flying from the western Siberian city of Tyumen to the oil town of Surgut.

Miguel de la Madrid Hurtado, who led Mexico from 1982 to 1988 during economic crisis and a devasting earthquake, died Sunday at age 77, President Felipe Calderon announced.

Russian authorities closed Moscow's Red Square Sunday and detained dozens of people trying to hold a silent anti-government protest there, prompting opposition charges that they were denying Russians their right to free assembly.

Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell called on Republicans to unite behind Mitt Romney Sunday as Rick Santorum vowed to stay in the race beyond a likely defeat in Tuesday's Wisconsin primary.

The United States vowed to nearly double its funding to the Syrian opposition, and Turkey's Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan promised the Syrian people they will not be left alone.

Mali's junta leader promised to reinstate the constitution from Sunday, hours before a deadline set by West African neighbors to start handing over power, and as rebels encircled the ancient trading post of Timbuktu.

Burmese pro-democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi won a seat in parliament Sunday, as her National League for Democracy claimed a near-sweep in historic by-elections that will test Myanmar's reform credentials and could convince the West to end sanctions.

Foxconn Technology Group will keep increasing worker salaries in China and cutting work hours, Chairman Terry Gou said on Sunday, after it came under fire for poor working conditions for employees making Apple iPhones and iPads.

Thousands of voters in Myanmar cast their votes in a historic ballot Sunday by which the country's democratic icon Aung San Suu Kyi is set to enter the parliament for the first time.

A car bomb caused the deadly fire at a Southern Thailand hotel that killed three persons and injured several others Saturday, said the Thai national police chief.

Conservative political commentator and author Ann Coulter slammed Republican presidential candidate Newt Gingrich, criticizing him because of his extramarital affairs.

Mitt Romney calls his wife Ann the heavyweight champion of my life -- and for good reason. While she may not have been very visible on the campaign trail so far, her ability to connect with the average voter may give the U.S. presidential candidate his best chance to win the general election.

Chinese authorities have shut down 16 websites and arrested six people after rumors of an attempted coup in Beijing spread over the Internet last week, China's state media reported.

North Korea Saturday accused the US of breaking a bilateral nuclear disarmament deal by overreacting to its planned satellite launch in mid-April, according to an AFP report.

A Syrian Foreign Ministry spokesman has said that President Bashar al-Assad's government will not withdraw the military from cities and towns embroiled in violent clashes with the rebels.

Syria says the year-long revolt to topple President Bashar al-Assad is now over, but it will keep its forces in cities to maintain security until it is safe to withdraw in keeping with a U.N.-backed peace deal.

Iran is helping Syria skirt the sanctions imposed on it by the US and other Western countries by providing it with a vessel to transport oil to China, Reuters has reported quoting sources.

Fadwa Suleiman, Syrian actress and a high-profile Alawite member of the Syrian revolution led by an opposition dominated by Sunni Muslims, against the government controlled by Alawites, is saddened that the revolution is not going in the right direction.

Eurozone finance ministers agreed at a meeting in Copenhagen on Friday to increase the bailout lending limit to 700 billion euros ($930 billion), a move aimed at reassuring financial markets wary of a Eurozone default and dampening the crippling debt crisis of the past few years.

At a time when the US job numbers have started to improve, the looming cuts in defense budget can play spoilsport. The Pentagon said last week thousands of jobs can be lost across the defense industry if lawmakers do not act decisively to ensure that the possible $500-billion cuts are prevented.