Musharraf says coup rumors 'nonsense'

President Gen. Pervez Musharraf said rumors of an impending military coup were "nonsense in nonsense in nonsense" in a Pakistani TV interview from the United States Sunday.

The rumors were sparked by a nationwide power outage and Musharraf's visit at a U.S. hospital. The president visited a cardiologist Saturday during a trip to Texas.

Musharraf was in the United States along with many world leaders to address the U.N. General Assembly. Thailand's former prime minister, Thaksin Shinawatra, was ousted in a military coup before his scheduled U.N. address.


Pakistan President Pervez Musharraf makes remarks at George Washington University in Washington, Friday, Sept. 22, 2006. AP Photo/Lawrence Jackson via Yahoo News.

Thai military makes coup attempt, backs king

Thailand's military, pledging loyalty to the king, launched a coup attempt against the government of Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra on Tuesday night.

Tanks encircled government buildings including Thaksin's official headquarters known as Government House.

The prime minister is in New York where he is scheduled to speak before the United Nations on Tuesday. He declared a state of emergency via a government-owned television station.


Thai soldiers patrol near the official presidential office Government House in Bangkok, Thailand, on Tuesday Sept. 19, 2006. AP Photo/Sakchai Lalit via Yahoo News.

Thaksin's opponents have called on the prime minister to step down, but new elections after Thaksin dissolved parliament were annulled by the courts. This has left Thailand without a functioning legislature.

Army Commander-in-Chief Gen. Sondhi Boonyaratkalin is apparently leading the coup attempt according to an anonymous source.

Walking shark discovered

Researchers exploring the seas of Indonesia's Papua province said Monday they had discovered dozens of new species including a shark that walks on its fins and a praying mantis-like shrimp.

Some 52 new species were reported by Conseravtion International including 24 fish species and 20 corals and eight new shrimp species.

The area known as the Bird's Head Seascape is partially conserved as it lies within Indonesia's Teluk Cendarawasih National Park.


In this undated Conservation International photo, an epaulette shark (Hemiscyillum freycineti), one of over 50 likely new species recently discovered. AP Photo/Conservation International, Gerry Allen, HO via Yahoo News.

Pope's comments offend Muslims worldwide

Pope Benedict stirred anger among the world's Muslims after coments made at a speech at Regensburg University earlier this week.

The Organization of the Islamic Conference (OIC), the world's largest coalition of Muslim nations, said quotations used by the Pope of 14th century Byzantine Emperor, Manuel II Palaeologus amounted to "character assassination of the Prophet Mohammed" and a "smear campaign."


Pakistani Muslims protest remarks by Pope Benedict XVI in Islamabad. AFP photo via Yahoo News.

The Pakistani government passed a resolution demanding the Pope withdraw his remarks.

The reaction come at a sensitive time when the Pope is palinning to visit predominantly Muslim Turkey, once the seat of the Eastern Roman empire. Some analysts believe the Pope may be forced to postpone or cancel his visit.

New bird species found in India

A new multicolored bird species, the first in more thna 50 years, has been found in India, a member of Mumbai's Natural History Society said Tuesday.

The brightly-colored Bugun Liocichla, was sighted in May in the remote Eaglenest Wildlife Sanctuary in India's northeastern state of Arunachal Pradesh near the border with China.

Athreya, who found the bird, named it after the Bugun tribe, and the find was described by Birdlife International as "the most sensational ornithological discovery in India for more than half a century."


A Bugun Liocichla bird rests on the branch of a tree at Eaglenest Wildlife Sanctuary in India's northeastern state of Arunachal Pradesh May 25, 2006. Scientifically known as Liocichla bugunorum, a kind of babbler, was discovered in May at the Eaglenest Wildlife Sanctuary in India's hilly state of Arunachal Pradesh, bordering China. REUTERS/Ramana Athreya via Yahoo News.

Tongan King passes away, son crowned

King Taufa’ahau Tupou IV died at 11:34 pm, Sunday at Mercy Hospital in New Zealand, said the Tongan royal website.

The king who has been in bad health for some time was 88 years old.


Tonga's King Taufa'ahau Tupou IV at the royal palace in Nuku'alofa, Tonga on January 2002. AFP/File/Matangi Tonga via Yahoo News.

On Monday, the Prince Regent took the oath before the Privy Council and was sworn in as King Tupou V of Tonga.

Information of the funeral of the late king will be rleased on Tuesday according to the royal palace.

Fire's haze darkens Borneo

Dozens of uncontrolled fires continue to thicken the haze over the island of Borneo, officials said Friday.

Some eight million hectares across Indonesia have burned in the last month due mostly to illegal land-clearing and illegal logging. About 60 percent of the burnt area was farm land with the remainder forest.

"Now visibility is down to 500 metres, planes can still take off but we will have to see later," said an official speaking of Central Kalimantan.


Villagers head home through thick haze uncontrolled forest fires in Riau, Sumatra province, August 2006. AFP/Greenpeace/Getty Images/File/Vinai Dithajon via Yahoo News.

Princess Kiko bears heir to Chrysanthemum Throne

In what will certainly be celebrated by the traditional, male-dominance conservatives, Japan's Princess Kiko gave birth to the first imperial male heir in more than four decades.

The heir, whose name is still not known, is third in line to the throne after his uncle Crown Prince Naruhito and his father Prince Akishino.

The birth will like put off talks on possible female succession to the world's oldest dynasty that takes back historically more than 1,500 years, and more than 2,500 years according to legend.


A baby holds a paper fan reading 'Celebration' as well-wishers gather in celebration of the birth of a baby boy to Japan's Princess Kiko at the Imperial Palace in Tokyo September 6, 2006. Japanese politicians hope the birth of the new male heir will spark a baby boom in a country plagued by slow demographic growth. REUTERS/Issei Kato via Yahoo News.

Philippine oil slick reaches Iloilo City

The massive oil spill off Panay island in the Philippines has reached the city of Iloilo as cleanup efforts intensified.

Planes and ships dropped chemical dispersants on the slick as the Japanese ship Shinsei Maru began preparations to salvage the sunken tanker Solar I.

Grassroots efforts aimed at combating the spill utilize human hair and dried grass to soak up the toxic sludge floating on waters off Panay's coast.


A worker arranges bags of relief goods for distribution to the oil spill affected families Saturday, Sept. 2, 2006 in the town of Nueva Valencia on Guimaras island in central Philippines. Similar plastic bags filled with donated human hair are being used to soak up oil residues in the affected area. AP Photo/Ariel Catubig via Yahoo News.

India rushes help to flooded state

Troops and helicopters came to the rescue in India's flood-ravaged state of Rajasthan on Friday.

More than 150 people have died and thousands are homeless in the Jodhpur and Barmer districts.


An Indian woman carries her child in a basket as she wades through floodwaters in the village of Kudla. AFP via Yahoo News.

Ten days of heavy monsson rains brought flash floods to many areas of the state, which had previously been suffering from drought.

Huge lakes up to 10 kilometers wide formed in Rajashtan's deserts where the non-porous tablerock could take months to absorb the water.

"It's already a nightmare as we see from the geological point of view," said a spokesman from the state-run Central Arid Zone Research Institute, based in the flood-hit district of Jodhpur.