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Detectives across Britain are joining the hunt for a girl aged about three or four who was seen being put into the back of an estate car on Wednesday. Police say there may be an "innocent explanation", but they are becoming increasingly anxious about her welfare. Shoppers at a Sainsbury's store in Swansea saw a man put the child in the back of a Hyundai Lantra estate. The car - registration N729 FOO - had been seen in London a day earlier and headed back to England on Wednesday. South Wales  ...

Coastguards are searching for three Britons and an American missing off the coast of Nova Scotia. The yacht of Britons Richard White, 34, Jacek Bielecki, 56, his son Jack, 19, and US citizen Molly Finn, 21, was caught in high winds on Thursday. Debris has been found near where their last distress call was made, but bad weather has hampered the search. A Foreign Office spokesman said: "We're concerned about the safety of those involved. We are following it closely." The remnants of Tropical  ...

By Michele Gershberg NEW YORK (Reuters) - Bill Gates this week strengthened his position as a standard bearer for U.S. tech billionaires who are building a charitable legacy well before they retire. At 50, Gates announced a two-year plan to move out of a daily role at Microsoft Corp., the software empire he founded as a college drop-out, to focus full-time on the $30 billion (16 billion pounds) Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation. Because of his emphasis on health and education charities, phila ...

BEIJING (Reuters) - China has called on local authorities around the country to control new projects, newspapers reported on Saturday, as the government tries to restrain breakneck growth. Before embarking on new projects, local governments should ensure they are in line with regulations on land use, industrial policies and environmental protection, said a notice issued jointly by the National De ...

SEOUL (Reuters) - North Korea has moved key components of a long-range missile to a launch pad as well as 10 large liquid-gas tanks to fuel it, a South Korean newspaper reported on Saturday, citing government officials. The United States on Friday warned North Korea against conducting a "provocative" intercontinental missile test after U.S. officials said there were signs a launch could take plac ...

By Kevin Fylan BERLIN (Reuters) - European heavyweights Portugal, Czech Republic and Italy are all well placed to seal second round berths at the World Cup on Saturday despite concerns over their strikers. Portugal get day nine underway against Iran in Frankfurt (2:00 p.m. British time) and coach Luiz Felipe Scolari will demand a much improved forward display from their opening Group D win over  ...

An explosion at a chemical plant in eastern China has killed 10 people and injured 26, the official Xinhua news agency has reported. It is not yet clear what caused Friday's blast at the workshop in Anhui province, Xinhua says. The plant in Dangtu county makes explosives for mining. The factory's two-story workshop was razed and firefighters were still working to put out the fire, according to  ...

WASHINGTON (AP) -- U.S. special operations forces fed some Iraqi detainees only bread and water for up to 17 days, used unapproved interrogation practices such as sleep deprivation and loud music, and stripped at least one prisoner, according to a Pentagon report on incidents dating to 2003 and 2004. The report concludes that the detainees' treatment was wrong but not illegal and reflected inadequate resources and lack of oversight and proper guidance rather than deliberate abuse. No military  ...

AUSTIN, Texas (AP) -- Until they found the topless photos, Austin High School officials considered Tamara Hoover an excellent art teacher with a knack for helping students find their creativity. Now, she's fighting for her job. The photos, which were posted on Flickr.com by her partner, depict Hoover in the shower, lifting weights, getting dressed, in bed and doing other routine activities. Ho ...

Gay human rights campaigner Peter Tatchell said gay and lesbian people want to be able to live without the fear of homophobic abuse and attack. "Sadly that isn't always possible," he told the BBC News website. Both Walker and Pickford had been involved in an assault on another gay man in the area two weeks earlier, the court heard. Walker had been out on licence for assaulting and threatening to kill his own mother and had met Pickford at a charity-run hostel for ex-offenders. Walker's lice ...