HONG KONG - HONG Kong on Friday detected a strain of H1N1 flu that was resistant to Tamiflu, the main anti-viral flu drug, the health department reported on its website.

The statement said the resistant strain of influenza A (H1N1) was detected during routine tests of its sensitivity to anti-virals.

ISLAMABAD - A PAKISTANI military helicopter crashed in the northwest of the country on Friday killing all 26 security personnel on board, officials said, ahead of a planned army offensive against a Taleban militant chief.

The helicopter crashed because of a technical fault about 20km from the city of Peshawar on the mountainous border of the Orakzai and Khyber ethnic Pashtun tribal regions, the official said.

CANCUN (Mexico) - CHINA'S Health Minister Chen Zhu on Friday apologised to his Mexican counterpart for failing to warn him about the tough measures Beijing imposed on Mexicans to combat H1N1 flu.

'I regret that I did not talk first' to Minister Jose Angel Cordova, Mr Chen said on the sidelines of a meeting in Cancun about the H1N1 flu pandemic.