SEOUL - AN OFFICIAL says a suspicious white powder sent to the US Embassy in the South Korean capital has been found to be harmless.

BEIJING - NEARLY 5,000 higher-level Chinese government officials were punished for corruption over the past year, state media reported on Friday.

ISLAMABAD - PAKISTAN has redeployed some troops from its restive northwestern tribal areas near Afghanistan to the Indian border amid simmering tensions with New Delhi, senior officials said on Friday.

Relations between the South Asian neighbours have been badly strained since the Mumbai attacks, which New Delhi has blamed on Pakistan-based militants.