KABUL - AFGHANISTAN'S top rights body released on Tuesday its findings into the disputed casualty toll from US air strikes this month, saying up to 97 civilians, most of them children, may have been killed.

Afghanistan's Independent Human Rights Commission (AIHRC) said insurgents involved in the May 4-5 fighting in the southwestern province of Farah had knowingly put civilians at risk but the military had also reacted with too much force.

KATHMANDU - NEPAL'S new prime minister appealed on Tuesday for the Maoist party to join his government, saying the former rebels' participation was needed to protect the country's peace process.

HONG KONG - HONG Kong officials on Tuesday confirmed the city's 10th case of swine flu, a 56-year-old woman who returned from the United States, local radio reported.