BEIJING - INVESTIGATORS were probing on Monday how China's worst coal mining disaster in over a year could have occurred in what had been hailed as a showcase modern colliery, as the firm's top managers were sacked.
The main objective of the probe was to find out what triggered Sunday's powerful pre-dawn blast at the Tunlan mine in north China's Shanxi province which left 74 dead and 114 hospitalised, five in critical condition.
SYDNEY - TENS of thousands of people from more than 200 countries have applied for 'the best job in the world' - being paid to loll about on an Australian island - officials said on Monday.
A late rush of more than 7,500 applications over the weekend brought the number people hoping to become 'caretaker' of tropical Hamilton Island on the Great Barrier Reef to 34,684, the Queensland state government said.
TOKYO - JAPANESE Finance Minister Kaoru Yosano already has three key cabinet posts. Now some pundits say he looks well-placed to take the top job too.
Prime Minister Taro Aso's public support, already in a slump after policy flip-flops and gaffes, took another hit when close ally Shoichi Nakagawa quit as finance minister last week after being forced to deny he was drunk at a G7 gathering in Rome.
LOS ANGELES - RAGS-TO-RICHES romance Slumdog Millionaire scooped up eight Oscars on Sunday, the most of any movie this year, including best motion picture.
Among the Slumdog honours, Briton Danny Boyle was named best director for the often dark but ultimately hopeful tale about a poor Indian boy who competes for love and money on a TV game show, and writer Simon Beaufoy won adapted screenplay.
