Rescue crews will resume their search Tuesday for an Australian state minister who went missing while hiking alone on a rugged, icy mountain. Tim Holding, the water and tourism minister for the southeastern state of Victoria, was last heard from on Saturday. He had gone to hike to the summit of Mount Feathertop, Victoria's second-highest peak. "I am advised that Tim did not arrive home from the hike as planned at 4 p.m. yesterday and that he has not been ...

On the surface, it seems like a fine idea; reproductive rights groups certainly think so. In July, the Ugandan government announced that, using cash from the U.N. Population Fund, it would distribute 100,000 female condoms in a bid to stop a resurgence of HIV/AIDS. Advocates cheered the initiative, saying it would give women more control over their own bodies. But in the weeks since, major funders of anti-HIV/AIDS programs have shown far less enthusiasm, with many deciding not to ...

A typhoon that struck Taiwan and China earlier this month killed more people in Taiwan than previous estimates, the government announced. At least 376 people are now known to have died when Typhoon Morakot hit Taiwan, Taiwan's Central Emergency Operation Center said Tuesday. At least 254 people are still missing, and at least 46 people were injured. Emergency services also reported that 60 human limbs had been found, separately from the number of dead and wounded. Kaohsiung county was the ...

Hurricane Bill skipped Bermuda and set its sights on the Massachusetts coast Saturday morning, with forecasters warning people from New England to Newfoundland to be on alert. The storm is expected to pass off the coast of New England late Saturday or Saturday night and approach Nova Scotia on Sunday, the National Hurricane Center said. The Bermuda Weather Service discontinued a hurricane watch early Saturday. A tropical storm warning remained in effect, and the weather service warned that strong winds, ...

Hurricane Bill is expected to remain in open waters this weekend, but experts warn it still poses dangers along the U.S. East Coast. Although Bill weakened Friday afternoon to a Category 2 storm, CNN meteorologist Bonnie Schneider said it was "still a large and dangerous storm," especially the threat of rip currents along the coast. Rip currents, or rip tides, are strong seaward flows of water that occur where there's a break in the shoreline. They are capable of ...

An anticipated drop in humidity could hinder the efforts of firefighters battling a 6,800-acre blaze Saturday in Northern California, according to a fire official. Fire officials also expect a north-northeast wind and higher temperatures, all of which would make conditions drier, said Julie Hutchinson, spokeswoman for the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection. The fire, covering 10 square miles in Santa Cruz County, lies alongside the Santa Cruz Mountains, about 60 miles south of San Francisco. The "outlook is ...

Hundreds of people were stranded on Wednesday in villages dotting Taiwan's mountainous regions after Typhoon Morakot unleashed its fury over the weekend and caused the worst flooding in a half-century. Morakot dumped 83 inches (2.1 meters) of rain on parts of the island, unleashing the worst flooding there in half a century, according to the U.S. National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. Buildings collapsed in the floodwater, and mudslides buried everything in their paths. After hitting Taiwan on Saturday, ...

Former Pakistani President Pervez Musharraf faces arrest if he returns, Pakistani officials said Tuesday. Pakistani police registered a case Tuesday against Musharraf over his order to arrest and detain judges in late 2007, the Pakistani High Commission in London said. As a result, "If Musharraf returned to Pakistan, he would face a court who would decide whether he is arrested or released on bail," a spokeswoman for the High Commission said. Musharraf now lives in London, England. His ...

By 2010, Seoul's women should officially be happy — at least the ones with driver's licenses. In May, the city government started to paint 4,929 public and private parking places pink throughout the city, with thousands more slated to go under the brush next year. The pink parking spots, reserved for women drivers so they don't have to walk so far to work or the mall, are part of the South Korean capital's Women Friendly Seoul Project, an effort ...

An Indian court on Monday convicted a couple and another man for explosions that left 54 people dead in Mumbai in 2003. Peter Bazso, the medical director of the AEK hospital in Budapest, confirmed that Massa's injuries had been "life-threatening" after he careered off the Hungaroring at 200kph in his Ferrari, but that his condition was now "slightly improving." Bazso told CNN said he had watched the accident on television and his team, who specialize in brain injuries, ...