The UK government needs to be "less deferential" towards the US and more willing to say no to Washington, a group of MPs have said. The Commons Foreign Affairs committee also said it was wrong to speak of "the special relationship" with the US, as it was fostering other alliances. However, the MPs did agree that the link between the countries was "profound and valuable".

BAENGNYEONG ISLAND (AP) – Weeping, angry relatives of 46 crew members missing after a mysterious explosion sank a South Korean navy ship sailed around the site Sunday as rescue teams struggled to search for survivors. None has been found since an initial rescue of 58 sailors from the 1,200-ton Cheonan that sank early Saturday near the tense border with North Korea. No bodies have been discovered either. Still, President Lee Myung-bak refused to give up hope.

At least 123 coal miners are trapped after a pit flooded in China's northern Shanxi province, state media says. Some 261 people were in the mine when water rushed in and 138 managed to escape, the Xinhua news agency reports. China's mines are the most deadly in the world - thousands of workers are killed in them every year.

Residents of a Belgian town are to be offered chickens as part of a campaign to reduce household waste. The town of Mouscron has 50 pairs of chickens that it will distribute to families with sufficient space to keep the birds in their gardens. Those who take part in the scheme must agree not to eat the chickens for at least two years, or to give them away.

MUMBAI, (Xinhua) -- An Indian navy's sailor was killed and two others were wounded in a submarine fire broken out in an eastern port base of India yesterday, police said. The fire occurred at a naval dockyard in the eastern Indian port of Visakhapatnam, claiming a 24-year-old sailor's life and making tow others suffered from burn injuries, said the local police.

A tsunami alert has been issued in Japan after a powerful earthquake struck near the Okinawan coast. The Japan Meteorological Agency gave the strength as 6.9 while the US Geological Survey put it at 7.3. It struck at 0531 (2031 GMT), 84km (52 miles) east of Naha, on the island of Okinawa, 29km (18 miles) below the seabed, Reuters news agency reports.