An electrical fire at an illegal coal mine in central China has left 25 people dead, the latest fatal accident to rock the country's mining industry.

Representatives of a leftist party asserted their independence from President Hugo Chavez on Monday, accepting a dissident politician into their ranks while demanding increased tolerance from Venezuela's socialist leader.

Cuba says a U.S. ruling that makes it easier for companies to provide Internet communications services on the island is meant to destabilize the country, not loosen Washington's 48-year economic embargo.

U.S. and Mexican federal officials said Monday they were probing why a suspected drug gang ambushed two cars carrying families with ties to the U.S. consulate in this violent border city, killing an American couple and a Mexican man.

Madagascar's disaster officials say at least 36 people have died and more than 38,000 were made homeless by Tropical Storm Hubert.