(AP Online Via Acquire Media NewsEdge) US says will work with China on product safetyBEIJING (AP) _ The United States prepared to open its first Food and Drug Administration offices outside the country Wednesday as it works with China to strengthen measures to ensure products imported into the U.S. are safe. Worries about the quality of Chinese exports to America have become a major feature of bilateral trade ties, with substandard Chinese food and toxin-laced toothpaste among product safety scares this past year.

US says it fired at insurgents in PakistanKABUL, Afghanistan (AP) _ U.S. troops in Afghanistan launched a barrage of artillery at insurgents attacking their position from inside Pakistan's volatile tribal region, in a cross-border strike, U.S. and NATO officials said. The strike, coordinated with the Pakistani military, occurred less than a mile (1.6 kilometers) inside Pakistan's border and came after the militants fired rockets at a U.S. position in Afghanistan.

Big hop forward: Scientists map kangaroo's DNASYDNEY, Australia (AP) _ Taking a big hop forward in marsupial research, scientists say they have unraveled the DNA of a small kangaroo named Matilda. And they've found the Aussie icon has more in common with humans than scientists had thought. The kangaroo last shared a common ancestor with humans 150 million years ago.

Rights group: Indian police tortured 21 Muslim menNEW DELHI (AP) _ Police officers allegedly tortured 21 Muslim men during an investigation into a series of bombings in southern India, an international rights group said as it called for the officers to be prosecuted. Bomb attacks in Hyderabad, the capital of Andhra Pradesh state, in May and August last year killed more than 50 people. At the time police blamed Islamic militants and rounded up more than 100 Muslim men.

Myanmar courts imprison ethnic minority activistsYANGON, Myanmar (AP) _ A court in military-ruled Myanmar has sentenced three ethnic minority activists and a well-known Buddhist monk to prison, continuing a crackdown that began last week with pro-democracy activists. Meanwhile, five United Nations experts issued a statement Tuesday in Geneva strongly condemning the "severe convictions and the unfair trials of prisoners of conscience in Myanmar." At least 70 activists were sentenced to prison terms last week, and another seven on Monday.

Report: China president meets Cuba's Fidel CastroBEIJING (AP) _ China's president Hu Jintao met with ailing Cuban leader Fidel Castro for a lengthy conversation during his visit to Havana, state media said Tuesday. The 82-year-old Castro has not been seen in public since July 2006, after which he handed his title of president to his younger brother Raul. Official photos released from their meeting show a thinner-looking Fidel, dressed in a red and black track suit, clasping Hu's hands with both of his hands.

China stance on Tibet clouds exile talks in IndiaBEIJING (AP) _ China bluntly told Tibetan exiles considering whether to push for independence that any such bid to separate the Himalayan region from China was "doomed." Beijing's comments came as more than 500 Tibetan exile leaders held all-day closed door talks Tuesday as part of a weeklong meeting in India to discuss the future of their struggle.

1 dead, 33 rescued at flooded coal mine in ChinaBEIJING (AP) _ Flooding at a mine in central China killed one miner but rescuers pulled 33 other trapped workers to safety Tuesday after a 23-hour ordeal, a state news agency said. The miners were lifted out of a flooded shaft around dawn, the official Xinhua News Agency said. It was the third mine accident in as many weeks to hit the resource-rich central Henan province, with an overall toll of at least six people killed.

Thaksin seeks to nurture Asia's future leadersBANGKOK, Thailand (AP) _ Thailand's fugitive ex-Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra has launched a foundation that aims to nurture Asia's future leaders, a spokesman said Tuesday. The Building a Better Future Foundation opened offices Monday in Hong Kong and Dubai, said Pongthep Thepkanjana, a Bangkok-based spokesman.

Afghan returnees huddle in tent campsCHAMTALA SETTLEMENT, Afghanistan (AP) _ Ajab Khan's five children were born in a refugee camp in Pakistan. Now the 48-year-old has brought his family home to Afghanistan _ to a tent pitched on a rocky plain just steps away from land mines. Khan and his children are among nearly 4,000 Afghan families living in a makeshift settlement because their homes were destroyed or overtaken in the decades they spent abroad waiting out wars. First, with the former Soviet Union in the 80s, then the strife of civil war and most recently the U.S. offensive against the Taliban.

Australia temporarily shuts down navyCANBERRA, Australia (AP) _ Australia's navy gets a big Christmas gift this year: two months paid vacation for most sailors that will ease the effects of a recruiting slump but make the service Down Under look something like a part-time operation. The navy hopes that by making life on the sea more family-friendly, it will attract the extra 2,000 sailors it needs achieve its target strength of 15,000.

NATO says it fired at insurgents in PakistanKABUL, Afghanistan (AP) _ NATO troops in eastern Afghanistan fired 20 artillery rounds at insurgents inside Pakistan in an attack the alliance said was coordinated with the government in Islamabad. Meanwhile, clashes in both nations killed at least 25 people, officials said Tuesday, including seven left dead after Taliban militants elsewhere in Pakistan's northwest attacked pro-government tribal elders.

Mountain a symbol of detente, tension of KoreasSEOUL, South Korea (AP) _ Majestic and dramatic, with cliffs and waterfalls overlooking the sea, North Korea's Diamond Mountain has been revered throughout Korean history as the most beautiful of the country's landscapes. Now, 10 years after the first South Korean tourists began visiting the mountain in the isolated North, a tour to the area is among three joint projects held captive by growing political tensions between the two Koreas.

Chinese general stirs aircraft carrier speculationBEIJING (AP) _ Enigmatic remarks by a Chinese general have stirred new speculation about a future Chinese aircraft carrier. General Qian Lihua was quoted in the British newspaper Financial Times as saying in a rare interview last week that even if China were to build an aircraft carrier, the outside world should not view it as a threat.

Sri Lankan military says it sinks 2 rebel boatsCOLOMBO, Sri Lanka (AP) _ Sri Lankan naval forces backed by helicopter gunships attacked a group of rebel boats early Tuesday, sinking two and killing six Tamil Tiger sailors, the military said. The sea battle came as the military pushed ahead with its multi-pronged offensive against the rebels' de facto state in the north.

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