Beijing - A fire killed at least five people and trapped 27 others underground Saturday at a coal mine in north-eastern China's Heilongjiang province, the government said.

Forty-four miners were working underground and 12 escaped after the fire broke out around 3:30 am (1930 GMT Friday) at the Fuhua mine in Hegang city, the State Administration of Work Safety said on its website.

Rescuers had recovered five bodies by Saturday afternoon and were still searching for the other missing miners, the official Xinhua news agency said.

Beijing - A fire trapped 32 people underground Saturday at a coal mine in north-eastern China's Heilongjiang province, the government said.

Forty-four miners were working underground and 12 escaped after the fire broke out around 3:30 am (1930 GMT Friday) at the Fuhua mine in Hegang city, the State Administration of Work Safety said on its website.

The Fuhua coal mine was fully licensed to produce up to 60,000 tons of coal annually, the administration said.

The cause of the accident was under investigation, state media said.

Washington - The United States on Friday condemned violence against Christians in India that has escalated in recent weeks, leaving about 20 dead and thousands homeless.

"We urge all parties to refrain from violence and urge government officials to protect religious freedom throughout India and thus preserve India's longstanding tradition of religious tolerance," Thomas Hanford, ambassador at large for international religious freedom, said in Washington at the annual release of the State Department's International Religious Freedom Report.

New Delhi, Sep 19 : India and China today failed to reach any specific agreements on their disputed boundary issue in the latest round of negotiations, but decided to pursue their goal for a fair and reasonable solution acceptable to both sides.

“Chinese State Councilor Dai Bingguo and Indian National Security Adviser M K Narayanan headed their delegations for the talks, which were pragmatic, candid and friendly,” a statement issued by the Chinese Foreign Ministry said here.

Beijing - China and India on Friday ended their latest two-day round of talks on border disputes with an agreement to continue dialogue but no sign of progress.

"Chinese State Councilor Dai Bingguo and Indian National Security Adviser MK Narayanan headed their delegations for the talks, which were pragmatic, candid and friendly," the Chinese Foreign Ministry said in a statement released through the government-run Xinhua news agency.

The talks were the 12th round since China and India appointed special representatives in 2003 to explore solutions to their long-standing border disputes.

The ministry statement said the two sides "exchanged in-depth views on a framework to solve the issue," the agency said.

Melbourne, Sep 19 : Australia’s relationship with China could be affected by the US election results and the Australian influence is limited to reacting to US actions, a former American diplomat has said.

Former Clinton government official Derek Shearer said Republican candidate John McCain would be more forceful with China, while a Barack Obama Democrat Administration is likely to be less confrontational.

Now visiting Australia on a US state department tour, the former US Ambassador to Finland, said he expected tough foreign diplomacy from Senator McCain.