LONDON (Thomson Financial) - Independent News & Media Plc. said APN News & Media Ltd. has appointed Gavin O'Reilly as non-executive chairman succeeding James Parkinson who retired today. Parkinson has been the chairman of APN for the past six years, and

?World News,? the evening newscast on ABC, received its lowest measured ratings last week, according to Nielsen Media Research. The newscast, anchored by Charles Gibson, averaged 6.9 million viewers for the week of June 30, ranking second to ?NBC Nightly

State media say a pre-dawn passenger train collision in eastern China killed at least 43 people and injured 247. Xinhua News Agency says today's crash happened about 4:40 a.m. in the city of Zibo in Shandong province.

Beijing and Washington should "accommodate each other's concerns," Chinese President Hu Jintao told US president-elect Barack Obama in a phonecall that stressed good Sino-US ties, state media said Sunday.

Egypt has banned news coverage of the brutal slaying of a Lebanese pop star following media reports in other regional papers that say a wealthy Egyptian businessman ordered three men to carry out the killing.