World

Somalia's Islamist insurgents launched a deadly attack on the presidential palace in Mogadishu even as the embattled president sought to drum up support at an international conference in Turkey.

Investigators on Sunday sifted through the charred wreckage of an Indian passenger plane that overshot the runway and plunged into a ravine, killing 158 people on board.

Japanese Prime Minister Yukio Hatoyama today apologised for breaking his election pledge to move an unpopular US military base off Okinawa, also receiving a public dressing-down from local officials.

Thailand's prime minister said that Bangkok would get back to business on Monday after a massive clean-up, and defended a crackdown on protest rallies that unleashed a rampage of arson and looting.

An Air India Express plane overshot a runway and crashed in flames Saturday in southern India, killing 159 people as a handful of survivors scrambled from the burning wreckage.

A 13-year-old American boy on Saturday became the youngest person ever to climb Mount Everest, his website said, setting a new but controversial world record.

After a military offensive that crushed anti-government rallies in Bangkok, angry "Red Shirts" are returning to their northern heartland in disarray, with their leaders in custody or hiding.

Thailand picked up the pieces today after violence and mayhem triggered by a crackdown on anti-government protests, as the focus swung to recovery and reconciliation in a divided nation.

US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton is to kick off an Asia tour in Japan where both sides have condemned North Korea after investigators blamed it for sinking a S Korean warship.

North Korea repeated denials that it torpedoed a South Korean warship, saying Seoul's allegations brought the two nations close to war amid international outrage at the attack.

Thai troops hunted for militant protesters who left parts of Bangkok in flames as the authorities extended a night curfew in the capital despite tentative signs of a return to normality.

An audacious gun, grenade and suicide attack on the largest NATO base in Afghanistan sparked hours of battles Wednesday, killing an American contract worker and 10 militants.

Passengers were heard in the cockpit of the plane of Polish president Lech Kaczynski shortly before it crashed in Russia, officials said Wednesday, raising fresh questions about the tragedy's cause.

Huge fires swept through major buildings in central Bangkok on Wednesday as looting and arson gripped the Thai capital after a deadly army crackdown on anti-government protesters. Plumes of black smoke billowed across the skyline in the aftermath of the military operation against the protesters' fortified camp which left at least five people dead.

The controversy over Arizona's new immigration law heated up further Monday when a powerful coalition of civil rights and immigration advocates asked a U.S. federal court to find the new law unconstitutional and issue an injunction against its taking effect.

Today, after weeks of unadulterated violence and sporadic negotiations, both sides are far apart with diametrically opposed positions that seemingly make talks impossible. The biggest question is whether Thaksin Shinawatra, whose ouster eventually developed into the crisis that faces Thailand, is still in charge.

Thai armoured vehicles began smashing down the anti-government protesters' main barricade near the business district in Bangkok.

The US Senate is moving forward with a 59-billion-dollar spending bill, of which 33.5 billion dollars would be allocated for the war in Afghanistan.

South Korea has found "decisive evidence" that a North Korean torpedo sank one of its warships after analysing chemical traces found on the wreckage, a media report said Tuesday.

The United Nations urged Thailand to "step back from the brink" to avoid further loss of life as troops and protestors today remained locked in a tense confrontation after deadly street clashes.

The outgoing Philippine president's gamble to take over as Speaker of the House of Representatives to preserve her power base and protect her from procecution appears to be fading against the magnitude of last Monday's national election landslide by Benigno Aquino III.

A journalist said he feared more casualties, reaching a point where the military could intervene, and "guerrilla warfare" after the crackdown. "Thailand has reached a point of no return," said Sujane Kanparit.