NO TO INDEPENDENCE: The Australian foreign minister dismissed China's concern, saying Canberra viewed the Dalai Lama as a religious leader -- and not a politician
Australia yesterday brushed off threats by China over a visit by the Dalai Lama and called on Beijing to respect Canberra's political system.

[ FULL STORY ]

The impact of violence on civilians in Afghanistan is worse now than a year ago, a senior international Red Cross official said on Tuesday.

[ FULL STORY ]

Chinese tiger farms came under renewed scrutiny when wildlife officials confirmed that a team of reporters had been served tiger meat at a farm's restaurant.

[ FULL STORY ]

An Australian man who faces a possible 20 years in a Singapore jail for allegedly trafficking marijuana has jumped bail, authorities said on Tuesday.

[ FULL STORY ]

Cambodian and international judges announced guiding rules for a UN-backed genocide trial yesterday, putting aside the last major roadblock to much-delayed trials of former Khmer Rouge leaders.

[ FULL STORY ]

WARMONGERING: Seoul turned the tables and accused Pyongyang of violating the Northern Limit Line and raising tensions in the peninsula
South Korea accused North Korea yesterday of heightening tensions on the peninsula by sending warships along a disputed border in the Yellow Sea.

[ FULL STORY ]

FAMILIAR FACES: The Nobel Peace Prize was the sole candidate in the second round of voting. His win came on the heels of Ehud Barak's Labor Party comeback on Tuesday
Elder statesman Shimon Peres was elected Israel's ninth president yesterday in a race that capped his six-decade political career, but was overshadowed by rape allegations against the sitting president.

[ FULL STORY ]

FAMILIAR FACES: The Nobel Peace Prize was the sole candidate in the second round of voting. His win came on the heels of Ehud Barak's comeback as leader of the Labor Party
Elder statesman Shimon Peres was elected Israel's ninth president yesterday in a race that capped his six-decade political career, but was overshadowed by rape allegations against the sitting president.

[ FULL STORY ]

The Kurdish separatist group declared a "unilateral ceasefire" in attacks against Turkey, saying on Tuesday it was ready for peace negotiations, but insisting on the right to defend itself.

[ FULL STORY ]

THINGS COME TOGETHER: The Nigerian writer, best known for his first novel and as an inspiration to a generation of African writers, received due recognition for his work
Nigerian novelist Chinua Achebe won the 2007 Man Booker International Prize for fiction yesterday, beating nominees including Philip Roth, Margaret Atwood and Ian McEwan.

[ FULL STORY ]

A countrywide strike by South Africa's public-service unions lumbered into its 12th day on Tuesday, shuttering schools, crippling hospitals and hamstringing courts -- but not shifting President Thabo Mbeki's government far toward a settlement.

[ FULL STORY ]

Irish Prime Minister Bertie Ahern's long-ruling Fianna Fail party and the left-wing Greens announced an agreement on Tuesday to forge a coalition unprecedented in Irish political history.

[ FULL STORY ]

OFF THE LIST: Israel and Brazil were removed from the watch list for having made `significant efforts' to combat human trafficking, while five allies were added to it
Washington's Middle Eastern allies Bahrain, Kuwait, Oman and Qatar, as well as key trading partner Malaysia, were added to a blacklist of countries trafficking in people on Tuesday.

[ FULL STORY ]

NO DUCT TAPE: Astronauts from the US shuttle 'Atlantis' will spend two additional days in space to make minor repairs to the shuttle's slightly damaged thermal blanket
The International Space Station spread its new solar wings on Tuesday, boosting power generation capacity after astronauts of the US shuttle Atlantis wired them up during a space walk.

[ FULL STORY ]

ne moment US President George W. Bush was glad-handing Albanians on Sunday, proudly sporting a watch with a dark strap on his left wrist. Moments later, it was gone.

[ FULL STORY ]

Former Pakistan cricket coach Bob Woolmer was not murdered but died of natural causes, Jamaican police said on Tuesday, closing an investigation into his sudden death that rocked the cricketing world.

[ FULL STORY ]

US and Iraqi forces raided a candy factory being used as a headquarters by suspected Sunni insurgents in northern Iraq, which has seen a recent rise in violence as militants flee a nearly four-month-old security crackdown in Baghdad.

[ FULL STORY ]

A 45-tonne bowhead whale caught off the Alaskan coast last month had a weapon fragment embedded in its neck that showed it survived a similar hunt -- more than a century ago.

[ FULL STORY ]

■ HONG KONG
[ FULL STORY ]