DESTROYED: An explosive laden Suzuki van rammed a bus carrying employees from the Inter-Services Intelligence agency, as suicide attacks targeted cities
Suicide bombers hit a bus carrying intelligence agency employees and also targeted a checkpoint near the headquarters of the Pakistan army yesterday, killing up to 35 people, several officials said.

[ FULL STORY ]

Exiled former prime minister Nawaz Sharif will return to Pakistan from Saudi Arabia today, a top aide said, two months after his last attempt ended with his deportation within hours.

[ FULL STORY ]

North Korean leader Kim Jong-il's second son has assumed a key official post, fueling speculation that he will be groomed as the next leader in the country's communist dynasty, a report said yesterday.

[ FULL STORY ]

CHILDREN KILLED: A bomb near a NATO-led unit left `three or four' children dead in a scenic town in the Paghman Mountains, a normally quiet area popular for picnics
A suicide bomber blew himself up yesterday in a scenic Afghan town near Kabul, killing six people -- most of them children -- and wounding 12, officials said.

[ FULL STORY ]

The US Navy has begun airlifting urgently needed supplies of clean drinking water to thousands of survivors of Bangladesh's devastating Cyclone Sidr, an official said yesterday.

[ FULL STORY ]

Myanmar should release all its child soldiers and allow UN officials to verify government claims that officers have been punished for recruiting minors into the army, the UN chief said.

[ FULL STORY ]

Myanmar Prime Minister Thein Sein reassured Southeast Asian leaders at a summit last week that recent unrest in his country posed no threat to the region, official media said yesterday.

[ FULL STORY ]

`ALL WALKS OF LIFE': The leader of the Democrat party planned to stump for support from drivers, transsexuals and monks in his 24-hour campaign blitz
Seeking the votes of night watchmen, drivers, sex workers and cabaret performers, a leading Thai politician launched a 24-hour campaign blitz on Friday to mingle with voters on a variety of night shifts ahead of next month's elections.

[ FULL STORY ]

Indian authorities circulated sketches yesterday of three suspects believed to be behind a series of bombings outside courthouses in three cities that left at least 13 dead and more than 40 wounded.

[ FULL STORY ]

BIG CHANGES: New Prime Minister Donald Tusk laid out a vision for his country that includes tax cuts, more emphasis on relations with the EU and revising business laws
Poland's new prime minister outlined ambitious plans for the next four years in his inaugural address, saying that he plans to withdraw troops from Iraq next year and push for the quick adoption of the euro.

[ FULL STORY ]

The uproar over the British tax agency's loss of computer disks with personal and financial information on about 25 million Britons has rocked the five-month-old government of Prime Minister Gordon Brown, raising new questions about its competence and ability to withstand the challenge of a resurgent Conservative Party.

[ FULL STORY ]

HOLDING OUT: Syria has not given a definitive response to Washington's invitation and has been waiting for a reference to the Israeli occupation of the Golan Heights
The US-brokered Annapolis peace conference was given a significant boost on Friday when heavyweight Saudi Arabia decided to send its foreign minister to the launch of the first peace talks between Israelis and Palestinians in seven years. Syria, Israel's most implacable Arab enemy, signaled that it was now also likely to attend.

[ FULL STORY ]

Russian prosecutors charged a deputy finance minister who was the country's chief sovereign debt negotiator on Friday with conspiring to embezzle US$43.4 million in a politically tinged case seen as undermining the position of liberals in the Russian government.

[ FULL STORY ]

There is no avoiding Croatian Prime Minister Ivo Sanader's glare on Mese Selimovica Boulevard.

[ FULL STORY ]

ADVENTURE: Wearing bright orange suits to protect themselves against the cold, passengers disembarked on King George Island for a night at a military base
A group of travelers were given a rare chance to spend the night in Antarctica after the cruise ship they were on struck an iceberg and sank hours later.

[ FULL STORY ]

Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez warned his supporters on Friday that anyone voting against his proposed constitutional changes would be a "traitor," rallying his political base before a referendum that would let him seek unlimited reelection in 2012 and beyond.

[ FULL STORY ]

SOVEREIGN DECISION: The US and France continue to support the Colombian president's efforts to secure the release of hostages, but are at odds over Chavez's role
Washington on Friday urged Colombian rebels to provide proof their hostages were alive, but stopped short of backing Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez in his stymied efforts to mediate in the crisis.

[ FULL STORY ]

Church officials said Mexico City's world-renowned cathedral reopened yesterday, six days after more than 100 protesters barged into the cavernous building and interrupted Sunday Mass.

[ FULL STORY ]

University of California officials have won the legal right to oust a band of tree sitters who have taken up residence in a oak grove standing in the way of a planned sports center.

[ FULL STORY ]

■ CHINA

[ FULL STORY ]