'VENDETTA': Former House speaker Jose de Venecia said the first family engineered his ouster because his son blew the whistle on a telecoms deal with China's ZTE firm
A former political ally of Philippine President Gloria Arroyo said yesterday he was prepared to expose widespread corruption within the administration.

[ FULL STORY ]

China welcomed in the Year of the Rat yesterday with a bonanza of fireworks and festivals, but the celebrations for many were subdued as ferocious cold weather kept them from their families.

[ FULL STORY ]

North Korea lashed out yesterday at South Korea and the US for planning annual joint military exercises next month, saying the maneuvers are preparations for an invasion of the communist country.

[ FULL STORY ]

'UGLY': While the US promised a resumption of military aid, the new Thai government faces wide criticism at home for a Cabinet dominated by inexperienced figures
Thailand won praise overseas for its return to civilian rule, but its Cabinet full of newcomers yesterday faced immediate doubts at home over its competence and plans for ousted prime minister Thaksin Shinawatra.

[ FULL STORY ]

Police in Nepal said yesterday they were hunting for the alleged mastermind of India's biggest illegal kidney transplant racket amid reports he was hiding out in the Himalayan nation.

[ FULL STORY ]

Australia has "shocking" photographic evidence to back an international legal bid to stop Japanese whaling in Antarctic waters, the government said yesterday.

[ FULL STORY ]

PARDON? : President Idriss Deby told Europe-1 radio that he was willing to pardon the six french aid workers convicted in december of trying to kidnap 103 children
Chadian President Idriss Deby issued a "solemn call" yesterday for a planned European force to quickly take up positions in Chad.

[ FULL STORY ]

Senators Hillary Rodham Clinton and Barack Obama girded themselves for more fierce battles in their tight race for the Democratic presidential nomination, as Clinton disclosed she lent millions of dollars to her presidential campaign to fuel the costly White House fight.

[ FULL STORY ]

PERFECT LINE-UP: All the conditions for tornadoes had lined up so perfectly that the Storm Prediction Center had put out an alert six days in advance
Crews searched for more victims of tornadoes that killed at least 55 people and injured hundreds more as they tore across five US states, ripping off a shopping mall roof, demolishing mobile homes and blowing apart warehouses.

[ FULL STORY ]

Boys in soccer jerseys don black masks and grab weapons. They scramble over mud-brick walls, blast down doors and hold guns to the heads of residents inside.

[ FULL STORY ]

Israeli ground forces backed by warplanes exchanged fire with Hamas gunmen in the northern Gaza Strip yesterday, killing a teacher and six militants in escalating violence that is hobbling peace efforts.

[ FULL STORY ]

■ PAKISTAN