Southeast Asian leaders Thursday held talks on the Indonesian island of Bali dominated by a maritime dispute with China and a debate over whether to reward Myanmar for fledgling reforms.
With the Eurozone lurching through a debt crisis, raising the spectra of the region's export markets drying up, there is also pressure on the 10-member bloc to speed up the integration of its potentially huge common market.
Full StoryInsurgents on Thursday fired a rocket near the venue of a major meeting in the Afghan capital Kabul discussing the controversial presence of U.S. troops after NATO combat forces leave in 2014.
The strike, which was claimed by the Taliban, injured one person but highlighted lingering security fears at the four-day loya jirga event which brings together around 2,000 elders from around the warring country.
Full StoryMario Monti took over as Italy's new prime minister and appointed himself finance minister on Wednesday as he unveiled a technocratic cabinet to rescue the eurozone heavyweight from bankruptcy.
The former European commissioner said his new team would focus "on coordinated initiatives for economic growth and development," as he announced he had formally accepted the nomination to replace Silvio Berlusconi.
Full StoryIran is to send an "analytical" response to a report suggesting it was pursuing nuclear weapons, Foreign Minister Ali Akbar Salehi said on Wednesday, a day before the U.N. watchdog meets on the issue.
"We have decided to draft and send an analytical letter with logical and rational responses to (International Atomic Energy Agency chief Yukiya) Amano's recent report," the Iranian state television website quoted Salehi as saying.
Full StoryOsama bin Laden was a kind and loyal friend who honored the 9/11 hijackers and often cried in public, according to his longtime deputy who succeeded him as the leader of al-Qaida.
In a 30-minute video posted on jihadist forums on Tuesday, Ayman al-Zawahiri praised what he called the "human side" of the al-Qaida founder, who was killed in a U.S. commando raid in Pakistan earlier this year.
Full StoryPresident Hamid Karzai on Wednesday outlined a string of conditions for long-term U.S. bases in Afghanistan at a major gathering of elders debating the country's future and peace efforts with the Taliban.
Karzai told day one of the loya jirga that he wanted Afghan-U.S. relations to be those of "two independent countries" and assured neighbors such as China and Russia that a long-term deal would not affect their ties with Afghanistan.
Full StoryThe United States will deploy up to 2,500 Marines to northern Australia as the two nations expand their 60-year-old military alliance, the U.S. and Australian leaders announced Wednesday, rankling China.
The announcement by President Barack Obama and Australian Prime Minister Julia Gillard came as the allies adapted their military posture to face a new security era marked by the rise of China.
Full StoryNineteen people, 17 of them children, were killed in a head-on collision between an overloaded school bus and a truck in northwestern China on Wednesday, local authorities and state media said.
The nine-seater bus was carrying 64 people when the accident happened at 9:40 am (0140 GMT) in Yulinzi township in Gansu province, the official Xinhua news agency said, citing local safety authorities.
Full StoryA bullet has struck the ballistic glass of an exterior window of the White House and another round has been found nearby, the Secret Service said Wednesday.
The bodyguard detail charged with protecting the U.S. president and other top officials began investigating after an incident on Friday when gunshots were heard near the White House, the service said in a statement.
Full StoryA major salvo of U.S. missiles on Wednesday destroyed a Pakistani Taliban base on the Afghan border, killing up to 18 militants including possible al-Qaida fighters, local officials said.
Five U.S. drones fired up to 10 missiles into a sprawling compound in the Baber Ghar area of South Waziristan, killing 15 to 18 fighters in the deadliest such American strike in three months, the Pakistani officials said.
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