IRAQ has cleared a plan to develop an oil field south of Baghdad in collaboration with China Petroleum, which will charge Baghdad a service fee of six US dollars for producing a barrel of oil
INDIA`S Tata Group has suspended construction of a plant to build the world`s cheapest car in the face of unrelenting protests and said it was looking at new sites
TWO Russian sumo wrestlers tested have positive for marijuana in tests less than two weeks after another Russian was arrested and then fired over suspected possession of the drug
NORTH Korea needs $US503 million ($596 million) in food aid between now and November 2009 to avoid famine, which could be hampered by China`s unwillingness to grant food export licences, the UN World Food Programme (WFP) said
PROTESTERS trying to topple Thai Prime Minister Samak Sundaravej shrugged off his imposition of a state of emergency today, vowing to lay down their lives for King Bhumibol Adulyadej, who they believe is under threat
A plane carrying 17 passengers and crew, including humanitarian workers, that went missing in east Democratic Republic of Congo has crashed into a mountain and there is no sign of survivors
RUSSIAN newspapers have hailed a victory for Moscow after the European Union froze talks on closer ties until Russian troops withdraw from Georgia but stopped short of imposing economic sanctions
A RED Cross hospital in Athens has named one of its intensive care units after Doujon Zammit, the young Australian tourist who died there after a fatal beating on the island of Mykonos
THEY came in their thousands ? US veterans, grandmothers, young families and even disgruntled Republicans bearing banners and peace flags, and calling in one voice to end the war in Iraq
A NEW tropical storm dubbed Ike took shape in the Atlantic today and could become a hurricane in 48 hours US forecasters said, as a hurricne pounded Louisiana and another approached the Bahamas
A STILL-largely deserted New Orleans today prepared to take stock of damage from Hurricane Gustav after rebuilt levees appeared to hold off a repeat of the flooding caused by Katrina three years earlier
A NEW tropical depression formed in the far eastern Atlantic Ocean south of the Cape Verde Islands and was expected to become a hurricane later today, the US National Hurricane Centre said
HURRICANE Hanna has weakened back into a tropical storm over the southeastern Bahamas islands but could regain strength and become a hurricane again during the day, the US National Hurricane Center said
Vision ... Prime Minister Kevin Rudd (giving a speech in Singapore today) pledged to boost the investment in the study of Asian languages and culture in schools and universities / AFP
NEIGHBOURS` Carla Bonner was barred from catching a weekend flight for reportedly letting fly with a Gordon Ramsay-style spray over baggage
CONTROVERSIAL Australia`s Next Top Model winner Demelza Reveley was recently rushed to hospital after she fainted
