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Fresh ‘massacre’ as Syria crisis enters 2nd year

Twenty-three mutilated corpses were found on Thursday near a Syrian protest city seized by regime forces, monitors said, as the regime’s bloody crackdown entered its second year to a rising world outcry. Full story

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Taliban break US contacts

The Taliban broke off confidence-building talks with the Americans on Thursday and the Afghan president ordered US troops out of villages, demanding a transition of security from NATO control in 2013. Full story

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Tight race to the top in East Timor polls

East Timor will go to the polls Saturday in a close presidential contest that pits the Nobel Prize-winning incumbent against about a dozen hopefuls, including the ex-lover of his would-be assassin. Full story

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Polish seniors help peers to stay forever young

A dozen seniors in the western Polish city of Poznan do gymnastics every Monday, guided by a sexagenarian in a class run by an international group focused on helping the elderly stay young. Full story

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Senior Chinese leader sacked in rare scandal

China’s ruling Communist Party on Thursday fired Bo Xilai, a charismatic leader famed for pushing a ‘red revival’, in a move that exposes ideological rifts during a generational power handover. Full story

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Swiss hostages free in Pakistan

A Swiss couple held captive by the Pakistani Taliban for over eight months were flown back to the capital on Thursday, smiling and waving to the cameras and apparently in good health. Full story

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Akhilesh Yadav takes charge of UP

A 38-year-old engineering graduate was sworn in Thursday as the head of India’s most populous state, having bested the heir to the country’s leading political dynasty in a watershed election. Full story

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Israelies, Palestinians trade fire but truce largely holding

The Israeli air force and Gaza militants traded sporadic fire overnight but a fragile truce between the sides that ended four days of violence appeared to be largely holding on Thursday. Full story

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Sri Lanka denies new video on war crimes

Sri Lanka Thursday rejected as ‘baseless and unacceptable’ a new documentary by Britain’s Channel 4 suggesting the army executed the 12-year-old son of a guerrilla leader after he surrendered. Full story

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Myanmar’s new right to protest insufficient: HRW

Myanmar’s new law allowing peaceful protests falls well short of international standards because of provisions such as the threat of jail for permit violations, Human Rights Watch said Thursday. Full story

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Police apologise for not stopping Norway massacre sooner

The Norwegian police apologised Thursday for failing to stop Anders Behring Breivik sooner on his shooting rampage last July that left 77 people dead, admitting lives were lost as a result. Full story

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Jailed Mubarak cronies offer assets for freedom: report

Members of ousted president Hosni Mubarak’s regime, in jail for corruption, have offered their assets in exchange for their release, Egyptian state media reported on Thursday. Full story

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N Korea’s Kim tells military to ‘wipe out’ enemies

North Korea’s new leader Kim Jong-Un has overseen an attack drill and ordered the military to ‘mercilessly wipe out’ their enemies in case of war, Pyongyang’s official news agency said Thursday. Full story

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PNG condemns Australian sanction threats

Australian foreign minister Bob Carr has threatened sanctions if Papua New Guinea delays mid-year elections, sparking condemnation from the Pacific nation’s key envoy Thursday. Full story

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Belgium ‘weeps for its children’ after crash

Belgians were in mourning on Thursday after 22 children died in a bus crash in Switzerland, with newspapers bemoaning the national tragedy. ‘Belgium Weeps for its Children,’ read the headline... Full story

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