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Blasts hit Syria ahead of UN missions

Syria was hit by the third lethal car bombing of the weekend on Sunday as UN teams readied for a government-led humanitarian mission and to work to launch a monitoring operation to end a year of bloodshed. Full story

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55 dead in gunfights, air strikes in Pakistan

At least 51 militants and four soldiers have been killed in air strikes and clashes with Pakistani security forces in the restive northwest over the past week, officials said Sunday. Full story

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Coup-prone Guinea-Bissau holds elections

Guinea-Bissau began voting Sunday for a new president, an office nobody has held for a full five-year term in the west African state where chronic instability has fed a booming cocaine trade. Full story

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Japan’s majority favour phasing out N-power: poll

A vast majority of Japanese favour the gradual phasing out of nuclear plants but accept that some reactors need to be restarted to secure enough power in the short term, a newspaper poll showed on Sunday. Full story

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Indian FM defends ‘zero-risk’ budget

India’s finance minister Pranab Mukherjee on Sunday defended the government’s ‘zero-risk’ budget, conceding he was in a tight political spot and could not afford to take bold economic reform steps. Full story

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American teacher shot dead in Yemen

Gunmen on a motorbike on Sunday killed a US teacher in Yemen’s second city of Taez, an official said, just days after suspected al-Qaeda militants kidnapped a Swiss female teacher in the country. Full story

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North Korea rejects calls to stop satellite launch plan

North Korea on Sunday reiterated its commitment to launching a satellite in the face of protests by its neighbours and the US, who view the move as a disguised missile test. Full story

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10 killed in train-minivan collision in Indonesia

At least 10 members of one Indonesian family were killed on Sunday, as their minivan spun out of control after colliding with a moving train and flipped over in a nearby rice field. Full story

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Maoists kidnap two Italian tourists in India

Maoist rebels have kidnapped two Italian tourists in the eastern Indian state of Orissa and issued a set of demands for their release, the police said on Sunday. Full story

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Tonga King dies

The King of Tonga George Tupou V died Sunday in a hospital in Hong Kong, a report said, but there was no immediate confirmation from Tongan authorities. ‘It was (in) Hong Kong, and the Crown Prince Tupouto’a Lavaka was... Full story

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2nd cyclone bears down on Australia

Australia was bracing for its second cyclone in as many days on Sunday with a tropical low intensifying off the northeast state of Queensland. Cyclone Lua, the strongest storm to hit Australia since last year’s destructive... Full story

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‘Iran won’t give up N-advances’

Iran will make absolutely no concessions on its nuclear programme, a key lawmaker declared on Sunday amid high geopolitical tensions and ahead of mooted talks with world powers. Full story

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Opposition ahead in East Timor election count

Early results from East Timor’s presidential polls on Sunday showed the opposition Fretilin party’s Francisco ‘Lu Olo’ Guterres had surged ahead with incumbent Jose Ramos-Horta lagging in third. Full story

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Dozens arrested at Occupy’s 6-month anniversary rally in NY

The police arrested dozens of Occupy Wall Street protesters on Saturday night during a protest marking the movement’s six-month anniversary at its birthplace in New York’s Zuccotti Park. Full story

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East German rights activist Gauck elected president

Activist pastor Joachim Gauck was elected German president by an overwhelming majority Sunday, marking the first time a candidate from the former communist east will be head of state. Full story

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Republicans battle over Puerto Rico, Illinois

Republicans in Puerto Rico vote Sunday for delegates to the party’s national convention as presidential contenders set their sights on this week’s primaries in the US president Barack Obama’s home state of Illinois. Full story

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