Taliban bombers attacked a heavily fortified guesthouse used by Westerners in Kabul on Wednesday, announcing the start of their annual ‘spring offensive’ in defiance of calls from visiting US president Barack Obama that the war was...Full story
Chinese activist Chen Guangcheng on Wednesday left the US embassy, where he had sought protection after fleeing house arrest, following a deal with Beijing on his safety, US officials said. Beijing pledged that the legal campaigner and...Full story
Thousands of Occupy protesters marched on Wall Street in New York on Tuesday in the highlight of a May Day ‘general strike,’ while police used tear gas to quell clashes on the US West Coast. More than 20 people were arrested in various cities, including 10 at Los Angeles...Full story
Next week’s parliamentary elections in Syria are ‘cosmetic’ and will not lead to any change in the political balance of power due to sweeping violence and a boycott by the core opposition, experts say.Full story
Japan’s foreign minister Koichiro Gemba has urged Israel to exercise ‘patience’ on Iran’s nuclear programme and give sanctions a chance to work, his spokesman said on Wednesday. Gemba, who arrived in...Full story
North Korea has apparently finished preparations for a third nuclear test and is awaiting a political decision to go ahead, a South Korean nuclear expert said Wednesday. The expert also said the communist...Full story
At least 20 Syrian soldiers and two rebel fighters were killed in violent clashes overnight in the provinces of Aleppo and Damascus, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said on Wednesday.Full story
Pakistan went on high alert Wednesday over fears militants would launch revenge attacks on the first anniversary of Osama bin Laden’s killing by American Navy SEALs. The anniversary of the single most...Full story
More than a quarter of Japanese in their twenties have thought about taking their own life, according to a survey released Wednesday, in a nation with one of the world’s highest suicide rates.Full story
A pet parakeet was returned to its owner Wednesday after the lost bird told police its home address near Tokyo. The male bird had escaped early Sunday morning from its owner’s home in the city of Sagamihara, west of Tokyo...Full story
Thugs attacked an anti-military protest near the defence ministry in Cairo on Wednesday and 20 people were killed, officials said, in the politically tense run-up to the first post-uprising presidential election.Full story
Nicolas Sarkozy faces Francois Hollande in a ‘moment of truth’ television debate on Wednesday that could be the French president’s last chance to avoid defeat at the hands of his socialist challenger in Sunday’s election runoff.Full story