Syria fighter pilot defects in new blow to Assad

A Syrian pilot sought political asylum after landing his MiG fighter jet in neighbouring Jordan on Thursday, in the first such defection of a revolt a watchdog says has killed more than 15,000 people. Full story

Asylum-seeker boat carrying 200 capsizes off Australia

An asylum-seeker boat from Sri Lanka believed to be carrying 200 people capsized off remote Christmas Island on Thursday with an unknown number of survivors, Australian and Indonesian authorities said. Full story

India, China agree to step up security talks Press Trust of India .

India and China have agreed to step up their defence and security dialogue and work to take steps to ensure that the two countries achieve a $100 billion trade target by 2015. The prime minister., Manmohan... Full story

Greece names new cabinet as bailout battle looms

Greece named a new cabinet to end two months of deadlock on Thursday which will face the immediate challenges of trying to revise an unpopular EU-IMF bailout deal and escape a punishing recession. Full story

More clashes in Nigeria amid curfew

Fresh clashes broke out on Wednesday in an area of northern Nigeria already under a round-the-clock curfew after three previous days of attacks and reprisal violence killed at least 101 people. Full story

Suu Kyi meets Prince Charles

Britain’s Prince Charles, Centre, laughs flanked by Aung San Suu Kyi, left, and Camilla, right, after a tree planting ceremony in the garden at Clarence House in London, on Thursday. — AFP photo

Myanmar pro-democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi met British heir to the throne Prince Charles on Thursday ahead of her historic address to both houses of parliament. Her royal encounter on the third day of her first trip to Britain in 24 years came as the British... Full story

Ecuador president vows to take time on Assange decision

Ecuador’s president said Thursday his government would take its time in deciding whether to grant asylum to Julian Assange as the WikiLeaks founder spent a second night at its embassy in London. Full story

Australians find huge mega-wombat graveyard

Australian scientists Thursday unveiled the biggest-ever graveyard of an ancient rhino-sized mega-wombat called diprotodon, with the site potentially holding valuable clues on the species’ extinction. Full story

Maharashtra secretariat building on fire

A major fire broke out on Thursday at Mantralaya, the Maharashtra state secretariat complex that houses offices of the Chief Minister, key Ministers and top officials. Close to two hours after it was first noticed... Full story

Indian teens ‘killed granny for IPL bets’

The Indian police in Goa said Thursday they had arrested two teenage males on suspicion of killing their grandmother and taking her money to gamble on Indian Premier League cricket games. Full story

Egypt showdown after election result delayed

Egyptian supporters of the Muslim Brotherhood demonstrate in Cairo’s Tahrir square, on Thusday.— AFP photo

Egypt on Thursday braced for a showdown between the military and the Muslim Brotherhood as the electoral commission delayed announcing the winner of a presidential poll claimed by the Islamists. A delay in announcing the results from the run-off, which... Full story