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Iran, US flex muscles in case of conflict

Iran and the United States on Tuesday underlined their military readiness for conflict should faltering diplomacy over Tehran’s atomic activities fail, as tensions rose over tougher Western sanctions. Iran said it successfully fired several dozen missiles... Full story

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Suu Kyi defiant in ‘Burma’ row

Opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi on Tuesday brushed off orders from Myanmar’s government to stop calling the country ‘Burma’, a name widely used by democracy campaigners to defy the former junta. Full story

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Over 2.1m still without power from Illinois to Virginia

More than 2.1 million people from Illinois to Virginia remained without power Monday morning after violent storms struck over the weekend, and a heat wave continued to blanket much of the region. Full story

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Afghan media freedom threatened: rights group

Hard-won media freedoms in Afghanistan are under serious threat from a draft law that is seen as a concession to Muslim conservatives ahead of NATO’s exit in 2014, a rights group warned Tuesday. Full story

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Syria running 27 torture centres: HRW

Syrian intelligence agencies are running torture centres across the country where detainees are beaten with batons and cables, burned with acid, sexually assaulted, and their fingernails torn out, Human Rights Watch said in a report released on Tuesday. Full story

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ICC team released from Libya back in the Netherlands

Four envoys of the International Criminal Court who were detained in Libya last month after visiting the son of slain leader Muammar Gaddafi arrived Tuesday in the Netherlands, an ICC spokesman said. Full story

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Earthquake rattles NZ capital

A 6.2-magnitude earthquake rattled the New Zealand capital of Wellington on Tuesday, the US Geological Survey said, but there were no immediate reports of any damage or casualties. Full story

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Unknown disease kills 60 children in Cambodia

An unidentified disease has killed 60 young children in Cambodia in three months, the World Health Organisation said Tuesday as it raced to identify the cause. ‘The number of deaths reported to WHO is 60 cases... Full story

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Indian tourist among ten dead in Thai bus crash

An Indian tourist was among ten passengers who died and several other foreigners were seriously injured after a bus ploughed into an electricity pylon in southern Thailand on Tuesday, the police said. Full story

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Pakistani-US ‘progress’ on ending NATO blockade

Pakistan and the United States have made ‘progress’ in talks on ending Islamabad’s seven-month blockade of NATO supplies travelling overland into Afghanistan, officials said Tuesday. Full story

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British Army cuts slammed: report

A senior British army officer has warned that the government’s plan to axe some of the country’s most celebrated battalions is not a ‘sensible military option’, the Daily Telegraph reported on Tuesday. Full story

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Russian PM again visits islands claimed by Japan

Russian prime minister Dmitry Medvedev on Tuesday made a repeat trip to one of the four Pacific Kuril islands claimed by Japan, in a visit that risks once again inflaming tensions with Tokyo. Full story

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Mali boosts efforts to save north from Islamists

Mali’s embattled interim government ramped up diplomatic efforts Tuesday to save the north from Islamist fighters who have smashed World Heritage shrines in Timbuktu and rigged another city with mines. Full story

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New study nets eight new genes for osteoarthritis

The biggest probe yet into the inherited causes of osteoarthritis has turned up eight genes associated with this painful disease, bringing the tally of suspects to 11, The Lancet reported on Tuesday. Full story

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