• US wants to maintain base in Japan
  US wants to maintain base in Japan
  

  The US has said that it needs to maintain a base on the Japanese island of Okinawa to defend the region, as the new government in Tokyo considers scrapping a previous plan.
  18/03
• Iraqi PM takes the leads again in election race
  Iraqi PM takes the leads again in election race
  

  

  Iraqi Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki reclaimed the lead on March 17 over secularist challenger Iyad Allawi in results from a March 7 parliamentary election that has been affected by fraud allegations.
  18/03
• Taliban employs fear campaign in Afghan town
  Taliban employs fear campaign in Afghan town
  

  

  A month after losing control of their southern base in Marjah, the Taliban have launched a campaign of assassination and intimidation to frighten people from supporting the US and its Afghan allies.
  18/03
• Israel rejects halting settlement on eve of Quartet
  Israel rejects halting settlement on eve of Quartet
  

  

  Israel on March 17 dismissed mounting pressure to stop building homes for Jewish settlers in annexed east Jerusalem, with Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman saying the demands were ‘unreasonable’.
  18/03
• Thai protesters spill their own blood
  Thai protesters spill their own blood
  

  

  Protesters spilled their own blood at the gates of Thailand’s government headquarters on March 16 in a colourful act of political theatre designed to propel their fugitive hero back to power.
  17/03

More

• Indonesia passenger ferry sinks off Sumatra
  Indonesia passenger ferry sinks off Sumatra
  

  

  A ferry carrying more than 200 people has sunk off the coast of Sumatra in Indonesia, officials say. One person is reported to have died, but dozens more are said to have been rescued by nearby boats.
  22/11
• China coal mine blast death toll reaches 87
  China coal mine blast death toll reaches 87
  

  

  At least 87 people are now known to have died in China\'s worst coal mine accident in two years, state media say. Another 21 miners are missing after the blast at Xinxing pit in Hegang City in Heilongjiang province.
  22/11
• Flu kills four pilgrims in Saudi Arabia
  Flu kills four pilgrims in Saudi Arabia
  

  A teenager and three elderly people in Saudi Arabia for the hajj pilgrimage have died of the H1N1 flu virus, the Saudi Health Ministry said.
  22/11
• Deadly mine blast traps dozens in north-eastern China
  Deadly mine blast traps dozens in north-eastern China
  

  

  A gas blast at a coal mine in China has killed 31 people and left 82 trapped in the region bordering Russia, state media reports.
  21/11
• Sri Lanka Tamil refugee camps to be opened next month
  Sri Lanka Tamil refugee camps to be opened next month
  

  The Sri Lankan government says people living in camps since the conflict with Tamil Tiger rebels will have freedom of movement as of next month.
  21/11