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Pakistan says it has detained hundreds of activists from banned Islamic groups and closed down scores of their offices in an effort to ease tensions with neighboring nuclear rival India.

Pakistani officials denied late Sunday that India had shot down an unmanned Pakistani spy plane intruding into Indian air space over Kashmir.

Pakistan says it is disappointed by arch-rival India's rejection of its latest proposal for peace talks, calling them absurd excuses.

Pakistan has criticized India's test launching of a nuclear-capable ballistic missile, saying the action threatens regional stability and warning that it has the means to defend itself.

Pakistani police have sealed the offices of banned sectarian and Kashmiri militant groups, detaining scores of group leaders and activists, officials said.

Four Arabs and at least one Pakistani suspected of having links to Osama bin Laden's al Qaeda network have been detained in central Pakistan.

The United States estimates Pakistan has withdrawn half of the troops it had along its border with Afghanistan and sent them to the Kashmir border.

A group that supports press freedom has expressed deep concern to the Pakistani government over the disappearance last week of a Wall Street Journal reporter.

The former Taliban ambassador to Pakistan will be deported to Afghanistan and turned over to the United States on Saturday, U.S. and Pakistani officials told CNN Friday.

A Norwegian peace delegation has arrived in Sri Lanka to try to broker renewed peace talks between the government and Tamil Tiger rebels.

U.S. forces are wrapping up their search of an al Qaeda camp in eastern Afghanistan and have knocked it out of commission with airstrikes, the Pentagon said Monday.

Despite considerable documentary evidence of al Qaeda's interest in obtaining nuclear, chemical and biological weapons, U.S. military officials reiterated Thursday they do not believe such weapons are in Afghanistan.

U.S. forces are holding more than 300 Taliban and al Qaeda members in Afghanistan, but the Pentagon declined Monday to disclose how many of those were the groups' senior officials.

Security forces in the Philippines say they have arrested a local man they believe acted as a courier for an Indonesian man arrested over the weekend on suspicion of having links to Osama bin Laden's al Qaeda network.

A Philippines air force training jet has crashed into a residential area of Cabanatuan City, killing six people, including two on board the plane.

Pirates who seized a cargo ship in Somali waters earlier this week are demanding ransom for the release of the vessel's 18 crewmembers, a Kuala Lumpur-based international piracy watch group said Friday.

A Korean Air cargo plane has tipped on its tail while being unloaded at Sydney airport, trapping 10 crew members on board.

The man who has claimed responsibility for last week's attack on the American Center in Kolkata also planned to murder a high-profile Indian nuclear scientist and kidnap two Indian cricket stars, a report says.

Hindu religious leaders have held talks with Indian Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee seeking his intervention in an explosive row with minority Muslims over a place of worship in the north of the country.

Parliament in Papua New Guinea has voted to grant autonomy and the right to a referendum on total independence for the rebellious province of Bougainville.

Police and military intelligence were on high alert after arresting a fifth man who was part of an alleged plot by nationalists to kidnap Fiji's prime minister, military chief and other leaders.

A government agency in Malaysia has been forced to change its name to avoid confusion among many members of the public that it is involved in the promotion of pornography.

U.S. Secretary of State Colin Powell has said he is optimistic about finding a peaceful solution to the confrontation between India and Pakistan following talks with Indian leaders in New Delhi.

U.S. Secretary of State Colin Powell has arrived in Islamabad on the first stage of a South Asian tour designed to kickstart a dialogue between India and Pakistan.

U.S. Secretary of State Colin Powell will travel to South Asia next week in at attempt to end four weeks of escalating tensions between India and Pakistan.

U.S. Secretary of State Colin Powell will travel to South Asia next week in at attempt to end four weeks of escalating tensions between India and Pakistan.

U.S. Secretary of State Colin Powell will travel to South Asia next week in at attempt to end four weeks of escalating tensions between India and Pakistan.

U.S. Secretary of State Colin Powell has promised continued U.S. support for Afghanistan before he departed the Central Asian nation for New Delhi, to seek a resolution to the standoff between India and Pakistan.

U.S. Secretary of State Colin Powell repeated in India Thursday what he said in Pakistan Wednesday -- the question of Kashmir has to be resolved by direct dialogue between the two South Asian adversaries.

U.S. Secretary of State Colin Powell has urged India and Pakistan to pull their troops back from their mutual border to reduce the possibility of conflict between the nuclear neighbors.

Tamil Tiger rebels have released 10 prisoners of war as a goodwill gesture, hours after the Sri Lankan government agreed to join the rebels in another 30-day ceasefire.

An earthquake on a tiny South Pacific island nation signaled an inauspicious start for Australian billionaire businessman Kerry Packer's Vanuatu-based online casino.

The Wiggles, four men in tight-fitting colorful shirts with an uncanny ability to make pre-schoolers laugh, dance and stop pestering parents, are translating their Australian fame into international success.

CANBERRA, Australia - Dozens of refugees have sewn their lips together at a detention center in outback Australia in protest at the time it takes applications for asylum to be processed.

Renegade Muslim governor Nur Misuari has been deported back to the Philippines to face rebellion charges after being detained in Malaysia for more than a month.

Representatives from about 60 countries and organizations are meeting in Tokyo to explore how to begin rebuilding Afghanistan after two decades of war.

Marat Safin beat Pete Sampras 6-2 6-4 6-7 7-6 in an epic Australian Open fourth round clash on Monday to clear his path towards a second grand slam title.

Malaysian police arrest 15 Indonesian and Malaysian members of an Islamic missionary group. They are suspected of gunrunning to Ambon in Indonesia's eastern Moluccas Islands, where thousands have been killed in more than two years of religious clashes.

Thailand has joined a string of other Southeast Asian countries on terror alert after receiving intelligence of possible al Qaeda attacks in the country.

A top U.S. Navy commander says the war against terrorism in Southeast Asia is still far from over despite a recent crackdown.

The Australian Open was less than three days old before the top five men's seeds disappeared from the pairing sheets.

Twenty Afghan war detainees arrived here Friday and were led off a C-141 transport plane in shackles by U.S. military personnel.

South Korea says it will help bail out a money-losing tourism project in North Korea.

South Korea's entire cabinet is expected to resign Tuesday, officials at the presidential Blue House say.

Irian Jaya's police chief has said that rogue Indonesian troops may have been behind the murder of a pro-independence leader last November.

Senior Pakistani and Indian officials have met -- just hours after Pakistan's president held out the hand of genuine friendship to India.

South Korea's prosecutor general has offered to resign, the latest victim in a series of corruption scandals rocking the government of President Kim Dae-jung.

Under pressure from a spate of political scandals and a presidential election due later in the year, South Korean President Kim Dae-jung is expected to reshuffle his government this week.

South Korean President Kim Dae-jung has urged North Korea to respond unconditionally to repeated U.S. offers to rekindle talks between Washington and Pyongyang.

U.S. Special Forces stepped up the hunt for the Taliban's leader Thursday as U.S. aircraft bombed an al Qaeda compound in eastern Afghanistan.