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A corruption scandal involving the embezzlement of about US$4 million from Indonesia's national food distribution agency took an unexpected twist this weekend.

Two Indonesian jet fighters crashed during rehearsals for an air show, killing all four pilots and co-pilots on board.

Global policing group Interpol says it is targeting the once isolated country of Afghanistan to become a member of its ranks, as the latest U.S.-led strike over the nation winds down.

The man responsible for the downfall of Japan's popular former Foreign Minister Makiko Tanaka announced his resignation Friday from Japan's ruling Liberal Democratic Party (LDP).

A popular Japanese opposition lawmaker known for her harsh criticism of scandal-tainted foes has given up her seat in parliament after admitting she misused public funds intended for an aide's salary.

President Jiang Zemin has praised the role of the missiles corps in safeguarding sovereignty and achieving national reunification.

Kashmir has dominated talks between U.N. human rights chief Mary Robinson and Pakistani President Pervez Musharraf, with both agreeing the disputed Himalayan region faced serious rights violations.

Japanese Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi has met with President Kim Dae-Jung in Seoul on a trip aimed at forging ties with South Korea -- renewing hope that decades of animosity between the two countries is coming to an end.

Indonesian President Megawati Sukarnoputri's five-day visit to China is more than anything about trade and investment.

A document that contains the chilling account of the bombing of Hiroshima has been sold in an auction in New York.

For years, Abdul Rashid Dostum was well-known and feared as a warlord who controlled much of northern Afghanistan. These days, he's looking and talking more and more like a politician.

Japan's government is urging young twenty and thirty-somethings in the world's second largest economy to make babies their work.

The Sydney Opera House -- arguably Australia's most recognizable icon -- is getting a makeover.

Nepali soldiers have killed at least seven Maoist rebels trying to overthrow the Himalayan country's constitutional monarchy, according to the Defence Ministry.

Media professionals in Thailand are seeking an investigation into the conduct of the government over alleged media intimidation which could lead to an impeachment process against Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra.

If, as the saying goes, a week is a long time in politics, then the past five months must seem an eternity for Australian Prime Minister John Howard.

Muslim leaders in India say they are rejecting a Hindu proposal aimed at defusing almost two weeks of sectarian violence over a disputed religious site in the northern town of Ayodhya.

Rebellious soldiers are reported to have taken over the Moem Barracks at Wewak on Papua New Guinea's northern coastline in protest over government cutbacks to the defense forces.

Myanmar police arrested four family members of the country's former leader Ne Win, the government announced Saturday, saying that the four were planning a coup.

While all eyes are on forthcoming leadership changes in Beijing, an equally significant reshuffle is taking place in the provinces and major cities.

A potential thaw in relations on the Korean Peninsula shows signs of spreading after Pyongyang reportedly responded affirmatively to the possible resumption of talks with the United States.

A group of 25 North Korean asylum seekers who stormed Spain's embassy in Beijing last week are preparing for the final leg of their journey to South Korea.

North Korea has threatened to pull out of a crucial deal with the United States following reports that Washington is reviewing its nuclear strategy.

North Korea has warned the United States that it would be grossly mistaken if it chose to attack the communist state with nuclear weapons, saying such an act would result in America's own ruin in nuclear disaster.

A group of 25 North Korean asylum seekers have arrived in South Korea from the Philippines to begin their new life, capping a dramatic dash to freedom that began four days ago in China.

A group of 25 North Korean refugees has stormed the Spanish embassy in Beijing seeking political asylum and threatening suicide if they are sent back.

North Korea has said it will open the isolated, hunger-stricken country for joint ventures and cooperation with other countries and international organizations.

Pakistan's former army chief general Tikka Khan, once labeled the Butcher of Bengal for his ruthlessness against Bangladeshi separatists, has died after a long illness.

Hong Kong mahjong parlor workers who lose their hearing due to working in a high-decibel environment may soon be entitled to claim compensation, the South China Morning Post has reported.

Peace efforts in war-torn Sri Lanka have been given a further boost, with the national government and Tamil Tiger rebels agreeing to conduct talks in May.

The wife of Ahmed Omar Saeed Sheikh, the key suspect in the kidnap-slaying of American journalist Daniel Pearl, has filed a petition aimed at blocking U.S. efforts to have him extradited.

The man accused of masterminding the kidnapping and murder of American journalist Daniel Pearl appeared in a brief closed-door court session Friday.

Welcome to DPRKoreaLotto.com, purportedly the first Web site operated out of North Korea.

Suspected Muslim separatist rebels in the southern Philippines have shot dead two lumberjacks, chipping at efforts to resume formal peace talks between the government and the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF).

Police in the Philippines are holding two Palestinians and a Jordanian who they believe are part of an al Qaeda sleeper cell, intelligence sources told CNN.

A row has broken out over a New Zealand company's plan to try implanting pig tissue into humans in the Cook Islands as a cure for diabetics.

Philippine police have stepped up their hunt for a key supporter of deposed president Joseph Estrada after the government said it had received intelligence of possible unrest by the former leader's die-hard supporters.

A political end is feared in the prosecution of criminal cases against deposed Philippine president Joseph Estrada, despite the appointment of four government lawyers to defend him.

The Indian government has issued a draconian ordinance giving the police sweeping powers to combat terrorism.

An earthquake shook the capital Sunday afternoon, causing damage and leaving seven people with serious injuries. There were no immediate reports of deaths.

Amid tight security, Queen Elizabeth has officially opened a biennial summit of Commonwealth leaders in Australia where the issues of terrorism and Zimbabwe are expected to dominate the agenda.

There's a cruel joke doing the rounds of the barn-like media center at this year's Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting.

A senior Abu Sayyaf guerrilla has been arrested in the southern Philippines while other top rebels are fleeing their island bastion as a Filipino-U.S. military operation steps up pressure on Muslim militants notorious for kidnappings.

The captain, crew and owner of a Norwegian container ship that rescued 433 asylum seekers bound for Australia last August have won a top United Nations award for their actions.

A group of 25 North Korean asylum seekers who stormed Spain's embassy in Beijing have arrived in Manila for a three day stop-over before heading for South Korea after a deal was struck with the Chinese government.

U.S. troops based at the abandoned airport here celebrated Palm Sunday in different ways.

Chinese Premier Zhu Rongji has said his government has met all major targets except raising the income of 800 million farmers.

Russia says it will withdraw from one of Asia's finest deepwater anchorages, the strategic naval base of Cam Ranh Bay in southern Vietnam, by July.

Tens of thousands of laid-off workers are protesting outside China's biggest oil field, angry at a dispute over their severance and at not being able to organize their own unions.