Australian mauled by three sharks, police say Jan 8, 2006, 9:31 GMT Sydney - Three sharks may have joined in the deadly mauling of a 21-year-old Brisbane woman who was swimming in waist-deep water on east coast Australia's North Stradbroke Island, police said Sunday. ....more

Rescuers recover 16 more bodies from Java landslide Jan 8, 2006, 18:49 GMT Jakarta - Rescue workers retrieved 16 more bodies buried alive in a massive mudslide covered a village in Indonesia's province of Central Java Sunday - the final day of search operation - amid warnings of more similar disasters in the country during the monsoon season. ....more

China to spend 3 billion dollars on polluted north-east river Jan 8, 2006, 18:41 GMT Beijing - China plans to spend 26.6 billion yuan (3.28 billion dollars) to clean up the polluted Songhua river over the next five years, state media said on Sunday. ....more

South Korea withdraws workers from nuclear building site in North Jan 8, 2006, 18:17 GMT Seoul - South Korea and the United States withdrew their last remaining workers from two nuclear reactor building sites in North Korea on Sunday after an international project ended, South Korean television reported. ....more

Snow buries Japan coastal areas Jan 8, 2006, 13:45 GMT TOKYO, Japan -- Heavy snow has hit Sea of Japan coastal regions already struggling with extreme weather that has killed 60 people and injured 1,180 since last month. ....more

Rescuers extend search for victims in Java landslide Jan 8, 2006, 9:42 GMT Jakarta - Indonesian rescue workers decided Sunday to extend for one more day the search for bodies buried alive in a massive mudslide covered a village in Central Java, amid warnings of more similar disasters in the country during this year's monsoon season. ....more

Singapore holds largest terror attack response drill Jan 8, 2006, 9:38 GMT Singapore - Mock bombings of trains and buses plus a simulated chemical attack on Sunday marked Singapore's largest emergency exercise in case of a terrorist attack on the public transport system. ....more

S.Korea`s Roh facing challenge Jan 5, 2006, 19:52 GMT SEOUL, South Korea -- South Korean President Roh Moo-hyun, who ended the scandal-tainted year with an apology for police brutality, is facing another tough challenge at the dawn of the new year, in the aftermath of a Cabinet reshuffle. ....more

Briefing on North Korea Jan 2, 2006, 16:48 GMT PRAGUE, Czech Republic -- In my teens, I would watch TV in amazement as Red Adair would coordinate the extinguishing of massive fires in countries the United States government wanted nothing to do with. I remember Armand Hammer`s trips to the Soviet Union, when they were strictly forbidden. I can still see George Soros predicting the fall of Communism, and people snickering at his prediction. ....more

S.Korea`s new point man on North Jan 2, 2006, 16:45 GMT SEOUL, South Korea -- South Korean President Roh Moo-hyun on Monday appointed his security adviser as the country`s point man on negotiating with North Korea, a sign that indicates Seoul`s greater efforts toward peaceful engagement with the communist neighbor this year. ....more

Winning Thailand`s war Jan 2, 2006, 16:43 GMT MUNICH, Germany -- There are four combinations which result in four possible outcomes in the current guerrilla conflict with Islamist guerrillas in southern Thailand. ....more