North Korea threatens more attacks on South

North Korean troops standing to attention in Pyongyang Photo: AFP/Getty Images
A US aircraft carrier is to deploy to the Yellow Sea off the coast of South Korea after the two countries agreed to conduct further war games in a show force against North Korea

Nouri al-Maliki formally awarded second term as Iraq prime minister

Nuri al-Maliki Photo: AFP/GETTY IMAGES
Nouri al-Maliki has been formally awarded a second term as Iraq's prime minister, signalling an end may finally be in sight to the country's eight month impasse following a general election in March.

North Korea shelling tied to succession

Washington - The US military believes North Korea's artillery attack on a South Korean island is linked to the succession of the reclusive state's leadership, the top US military officer said on Wednesday.

Argentinian fathers 10 with own daughter

Buenos Aires - Authorities in rural Argentina have arrested a 62-year-old man for raping his own daughter for more than three decades and fathering 10 children with her, the judge handling the case said on Wednesday.

I don't think about Sarah Palin

Washington - President Barack Obama dismissed the Republican Party's brightest political star as a threat in the 2012 presidential election, saying: "I don't think about Sarah Palin."

Gloom as European economies teeter

Dublin - Anger and fear about Europe's seemingly unstoppable debt crisis have coursed through the continent. Striking workers shut down much of Portugal, Ireland proposed its deepest budget cuts in history and seething Italian and British students clashed with police over education cuts.

Myanmar now only active landmine user

Geneva - Myanmar is now the only government still laying landmines after Russia stopped using such weapons, campaigners said on Wednesday, noting that 2009 marked the lowest usage of the deadly explosives in a decade.

US warns of WikiLeaks harm

Washington - The State Department has warned Congress that it expects soon a damaging release of sensitive US diplomatic documents by the WikiLeaks anti-secrecy website.

US warns of WikiLeaks harm

Washington - The State Department has warned Congress that it expects soon a damaging release of sensitive US diplomatic documents by the WikiLeaks anti-secrecy website.

New Zealand mourns miners' deaths

Greymouth - Flags flew at half mast and church bells tolled across New Zealand on Thursday to mourn the country's worst mining disaster in nearly 70 years.