THREE men accused in Norway of an al-Qaida-linked plot to attack a Danish newspaper that caricatured the Prophet Muhammad pleaded not guilty to terror charges at the start of a trial seen as a key test of Norway’s anti-terror laws.

CHINA’S ambassador to the European Union said Beijing could increase its holding of eurozone government debt and said he hoped troubled eurozone states like Ireland would ensure the investment was secure.

A Chinese fishing boat capsized in a maritime scuffle with a South Korean coast guard ship trying to curb its illegal fishing activities today, leaving two fishermen missing, officials said.

A sacked policeman armed with an automatic rifle seized a bus in the Philippines capital Manila today with 24 passengers, most of them Hong Kong tourists, in a bid to demand his reinstatement, police said.

Wu’er Kaixi, a student leader in the 1989 Tiananmen pro-democracy protests, has been released from custody after allegedly trying to force his way into the Chinese Embassy in Tokyo last week.

Zimbabwean President Robert Mugabe’s supporters said today they spent around €220,000 to celebrate his 86th birthday.

THE family of an executed British man issued a bitter attack upon China yesterday as his cousins flew home after a failed attempt to plead for his life.

China remained defiant today in the face of condemnation from the UK Government and human rights campaigners over the execution of a Briton said by his supporters be suffering from mental illness.

Simon Cowell separated ‘X Factor’ judges Cheryl Cole and Dannii Minogue last week because of a lack of chemistry between them.

John and Edward Grimes claim they are the hardest working contestants on ‘The X Factor’.

CHINA has accelerated computer espionage attacks on the US government, defence contractors and American businesses, a US congressional advisory panel said yesterday.

Police in Nepal’s capital broke up protests by Tibetan exiles in front of the Chinese Embassy’s visa office today, detaining more than 1,100.

The Tibetan community in Ireland is due to hold a protest at the Chinese Embassy in Dublin today.

Nepalese authorities detained about 185 Tibetan exiles protesting today against China’s crackdown in their homeland.

Torch bearers ran with the Olympic flame in front of a closed crowd today after Indonesia barred the public under pressure from China.

Torch bearers ran with the Olympic flame in front of a closed crowd today after Indonesia barred the public under pressure from China.

Concerns over the future of Tibet will be raised by Foreign Affairs Minister Dermot Ahern today.

China today said it had charged a reporter for a Singapore newspaper with spying for rival Taiwan, four months after detaining him.

A young Chinese man died after he was stabbed in the heart during a massive brawl between two rival gangs on Dublin’s main street, an inquest heard tonight.

Negotiators from the United States, Japan and South Korea will meet in Seoul over the weekend to discuss resuming nuclear disarmament talks with North Korea after the communist country’s leader hinted at a possible compromise, officials said today.

The US has reaffirmed its commitment to a “one China” policy and its opposition to any moves by Beijing or Taiwan that would change the status quo.

Fifteen years after the bloodshed, the exiled student leaders of China’s 1989 pro-democracy protests are settled abroad as academics and entrepreneurs. But they nurture one wish above all – to come home to a new system.

A catastrophic train accident in North Korea was caused by a collision of fuel-laden trains and there may be “a large number of people killed or injured”, South Korea’s Unification Minister said today.

British police investigating the deaths of 19 Chinese cockle pickers who were drowned by incoming tides are hunting the gangmasters who recruited the illegal immigrants.

Deadly bombings in Baghdad and Indonesia and fear of terrorism in the United States, Britain, Israel and elsewhere cast shadows over New Year celebrations around the world.

THE parents of a young Chinese woman who was stabbed to death will join her friends and a seaside community for a memorial service this morning.

PRACTITIONERS of the Falun Gong spiritual movement protested outside the Chinese Embassy yesterday over the alleged torture of fellow practitioners.

GARDAÍ launched a murder investigation yesterday after a Chinese youth, who had been on a life-support machine following an assault in Dublin, died.

A CHINESE man was fighting for his life last night after being assaulted in Dublin.

China has received £19m in compensation from the US for the bombing of the Chinese Embassy in Belgrade during the Kosovo war.