Major public infrastructure projects will not be affected by the move to rethink plans for a €400m superprison in north Dublin due to increased costs.

Former Pakistan prime minister Nawaz Sharif today warned that the country was moving towards a state of political crisis.

Thailand’s main opposition party called for an emergency parliamentary session today to prove its majority as a key step to form the next government and end months of political paralysis.

Thailand’s under-siege government finally stepped down today in the face of mass protests, but the country’s main airport looked set to remain closed for a least another fortnight.

THAILAND’S ruling People Power Party (PPP) nominated a brother-in-law of Thaksin Shinawatra as its pick for prime minister yesterday, antagonising protesters who accuse the government of being a puppet of the ousted leader.

Pakistan has been thrown into political turmoil today after the ruling coalition broke apart.

Allies of president Pervez Musharraf withdrew their candidate for Pakistan’s prime minister as a “good will gesture” to followers of murdered opposition leader Benazir Bhutto, who said they would announce their choice for the job later today.

PAKISTANIS will learn who their next prime minister will be on Monday, when the National Assembly reconvenes to elect the leader of the incoming coalition government.

The party of slain Pakistan opposition leader Benazir Bhutto today nominated a close associate of her widower to be parliament’s first female speaker, but divisions remained over who should be the next prime minister.

Deposed Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra today confirmed he will return to Thailand on tomorrow but vowed to stay out of politics forever.

Deposed prime minister Thaksin Shinawatra will be greeted at the airport by senior officials in Thailand’s new government when he returns tomorrow from 17 months in exile.

Voting has begun today in the postponed Pakistan elections after opposition politicians voiced concerns about vote rigging.

Opposition politicians have today voiced concerns about vote rigging on the eve of the postponed Pakistan elections.

Pakistan’s president today vowed that crucial parliamentary elections would go ahead tomorrow as planned despite a massive suicide car bombing at a campaign rally that killed up to 46 people – many of them supporters of slain opposition leader Benazir Bhutto.

Tens of thousands of Benazir Bhutto supporters gathered in a southern Pakistan town today as her widowed husband prepared to address the first major campaign rally by her opposition party since her assassination in a suicide attack six weeks ago.

The Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) today rejected a report by British detectives into the assassination of Benazir Bhutto, saying it had “achieved nothing”.

Thailand's king officially endorsed an ally of ousted premier and Manchester City owner Thaksin Shinawatra as prime minister today.

THE party of slain Pakistan opposition leader Benazir Bhutto will call on the UN for an inquiry into her assassination if it forms a government after elections next month, said a party spokesman yesterday.

Pakistan’s president Pervez Musharraf was accused today of delaying elections to avoid defeat.

THOUGH Europeans are lucky enough to be able to take democracy and all the great benefits that process confers almost for granted, every now and then some terrible event reminds us that it is a privilege to live in a society that regularly and peacefully elects and dismisses its leaders and, by and large, controls its affairs without resorting to violence.

Deposed prime minister Thaksin Shinawatra will be arrested if he returns home from a self-imposed exile, even if his victorious allies form a government, Thailand said today.

Loyalists of deposed Thai prime minister Thaksin Shinawatra captured 233 of 480 seats in the lower house of parliament to win Sunday's national election, it was announced today.

Thailand’s rival political parties began battling today to cobble together a coalition government after parliamentary elections.

Allies of deposed Thailand Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra declared victory in country’s first post-coup election today, but failed to secure an absolute majority in the parliament according to unofficial results from the Election Commission.

But Pakistan is about more than curry and cricket.

Former prime minister Benazir Bhutto returned to Pakistan today, ending eight years of exile and launching what she hopes will be a remarkable political comeback.

Thousands supporting former prime minister Benazir Bhutto gathered in Pakistan’s biggest city today to welcome her home from eight years of exile to centre stage of the country’s volatile politics.

Former Pakistan premier Benazir Bhutto’s party announced today that it would contest the country’s presidential election – but only if President General Pervez Musharraf is barred from running.

Civil engineering group WS Atkins today showed the benefits of its recent shake-up with a sharp return to profitability.

The decision to abandon a regeneration project on one of Dublin’s most deprived housing estates has been strongly criticised by an independent social and economic research group.

THE controversial Cork School of Music is still in limbo as the Government has made little progress in attempting to wriggle out of EU spending rules.

London Underground drivers are due to start a 24-hour strike.