MILLIONS of Asians turned their eyes skyward as dawn suddenly turned to darkness across the continent in the longest total solar eclipse of this century. Millions of others, seeing the rare event as a bad omen, shuttered themselves indoors.

An overloaded boat carrying Hindu devotees capsized in northern India, leaving at least 21 people dead and 20 missing, police said today.

Heavy monsoon rains have lashed northern India, killing at least 74 people and destroying dozens of poorly constructed buildings, police said today.

TORRENTIAL overnight rains compounded the misery of two million marooned Indian villagers, as the death toll from floods across south Asia rose to at least 289.

Heavy monsoon rains and floods have killed at least 178 people and displaced another 19 million in India and Bangladesh, officials said today.

Rains triggered landslides, snapped electricity cables and inundated a parts of northern India, pushing the death toll from monsoon rains to 114.

A protest against a visit to India by US President George Bush turned into a clash between Hindus and Muslims today that left three people dead and 18 injured, police said.