LEADERS from countries devastated by the St Stephen's Day tsunami and major donor nations are gearing up for a major conference tomorrow to iron out problems in coordinating an unprecedented €1.5 billion global relief operation.

Japan is preparing to send hundreds of soldiers and several aircraft to Southeast Asia where memories of the imperial army’s brutal Second World War regime is still strong.

Japan’s Cabinet today approved a plan to keep Japanese troops in Iraq for another year.

In the second major assault on Baghdad’s police force in two days, two car bombs exploded next to an Iraqi police station just outside Baghdad’s Green Zone today, killing seven people and wounding 59 people, mostly police. Insurgents killed 16 officers in an attack yesterday.

Japan’s cabinet is likely to decide next week whether to extend its humanitarian mission in Iraq, the country's foreign minister said today.