A Guantanamo inmate pleaded guilty today to helping al-Qaida plot attacks from his native Pakistan, in a plea deal that limits his sentence.

Australia’s air safety authority cleared Qantas Airways to resume flying today, after it grounded its entire fleet amid a bitter union dispute.

Paris Hilton is “beyond upset” at being refused entry to Japan.

Japanese officials kept Paris Hilton at Narita International Airport for a second day today while they decide whether she will be admitted to the country after pleading guilty to a misdemeanour drug charge in Las Vegas.

Paris Hilton is being refused entry into Japan following her drug arrest.

Paris Hilton is heading to Asia after escaping jail.

China has told Australian officials it is conducting a criminal investigation of Rio Tinto employees with a focus on commercial and economic issues rather than espionage, Australia’s foreign minister said today.

“I’VE learned a lot of things this week and the main one is not to dance in bunkers,” beamed Rory McIlroy after he had played the final 10 holes of his first Masters in six under par.

Coastal cities around the world are facing the danger of rising seas and other disasters related to climate change.

Coastal cities around the world are facing the danger of rising seas and other disasters related to climate change.

US singer Beyonce Knowles has scrapped plans to stage her first concert in Malaysia.

Two suicide car bombings struck soccer fans in Baghdad as they were celebrating Iraq’s victory in the Asian Cup semi-final today, killing at least 50 people and wounding more than 100, officials said.

Negotiations to conclude the Doha round of global trade talks are again under way, and a breakthrough may be made in the coming months, World Trade Organisation chief Pascal Lamy said in the Philippines today.

The former UN chief weapons inspector said Iran will be able to produce a nuclear bomb within five years if it is allowed to enrich uranium on an industrial scale.

The UN health agency is investigating possible human-to-human transmission of bird flu among members of an Indonesian family, but said today there is no evidence that the virus has mutated or spread beyond the family.

DENMARK’S Prime Minister yesterday appealed for calm amid what he called a “growing global crisis” over drawings of the prophet Mohammed.

The Danish government was to brief parliament today on the attacks on Danish diplomatic missions during protests over a newspaper’s cartoons of the Prophet Mohammed.

Outraged Muslims today demanded an Australian newspaper apologise after it published one of a series of cartoons of the Prophet Muhammad that have sparked angry protests around the world.

Japan's prime minister Junichiro Koizumi apologised today for Tokyo’s wartime colonisation and invasions in Asia on the 60th anniversary of the country’s surrender, pledging that Japan would never forget the “terrible lessons” of the war.

Indonesia's government and Aceh rebels have reached a peace deal to end the 29-year insurgency in the tsunami-devastated province, a top Indonesian official said today.

A Japanese court today rejected a lawsuit against visits by the prime minister and the Tokyo governor to a war shrine vilified by China and other Asian countries, a court spokesman said.

Islamic cleric Abu Bakar Bashir formally denied in court today any involvement in the Bali and J W Marriott Hotel bombings, saying the attacks that killed 214 people ran counter to his principles.

US troops have staged a series of raids in northern and central Iraq, arresting dozens, as insurgents stepped up their attacks two weeks ahead of national elections, ambushing a car carrying a female candidate and killing 24 people in other assaults.

US FORCES carried out a series of raids in Iraq’s troubled northern city of Mosul yesterday, as American and Iraqi authorities scrambled to prepare for elections in the face of mass resignations of polling staff and police.

Florida Governor Jeb Bush said his experience in last year’s hurricanes will help him assess the damage in Asia’s tsunami catastrophe, but that the US disaster paled in comparison to the Asian one.

A Malaysian tuna ship rescued an Indonesian woman who drifted for five days in the Indian Ocean after last week’s tsunami swept her out to sea from her home on Sumatra island, an official said today.

R&B star Alicia Keys has pulled out of a concert in Jakarta, Indonesia, following a bomb attack on the Australian embassy last Thursday.

AN alleged US Army deserter yesterday arrived in Japan, where he risks arrest on charges he defected to North Korea in the 1960s.

An American accused of deserting the US Army and defecting to North Korea has arrived in Japan, despite the risk of military prosecution.

Three people were killed today when a helicopter crashed into the swimming pool at a five-star hotel in Jakarta, Indonesia.