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AMMAN - Syrian troops and tanks poured into Deraa on Monday, seeking to crush resistance in the city where a month-long uprising against the autocratic 11-year rule of President Bashar al-Assad first erupted.
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TRIPOLI - NATO forces flattened a building inside Muammar Gaddafi's Bab al-Aziziyah compound early on Monday, in what a press official from Gaddafi's government said was an attempt on the Libyan leader's life.
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SANAA - Yemeni security forces opened fire on Monday to block a thousands-strong protest and wounded at least 10 people, amid uncertainty over a Gulf plan for President Ali Abdullah Saleh to step down within weeks and end a political standoff.
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KANDAHAR, Afghanistan - Hundreds of prisoners escaped from a prison in Afghanistan's south on Monday through a tunnel dug by Taliban insurgents, officials said, a "disaster" for the Afghan government and a setback for foreign forces planning to start a gradual withdrawal within months.
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TEHRAN - Iran has been targeted by a second computer virus in a "cyber war" waged by its enemies, its commander of civil defence said on Monday.
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PHANOM DONG RAK, Thailand - Thai and Cambodian troops clashed with guns and rocket-propelled grenades on Monday, witnesses said, after a nearly full-day break in fighting that has killed at least 12 people in four days and sent nearly 50,000 into evacuation centres.
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TOKYO - Unpopular Japanese Prime Minister Naoto Kan faces fresh pressure to quit after his ruling party's losses in local elections on Sunday, weakening his clout as he struggles to contain a nuclear crisis and find ways to finance post-quake rebuilding.
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BEIJING - Former U.S. President Jimmy Carter said on Monday he hopes to meet North Korean leader Kim Jong-il and his son and presumed heir during a visit this week that will concentrate on Pyongyang's nuclear programme and foodaid needs.
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NEW DELHI - Indian federal police said they were likely to arrest the chief organiser of the Delhi Commonwealth Games on Monday following an investigation into allegations of widespread corruption in the ${esc.dollar}6 billion event meant to showcase the country's rise as a global power.
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ISLAMABAD - The U.S. military classified Pakistan's top spy agency as a terrorist support entity in 2007 and used association with it as a justification to detain prisoners in Guantanamo Bay, according to leaked documents published on Sunday that are sure to further alienate Pakistan.
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JUBA, Sudan - At least 165 people have been killed in the past week in fighting between south Sudan's army and militia, the army said on Monday, part of a wave of violence in the territory ahead of its independence in July.
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CASABLANCA, Morocco - Thousands took to the streets of Morocco on Sunday in peaceful demonstrations to demand sweeping reforms and an end to political detention, the third day of mass protests since they began in February.
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ROME/PARIS - Italy and France will discuss changing the regulations governing Europe's border-free travel when President Nicolas Sarkozy visits Rome on Tuesday seeking to ease tensions over north African immigration.
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