Afghan President Hamid Karzai confirmed holding unofficial talks with the Taliban "for quite some time," in a bid to end the nine-year war, according to an interview transcript released on Sunday.

Britain will open long-awaited inquests on Monday into the deaths of 52 people in the 2005 London bombings to probe alleged failings by the police and intelligence services before the attacks.

Tokyo, Oct. 11: The defence ministers of Japan and China on Monday agreed to set up a liaison system to prevent conflicts at sea, as the two sides look to repair the damage from a diplomatic row, Jiji

Paris, Oct. 8: France’s top legal authority approved a law banning full-face veils in public, the last hurdle for the ban, which aims to protect women’s rights but has been criticised as stigmatising

Gunmen on Saturday torched at least 29 oil tankers in southwest Pakistan, the sixth attack in just over a week as Islamist militants continue to target a Nato supply route into Afghanistan.

Taiwan's high court ruled on Friday that former President Chen Shui-bian should be held in custody for another two months while he appeals a 20-year jail term for graft.

Oct. 7: Denmark’s Caroline Wozniacki claimed the world number one ranking on Thursday when she breezed into the quarterfinals of the China Open, dethroning American tennis superstar Serena Williams.

Hanoi: Three foreigners and one Vietnamese were killed in an explosion of fireworks being prepared for Hanoi's millennium celebrations, official sources said on Wednesday.

Two sources, who asked not

The Thai government said on Tuesday it was extending a state of emergency in Bangkok and three surrounding provinces for three more months, in the wake of deadly street protests in April and May.

Oct. 8: Pakistani officials said on Tuesday five German and three local militants were killed in a US missile strike in Pakistan’s rugged mountain border. The Pakistani intelligence officials said tha