Garment workers staged mass protests Monday to demand the end to "deathtrap" labour conditions after Bangladesh's worst-ever textile factory fire, as a new blaze sparked fresh panic and terror.

Thai Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra on Sunday faced a no-confidence debate launched by her opponents in parliament, a day after political protests turned violent in Bangkok.

Thai police fired tear gas and detained dozens of people as tensions flared at an anti-government protest in Bangkok, the scene of several outbreaks of violent unrest in recent years.

Thai police fired tear gas as tensions flared at an anti-government protest in Bangkok, the scene of several outbreaks of violent unrest in recent years.

Thai police used tear gas at an anti-government protest in the capital Bangkok, the scene of several outbreaks of violent unrest in recent years.

Syria said on Friday plans by Turkey to site Patriot missiles along its border was "a new act of provocation," while allies Iran and Russia warned the move would complicate the situation and could spark a regional conflagration.

President Jacob Zuma on Thursday escaped an embarrassing censure vote in parliament after South Africa's High Court turned down an opposition bid for an urgent debate on his leadership.

Sudan's powerful intelligence service on Thursday said it had disrupted a "plot" by members of the military and the political opposition to disturb the country's security.

Road and air transport delays gripped Argentina as President Cristina Kirchner, her approval rating in free fall, faced the second mass protest in as many weeks.

South Africa's ruling ANC has not blocked a debate on a motion of no confidence in President Jacob Zuma but merely delayed the debate, its secretary general said Monday after howls of protest from the opposition.

At least two activists died in custody before or during China's Communist Party congress and tens of thousands had their movements restricted, rights groups said Monday.

President Obama, the mayor of London, China's top dissident artist and Madonna -- every time someone signals the death of "Gangnam Style" up pops another high-profile figure to keep the phenomenon alive.

The Soviet Union 50 years ago allowed publication of Alexander Solzhenitsyn's landmark account of life in the Stalin prison camps "One Day in the Life of Ivan Denisovich", shocking readers by revealing a hitherto hidden horror.

South African President Jacob Zuma hit back at accusations he is failing the county before a raucous parliamentary hearing on Thursday, hours after allies torpedoed attempts to censure him.

Myanmar pardoned hundreds of prisoners Thursday under an amnesty criticised by pro-democracy activists as a cynical ploy to curry favour before a landmark visit by US President Barack Obama.

Myanmar began releasing hundreds of prisoners Thursday under a mass amnesty that comes just days before a landmark visit by US President Barack Obama to the formerly military-ruled nation.

China will unveil its new leaders on Thursday, with Vice President Xi Jinping expected to march on stage at the head of a line-up that will steer the world's number two economy for the next decade.

France's recognition of a new opposition bloc as the Syrian people's sole representative was "immoral" and only encourages more destruction, the war-torn country's deputy foreign minister said Wednesday.

Jordan was hit by a wave of protests on Wednesday in mounting anger over a whopping rise in fuel prices, with rioting and clashes erupting in Amman and other cities and a police station attacked.

South Africa's ruling ANC said Wednesday it would block a debate on a motion of no confidence in President Jacob Zuma, making it unlikely that parliament will vote on the matter.