Less than a week after touring the radioactive rubble of the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear plant, a team of international safety inspectors on June 1 plans to hand Japan's government a preliminary review of what triggered the worst nuclear accident since Chernobyl.

Street fighting raged in Yemen's capital on May 31 ending a tenuous ceasefire between tribal groups and forces loyal to President Ali Abdullah Saleh and edging the impoverished Arab state closer to civil war.

Carbon emissions from energy use reached a record level last year, up 5% from the previous record in 2008, the International Energy Agency said.

The prices of staple foods will more than double in 20 years unless world leaders take action to reform the global food system, Oxfam has warned.

At least 25 members of a wedding party have been killed when their bus plunged into a small river in India's north-eastern state of Assam, police said.

The German government announced early Monday a plan to shut down all its 17 nuclear power plants by 2022 after a twelve-hour discussion within the ruling coalition.

Eight senior officers who defected from Col Muammar Gaddafi's army have appealed to fellow soldiers to join them in backing the rebels.

At least 30 people were killed in Yemen after military jets pounded a southern town held by Al Qaeda and troops opened fire on demonstrators demanding an end to President Ali Abdullah Saleh's nearly 33-year rule.

Series of blasts shocked Herat city the capital of Herat province 640 km west of Afghan capital Kabul on Monday leaving over 30 people dead or injured.

South African President Jacob Zuma will push for a cease-fire between Moammar Gadhafi's forces and rebel fighters when he meets on May 30 with the embattled Libyan dictator, officials said.