US Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner has kicked off the G20 meeting in Nanjing with a call for more consistency in international currency exchange rates.

China on Thursday issued a white paper on national defense, aiming to enhance its military transparency and boost the world's trust in its commitment to peaceful development.

Two women have been hurt in a suspected letter bomb explosion at offices belonging to lobby group Swissnuclear in the northern Swiss city of Olten.

The levels of radiation in ocean waters off Japan's embattled Fukushima Daiichi plant continue to skyrocket, the nation's nuclear safety agency said Thursday, with no clear sense of what's causing the spike or how to stop it.

The UN Security Council on Wednesday "demands an immediate end to the violence against civilians" in Cote d'Ivoire, and "decides to adopt targeted sanctions" against the West African country's incumbent leader Laurent Gbagbo, who had refused to give up presidency, and his inner circle.

India has added 181 million new people to its population over the last decade, according to the results of the 2011 census.

Japan called on the world not to impose "unjustifiable" import curbs on its goods as French President Nicolas Sarkozy was due to arrive on March 31, the first leader to visit since an earthquake and tsunami damaged a nuclear plant, sparking the worst nuclear crisis since Chernobyl in 1986.

President Barack Obama has signed a secret order authorising covert US government support for rebel forces seeking to oust Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi, government officials said on March 30.

Srian President Bashar al-Assad defied expectations and dashed widespread hopes during an anticipated nationally televised speech on March 30 when he made no mention of lifting a state of emergency.

Forces loyal to one of Ivory Coast's rival presidents, Alassane Ouattara, have captured the administrative capital Yamoussoukro, residents say.