Israeli warplanes struck four targets in the Gaza Strip on November 19 in response to militant rocket and mortar fire, the Israeli army said.

Calling it a significant step forward for the alliance and European security, President Obama announced on November 19 that NATO will develop a missile defense system to safeguard most of Europe and the US.

Rescuers in New Zealand inched closer November 20 to entering a mine where 29 men have been trapped underground for more than 20 hours, but were still awaiting confirmation that the atmosphere within the mine was safe to launch the operation.

Thousands of anti-government "red- shirt" protesters are now gathering at a main commercial district in central Bangkok to mark the passing of six months of a military crackdown that dispersed their occupation of the area.

Indonesian Religious Affairs Ministry said that 122 of hajj pilgrims from Indonesia have died in Mecca during the hajj pilgrimage rites, local media reported on Thursday.

The US is sending battle tanks to Afghanistan for the first time in the nine-year-old war against the Taliban, the Washington Post reported on Friday.

Thirty-six coal miners were missing after an explosion tore through an underground mine on New Zealand's remote west coast Friday, triggering a major rescue operation, officials said.

Chinese police detained four more suspects on Friday in connection with a fire that gutted a high-rise apartment in Shanghai on Monday killing 58 people, the Xinhua news agency reported on Friday.

A woman in Hong Kong is seriously ill in hospital with bird flu - the first human case of the disease to be diagnosed in the territory since 2003.

The Myanmar Union Election Commission has announced the last series of election results with the Union Solidarity and Development Party (USDP) winning the majority of 883 parliamentary seats or 76.5 percent out of the final total of 1,154 at three levels.