Many streets in Bangkok were eerily calm on May 20, a day after the city devolved into deadly clashes between protesters and government forces.

Thai troops fired into the air on May 20 as they approached a temple where several hundred "red shirt" protesters had sought shelter after security forces dispersed them a day before and their leaders surrendered.

With a fresh set of tough sanctions on the table, Iran lashed out on May 19 against US efforts to punish the nation for its nuclear programme.

Non-crew members were in the cockpit of a plane that crashed killing the Polish president and more than 90 others, an investigation has found.

Thai troops and armored vehicles broke through barricades of tires and staves on Wednesday in a fresh offensive to evict thousands of anti-government protesters from their fortified camp in central Bangkok, witnesses said.

The US introduced a draft resolution at the UN on Tuesday to impose tough new sanctions on Iran, shaking off what it framed as an attempt by Tehran to stall efforts by signing up to a nuclear swap deal.

A Taliban suicide car bomber attacked a NATO-led military convoy during rush hour in the Afghan capital on Tuesday, killing 12 Afghan civilians and six foreign troops, including five Americans, according to officials.

Three police officers and a suspected rebel fighter have been killed in Russia's volatile Caucasus republics of Dagestan and Chechnya, Russian news agencies have reported.

An airplane with 44 people on board has crashed in the mountains of Afghanistan, an Afghan government spokesman said on May 17.

There has been a cool international response to Iran's announcement that it will send uranium abroad for enrichment after talks with Turkey and Brazil.