President Barack Obama made a final, urgent public plea for health care reform on March 19, slamming private insurers and accusing his plan's opponents of spreading lies and distortions.

At least 11 people were injured by Israeli air strikes targeting Gaza's airport on March 19, Palestinian officials say.

The Thai Prime Minister has agreed to have direct talks with leaders of the red-shirts without a mediator, the condition that the rally remains peaceful and no threats are issued.

There has been "substantial" progress on a new nuclear disarmament deal with Russia, said US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton.

Anti-government demonstrators in Thailand have said that they will stay on the streets of Bangkok indefinitely to continue their push for new elections.

The US has said that it needs to maintain a base on the Japanese island of Okinawa to defend the region, as the new government in Tokyo considers scrapping a previous plan.

Iraqi Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki reclaimed the lead on March 17 over secularist challenger Iyad Allawi in results from a March 7 parliamentary election that has been affected by fraud allegations.

A month after losing control of their southern base in Marjah, the Taliban have launched a campaign of assassination and intimidation to frighten people from supporting the US and its Afghan allies.

Israel on March 17 dismissed mounting pressure to stop building homes for Jewish settlers in annexed east Jerusalem, with Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman saying the demands were ‘unreasonable’.

Protesters spilled their own blood at the gates of Thailand’s government headquarters on March 16 in a colourful act of political theatre designed to propel their fugitive hero back to power.