As the Pakistani army and the Taliban engage in bitter fighting in the northwest of the country, nearly 500,000 civilians have started fleeing the conflict zone. NGOs fear an unprecedented crisis.
On May 12, 2008, a huge earthquake measuring 7.8 on the Richter Scale rocked the Sichuan province in southwest China. The country is still recovering from the disaster which, at the final count, killed some 87,000 people.
US Defense Secretary Robert Gates has decided to name Lieutenant General Stanley McChrystal as the new top US and Nato commander in Afghanistan, replacing General David McKiernan less than a year after he took over control.
Pakistani security forces continue to pound Taliban hideouts in the country's northwestern Swat Valley. The army said at least 700 insurgents were killed in the onslaught. Meanwhile, more than 360,000 people have fled the region, the UN said.
Today on the net, the blogosphere rallies for various Iranian Presidential election candidates and the Polaroid photography technique is resurrected on line thanks to a handful of fans.
A UN refugee agency spokesperson said more than 360,000 people have fled regions of heavy fighting between the government and Taliban fighters in northwest Pakistan.
Chinese officials have confirmed the first Influenza A(H1N1) case on the mainland in the country's southwestern Sichuan province, a man who flew in from the US via Tokyo. Passengers on the man's flights are being asked to take quarantine measures.
The UN said over 100 children died over the weekend as a result of the Sri Lankan military's advance against cornered Tamil Tiger rebels. Monday's announcement comes a day after Tamils claimed over 2,000 civilian deaths from an army shelling.
The head of US Central Command, General David Petraeus (pictured), says he is confident Pakistan's nuclear sites will not fall under Taliban control. Petraeus said he had faith that Pakistani security measures were "adequate".
The cornered Tamil Tigers on Sunday accused Sri Lanka of killing up to 2,000 civilians in an artillery
barrage. The army dismissed the claim as Tamil propaganda.
