REUTERS, BANGKOK- It has been a week Thaksin Shinawatra will probably want to forget.

REUTERS, TRIPOLI- In Tripoli's most deprived areas, Lebanon's lingering political troubles are being fought out in a sectarian conflict that threatens to cause more bloodshed.

REUTERS, TOKYO- Struggling Japanese Prime Minister Yasuo Fukuda tapped a popular rival for a top party post and was tipped to axe his finance and economics ministers in a shake-up on Friday to boost his flagging support among voters.

Bribery, fraud charge

REUTERS, JERUSALEM- Israeli police questioned Prime Minister Ehud Olmert for a fourth time on Friday in their ongoing bribery and fraud investigation, two days after the Israeli leader said he would step down.

REUTERS, GAZA- Hamas security forces arrested Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas's top Fatah representatives in the Gaza Strip on Friday, ratcheting up tensions between the rival factions.

A day earlier Abbas ordered his Fatah-dominated security services in the West Bank to release all pro-Hamas activists, according to the official Palestinian WAFA news agency. Hamas said the activists had not yet been freed.

REUTERS, BEIJING- Two aftershocks on Friday hit the southwestern Chinese province of Sichuan, the site of May's devastating earthquake, with the second felt strongly in the provincial capital Chengdu, Xinhua news agency said. More than 69,200 people have been confirmed dead and some 18,000 are still listed as missing after a 7.9-magnitude earthquake hit Sichuan on May 12, the deadliest in the country since 1976.

AFP, THE HAGUE - Former Bosnian Serb leader Radovan Karadzic claimed Friday the United States wanted him dead after reneging on a deal to shield him from trial by the UN war crimes court.

AFP, NUKU'ALOFA) - Tonga's Siaosi Tupou V was crowned king of his tiny South Pacific nation Friday in a lavish, pomp-filled ceremony attended by royalty from around the world alongside Tongans in traditional dress.

KUALA LUMPUR: Government censors in this majority Muslim nation uphold an ethos of modesty by snipping sex scenes from films and ordering entertainers to avoid outfits that reveal too much on Malaysian stages - bare belly buttons and figure-hugging outfits are off limits.

US-India pact

AP, VIENNA, Austria_ An inspection agreement crucial to a landmark nuclear deal between India and the United States came under scrutiny Friday by the International Atomic Energy Agency.

REUTERS, COLOMBO - The foreign ministers of India and Pakistan will meet on the sidelines of a South Asian summit on Thursday amid an escalation in border skirmishes and bomb attacks on Indian cities that threaten a sluggish peace process.

Foreign ministers of eight South Asian countries are meeting in Colombo to set the stage for an Aug. 2-3 summit of their leaders that will discuss,

REUTERS, COLOMBO - Sri Lanka may be close to a military victory over Tamil Tiger separatists, but the rebels could still wage a protracted low-intensity insurgency with hidden resources, a senior foreign ministry official said.

"Defeating the LTTE might not be the end of the story because an organisation like this might still have some resources hidden away," Sri Lanka's Foreign Secretary Palitha Kohona told Reuters in an interview.

REUTERS, NEW DELHI - The Japanese government closed the consular section of its embassy in India and warned its citizens to avoid crowded places such as markets and train stations after receiving an e-mail warning of a possible attack.

Japan's embassy in New Delhi said in a statement in Japanese on its website that it had received an e-mail warning of an attack on New Delhi's popular market district of Sarojini Nagar, where at least 66 people were killed in a 2005 bomb attack.

REUTERS, KUALA LUMPUR - Malaysian police have finished investigating a sodomy complaint against opposition figure Anwar Ibrahim, the government said on Thursday, and a security official told Reuters he will soon be formally charged.

The allegations against Anwar, who is gearing up to run for a parliamentary seat in a northern state, have added to months of political uncertainty in the country, rattling investors and denting confidence.

JERUSALEM (Reuters) - Prime Minister Ehud Olmert's rivals jostled for Israel's leadership on Thursday after his decision to resign but aides said he could remain in office long enough to forge a statehood deal with the Palestinians.

Dogged by corruption scandals, Olmert thrust Israeli politics into turmoil on Wednesday by announcing that he would step down after a Sept. 17 vote within his centrist Kadima party to choose a new leader.

REUTERS, MINGORA, Pakistan- At least 13 people, including two women, were killed in clashes between troops and militants on Thursday in Pakistan's Swat valley, police said, taking the death toll in days of fighting to nearly 50.

The Chinese government accused US politicians of displaying "evil motives" and trying to "sabotage the Olympics" today after the House of Representatives passed a resolution condemning Beijing's record on human rights, reports The Guardina..

A foreign ministry spokesman also condemned George Bush for meeting five prominent Chinese political activists just days before he attends the opening ceremony.

REUTERS, ISLAMABAD- A series of violations of a five-year-old ceasefire on the de facto border dividing the disputed Kashmir region will add to the chill forming over a peace process between nuclear-armed India and Pakistan, analysts say.

Bosnian Serb war crimes suspect Radovan Karadzic was transferred to the Dutch-based UN war crimes tribunal's detention centre near The Hague. Prosecutor Serge Brammertz said it would be months before his trial begins, France24 reports.

The International Olympic Committee (IOC) will launch an inquiry into internet censorship in China after accusations that Beijing was failing to live up to its promises guaranteeing unrestricted online access, reports The Independent.