Over 100 whales dead in NZ mass strandings

More than 120 whales have died over 48 hours in two separate beachings in New Zealand.

American missionary held in North Korea

An American missionary who walked into the isolated dictatorship of North Korea on Christmas Day proclaiming Christian salvation and demanding the resignation of the country?s leader Kim Jong Il has been arrested, according to activists who helped him.

Family of death row Briton Akmal Shaikh arrive in China

Two cousins of a British man who is due to be executed in China tomorrow have travelled to the country to make a last-minute plea for his life.

Narayan Dutt Tiwari, 86, resigns after 'cavorting with three young women'

An 86-year-old Congress Party official was forced to resign yesterday after a television news channel broadcast footage allegedly showing him in bed with three young women.

Ancient power struggle has relevance for today?s Iran

Ashura, the tenth day of the month of Moharram in the Muslim calendar, is a day replete with symbolism for much of the world?s Shia community. In Iran, in the run-up to the Islamic Revolution in 1979, it acquired enormous political significance as the message of Ashura was redefined for the modern age and the struggle against the Shah. Now it has been reinvigorated and turned against today?s Islamic leadership.

Is this Iran?s Berlin Wall moment?

It is time to start wondering out loud whether Iran?s uprising could become one of those Berlin Wall moments.

Abdulmutallab's bomb plans began with classroom defence of 9/11

The rich kid with a brilliant school record was a ticking time bomb even before he turned up as an international student living in his father?s mansion block apartment in Britain.

Our false sense of security should end here: al-Qaeda never went away

There has been a tendency in the past year to write off al-Qaeda. The core of Osama bin Laden?s group has lost a significant number of key personnel to US drone attacks in the Pakistani tribal areas. In Britain we have not seen an al-Qaeda-directed terrorist plot since the plan to detonate liquid explosives on transatlantic flights was foiled in August 2006.

British charity working to save orang-utans in Borneo

His cage is so cramped that he is unable to stand. He rocks backwards and forwards, arms folded across his chest as he chews on a foil food wrapper that he has picked from the pile of rubbish under his cage.

Capital punishment still an important deterrent in China

China executes more people than the rest of the world combined. The exact number of those put to death each year is a state secret, but there is no doubt that the authorities regard capital punishment as an important deterrent.

Fears of bloody endgame in Iran as five are killed in street battles

At least five anti-government protesters, including a nephew of Mir Hossein Mousavi, Iran?s opposition leader, were shot dead yesterday as the smouldering confrontation between the regime and the so-called Green Movement finally erupted.

Skier Nigel Jackson?s body found after Christmas Day avalanche

A British skier who went missing on Christmas Day has been found dead in the French Alps after being caught in an avalanche.