AFP - The White House said Monday it was "hopeful" that the US Congress will pass a landmark US-India civilian nuclear cooperation deal before US President George W. Bush's term ends in January.

AP - Hong Kong's pro-democracy politicians fared better than expected in legislative elections, a showing that could strengthen their hand in pushing for greater political freedoms in the Chinese territory, analysts said.

AP - Missiles fired from U.S. drone aircraft hit a seminary and houses associated with a Taliban commander, killing at least nine people, including both militants and civilians, officials and witnesses say.

AFP - Sri Lanka asked local and international aid workers to vacate Tamil Tiger-held territory ahead of a major military push to dismantle the rebels' mini state, a minister said Monday.

AFP - City authorities in Delhi have rounded up 20,000 free-roaming cattle in the past year to improve health and safety standards, officials said Monday.

AFP - Asian giants India and China held high-level talks on Monday amid tension over Beijing's purported reluctance to back New Delhi's civilian nuclear ambitions.

AFP - An Afghan archaeologist has discovered the remains of an ancient 19-metre-long (62-foot) "sleeping Buddha" in central Afghanistan's Bamiyan a government official said Monday.

AP - Two videos that appear to show the bodies of at least 10 children and many more adults covered in blankets and white shrouds lend weight to Afghan and U.N. allegations that a U.S.-led raid killed scores of civilians last month.

AFP - Indian protesters on Monday suspended a siege of a factory set to build the world's cheapest car, but the site stayed shut as Tata Motors demanded pledges it would be able to operate smoothly.

AFP - The Pentagon said Monday that newly obtained imagery prompted a review of a US investigation into an air strike in Afghanistan that found that only five to seven civilians were killed, not 90 as the Afghan government found.

AP - Thailand's prime minister, who has survived two weeks of militant street protests demanding his resignation, could be booted out of office for a handful of appearances on a cooking show where he whipped up dishes like "salmon coconut soup."

AP - North Korea is preparing to stage a military parade Tuesday to mark the communist state's 60th anniversary, an official said.

AP - The Sri Lankan government said Monday it is barring all foreign aid workers and many local staff from rebel-held areas in the north because of the raging civil war there.

AP - U.S. Marines who took back a key town in southern Afghanistan from Taliban militants in an operation earlier this year turned over responsibility for the area to British and Afghan forces on Monday.

AP - Only one orphan has been adopted in the four months since a devastating earthquake in Sichuan province left some 90,000 people dead or missing, government officials and state media said Monday.

AP - A landslide triggered by heavy rain killed at least 26 people in northern China on Monday, while an unknown number of others remained trapped, a state news agency reported.

AP - Hundreds of thousands of Indian flood refugees are likely to spend six months in state-run relief camps while authorities rebuild homes, roads and river embankments in the flood-ravaged north, officials said Monday.