AFP - Australia coach Robbie Deans was in buoyant mood after the Wallabies wrapped up their tour with a bruising 18-11 victory over the Barbarians here at Wembley Stadium.

AP - China's chief trade envoy urged Washington on Thursday to stabilize its economy and protect Beijing's U.S. investments as the two sides opened economic talks overshadowed by the global financial crisis and tensions over currency.

AFP - US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice has flown from India to Pakistan on a hastily arranged visit aimed at defusing tension between the two rival nations after the Mumbai attacks.

Reuters - U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice pressed Pakistan to cooperate fully in the probe into the Mumbai attacks but she also warned India against any action that could stoke regional conflict.

AP - Police found two bombs at Mumbai's main train station nearly a week after they were left there by gunmen behind the attacks_ in a stunning new example of the botched security that has become a major issue in India since the deadly three-day siege.

AFP - The top US nuclear negotiator went into talks in Singapore Thursday hoping for clarification on how to verify the disarmament of North Korea's weapons programmes.

AP - Thailand's battered political parties tried to come up with a candidate Thursday to replace the ousted prime minister as airport authorities hurried to restore international air links severed by protesters who occupied Bangkok's two airports for a week.

AFP - Bad behaviour by Australian parliamentarians led to suggestions Thursday that they should be breath-tested for drunkenness before voting on legislation.

AFP - Japan's top oil refiner Nippon Oil Corp. and a smaller rival, Nippon Mining Holdings, are considering a merger, the companies said in statements on Thursday.

AP - A letter signed by 112 former presidents and prime ministers urged U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon on Wednesday to return to Myanmar and press its military junta to free all political prisoners.

AP - The only gunman captured during the terror attack on Mumbai says he was promised that his impoverished family would get $1,250 if he died fighting for militant Islam, security officials said Wednesday.

AP - Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice sought Wednesday to refocus India and Pakistan on a common fight against terrorism and away from their mutual suspicions of one another, but neither country seemed willing to go along.

AP - Ironing out how to verify North Korea's promised nuclear disarmament will dominate talks Thursday between the United States and North Korea, the top U.S. envoy to international talks on the North's nuclear program said.

AP - Pakistani airstrikes and a suspected suicide attack left 34 dead near the Afghan border on Wednesday, security forces said, as the U.S. urged broader action against militants after the Mumbai terror attacks.

AP - U.S. troops killed 10 Taliban militants during operations in southern and central Afghanistan, while five more witnesses testified at a hearing over allegations that two American soldiers mistreated a detainee, the U.S. military said Wednesday.

AP - Hundreds of Thai army troops looked for bombs and weapons as cleaning crews buffed and mopped the floors, part of an around-the-clock effort to reopen Thailand's international airport after a weeklong shutdown.