Reuters - A revitalized Taliban is the main threat to Afghanistan, the head of the United Nations mission there said on Tuesday, as a wave of violence sweeps the country struggling to become a viable democracy.

AFP - The chief adviser to Thailand's highly influential king has made a powerful plea for an end to the nation's deepening political crisis, as the premier hinted he might temporarily step aside.

AFP - South Korea is to send an envoy to the Gaza Strip in an effort to secure the release of a Korean journalist kidnapped by Palestinian gunmen.

AP - Palestinian police whisked foreigners to safety, and several international relief agencies closed in the Palestinian territories on Tuesday in response to the kidnapping of aid workers and journalists by angry militants.

AFP - Thai Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra has threatened to impose a state of emergency in Bangkok if a mass street protest against him turns violent.

AFP - Tens of thousands of Thai protesters began marching at dawn toward Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra's office to press their demands for him to step down, after an all-night rally drew record crowds.

AFP - Myanmar has reported its first outbreak of the H5N1 strain of bird flu in poultry around the central city of Mandalay, according to a senior official with the UN's Food and Agriculture Organization.

AFP - Some 2,000 Pakistanis protested against controversial cartoons of the Prophet Mohammed, torching an effigy of US President George W. Bush and the flags of the United States, Denmark, Norway, Italy and Israel.

AFP - Thailand has warned of a series of unusual underwater earthquakes in the Andaman Sea, urging caution along its southern coast where the tsunami hit in 2004.

AFP - The process for reform set up by Myanmar's military rulers is "fundamentally anti-democratic," a UN human rights expert said, warning the nation could no longer wait for political change.

AFP - Pakistan's army and the militants they are fighting near the Afghan border should both avoid civilian casualties and must not deliberately target civilians, a rights group said.

AFP - Thailand's army commander has warned the ongoing political upheaval swirling around Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra could unsettle the country's revered King Bhumibol Adulyadej.

AFP - Pakistani authorities clamped a curfew on a remote town and negotiated with tribesmen to try to end three days of clashes that have left more than 120 pro-Taliban rebels dead, officials said.

AFP - Pakistani forces used helicopter gunships to tackle sporadic resistance by pro-Taliban militants, two days after battles in a remote tribal area killed 55 people, officials said.

AP - Police detained former cricket star Imran Khan and arrested dozens of his opposition party's supporters to block a Saturday rally against President Bush's visit to Pakistan, police and witnesses said.

AFP - Pakistani police have placed opposition politician and former cricket star Imran Khan under house arrest to thwart a planned protest against the visit of US President George W. Bush, Khan's spokesman said.

AFP - Embattled Thai Premier Thaksin Shinawatra is to take the offensive with his own rally in Bangkok aimed at silencing a month of street protests.

AFP - Pakistani army troops supported by helicopter gunships attacked a militant hideout near the Afghan border, killing or wounding up to 30 foreign militants, officials said.

AFP - An unprecedented election boycott by opposition parties has immersed Thailand deeper in political uncertainty but the Thaksin government has vowed to go ahead with the snap vote on April 2, according to an aide.

AFP - Thai opposition parties are expected to announce whether they will boycott snap polls called by Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra, a move that could throw the kingdom deeper into crisis as rallies against the premier enter a second day.