Quake shakes cities from Beijing to Bangkok

Centre of the earthquake hits south west China with magnitude of 7.8, as news of casualties begins to emerge

British guide Marines on anti-Taleban raids

Afghan allies seek to put maximum pressure on the Taleban's principle supply routes for arms, opium and reinforcements

Israel plugs into the battery car revolution

The electric Renault Sedan battery powered car could help to put Israel at the forefront of green motoring by 2010

Gordon Brown bars the Dalai Lama from No 10

The PM will not receive the Tibetan spiritual leader at Downing Street in an effort to avoid confrontation with China

Nasa aiming for cut-price space travel

Nasa is offering funds to private-sector companies to further the development of shuttle craft for the space station

Fat monkeys placed on a diet at Ohama Park

Tubby rhesus monkeys at Ohama Park have been put on a strict diet after being thrown too much food by kind visitors

Poke in the eye sees off shark in Australia

A swimmer escaped from a great white shark that had grabbed his leg at Middleton Beach, Sydney, by poking it in the eye

Pyinsalu district destroyed for the second time

Villages in Burma that were swept away by the tsunami had just been rebuilt when the tragedy of the cyclone struck them

Run-off may revive President Mbeki’s credibility

Derided for policy on Zimbabwe, the South African leader is trying to use plan to push for regional settlement to the crisis

562 held as women protest over Tibet in China

Police in Nepal detained Tibetan women at rally in Kathmandu, the first all-women protest against Chinese rule in the country

Fritzl police probe murder link

Austrian investigators are trying to establish any connection between Josef Fritzl and girl murdered in 1960s

Burma: now aid workers warn of refugee crisis

Aid workers returning from the worst hit areas of Burma warn of catastrophe with tens of thousands on the move

Aid trickles into Burma, but toll 'could top 1 million'

Some aid flights are reaching cyclone-hit nation, but aid agencies say it's too slow given threat of disease

Cruise's Hitler film put back into bunker

The fortunes of Tom Cruise have suffered a blow with news that his next big film, Valkyrie, has been postponed until 2009

On its 60th birthday, Israel is still a Jekyll and Hyde nation

Israelis and Palestinians are learning to put their enmity behind them and live together. Can the politicians catch up?

Parading of bodies taunts Basra rebels

The Sunday Times has seen evidence suggesting the Iraqi army presented two dead Mahdi fighters at a victory celebration

Arabs hold crisis talks after Hezbollah ‘coup’

Arab foreign ministers will hold crisis talks amid growing Isreali fears that Iranian influence in Lebanon could lead to war

Abracadabra! Boy saves own life with magic

Ashley Vanristell, 9, is using his budding career as a magician in India in order to afford treatment to battle pneumonia

Italy needed fascism, says the new Duce

His rise has prompted fears of a far-right revival, but Gianni Alemanno, the mayor of Rome, says he is no bogeyman

Barack eyes the big duel as Hillary sinks

Barack Obama is confident he will secure the Democratic nomination and is preparing for a showdown with John McCain