Asia News - AFP

PROSPERIDAD, Philippines (AFP) - Tribal gunmen raided a school in the violence-wracked southern Philippines on Thursday and abducted 75 people in a bid to highlight a long list of grievances, police said. Full Story »

COPENHAGEN (AFP) - A major rift surfaced at UN climate talks between emerging giants and countries most exposed to the ravages of global warming, as top polluter China took aim at rich nations for failing to act. Full Story »

ISLAMABAD (AFP) - Pakistani authorities were on Thursday questioning at least five US nationals with alleged links to Al-Qaeda, arrested on suspicion of plotting a militant strike, police and officials said. Full Story »

WASHINGTON (AFP) - The US general who masterminded a troop surge in Iraq said that Afghanistan was "no more hopeless" than Iraq before the 2007 campaign there. Full Story »

BUKIT TA, Thailand (AFP) - The Malaysian and Thai prime ministers made a historic joint visit to Thailand's restive south on Wednesday, in a fresh bid to curb a raging separatist insurgency that has left 4,000 dead. Full Story »

MANILA (AFP) - A Muslim clan blamed for a horrific political massacre in the Philippines was accused on Wednesday of killing more than 250 people during an eight-year reign of terror in a strife-torn southern province. Full Story »

WASHINGTON (AFP) - Pakistan's military operations have "significantly degraded" Taliban militants but Islamabad has yet to go after the Taliban's Afghan leadership, a top US general said on Wednesday. Full Story »

KABUL (AFP) - NATO commanders on Wednesday warned US Defence Secretary Robert Gates of the challenges involved in recruiting Afghan soldiers and police, which the US military hopes will number 287,000 by July 2011. Full Story »

ZAMBOANGA, Philippines (AFP) - Al Qaeda-linked militants in the Philippines have beheaded one of three Filipino factory workers they seized in the troubled south of the country last month, an official said Wednesday. Full Story »

KABUL (AFP) - A senior NATO commander in Afghanistan conceded on Wednesday for the first time that civilians may have been killed during a joint military operation with Afghan forces in the east of the country this week. Full Story »