White House fine-tunes Asia pivot to 'quench fire'

Washington is dispatching two diplomats to East Asia to fine-tune the US pivot to Asia-Pacific by "quenching the fire" between China and Japan, after recent provocative moves by Tokyo that have further threatened regional stability, observers said.

Gravity, Hustle top nods

Academy lists its darlings and makes some surprising snubs

Palestinian movie is tapped

Foreign Language Oscar nominee Omar was described by the Motion Picture Arts and Sciences on Thursday as being from "Palestine", a reference the academy has carefully avoided in the past.

Netflix lands first nomination

Streaming TV and movie provider Netflix won its first Oscar nomination on Thursday for The Square, a documentary about the 2011 revolution and ongoing strife in Egypt.

Thousands flee Los Angeles wildfire

A fast-moving California wildfire, started accidentally by three campers, roared out of control in the foothills above Los Angeles on Thursday, destroying five homes and forcing some 3,600 residents to evacuate, fire and law enforcement officials said.

Dozens of protesters hurt in Bangkok blast

Anti-govt rallies, violence in Thai capital build as elections approach

Indonesia to step up patrols in feud with Australia

Indonesia will increase maritime patrols after what it called deplorable territorial violations by Australia's navy as it tried to turn back asylum seekers, worsening an already bitter dispute between the two neighbors over the issue.

NSA program 'collects 200 million texts a day'

The US National Security Agency has been gathering nearly 200 million text messages a day from around the world, gathering data on people's travel plans, contacts and credit card transactions, Britain's Guardian newspaper said on Thursday.

Syrian rebels weigh joining talks

The divided Syrian opposition was scheduled to meet on Friday in Istanbul to decide whether to join next week's landmark peace talks, as its Arab and Western allies ratchet up the pressure for it to attend.

IN BRIEF (Page 8)

DPRK urges calm to avert crisis

China calls for restraint as Washington, Seoul prepare to conduct military exercises

Nuclear deal backed

The US Senate Foreign Relations Committee has endorsed a two-year extension of a civilian nuclear cooperation agreement with the Republic of Korea, but a key lawmaker is opposing a proposal from Seoul to allow reprocessing of spent fuel.