Euro-skeptics build new bloc in EU Parliament

Britain's UK Independence Party succeeded on Wednesday in forming a European Parliament grouping with other euro-skeptic parties, giving it access to more money, staff and speaking time.

Iraq asks for airstrikes as US considers options

Al-Maliki appeals for national unity, with focus on defeating insurgents

Abbas defends cooperation with Israel

The Palestinian president defended his policy of security cooperation with Israel in a politically risky speech to senior Arab officials on Wednesday, even as Israeli forces escalated their most extensive West Bank crackdown in years in response to the alleged abduction of three Israeli teenagers.

Polish authorities try to seize magazine's files

Polish police and state prosecutors on Wednesday raided the headquarters of a magazine that recently published compromising information about the government, in a failed attempt to seize its computers.

S. Korea to hold live-fire drill near disputed islets

The South Korean military said on Thursday it would hold a rare live-fire drill near islets also claimed by Japan in a move likely to further raise diplomatic tensions with Tokyo.

IN BRIEF (Page 11)

Tourism threatening Antarctica

Antarctic scientists warned on Wednesday that a surge in tourists visiting the frozen continent was threatening its fragile environment and called for better protection.

Rare stamp sets record at New York auction

A one-cent postage stamp from a 19th century British colony in South America has become the world's most valuable stamp - again.

Boat sinks off Malaysia; 8 dead

A wooden boat carrying Indonesians home in a storm sank in choppy seas off Malaysia's west coast early on Wednesday, leaving 28 people missing and eight dead, Malaysian officials said. At least 61 people survived.

Suffering at Myanmar's Muslim camps is 'appalling'

A top UN humanitarian official said on Tuesday she witnessed "appalling conditions" and the worst human suffering she has ever seen in camps for stateless Rohingya Muslims in Myanmar's violence-torn Rakhine State.

Japan outlaws possession of child pornography

Japan's parliament voted on Wednesday to make possession of child pornography a crime, after years of international calls for a crackdown, but it avoided a clampdown on sexually explicit manga comics and animations depicting young children.

Indonesia's haze pollution defenses inadequate, green group says

Indonesia's promises to tackle the upcoming annual haze season with a $30 million fund and limited military equipment have been called into question by experts anticipating worse pollution levels than last year as a result of the El Nino weather pattern.