Lawyers defending a US soldier accused of handing government secrets to Wikileaks say his supervisors failed to recognise his troubled emotional state.

Tributes have been flooding in from around the world following the death of the Czech Republic's first President, Vaclav Havel.

A mass burial is being organised in the Philippines for scores killed by flash floods, which left at least 650 dead on the southern island of Mindanao.

Jyoti Amge, an Indian student measuring just 62.8cm, a little over two feet, is confirmed as the world's shortest woman by Guinness World Records.

North Korean television announces the death of Kim Jong-il, who had led the communist nation since the death of his father in 1994.

House prices in most Chinese cities are falling as government policies aimed at cooling the property market start to take effect.

Australia sends rescue vessels to help search for scores of people believed missing after a boat carrying asylum-seekers sank off Indonesia.

At least 26 people die in a cold wave sweeping through northern India, the country's state broadcaster Doordarshan News says.