Cambodia
MONGKOL BOREI - Cambodian Co-Premier Prince Norodom Ranariddh on Tuesday defended the country's monarchy and warned that any attempt to force royalist politicians to resign would amount to a coup d'etat.
Japan
TOKYO - Japan's national police chief, Takaji Kunimatsu, resigned on Tuesday, two days before the second anniversary of the Tokyo subway gas attack that changed Japan's image of itself as a safe society.
Thailand
BANGKOK - An elephant performing in a popular elephant show troupe in northern Thailand crushed an Australian tourist to death on Tuesday.
China
BEIJING - A fire in a dance hall in northeast China has killed 10 people, the official Beijing Evening News reported.
Sudan
KHARTOUM - The United Nations is negotiating with Sudanese officials in Khartoum over the fate of one of its chartered planes that security officials detained two days ago, a privately owned newspaper said on Tuesday.
Algeria
ALGIERS - Moslem guerrillas in Algeria ended a lull with six bombings that Algerian newspapers on Tuesday said killed at least 18 people and wounded scores.
Chechnya
GROZNY - A bomb exploded in the Chechen capital Grozny and a Russian helicopter was fired at from the breakaway territory in two separate incidents, Interfax news agency said on Tuesday. There were no casualties.
Cuba
HAVANA - Cuba authorities have freed Patricio de la Guardia, a general condemned to 30 years in jail in 1989 during the "Ochoa" drug trafficking case, family sources said Tuesday.
Indonesia
JAKARTA - A powerful earthquake and a series of aftershocks shook the Indonesian capital of Jakarta on Tuesday, swaying buildings, rattling furniture and sending frightened people into the streets.
Pakistan
KARACHI - Unidentified gunmen opened fire Tuesday on a van transporting police officials in southern Sindh province, killing five policemen and three civilians, a police spokesman said.
Ethiopia
ADDIS ABABA - An Ethiopian government minister told the trial of the country's former "Dergue" military rulers Tuesday that she was whipped and both her arms were broken in torture sessions in 1974.
Venezuela
CARACAS - Irene Saez, a former Miss Universe and Venezuela's most popular politician, said she is preparing to announce a bid for president next year.
Taiwan
TAIPEI - President Lee Teng-hui Tuesday thanked retired U.S. military chief Colin Powell for supporting U.S. arms sales to Taiwan, saying Washington should not compromise Taiwan despite its ties with China.
Ukraine
SIMFEROPOL - Thousands of people demanded a return to Communist power in Ukraine's southern peninsula of Crimea Tuesday during a nationwide leftist "Day of Action" against unpaid wages in the former Soviet republic.
Italy
ROME - An Italian military court Tuesday granted house arrest to former SS Capt. Erich Priebke, pending a retrial for his role in Italy's worst World War II atrocity, military prosecutor Antonino Intelisano said.