THAILAND

Army-ruled Myanmar will open the trial of opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi on Tuesday, diplomats said, when the Nobel Peace laureate is expected to take the stand in a case that has drawn international outrage.

Myanmar accused neighboring Thailand of meddling in its internal affairs on Sunday after Bangkok said the trial of democracy icon Aung San Suu Kyi threatened the junta's honor and credibility.

European foreign ministers will press Myanmar at an Asia-Europe meeting next week to end the trial of opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi, but analysts expect only lukewarm backing from their Asian counterparts.

Diplomats and journalists were barred again from the court inside Insein prison in Myanmar, a day after the military government opened the trial for the first time since it began on Monday.

The American man at the center of the trial against Myanmar opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi swam to her house after having a vision that her life was in danger, Suu Kyi's lawyers said on Thursday.

Army-ruled Myanmar opened the trial of opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi on Wednesday in an apparent bid to calm growing international outrage at the regime and its latest crackdown on the Nobel Peace laureate.

Myanmar's Southeast Asian neighbors expressed grave concern on Tuesday over the trial of opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi but China said it would not interfere in the regime's affairs.

The two drugs used to treat the influenza should be used carefully and only when needed for the chronically ill, pregnant women and other vulnerable patients, global health officials said on Tuesday.

The global downturn could lead to unrest, more poverty and environmental challenges in Asia, regional leaders were warned on Monday, after they agreed on a $120 billion emergency fund to counter the crisis.

Thirteen East and Southeast Asian countries agreed Sunday to set up an emergency $120 billion fund to provide liquidity to any of them in need of help during the economic downturn.

Thirteen East and Southeast Asian countries are expected to endorse on Sunday an emergency $120 billion liquidity fund that the three largest of them finalized hours earlier to counter the economic downturn.

Japan, China and South Korea finalized details of an emergency $120 billion liquidity fund for 13 Asian nations on Sunday, a key regional initiative to counter the global economic downturn.

The main leader of Thailand's yellow shirt protest movement has blamed senior military officers and political enemies for the failed attempt on his life three weeks ago.

The British Foreign & Commonwealth Office has upgraded its warning relating to Thailand. The FCO now advises against all but essential travel to all parts of the country.

The World Organization for Animal Health (OIE) said in a statement later Monday that it proposed to refer to the new virus 'swine influenza' as 'North American influenza'.

Mexico said a new flu virus has killed up to 149 people and it ordered all schools to close across the country on Monday as the disease spread in the United States, Canada and Europe, raising fears of a pandemic.

Thailand's prime minister ended a 12-day state of emergency in Bangkok on Friday and called for constitutional reforms in a bid to heal the deep political rifts behind recent violent protests.

The founder of Thailand's yellow shirt political protest movement, which was behind the week-long occupation of Bangkok's main airports late last year, was shot and wounded early on Friday by unknown assailants.

The founder of Thailand's yellow shirt protest movement, which was behind the week-long occupation of Bangkok's main airports last year, was shot and wounded on Friday, but a doctor said his life was not in danger.

The Nicaraguan government announced it had given a diplomatic passport to Thailand's former Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra.

Former Thai Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra humbly urged the country's revered king on Thursday to help resolve Thailand's political rift, after a week in which two people died during anti-government protests.