![Sri Lanka's President Mahinda Rajapakse was re-elected as president last month. [Reuters]](http://www.abc.net.au/reslib/201002/r507492_2721295.jpg "Sri Lanka's President Mahinda Rajapakse was re-elected as president last month. [Reuters]")
Sri Lankan president dissolves parliament
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Sri Lanka's President has dissolved the country's parliament paving the way for an early election.
![Avalanches hit the area around the Salang Tunnel, high in the Hindu Kush. [APTN]](http://www.abc.net.au/reslib/201002/r511584_2770088.jpg "Avalanches hit the area around the Salang Tunnel, high in the Hindu Kush. [APTN]")
Dozens killed, trapped by Afghan avalanche
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A series of avalanches around a mountain tunnel in Afghanistan has killed at least 24 people and left hundreds more stranded.
Cyclone Pat moving towards Cook Islands
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Cyclone Pat, which is threatening the southern Cook Islands, is likely to strenghten into a hurricane in the next few hours.
![Toyota issued the global recall for the latest model Prius hybrid to repair a flaw in the braking system. [AFP]](http://www.abc.net.au/reslib/201002/r508293_2730688.jpg "Toyota issued the global recall for the latest model Prius hybrid to repair a flaw in the braking system. [AFP]")
Japan says Toyota should have acted earlier on recall
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Japan's transport minister has publicly berated the president of Toyota in front of the media over the car giant's handling of safety problems.
![Clive Palmer says the deal is to supply coal over 20 years. [ABC News]](http://www.abc.net.au/reslib/200902/r335567_1519962.jpg "Clive Palmer says the deal is to supply coal over 20 years. [ABC News]")
Confusion over China coal deal
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The status of a massive Queensland coal deal - said to be Australia's largest export contract - remains uncertain this morning.
![The Australian Government has announced it is spending $US175 million on improving passenger and cargo screening - including introducing body scanners in some airports from early next year. [Reuters]](http://www.abc.net.au/reslib/201001/r498748_2624695.jpg "The Australian Government has announced it is spending $US175 million on improving passenger and cargo screening - including introducing body scanners in some airports from early next year. [Reuters]")
Australian airport workers escaping security checks
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Transport industry workers say increasing security at Australian airports is a step in the right direction, but more stringent checks are needed when recruiting airport staff.
Nearly 200 more arrests over Philippines massacre
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The Philippines has charged 197 more people with murder over a pre-election massacre in Maguindanao province in November, which left 57 dead.
![The Australian Navy is sending a patrol boat to 'Exercise Milan'. [ADF]](http://www.abc.net.au/reslib/200708/r170443_639427.jpg "The Australian Navy is sending a patrol boat to 'Exercise Milan'. [ADF]")
Questions over Australia's involvement in Burma exercises
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Australia's Green Party is questioning why the government sent a Navy patrol boat to take part in a military exercise with Burma, despite having military sanctions against the regime.
NKorea 'committed' to no-nukes: China
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Chinese state media has reported that North Korean leader Kim Jong-il has told China he is committed to ridding the Korean peninsula of nuclear weapons.
UN to monitor Iran's nuclear enrichment
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The UN nuclear watchdog says that a team of its inspectors is in place in Iran to monitor Iran's plans to start enriching uranium to higher levels.
US refuses to write off Cambodian debt
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The United States has refused a request by Cambodia to write off more than $US300 million in debt.
![Last month, General Fonseka lost the presidential election the incumbent Mahinda Rajapakse, but has rejected the results and vowed to challenge them. [AFP]](http://www.abc.net.au/reslib/201001/r505151_2692431.jpg "Last month, General Fonseka lost the presidential election the incumbent Mahinda Rajapakse, but has rejected the results and vowed to challenge them. [AFP]")
Sri Lanka arrests former army commander, presidential challenger
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Sri Lanka has arrested former army commander and losing presidential candidate General Sarath Fonseka.
Toyota issues mass recall of Prius
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Toyota has lodged a recall in Japan of 200,000 of its latest model Prius cars after complaints of brake problems in the hybrid car.
![Cyclone Oli tore across the Cooks, before battering French Polynesia - destroying hundreds of homes. [Ocenia Flash]](http://www.abc.net.au/reslib/201002/r509034_2740927.jpg "Cyclone Oli tore across the Cooks, before battering French Polynesia - destroying hundreds of homes. [Ocenia Flash]")
New cyclone develops near Cook Islands
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Tropical Cyclone Pat has started to alter course, and forecasters say it may threaten the southern Cook Islands by early Wednesday.
![Smoke and flames billow from the boat SIEV 36 and people swim in the water as Navy vessels move in to help near Ashmore Island in April 2009. [ADF]](http://www.abc.net.au/reslib/201001/r502979_2670027.jpg "Smoke and flames billow from the boat SIEV 36 and people swim in the water as Navy vessels move in to help near Ashmore Island in April 2009. [ADF]")
Refugee retracts statement on fatal Australian boat blast
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The first refugee to give evidence at an Australian coronial inquest into last year's fatal SIEV 36 boat blast says he cannot remember telling police that a fellow passenger threatened to blow up the boat.
![At a conference in Vanuatu, the Asian Development Bank says providing social safety nets for the poor in the Pacific needs to be a priority. [AFP]](http://www.abc.net.au/reslib/200908/r419951_1994744.jpg "At a conference in Vanuatu, the Asian Development Bank says providing social safety nets for the poor in the Pacific needs to be a priority. [AFP]")
Pacific social safety nets needed says ADB
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The Asian Development Bank says providing social safety nets for the poor in the Pacific needs to be a priority.
![East Timor's new anti-corruption chief, Aderito Soares has rejected concerns that his position will have no real power to deal with corruption at a high level. [Reuters]](http://www.abc.net.au/reslib/201002/r507555_2722157.jpg "East Timor's new anti-corruption chief, Aderito Soares has rejected concerns that his position will have no real power to deal with corruption at a high level. [Reuters]")
East Timor's anti-graft chief rejects concerns over position
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East Timor's new anti-corruption chief has rejected concerns that his position will have no real power to deal with corruption at a high level.
![A meeting between government, unions and the Garment Manufacturers' Association of Cambodia, over a pay increase for workers has ended without agreement. [AFP]](http://www.abc.net.au/reslib/200910/r448728_2179828.jpg "A meeting between government, unions and the Garment Manufacturers' Association of Cambodia, over a pay increase for workers has ended without agreement. [AFP]")
Cambodian garment workers fail to win pay rise
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Discussions between Cambodia's government, manufacturers and unions over a pay increase for garment workers have ended without agreement.
Reports on Japanese deal to scale back research whaling
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Japanese media is reporting that the country's Fisheries Minister is considering scaling back research whaling in the Antarctic.
Activists to face court over Japan whaling clashes
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Two members of Greenpeace are facing up to 10 years' jail in the latest skirmish to erupt over Japan's whaling activities.
![The Austral Island of Tubuai is the worst hit, with over half of the buildings on the island either damaged or destroyed. [AFP]](http://www.abc.net.au/reslib/201002/r510122_2752834.jpg "The Austral Island of Tubuai is the worst hit, with over half of the buildings on the island either damaged or destroyed. [AFP]")
French Polynesia begins assessing Cyclone Oli damage
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Inhabitants of French Polynesia's Tubuai island have begun assessing the damage from this weekend's Cyclone Oli.
![MV Princess Ashika before it sunk in August 2009. The inquiry into the sinking has heard there were concerns over the training for crew members onboard the ferry. [NZ Defence Dept]](http://www.abc.net.au/reslib/200908/r416932_1977025.jpg "MV Princess Ashika before it sunk in August 2009. The inquiry into the sinking has heard there were concerns over the training for crew members onboard the ferry. [NZ Defence Dept]")
Ten year old training concerns raised at Tongan inquiry
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The Tongan Royal Commission of Inquiry into the sinking of the Princess Ashika has heard there were concerns over the past 10 years about the standard of training for Tongan seafarers.
Sichaun earthquake activist jailed
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A Chinese activist who tried to document the poor construction of buildings that collapsed in the Sichuan Earthquake has been sentenced to five years in jail.
![Duncan Kerr has stood down as Parliamentary Secretary for Pacific Affairs, but there is concern he has yet to be replaced. [ABC News]](http://www.abc.net.au/reslib/200909/r434346_2084455.jpg "Duncan Kerr has stood down as Parliamentary Secretary for Pacific Affairs, but there is concern he has yet to be replaced. [ABC News]")
Australia's Pacific commitment not diminished by resignation: FM
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Australia's Foreign Affairs Minister Stephen Smith says Australia's committment to the Pacific region will not be diminished by the resignation of Labor MP Duncan Kerr.
![The avalanche hit the Indian army's High Altitude Warfare School in northwest Kashmir, a mountainous region near the border with Pakistan. [APTN]](http://www.abc.net.au/reslib/201002/r510824_2760560.jpg "The avalanche hit the Indian army's High Altitude Warfare School in northwest Kashmir, a mountainous region near the border with Pakistan. [APTN]")
Kashmir avalanche kills Indian soldiers
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At least 11 Indian soldiers are dead after an avalanche hit a training base in Indian-administered Kashmir.
US citizen jailed for passing space shuttle secrets to China
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An ex-Boeing engineer who was found guilty last year of passing space shuttle secrets to China has been sentenced to 15 years in prison.
Australian mining boss in billion dollar mix-up
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Confusion over a multi-billion dollar coal deal has led to a Chinese company issuing a denial to the Hong Kong Stock Exchange.
![Michael Jackson's former doctor Conrad Murray has pleaded not guilty to a charge of involuntary manslaughter over the singer's death last year. [Reuters]](http://www.abc.net.au/reslib/201002/r510863_2760954.jpg "Michael Jackson's former doctor Conrad Murray has pleaded not guilty to a charge of involuntary manslaughter over the singer's death last year. [Reuters]")
Michael Jackson's doctor pleads not guilty
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Michael Jackson's former doctor Conrad Murray has pleaded not guilty to a charge of involuntary manslaughter over the singer's death last year.
![UN officials observe former Maoist child soldiers board buses to leave the Dudhauli camp, 100 km southeast of Kathmandu January 7, 2010. The Maoists will be demobilising underaged soldiers who fought for the Maoists during Nepal's decade-long civil war and releasing them from the Maoist camps under an agreement with the government. [Reuters]](http://www.abc.net.au/reslib/201002/r510977_2762491.jpg "UN officials observe former Maoist child soldiers board buses to leave the Dudhauli camp, 100 km southeast of Kathmandu January 7, 2010. The Maoists will be demobilising underaged soldiers who fought for the Maoists during Nepal's decade-long civil war and releasing them from the Maoist camps under an agreement with the government. [Reuters]")
Thousands of former child-soldiers released from Nepal camps
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Nepal has completed the release of thousands of former Maoist child soldiers from UN-monitored camps.
Australia's FM expresses sympathy for Indian victims
Last Updated:
Australia's foreign minister Stephen Smith has again expressed sympathy and condolences to the families of Indian students who have been victims of attacks in Australia.
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