AP - The man who oversees U.S. forces in both the Iraq and Afghan wars says the fighting in Afghanistan will "likely get harder before it gets easier" and predicts 2010 will be a difficult year.

AFP - Somali pirates on Tuesday freed a chemical tanker with 28 North Korean sailors on board after receiving 3.5 million dollars in ransom, a maritime official said.

AFP - A five-year-old British boy kidnapped at gunpoint during a holiday in Pakistan nearly two weeks ago was waiting to be reunited with his mother after being safely recovered on Tuesday.

AFP - The family of He Pingping, the world's shortest man, said Tuesday they were shocked by his unexpected death in Italy, saying he had shown no previous signs of bad health.

AFP - Sri Lanka's former army chief, now a sworn political enemy of President Mahinda Rajapakse, faced a military court Tuesday on controversial charges that could see him jailed for up to five years.

AP - The former Sri Lankan army chief who lost his opposition bid for the presidency objected Tuesday to his court-martial hearing, saying the panel formed to decide his fate was biased against him, an ally said.

AP - An apparent U.S. missile attack destroyed a suspected militant compound in a tribal region of northwestern Pakistan on Tuesday, killing at least nine people, intelligence officials said.

AFP - A home-grown Islamist militant group was responsible for last month's deadly bomb attack in the Indian city of Pune, a government official said Tuesday.

AP - Thai protesters poured several jugs of their own blood at the front gate of the government headquarters and outside the ruling party's offices Tuesday in a symbolic sacrifice to press their demands for new elections.

AP - Kidnappers released a 5-year-old British boy unharmed Tuesday almost two weeks after abducting him from his grandparents' house in central Pakistan, British and Pakistani officials said.

AP - China showed no sign Tuesday of throwing its support behind new sanctions against Iran following talks with Britain's foreign minister, who had hoped to persuade Beijing to join a growing international consensus for more stringent measures.

AP - One of Vietnam's leading democracy activists said Tuesday that he was released from prison because he has a brain tumor and suffered three strokes while in custody.

AP - The Afghan government was holding secret talks with the Taliban's No. 2 when he was captured in Pakistan, and the arrest infuriated President Hamid Karzai, according to one of Karzai's advisers.

AP - China's foreign minister added to the mystery surrounding missing lawyer Gao Zhisheng on Tuesday, saying he had been sentenced on subversion charges but offering no details on his present status or whereabouts.

AP - Afghanistan's government will provide more than 1,000 police reinforcements to the southern province of Kandahar after Taliban attacks killed dozens of people there ahead of a coming offensive on the insurgent stronghold, an official said Tuesday.

AP - Fiji declared a state of emergency Tuesday and ordered troops to launch relief operations in northern regions battered by a powerful cyclone that knocked out power and forced thousands of people to flee into shelters.