AFP - A grenade exploded early Friday on a street in central Bangkok, leaving one person seriously hurt in the latest violence in the Thai capital, still recovering from deadly protests, officials said.

AP - A criminal investigation into the leak of tens of thousands of secret Afghanistan war logs could go beyond the military, Defense Secretary Robert Gates said Thursday, and he did not rule out that WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange could be a target.

AFP - South Korea's Samsung Electronics Friday reported a record second-quarter operating profit of 5.01 trillion won (4.2 billion dollars), an 88 percent rise on the same period last year.

AP - Google Inc. triggered a false alarm Thursday by posting a notice that its search engine and several other services had been cut off from mainland China — a key market where the company has been locked in a high-profile battle over online censorship.

AP - The discovery of the body of a second U.S. sailor who vanished in Afghanistan last week only deepened the mystery of the men's disappearance nearly 60 miles from their base in a dangerous area controlled by the Taliban.

AFP - Google's services in China were fully or partially blocked on Thursday with the exception of its email service, Gmail.

Reuters - The whistle-blowing website WikiLeaks may have blood on its hands, the Pentagon said on Thursday, warning its unprecedented leak of secret U.S. military files could cost lives and damage trust of allies.

AP - Despite billions in aid from Washington and a shared threat from extremists, Pakistanis have an overwhelmingly negative view of the United States, according to results of a Pew Research Center poll released Thursday.

AP - This strategic valley on the outskirts of Kandahar is on its third government boss in eight months. The first quit out of fear and frustration. The Taliban assassinated the second.

AP - Anguished relatives sought the remains of loved ones killed in Pakistan's worst-ever plane crash, some grieving at a hospital collecting bodies Thursday and others joining the recovery effort at the hillside crash site laden by heavy rain and mud.

AP - Rivers burst their banks during deadly monsoon rains lashing Pakistan, washing away streets, battering a dam and submerging thousands of homes, officials said Thursday.

AP - As the U.S. searches for an exit from Afghanistan, it is increasingly relying on Pakistan's powerful army chief to help pave the way — despite fresh allegations that spies under his command have long aided the Taliban.

AP - South Korea's prime minister offered to resign Thursday after parliament shot down his efforts to scrap a plan that would relocate several government ministries out of the capital.

AP - The water supply was safe in a northeastern China city after more than 3,000 containers of toxic chemicals were washed into a river by the worst floods in a decade in the country, an official said Thursday.

AP - Every year for the past two decades, legions of young Americans have descended upon Japan to teach English. This government-sponsored charm offensive was launched to counter anti-Japan sentiment in the United States and has since grown into one of the country's most successful displays of soft power.