World News: Divided UN fails to agree on reaction to Syria crackdown

A draft proposed by France, Britain, Germany and Portugal was opposed by several within the 15-member council.

Russia insisted that events in Syria did not constitute a threat to international peace.

More than 450 people have allegedly been killed since the pro-democracy protests began nearly six weeks ago.

China and India called for political dialogue and peaceful resolution of the crisis, but stopped short of condemning the violence.

"A real threat to regional security could arise from outside interference in Syria's domestic situation, including attempts to force ready-made solutions or taking of sides," said Alexander Pankin, Russia's UN ambassador.

But the US ambassador, Susan Rice, called on Syria to stop what it called the government's abhorrent violence, and on the international community to act.

"My government calls on president (Bashar] Assad to change course now and heed the calls of his own people."

Obama bid to halt birth claims

President Barack Obama has produced his detailed birth certificate from Hawaii, hoping to stop renewed claims he was born outside the US and declaring the country did not have "time for this kind of silliness."

The US Constitution requires the president not be foreign-born.

Population shift in China

China's population is ageing rapidly and half the people now live in cities, the government said today.

The data from a national census carried out late last year will fuel debate about whether China should continue with its "one-child" policy, experts said.

The census adds data to the world-changing shifts under way in China in the past decade, as economic reforms raise living standards and pull more people off farms into the cities and families get smaller.

Hunt on for Mona Lisa model

A team of researchers in Italy has begun a search for the tomb of a woman who may have been the model for Leonardo Da Vinci's painting Mona Lisa.

The team is using a special radar device at the convent in the city of Florence where it thinks the body of the woman, Lisa Gherardini, is buried.

Buddhists in tsunami ritual

Buddhist priests are holding ceremonies to mark the 49th day since Japan's tsunami - when many believe that victims' souls end their restless wandering in limbo.

In the north-eastern town of Soma, priests in black and gold robes chanted and rang bells.

Death toll rises to 15 in Thai clashes

Thailand: Artillery fire boomed across the Thai-Cambodian frontier for a seventh day today as fierce border clashes erupted again between the two neighbours and the death toll rose to 15.

Pakistan: A roadside bomb ripped through a bus taking Pakistani navy staff to work in Karachi today, killing three people in the third such attack in the city this week.

Two of those killed were navy employees; the third was a passer-by.