World News: Thousands of protesters take to streets in Syria city

More than 5000 anti-government protesters in Syria took over the main square of the country's third-largest city, vowing to occupy the site until President Bashar Assad is ousted.

The government, however, blamed the weeks of anti-government unrest in the country on ultraconservative Muslims seeking to establish a fundamentalist state and terrorise the people, in the latest official effort to portray the reform movement as populated by extremists.

The Egypt-style standoff in the central city of Homs yesterday followed funeral processions by more than 10,000 mourners for some of those killed in clashes on Sunday that a rights group said left at least 12 people dead. It also brought a high-stakes challenge to security forces over whether to risk more bloodshed - and international backlash - by trying to clear the square.

In the past month, Syrian security forces in uniforms and plain clothes have launched a deadly crackdown on protests, killing at least 200 people, according to human rights groups. Many Syrians also say pro-government thugs have terrorised neighbourhoods by opening fire into the air.

Jacko's doctor 'changed story'

Doctor Conrad Murray, who is charged over the death of Michael Jackson, tried to change his story about his actions involving the pop star, telling his own experts he left Jackson's bedroom to make a phone call, even though he initially said he left to go to the bathroom, prosecutors said.

Egypt demo set to go on

Protesters led by hardline Islamists in southern Egypt are holding their ground, saying they will not end their campaign of civil disobedience until the government removes a newly appointed Coptic Christian governor.

The protesters, many from the ultraconservative Salafi trend of Islam, have sat on train tracks, taken over government buildings and blocked main roads in the city of Qena, saying the governor will not properly implement Islamic law.

40 fish species 'face extinction'

A new study suggests that more than 40 fish species in the Mediterranean could vanish in the next few years.

The study by the International Union for Conservation of Nature says almost half of the species of sharks and rays in the Mediterranean and 12 species of bony fish are threatened with extinction.

Six injured in scissors attack

A man stabbed and wounded six people in China's far west before killing himself by slitting his throat, a local official said today.

The official Xinhua News Agency said the man, who was in his 20s, attacked six people with a knife and scissors in Kashgar city in Xinjiang.

Free access for Libyan aid workers

Libya: The government has promised aid workers access to areas under its control, according to the UN.

UN officials say the agreement allows humanitarian workers to set themselves up in the capital, Tripoli, and to come and go freely into Libya.

Pakistan: The military in Pakistan says it has today successfully test-fired a newly developed short-range missile - the "Hatf 9" - capable of delivering a nuclear warhead.