The BBC says Japan's economy during the first three months of 2009 shrank at its quickest pace since records began, as exports slumped, officials figures have shown. Output in the world's second largest economy contracted by 4% during the period, or by 15.2% on an annual basis. Japan's economy, which depends heavily on exports, has been hit hard by the global downturn. But economists predict a modest growth in the coming months, after a small rise in production in March. The figures from the Cabinet Office show that this is the fourth quarterly fall in gross domestic product (GDP) in a row, after a 3.8% contraction between October and December 2008. See also: Guardian article.

The BBC says An Indonesian military transport plane carrying troops and their families has crashed on the island of Java, killing at least 97 people, officials say. At least two people died on the ground when the plane came down in a village, hitting houses before skidding into a rice field where it caught fire. The plane had been flying from Jakarta to eastern Java when it crashed. Visibility appears to have been good and there is no indication yet of what caused the crash. It missed landing at Iswahyudi air force base and struck houses in the village of Geplak, 4km away, at around 0630 local time (2330 GMT). Initial reports say the last contact with the crew was a few minutes before the plane came down, as it was making its final approach to land. See also: Jakarta Post article.

Moldova's parliament has failed to elect a new president - increasing the possibility the country will have to hold a new general election. The BBC says the last election sparked violent scenes as protesters claimed the Communist Party victory was fraudulent. The Communists needed 61 votes in the 101-seat parliament to elect their candidate Zinaida Greceanii - but only mustered 60 amid an opposition boycott. If a second vote on 28 May also fails, parliament will have to be dissolved. Opposition parties have vowed to maintain their boycott, forcing dissolution and a new general election.

The Guardian: Four men have been arrested in New York over an alleged terrorist plot to bomb two synagogues and shoot down military planes. The men were held last night after leaving what they believed were explosives in cars outside Riverdale Temple and the Riverdale Jewish Centre in the Bronx area of the city, authorities said. The bombs were fakes and obtained with the help of an informant for the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), according to officials. The arrests came after a long-running investigation that began in Newburgh, about 70 miles (110km) north of New York city. The four men are expected to appear in court today charged with conspiracy to use weapons of mass destruction and conspiracy to acquire and use anti-aircraft missiles, the US attorney's office said. The men were also allegedly plotting to shoot down military planes from the New York Air National Guard base at Stewart airport in Newburgh.

AFP says a suicide bomber killed seven members of an anti-Qaeda militia and wounded four others as they gathered to collect their salaries in Iraq's tense northern city of Kirkuk, officials said. The attack occurred inside a building under the control of the Iraqi army, killing seven anti-Qaeda fighters, known as Sahwa, or Awakening, and wounding four others, police major Salam Zangana told AFP. "A suicide bomber dressed in a Sahwa uniform blew himself up at a Sahwa gathering near Kirkuk's technical college. They were waiting to receive their salaries," he said. "The wounded were taken to Kirkuk hospital and they are in critical condition." A doctor at the morgue confirmed the toll. Thursday's attack came a day after a huge car bomb blast in a Shiite neighbourhood in Baghdad killed at least 40 people and injured 83, an official at the interior ministry said. The blast in the poor Shiite neighbourhood was the biggest explosion since April 29 when more than 50 people -- also in mostly Shiite districts of the capital -- were killed in a wave of near-simultaneous bombings. While Al-Qaeda regularly targets civilians it also tries to kill the Sahwa, whom it brands traitors, especially in confessionally mixed parts of Iraq such as Kirkuk. The Sahwa movement began in late 2006 when local tribes and former insurgents started turning on Al-Qaeda in Iraq and allying with the US military, and today it counts about 92,000 fighters across the countryThe militias, made up of local tribes and former insurgents known have played a crucial role in ousting the Islamists of Al-Qaeda from their former strongholds by siding with the American military. But despite US-Iraqi military campaigns, Al-Qaeda insurgents still carry out regular attacks in Diyala, especially suicide bombings, as well as in northern Iraq's main city of Mosul and in the capital itself.

The Daily Telegraph: The Burmese government has prevented reporters and diplomats from attending Aung San Suu Kyi's trial, one day after briefly allowing them inside the courtroom for the first time. It was unclear whether the junta would again reopen the proceedings. The Nobel Peace laureate, who has been in detention without trial for more than 13 of the past 19 years, is accused of violating the terms of her house arrest after an American man stayed at her home without official permission. The offense is punishable by up to five years' imprisonment. After closing the hearings for the first two days, the authorities unexpectedly opened them on Wednesday to 10 journalist and dozens of diplomats. Ms Suu Kyi thanked diplomats for their support and told them she hoped to see them during "better days".

The Guardian: Three US soldiers were killed and nine more injured in a bomb attack in Baghdad today that also left up to 12 civilians dead during a second consecutive day of violence around Iraq. At least 25 people were killed in a series of bombs in Iraq and the northern city of Kirkuk, a day after 41 people died when a car bomb exploded near a group of restaurants in a Shia district of north-west Baghdad. The US military said the soldiers died this morning when a bomb exploded as they were patrolling near a popular outdoor market in the southern district of Dora. The military said four civilians were also killed while Iraqi police and hospital officials put the civilian toll at 12 killed and 25 wounded.

US Vice President Joe Biden ended a Balkans tour, leaving Kosovo for Beirut to bolster US support for pro-Western forces ahead of Lebanese elections, according to the AFP. In Beirut, Biden was set to affirm US support for the "independence and sovereignty" of Lebanon, said the White House. "The vice president will meet with President Michel Sleiman, Prime Minister Fouad Siniora, and Speaker of the Parliament Nabih Berri," it said in a statement on Thursday. Biden visited Bosnia, Serbia and Kosovo during his three-day Balkans tour to demonstrate the four-month-old Obama adminstration's engagement in the volatile region. During his stay in Sarajevo, Biden sharply rebuked Bosnian politicians, warning they faced a stark choice between European Union and NATO integration or a return to bloody conflict over nationalist rhetoric.

Bloomberg: Russian President Dmitry Medvedev said he doubts Ukraine’s ability to pay for natural gas from Russia, five months after OAO Gazprom halted shipments in a spat that disrupted supplies to the European Union. Ukraine should pay more than $4 billion this year for 19.5 billion cubic meters of gas to be pumped into storage, Medvedev said at a news conference today with EU leaders. Russia, which supplies about a quarter of Europe’s gas, halted shipments to Ukraine at the start of January in a payment dispute that led to disruptions for more than 20 countries. Medvedev proposed that Europe and Russia work together to help arrange a loan for Ukraine’s gas payments. “If Ukraine has money, then that’s good,” Medvedev said. “But we doubt Ukraine’s ability to pay.”

The BBC: Sri Lanka says more than 6,200 security personnel were killed and almost 30,000 wounded in the final three years of the war with the Tamil Tigers. Defence Secretary Gotabaya Rajapaksa revealed the figures on state TV - the first such official statement. It is thought at least 80,000 people have been killed in the 26-year war. UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon is to arrive in Sri Lanka on Friday to discuss the plight of about 275,000 internally displaced people. Sri Lanka officially announced an end to the war this week, after its troops took the last segment of land held by the rebels, and said it had killed the top Tamil Tiger leadership, including its chief, Velupillai Prabhakaran.

The BBC: Israeli forces have crossed into Gaza and shot dead two Palestinians who they say had been trying to plant a bomb on the heavily fortified border. The Palestinians died in an exchange of fire, after which an explosive device, two rifles and hand grenades were found on the bodies, the military said. No Palestinian account of the incident near Kerem Shalom crossing has emerged. Earlier this week a rocket fired from Gaza struck an Israeli town - the first to do so for several weeks. The Israeli military says there have been close to 200 rocket and mortar strikes on southern Israel since it ended its January operation in the Strip, which it said was aimed at reducing rocket fire. But the past week has been relatively quiet, with just one rocket and one mortar fired since 14 May. Since Israel and Hamas, which controls Gaza, declared unilateral ceasefires on 18 January, Israel has carried out several air strikes in response to rocket attacks.

The BBC: Italian police say they have seized $10m (7.1m euros; £6.3m) in fake money and a large arms cache from the houses of a Mafia boss and his relative. Most of the "currency" was found at the Sicily home of Fabbio Manno, one of more than 100 people arrested in a major anti-mafia operation in December. More money, in $100 bills, and weapons were discovered inside a wall at the home of Manno's aunt on the island. The notes were said to be of "excellent quality" and had been produced locally. Police said they believed Manno had been storing the money and weapons for Gaetano Lo Presti, a top boss in the Sicilian Mafia - also known as the Cosa Nostra - who hanged himself in his cell hours after he was arrested in December's operation.

A breakthrough has been made in talks to resolve a political crisis in Madagascar, a UN official has said. Special envoy Tiebile Drame told the BBC (view link) various political parties had agreed to an inclusive transitional government and a reconciliation body. He also said both ousted President Marc Ravalomanana and Andry Rajoelina, who took power with the help of the army in March, could stand in upcoming polls. In recent months more than 100 people have died in violence in Madagascar.

Reuters say President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad accused his moderate rivals in Iran's June presidential vote of trying to weaken the Islamic state by wanting a policy of "detente" with the West, Fars news agency reported on Friday. Ahmadinejad's critics, including reformists and some of his conservative backers, say his fiery anti-Western speeches and his denial of the Holocaust have isolated Iran, which is at odds with the West over its disputed nuclear work. Tehran says its nuclear work is for peaceful purposes only but the West fears Iran is pursuing a secret military program. "The previous government (of moderate Mohammad Khatami) which followed a detente policy de facto eradicated the goals of the nation and intended to accept a status which others (West) had planned to impose on us," Ahmadinejad said in his first official campaign speech in a sports hall in downtown Tehran. Ahmadinejad, fighting for re-election in the June 12 vote, will compete against two moderate candidates: former premier Mirhossein Mousavi, former parliament speaker Mehdi Karoubi and conservative former Revolutionary Guards head Mohsen Rezai. Meanwhile, Washington TV say Zahra Shoja’i, former presidential adviser and head of the presidential Office for Women’s Affairs at the under President Mohammad Khatami [1997-2005], rejected in an interview with Jomhuriyat website on Friday comparisons between Zahra Rahnavard and US First Lady Michelle Obama. “No! I want to say that Michelle Obama is America’s Zahra Rahnavard. Therefore, it is better to talk of our societal models independently and without borrowing from foreign models,” Shoja'i said in response to a suggestion that some refer to Rahnavard – the wife of presidential candidate Mir Hossein Mousavi – as “Iran’s Michelle Obama.” Shoja’i said that Rahnavard, who is active in her husband’s presidential campaign, is well known to Iranian society. The first post-revolution generation and Iran’s intellectuals became familiar with Rahnavard’s personality – who at the time was active under the name of “Zaynab Broujerdi” – earlier than that of Mir Hossein Mousavi, because Rahnavard had written many literary and artistic works, she added.

AFP say South Koreans were in shock on Saturday over the apparent suicide of former president Roh Moo-Hyun, with his successor describing the case as a national tragedy. Roh, who was in office from 2003-8, was questioned last month as a suspect in a multi-million dollar corruption case. He fell from a cliff near his retirement village of Bongha close to the southeast coast. An aide said he left a suicide note for family members. "It is truly hard to believe what happened. It is a sad, tragic incident," current President Lee Myung-Bak was quoted by his spokesman as saying. Lee was told of the death while holding a summit with Czech President Vaclav Klaus. He cancelled his remaining engagements for the day. Lee told ministers to prepare Roh's funeral "with respect and in line with the protocol for a former president," the spokesman said. Japanese Prime Minister Taro Aso offered condolences to the neighbouring country. "I was quite surprised," Aso told reporters after hearing about Roh's death, according to Jiji Press. "I would like to offer my condolences and pray for the repose of his soul." The allegations against Roh had tarnished his image while in office as a clean president who had been elected partly on pledges to fight corruption. Justice Minister Kim Kyung-Han said the graft case against Roh would be formally closed. "I express deep condolences...and pray for the repose of the deceased," he said. Kim Dae-Jung, Roh's predecessor as president, expressed "great shock and sorrow," according to an aide. See Reuters for Roh's biography.

According to AFP defense secretary Robert Gates said the Guantanamo prison camp needed to be closed because it had become "a taint" on the reputation of the United States. Defending President Barack Obama's decision to press ahead with plans to close the controversial "war on terror" prison at the US naval base in Guantanamo, Cuba, Gates said in an interview that the detention center was damaging the country's image and served as a propaganda tool for Al-Qaeda. "The truth is, it's probably one of the finest prisons in the world today. But it has a taint," Gates told NBC television's "Today" program during a visit to New York. "The name itself is a condemnation. What the president was saying is, this will be an advertisement for Al-Qaeda as long as it's open," he said. Gates, who also served as defense secretary under ex-president George W. Bush, said Americans should not fear the transfer of some of the detainees to high-security prisons in the United States, where he said convicted terrorists have been held for years. AFP earlier reported that US President Barack Obama has continued to make the case for the closure of the Guantanamo Bay detention centre. Earlier this week, the US Senate denied Mr Obama the funds he requested to shut down the Navy-run facility. Around 240 men are imprisoned there and Mr Obama believes they should be transferred to high security prisons in America. In an interview broadcast on US television, the US president suggested that opening the jail was a mistake. "I am confident that we are stronger when we uphold our principles, that we are weaker when we start pushing them aside," he said. "I think there was a period of time, right after 9/11, understandably because people were fearful, where I think we cut too many corners, and made some decisions that were contrary to who we are as a people." Mr Obama suggested it would require a bipartisan effort to create a legal and institutional structure under which the detainees could be tried. "It's a messy situation. It's not easy," he said. But he said he was confident that the detainees could be tried by US military commissions or in US civilian courts "if we approach this in a way that isn't trying to score political points, but is trying to create a legal and institutional framework with checks and balances, respectful of due process and rule of law." His comments came just two days after he clashed with former US vice president Dick Cheney on the issue in dueling, back-to-back debates. Mr Cheney attacked Mr Obama's approach to terrorism as increasing the risk to Americans and defended the harsh interrogations of detainees that tainted evidence gathered against them. According to The Independent Mr. Cheney said "It's easy to receive applause in Europe for closing Guantanamo, but it's tricky to come up with an alternative that will serve the interests of justice and America's national security." He quipped that this White House was guilty of "recklessness cloaked in righteousness". Trying to fend off critics from both the conservative right and the liberal left of his own party, Mr Obama revived the argument that Guantanamo has become a symbol around the world that helped America's enemies attract recruits. The camp "likely created more terrorists around the world than it ever detained", he posited, adding that "rather than keep us safer, the prison at Guantanamo has weakened American national security".

In a matter of two days, the Philippines has confirmed its first two cases of the A(H1N1) infection. The latest patient was a 50 year old Filipino American woman who arrived in the country from Chicago in the United States last May 20. The patient is now being observed at a government hospital designated to handle cases like the A(H1N1) virus. The patient exhibited symptoms of the virus a day after her arrival in the country. Late Thursday of last week, a 10 year old girl also from the United States was diagnosed with the virus and is now rapidly recovering. The Health department also acknowledged that a Taiwanese mother and daughter who came to the Philippines got the A(H1N1) infection, both were attending a yoga conference in the country. The government has not received any fatality reports related to the A(H1N1) virus.

Al Jazeera report thousands of South Korean mourners are paying their last respects to Roh Moo-Hyun, the former president, who apparently committed suicide as he faced a corruption scandal. Roh, the country's president from 2003 to 2008, jumped off a cliff to his death on Saturday, leaving behind a suicide note for his family on his computer, an aide has said. Thousands of people on Sunday crowded into the altar in his native village in Gimhae, laying flowers and burning incense. Some even collapsed in grief as they approached the coffin where Roh's body lay while Buddhist monks offered prayers."Life and death are all parts of nature," Roh wrote in his note. "Don't lay any blame. It's fate." World leaders, including Taro Aso, Japan's prime minister, and Barack Obama, the US president, offered their condolences to Roh's family and South Korean citizens.The Guardian says South Korea was in a state of shock yesterday following the suicide of Roh Moo-hyun, its former president, who had been embroiled in a multi-million dollar corruption scandal. Roh, 62, died from massive head injuries after leaping into a ravine while on a climbing trip near his home in Bongha village near the south-east coast, according to local media reports. The former democracy activist, whose five-year term ended in February 2008, was said to have been under intense pressure amid allegations that he had accepted US$6m in bribes while in office. Roh, who rose from an impoverished childhood to occupy the presidential Blue House, left a suicide note in which he hinted at ill health and talked of being unable to confront "countless agonies down the road". The note, the text of which was released by the Yonhap news agency, said: "The rest of my life would only be a burden for others. I can't do anything because I'm not healthy. I can't read books, nor can I write. Don't be too sad. Isn't life and death all part of nature? Don't be sorry. Don't blame anybody. It's fate. Please cremate me. And please leave a small tombstone near home. I've long thought about that." Lee Myung-bak, the country's present leader, said Roh's death had left him "stricken with sorrow and deep sadness". He broke away from talks with Vaclav Claus, the Czech president, to instruct authorities to organise a state funeral.

The AFP: About 30 people were wounded, nine of them seriously, as rival factions in the Sikh community clashed inside a Sikh temple in the Austrian capital Vienna, police and emergency services said Sunday. Fighting broke out at around 1:30 pm (1130 GMT), when a group of Sikhs opposed to the sermon given by Shri Guru Ravidas Sabha, a guru visiting from India, produced knives and a gun inside the temple. "Six people did not agree (with the sermon)," police spokesman Michael Takacs told Austrian public radio. "One drew a firearm, the others knives. The six people were overpowered by members of the community and seriously injured," he added. One of those wounded was fighting for his life, said Takacs. Police officers had recovered at least three spent cartridges inside the temple, where 200 people had gathered for the service. The wounded were evacuated in three helicopters to several hospitals, said the emergency services.

The Daily Telegraph reports Valupillay Prabhakaran, 54, was reported to have died last week in a last stand by the rebels in the north-east of the island and his body was displayed by the army. Selvarasa Pathmanathan, the head of international relations for the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE), said in a statement released on Sunday: "We announce today with inexpressible sadness and heavy hearts that our incomparable leader, the supreme commander of the LTTE, attained martyrdom fighting the Sri Lankan government.Meanwhile, Times Online say the statement, seen by The Times, appeared to be signed by Selvarasa Pathmanathan, the Tigers’ head of international relations. Sources close to the rebels said, however, they could not confirm that it was genuine. Mr Pathmanathan, who is believed to be in hiding in South-East Asia and who said last Tuesday that Prabakharan was alive, was not available for comment. Tamilnet, the website that usually acts as the rebels’ mouthpiece, did not carry the statement.

AFP say Pakistan's military said Monday six militants were killed when their bomb exploded as troops pushed on with an offensive to regain control of northwest Swat valley's Taliban-held capital. A military official who did not want to be named said that the six men died overnight in Kabal town about 20 kilometres (12 miles) west of Swat's urban hub Mingora, where troops are fighting fierce street battles with insurgents. "They were trying to plant a bomb outside a mosque but it exploded on them," the official told AFP. "The dead bodies of six armed militants are still lying near the mosque." He said Pakistan's security forces were still battling on the streets of Mingora, the business and administrative hub of the scenic region which has been ripped apart by a two-year insurgency by Islamist extremists. "According to information I received, militants are retreating from different fronts but we are still receiving fire from some pockets of resistance," he said. A security official, who also requested anonymity as he was not authorised to speak to the media, said that the military continued to advance inside Mingora, regaining control of several key areas. "Militants are on the run, their dead bodies are laying in streets" he said.

Seismological observatory with the Natural Sciences and Mathematics Faculty in Skopje as well as other seismological centers in the towns of Ohrid, Bitola, Valandolvo, Stip, Krusevo and Kriva Palanka continue to register earthquakes, A1 informs. According to Bulgarian news agency Fokus, the quakes had started at 1.30 p.m. on May 23 and continue up to now. Their epicenter is 125 km southeastern from Skopje.

About 300 quakes have been registered in Macedonia up to 2.00 p.m on Monday /local time/. People had felt 60 of them, but for now there are no victims or injured.

Reuters report Iran's President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad on Monday rejected a Western proposal for it to "freeze" its nuclear work in return for no new sanctions and ruled out any talks with major powers on the issue. The comments by the conservative president, who is seeking a second term in a June 12 election, are likely to further disappoint the U.S. administration of President Barack Obama, which is seeking to engage Iran diplomatically. The United States, Russia, China, France, Germany and Britain said in April they would invite Iran to a meeting to try and find a diplomatic solution to the nuclear row. The West accuses Iran of secretly developing atomic weapons. Iran, the world's fifth-largest oil exporter, denies the charge and says it only wants nuclear power to generate electricity. Breaking with past U.S. policy of shunning direct talks with Iran, Obama's administration last month said it would join nuclear discussions with Tehran from now on. Ahmadinejad proposed a debate with Obama at the United Nations in New York "regarding the roots of world problems" but he made clear Tehran would not bow to pressure on the nuclear issue.

Towns and cities across the northern Indian state of Punjab were under strict curfew Tuesday after riots sparked by the shooting of a guru in a clash between rival Sikh communities in Austria. Army and police patrols enforced orders that shops, offices and schools would remain closed following the violence in which angry mobs torched trains, smashed bus windows and blocked roads. The protesters were demonstrating against the murder of Sant Rama Nand, who was killed by fellow Sikhs in a temple in the Austrian capital of Vienna as he addressed 200 worshippers on Sunday. Restrictions would remain in place across Punjab, the home to the majority of the world's Sikhs, as "the situation is still tense," a police spokesman told AFP. Two men died in Monday's rioting and Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, himself a Sikh, issued an appeal for calm.

The death toll from a cyclone that slammed into Bangladesh and east India rose to at least 60 as emergency relief supplies were rushed to affected villages, officials said. Cyclone Aila triggered a tidal surge of four metres (13 feet) when it made landfall on Monday, leaving at least 25 people dead in Bangladesh and 35 dead in India. Most of the casualties in Bangladesh were reported to be children who had drowned. Some 330,000 people were marooned and military and civil defence teams were helping to deliver food, water and emergency shelters, the government in Dhaka said. "The situation is very grim. These people are homeless. Their homes have been destroyed," area chief Kazi Atiur Rahman told AFP via telephone from the coastal district of Khulna district, close to the border with India. "We've lost at least 50,000 bamboo and mud-built houses which have been washed away by tidal water." Rahman said the tidal surge of sea water meant demand for fresh drinking supplies was urgent.