A stampede in the Cambodian capital has left more than 340 people dead and hundreds injured after panic erupted at a water festival that had attracted millions of revellers.

U.S. officials on Monday scrambled to calm the furor over invasive airport screening and pat-downs, trying to avoid boycotts ahead of the holiday season.

A senior U.S. envoy called Monday for a calm response to the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK)'s reported pursuit of a uranium enrichment program, adding the U.S. government knew of it beforehand.

With fears of a looming currency war, the G20 leaders agreed on a framework for balanced growth and a move towards market-determined exchange rates.

As many as 65 people were killed and around 120 others injured when a 15-year-old four-story building collapsed in East Delhi in the evening of November 15, said officials and police.

The Dominican Republic has detected its first case of cholera, following the outbreak of the disease in neighbouring Haiti last month.

Visiting Chinese Vice President Xi Jinping met here on Monday with Singapore Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong. Both leaders reaffirmed the close and cooperative relationship shared by Singapore and China.

German Chancellor Angela Merkel was reelected leader of the conservative party Christian Democratic Union (CDU) Monday, as she fought back criticisms on her disputed policies at a national congress of her party.

President Barack Obama faced fired-up Republican foes as the US Congress returned to work on Monday to face off on tax cuts, government spending and a landmark nuclear treaty with Russia.

 The death toll of a big fire that engulfed a high-rise building in downtown Shanghai had risen to 53 by 9:20 a.m. on November 16, local authorities said.

US President Barack Obama said Sunday the United States needed to "step up" its game to compete with fast developing Asia, as he returned to Washington after a 10-day trip to the region.

Villagers forced to flee when Indonesia's most active volcano erupted in a series of killer blasts trickled back home Sunday even as rescuers dug out more bodies from mountains of ash.

France's President Nicolas Sarkozy named Prime Minister Francois Fillon head of a new smaller and more right-wing government Sunday, setting the stage for his undeclared 2012 re-election bid.

Further global collective action focused on priority areas would raise growth, lower unemployment and reduce poverty, the International Monetary Fund ( IMF) said on Friday.

 France's cabinet has stepped down in preparation for a planned reshuffle by President Nicolas Sarkozy.