Anxieties rose Monday hours before a risky operation to bring 33 miners back to the surface was to begin, ending a two-month nightmare for the men trapped deep in a Chilean mine.

The International Monetary Fund (IMF) on Wednesday upwardly revised its projection of world output to 4.8 percent this year, but warned downside risks remain elevated.

The UN food agency said 22 countries are facing enormous challenges like repeated food crises and an extremely high prevalence of hunger due to a combination of natural disasters, conflict and weak institutions.

 Thailand and Cambodia will hold talks on the disputed border area on the sidelines of the 17th Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) Summit in Hanoi late this month, said Thai Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva on October 5.

The Thai government has announced it will extend the state of emergency in Bangkok and three nearby provinces for another three months.

Recent heavy rainfall in Mexico's southeast state Tabasco has left at least 200,000 affected and caused tremendous property damage, authorities said Tuesday.

Japan's Prime Minister Naoto Kan and Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao met briefly on the margins of an Asia-Europe summit Monday and agreed "to improve ties", a Japanese spokesman told AFP.

 Singaporeans turned up in large numbers to pay their respects at the wake for Mrs Lee Kuan Yew, which was held at Sri Temasek Thousands of Singaporeans turned up at the wake of Madam Kwa Geok Choo, the late wife of Minister Mentor Lee Kuan Yew and mother of Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong, on Monday.

Thousands of environment experts were set to gather in China on Monday in a bid to kick-start stalled UN talks on climate change, amid warnings that time was running out to broker a deal.

Corruption and inflation could have an "adverse impact" on the stability of power in China, Premier Wen Jiabao warned in an interview on Sunday.

Three years after the onset of the global financial crisis, much has been done to reform the global financial system, but there is much left to accomplish, the International Monetary Fund (IMF) said on Sunday.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu urged Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas on October 3 to continue peace talks after Palestinian leaders called for a halt to the talks unless the Israelis stop settlement construction. 

The death toll from car bombs that exploded near a parade marking Nigeria's 50th anniversary of independence rose to 12 on October 2 and authorities admitted they has been warned of the attack.

Rescuers in Chile expect to reach the 33 trapped miners as early as mid-October -- sooner than previously expected.

A train collision in a town of Pemalang district of Central Java province early Saturday killed at least 33 people and seriously injured dozens others, a rescuer at Search and Rescue Office in the province said.