Prime Minister Shinzo Abe compared current tensions between Japan and China to rivalry between Britain and Germany on the eve of World War One

Australia on Wednesday rejected claims by a group of asylum seekers that they were beaten and suffered burns while being returned to Indonesia by the Australian navy under a policy that has strained ties between the countries.

Finance Minister P Chidambaram admitted today that his party, the ruling Congress, is the underdog heading into the general elections due by May. He also admitted that the Congress-led UPA government has displayed "a certain lack of decisiveness."