Prince Harry was launched into a new leading role in the royal family when he took centrestage at the Olympic closing ceremony. In his most important solo royal engagement yet, the third in line to the throne was selected as the figurehead for the spectacular farewell to the Games, which the Queen opened two weeks ago.

Negotiations are underway for cricket-mad sprint king Usain Bolt to play in Australia's Twenty20 Big Bash League, with Shane Warne leading the campaign to bring him to Melbourne.

Twin earthquakes that devastated rural villages in northwest Iran at the weekend killed a total of 306 people -- most of them women and children -- and injured 3,037, Health minister Marzieh Vahid Dastjerdi said on Monday.

Loans for motorcycles are a thing of the past at ICICI Bank. So are credit cards for anyone other than existing customers.

Fire officials in the South Korean capital say a large blaze at a construction site near a 600-year-old palace has killed at least four workers and injured about 20.

Philippine authorities warned on Monday an intensifying storm could bring more misery to the flood-battered capital and surrounding areas, where nearly half a million were in evacuation centres.

From the moment Kevin Pietersen walked out on South African cricket in protest at their selection policy it was clear the batsman's sublime skills would often be overshadowed by his penchant for emotional gestures generated by self-interest.

Egypt's new, civilian president dismissed Cairo's two top generals on Sunday and quashed a military order that had curbed Islamist Mohamed Mursi's powers, in a dramatic move to free himself of some of the restrictions of military rule.

Egyptian troops clashed with gunmen in the Sinai Peninsula early on Sunday, leaving three soldiers and six militants dead, as they pressed a drive to flush out armed Islamists, state television reported.

Arab foreign ministers postponed a planned meeting on the Syrian conflict that had been due to take place in Saudi Arabia later on Sunday, a top Arab League official said.