Santiago - Chilean conservatives won a majority of mayoral seats in weekend elections, narrowly beating the ruling centre-left coalition for the first time since 1990.

Right-wing mayoral candidates won in the key municipalities of Santiago, Valparaiso, Vina del Mar, Temuco, Concepcion, Iquique, Rancagua, Talca and Punta Arenas.

The Alliance for Chile won 40 per cent of the total mayoral votes to 38 per cent for the ruling coalition, which did manage to keep the overall lead in seats on municipal councils by a margin of 45 to 36 per cent.

President Michelle Bachelet acknowledged the mixed results as a wakeup call for the coalition.

Wana, Oct 27: At least 20 persons were killed in South Waziristan last night when suspected US spy drones fired missiles into an alleged militant compound in the tribal area bordering Afghanistan.

Though there was no official confirmation of the strike either from the Pakistani military or from the US-led coalition in Afghanistan, the air strike was the latest in a string of attacks on Pakistani soil that have raised tensions between Islamabad and Washington. South Waziristan is a known hub of Al-Qaeda and Taliban activity.

Taipei - Taiwan's benchmark s

Manila - The Philippine Stock Exchange halted trading near the end of the trading day Monday after share prices fell more than 10 per cent.

Trading was stopped when the 30-share composite index fell 10.03 per cent, triggering an automatic break that was instituted last month amid volatility in the market.

The suspension was called 37 minutes before the end of Monday's session at noon (0400 GMT). Trading resumed 10 minutes later with the main index continuing to fall, closing 239.66 points, or 12.27 per cent, lower at 1,713.83.

Taipei - A Taiwan delegation flew to China Monday to hold preparatory talks on the upcoming Taipei-Beijing dialogue aimed at expanding exchanges across the Taiwan Strait.

The 11-member delegation is led by Kao Kung-lien, vice chairman of the Straits Exchange Association. The talks will be held Monday afternoon in Shenzhen, south China.

The talks would pave the way for the November 3 formal dialogue between Taipei and Beijing to discuss expanding exchanges as proposed by President Ma Ying-jeou.

China negotiator Chen Yunlin will be the highest-ranking Chinese official to visit Taiwan since 1949, when Taiwan and China split at the end of the Chinese Civil War.

Bangkok - December's summit of the Association of South-East Asian Nations (ASEAN) has been moved from Bangkok to Chiang Mai to avoid ongoing anti-government protests in the capital, media and ministerial sources said Monday.

Thai Prime Minister Somchai Wongsawat announced the shift over the weekend during a visit to Chiang Mai, Thailand's second-largest city, located 550 kilometres north of Bangkok, the Bangkok Post said.

The change in venue, however, has yet to be confirmed with Thailand's fellow ASEAN members: Brunei, Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, the Philippines, Singapore and Vietnam.

"It's 90-per-cent certain, but this will have to be ruled on soon," Thai Foreign Ministry spokesman Tharit Charungvat said.