Asia A huge earthquake off northwest Indonesia killed at least 400 people, and possibly several thousand, and triggered tsunami warnings which caused panic across the Indian Ocean. US As the life of brain-damaged Terri Schiavo hung by a thread, her father feared doctors might hasten her death with morphine, while her husband requested an autopsy after his 41-year-old wife dies to prove the extent of her incapacitation. Iraq At least 18 people were wounded by a car bomb targeting a Kurdish official in the divided northern oil city of Kirkuk as Iraq's new parliament was set to elect a speaker amid tight security. Lebanon Lebanon's pro-Syrian prime minister-designate Omar Karameh plans to stand down because of his failure to form a national unity government, his advisor said. Angola Angola's war-ravaged country's skeletal medical staff grappled with the worst outbreak of the Ebola-like Marburg virus which has claimed a record toll. Libya A Libyan court began hearing an appeal by five Bulgarian nurses and a Palestinian doctor who face the death penalty for allegedly infecting children with the AIDS virus. Vietnam Vietnam paid homage to the communist forces who seized this central port city 30 years ago, hastening the collapse of the American-backed South Vietnamese regime. UN The Asia-Pacific region has accounted for four out of every five global victims of natural disasters for the past century and remains highly vulnerable to them, a UN report said. China China has applied to the United Nations to make giant pandas' natural habitat in southwestern Sichuan province a world heritage area to help protect the endangered species, state press reported.