From Washington,this is VOA News.

A suicide bomber and group of gunmen have attacked Yemen's Defense Ministry compound in Sanaa, leaving at least 20 people dead.

Officials say the bomber struck first, followed by the gunmen who engaged in a firefight with security forces.

The Defense Ministry said in a statement that most of the gunmen had been killed and that the situation was under control.

There was no immediate claim of responsibility.

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U.S. Vice President Joe Biden says that while Washington's relationship with Beijing is complex and the two countries have real differences, conflict is not inevitable. Biden made his those remarks Thursday on the last day of his stopover in Beijing on a three-nation tour to Asia.

William Ide reports.

Vice President Biden's trip to Asia this week has been overshadowed by concerns about China's recent establishment of an air defense identification zone over the East China Sea.

The zone was one of several key issues Biden discussed in more than five hours of meetings Wednesday with China's President Xi Jinping.

Prior to that meeting,  he touched on it during an address Thursday to a group of business leaders in Beijing.

“China's recent and sudden announcement of the establishment of a new air defense identification zone has, to state the obvious, caused significant apprehension in the region. ."

The vice president added that while the relationship is complex.Conflict with China is not inevitable.

Ide,Beijing.

Thailand's revered monarch called on the Thai people to "support each other for the sake of the country," during his annual birthday address to the nation.

King Bhumibol Adulyadej, who turns 86 Thursday, spoke as opposition protesters paused their efforts aimed at overthrowing the government.

The king, who was released from the hospital earlier this year after a four-year stay, spoke slowly as he read his address at his seaside palace in Hua Hin.

Heavy fighting is reported in the capital of the Central African Republic.
 
The initial accounts from Bangui said at least several people were killed Thursday in clashes in three parts of the city.
 
Interim CAR president Michel Djotodia's spokesman accused supporters of former president Francois Bozize of launching attacks. 

Meanwhile the U.N. Security Council is scheduled to vote Thursday on a resolution allowing African countries and France to send more troops to the CAR.
 
The resolution would authorize the African Union-led force to restore security and for French troops to "take all necessary measures" to support them.

U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry says Israeli security tops the Obama administration's agenda in international efforts to limit Iran's nuclear program.

Kerry said Thursday after meeting with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in Jerusalem that the United States will do everything in its power to ensure Iran's ability to create nuclear weapons is "terminated."  He said both the U.S. and Israel agree on the goal of a long-term, comprehensive agreement with Iran.

Mr. Netanyahu repeated his opposition to the interim agreement struck with Iran last month.

Three former Ukrainian presidents have endorsed ongoing anti-government demonstrations in Kyiv aimed at ousting President Viktor Yanukovych.

Wednesday's joint statement by the three former Ukrainian heads of state -- Leonid Kravchuk, Leonid Kuchma and Viktor Yushchenko.

Earlier Wednesday, as protests roiled in Ukrainian cities, Ukrainian Prime Minister Mykola Azarov warned protesters they could face criminal charges.

New satellite photos and witness testimony released by a top human rights group are revealing the extent of North Korea's system of prison camps.

Amnesty International's report Thursday detailed rape, murder and forced labor that allegedly takes place at the gulags, where as many as 200,000 people are held.

One of the camps covers 560 square kilometers, making it nearly the size of the South Korean capital, Seoul.

Amnesty says it has shared its evidence of the prison camps with the United Nations Commission of Inquiry, which is looking into human rights abuses in the North.