Upcoming Tibetan New Year's celebrations appear poised to bring more bloodshed to the troubled Himalayan region, the head of Tibet's exile government said Tuesday, warning that China has sealed off the regions ahead of a crackdown.

Coat flying open, reins in hand, Kim Jong Il is depicted astride a galloping horse in a larger-than-life statue unveiled Tuesday as part of birthday celebrations for the late North Korean leader.

An Iranian man fleeing wounded from an explosion at a rented Bangkok house lobbed a grenade at police that rebounded and blew off one of his legs Tuesday in a series of blasts Israel said were an attempted terrorist attack by Iran.

The Maldives' national museum reopened Tuesday without some of its most valuable exhibits a week after a mob of suspected religious extremists smashed images from the pre-Islamic era of this Indian Ocean archipelago.

A newly assertive Supreme Court is taking on the Pakistani government and army in a series of high-profile cases, signaling a power shift in a country vital to U.S. efforts to fight Islamist militants and negotiate peace in Afghanistan.

Pakistan announced Tuesday that it has temporarily allowed NATO to ship perishable food to its troops in Afghanistan, a sign of thawing tensions following American airstrikes last year that accidentally killed 24 Pakistani soldiers.

An Iranian man carrying grenades blew off his own legs and wounded four civilians Tuesday after an earlier blast shook his house in Bangkok, Thai authorities said. The explosions came a day after an Israeli diplomatic car was bombed in India — an attack Israel blamed on Iran.

Pakistani defense minister says NATO temporarily allowed to ship food to Afghanistan.

Authorities in the Maldives on Tuesday asked former President Mohamed Nasheed to make a police statement on his controversial order to the military to arrest a top judge, a move that ended in his ouster from power last week. They say Nasheed has refused.

A Tibetan monk set himself on fire in western China and was beaten by security forces as they put out the flames, a rights group said, marking the latest in a series of dramatic protests against China's handling of its vast Tibetan areas.