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■ Philippines
Candidate survives shooting
A mayoralty candidate in the southern Philippines survived a gun attack but a man with him was killed when armed men opened fire on them after they attended a campaign rally, officials said yesterday. Francis Suan of Sapang Dalaga town, some 840km south of the capital, was declared out of danger by doctors. The other victim of the shooting, Benjohn Yusop, died on the spot. Colonel Renoir Pascua, spokesman for the southern command, said Suan and Yusop, who sustained gunshot wounds to his chest, were on their way home from a rally when gunmen attacked them in Ventural village. The suspects were forced to flee when they were fired upon. Police said they could not yet ascertain the motive, but hinted politics could have been the reason.

■ Indonesia
Landslide slams bus
A rain-triggered landslide smashed into a bus on Indonesia's Sumatra island, killing at least 37 passengers and leaving 6 others buried under tonnes of mud, officials said yesterday. Scores of rescue workers were digging with spades and hoes to try to unearth survivors from the bus, which was almost covered by the landslide, said police Sergeant Satria Dinata. The bus was hit late Friday during a rainstorm, Dinata said, adding that 14 survivors had been injured. The accident occurred about 1,400km northwest of the capital, Jakarta.

■ Vietnam
Men sentenced to death
Two Vietnamese men convicted of murder have been sentenced to death, state media and officials said yesterday, bringing to at least 32 the number of people sentenced to the death penalty in Vietnam this year. A court in Dong Nai province sentenced Phan Thanh Nhan, 21, to death on Tuesday after he was convicted of killing his pregnant lover in October last year. Nhan, who had wanted to end the relationship, cut the woman's throat and then tried to burn her body, a newspaper said. He was arrested four days later. Nguyen Quoc Tuan, 26, was sentenced to death in southern Ca Mau province last week for killing his wife's brother after a family dispute, a court official said.

■ Hong Kong
Croc hunt back in the cards
The hunt for Hong Kong's elusive stray crocodile could resume next month, a Chinese reptile expert said. The croc -- first spotted in a swampy creek last November -- went into hibernation during Hong Kong's cold winter months. "The weather has become warmer ... the croc will appear more often, and it's the best time to capture it,'' He Zhanzhao (何展釗) was quoted as saying yesterday in the Wen Wei Po newspaper. He said he would try to capture the croc in the middle of next month, after giving up his hunt in December. The croc became a celebrity in Hong Kong last year after it avoided local officials' efforts to snare it with tranquilizer guns and traps baited with chicken.

■ Malaysia
Robber nabbed
A Colombian national believed to be part of the gang that fled with 1 million ringgit (US$263,158 dollars) after tricking guards at a bank has been arrested, police said yesterday. A group of some 20 Colombians made off with a bag containing the cash after they tricked three armed guards who were transporting the money from a bank at Kuala Lumpur's Petronas Twin Towers. The guards had stooped to pick up a wad of bills dropped by one of the Colombians, leaving the bag unattended. The suspect, aged 28, was arrested shortly after the incident, police said.

■ United Kingdom
Identity cards to be tested
Thousands of Britons will carry identity cards for the first time since the 1950s next week in a a trial that is seen as central to countering the threat of terror attacks, the BBC reported yesterday. The pilot will involve 10,000 volunteers and could pave the way for compulsory identity cards for everyone in Britain within a decade, BBC TV said. Home Secretary David Blunkett's office would only say he would announce details of draft laws for the launch of an identity card scheme tomorrow.

■ Tajikistan
Russian guard in drug bust
A Russian border guard has been arrested in Tajikistan with 8kg of heroin, police said yesterday. "Artyem Kovalyev, 24, was stopped in the west of the Tajik capital Dushanbe," a spokesperson for the interior ministry said. "Traffic police found several plastic bags with heroin in his car." Police suspect that Kovalyev intended to sell the heroin. Some 11,000 Russian soldiers help patrol Tajikistan's 1,340km border with Afghanistan. Last year two Russian soldiers received 18-year prison sentences after they were found guilty of possession of 19kg of heroin.

■ United States
Kerry defends abortion
Democratic presidential candidate John Kerry vowed on Friday to champion abortion rights if elected, even as the Vatican signaled its disapproval of the position of the senator, who is a Roman Catholic. Addressing hundreds of abortion rights supporters at a rally, Kerry attacked US President George W. Bush for trying to pack the courts with what the Massachusetts senator described as ideologically motivated judges who would try to undermine abortion rights. "I believe that in the year 2004, we deserve a president who understands that a stronger America is where women's rights are just that -- rights, not political weapons to be used by politicians of this nation," Kerry said.

■ Iraq
Troop request likely
The top US commander in the Middle East suggested he was likely to ask for another extension to current troop levels in Iraq, now at 135,000, and might ask for more troops beyond that, the New York Times reported yesterday. The newspaper said Central Command head General John Abizaid had made clear in an interview that the security situation was liable to worsen as the June 30 deadline for handing over sovereignty to Iraq approached. The general cited the likelihood of new insurgent attacks against US troops and expressed doubt about the current reliability of Iraqi security forces, the report said.

■ United States
Where's the roast beef?
A couple on a low-carb diet were kicked out of a buffet restaurant after the manager said they'd eaten too much roast beef. Sui Amaama who with his wife had been on the Atkins Diet for two weeks, was asked to leave after he went up to the buffet at the Chuck-A-Rama in suburban Taylorsville, Utah, for his 12th slice of roast beef. "It's so embarrassing actually," said Isabelle Leota, Amaama's wife. "We went in to have dinner, we were under the impression Chuck-A-Rama was an all-you-can-eat establishment." Not so, said Jack Johanson, the restaurant chain's district manager. "We've never claimed to be an all-you-can-eat establishment. Our understanding is a buffet is just a style of eating," he said.

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