LIBERAL PARLIAMENT: Voters snubbed the Grand National Party over its impeachment of President Roh Moo-hyun and instead cast ballots for the Uri Party
South Korea's pro-government Uri Party won an overall majority in parliamentary polls here yesterday in a stunning victory for impeached President Roh Moo-hyun, according to partial returns.

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US Vice President Dick Cheney voiced fears yesterday that North Korea will provide nuclear technology to terrorist groups like al-Qaeda, and warned of a nuclear arms race in Asia if it is not stopped.

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An angry China warned Canada it was fanning separatism and making a "drastic departure" in policy after Prime Minister Paul Martin agreed to meet Tibet's spiritual leader the Dalai Lama.

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BEIJING'S MENTALITY: People seeking to appeal cases of injustice have traditionally traveled to the capital to seek redress - now the door is being shut in their faces
Wang Huanmei, 62, holds up color pictures of her dead son lying in a coffin dressed in a Western suit, sleeves rolled up showing long, purple bruises on both forearms, and one eye blackened.

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As thousands of Hong Kong people clamor for full democracy, the territory's leader will make a recommendation to Beijing on whether ordinary voters should have more say in who governs them, officials said yesterday.

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NEW RISKS: The lawlessness in Iraq deteriorated further as an Iranian diplomat was killed and an Italian civilian hostage executed, though three Japanese were released
Three Japanese hostages were freed yesterday, but the murders of an Iranian diplomat and an Italian captive sent chilling proof of the risks foreigners face in Iraq, where rebels are battling the US-led occupation.

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THIRD TERM: The anti-apartheid party defied murmurings of discontent, and there was confidence it could secure a two-thirds majority, allowing it to amend the Constitution
The African National Congress (ANC) steamed towards victory in South Africa's election yesterday, with declared results showing it on course for its biggest win since it toppled apartheid 10 years ago.

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Tens of thousands of Turkish Cypriots rallied in favor of a UN plan for the reunification of the island Wednesday while the largest Greek Cypriot political party voted to reject the proposal if the April 24 referendums on it are not postponed.

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The CIA intelligence-gathering flaws exposed by the Sept. 11 terror attacks will take five years to correct, agency Director George Tenet said. The chairman of the commission investigating the 2001 hijackings called that time frame frightening.

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Russia appeared on Wednesday to spell an end to the Kyoto protocol when President Vladimir Putin's top adviser on the controversial emissions treaty denounced the restrictions it would impose on the country's economy.

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'KILLING MACHINES': The Lord's Resistance Army kidnaps, brutalizes or murders thousands of children every year, but no one with real influence seems to care
The UN Security Council condemned the Lord's Resistance Army in Uganda for committing "appalling atrocities" and a top UN official accused the rebel group of turning thousands of children into "killing machines."

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For years, Colonel Siatilo Ngizo was a soldier in Congo's eastern battlefields, serving in a rebel army that tried -- and failed -- to seize Kinshasa, the capital.

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Chimpanzees have demonstrated yet another close similarity to their human cousins. Young female chimps learn skills earlier, spend more time studying and tend to do better than young male chimpanzees -- at least when it comes to catching termites.

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HITTING THE SAUCE: According to researchers, people who consume 100 drinks a month pay for it in damage to their balance, intelligence and memory
Heavy social drinkers show a pattern of brain damage similar to that seen in hospitalized alcoholics -- enough to impair day-to-day functioning, US researchers said on Wednesday.

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Firing nuclear waste into the sun, placing it in Antarctic ice sheets so it sinks by its own heat to the bedrock, or putting it under Earth's crust so it is sucked to the molten core. These are three of the 14 options the government's advisers are considering to get rid of the UK's troublesome nuclear waste legacy.

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■ Bangladesh
Tornadoes kill at least 48
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