ARMS RACE: President Pervez Musharraf insisted the second test of a nuclear-capable missile in a week was meant to silence domestic critics rather than send signals abroad
Pakistan yesterday conducted a second test of a nuclear-capable ballistic missile in less than a week, but officials said it was not meant as a message to rival India's new government.

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A Japanese minister landed in hot water yesterday after saying a shocking school slaying by an 11-year-old girl was a sign that women have become more assertive in society.

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ECONOMIC EXCHANGES: The convoy brought a load of sand to South Korea, signifying its northern neighbor's willingness to open its borders to trade
A convoy of 15 South Korean dump trucks rumbled across the heavily fortified border yesterday, returning home with North Korean sand in a symbolic trip that raised hopes for breaching a Cold War frontier for the sake of trade.

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Australia's opposition Labor Party reaffirmed yesterday that it would pull the country's 850 troops out of Iraq "by Christmas" if it deposed Prime Minister John Howard's coalition government at an election to be called later this year.

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A US-based rights group denounced Australia yesterday, saying Canberra should be "ashamed" for allegedly robbing East Timor of much-needed oil and gas revenues from the disputed seabed between the two nations.

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SPECULATION: George Tenet's surprise departure has left observers asking what caused him to go, who will replace him and how bad things really are
With CIA Director George Tenet on the way out, US President George W. Bush's administration faces crucial questions over how to improve the US' intelligence gathering during a time of high terror threats and continued finger-pointing over past failures.

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Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez calmly welcomed news that he would likely face a recall referendum on his rule, saying those who accuse him of steering Venezuela into dictatorship have been proven wrong.

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VICIOUS: Eleven people are to go on trial after a civil war in which insurgents routinely used machetes to hack off the hands and feet of innocent civilians
Prosecutors opened the first UN-backed war-crimes trial on Thursday in the vicious 1991-2002 conflict in diamond-rich Sierra Leone, calling for "a just accounting for the agony of 10 long years."

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SHAKE-UP: The Israeli prime minister fired two ministers from the far-right National Union who are opposed to his plan to dismantle settlements
Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon sacked two hardline opponents of his Gaza pullout plan from his Cabinet yesterday, giving him a slim majority to pass the proposal, political sources said.

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STAYING SECURE: The Iraqi foreign minister said civil war could occur if US-led forces leave the country prematurely, but insisted on Iraq's 'full sovereignty'
Iraqi Foreign Minister Hoshyar Zebari said US-led forces are keeping his country from falling into chaos and must stay, but he joined key UN Security Council nations in insisting that a UN resolution ensure greater Iraqi control over its own security.

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Muqtada al-Sadr, the rebel cleric, has just finished his Friday sermon and his militiamen are securing the area around his car. One notices a woman, swathed in robe and head scarf. Everything but her face and hands are covered. Yet she is told to go stand in a corner, because the guards have to be alert and her "presence here confuses us."

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The transfer of sovereignty to Iraq's interim government on June 30 will include control of prisons and could lead to the handover of former president Saddam Hussein for trial by Iraqis, Britain's UN ambassador said.

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