SHARP DIVISIONS: The transfer of the national capital 160km to the south is supported by some as a boost to the regions and a sensible defense move, but others are not sure
The South Korean government confirmed on Wednesday that it is to create a new capital in what will be one of Asia's biggest-ever construction projects.

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A US Army sergeant accused of deserting to North Korea in 1965 and now hospitalized in Japan will soon move to a US airbase in Tokyo to begin talks on a plea bargain, a Japanese newspaper said yesterday.

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MAKESHIFT CARE: Bangladesh's worst flooding in years has eased but the destitute are now left with little clean water and a crippling surge in the incidence of diarrhea
Lying on a blue plastic sheet in a makeshift, crowded hospital ward, Riyadh Islam, 4, cries out for water.

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Australians who want to get away from it all go to Tasmania, an island state of Australia that lists carrots among its major exports.

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A raid on an Indian police post by Nepal's Maoist rebels and arrests of their comrades on Indian soil could be indications that a bloody revolt in that country could be spilling over.

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CONTROVERSIAL RULING: A UK appeals court says that evidence gathered through torture is admissible as long as British officials were not directly involved
British appeal court judges on Wednesday defied human rights campaigners by ruling that British courts could use evidence extracted under torture, as long as British agents were not complicit in the abuse.

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A passenger train in northwest Turkey ignored a stop signal and rammed into an oncoming train Wednesday, killing six people and injuring 85 others, officials said, in the nation's third deadly rail accident in as many weeks.

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GROWING TENSIONS: After the violence, the separatist region of South Ossetia issued an ultimatum to Georgia
At least three people were killed and several wounded Wednesday night in shooting in the Georgian separatist region of South Ossetia, Georgian local police told AFP by telephone.

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Iceland's capital experienced its hottest day on record Wednesday as temperatures in Reykjavik hit 24.8?C.

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MOUNTING THREAT: The test of Iran's Shahab-3 ballistic missile, which can reach Israel and US bases, comes amid growing worries in the West about Iran's nuclear program
Iran tested a ballistic missile to strengthen its defense in the face of threats by Israel amid a simmering row over Iran's nuclear ambitions, a senior Iranian security official said on Thursday.

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TWIN THREATS: Businesses in Jamaica came to a halt as Florida alerted 8,000 National Guard troops to prepare for Tropical Storm Bonnie and Hurricane Charley
Two separate storms charged through the Caribbean on Wednesday, one poised to strike the Florida Panhandle and the stronger Hurricane Charley drenching Jamaica with heavy rain.

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TAPED CONFESSION: Porter Gross, slated to be the next CIA director, said in `Fahrenheit 9/11' that he couldn't get the job due to his lack of qualifications
US Congressman Porter Goss, President George W. Bush's nominee for CIA director, could be his own worst enemy when it comes to making the case that he deserves to lead the US intelligence agency.

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REACH OUT AND TOUCH SOMEONE: In lonely New York, people looking for new ways to meet people are attending intimate gatherings where they can fondle strangers
It's not about sex and all about the touchy-feely experience of snuggling up to perfect strangers wearing pyjamas.

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Mexican opposition legislators are up in arms over the US Border Patrol's use of weapons firing plastic bullets filled with pepper powder against Mexican migrants as they cross the border illegally.

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HIGH MAINTENANCE: NASA is working on a US$1 billion mission to repair the renowned telescope, but scientists doubt the plan's feasibility
The US space agency NASA is drawing up plans to launch a US$1 billion rescue mission for the ailing Hubble space telescope, considered by many to be the most important telescope ever built.

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■ China
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