BALI BOMBINGS: The US and Australia were hoping for a stiff sentence to send the world a clear message on terrorism; Indonesian courts however will be sticking to their decision
Indonesia yesterday defended its record on fighting terrorism after the US and Australia criticized the two-and-a-half-year sentence given to the alleged spiritual leader of an al-Qaida-linked terror group as too lenient.

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North Korea yesterday made the unprecedented move of postponing its annual session of parliament, due to start next week, amid rising tensions over its nuclear-weapons program.

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Cellphones aren't ringing these days in this Himalayan nation: Small businessmen can't take orders, children can't phone their parents and political activists can't call around to organize a decent-sized protest.

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SETBACK: Hong Kong's democracy activists won't miss the territory's former executive, but they will be concerned about what Beijing may do when it sets about replacing him
China is likely to give the successor of Hong Kong Chief Executive Tung Chee-hwa (董建華) a two-year trial period before making a permanent appointment for the full five-year term, press reports said yesterday.

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ABUSE: The largest criminal trial in France's history is charging 66 men and women with rape and pimping their children, aged between 6 months and 12 years
A pedophile case involving 66 adults accused of abusing 45 children opened in the historic city of Angers on Thursday in what the news media are calling the largest criminal proceeding in French history.

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REDUCE THE DEATH TOLL: An article published in a British medical journal criticizes developing nations for not taking enough steps to save the world's children
A recent article in a medical journal criticizes developing nations for not taking action to save the youngest and most defenseless people in the world -- newborns

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Four officers of the Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP) were killed while investigating an illegal marijuana farm, in what is the worst single case of police deaths in Canada in 120 years.

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HOBBIT-SIZED HEAD: A computerized study of the skull indicates that its brain can be considered different enough from other hominids to qualify as a new human species
Scientists have confirmed that the diminutive creature dubbed the hobbit discovered on the remote Indonesian island of Flores was most likely a new species of human.

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BACKTRACKING: The rise in forced prostitution, forced labor and human trafficking has made life for many women worse now than a decade ago, a UN report says
A new report by women in 150 countries concludes that many women all over the world are worse off today than they were 10 years ago and accuses governments of failing to keep their pledge to achieve equality of the sexes.

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Under intense global pressure, the US dropped its demand that a new UN declaration on women's equality make clear that there is no international right to abortion.

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Demands for a Syrian troop pullout from Lebanon, which have grown ever louder since the assassination of five-time former premier Rafiq Hariri last month, are sparking a mounting patriotic backlash at home.

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■ New Zealand
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