`AUTHORITARIAN RULE': In a surprising show of strength, demonstrators hit the streets in Nepal after the king lifted the three-month state of emergency
About ten thousand people marched through Nepal's capital yesterday, demanding the restoration of democracy in the biggest show of opposition strength since King Gyanendra seized absolute power three months ago.

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China has launched a new effort to prevent anti-Japanese violence before a sensitive anniversary, warning against protests and calling on the public to express patriotism sensibly.

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FEEBLE SECURITY: The US responds to criticism that its attacks are heavy-handed, while an anti-drug team was attacked during a mission to survey opium production
The US military said that its warplanes attacked a rebel camp in central Afghanistan, killing three civilians -- including a child -- as well as four suspected militants.

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Japan's Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi applauded Pakistan's efforts in the war against terrorism, but expressed concern to the Islamic nation's leader over nuclear proliferation, officials said.

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Container trucks and barbed wire blocked roads to the presidential palace yesterday as security forces were deployed amid fears that opponents of the Philippine leader could use Labor Day to destabilize her administration.

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Armed with stun guns and large nets, officials will be out on the streets of the Indian capital in their hundreds this week as the capital gets tough in its mission to eradicate stray cattle.

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UNREST: A delegation holding talks with Togo's leadership called for negotiations to end the violence, as the Red Cross meanwhile reported clashes outside the capital
Following several days of unrest that has left dozens of people dead, a senior delegation from a West African regional bloc with the two main political camps in Togo in an effort to resolve the tension gripping the country.

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STAND-OFF: Iran continues to say that its nuclear program is for peaceful purposes, but UN inspectors who have visited the country's facilities say they are suspicious
Across a landscape scattered with snow, we drove along silent roads, past pitted fields, until the first gun tower came into view.

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Former Polish president and Nobel peace prize winner Lech Walesa has claimed personal credit for averting a bloodbath during Ukraine's "orange revolution" last year.

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Gerry Adams bounded from the parking lot and walked a few blocks with his entourage, shaking hands, patting toddlers and, above all, radiating his staying power.

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EGYPT: An attack by two gun-wielding women and a suicide bomber was the second assault on foreigners in a month as militants go after the tourist industry
Two veiled women shot at a tour bus, and the fiance of one of the women blew himself up as he leaped off a bridge during a police chase Saturday, wounding seven people in the second strike on tourists in less than a month, part of an apparent revival of violence against Egypt's most vital industry.

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FRESH VIOLENCE: The third straight day of attacks left at least nine people dead, and were timed to disrupt the newly-formed Cabinet, Iraqi officials say
Insurgents launched a third straight day of stepped up attacks in Iraq on yesterday, including ambushes, car bombs and shootings, killing at least nine Iraqis and wounding 21, police said.

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MISTREATMENT: Terrorist suspects held at the US prison in Cuba were subjected to abuse and humiliation by guards, a yet-to-be released high-level report will say
A high-level military investigation into allegations of detainee abuse at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, has concluded that several prisoners were mistreated or humiliated, perhaps illegally, as a result of efforts to devise innovative methods to gain information, senior military and Pentagon officials said.

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Syria announced plans to restore diplomatic relations with Iraq more than two decades after ties were severed, boosting regional hopes for securing borders and signaling a willingness to change its policy toward the violence-torn country.

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■ South Korea
Ruling party loses elections
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