TROPICAL TALKS: Leaders from eight Muslim nations met in Bali for trade talks yesterday, with the Iranian president seeking support for Tehran's nuclear program
The standoff over Iran's nuclear ambitions overshadowed trade talks opening on Bali yesterday between leaders of Muslim-majority countries, with snipers on rooftops, anti-terror squads patrolling the resort and security posts on the beach.

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Pakistan's former army chief says Iranian officials came to him for advice on heading off an attack on their nuclear facilities, and he in effect advised them to take a hostage -- Israel.

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DEADLY WEATHER: Tropical storm Chanchu has spread havoc across the Philippines over the last two days, sinking ships, triggering landslides and causing major flooding
Tropical storm Chanchu finished its swipe across the central Philippines yesterday, leaving at least 25 dead and four missing, blowing a ferry full of passengers aground and forcing Southeast Asian trade ministers to shift their annual retreat from a resort island to the capital.

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Nepal's communist rebel chief issued a roadmap yesterday for peace that seeks the release of political prisoners, the dissolution of parliament and the Constitution and the restructuring of the national army.

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NO PEACE: Major General Ulf Henricsson yesterday said that Sri Lanka is in the midst of a low intensity war, as a soldier was shot dead by a suspected Tamil rebel gunman
Sri Lanka's military and the island's Tamil Tiger rebels are locked in a low intensity war despite a ceasefire that still technically holds on paper, the head of Nordic truce monitors said yesterday.

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A Chinese man who tried to register an independent environmental group is to go on trial next week on charges of stealing state secrets, an overseas human rights group said yesterday.

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An Afghan driver and a doctor with a German-based relief group were killed when a UNICEF vehicle came under rocket fire in Afghanistan, the UN body said yesterday, in the latest attack on humanitarian workers in the troubled nation.

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AID: The UK-based NGO criticized the US and Japan for their `miniscule' contributions to relief efforts in a country where 1,200 people a day die from conflict-related causes
Developed nations are turning a blind eye to the humanitarian crisis in the Democratic Republic of Congo and have committed "nothing or almost nothing" to the relief effort there, Oxfam said yesterday.

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EXPLOSIVE: Probes into the July 7 bombings revealed communication failures between different services and that MI5 had known about the intentions of one of the attackers
The full extent of the intelligence failures which allowed the July 7 bombers to strike emerged on Friday in the wake of publication of two reports into the terror attacks. A pattern of disagreements and failures of communication between law enforcement agencies is laid bare within sections of the reports, which examine the events surrounding the bombings which claimed 52 lives.

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Zimbabwe's annual inflation rate soared above 1,000 percent on Friday, highlighting the country's economic and political crisis.

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The world should be more worried about nuclear weapons falling into the hands of terrorists than about Iran's nuclear program, the head of the UN's nuclear watchdog agency said on Friday.

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INTERNAL STRIFE: With Kurdish and Shiite soldiers involved in armed confrontation, hopes for a new Iraqi army that could take over the nation's security appeared dim
An armed confrontation between two Iraqi army units left one soldier and one civilian dead, raising questions about the US-trained force's ability to maintain control at a time when sectarian and ethnic tensions are running high.

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POPULAR NAMES: Emily was the favored name for baby girls for the 10th year running, while the Biblical Jacob has been the top pick for boys since 1999
When kids born last year head to kindergarten in a few years, a lot of them will be raising their hands when the teacher calls out "Emily" or "Jacob." In states bordering Mexico, it will be hard to miss Jose, Angel and Mia.

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TOUGH TALK: Media reports said Bush would lay out his comprehensive proposal for stricter enforcement of immigration measures along the US-Mexico border
US President George W. Bush, in a nationally televised speech tomorrow, is expected to propose tougher immigration enforcement measures along US-Mexico border, including the use of additional troops, US media reported on Friday.

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■ Japan
Mad cow discovered
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