TOUGHER TONE: Japan, the US and South Korea prepared for upcoming six-country negotiations, with the latter shifting toward a stricter position
Nuclear envoys engaged in a flurry of shuttle diplomacy yesterday, cobbling together a united strategy for upcoming talks aimed at convincing North Korea to drop its atomic weapons program.

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STATUS QUO: Although the resumed negotiations between the neighboring states are a positive development, no landmark decisions were expected to be announced
Indian and Pakistani officials were wrapping up their latest round of peace talks yesterday, which have focused on terrorism and Kashmir -- the two key issues that have fueled decades of hostility between the two nuclear-armed neighbors.

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LACK OF SUPPLIES: While organ transplants are big business in China, the majority of its own citizens waiting for transplants will not have their operations
Few of the 1.5 million people who need an organ transplant in China each year actually have the surgery, with only about 10,000 operations carried out annually, state media reported, citing a senior health official.

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A former Philippine senator and army colonel notorious for leading most of the country's coup attempts was arrested early yesterday on charges of involvement in a February plot.

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'RESEARCH' PROJECT: Environmental groups say whalers' claims they are gauging species' populations are a ploy to put meat on the market
A fleet of six Japanese whalers left port yesterday for their annual hunt in the Antarctic, where they are hoping to kill 860 whales in a controversial research program.

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A Hong Kong property tycoon and his wife have reportedly paid 125,000 euros (US$160,406) for a huge white truffle, which may be the most expensive of its kind ever purchased.

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RETALIATION: One woman was killed and a man injured as the armed wing of Hamas launched an attack it said was revenge for the deaths of 19 Palestinians killed last week
An Israeli woman died of wounds sustained yesterday morning in a Palestinian rocket attack on the southern town of Sderot, a hospital official said.

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DEADLY RAINS: Southern Somalia and northern Kenya have experienced torrential rains causing thousands of refugees to leave their temporary homes and camps
Floods caused by torrential rain in parts of southern Somalia have killed more than 23 people and displaced thousands over the past five days, aid workers and residents said on Tuesday.

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REAFFIRMATION: The ANC moved to slap down calls for the former deputy president's reinstatement following a judge's denial that he called him corrupt
South Africa's ruling African National Congress (ANC) on Tuesday reaffirmed its support for President Thabo Mbeki's sacking of his deputy, Jacob Zuma, following a denial by a judge that he had ever branded the veteran Zulu politician as corrupt.

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Fishermen who rake giant nets across the ocean floor to maximize their catch are destroying unique and unexplored ecological systems, according to the summary of a UN draft environmental report made public yesterday.

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The EU is hosting a three-day conference that started yesterday aimed at persuading African leaders, business and aid groups to embrace its policy of providing billions of dollars in more aid to poor African countries on condition they speed up political and economic reforms.

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TIME FOR CHANGE: From Iraq to the economy, Americans want change and Harry Reid intends to deliver on that request by actively working with President Bush
Senate Democrats decided on Tuesday to keep their top leaders in place when they take control of the chamber in January, electing Harry Reid as the new Senate majority leader.

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Mexico's Congress was swayed by a seven-year-old boy on a mission to save his mom.

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BEATEN AND INSULTED: The Iraqi minister of higher education warned that the country's universities were at risk, while speculation on police complicity abounded
Most of the dozens of hostages seized at a Higher Education Ministry building on Tuesday have been freed, the government said yesterday, adding that two remained captive.

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Environmental experts are sharply criticizing the Brazilian government for failing to assess the impact of two dams proposed for construction in the Amazon rain forest, as regulators on Tuesday announced new public hearings on the projects.

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A small bone that scientists had initially ignored has begun to yield secrets of the Neanderthal genome, launching a new way to learn about the stocky and muscular relative of modern humans, scientists say.

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■ Hong Kong
Father busted for child abuse
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