STRAIGHT SHOOTER: Australia's new military prosecutor has slammed the US' treatment of terrorism suspect David Hicks as 'abominable'
Australia's chief military prosecutor labeled US treatment of the country's sole Guantanamo Bay detainee David Hicks "abominable" in an interview published yesterday.

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ON THE GUARD: Officials said that security at bus and train stations as well as airports was tightened as hundreds of thousands came back to their homes
Sniffer dogs and extra security forces patrolled transport hubs across Thailand yesterday as hundreds of thousands of residents flooded back into Bangkok despite fears of a repeat of the deadly New Year bombings.

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South Korea's minister in charge of reconciliation with the North said yesterday that security on the divided peninsula would not improve until the issue of poverty in North Korea was addressed.

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Nearly 70 million Hindus are expected to take a dip in frigid temperatures at the confluence of three major rivers in north India as part of a weeks-long religious pilgrimage aimed at washing away earthly sins.

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DIFFERING STORIES: The Sri Lankan air force confirmed that it had carried out air raids on LTTE territory, but said that an area known to be a Sea Tiger base was the target of the bombings
At least 15 civilians were killed and dozens more wounded yesterday when Sri Lankan air force jets "carpet-bombed" Tamil Tiger-held territory in the north of the island, according to a pro-rebel Web site.

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MOPPING-UP OPERATIONS: Government forces and Ethiopian troops are harrying retreating SICC fighters, while Kenya sealed its border to prevent refugees crossing
Somalia's victorious government set up gun collection points in Mogadishu yesterday at the start of a drive to disarm one of the world's most dangerous cities after the defeat of a six-month rule by Islamists.

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President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva pledged to use his second term to fuel economic growth, while improving social programs aimed at easing the huge gap between Brazil's rich elite and its poor masses.

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Newly inaugurated state Governor Sergio Cabral said on Monday he wanted Brazil's government to send federal troops to Rio de Janeiro immediately to help fight gang violence following attacks last week that left people 19 dead.

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Thousands of Muslims circled the Kaaba stone yesterday before bidding farewell to Mecca while others stoned pillars representing Satan in nearby Mina as the hajj pilgrimage drew to a close.

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France's governing party was scheduled to start a Web-based primary yesterday, a first in a presidential campaign where the Internet has acquired unprecedented importance.

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ADDING FUEL: A video shot moments before the Iraqi dictator was hanged could exacerbate sectarian anger in a country that has been torn apart by a great divide
The Iraqi government launched an inquiry on Monday into how guards filmed and taunted former Iraqi president Saddam Hussein on the gallows, turning his execution into a TV spectacle that has enflamed sectarian anger.

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Former US president Gerald Ford left his beloved US Capitol for the last time yesterday as the period set aside for ordinary Americans to say goodbye to him gave way to an elaborate invitation-only funeral at the Washington National Cathedral.

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ERODING THE WALLS: Press freedom organizations fear that the participation of reporters in the Libby case could have a negative impact on press independence
Some journalists who made careers out of questioning government officials and bearing witness to history may soon find themselves answering questions from prosecutors as key witnesses in a CIA leak case.

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Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad said yesterday that Iran would press ahead with its nuclear plans and that a UN resolution imposing sanctions on Iran was "invalid."

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Darlene Bishop, a tele-evangelist with a nationwide following, does not do things by half. When she and her husband Lawrence erected a statue of Jesus on the grounds of their mega church in Monroe, Ohio, they made it 19m high.

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■ Australia
Steve Irwin has his Way
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