HEAVY LOSSES: The army lost 25 soldiers in two separate clashes with extremists on Jolo on Thursday, the largest number of casualties in a single day in recent years
The Philippine army deployed 120 more soldiers to reinforce troops battling al-Qaeda-linked militants on southern Jolo island where 57 people were killed in clashes this week, a military spokesman said yesterday.

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South Asia's annual monsoon often seems like a calamity of Old Testament proportions -- people are drowned in raging flood waters, crushed by collapsing buildings, wasted by plagues and struck down by snakes.

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AIR STRIKE: Cobra helicopters killed three suspected militants, pounding what was believed to be their base after a fight in Mir Ali of North Waziristan, the military said
Pakistani helicopter gunships launched new assaults yesterday on al-Qaeda and Taliban hideouts in the mountainous northwest as President Pervez Musharraf prepared to address a peace summit in Kabul.

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Japan is set to develop its own next-generation stealth fighter jets to reduce its dependence on foreign technology and counter similar moves by China and Russia, a news report said yesterday.

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A lovelorn Australian bachelor's trip to find true love in the heart of Africa via the Internet turned into a nightmare of kidnap and extortion, a media report said yesterday.

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SKEPTICAL: Officials are meeting to see if a compromise can be reached on Kosovo independence, while experts say a settlement will eventually have to be imposed
A month after talks on the future of Kosovo foundered at the UN Security Council, envoys from the US, the EU and Russia began a three-day visit to the region on Friday in an attempt to kick-start a new round of negotiations.

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Jews and Catholics joined in homage, intoning a sacred Jewish prayer beneath the sculpted saints of Notre Dame Cathedral at the funeral of the Jewish-born Cardinal Jean-Marie Lustiger.

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RESURFACING: Portuguese media are updating stories on children who went missing a decade ago in the wake of the disappearance of four-year-old Madeleine McCann
The disappearance of a young British girl in southern Portugal 100 days ago has stirred up interest in other unsolved cases of missing children which had faded from the public's memory.

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Hamas militiamen detained 32 Fatah supporters across Gaza, half of them after breaking up a wedding and beating guests with clubs and chairs, Fatah officials and witnesses said yesterday. Ten people were hurt.

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Eight British and American Shiite Muslims who say they were detained and tortured by religious police during a pilgrimage to Saudi Arabia are calling for compensation and a full inquiry.

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THIN PICKINGS: Top Republican candidates such as Rudy Giuliani and John McCain decided to skip the vote, leaving the way clear for the former Massachusetts governor
Hard-charging Mitt Romney yesterday was tipped to cruise to a crushing victory as Republican activists cast the first votes in the race for president next year in an Iowa popularity contest.

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Through its history, the Mustang Ranch has played a key role in bringing legalized prostitution to the western state of Nevada and has been shut down by the US tax agency. It has been burned down, rebuilt and sold on eBay for the price of a small home.

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MISGIVINGS: The Security Council voted to widen its mission despite resistance from UN staffers concerned over continuing violence and security problems in Iraq
Under pressure from the US to take a bigger role in stabilizing Iraq, the UN agreed on Friday to expand its mission despite unrelenting violence that could complicate its work.

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US astronauts prepared early yesterday for the first spacewalk of the shuttle Endeavour mission following discovery of damage in the spacecraft's protective shield.

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New York City police increased security throughout Manhattan on Friday and at bridges and tunnels in response to what they called an "unverified radiological threat."

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A powerful roadside bomb yesterday killed the governor and police chief of a southern province that has seen fierce internal fighting between Shiite factions, officials said.

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■ MALAYSIA
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