CLEAR THREATS: Prime Minister Gordon Brown's government has made fighting the Taliban a priority because of the impact it will have in combating terrorism and drugs
As Britain winds down its efforts in Iraq, London is pouring more soldiers and aid money into Afghanistan to fight a resurgent Taliban and booming drug trade it says pose a direct threat to the nation.

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The leaders of China, Russia and four Central Asian states touted their growing military and political strength yesterday in a firm challenge to US attempts at gaining influence in the strategic region.

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ANTI-TERROR PLANS: The government said arrests would soon be made in the bomb plot, while a senior US official held talks on fighting militants in tribal areas
Pakistan's security forces said yesterday that they had thwarted suicide attacks on independence day celebrations as a senior US official discussed the urgent terrorism threat with the country's leaders.

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Former Pakistani prime minister Benazir Bhutto urged the country's military leader to fulfill promises he made about upcoming elections by the end of the month, when her party will consider whether to enter a political alliance that would restore democracy.

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SMALL BEGINNINGS: The San Luca feud erupted in 1991 after members of one of the 'ndranghetga clans threw eggs toward members of the other during Carnival
The unprecedented settling of scores in Germany between rival clans of Italy's 'ndrangheta crime syndicate shows how the group's small-town business and vendettas have gone global, analysts and Italian officials said.

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More than 1,200 years ago hordes of bloodthirsty Viking raiders descended on Ireland, pillaging monasteries and massacring the inhabitants. On Wednesday, one of their more mild-mannered descendants stepped ashore to apologize.

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MISSILE FUROR: The experts said one Russian aircraft entered Georgian airspace three times, but they did not say anything about the dropped missile
Georgian officials said on Wednesday that international military experts have determined that a single plane that entered Georgian air space last week and dropped a missile came from Russian air space.

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REVOLUTIONARY: The Venezuelan president called for an end to term limits, a six-hour work day and the power to appropriate military regions for defense purposes
Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez outlined a proposed overhaul to the Constitution on Wednesday night that would allow him to remain in power indefinitely through perpetual re-elections, an intensification of his efforts to assert greater state control over political and economic institutions.

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GRIM READING: There was a significant relationship between suicide attempts and number of days deployed in Iraq, Afghanistan or nearby countries according to a report
US Army soldiers committed suicide last year at the highest rate in 26 years, and more than one-fourth did so while serving in Iraq and Afghanistan, according to a new military report.

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PRECAUTION: This is the second time in three shuttle missions that a glove has been damaged, which engineers believe is caused by sharp station edges or wear-and-tear
An astronaut's ripped glove forced an early end to a spacewalk and added to NASA's headaches as shuttle managers put off a decision on whether to order risky spacewalk repairs for a deep gouge on Endeavour's belly.

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An amateur meteorologist in Canada has embarrassed NASA scientists into admitting that some of the data they used to show significant recent increases in global warming is flawed.

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The death toll from four suicide truck bomb attacks in northern Iraq has risen to 400, a top official said yesterday, making it by far the deadliest attack since the fall of former Iraqi president Saddam Hussein four years ago.

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■ JAPAN
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