Two people have been arrested for a bombing that injured 12 foreigners in the Maldives, officials said, as the president of the Indian Ocean archipelago blamed dissidents for the attack.

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Tropical storm Lekima killed nine people and left another missing in the Philippines after unleashing landslides, floods and big waves, rescuers said yesterday.

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One of Bangladesh's richest men, his wife and three sons were sentenced in absentia yesterday to five years each in jail as part of a government anti-corruption drive, officials said.

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HOSTAGES FREED: The Taliban released four Red Cross employees who were abducted last Wednesday while trying to win the release of German engineer being held captive
Afghan President Hamid Karzai's office said yesterday that there is "serious debate" among some Taliban fighters about laying down arms, though a spokesman for the group said the insurgents will "never" negotiate with Afghan authorities until foreign troops leave.

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The Bangladesh High Court has granted bail to former prime minister Khaleda Zia, who was arrested earlier this month on corruption charges, her lawyer said yesterday.

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More than 110,000 people protested in Okinawa on Saturday against the central government's order to modify school textbooks which say the country's army forced civilians to commit mass suicide at the end of World War II.

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LASHING OUT?: Iraqi Foreign Minister Hoshyar Zebari accused Iran of closing border points as a reaction to the US arrest of an Iranian by the name of Mahmudi Farhadi
Iraq's foreign minister said late on Saturday that Iran is punishing the Kurdish region for something the Kurdish authorities were not responsible for -- the arrest of an Iranian official by the US military on Sept. 20.

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Fatah al-Islam's crushing defeat a month ago after a bloody showdown with the Lebanese army has forced other Sunni radical groups to go further underground, experts say.

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Plans to send Turkana Boy, a unique hominid skeleton, and other prehistoric jewels from Kenyan museums for exhibition in the US have sparked heated debate among Kenya's scientific community.

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PROMISES, PROMISES: Ukrainian President Viktor Yushchenko's failure to deliver promised reforms were expected to cost his party in yesterday's poll
Ukrainians began voting yesterday in an early parliamentary election meant to bring an end to a months-long political standoff between the nation's two feuding leaders.

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Egypt abruptly allowed about 100 Palestinians who had been stranded in Egypt since Hamas seized the Gaza Strip in mid-June to return home before dawn yesterday, witnesses said. Most were supporters of the Islamic militant Hamas or gunmen from other factions wanted by Israel, they said.

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At least 10 African Union (AU) troops have been killed and 50 reported missing from their base in Sudan's western Darfur region in the bloodiest attack on the peacekeeping force, the AU said yesterday.

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CHAIRMAN: The admiral, who graduated from the US Naval Academy and served in Vietnam, made it clear that he was doubtful there can be a military solution in Iraq
The US military completes a change at the top this week with the arrival of a pragmatic navy admiral to help steer it through the more than four year old war in Iraq.

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ISSUES: The former president and his superstar guests took questions from the audience, with Clinton asking each young person to be a ``citizen servant, a giver''
After getting hundreds of pledges to tackle the world's problems at his philanthropic summit this past week, former US president Bill Clinton did what any good host would: He threw a party.

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`MYTHS': President Rafael Correa, who was elected one year ago , says the Constituent Assembly will stem political instability despite several skeptics
Ecuadorans yesterday were to vote for an assembly tasked with rewriting the Constitution with opinion polls showing support for sweeping reforms proposed by leftist President Rafael Correa.

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Floodwaters from Hurricane Lorenzo were receding after rains caused mudslides and floods that killed at least five people and drove tens of thousands from their homes in eastern Mexico.

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