UNCERTAINTY: The Pakistani president has promised to quit as army chief if re-elected, but opponents argue he should have been disqualified from the Oct. 6 vote
Pakistan's top court heard challenges yesterday to the legality of the re-election of Pakistani President Pervez Musharraf, a day before former prime minister Benazir Bhutto returned from exile.

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His children wear headbands with Benazir Bhutto's picture, but Abdul Raziq has not come to pay any ordinary tribute to the former Pakistani prime minister -- he has doused them and himself in petrol.

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TRICKLE AWAY: : A bill would authorize support only for forces directly involved in the 'war on terror' for one year,but the opposition may seek further restrictions
The Japanese Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) approved a bill yesterday to scale back support for US-led forces in Afghanistan, but the move was unlikely to placate the opposition, which wants to end the mission entirely.

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A suspected Canadian pedophile who has become the focus of a global manhunt taught at at least two international schools in Asia. He was well liked at one; tossed out by the other.

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A Japanese man who brokered human transplant operations on the Internet has been arrested in China and charged with violating laws on organ trading, Chinese officials said on Tuesday.

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CASPIAN SEA SUMMIT: Tehran's press played up the differences between Moscow and other countries after the Russian leader warned against using force against Iran
Russian President Vladimir Putin left Iran late on Tuesday after a trip that saw him reinforce ties with the Islamic republic and distance himself from Western warnings over its nuclear program.

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Chad declared a 12-day state of emergency in three northern and eastern regions following ethnic clashes last week during which about 20 people have been killed, a government spokesman said.

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Irish writer Anne Enright won the Man Booker fiction prize for The Gathering, an uncompromising portrait of a troubled family that its author called the literary "equivalent of a Hollywood weepie."

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Appeals judges at the Yugoslav war crimes tribunal on Tuesday upheld the acquittal of a former Bosnian Muslim army commander over atrocities in the 1992 to 1995 Bosnian War.

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With eight wives and 67 children, Shahadeh Abu Arrar has given new meaning to the term "family man."

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French commuters face chaos today with a 24-hour strike expected to cripple the national network, shut down the opera in Paris and possibly affect the rugby World Cup final, officials said.

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PARIAH NO MORE: Earlier this month Washington said it would not campaign against the North African state's bid to become a non-permanent Security Council member
Burkina-Faso, Costa Rica, Croatia, Libya and Vietnam were elected non-permanent members of the UN Security Council on Tuesday for two years beginning Jan. 1.

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Canada's Conservative government said on Tuesday that Canada's military mission should be extended to at least 2011 but promised a vote on the issue -- in a speech the main opposition Liberal Party would likely support so they can avoid an election.

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The administration of US President George W. Bush has taken pains to keep a private meeting between Bush and the Dalai Lama from further infuriating China: no media access, not even a handout photo.

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The administration of US President George W. Bush partially sided with the Vatican in a lawsuit seeking class-action damages from the Roman Catholic Church and its headquarters for an alleged cover-up of priests sexually abusing children in the US.

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A ring of corrupt airline employees exploited weaknesses in security procedures to help a New York drug ring smuggle heroin and cocaine from the Dominican Republic via John F. Kennedy Airport, federal authorities charged.

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`VERY LETHAL': At least 25 died in a spate of bombings and shootings, despite stringent US-Iraqi military security measures
An explosives-laden sewage truck blew up near a police station, a car bomb struck an Iraqi army checkpoint and a roadside bomb killed seven police officers -- attacks that bore the hallmarks of al-Qaeda and showed that extremists can still hit hard despite recent gains by US-led forces.

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■ CHINA
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