COMBAT: The imminent departure of several European monitors from Sri Lanka shows the need for a UN human rights monitoring mission, Human Rights Watch said
Nine combatants were killed in the latest fighting between government soldiers and separatist Tamil Tigers in Sri Lanka's volatile north, the military said yesterday, just days after the country's 2002 ceasefire collapsed.

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Malaysian police have arrested a beauty parlor owner and a farmer suspected of distributing a sex video showing a former minister committing adultery, news reports said yesterday.

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STRONG WORDS: The International Crisis Group called on the US to use the Pakistani military to persuade President Pervez Musharraf to step down
Pakistan accused an international thinktank yesterday of "promoting sedition" for issuing a report urging President Pervez Musharraf to resign before parliamentary elections next month.

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CONDITION DETERIORATING: The 86-year-old former dictator received a steady flow of visitors, including his son Tommy, who apparently looked in on his father in secret
Former Indonesian dictator Suharto's condition was deteriorating after the 86-year-old was hospitalized in Jakarta, doctors said yesterday.

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Dozens of police and other officials in Brunei, a Malay Muslim absolute monarchy, shut down a New Year's party at the city's only internationally run hotel, its manager said yesterday.

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US first lady Laura Bush on Friday urged the world to condemn Myanmar's "shameful abuses" of human rights and urged the country's military rulers to free democracy icon Aung San Suu Kyi.

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Residents living near a mud volcano that has been spewing geiser-like eruptions of hot, black sludge since mid-2006 were forced to flee after heavy rain caused dams surrounding the disaster-zone to breach, an official said.

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Afghanistan could face serious food shortages in the coming months that could lead to a famine, Afghan Economy Minister Mohammad Amin Farhang told a German newspaper in an interview published on Friday.

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ACCEPTING HELP: While the violence had subsided and a curfew in Kisumu was lifted, 250,000 Kenyans still remained displaced following last week's chaos
Kenya's president is ready to form "a government of national unity" to help resolve disputed elections that caused deadly riots, a government statement said yesterday without explaining what such a power-sharing arrangement might involve.

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Returning to England's bleak midwinter after a new year sojourn in the warmth of north Africa is a gray enough prospect on its own. For Richard Shackleton, the homecoming will be doubly difficult.

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Sudanese officials have promised to cooperate with a team of four FBI agents sent to probe the fatal shooting of a US diplomat, and the US may send more investigators to assist, the State Department said.

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DEFUSING FRICTION: The prime minister's remarks came after new plans for construction infuriated Palestinians and disrupted US-backed peace talks
Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert, in an unprecedented public acknowledgment, called continued Israeli construction in West Bank settlements a breach of Israel's obligations under a recently revived peace plan.

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Malian officials seized 750kg of ingredients used to make cocaine, following a nine-hour gunbattle with the suspected drug traffickers, customs officials said on Friday. No injuries were reported.

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COMEBACK KID 2? : Hillary Clinton's task in New Hampshire was reflected by the Iowa entry polls, which showed that Barack Obama beat her among women and union workers
Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton were scheduled to clash face-to-face late yesterday for the first time since he won the first White House nominating contest and threw her campaign into turmoil.

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EARTH, WIND AND FIRE: Gusts of up to 130kph, driving rain and snow hit charred areas in Orange County, making mudslides and flooding a big concern
Howling winds, pelting rain and heavy snow pummeled California, toppling trees, flipping big rigs, cutting power to more than a million people and threatening mudslides in fire-scarred areas.

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Golden Globe-nominated actors are expected to snub the awards in support of striking Hollywood writers, the actors union said, jeopardizing one of the entertainment industry's signature showcases.

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Britney Spears was derailed yet again in her struggle to get her life back on track, losing custody of her two sons to ex-husband Kevin Federline after she was hauled off to a hospital for observation.

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Even the American Dialect Society knows how risky home mortgages are these days.

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■ CHINA

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