IMPORTANCE: While not directly mentioning China, Australia said it wanted the US' stealth fighter to ensure air superiority over its northern neighbors
US Secretary of Defense Robert Gates said yesterday he would look into F-22 fighters for Australia but made no promises to lobby the US Congress to lift a ban on foreign sales of the most advanced US fighter.

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Three people were killed in an apparent suicide attack in Sri Lanka's restive east yesterday while security forces threw a blanket of security over the capital to prevent new attacks, officials said.

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The party of Pakistan's slain former prime minister Benazir Bhutto said yesterday it could woo President Pervez Musharraf's allies to join a coalition government that could drive the former general from power.

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AND THEY'RE OFF: In an attempt to keep the National Front from winning a two-thirds majority, the opposition has teamed up to field just one candidate in each constituency
Malaysia's ruling coalition won six parliamentary seats unopposed yesterday as it formally began campaigning to clinch a two-thirds majority in general elections to be held next month.

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A Japanese businessman has been arrested on suspicion of murder more than a quarter-century after an infamous downtown shooting that left his wife dead and sparked an international furor, police said.

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When Samak Sundaravej became Thailand's prime minister on Feb. 6, pundits wondered how long it would take the right-wing firebrand to put his foot in his month.

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UNCLEAR: Tehran said it would take action if the UN applies sanctions after the latest atomic watchdog report could not determine if Iran's nuclear program is peaceful
Iran yesterday warned it would hit back with an appropriate response to new UN Security Council sanctions over its contested nuclear program, as Western powers stepped up efforts to punish Tehran.

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Former president Janez Drnovsek, who helped lead Slovenia to independence from Yugoslavia and later enthralled many of his countrymen by adopting a New Age lifestyle, died on Saturday, his office said. He was 57.

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Armenian President Robert Kocharian accused the opposition of trying to seize power on Saturday as tens of thousands protested for a fourth day demanding a presidential election be overturned.

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Alex Salmond, the head of Scotland's government, has spent his political life fighting for independence from London but says he bears no ill-will towards the "auld enemy," the English.

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ALL THINGS TO ALL PEOPLE: Some say the proposed pledge can help foster social cohesion. Others say it places too much emphasis on the nation's apartheid past
A draft loyalty pledge has plunged South Africa into a new identity crisis as it mulls its common values 14 years after discarding apartheid to forge a united society under a single flag.

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'SHAME ON YOU': Polls released this week have suggested Obama and Clinton are in a dead-heat in Texas, which holds key Democratic nominating contests on March 4
The US presidential race turned more aggressive yesterday after Senator Hillary Clinton launched a scathing attack on Democratic rival Senator Barack Obama in a bid to restore her front-runner status.

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Canada's spy agency has made new allegations against a Montreal man who has been accused of being an al-Qaeda sleeper agent, saying he once discussed commandeering a commercial aircraft and had applied to work for Air Canada.

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CONTROVERSY: Both of the Democratic presidential hopefuls have said that increased patrols and improved surveillance methods would be a better solution than the fence
If it can be smuggled or dumped across the US-Mexico border, Ray Loop has probably seen it turn up on his South Texas farm: Bags of dope, Chinese immigrants, dead bodies, you name it.

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Colombian guerrillas vowed on Saturday to hold three US hostages for "60 years in a jungle prison," because a US court sentenced a fellow rebel to a similar term in their kidnapping five years ago.

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AMNESTY DAY: Tighter restrictions usually mean more animals are let go into the wild, which can be difficult for home pets and harm others as well
With alternately tearful goodbyes and barely contained impatience, more than 100 South Floridians surrendered their exotic animals on Saturday at a zoo event designed to give owners an alternative to simply turning them loose.

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■ PHILIPPINES
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