DIRE STRAITS: An aid agency said that the crisis is now so severe that even some officials in the capital city have not received rice rations, but the North has not asked for help
North Korea's chronic food shortage has worsened to affect even some of the country's elite citizens in Pyongyang, a South Korean aid group said yesterday.

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BID FOR FREEDOM: The Cambodian court rejected the appeal from `Brother No. 2,' who is accused of committing numerous crimes against humanity
Khmer Rouge leader Nuon Chea will remain in jail pending trial for war crimes allegedly committed during Cambodia's 1970s genocide, the country's UN-backed tribunal ruled yesterday.

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SUSPICIOUS? : The prime minister admitted that several of his overseas trips prior to coming to power had been paid for by a Chinese businessman
Australian Prime Minister Kevin Rudd came under fire yesterday for accepting free overseas trips while in opposition from a Chinese businessman with links to Macau casino magnate Stanley Ho (何鴻燊).

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Mieko Kawakami, a former bar hostess and bookstore clerk, was just another obscure singer until she started a blog.

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CHAOTIC REGIME: The Iraqi president said the US-led invasion ended Saddam's era of torture and tyranny, but brought with it the twin challenges of terrorism and corruption
The US-led war on Iraq that toppled the torturous regime of the late Saddam Hussein entered its sixth year yesterday, with millions of Iraqis still battling daily chaos and rampant bloodshed.

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Battered women in Denmark have a multitude of shelters to choose from, but men in need of a haven after divorce, losing their job or fleeing abusive wives have to elbow for room in just three brimming crisis centers.

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Seventeen people were killed in Kenya's Rift Valley region, where cattle rustling has fanned tribal animosity, bringing the toll to 25, police said on Thursday.

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ALLIANCE: While the US is a strong supporter of Georgia's aspirations to join NATO, it is expected to encounter resistance from some European states, including Germany
Georgian President Mikhail Saakashvili warned NATO countries not to appease Russia by rejecting his country's hopes to join the alliance.

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A civil rights group is challenging Israel's highly effective airport security practices, charging that they amount to racial profiling that singles out Arabs for tougher treatment.

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TOO LATE: All over the US, protesters targeted the IRS, companies close to the defense industry and recruiting stations with acts of disobedience
More than 200 people were arrested across the US on Wednesday as protesters marking the fifth anniversary of the US invasion of Iraq obstructed downtown traffic and tried to block access to government offices.

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With plans for new primaries in Florida and Michigan in limbo, Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton challenged Senator Barack Obama on Wednesday to accept at least a new contest in Michigan, arguing that he should match his "words with action" because a civil rights principle was at stake.

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Colombia's main rebel force denied claims that a laptop recovered in a raid that killed one of its top leaders proves it gets support from the leftist governments in Venezuela and Ecuador, reports said on Wednesday.

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DOUBLE STANDARDS? : Washington said Luis Posada Carriles cannot be extradited to face prosecution because the US suspects he would likely be tortured
Cuba and Venezuela on Wednesday clashed with the US during a UN Security Council debate on terrorism over the case of Luis Posada Carriles, a former CIA operative wanted for the 1976 downing of a Cuban airliner.

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In Los Angeles, a corporation that runs several small businesses is demonstrating that the training and discipline of working in a small company can make a big contribution to changing the lives of former gang members.

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■JAPAN