Guerrillas will pay for killing cops, says Toledo
LIMA, Peru (AP): PRESIDENT Alejandro Toledo vowed Wednesday to stamp out remnants of the Shining Path guerrilla movement aligned with the cocaine trade after suspected rebels ambushed a police patrol in the central jungle, killing eight officers...

Economic boom leaves the poor behind in South Africa
JOHANNESBURG (Reuters): SAM KHUMALO works feverishly in the muggy heat, sifting through mounds of garbage for empty bottles and other materials for recycling as flocks of black-faced sacred ibis circle hungrily above.

Senate passes six-month extension of Patriot Act
WASHINGTON (AP): THE UNITED States of America Patriot Act, the country's top anti-terror law, may have a new lease on life. The Republican-controlled Senate on Wednesday approved a six-month extension of the law to keep it from expiring on December 31

EU threatens Microsoft with daily fines for non-compliance
BRUSSELS (Reuters): THE EUROPEAN Commission threatened United States software giant Microsoft with daily fines yesterday for failing to comply with antitrust sanctions a year after a top European Union court ruled it must obey.

Foreign Minister calls China a threat
TOKYO (Reuters): JAPANESE FOREIGN Minister Taro Aso said yesterday that China's military build-up was a threat, given its lack of transparency, triggering an angry retort from Beijing, which said his comments were "highly irresponsible".

Plans for merged police forces unveiled
LONDON (Reuters): PLANS TO merge four English police constabularies to form the second largest force in the country after London were unveiled yesterday. Last month, Home Secretary Charles Clarke announced proposals to cut the number of forces...

Journalist, writer fined for insulting state
ANKARA, Turkey (AP): AN ISTANBUL court yesterday separately fined an author and a journalist for insulting the state, the latest convictions under a law that EU officials say limits freedom of expression and must be changed.

After SARS, bird flu...Organic food takes root in Asia
TAIPEI, (Reuters): CUSTOMERS AT Huang Wen-liang's organic restaurant in Taipei, fall into three categories: people committed to living healthy, those who fear dying and the curious. Like most organic outlets across east Asia...