World News: Two civilians die as Islamist militants attack police posts

Islamist militants attacked police posts in Pakistan's northwest and killed two civilians active in an anti-Taliban militia, challenging a security establishment straining under a national flooding disaster.

A group of militants first killed two members of a militia in the Adezai area of Peshawar as they headed to pray at a mosque late on Tuesday, said Liaqat Ali Khan, Peshawar police chief.

In the hours after, dozens of militants from the Khyber tribal region, which lies near Peshawar and along the Afghan border, attacked police posts in the Sarband area of Peshawar. The two sides exchanged fire for about an hour before the militants retreated to Khyber.

He said several militants were killed, but there were no police casualties.

The clashes suggest Islamist insurgents are not abandoning their campaign against the state despite the flooding.

Tens of thousands of villages are under water, and officials fear more flooding could happen. Some 1,500 people have died.

Last week the U.N. appealed for $459 million for relief efforts and has received 40 percent of that so far.

Jean's presidential bid on hold

Hip hop artist Wyclef Jean's Haiti presidential bid was in limbo today after the country's electoral commission said it was postponing its ruling on who will be allowed to run for office in November.

A statement from the commission said it would be postponed until Friday.

Judge extends vandal's term

A Singapore judge has rejected an appeal by a Swiss graffiti vandal to lower his five-month jail term and instead added two months to the sentence.

Justice V K Rajah ruled Wednesday that Oliver Fricker's initial sentence of two months for trespassing was insufficient.

Dingo death case revisited

Australian authorities are to revisit the 30-year-old dingo baby case after an emotional plea from the woman wrongly convicted of murdering her daughter.

Lindy Chamberlain-Creighton wants her daughter's death certificate to now state that a dingo was responsible for taking nine-week-old Azaria in 1980.

She published an open letter on her website yesterday - the 30th anniversary of the child's disappearance.

Forest fires hit Greek islands

Firefighters are battling a series of forest blazes on three Greek islands and the mainland.

The blazes started yesterday on Zakynthos, Kephallonia and Lefkada, and near the village of Zilefto in central Greece. No inhabited areas were under threat.

35 killed as bus plunges off mountain

A packed passenger bus plunged off a Philippine mountain road into a 100ft ravine today, killing 35 people.

About eight other passengers, including a 10-year-old boy, were pulled alive from the twisted wreckage, said police chief Wilben Mayor of Benguet province, north of Manila.

Mr Mayor said most of the victims were crushed to death while others were hurled out as the bus tumbled down.