World Highlights

O About 100 elite Philippine troops briefly defied the government and its emergency rule yesterday, calling for public support after the Marine commander was removed over an alleged plot to oust President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo. The Marines returned to barracks peacefully after staging a show of support for their sacked chief, in full battle gear and with three armoured personnel carriers, at their base in Manila.

O Cabinet minister Portia Simpson Miller is set to become Jamaica's first woman Prime Minister after being elected president of the nation's ruling political party. Simpson Miller, 60, beat a field of three others to become leader of the 68-year-old People's National Party in an emotionally charged election among 3,808 party delegates on Saturday evening.

O Buddhist monks and nuns of the "Dharma Army" led 30,000 Thais in a mass rally against embattled Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra yesterday as opposition parties failed to agree on a joint boycott of snap elections. "Give our country back" and "Ethics first" the protesters chanted against Mr Thaksin, a former telecoms tycoon accused of undermining the checks and balances of the Constitution and tailoring policy to suit his family's business.

O Bangladesh Prime Minister Begum Khaleda Zia said yesterday her government was bringing Islamist militants to justice in the wake of bomb attacks that have killed at least 30 people including two judges and wounded 150. Police in Bangladesh have detained around 900 suspects since last August following the attacks blamed on Islamic militants.

O Thousands of Islamists rallied in southern Pakistan yesterday against cartoons depicting the Prophet Mohammad, but police quickly snuffed out a protest in Lahore, where two people died in earlier unrest. Police fired tear gas to disperse around 100 young Islamists as they tried to defy a government ban on rallies in the eastern city. Up to 70 protesters were detained.