Money laundering: An international agency set up to combat money

Money laundering: An international agency set up to combat money laundering said on Tuesday it had suspended plans for sanctions against the Philippines following the emergency adoption of a bill to crack down on "dirty money".

Horta for independence: East Timor is progressing towards independence, its Foreign Minister Jose Ramos Horta said Tuesday. "In 2000, there was a level of frustration; people felt nothing was moving," Ramos Horta told reporters, judging the territory was two years from independence. "I said, 'we have been waiting for 500 years; we should not mind five more.'"

Car thief on the rise: The international police organization Interpol said on Tuesday there had been a worldwide surge in car theft, with one vehicle being stolen every 10 seconds.