One dead in gas tank explosion: An explosion, believed to have

One dead in gas tank explosion: An explosion, believed to have
originated from a leaking gas tank, occurred at a house used as a
garment factory in Tambora, West Jakarta, on Monday afternoon,
killing one worker and injuring five others, a report said. El-
Shinta radio reported that the explosion occurred at the house
belonging to Frendly, who owns and runs the factory, on Jl. H.
Jamhari in Angke subdistrict.

Bush, Blair nominated for Nobel Prize: U.S. President George W.
Bush and British Prime Minister Tony Blair have been nominated
for the 2002 Nobel Peace Prize for fighting terrorism and
securing world peace, a Norwegian lawmaker announced on Monday.
Harald Tom Nesvik, a member of parliament from the right-wing
Party of Progress, said he has nominated the two leaders for the
coveted peace prize despite their role in ordering war in
Afghanistan. -- AP

Troops patrol volatile northern Nigeria areas: Truckloads of
soldiers patrolled northern Nigeria's biggest city of Kano on
Monday and police said they were on "red alert" to prevent ethnic
rioting in Lagos igniting reprisal killings there. Police said
they had also reinforced Jigawa state, which borders Kano, a
highly volatile city in a largely Muslim region and scene of
communal and religious mayhem that killed hundreds last
October.-- Reuters

Indian, Russian ministers discuss defense cooperation: Russia and
India on Monday discussed military cooperation and the
possibility of a trilateral interaction involving China on
important international issues, a foreign ministry official said.
Russian Foreign Minister Igor Ivanov, who arrived Sunday, met
with India's Defense Minister George Fernandes for a 30-minute
chat in the Indian capital on Monday. -- AP

Rights groups say demolitions of Palestinian homes violate
international law: Israel has demolished hundreds of Palestinian
homes and uprooted thousands of acres of crops in the past 16
months of hostilities in a "flagrant violation" of international
law, a human rights group said on Monday. In most of the cases in
the West Bank and Gaza Strip, residents were not warned to clear
their property before the bulldozers arrived and had to flee
their homes in the middle of the night, according to a report by
the Betselem organization. -- AP

Top NATO, Russian officials talk about fighting terrorism
together: Top NATO and Russian officials gathered in Rome on
Monday to talk about how they can increase cooperation in
fighting terrorism. The one-day conference builds on earlier
condemnations of terrorism and pledges to work together to fight
it. It also comes on the heels of a global security conference in
Germany. -- AP