RP legislator handed over to U.S. officials: A wealthy Filipino

RP legislator handed over to U.S. officials: A wealthy Filipino legislator was handed over to American officials on Thursday who will escort him to the United States to face charges that he made illegal campaign contributions to the Democratic Party and former President Bill Clinton. Manila Rep. Mark Jimenez, 55, arrived in a 40-car convoy to the Manila airport VIP lounge, where two U.S. marshals took him into custody, immigration officials said. --AP

Thailand checking some Muslims for militant links: Some Muslims in southern Thailand are being investigated for possible links with the militant Jamaah Islamiyah (JI) network, which is suspected of being behind the Bali bombings, a top Thai security official said on Thursday. The JI group, which wants to set up an Islamic state across a swathe of Southeast Asia, is seen by some experts as the regional wing of Osama bin Laden's al-Qaeda network. --Reuters

Israeli troops kill 6 in West Bank: Israeli troops shot dead six Palestinians in raids across the West Bank and swept back into Bethlehem to reimpose a curfew on Thursday, ending a brief Christmas respite from occupation. The flurry of military operations drew vows of revenge from militant groups, aggravating tensions. In Bethlehem, troops fired teargas at Palestinians shopping near the town center, ordering them by loudspeakers to return home, and resumed patrols in front of the Church of the Nativity, which Christians revere as Jesus's birthplace. -- Reuters

Twelve slain in ambush in RP: At least 12 Filipinos were killed and nine wounded in an ambush in the southern Philippine island of Mindanao on Thursday by suspected Muslim guerrillas, military officials said. Security guards and employees of Toronto Ventures Inc., a mining company, were riding aboard a light truck when they were attacked in Siocon town, Zamboanga del Norte province, military spokesman Lt. Col. Daniel Lucero said. Three guards and nine mining company employees were killed and at least nine other people were wounded, Lucero said. -- AFP

S'pore stresses rights over disputed island: Singapore said on Thursday it has exercised sovereign rights for "more than 150 years" over an islet claimed by Malaysia. Singapore foreign ministry denied it has carried out new construction on the tiny rocky outcrop where it maintains a lighthouse. Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad said on Thursday that Malaysia was unlikely to send warships to defend its claim to the tiny island of Batu Putih -- Singapore called Pedra Branca-- but the government won't back down from the dispute either. --Agencies

Iran bans death penalty by stoning: Iran has abolished stoning as a form of capital punishment, an Iranian newspaper reported on Thursday, in an apparent bid to ease European Union human rights concerns ahead of a possible breakthrough trade agreement. Under Iran's strict Islamic law, in place since the 1979 Islamic revolution, men and women convicted of adultery are normally sentenced to death by stoning. --Reuters