71.   Pamintuan said Digitel was awaiting the approval of an application to serve areas outside its present service area such as the central Visayas and the southern Mindanao region.

72.   Police began pulling back from a confrontation with Muslim militants Sunday following a confrontation outside a village in the southern Russian region of Dagestan that left one policeman dead.

73.   Police had not released any information about the incident, which reportedly occurred in the southern Niger Delta region near the city of Port Harcourt.

74.   Over the last few weeks, the government said it had ousted rebels from their main bases in the southern region of Pool.

75.   Other raids in France took place in Lyon, and several southern regions.

76.   Other raids took place in several southern French regions.

77.   Pastrana and Marulanda met for nearly eight hours Thursday in a village in the humid southern region of cleared jungle and cattle pastures.

78.   President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo hailed the negotiations as a major breakthrough in her efforts to end decades of fighting that has blighted the impoverished southern region of Mindanao.

79.   Peace talks with Islamic rebels collapsed last year after Estrada ordered a massive military campaign that captured many rebel camps in southern Mindanao region.

80.   Prime Minister Tony Blair urged people living in the southern Afghan regions still controlled by the Taliban to rebel against the embattled regime.