11.   Muslim extremists kidnapped nine villagers attending a birthday party in a southern Philippine island province but then freed three of them to relay ransom demands, police said Sunday.

12.   Residents of Isabela, capital of the island province Basilan where the hostages are being held, said the city was filled with soldiers Friday.

13.   Suspected Muslim extremists have beheaded three men they abducted and accused of being military spies in a southern Philippine island province, police said Monday.

14.   The rebels, who control many areas of the island province, have been blamed for a series of violent attacks on Christian settlers in recent years.

15.   The rebels control many areas in the island province.

16.   The storm hit the freighter on Monday at Basuo, a port of the southern island province, the state-run Xinhua News Agency reported.

17.   Hainan, a freewheeling tropical island province, is widely reputed to be buck central control from Beijing.

18.   The potentially lucrative Panguna mine lies idle, however, after a bloody nine-year conflict between government troops and secessionist rebels in the Bougainville island province.

19.   The prime minister has said the hired guns were taken on to train PNG forces to battle secessionists in the mineral-rich island province.

20.   The US has indicated that it opposes any use of force by Beijing to reclaim the island province, however.