Were clothes on or off?

Atlanta Falcons star Tony Gonzales appears to be nude in the latest PETA anti-fur advertisement. -- PHOTO: AP

IF TONY Gonzalez and his wife October are wearing clothes in the new anti-fur advertisement from People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals, it must be visible only to them.

A day after the American media broke the news of the two appearing nude in the ad, the National Football League tight end said it is not entirely true. 'We had clothes on,' the Atlanta Falcons star told the Atlanta Journal Constitution.

Previously, athletes and celebrities, such as Eva Mendes, Pamela Anderson, Tommy Lee and Dennis Rodman, have dropped their clothes for the ad campaign.

Still, after Gonzalez's teammates saw the ad, the 33-year-old endured some old-fashioned locker room talk. Some of it concerned October, a stunning brunette.

Cornerback Chris Houston told CBSSports.com he is excited to see her. Another cornerback, Tye Hill, said: 'I'm sure he'll get some ripping for posing nude once everyone knows about it.'

But Gonzalez was not bothered. 'I'm OK with it,' he said. 'My wife is a pretty woman. She's like a flower. It's nice to be looked at.'

11 killed in Pakistan attack

PESHAWAR (Pakistan) - A SUICIDE bomber blew up his explosives-filled car on Saturday at a police checkpoint in the northwestern Pakistani city of Peshawar, killing at least 11 people, officials said.

In the second suicide strike to hit the troubled city in two days, the bomber detonated when police asked him to stop for a search, Peshawar district administration chief Sahibzada Anis told AFP.

The latest in a spate of devastating attacks comes as 30,000 troops press their most ambitious assault yet against Taliban militants in their mountain strongholds on the Afghan border.

At least 11 people have been killed and 26 others wounded,' Mr Anis told AFP, adding three women, three children and five men were killed in the blast.

Peshawar police chief Liaqat Ali Khan told AFP that two policemen were among the dead. Malik Jehangir, in charge of the checkpoint, told AFP policemen were checking vehicles when he saw a suspicious black car across the barrier and asked one of the policemen to go and check it.

'I saw that there was some argument between the driver and the policeman and suddenly a blast downed me with shrapnel piercing my shoulder,' he said.

Another witness, Akbar Ali, said he was riding a motorcycle and waiting in the queue at the checkpoint when he saw a scuffle between the bomber and the policeman. Seconds later a huge blast threw him to the ground. Television footage showed a massive plume of smoke above the Pushta Khara neighbourhood, on the outskirts of Peshawar, and the wreckage of several cars. -- AFP

3 dead in helicopter crash

RENO (Nevada) - A MEDICAL helicopter crashed early Saturday north of Reno near the Nevada-California state line, killing three crew members aboard, officials said.

The helicopter, an Aerospatiale AS350, crashed about 30 miles (50 kilometres) northwest of Reno in Lassen County, California, around 2 a.m. Saturday, according to Federal Aviation Administration spokesman Ian Gregor. All three people aboard were killed.

The helicopter had dropped off a patient at a Reno hospital and was returning to its base in Susanville, California, Gregor said.

The aircraft was destroyed in the crash and fire. The cause of the crash wasn't known.

Gregor said the pilot was not communicating with air traffic controllers at the time of the accident. FAA and National Transportation Safety Board investigators were heading to the scene on Saturday.

The helicopter was operated by Mountain Lifeflight out of Susanville, Gregor said. The company issued a brief statement confirming the loss of all three crew members aboard the helicopter. KOH Radio in Reno reported the patient was dropped off at Renown Medical Center in Reno. -- AP

Sweden returns 22 skulls

STOCKHOLM - WITH a solemn ceremony in Stockholm's antiquities museum, Sweden marked the return of 22 skulls looted from a native Hawaiian community more than a century ago.

The symbolic ceremony on Saturday - attended by guests from Hawaii and the Nordic countries' own indigenous Sami population - was part of Sweden's increased efforts to return indigenous remains collected by scientists across the world.

The Swedish government in 2005 ordered its museums to search through their collections, and has since returned more than 20 human remains, mainly to Australia. The Hawaiian skulls had been returned privately earlier on Saturday so that the Hawaiian delegates could perform a ritual according to traditional customs.

Museum director Lars Amreus said he hoped the return would help 'fulfill the spiritual circle' of those whose graves had been violated by the Swedish scientists. 'We know that they were collected, although by today's standards: they were looted,' Mr Amreus said.

Greeting Mr Amreus at the ceremony with the traditional nose-to-nose - or breath-of-life - greeting 'Ha,' Hawaiian delegation head William Aila thanked the Nordic country for helping to recover the remains of their ancestors.

'I cannot adequately express the thankfulness... for a very, very worthy endeavor, and that is to greet our ancestors and accompany them home,' Mr Aila said in a speech during the ceremony in the museum's round-walled 'Gold Room.' Five of the skulls were returned by the museum itself, while 17 came from Stockholm's medical university Karolinska Institutet. They were not on display during the ceremony. -- AP

Online users bombard Obama

BEIJING - THE state of Barack Obama's marriage and Tibet are just two of the topics raised in thousands of questions submitted by Chinese Internet users ahead of the US president's maiden visit to China.

The websites of the official Xinhua news agency and the People's Daily have for days been collecting questions for a planned meeting between Mr Obama and students in Shanghai on Monday where he also aims to address online users.

'The details of the Shanghai event are still being worked out. Netizens' questions were solicited by Xinhua.net and we expect the president to answer a few of them,' US embassy spokesman Susan Stevenson told AFP.

Many net users have taken up China's usual grievances against the United States - from protectionism to support of Taiwan and US stances on Xinjiang and Tibet - but it was impossible to verify the spontaneity of the questions. 'The United States has announced a series of anti-dumping measures towards China, which approved the Disney project in Shanghai - do you not think China is loyal to the United States, which has not respected China?' says one contributor.

'If China used the same methods towards (Al-Qaeda chief Osama) bin Laden that the United States use towards the Dalai Lama, what would be your impression?' asks another, referring to the exiled Tibetan spiritual leader.

'To protect American interests, you bring about redundancy for around 100 Chinese workers. Do you think that's normal?' asked a further questioner, reflecting Beijing's concerns over a rise in protectionism. -- AFP

News in pictures on Friday

A winter swimmer jumps into icy water at a park in Shenyang, Liaoning province early November 13, 2009. -- PHOTO: REUTERS


2- The historic Wonder Wheel stands at the Coney Island amusement park in the Brooklyn borough of New York City. After years of blight, city officials have agreed to purchase seven acres of real estate in Coney Island for around US$96 million (S$133 million) in order to expand and modernize the amusement area. -- PHOTO: AFP



3- Taiwanese authorities said they had slaughtered 9,000 ducks contaminated with the toxic chemical dioxin, but there were fears more had already been sold to consumers. All ducks at a farm in south Taiwan's Kaohsiung county were killed on November 10 after they were found to have up to five times the recommended maximum level of dioxin, the Council of Agriculture said. Initial investigations of soil around the duck farm indicated it may have been polluted by a nearby illegal furnace slag dump. -- PHOTO: AFP


4- Around 8,000 people live in the Mazraq refugee camp near the northwestern Yemeni near the Saudi border, after they fled battles raging between the army and Shi'ite rebels in northern Yemen for the past three months. -- PHOTO: REUTERS


5- At an estimated 175 billion barrels, Alberta's oil sands are the second largest oil reserve in the world behind Saudi Arabia, but they were largely neglected for years because of high extraction costs. Since 2000, skyrocketing crude oil prices and improved extraction methods have made exploitation more economical, and have lured several multinational oil companies to mine the sands. -- PHOTO: AFP



6- Lebanese environmental activists depict Lebanon's Prime Minister Saad al-Hariri (right) and Lebanese Christian opposition leader and head of the Free Patriotic Movement Michel Aoun (left) during an act that mimics the politicians' conversation. The League of Independent Activists (IndyACT) who organised this scene called on the new government to consider the creation of policies dealing with climate change as one of its priorities. -- PHOTO: AFP


7- A paramilitary policeman stands guard on Tiananmen Gate amid a snowfall in Beijing. Widespread snow across northern China on Monday evening paralysed traffic in many places and brought roads in the capital to a crawl. -- PHOTO: REUTERS


8- Fog is seen in the Feather River Canyon near Yankee Hill, Calif on Thursday. -- PHOTO: AP


9- Patients shout slogans and march during their morning exercise at the Kunming Municipal Compulsory Rehabilitation Centre in Kunming, Yunnan province, on Friday. -- PHOTO: REUTERS



10- Picture taken on Thursday showing an elderly Chinese man exercising at a snow covered park in Beijing. Heavy snows in northern China wreaked havoc for the third day running, killing at least eight people, stranding thousands of motorists and disrupting air travel, state media reported. -- PHOTO: AFP


11- Dancers from the 'U Theatre' perform their new works 'The Message' during a media event, on Friday, in Taipei, Taiwan. 'The Message,' a fable and performed by different disparity age of dancers, will be shown on Dec 4-6 in Taipei. -- PHOTO: AP


12- A file picture taken on May 26 shows a giant statue of Australian outlaw Ned Kelly at Glenrowan, the location of his final stand, 175kms north of Melbourne. Australian officials on Friday said they would carry out tests to check whether a skull handed in by a farmer belonged to the country's most infamous outlaw, bushranger Ned Kelly. -- PHOTO: AFP


13- 'Cigar' by artist Robert Gober is seen during a media preview of the exhibit 'Collection: MOCA's First Thirty Years' at The Geffen Contemporary at MOCA in Los Angeles on Thursday. -- PHOTO: REUTERS


14- Whitney Ayers from the animal rights group PETA, flashes a placard at passing motorists calling for former US vice president Al Gore to stop eating meat and go vegetarian for 30 days, outside the venue of his book-signing event in Beverly Hills on Thursday. -- PHOTO: AFP

Top general quits

General Sarath Fonseka's resignation comes amid growing media reports that he is planning to contest the next presidential election as an opposition candidate, challenging incumbent President Mahinda Rajapaksa. Gen. -- PHOTO: AFP

COLOMBO - SRI Lanka's top general, who led the battle to crush the Tamil Tiger rebels and ended the island's 30-year civil war, has resigned from his post, an official said on Thursday.

General Sarath Fonseka's resignation comes amid growing media reports that he is planning to contest the next presidential election as an opposition candidate, challenging incumbent President Mahinda Rajapaksa. Gen Fonseka has not confirmed the media reports.

An official from the president's office said his secretary received Gen Fonseka's resignation letter on Thursday. A source close to Gen Fonseka said he has sought approval to retire from the force effective Dec 1.

Both sources asked not to be named due to the sensitivity of the issue.

As army commander Gen Fonseka masterminded the battle against the Tamil rebels. Soon after the war's end in May, he was promoted to chief of defense staff, a largely ceremonial post.

The government announced last month that it would call early elections for president and parliament, aiming to take advantage of its popularity after crushing the rebels. Dates have not been set. -- AP

6 luxury trains for his use

Leader Kim Jong-Il (left) has six special luxury trains at his disposal for travel around North Korea plus 19 stations built for his exclusive use. --PHOTO: AFP

SEOUL - LEADER Kim Jong-Il has six special luxury trains at his disposal for travel around North Korea plus 19 stations built for his exclusive use, a South Korean newspaper reported on Monday.

The trains with a total of 90 carriages are armoured and contain conference rooms, an audience chamber and bedrooms, Chosun Ilbo newspaper said, citing information from US and South Korean intelligence authorities.

It was not possible to confirm the report. But Mr Kim is said to have a fear of flying and to prefer rail travel at home and abroad. He travelled by train on his last known trip to China in January 2006.

Satellite phone connections and flat-screen TVs are installed so the leader can be briefed and issue orders, the newspaper said. The special stations are no more than 30 kilometres (18 miles) from his private retreats, it added.

The train carrying the leader of the impoverished nation is preceded by an advance train to ensure the tracks are safe and followed by another one carrying bodyguards and support personnel, the newspaper said.

About 100 security agents are sent in advance to stations to sweep the area for bombs, and shut off the power on other tracks so that no other trains can move, the paper said. North Korean military planes and helicopters provide security support, it said. -- AFP

Leaders to mark Wall's fall

World leaders past and present on Monday gathered for the 20th anniversary of the fall of the Berlin Wall, with 100,000 people expected at celebrations to toast a free and united Europe. --PHOTO: AFP

BERLIN - WORLD leaders past and present will join German crowds on Monday to celebrate the 20th anniversary of the fall of the Berlin Wall - a stark symbol of the Cold War that divided a city and a continent.

Recollections of Nov 9, 1989 dominated German newspaper headlines at the weekend, and television stations ran programme after programme of documentary footage, eyewitness accounts and discussion panels about the event that changed the face of Europe.

Pivotal figures from the era that ushered in the collapse of communism in eastern Europe, such as ex-Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev and Lech Walesa, who led anti-communist protests in Poland at the head of the Solidarity trade union, will take part in commemorative events around the once-divided capital on Monday.

Joining them will be the leaders of the nations which occupied postwar Germany, apart from the United States, which will be represented by Secretary of State Hillary Clinton.

British Prime Minister Gordon Brown, French President Nicolas Sarkozy and Russian President Dmitry Medvedev are all due to attend the celebrations hosted by German Chancellor Angela Merkel, amid a series of bilateral meetings.

Thousands of tourists have poured into the capital to mark the event which hastened the reunification of Germany, the collapse of the Iron Curtain and the end of the Soviet Union. -- REUTERS

Sakai gets suspended term

Japanese pop star Noriko Sakai (left) was handed a suspended jail term of 18 months for illegal drug use as thousands gathered in a bid to witness the court's decision on Monday. --PHOTO: AP

TOKYO - JAPANESE pop star Noriko Sakai was handed a suspended jail term of 18 months for illegal drug use as thousands gathered in a bid to witness the court's decision on Monday.

The Tokyo District Court suspended the jail term for Sakai, 38, for three years, after which it will be dropped if she stays crime-free.

She had pleaded guilty to possessing and using unidentified illegal stimulants, and prosecutors had demanded 18 months in prison.

More than 3,000 people lined up for just 21 visitors' seats in the court, including loyal fans who spent the night in a park.

Sakai is a former teenage pop idol turned actress, known in the 1990s for her innocent girl-next-door image and later for her perfect mum persona.

She is also popular in China, Taiwan and South Korea. -- AFP

Asia opens to Obama tour

WASHINGTON - BARACK Obama this week heads to Asia for the first time as president, seeking to show the region and a rising China the United States is not in decline nor distracted by multiple crises elsewhere.

In a flurry of summits and snatched sightseeing, Mr Obama will leverage his personal popularity in a region where he spent childhood years, and which is now leading the world out of recession while the crippled US economy struggles.

Mr Obama will begin his tour in Japan, attend the APEC summit in Singapore, have a rare encounter with a Myanmar leader at a historic US-Asean meeting, pay his first visit to China and go to South Korea.

The president's top Asia policy aide Jeffrey Bader said the previous Bush administration saw relations with Asia mostly through a prism of its global anti-terror campaign - an approach Mr Obama will seek to change.

As a newly confident China expanded its regional clout, Washington's prestige suffered from the unsustainable spending and borrowing binge that triggered the worst economic crisis since the 1930s.

'These phenomena has persuaded many Asians that the US is overextended and distracted,' said Mr Bader, director of Asian Affairs on the National Security Council. 'I believe reports of America's demise, as they say, are considerably exaggerated and will look rather foolish in a few years.' -- AFP

Maoists launch huge protests

Nepal communist party Maoists take out a rally as they block district administration offices nationwide in Katmandu, Nepal. -- PHOTO: AP

KATMANDU (Nepal) - NEPAL'S communist former rebels protested outside government offices across the Himalayan nation on Thursday, blocking officials from entering and shutting down daily operations.

Nepal's government deployed thousands of police in riot gear Wednesday to guard district administration offices amid increased demonstrations by communists and their supporters.

There were no reports of any violence or clashes between demonstrators and police on Thursday, the Home Ministry said.

Protesters chanted slogans against President Ram Baran Yadav, whom they accuse of acting unconstitutionally after he rejected a decision by the previous Maoist-led government to fire the army chief.

The president's rejection prompted Maoist leader Pushpa Kamal Dahal to resign as prime minister in May and pull his party out of the coalition government. Since then, the communists have sought a reversal and a public apology from Yadav for what they call an unconstitutional move.

Thursday's protest by supporters of the Communist Party of Nepal (Maoist) stopped district officials and staff from entering their offices responsible for security and administration, effectively halting day-to-day government operations at the local level. -- AP

US base shooting, 12 dead

Fort Hood, is home to about 50,000 troops, although Hutchison said only about 35,000 were on base at this time. -- PHOTO: REUTERS

FORT HOOD (Texas) - A MILITARY mental health doctor facing deployment overseas opened fire at the Fort Hood Army base on Thursday, setting off on a rampage that killed 11 other people and left 31 wounded. Authorities killed the gunman, and the violence was believed to be the worst mass shooting in history at a US military base.

The shooting began around 1.30pm EDT (1530 GMT, 1.30am Singapore time), when shots were fired at the base's Soldier Readiness Center, where soldiers who are about to be deployed or who are returning undergo medical screening, said Lt Gen Bob Cone at Fort Hood.

A law enforcement official identified the shooting suspect as Army Major Nidal Malik Hasan, a psychiatrist at Walter Reed Army Medical Center for six years before being transferred to the Texas base in July. The official spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not authorised to discuss the case publicly.

Two other soldiers taken into custody following the deadly rampage were later released, the office of a Texas congressman said.

A spokesman for Rep John Carter says Fort Hood officials informed Carter's office of the release. Carter's congressional district includes the Army base. A Fort Hood spokesman could not confirm that the two had been released.

It was unclear what the motive was. US Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchison said the Army major was about to deploy overseas, though it was unclear if he was headed to Iraq or Afghanistan and when he was scheduled to leave. Ms Hutchison said she was told about the upcoming deployment by generals based at Fort Hood. -- AP

News in pictures on Wednesday

Bangladeshi postmaster Shafia Begum poses in her post office in the village of Kathal some 100kms north of Dhaka on October 25, 2009. Bangladesh has some 10,000 post offices spread across the largely rural nation, but Mobasherur Rahman, the director general of Bangladesh Post Office in Dhaka says many of them now get little post for months on end thanks to mobile phones. -- PHOTO: AFP



2- A labourer works at the construction site of Africa pavilion at the 2010 World Expo site in Shanghai, November 3, 2009. The fourth ministerial meeting of the Forum on China-Africa Cooperation (FOCAC) will be held in the Egyptian resort of Sharm el-Sheikh from November 8 to 9. -- PHOTO: REUTERS


3- A member of the Philadelphia 76ers 'Hare Raisers' grabs the ball to dunk in between periods of the Philadelphia 76ers versus the Boston Celtics NBA basketball game in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania November 3, 2009. -- PHOTO: REUTERS


4- Border Patrol Agent Adrian Corona looks over to Mexico from the US side of the international border near Calexico, California, adjacent to the Mexican border town of Mexicali, November 3, 2009. -- PHOTO: REUTERS


5- A voter grabs a sticker after voting in Augusta County, Va. on Tuesday November 3, 2009. Republicans wrested the Virginia governor's seat from Democrats on Tuesday. Republican Gov.-elect Bob McDonnell's victory in Virginia over Democrat R. Creigh Deeds was a triumph for a Republican Party looking to rebuild after being booted from power in national elections in 2006 and 2008. -- PHOTO: AP




6- US marines take a position during a joint landing exercise between the US and South Korea in the southeastern port city of Pohang on November 4, 2009. South Korea and the US staged a military landing exercise amid the heightened tension over North Korea's nuclear programme. North Korea announced on November 3, it has produced more plutonium for its atomic weapons programme, putting further pressure on the United States to start direct talks. -- PHOTO: AFP


7- Tourists are reflected in the window of a shop displaying shirts and pouches bearing an image US President Barack Obama's face imprinted over that of China's late leader Mao Zedong, in the popular tourist area of Houhai in central Beijing September 21, 2009. Obama, who will visit Shanghai and Beijing for the first time on Nov. 15-18, spent much of his childhood in Hawaii, five time zones away from Washington, D.C.; and beginning in 1967, when he was six years old, he lived in Jakarta for four years. Although U.S. President Barack Obama has never set foot there, China cast a long shadow in the Pacific region where he grew up. -- PHOTO: AFP

Man jailed for sexual assault

singapore - A WOMAN'S call to the police, to report a man walking around naked in the flat opposite hers, led to the uncovering of a string of sexual assaults on a 12-year-old boy.

The man, a 68-year-old freelance magician, who was teaching the boy magic, had talked the secondary school student into engaging in sex acts with him.

On Tuesday, the man was jailed six years for the offences in July and August last year.

The man, who is divorced with children, had pleaded guilty in May to four counts of sexual assault. Another 11 charges were taken into consideration.

The penalty for sexual assault is up to 20 years' jail and a fine or caning. Men above the age of 50 cannot be caned.

Trainer fined for molest

Wee was fined $4,000 on Tuesday after he was found guilty of molesting a woman. -- ST PHOTO: CAROLINE CHIA

A CORPORATE trainer was fined $4,000 on Tuesday after he was found guilty of molesting a woman.

Wee Chor Kian, 55, was convicted by District Judge Lee Poh Choo of caressing the buttocks of a 37-year-old business development manager at the auditorium of the Singapore Institute of Management on June 25 last year.

The incident took place during a photo-taking session at the Clementi campus before a talk was to be given. The woman was shocked and disturbed by what happened and told an SIM staff.

Another witness called by the prosecution not only saw Wee using his hand to touch the victim's buttocks but also saw how she had reacted angrily after the act.

Wee claimed in his defence that it was a frame-up or the brush was accidental.

He could have been jailed for up to two years and/or fined for outraging the woman's modesty.

10-year-old boy detained for torching Nagoya temple

NAGOYA —A 10-year-old boy was detained by police on Tuesday after he set Nagoya’s famous Saishoji temple alight, burning the building to cinders and injuring two women who were in the area at the time.

According to police, a local resident saw the boy inside a barrier at the temple watching the fire with a happy expression on his face. Police said the boy has admitted to lighting the fire himself. He was quoted as saying: “I wanted to see things burning.” There was no one inside the temple at the time of the fire.

The fire burned about 800 square meters around the temple, including part of a nearby nursery school, and took about seven hours to extinguish. Saishoji is located in the center of an area of small, winding roads, making it difficult for police to access the fire and temporarily putting nearby homes in danger.

Saishoji is a temple of the Otani sect of Shin Buddhism, and the temple building itself was constructed in 1487.

Polygamy club slammed

JAKARTA (Indonesia) - PLANS to open branches of a Malaysian 'Polygamy Club' in Indonesia have upset women's groups and religious leaders in the world's most populous Muslim nation, who say the search for multiple wives should be handled privately - not by a matchmaking service.

Under Islamic law, Muslim men are permitted four wives. The club claims a noble aim of helping single mothers, reformed prostitutes and women who feel they are past marrying age meet spouses. It also offers counselling to people facing problems in polygamous households.

The Malaysian owners say they want to 'change people's perception about polygamy, so that they will see it as a beautiful rather than abhorrent practice,' club chairman Hatijah Binti Am said as members from around 30 families attended a gathering in Bandung, west Java, for the opening of the first Indonesian branch last week.

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Polygamous relationships are believed to be gaining in popularity in secular Indonesia, but it's impossible to say how many there are because the marriages are performed secretly at mosques and are not recorded by the state.

Polygamists point out that the Prophet Muhammad is thought to have married about a dozen women in his lifetime, including widows in need of protection but a prominent member of the influential Indonesian Ullema Council, a board of Muslim priests, described the launching of a formal club as a 'provocative campaign.' 'Such a club is needless,' said Ma'ruf Amin. 'It will draw (negative) reactions rather than solve problems' because the practice is generally opposed by women in the country of 235 million people.

Several prominent political and religious figures in Indonesia openly married second wives in recent years, sparking widespread public debate and calls to ban civil servants from polygamy. -- AP

Asia free trade zone

Leaders at the Asean Plus Three Summit yesterday accepted a report on a feasibility study done on the proposed East Asia Free Trade Area. A separate report on another study on the Comprehensive Economic Partnership in East Asia - which includes India, Australia and New Zealand - will be submitted today at the East Asia Summit. -- PHOTO: XINHUA

CHA-AM - A MASSIVE new free trade zone comprising 16 countries - home to half the world's population and accounting for one-third of global gross domestic product - could be in the offing.

At the Asean Plus Three Summit on Saturday, Asean leaders and their counterparts from China, Japan and South Korea accepted a report on a feasibility study on the proposed East Asia Free Trade Area (EAFTA).

A separate report on another study on the Comprehensive Economic Partnership in East Asia

(CEPEA) - adding India, Australia and New Zealand to the Asean Plus Three - will be submitted at the East Asia Summit today.

Both reports, conducted by expert groups since 2005, will now be considered by government officials of the member countries.

Asean already has bilateral free trade pacts with the six dialogue partners.

Gay's surgery successful

SALVO (North Carolina) - WORLD 100 metres silver medallist Tyson Gay has successfully undergone surgery on a painful groin problem that hampered him during much of the athletics season, his manager said on Saturday.

Mark Wetmore told Reuters minor surgery had taken place on both sides of Gay's groin in Philadelphia on Friday.

'The doctor (William Meyers) was really, really happy with the surgery and Tyson should start walking today,' Mr Wetmore said.

He said the American sprinter should be able to start light training in December after a month's rehabilitation and be fully recovered in time for next year's outdoor season.

Gay, 27, began experiencing problems with his groin in July but continued to run saying the injury was more painful when he sat down or walked than when he ran.

The American finished second to Jamaican Usain Bolt's 100 metres world record 9.58 seconds at the world championships in Berlin in August but did not attempt to defend his 2007 world 200 title because of pain from the groin. -- REUTERS