JAKARTA (Reuters) - An American expert on terrorism and Islamic militancy in Southeast Asia has been kicked out of Indonesia for the second year in a row, the analyst and a Foreign Ministry official said on Friday.

AP - China on Thursday announced the spread of bird flu to a far western region, while Indonesia reported its first outbreak of the virus in the tsunami-ravaged Aceh province where hundreds of chickens have died from the disease.

AFP - British glam rocker Gary Glitter was charged with committing "obscene acts with children" in Vietnam and could face more serious charges that carry the death penalty, prosecutors said.

AFP - British telecoms operator BT Group, once the biggest foreign player in Asia's telecommunications market, is planning an aggressive return to the region, a report said citing top executives.

Reuters - Prime Minister Ariel Sharon's new centrist party would win a March election, altering Israel's political map by crushing rightists opposed to peacemaking with the Palestinians, surveys found on Friday.

AP - The nation's retailers are set to usher in the 2005 holiday shopping season with the usual come-ons — deep discounts and expanded hours — along with a slew of stores offering early bird specials for the first time.

Reuters - Hundreds of villagers have been evacuated from their homes along a river in northeast China after an explosion at a petrochemical plant upstream dumped 100 tonnes of toxic chemicals in the water, local media said on Friday.

AFP - Millions of residents in China's Harbin city endured their third full day without running water due to a toxic chemical spill, as the government worked frantically to clean up the pollution.

AFP - Queen Elizabeth II will open a 53-nation Commonwealth summit here likely to be dominated by developing countries' concerns over next month's WTO trade talks in Hong Kong.

AFP - A confidential British Foreign Office document accuses Israel of rushing to annex east Jerusalem to prevent it from becoming the capital of a Palestinian state, The Guardian newspaper reported.

AP - Israel turned over to Lebanon the remains of three Hezbollah guerrillas on Friday in an effort to defuse tensions after the heaviest border clashes in years.

Reuters - A Japanese probe is readying itself to make a fresh and final attempt to land on the surface of an asteroid and pluck up rock samples, a delicate task officials on Friday said was like trying to land a jet in the Grand Canyon.

AP - Long underwear in South Korea, extra sweaters in U.S. classrooms, rising sales of wood-burning stoves in Denmark. Winter is here, and because of a spike in heating costs, people from Tokyo to Toledo are looking for alternatives to oil.

Reuters - Israel said on Friday it hoped relations with the European Union would not worsen after EU diplomats criticised Israeli policies in Arab East Jerusalem as harmful to prospects for peace with the Palestinians.

Reuters - Israel returned on Friday the bodies of three Hizbollah guerrillas slain in a fierce border clash this week, a move aimed at easing tensions on the volatile Lebanese-Israeli border.

Reuters - An American expert on terrorism and Islamic militancy in Southeast Asia has been kicked out of Indonesia for the second year in a row, a move that could embarrass President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono.

AP - Bargain shoppers woke up before dawn to head to the nation's malls and stores Friday, the official start of the holiday shopping season, hoping to snap up early bird specials on items, from toys to digital music players.

AP - A key witness against Saddam Hussein has died of cancer, but his testimony has been recorded on audio and video tape for presentation in the trial scheduled to begin next week, the main prosecutor said Friday.

Reuters - Palestinians formally opened on Friday a border crossing between the Gaza Strip and Egypt that will allow Gazans to travel abroad freely for the first time since Israel occupied the coastal territory in 1967.

AP - Indonesia on Friday said it will begin producing the bird flu drug Tamiflu. Hard-hit Vietnam reported another outbreak of the virus among poultry.

AP - Long underwear in South Korea, extra sweaters in U.S. classrooms, rising sales of wood-burning stoves in Denmark. Winter is here, and because of a spike in heating costs, people from Tokyo to Toledo are looking for alternatives to oil.

AP - Angelina Jolie and Brad Pitt made a low-key visit to earthquake-ravaged northern Pakistan, U.N. refugee agency officials said.

AP - Michelle Wie bogeyed her final two holes and missed the cut against the men by one stroke at the Casio World Open on Friday.

Reuters - Iraqi Foreign Minister Hoshiyar Zebari urged Japan on Friday to keep its troops in southern Iraq, saying an early pullout of coalition forces would lead to more violence by insurgents.

Reuters - NATO allies are in intensive talks to allay security concerns among nations key to a plan to expand peacekeeping in Afghanistan amid growing violence there, alliance sources said on Friday.

Reuters - Satellite images could help determine if the CIA ran secret prisons in Europe, according to a Swiss lawmaker who is drawing up a report on the issue for leading human rights watchdog, the Council of Europe.

Reuters - Environmental protection officials discharged water from a reservoir into a river in northeast China in an attempt to dilute a toxic spill but decided not to warn the public about it, a newspaper said on Friday.

Reuters - Influential Iranian cleric Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani saidon Friday the U.N. nuclear watchdog's latest statement on Iran's disputed atomic program was a step in the right direction but still had elements of "harassment."

AP - Palestinian leader Mahmoud Abbas opened the Gaza-Egypt border in a festive ceremony Friday — a milestone for the Palestinians who for the first time took control of a frontier crossing without Israeli veto powers and gained some freedom of movement.

AP - Actor Pat Morita, whose portrayal of the wise and dry-witted Mr. Miyagi in 'The Karate Kid' earned him an Oscar nomination, has died. He was 73.

AP - U.S. troops found two cheetah cubs — one of them blinded — being forced to fight each other for the amusement of jeering children in this dusty, forgotten village.

AP - South America's latest beauty queen won't be campaigning abroad for world peace any time soon, unless, of course, she's granted early parole.

Reuters - Iraqi Foreign Minister Hoshiyar Zebari urged Japan on Friday to keep its troops in southern Iraq, saying an early pullout of coalition forces would lead to more violence by insurgents.

Reuters - Satellite images could help determine if the CIA ran secret prisons in Europe, according to a Swiss lawmaker who is drawing up a report on the issue for the Council of Europe human rights watchdog.

Reuters - Americans made their annual post-Thanksgiving trek to shopping malls on Friday, hitting stores before sunrise in search of bargains at the traditional start of the holiday season.

Reuters - Iran is pushing ahead with plans to enrich uranium in defiance of international pressure to give up sensitive nuclear technology to allay fears that it is seeking a nuclear bomb, diplomats and intelligence sources say.

Reuters - Saddam Hussein's trial enters a dramatic new phase when it resumes on Monday as witnesses take the stand for the first time, a move that has international observers concerned after the murder of two defense lawyers.

AP - Sunni Muslims protested the slaying of a tribal leader Friday, while a statement posted on the Internet said a car bombing that killed 11 people was in retaliation for the assassination of the respected sheik.

Reuters - Palestinians formally opened a border crossing between the Gaza Strip and Egypt on Friday that will allow Gazans to travel abroad freely for the first time since Israel occupied the coastal territory in 1967.

AP - The Dutch Supreme Court on Friday ordered Internet company Lycos to reveal the identity of a client in a benchmark decision on privacy that was praised by copyright groups as a way to go after illegal swapping of music and movies online.

Reuters - Satellite images could help determine if the CIA ran secret prisons in Europe, according to a Swiss lawmaker who is drawing up a report on the issue for the Council of Europe human rights watchdog.

Reuters - Americans made their annual post-Thanksgiving trek to shopping malls on Friday, hitting stores before sunrise in search of bargains at the traditional start of the holiday season.

Reuters - Iran is pushing ahead with plans to enrich uranium in defiance of international pressure to give up sensitive nuclear technology to allay fears that it is seeking a nuclear bomb, diplomats and intelligence sources say.

AFP - Queen Elizabeth II hailed the spirit of solidarity binding the Commonwealth as she opened a summit of the 53-nation organisation that is set to put its full weight behind a new global trade deal to help combat poverty.

AP - Bargain shoppers, many facing frigid temperatures, woke up before dawn Friday to snap up specials on items from cashmere sweaters to flat-screen TVs and digital music players as the holiday shopping season officially got under way.

AP - Visitors to Rio can gape at the girls from Ipanema wearing thong bikinis on the beach — or even less at carnival celebrations. But if they want a picture, they had better bring a camera.

Reuters - Arabic news channel Al Jazeera's general manager flew to London on Friday to demand the British government explain a leaked report that President George W. Bush wanted to bomb the TV station.

AFP - Millions of residents in China's Harbin city endured their third full day without running water due to a toxic chemical spill, as concerns grew over the long-term impacts of the disaster.

AFP - The Rafah border, the Gaza Strip's crucial link to the outside world, was formally opened by Palestinian leader Mahmud Abbas, nearly three months after it was closed by Israel.

AFP - Nigerian President Olusegun Obasanjo called on Commonwealth countries meeting in Malta to take a "zero tolerance" attitude to corruption, describing it as a major source of underdevelopment and instability.

AFP - Non-aligned countries protested a call by Britain to hand over key Iranian nuclear documents to the world's five main atomic powers for analysis, as the UN nuclear watchdog wrapped up a week-long meeting.

AFP - From Venice to Palermo, life in Italy was severely disrupted as workers walked out in protest at spending cuts in the proposed 2006 budget, the fifth general strike since Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi took office in 2001.

AP - Palestinians took control of a border for the first time Friday with the festive opening of the Rafah crossing between Gaza and Egypt, a milestone on their rocky path to independence and a rare moment of joy for fenced-in Gazans.

AP - Peter Forsberg scored two goals and added an assist before sitting out the third period with a right groin strain as the Philadelphia Flyers beat the Boston Bruins 5-3 on Friday.

Reuters - President George W. Bush's hopes for a brief reprieve from the bitter Iraq war debate were dashed on Friday when peace activist Cindy Sheehan rallied her troops in protest near his central Texas ranch.

AP - The pre-dawn sales frenzy is over — and now the tally begins.

AP - Palestinians took control of a border for the first time Friday with the festive opening of the Rafah crossing between Gaza and Egypt, a milestone on their rocky path to independence and a rare moment of joy for fenced-in Gazans.

AP - Judge Samuel Alito has said he did not break a federal ethics law when he ruled in a case involving the company that handles his mutual fund investments.

AP - An ice-skating trip at a small pond ended tragically Friday when a young girl fell through the ice and her father plunged in trying to save her. Authorities searching with divers and boats recovered their bodies.

AP - Sixty-one years ago, Joanna Zalucka hid a young Jewish girl in her bedroom for eight months, keeping the child from the Nazis in their native Poland during the Holocaust.

AP - Actor Pat Morita, best known for helping teach a boy martial-arts mastery through household chores as the wise Mr. Miyagi in "The Karate Kid," has died. He was 73.

AP - A high school teacher is facing questions from administrators after giving a vocabulary quiz that included digs at President Bush and the extreme right.

AP - Vince Young and Texas were far from perfect, but the Longhorns fought through their faults, remained unbeaten and moved one step closer to the Rose Bowl.

Reuters - President George W. Bush's hopes for a brief reprieve from the bitter Iraq war debate were dashed on Friday when peace activist Cindy Sheehan rallied her troops in protest near his central Texas ranch.

Reuters - Saddam Hussein's trial enters a dramatic new phase when it resumes on Monday as witnesses take the stand for the first time, a move that has international observers concerned after the murder of two defense lawyers.

Reuters - Visitors streamed into New Orleans' Audubon Zoo as it opened on Friday for the first time since Hurricane Katrina, bringing a hint of normality to a city still shattered, shuttered and largely depopulated by the storm.

AP - A day after 30 people died in a suicide bombing here, the preacher at a major Sunni Arab mosque Friday condemned the horrific attack and called for unity between Iraq's rival Muslim communities.

AP - Japanese spacecraft has succeeded in collecting samples from an asteroid, Kyodo News agency reported Saturday.

AP - Thousands of people, some in tears, streamed into the Audubon Zoo on Friday, the first day it was open since Hurricane Katrina.

AP - Vince Young and Texas were far from perfect, but the Longhorns fought through their faults, remained unbeaten and moved one step closer to the Rose Bowl.

Reuters - Jailed Palestinian Marwan Barghouthi was emerging as one of the most popular candidates in a vote called to choose people to run for Fatah in Palestinian elections in January, an official said on Friday.

AP - Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger said Friday he would consider granting clemency to convicted killer Stanley Tookie Williams, the Crips gang founder who became an anti-gang activist while in prison and was nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize.

Reuters - A Swedish soldier with the NATO-led mission in northern Afghanistan died after a bomb attack on Friday, the first Swedish peacekeeper to be killed in the country.

AP - During its live coverage of the annual Macy's Thanksgiving Day parade, NBC did not tell viewers that a giant balloon had caught on a street lamp and injured two sisters.

AP - Seven inmates escaped from a county jail Friday by breaking an upper floor window and climbing down a homemade rope, authorities said. Three were recaptured, but the others were on the loose.

AP - An ice-skating trip at a small pond ended tragically Friday when a young girl fell through the ice and her father plunged in trying to save her.

AP - B.J. Ryan and the Toronto Blue Jays have reached a preliminary agreement on a $47 million, five-year contract, a high-ranking baseball official said Friday.

Reuters - The British Broadcasting Corporation has upheld a complaint against one of its journalists who said in a radio report she cried when a dying Yasser Arafat was flown from the West Bank in 2004.