World Highlights

o A typhoon pummelled southwestern Japan yesterday, causing floods and landslides that left at least four dead and 14 missing, and paralysing transport. Officials ordered more than 100,000 people to flee their homes. Four people were killed, 14 were missing and 51 were injured, NHK television reported.

o Indonesia will hold a mass burial today for scores of unidentified plane crash victims as experts sought to determine what caused the Boeing 737 to slam into a crowded residential area of Medan, killing 149. Monday's disaster in Indonesia's third-largest city killed 102 of the 117 aboard the Mandala Airlines domestic flight and another 47 people on the ground.

o Saudi security forces stormed a militant hideout in the eastern city of Dammam yesterday, ending three days of fierce fighting in which security sources said at least six suspects and four policemen were killed. An Interior Ministry statement said security forces had "cleared and secured" the house in the Gulf coast city, which is close to some of Saudi Arabia's main oil installations, and found charred human remains inside.

o A well-known Muslim cleric accused by government officials of sympathising with Islamic militants was expelled from Italy yesterday after Rome invoked special powers to protect national security. Moroccan imam Bouriqi Bouchta was grabbed in a pre-dawn raid on his apartment and flown to Morocco at 10.30 a.m. (0830 GMT). The government said Bouchta was considered to be a "serious disturbance to public order and a danger to national security".

o On the eve of Egypt's first presidential elections, in which Hosni Mubarak is expected to win a new term, a court ruled that organisers had the right to stop rights groups monitoring inside polling stations. The Supreme Administrative Court said a lower court erred when it ruled on Saturday in favour of access for monitors in today's contest between Mr Mubarak and nine rivals.