Explosions hit two Jakarta hotels

Explosions tore through two luxury hotels Friday morning in south Jakarta, Indonesia. Antara News, a state-run agency, said at least six people were killed and a number of others were wounded. The victims were taken to nearby MMC Hospital and Jakarta Hospital, the agency reported

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Nigerian militants claim pipeline blast, tanker crew’s seizure

Nigerian militants said Monday they had blown up an oil pipeline and captured six crew members of a chemical tanker. The crowd of 200 to 300 — mostly women and elderly — quickly formed as local authorities were taking members of the media on a tour of a neighborhood that was heavily damaged during riots over the weekend, witnesses said.

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Hong Kong hotel guests freed from flu quarantine

Waving and cheering like survivors of a disaster, 200 guests of a Hong Kong business hotel who were confined for more than a week due to swine flu left the building Friday. Businessmen, families and tourists marched out of the Hong Kong Metropark Hotel in the Wanchai bar district at 8:30 p.m.

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Vacation Blues as Tourists Stay at Home

On a typical weekend afternoon, Beijing’s Silk Street Market buzzes with the sound of tens of thousands of tourists haggling over antiques, jewelry and knock-off Gucci handbags. Rickshaw drivers normally scoop up these marketgoers, pedal them to their hotels and return with pockets full of foreign currency — a lucrative cycle drivers can repeat dozens of times a day. In recent months, though, the Silk Street Market’s once reliable bustle has thinned dramatically

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