BANGLADESH

Bangladesh's military-backed government imposed an indefinite curfew in six major cities, clearing the streets and temporarily disabling cellphones in a bid to quell three days of unrest by students demanding an end to emergency rule. Security forces patrolled deserted streets.

In January, President Iajuddin Ahmed canceled elections, outlawed demonstrations, curtailed press freedoms and limited other civil liberties.

Students had taken their protests from university campuses to the streets of the capital, Dhaka, burning vehicles and battling with security forces. Students also clashed with police in three other cities. One man was killed.

BRITAIN Assets unfrozen for cleared suspect

A man questioned over an alleged plot to bomb U.S.-bound airliners was handed back his financial assets, almost a year after Britain froze his accounts in a move against suspected terrorist fundraising.

Shazad Khuram Ali, 27, was found to have no ties to an alleged plot to target commercial jets with liquid explosives. He was one of 19 people whose bank accounts and other assets were frozen Aug. 11, 2006.

A total of 24 people were arrested after raids in London, High Wycombe and Birmingham, with 15 eventually charged.

GEORGIA Tbilisi says Russia violated airspace

Georgia said Russian military jets violated its airspace for a second time this month, but Russia said its aircraft had been nowhere near Georgia.

Georgia made the allegation two weeks after it said Russian jet dropped a missile in a farmer's field 40 miles from Tbilisi, an incident that worsened tense relations between the ex-Soviet neighbors. Russia has also denied the earlier incident.

AFGHANISTAN Taliban militants attack base, kill 2

Taliban militants wearing Afghan army uniforms attacked a remote NATO base in eastern Afghanistan's Nuristan province, killing two Afghan soldiers and wounding 11 alliance soldiers, officials said. The nationality of the wounded troops was not given.

In Khowst province, a suicide bomber attacked a six-vehicle convoy carrying Gov. Arsallah Jamal, killing four people and wounding eight, said Interior Ministry spokesman Zemari Bashary. Jamal escaped.

In southern Afghanistan, a roadside bomb killed two Canadian soldiers and an interpreter and injured two Radio-Canada journalists, officials said.

INDIA Popular actor is released on bail

Indian actor Sanjay Dutt walked out of prison on bail early today after 22 days behind bars, a prison official said.

Dutt was released early to avoid crowds gathered since Monday, when India's Supreme Court ordered his temporary release on a technicality.

The actor was sentenced to six years July 31 for illegal possession of weapons supplied by men convicted of involvement in the 1993 Mumbai bomb blasts that killed 257 people.

From Times Wire Reports