Dhaka  - Bangladesh is planning stringent measures to fight cyber crimes amid the rapid expansion of information and communication technology and telecommunications networks in the impoverished South Asian country, an official said Monday.

"We have taken steps afresh to facilitate fair and secured use of the information technology as the country lacks a complete law to deal with cyber crimes," MM Neazuddin, a joint secretary to the science and ICT ministry, told the German Press Agency dpa.

Manila  - Five suspected kidnappers were killed in a shootout when police raided their hideout to rescue a 23-year-old victim in a northern Philippine city, police said Monday.

The hostage was unharmed in the firefight on Sunday evening in Urdaneta City in Pangasinan province, 165 kilometres north of Manila, Superintendent Wilson Lopez said.

Lopez, operations chief of the provincial police, said commandos swooped down the suspects' safe house after receiving information that the hostage was being held there.

Kuala Lumpur  - Malaysian police detained eight Indonesian men and seized 23,300 packets of cigarettes following a high-speed sea chase in waters off the northern Johor state, a news report said Monday.

Marine police fired at the engine of a boat they believed to be carrying smugglers in Saturday's pre-dawn incident, marine police assistant commander Mohamad Khamsani Abdul Rahman said.

During the pursuit, one of the suspects was injured. He was later sent to a nearby hospital for treatment, Mohamad Khamsani was quoted as saying by the Star daily.

Cairo  - Four Muslim gunmen opened fire on a group of Coptic Christians as they were leaving church in the southern Egyptian governorate of Menya, killing two and wouding one, a security source told the German press agency dpa on Sunday.

The incident took place on Saturday night as Coptic Christians were celebrating Easter in a church vigil.

The source told dpa that the incident "is a revenge case that dates back to a dispute in 2004, and is not based on sectarian or political reasons."

Kuala Lumpur  - Malaysian wildlife officers arrested three Vietnamese men in a mangrove swamp for poaching protected species of birds, a news report said Sunday.

About 400 black-crowned night heron (Nycticoraqx nycticorax) eggs and chicks were seized from the suspects, aged 21 to 34, the Star daily reported.

Wildlife director Rahmat Topani, who led the operation Saturday after a month's surveillance, said they were alerted by several conservationists living nearby.

Singapore  - Singapore is preparing to deal with casino-related offences, such as cheating and prostitution, ahead of the opening of two casino-anchored resorts, the first of which is due to open in December, media reports said Saturday.

Deputy Prime Minister and Home Affairs Minister Wong Kan Seng noted that newly opened casinos are often the subject of syndicate scams, and to combat such schemes, the Casino Regulatory Authority (CRA) would increase its staff to 116 by the end of the year from a current 75.