Controversial film producer Kamal Khan has decided to file an application on Saturday in Bombay High Court against the ban of his film, Deshdrohi.

The Maharashtra government has banned the movie on Wednesday, as it claimed that that it would cause law and order problems in the state.

The government has banned the movie under Section 6 of the Bombay Cinema Regulation Act, 1963. The ban would be effective for two months.

Zamboanga City, Philippines - Islamic militants freed a kidnapped humanitarian worker after holding her hostage for two months in the southern Philippines, police said Saturday.

Millet Mendoza was among five workers of non-governmental organizations abducted September 15 by Muslim Abu Sayyaf rebels in Basilan province, 900 kilometres south of Manila.

The other hostages, including the programme coordinator of an NGO serving poor communities in Basilan, were freed separately ahead of Mendoza.

Washington  - Space shuttle Endeavour lifted off late Friday from Kennedy Space Centre in Cape Canaveral, Florida for a construction mission to the International Space Station.

The shuttle and its seven-member crew blasted off at 7:55 pm (0055 GMT Saturday) for a planned 15-day flight that is to include four spacewalks to repair joints that allow the station's solar panels to rotate toward the sun and to prepare the ISS for expansion.

Taipei  - A Taiwan newspaper on Saturday launched a search for the Word of the Year for 2008, offering 48 Chinese characters for the public to choose from.

The search was launched by the United Daily News and a private foundation in the hope that one Chinese character could summarize the situation of Taiwan in 2008 or reflect Taiwan's people's feelings about the year.

Singapore  - A Singapore minister criticized job cuts at the city-state's largest bank amid fears of more lay-offs next year, newspapers reported Saturday.

Lim Swee Say, a minister in the Prime Minister's Office and the secretary general of the 500,000-member National Trades Union Congress, said DBS Bank had not consulted with the DBS Staff Union on other alternatives to cut costs and opted for sudden job cuts.

But the listed and partially state-owned DBS defended its decision, saying the job cuts affected 3.5 per cent of its junior ranks, compared with 16 per cent of its senior management.

Bangkok  - Thailand's fugitive former premier Thaksin Shinawatra has divorced his wife of 32 years, sealing the separation at the Thai consulate in Hong Kong, Thai news reports said Saturday.

Thaksin, who faces a two-year jail term if he returns to Thailand, announced his divorce from his wife, Pojaman, to political allies who attended a dinner with him in Hong Kong Friday evening, the Bangkok Post said.

The Thai-language Thai Rath newspaper also carried reports of the separation.