Zamboanga City, Philippines - Two people were killed in a grenade attack on a southern Philippine island where fighting erupted between government troops and Muslim militants holding captive three international Red Cross staff, police said Tuesday.

Three people were also wounded in the explosion Monday evening inside a karaoke bar in the port area of Jolo town on Jolo island, 1,000 kilometres south of Manila, said Senior Superintendent Julasirim Kasim, the provincial police chief.

Manila - Remittances from overseas Filipinos rose a mere 0.1 per cent in January as the global economic crisis plunged many countries into recession, the government said Monday.

Central bank governor Amando Tetangco said remittances in January reached 1.265 billion dollars, barely higher than 1.264 billion dollars sent home in the same month last year.

Manila  - Fighting erupted Monday between Philippine troops and Muslim militants holding captive three international Red Cross staff on a southern island, wounding the leader of the kidnappers, the military said.

The fighting erupted when the Abu Sayyaf rebels tried to break through a cordon of government soldiers in Indanan town on Jolo island, 1,000 kilometres south of Manila.

Gaza City  - Palestinian reconciliation negotiators in Cairo signed an agreement to prohibit fighting or the use of weapons to settle internal disputes, a Palestinian academic said Saturday.

The agreement was ratified as rival Palestinian factions continued intense talks to reach an agreement on broader issues such as the formation of a unity government to replace the Hamas-led government in the Gaza Strip and the Western-backed government in the West Bank formed by President Mahmoud Abbas of the Fatah movement.