Manila  - Three communist rebels were killed and three soldiers wounded in combat in the northern Philippines, police said Sunday.

The clash erupted in the village of Anupol in Bamban town in Tarlac province, 75 kilometres north of Manila, on Friday.

Chief Superintendent Leon Nilo Dela Cruz, a regional police director, said the soldiers were on patrol when they encountered about 40 guerrillas.

He said checkpoints were established in Bamban and nearby towns in a bid to hunt down the guerrillas.

Manila  - Philippine President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo on Sunday ordered the foreign affairs department to repatriate hundreds of Filipinos stranded in Thailand after two airports in Bangkok were shut down by political protestors last week.

Executive Secretary Eduardo Ermita said Arroyo ordered the release of 15,000 dollars for assistance to the Filipinos unable to return home after the Suvarnabhumi and Don Mueang airports in Bangkok were blockaded.

Manila  - Philippine President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo on Sunday ordered the foreign affairs department to repatriate nearly 200 Filipinos stranded in Thailand after two airports in Bangkok were shut down by political protestors last week.

Executive Secretary Eduardo Ermita said Arroyo ordered the release of 15,000 dollars for assistance to at least 174 Filipinos unable to return home after the Suvarnabhumi and Don Mueang airports in Bangkok were blockaded.

Manila  - A German tourist was found dead inside his hotel room in a central Philippine city and authorities were suspecting foul play, a police report said Saturday.

Guido Dauerer, 43, was found dead Friday in the bathroom of his hotel room in Dumaguete City, in Negros Oriental province, 525 kilometres south of Manila.

The report said a maid saw the bed covered with blood and called other hotel employees and police.

Investigators found the body of the victim, face down and hunched over the toilet bowl. There were lacerations on his left arm.

The victim, who was a regular visitor in Dumaguete, checked into the hotel on November 21.

Cotabato City, Philippines  - Police on Saturday foiled a bombing in the southern Philippines with the discovery of an improvised explosive outside a church, a town police chief said.

Chief Inspector Franklin Anito said the improvised bomb was recovered at dawn in front of a local Christian church in Kabacan town in North Cotabato province, 960 kilometres south of Manila.

Passers-by alerted the police about a suspicious plastic bag left outside the Iglesia ni Cristo (Church of Christ) church in downtown Kabacan, Anito said.

"Bomb experts immediately went to the area and discovered the explosive device," he said. "The device was successfully defused."

PHILADELPHIA, Nov. 28  -- Donovan McNabb tossed four touchdown passes Thursday and the Philadelphia Eagles breezed to a 48-20 victory over the Arizona Cardinals.

Bryan Westbrook started the rout with three first-half touchdowns, two on passes from McNabb and one on a 1-yard run.

McNabb completed 27-of-39 passes for 260 yards and Westbrook added a franchise-record fourth score on a 9-yard, third-quarter run in the first Thanksgiving Day contest in Philadelphia since 1940.

Westbrook finished with 130 all-purpose yards (110 yards on 22 carries and three catches for 20 yards).