Melbourne - Stanislas Wawrinka will bid for his first career win over Roger Federer when he plays his Olympic co-gold medalist for the title at the AAMI Classic on Saturday after defeating Fernando Gonzalez 7-6 (7-3), 6-7 (1-7), 6-4.

The 16th-ranked Swiss ended a run of five straight victories in their series for the Chilean, the losing 2007 Australian Open finalist to Federer.

Washington  - Just days before inauguration, president-elect Barack Obama and the new Congress have taken their first steps on the long road to restoring the struggling US economy.

Democratic legislators, who hold majorities in both houses of Congress, offered the first detailed look Thursday into an 825- billion-dollar economic stimulus package, a key plank of Obama's plan to save or create as many as 3 million jobs.

Zamboanga City, Philippines  - Muslim rebels of the Al-Qaeda-linked Abu Sayyaf group were behind the kidnapping of three members of the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) on a southern Philippine island, the military said Friday.

First Lieutenant Esteffani Cacho, a regional military spokeswoman, said that based on initial field reports, it was the group of Abu Sayyaf commander Alpader Parad that seized the ICRC staff on Thursday on Jolo island, 1,000 kilometres south of Manila.

Washington  - President-elect Barack Obama's early handling of the conflict in the Gaza Strip will serve as his first opportunity to set a fresh tone for US foreign policy in the Middle East.

Unless Egyptian brokered negotations - which are progressing - produce a ceasefire by the time Obama takes office on Tuesday, he will inherit more than three weeks of fighting between Israel and Hamas militants in a conflict that has threatened to undo the already shaky peace process.

Singapore  - Two Singapore non-governmental organizations (NGOs) have called for adequate compensation for foreign workers, a growing number of whom are being left with unpaid wages or without jobs, proper accommodation and meals, news reports said Friday.

NGO Transient Workers Count Too (TWC2) said some 800 workers, who had no access to work since they were brought into Singapore, were abandoned by their employers and had not been paid their due salaries, according to a report by the Channel News Asia.

Wellington  - Nearly 650 New Zealanders snapped up super cheap airfares as low as 50 New Zealand dollars (about 27 US dollars) for flights to Europe in September after a data inputting error on the website of KLM Royal Dutch Airlines, a report said Friday.

The watchdog dog Commerce Commission rebuked the airline for taking more than four hours to correct the mistake and said it should have better systems in place.