Iligan City, Philippines  - Philippine troops clashed Monday with Muslim separatist rebels who were allegedly planning to attack towns in a southern province, an army commander said.

The firefight erupted in the town of Wao in Lanao del Sur province, 810 kilometres south of Manila, after intelligence reports warned of a possible attack by up to 200 Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) rebels.

Colonel Nicanor Dolojan, an army brigade commander, said government troops launched "clearing operations" against MILF rebels who were "threatening to attack military installations and municipalities of Wao and nearby Bumbaran."

Khar (Pakistan), Nov 10 : At least eight members of a banned terrorist outfit - Amar Bil Maroof - were killed and three injured in Pakistan’s Khar Agency when NATO jets bombed Tirah Valley in Khyber Agency last evening.

The NATO jets targeted hideouts of the banned outfit in the Moga area near Torkham. Amar Bil Maroof spokesman Munsif Afridi confirmed that those who had died were members of his group, the Daily Times quoted a TV report as saying.

He said that 10 Afghan soldiers had been killed in a gunbattle with his group at the Torkham border earlier in the day.

Washington, Nov. 10: U. S. President George W. Bush had a dollop of sanitizer applied to his right hand by a White House staff member after shaking hands with Barack Obama for the first time four years ago.

Recalling the event in his best-selling autobiography “ The Audacity of Hope”, Obama says he and other newly elected members of the Senate were invited to the White House for a breakfast meeting with Bush.

London, Nov 10: Here’s another addition to the list of longest names, with a Brit man claiming to have 198 letters in his name.

Derek McQueen from Kelty in Fife revealed that his father chose to name him after Rangers Football club’s entire league winning squad from 1974/75.

His birth certificate name reads: Derek Parlane Stein Jackson Hunter McCloy Kennedy Scott Forsyth Henderson Boyd Robertson O’Hara Johnstone Miller Dawson Armour McDougall McLean McKean Fyfe McDonald Jardine Young Morris Denny Hamilton Watson Greig Wallace McQueen.

“I don’t imagine many people will have longer names than myself. When folk ask me I can’t even remember them all — even after all this time,” British tabloid The Sun quoted Derek as saying.

London, Nov 10 : A new study has revealed that statins, which are normally given to people with high cholesterol levels to reduce the risk of heart attack and stroke, can be equally beneficial for people with lower cholesterol levels.

The research team has found that statins were able to reduce heart attack and stroke risk by almost 44 pct in people with high inflammation but normal cholesterol levels.

The study involving 17,800 men and women with normal cholesterol levels showed that rosuvastatin could cut deaths from heart attacks and strokes.

After a two-year follow up, the researchers found that 20mg a day of rosuvastatin could cut C-reactive protein levels by 37pct.

New Delhi, Nov 10 : President Pratibha Patil will inaugurate the National Education Day here tomorrow.

National Education Day is observed in tribute to eminent freedom fighter and educationalist Maulana Abul Kalam Azad.

Azad was also India''s first Minister for Education.

Institutions of educational would be involved in seminars, symposia, workshops, rallies on importance of literacy and in promoting the nation''s commitment to all aspects of education.