Pattani, Thailand - Suspected Muslim militants killed five civilians and injured six in two attacks in Thailand's troubled deep South, police said Tuesday.

Six men on motorcycles, believed to be separatist insurgents, opened fire with M-16 rifles on a house Monday night in the Thung Yang Daeng district of Pattani, 750 kilometres south of Bangkok, slaying three Thai Muslims, police said.

On the same night in nearby Narathiwat, assailants attacked a pickup on the outskirts of the city, killing two Thai Muslim men and injuring six others travelling in the vehicle.

Nicosia, Oct 21 : Qatar Petroleum has awarded Punj Lloyd the engineering, procurement, installation, and commissioning of the Strategic Gas Transmission Project, worth 800 million dollars.

The project includes the laying of 211 km of a 36-inch diameter pipeline with associated stations and infrastructure.

The number of E. coli cases in Ontario has increased to 159. According to a health official, the number includes both confirmed and suspected cases of the infection.

"The latest is that we have 159 cases as of this morning. Of those, 26 are lab confirmed," said Dr. Catherine Whiting, medical officer of health at North Bay Parry Sound District Health Unit.

The number of confirmed and suspected cases of E. coli poisoning linked to the Harvey's restaurant on Algonquin Avenue in North Bay, about 300 kilometres north of Toronto.  The last Thursday the count was 93 but it plummeted to  131 the next day.

Tokyo - Japan markets opened higher Tuesday after Wall Street surged overnight.

The Nikkei 225 Stock Average gained 233 points, or 2.59 per cent, to end morning trading at 9,238.59.

The broader Topix index of all first-section issues was also up 23.04 points, or 2.48 per cent, at 950.41.

Washington - Bad enough that people were being kicked out of their homes in the mortgage crisis.

But when Democratic activists got wind of a plan by Republicans in Michigan to keep foreclosure victims from voting, they went to court.

The dispute was settled Monday out of court, a peaceful end to another skirmish over voter registration and rights that was typical of the scores expected to arise leading up to the November 4 general elections.

Washington - Democratic Party presidential nominee Barack Obama has decided to drop campaigning for two days later this week for a previously unplanned visit to his ailing grandmother in Hawaii, campaign officials announced late Monday.

Obama, who lead rallies Monday in Florida, will continue his scheduled events through Thursday afternoon, when he will fly to Hawaii to visit Madelyn Dunham, 85.