SYDNEY:
Lachlan Murdoch, son of News Corp Ltd chairman Rupert Murdoch, has been promoted to head the media giant's US print operations in a move seen as confirming his status as heir apparent to the publishing tycoon. Lachlan, 27, continues in his current job as chairman and chief executive of Australian subsidiary, News Ltd, but will divide his time between Sydney and New York with the new title of senior executive vice-president. He will assume responsibility for operations like the New York Post, book publisher Harper Collins and the newspaper, advertising and marketing company, News Marketing America. Recently engaged to model SarahO'Hare, Lachlan, who sports a tattoo and likes motorcycles, is considered the most flamboyant of Murdoch's children.

CAMP ABUBAKAR (PHILIPPINES):
Osama bin Laden supplied monetary aid to Muslim separatists in the southern Philippines until last year, a guerrilla leader said on Tuesday. The Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) received funds from bin Laden until Filipino guerrilla leaders decided they could do without the aid, MILF chief Hashim Salamat told mediapersons here at his group's training base. ``He was supporting so many revolutionary fronts that the MILF felt we would only become an additional burden,'' Salamat added.