MIDDLE EAST. Israeli troops raid banks in Arafat?s HQ city. Israeli troops rolled into Palestinian President Yasser Arafat?s headquarters city of Ramallah yesterday, raiding three banks and declaring a curfew in some districts, witnesses said. Israeli security sources said there was a ?very focused activity? in some parts of Ramallah, but that Arafat himself was not being targeted. Israeli troops fired teargas and rubber bullets to disperse stone-throwing demonstrators who confronted them as they entered Ramallah in the heaviest raid on the West Bank city for months. Palestinian medics took away one injured protester. The security source did not say why the bank branches had been targeted.

HONG KONG. China turns up heat on HK democrats over reforms. China has launched one of its strongest attacks on democrats in Hong Kong, accusing them of trying to overthrow the central government and colluding with pro-independence forces in Taiwan and foreign powers.?Some people continue to participate in or even lead political organisations aiming at opposing the leadership of the Communist Party and subverting the central government, using democracy as a shield,? wrote Tang Hua, deputy chief editor of the official Xinhua news agency?s Outlook magazine.The commentary was carried in full by Xinhua on Tuesday and was widely reported in Hong Kong newspapers on Wednesday. The article did not name names, but it was clear that it was referring to Hong Kong?s pro-democracy politicians and activists.

INDONESIA. Dengue deaths hit 255. Singapore has stepped up monitoring for dengue fever, which has killed at least 255 people in neighbouring Indonesia in an outbreak that has made thousands ill. A spokeswoman for Indonesia?s health ministry said authorities were still waiting for test results to find out whether a deadly new strain of the virus was responsible for the high number of deaths in the world?s fourth most populous nation. She said the results might take several more weeks. Agus Tarsono, another health ministry official, said from 13,765 cases, 255 people had died from dengue fever.