BOSTON - YOUNG students in Singapore are the world's top performers in science but have been overtaken in math by their peers in Hong Kong and Taiwan, a study released on Tuesday showed.

Boston College's Trends International Mathematics and Science Study found that Singapore's fourth and eighth graders were tops in the world in science,

KUALA LUMPUR - RESIDENTS of a Malaysian housing estate hit by a weekend landslide that killed four people said on Tuesday they were considering suing the government for compensation.

The disaster was the latest in a series of slippages in Kuala Lumpur's up-market northeastern suburbs, triggering a frenzy of finger-pointing over who is to blame for the continuing loss of life and property.

ISLAMABAD - PAKISTAN has intensified its crackdown on a militant group suspected in the Mumbai terror attacks by arresting 20 more people but will not hand any of its citizens over to India, officials said on Tuesday.

The United States is pressing Pakistan to help catch those behind the attack, which killed 171 people in India's business capital last month, and avert a crisis between the nuclear-armed neighbors that would harm efforts against the Taliban and Al-Qaeda.

ATHENS - MOURNERS are clashing with riot police outside an Athens cemetery during the funeral of a teenager whose shooting by officers set off three days of rioting across Greece.

No injuries have been reported as officers use tear gas to dispel small groups of stone-throwing youths who attacked TV crews, police and shops round the cemetery.