MANILA - AN ITALIAN Red Cross worker being held by Al-Qaeda-linked militants in the southern Philippines has called his family, but there was no word on when his nearly four months of captivity might end, a spokeswoman said on Saturday.

KUALA LUMPUR - MALAYSIAN authorities will investigate a suicide bomb threat issued from within the country by a terror group against three foreign missions in Bangladesh, the country's police chief.

Reuters on Friday reported that an unknown terror group, Jameaah Islamiyah Al-Qaeda, had threatened the US embassy and the Canadian and Australian High Commissions in Dhaka.

MANILA - FOOD, medicine and housing materials were being rushed Saturday to tens of thousands of people displaced by a typhoon that lashed the northern Philippines, rescuers said.

The death toll from Typhoon Chan-hom, the second typhoon to hit the country in a week, rose to 27 as more of the affected areas restored downed power and communication lines.