North Korean state media released several images over the weekend showing the "Dear Leader" purportedly attending a football match between two army teams, in an apparent attempt to quell speculation that he is in a critical state of health.

"It is difficult to know Chairman Kim's health condition merely with still photos," Unification Ministry spokesman Kim Ho-Nyoun told reporters.

The South Korean and U.S. intelligence agencies have said Kim, 66, may have suffered a stroke in August. Japanese media reports last month said a French brain surgeon travelled to the secretive communist state to operate on him.

In one of the photographs, Kim is shown sitting on a white sofa, wearing his trademark sunglasses, with his deputies sitting nearby, and autumn trees in the background. Several of the images show a football match taking place, but none of them show the leader and the footballers together.

In October, North Korea showed photographs on state television of the leader inspecting a women's military unit. However, South Korean experts said the photos had clearly been taken several months ago, casting further doubt over Kim's health.

Kim Jong-il has ruled North Korea since 1994, when he succeeded his late father Kim Il-sung, the communist state's founder.

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RUSSIAN NAVAL TANKER TO JOIN WARSHIP IN AFRICAN WATERS

MOSCOW _ A Russian Baltic Fleet tanker is to join a naval frigate involved in protecting merchant ships from pirates in African waters, a naval source said on Monday.

The Neustrashimy (Fearless) frigate entered waters off the Somali coast last Monday where local pirates have increased their attacks on ships in the area in exchange for ransom demands.

"At the moment, the Neustrashimy frigate is escorting a merchant ship through the dangerous shipping zone in the Horn of Africa. The Russian combat vessel is ensuring the safety of Russian merchant shipping through the zone," the source said, adding that the Baltic Fleet's Yelnya was expected to join the Neustrashimy in the near future.

He also said that the frigate's commander was maintaining contact with NATO ships in the area as part of a coordinated approach to fighting piracy in the region.

Somali pirates have seized around 30 ships so far this year off the coast of the east African nation, which has no effective government and no navy to police its coastline.

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RUSSIA'S FIRST LADY PRESENTS $19,000 DONATION TO ORPHANAGE

ST. PETERSBURG, Russia _ The Russian president's wife Svetlana Medvedeva visited an orphanage in St. Petersburg on Monday, and handed over a donation of $19,000 raised at fundraising events.

The cash was raised through the City Partners St. Petersburg-Milan program organized by the first lady.

"These funds were raised through an international project, and we decided to give them to your home. I think you can suggest to your tutors what you need," Medvedeva told the children, while presenting the check.

She also donated a plasma television to the home for orphans and handicapped children.

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STALIN'S GRANDSON DIES IN MOSCOW

MOSCOW _ Joseph Alliluyev, the son of Joseph Stalin's daughter Svetlana, died in Moscow on Sunday.

Alliluyev, born in 1945, was the only grandson of Stalin to have met the Soviet dictator. He worked as a cardiologist, and published over 150 papers on heart disease.

He kept a low profile throughout his life, never giving interviews.

Svetlana Alliluyeva, aged 82, Stalin's only daughter, defected to the United States in 1967 and has U.S. citizenship.

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AT LEAST 22 DEAD IN SOUTHWEST CHINA LANDSLIDES

BEIJING _ At least 22 people have died and 45 others are missing after landslides hit a number of villages in southwest China, Xinhua reported.

Over 1,000 homes were destroyed in the Yunnan Province as torrential rain caused landslides that engulfed villages over the weekend. Xinhua said a further 2,300 homes have been damaged in the disaster.

Authorities fear the death toll could rise as the rain is forecast to continue for the next two days, hampering rescue efforts.

In Chuxiong, more than 25,000 people are reported to have been evacuated, the region's deputy head of disaster relief, Fa Yubin, said.

Food, tents and clothes have been sent to the worst-hit areas and around 150 troops are involved in the search for the missing.

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SIBERIAN WOMAN BEATS STRANGER TO DEATH, FRIEND FILMS SCENE

YAKUTSK, Russia _ A young woman in Russia's East Siberian republic of Yakutsk beat a stranger to death while her friend filmed the scene on a mobile phone, investigators said on Friday.

"At around 1:00 a.m. on October 29 . . . a young woman called the local police station (in the town of Nurba) to report that she had beaten up a man, previously unknown to her, and that he was lying on the street," said an investigator.

It was determined that on the evening of October 28, three friends, all female students at a Nurba college, had gone to a shop after volleyball practice to buy beer.