PHILADELPHIA, Nov. 30  -- One of the last independent bookstores in Philadelphia, and likely the city's oldest bookstore, is closing its doors, its owner says.

Robin's Bookstore, founded in 1936 by the current owner's grandfather, will be shuttered Jan. 31, The Philadelphia Inquirer reported Saturday. Larry Robin, who lives over the shop, plans to rent out the ground floor while holding poetry readings and other literary events -- with some used books for sale -- on the second floor.

Robin said the combination of competition from chains such as Barnes and Noble and the economic slump have taken the business from "bad bearable to bad unbearable." His income from the store has dropped to less than $30,000.

Manila  - Three communist rebels were killed and three soldiers wounded in combat in the northern Philippines, police said Sunday.

The clash erupted in the village of Anupol in Bamban town in Tarlac province, 75 kilometres north of Manila, on Friday.

Chief Superintendent Leon Nilo Dela Cruz, a regional police director, said the soldiers were on patrol when they encountered about 40 guerrillas.

He said checkpoints were established in Bamban and nearby towns in a bid to hunt down the guerrillas.

Manila  - Philippine President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo on Sunday ordered the foreign affairs department to repatriate hundreds of Filipinos stranded in Thailand after two airports in Bangkok were shut down by political protestors last week.

Executive Secretary Eduardo Ermita said Arroyo ordered the release of 15,000 dollars for assistance to the Filipinos unable to return home after the Suvarnabhumi and Don Mueang airports in Bangkok were blockaded.

Manila  - Philippine President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo on Sunday ordered the foreign affairs department to repatriate nearly 200 Filipinos stranded in Thailand after two airports in Bangkok were shut down by political protestors last week.

Executive Secretary Eduardo Ermita said Arroyo ordered the release of 15,000 dollars for assistance to at least 174 Filipinos unable to return home after the Suvarnabhumi and Don Mueang airports in Bangkok were blockaded.

Manila  - A German tourist was found dead inside his hotel room in a central Philippine city and authorities were suspecting foul play, a police report said Saturday.

Guido Dauerer, 43, was found dead Friday in the bathroom of his hotel room in Dumaguete City, in Negros Oriental province, 525 kilometres south of Manila.

The report said a maid saw the bed covered with blood and called other hotel employees and police.

Investigators found the body of the victim, face down and hunched over the toilet bowl. There were lacerations on his left arm.

The victim, who was a regular visitor in Dumaguete, checked into the hotel on November 21.

Cotabato City, Philippines  - Police on Saturday foiled a bombing in the southern Philippines with the discovery of an improvised explosive outside a church, a town police chief said.

Chief Inspector Franklin Anito said the improvised bomb was recovered at dawn in front of a local Christian church in Kabacan town in North Cotabato province, 960 kilometres south of Manila.

Passers-by alerted the police about a suspicious plastic bag left outside the Iglesia ni Cristo (Church of Christ) church in downtown Kabacan, Anito said.

"Bomb experts immediately went to the area and discovered the explosive device," he said. "The device was successfully defused."