MANILA, Philippines — Suspected Muslim guerrillas detonated a bomb near a Roman Catholic cathedral in the southern Philippines today, killing at least three people and wounding more than two dozen others.

The bomb exploded outside the Immaculate Conception cathedral in Cotabato city as churchgoers walked out after a Mass.

Regional military commander Maj. Gen. Alfredo Cayton blamed the 11,500-strong Moro Islamic Liberation Front, which has been targeted by a monthslong military offensive.

2 AID WORKERS ABDUCTED IN DARFUR

DUBLIN, Ireland — The head of an Irish humanitarian aid agency appealed yesterday for the release of two of its employees kidnapped in Darfur.

John O'Shea, chief executive of GOAL, said the group had not heard from the abductors of Irishwoman Sharon Commins, 32, and her Ugandan colleague, Hilda Kuwuki, 42. The international peacekeeping mission in the troubled desert region said they were abducted by gunmen in the Kutum area of north Darfur on Friday.

2 DEAD AFTER N.C. FIREWORKS EXPLOSION

OCRACOKE, N.C. — A second worker has died from injuries he suffered after a fireworks truck exploded on a North Carolina island.

A spokesman for a Chapel Hill burn center says the worker died about six hours after the blast yesterday.

Three other workers were injured when the truck exploded as the workers prepared for the annual Independence Day fireworks display on the Ocracoke Island docks.

The men worked for Melrose South Pyrotechnics near Rock Hill, S.C. The company has sent an official to work with investigators.

SEVERE FLOODING IN CHINA KILLS 16

BEIJING — At least 16 people have died and more than 320,000 have evacuated homes in southern and central China after heavy rains toppled houses, flooded roads and damaged a dam, the official Xinhua News Agency said.

The county government estimated damage at $31 million.

Floodwaters along a major commercial thoroughfare in Rongshui were more than 8 feet deep, a CCTV report said today. It said it was the highest water level the county has seen in a decade.

HEROIN STUFFED IN BUILD-A-BEAR TOYS

NEW YORK — A dozen people have been arrested, and 33 pounds of heroin worth $30 million and stuffed inside Build-A-Bear toys has been seized in a drug bust in the Bronx.

The arrests were announced yesterday by the New York office of the Drug Enforcement Administration along with city and state police.

Authorities say the arrests broke up a drug ring that each week sold hundreds of thousands of small bags of drugs.