Paris (AFP) Jul 24, 2006 - Europe braced for a fresh onslaught of oven-hot temperatures on Monday as governments and charity groups mobilized to try to avoid further deaths from a heatwave that has already killed more than 30 people across the continent.
Thiruvananthapuram, India (AFP) Jul 24, 2006 - Fish rained down on the Indian village of Manna last week, startling locals who hailed the phenomenon as a miracle.
London (AFP) Jul 24, 2006 - Violence, disease and malnutrition in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) kills 1,200 people a day -- more than half of them children, a UN report said Monday.
London (AFP) Jul 24, 2006 - SABMiller, the world's second-biggest brewer, said on Monday that its Chinese affiliate CR Snow had agreed to buy Yinyan Brewery in China for 42.3 million dollars (33.5 million euros).
Tokyo (AFP) Jul 24, 2006 - Japan refused entry Monday to five North Koreans seeking to repatriate remains of enslaved ancestors, invoking one of a raft of sanctions imposed over Pyongyang's missile tests.
Lagos (AFP) Jul 24, 2006 - A bustling computer market in Lagos, Nigeria's commercial capital, on Monday was allowed to stay in business after pledging to dispose of its dangerous waste properly, traders and officials said.
Kuala Lumpur (AFP) Jul 24, 2006 - North Korea will meet South Korea on the sidelines of an Asian forum this week but is unwilling to join six-nation talks on Pyongyang's nuclear programme, Malaysia's foreign minister said Monday.
Bujumbura (AFP) Jul 24, 2006 - Burundi's last active rebel group is demanding to have more than half of the slots in the country's army in peace talks with the government that have repeatedly faltered on the issue of the military, officials said Monday.
Warsaw (AFP) Jul 24, 2006 - Polish Agriculture Minister Andrzej Lepper warned on Monday that a drought caused by baking summer temperatures would cut Poland's cereal harvest by 20.0 percent.
Kuala Lumpur (AFP) Jul 24, 2006 - North Korea's missile tests will worsen an already poor rights situation in the country, having led its neighbours to impose sanctions including a halt in food aid, a UN official said.
Jakarta (AFP) Jul 24, 2006 - East Timorese police who had illegally kept weapons in their homes for protection during weeks of unrest surrendered dozens of firearms to Australian peacekeepers on Monday, the head of the force said.
Paris (AFP) Jul 24, 2006 - French Health Minister Xavier Bertrand on Monday appealed to medical students and retired doctors to help reinforce emergency health services during the heatwave underway in the country.
Beijing (AFP) Jul 24, 2006 - China's communist party will hold a key annual meeting in October, with the focus on how to slow the rapid pace of the Asian giant's investment-driven economic growth, state media said Monday.
Geneva (AFP) Jul 24, 2006 - Seven nations, spanning five continents, on Monday formally launched an initiative aimed at stifling the supply of weapons that fuel conflicts and terrorism.
London (AFP) Jul 24, 2006 - British Prime Minister Tony Blair will fly to Washington on Friday for talks with US President George W. Bush, his spokesman confirmed Monday, with Israel's offensive in Lebanon high on the agenda.
Washington (AFP) Jul 24, 2006 - The United States on Monday confirmed but played down news reports that Pakistan is building a powerful new nuclear reactor and urged Islamabad not to use the facility for military purposes.
