JOHANNESBURG - Prince Charles touched down in Johannesburg at the start of an eight-day tour of southern Africa, his first major engagement since Princess Diana's death two months ago.
ZUWARAH, Libya - Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi met South African President Mandela and reiterated his refusal to extradite two Libyans sought by the West for the 1988 airliner bombing over Lockerbie.
NAIROBI - Peace talks between the Sudanese government and rebels aimed at ending Africa's longest-running war were due to open in Nairobi after a three-year break.
SYDNEY - The Australian share market soared on Wednesday rising 181 points, or close to 8.0 percent, by the midsession, surpassing Wall Street's record rally, but some dealers warned the turn around could be short-lived.
PARIS - French truckers said wage negotiations with employers had been suspended early on Wednesday morning, and that there was little chance of heading off an industrial conflict before a Sunday deadline.
WASHINGTON - U.S. President Bill Clinton and Chinese President Jiang Zemin were set to agree on key nuclear issues at the first U.S.-Sino summit in eight years, talks both sides hope will lead to a new cooperative spirit. China publicly defended its policy on Tibet.
PARIS - Gunmen cut the throats of six farm guards, murdered a restaurant owner and killed two government soldiers in separate attacks in Algeria, Algerian newspapers said.
ISTANBUL - A Kurdish faction said Turkish warplanes had used cluster bombs and napalm to attack its positions in northern Iraq.
HEBRON, West Bank - Israel reopened a main road in Hebron to general Palestinian traffic for the first time since a Jewish settler massacred 29 Arabs in the West Bank city in 1994.
DUSHANBE - Russian border guards have shot dead two and detained one armed men trying to cross into Tajikistan from Afghanistan.
KOUROU, French Guiana - The countdown for Thursday's long postponed launch from French Guiana of Western Europe's second Ariane-5 rocket is on schedule.
CAMBRIDGE, Mass - After more than five hours of deliberation, the Massachusetts jury deciding the fate of a British au pair accused of murdering a baby was excused for the night without reaching a verdict.
PARAMARIBO, Suriname - Suriname said it had arrested four more people suspected of belonging to a group of low-ranking soldiers plotting to overthrow the government.
DALLAS - Paula Jones' attorneys in her sexual harassment lawsuit against President Clinton subpoenaed Gennifer Flowers, the former cabaret singer who says she had a long affair with Clinton.
BOGOTA - Many candidates running for local office were elected with just a handful of votes in Colombia's weekend elections because of mass abstention by voters frightened by leftist and rightist threats.
BORDEAUX, France - A medical expert ruled that Maurice Papon would probably be fit to return on Friday to his trial for crimes against humanity in Nazi-occupied France.
BAGHDAD - President Saddam Hussein chaired a meeting of Iraq's leadership to discuss a recommendation by the National Assembly to suspend ties with UN arms inspectors.
WASHINGTON - Secretary of State Madeleine Albright turned up the pressure on Israel to start peace talks with the Palestinians.
Autor: Edited by zuzana vilikovská
