PRAIA, Cape Verde Islands - Army rebels and the government of Guinea-Bissau agreed in talks to meet
again next week when they will be joined by two international groups seeking to mediate in the conflict in the West African state.
BOSTON - U.S. scientists argued that the few remaining stocks of smallpox virus should be destroyed immediately, and not next year as scheduled, to end the risk they will be stolen cand used as a biological weapon.
HARARE - Zimbabwean President Robert Mugabe said he might be forced to use the police to evict black peasants who invade and try to illegally occupy mainly white-owned commercial farms.
WASHINGTON - Monica Lewinsky faces more questions from prosecutors about her affair with President Bill Clinton and her testimony may highlight contradictions with Clinton`s account of the relationship.
MOSCOW - Russia`s government met to discuss steps to contain financial crisis and review grim prospects for the 1999 budget as investors braced for the implementation of a domestic debt restructuring plan.
AMMAN - King Hussein of Jordan will appoint the chief of his royal court Fayez al-Tarawnah as prime minister. He would replace Abdul-Salam al-Majali, whose government has come under fire for its handling of a water pollution crisis, the introduction of a tough press law and a downturn in Jordan`s economy.
BAREILLY, India - India began evacuating thousands of villagers along two river valleys in the Himalayas as officials and relief agencies said the death toll in a series of landslides could cross 300.
BEIJING - A new flood crest surged towards China`s northeastern city of Harbin, punching holes in dikes, while troops across China fought to hold back raging waters in the biggest military mobilisation since 1949.
SEOUL - North Korea said its parliament will convene for the first time in four years, setting the scene for de facto leader Kim Jong-il to be elected president at a time of heightened tensions on the Korean peninsula.
LHOKSEUMAWE, Indonesia - Indonesia began its promised withdrawal of combat troops from Aceh, trucking 250 soldiers out of the troubled province.
KABUL - Afghanistan`s Taleban Islamic movement promised to protect dissident Saudi Arabian millionaire Osama bin Laden, saying the watch it keeps on him made it certain he was not behind the bombing of U.S. embassies in East Africa.
BELGRADE - A top European Union official warned of an impending "humanitarian catastrophe" for Kosovo refugees amid fresh reports of clashes in the Serbian province.
UNITED NATIONS - Sanctions against Iraq are certain to remain unchanged when the Security Council - currently involved in a stand-off with Baghdad - holds a periodic review of the wide-ranging curbs on Thursday.
WASHINGTON - A Senate panel will hold a hearing next month into reports that U.S. officials intervened secretly to stop U.N. weapons teams from mounting surprise inspections in Iraq.
DUBLIN - The Irish government has unveiled sweeping measures designed to stamp out renegade republican guerrilla groups, prompting Northern Ireland`s Protestant First Minister to call on Britain to follow suit.
LOME - Togo`s Foreign Minister Koffi Panou said an alleged armed incursion from Ghana was by followers of exiled opposition leader Gilchrist Olympio and a business associate.
