France
PARIS - The union representing most of the nation's striking truckers signed an agreement to end a five-day protest that has stymied commerce across several countries. But other unions opposed the accord and vowed to continue the strike.
Canada
TORONTO - North America's largest ever teacher's strike began to crumble as three of the five unions representing Ontario's 126,000 striking teachers told their members to go back to the classroom next week.
China
YICHANG - The government hailed the damming of the mighty Yangtze river, scheduled for Saturday, as a major milestone in the world's biggest hydropower project that will symbolize the nation's technical prowess.
South Africa
JOHANNESBURG - Seven German tourists were killed in a road accident when a bus overturned on a narrow road.
Taiwan
TAIPEI - The government in effect turned down China's invitation for a senior Taiwan negotiator to attend a seminar on the communist mainland, telling Beijing it would prefer to send a higher-level negotiator.
Northern Ireland
BELFAST - Sinn Fein, the political arm of the IRA, played down an internal row and said a guerrilla ceasefire in Northern Ireland was not under threat.
Indonesia
JAKARTA - The U.S. Agency for International Development donated $25,000 to Indonesians whose health has been affected by smog from forest fires raging in parts of the sprawling archipelago.
Yugoslavia
BELGRADE - A senior international mediator, Sir Arthur Watts, urged former Yugoslav republics to make quick progress on a lingering dispute over dividing the assets of the old Balkan federation.
Turkey
ANKARA - The Islam-based Welfare Party launched a bid to topple the conservative-led government by officially asking parliament to take up a censure motion against a Cabinet minister.
England
LONDON - Three men were arrested after officers from both sides of the Atlantic said they uncovered a "staggering" scam involving $800 million worth of fake U.S. Treasury bonds.
Burundi
BUJUMBURA - Hutu rebels killed at least 14 people and wounded two others in an attack on a camp for displaced people south of the capital, army officials said.
India
CALCUTTA - Typhoon Linda, which killed 455 people when it raked Vietnam last weekend, may not hit India but veer toward Burma and Bangladesh, a senior government meteorologist said.
Pakistan
KARACHI - Islamic religious students shut down Pakistan's largest city with a general strike protesting the killings of three of their teachers. The strike was called to protest Sunday's shooting deaths of three Sunni Muslim clerics from Karachi's Benuri mosque.
> South Korea
SEOUL - President Kim Young-sam quit the ruling party in a move that could further split the party's ranks a month before a presidential election.
Thailand
BANGKOK - Opposition leader Chuan Leekpai said he has gathered enough support among lawmakers to become the new prime minister, replacing one forced out by the nation's economic crisis.