AP - China this week launches its most ambitious space mission yet, a sign of rising confidence as Beijing cements its status as a space power and potential future competitor to the United States.

AP - The first excavation of Stonehenge in more than 40 years has uncovered evidence that the stone circle drew ailing pilgrims from around Europe for what they believed to be its healing properties, archaeologists said Monday.

AFP - Indian fuel giant Reliance said it would boost domestic oil and gas output by 40 percent over the next 18 months, calling the move a "quantum leap" toward national energy self-sufficiency.

AFP - The most prominent armed group in southern Nigeria, MEND, declared a ceasefire on Sunday following a week of attacks on oil industry targets after launching an "oil war".

AFP - Severe flooding across Thailand has left at least 16 people dead and affected more than half a million people, the government said Sunday.

AP - Scientists expect startup glitches in the massive, complex machines they use to smash atoms.

AFP - The European commercial space-launch consortium Arianespace on Saturday signed a deal with the Russian space agency Roskosmos to acquire 10 new Soyuz launchers for around 500 million dollars (347 million euros), a French diplomatic source told AFP.

AP - The weather was quiet over much of the country Saturday, with dry conditions, mild temperatures and only widely scattered areas of precipitation.

AFP - Militants in Nigeria said Saturday they had destroyed a pipeline run by Royal Dutch Shell in the sixth attack of a declared "oil war," with the armed group vowing to reduce oil exports to "zero."