AFP - Iran is to scrap a number of liquefied natural gas (LNG) projects in order to expand its capacity to export gas by pipeline, the oil ministry's Shana agency reported on Monday.

AFP - Scientists in China have mapped the genome of the giant panda, which could yield a better understanding of why the endangered animals are so famously sex-shy, state media said on Monday.

Reuters - Tropical Depression 15 formed in the Caribbean and will likely strengthen into a tropical storm Monday but will not threaten the oil-rich Gulf of Mexico as it moves toward the Atlantic, the U.S. National Hurricane Center said.

AFP - It's been touted as a solution to urban India's traffic woes, chronic pollution and fossil fuel dependence, as well as an escape from backbreaking human toil.

AFP - Almost half of Hong Kong's aid package to help China's quake-stricken Sichuan will be used to restore a giant panda reserve, the government said Sunday.

Reuters - U.S. video game magnate Richard Garriott blasted off into space aboard a Russian rocket on Sunday watched by his father, a NASA astronaut who went into space at the height of the Cold War.

AP - Norbert dissipated into a tropical depression over the northern mountains of mainland Mexico on Sunday, after ripping off roofs, flooding streets, and forcing thousands to seek shelter in Baja California.

AP - An American computer game designer reached space Sunday, fulfilling a long-deferred childhood dream that began with the flight of his astronaut father.

AP - The economic free fall gripping the nation may bring down one of the main environmental objectives: capping the greenhouse gases that are blamed for global warming.

AFP - Peruvian President Alan Garcia on Saturday named Yehude Simon, a leftist governor once jailed for alleged links to outlawed Tupac Amaru rebels, as the country's next prime minister.