AFP - The chairman of the Eurogroup of finance ministers Jean-Claude Juncker said Friday that a French plan to cut value added tax on oil to help ease fuel prices was not "preposterous" and should be debated.

AP - Hardline Likud Party leader Benjamin Netanyahu would win national elections if a corruption probe topples Prime Minister Ehud Olmert, an Israeli poll showed Friday.

AP - Afghanistan will ask international donors next month for $4 billion to revive its agricultural sector, but it could be a hard sell with another massive crop of opium expected this year.

AP - China's official news agency says officials worried that a lake could burst have ordered 1.3 million people to evacuate in Sichuan province.

AP - Human rights and aid groups complained Friday that Myanmar's military government was still hindering the free flow of international help for victims of Cyclone Nargis.

AP - The world's rarest rhino does not like the limelight. A Javan Rhino was captured on video attacking a camera set up in an Indonesian jungle to study the habits of the animal, apparently because she sensed the lens was a threat to her calf, the WWF said Thursday.

AFP - Lacklustre South Africa edged neighbours Swaziland 1-0 in a non-cap international friendly match at chilly Germiston Stadium Thursday.

Reuters - A strong earthquake rocked Iceland on Thursday, damaging roads and buildings in one town and sending frightened residents running into the streets.

AP - Myanmar's ruling junta lashed out Thursday at aid donors who promised millions of dollars for cyclone relief, saying survivors didn't need "bars of chocolate."

AP - A U.N. conference on Iraq ended Thursday with a declaration encouraging debt forgiveness but without commitments from its biggest creditors.

AP - A suicide bomber blew himself up Thursday in a crowd of police recruits in northwestern Iraq, killing at least 16 men and wounding 14 others, an official said.