AFP - Four giant panda cubs have been born within just 14 hours in China, giving a rare boost to the population of the endangered species, state media said Sunday.

AFP - Egypt denied on Sunday that it had banned a book by a British journalist about Egyptian politics and society entitled "Inside Egypt: The Land of the Pharaohs on the Brink of a Revolution."

AFP - Finland's already struggling paper makers are bracing for a new crunch as soaring Russian export duties on wood threaten to laden one of the Nordic country's most important sectors with a paralysing raw material shortage.

AP - The Chinese capital was shrouded in thick gray smog on Sunday, just 12 days before the opening ceremony of the Beijing Olympic Games. One expert warned that drastic measures enacted to cut vehicle and factory emissions in the city were no guarantee skies would be clear during competitions.

AP - Every evening for the past four months, a tall young man with soulful blue eyes has been stealing hearts across the Middle East, from the refugee camps of the Gaza Strip to the gated mansions of Riyadh.

AP - Ko Nyi Thaut lost six of his children and all his possessions when Cyclone Nargis hit Myanmar three months ago. But the 53-year-old farmer still has his rice fields. The surprise, say aid workers, is how quickly he and others have gone back to work.

AP - Gunmen hiding in reeds in a Sunni town south of Baghdad killed seven Shiite pilgrims Sunday as they were marching to a shrine in the capital for a major holiday, officials said.

AP - An obscure Islamic militant group warning of "the terror of Death" claimed responsibility for bombings that killed at least 45 people and authorities stepped up security Sunday after India's second series of blasts in two days.

Reuters - Qantas was ordered on Sunday to check all oxygen bottles on its fleet of Boeing 747s after investigators said an exploding oxygen bottle might have ripped a hole in a Qantas 747, forcing it to make an emergency landing at Manila.

AFP - Polls closed in Cambodia on Sunday after general elections widely expected to extend Prime Minister Hun Sen's 23-year grip on power.

AP - President Raul Castro warned Washington that Cuba would keep its defenses up no matter who wins November's U.S. presidential election, but failed to announce any new changes to the communist system during a speech Saturday.

AP - Turkish warplanes on Sunday bombed 12 Kurdish rebel targets in northern Iraq, the military said.

AFP - Lufthansa, the biggest German airline, faces a tumultuous strike during its busiest season after members of the German trade union Verdi voted to press demands for pay raises.