CULTURE AND SPORT

Brazil's presidential election is to go to an October 31 runoff after the ruling party candidate won elections but not by enough to avoid a second round.

The United States is considering issuing an alert advising Americans traveling to Europe to be vigilant.

North Korea confirmed it has proposed talks with South Korea on the possible restarting of cross-border tours by southerners to a jointly-run resort.

Those loud grunts some tennis players make when hitting the ball could actually have a negative effect on their opponents, scientists said.

Hong Kong is staging a series of auctions this month aimed at tapping mainland Chinese buyers' growing wealth.

Ecuador President Rafael Correa was back at work Friday under tight security after loyalist troops rescued him from a police mutiny in a day of gunfire and street clashes.

The mysteries of bat sex and whale snot and an unusual way to deal with human pain were the focus Thursday of the annual tongue-in-cheek Ig Nobel Prizes.

Australian spy agencies may have helped trace the movements of WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange, reports said Friday.

More than 2,500 martial artists will participate in a festival for the Millennium celebrations at Hanoi's Quan Ngua Sports Centre.

A forum set up to tackle tax fraud and bank secrecy said countries were taking their commitments seriously but urged greater transparency.

Al-Qaeda chief Osama bin Laden is involved in an unfolding plot to launch attacks on European cities and may have even targeted the United States, NPR reported.

A Vietnamese film week entitled New voices from Vietnam will take place in Beverly Hills, California in the US from November 5 to 14.

Nearly one in 10 Americans is depressed, and one in 30 meets the criteria for major depression, a study said.

North Korea on Thursday published a photograph of the youngest son and heir apparent to the communist state's ailing leader Kim Jong-Il.

Yemen's foreign minister acknowledged the United States has launched attacks on Al-Qaeda in his country in an interview published on Thursday.

Seoul insisted it would demand an apology from Pyongyang for the sinking of one of its warships as North and South Korea began their first military talks for two years.

US astronomers said they have discovered an Earth-sized planet that they think might be habitable, orbiting a nearby star.

Western intelligence agencies have uncovered an Al-Qaeda plot to launch attacks in Britain, France and Germany by extremists based in Pakistan.

Spaniards battled rush-hour travel chaos and pickets rallied outside factories as unions launched a 24-hour general strike to protest tough government labour reforms.