IN BRIEF (Page 10)

Merkel seeks change in behavior amid spying row

Chancellor says scandal likely won't undermine trans-Atlantic trade deal

Afghan rivals agree to resolve dispute over votes

Afghanistan's two presidential candidates have agreed to a historic deal to audit all eight million votes cast in the disputed election after two days of intense shuttle diplomacy by top US diplomat John Kerry.

Girl who was supposedly HIV-free suffers relapse

A US girl born with the AIDS virus and in remission for years despite stopping treatment now shows signs that she still harbors the human immunodeficiency virus - and therefore is not cured. The news is a setback to those who hoped that very early treatment with powerful HIV drugs might reverse an infection that has seemed permanent once it takes hold.

Dinosaur skeletons returning home to Mongolia

US officials on Thursday turned over to the Mongolian government enough 80 million-year-old dinosaur skeletons to stock a museum, including two relics of a kind of dinosaur that a prosecutor said "memorably stampeded" in a Hollywood movie.

Uruguay's Mujica: Florist, guerrilla and president

A former florist, guerrilla and prisoner now known as the world's poorest president, Uruguayan President Jose Mujica says he has had "an extraordinary life".

India building highest railway bridge

Indian engineers are toiling in the Himalayas to build the world's highest railway bridge, which is expected to be 35 meters taller than Paris' Eiffel Tower when completed by 2016.

Israel downs 3 Hamas rockets

Three Gaza rockets were shot down over the Tel Aviv area on Friday as Hamas militants claimed they had fired M75 missiles at the Israeli city's airport.

Strikes could breach laws of war, UN says

Israel could be violating the laws of war by bombing Palestinian homes in Gaza, the UN's human rights office said on Friday, as the death toll from the Israeli strikes rose to 100.

Kerry seeks to broker end to Afghan election crisis

US Secretary of State John Kerry sought on Friday to mediate an end to the political crisis in Afghanistan, warning that a bitter dispute over presidential polls threatened the country's future.

Putin: Emerging powers must play bigger role in world affairs

Russian President Vladimir Putin, speaking on the eve of a trip to Latin America, said Brazil and other emerging powers must play a greater role in world affairs, suggesting they could do more to counter US influence.

Officials to bang heads together in talks

Britain and Germany's foreign ministers will join US Secretary of State John Kerry in Vienna this weekend to seek to bridge what Washington called "significant gaps" in ongoing nuclear talks with Iran, London and Berlin said on Friday.