31.   A powerful explosion ripped through a commercial area in a northwestern Brazilian city Sunday, seriously injuring five people and razing a city block, Brazilian media reported.

32.   A Salvadoran businessman kidnapped last month was found dead, his body wrapped inside a plastic garbage bag, Salvadoran media reported Monday.

33.   A ruling Liberal Democratic Party panel is expected to come up with specific market supporting proposals by the end of this month, Japanese media reported Thursday.

34.   A top aide to Serbian President Slobodan Milosevic was shot and killed overnight in a Belgrade restaurant, independent media reported Friday.

35.   A military court in Uzice has sentenced a close associate of an opposition leader in absentia to two years in prison for draft dodging, Belgrade media reported Sunday.

36.   A suicide bomber exploded at a northern Israeli junction early Monday morning, killing himself but no others, Israeli media reported.

37.   A top Chinese legislative official was killed fighting off a burglar, official media reported Saturday.

38.   About a dozen people in the hamlet refused to go, fearing they would lose their possessions, crops or farm animals, local media reported.

39.   A top international official in Albania received an anonymous death threat connected to an upcoming constitutional referendum, media reported Friday.

40.   A woman stricken with cholera in southern Ukraine may be the first registered case of the disease in the country this year, local media reported Friday.