Peru is staging one of its biggest summits in memory and has come up with a keepsake -- a giant stocking cap.

Around a dozen people with disabilities weaved what is billed as the world`s biggest chullo, the wool cap from the Andes that has turned into a global youth fashion symbol.

HERAT, Afghanistan, Oct 20, 2007 (AFP) - In the ancient Afghan city of Herat, the fight is on between restoring historical monuments, palaces and houses or demolishing them to make way for bleak structures of smoked glass and concrete.

The battle in this once-essential stop along the Silk Road seems to be going the way of demolition -- even if much of it is illegal.

Reconstruction needs a lot of time and work, as well as money and craftsmen skilled in ancient techniques necessary for recreating the vision of ancient architectural plans.

PRAGUE, Oct 18, 2007 (AFP) - A wave of protests threaten plans for an avant garde library in Prague, designed by world renowned architect Jan Kaplicky and known as 'the Octopus'.

The nine storey edifice with a large 'eye' staring out at the historic centre and Prague castle, has split inhabitants of the capital since the Czech-born architect and his London-based studio, Future Systems, was selected by an international jury.

MOSCOW, Oct 18, 2007 (AFP) - Russian President Vladimir Putin on Thursday jokingly compared his learning of German to training a circus bear, and said he studied English regularly to have 'normal' conversations with other leaders.

'Before I went to Germany and lived surrounded by the language, I did not possess it,' said Putin, who lived in Germany as a KGB officer before returning to Russia and becoming involved in politics in the early 1990s.

ABU DHABI, Oct 18, 2007 (AFP) - The oil-rich Gulf emirate of Abu Dhabi hosted its maiden film festival this week as it vies to become a regional cinema hub with plans to open a branch of the New York Film Academy.

'We will build the infrastructure necessary to enable you to shoot your movies here,' Abu Dhabi Film Commission chairman Abed Awwad told executives from regional and international production firms attending the Middle East International Film Festival which began on Sunday.

The festival, which ends on Friday, features more than 80 films from 38 countries.

MADRID, Oct 17, 2007 (AFP) - Two maps by the ancient Greek astronomer Claudius Ptolemy that were stolen from Spain's national library have been found in Argentina, police said Wednesday.

A lawyer went to Buenos Aires police on Tuesday with eight historical documents, including the two maps, that his client is believed to have taken from the library, Argentina's assistant police commissioner Marcelo Elaide told Spanish radio Cadena Ser.

PARIS, Oct 9, 2007 (AFP) - The French parliament on Tuesday approved plans to build a branch of the Louvre Museum in Abu Dhabi, despite opposition from leftists who say the venture cheapens France's top art institution.

The National Assembly endorsed the deal reached this year with Abu Dhabi to help develop the museum on an island off the coast of the capital of the United Arab Emirates.

GENEVA, Oct 9, 2007 (AFP) - Switzerland on Tuesday returned to Turkey a bronze hand which had been looted from a Roman archaelogical site near the southwestern Turkish town of Denizli, Swiss authorities said.

The artefact from the ancient Roman city of Laodiceia was sold at auction in Germany in 2005 to a Swiss bidder, who handed over the bronze after he learned that it had been stolen, the Swiss Federal Culture Office said in a statement.

PARIS, Oct 9, 2007 (AFP) - The French parliament was expected to approve plans Tuesday to build a branch of the Louvre Museum in Abu Dhabi, despite amid opposition from leftists who say the venture cheapens France's top art institution.

Culture Minister Christine Albanel was to appear before the National Assembly to defend the deal reached this year with Abu Dhabi to help develop the museum on an island off the coast of the capital of the United Arab Emirates.

CHICAGO, Oct 7, 2007 (AFP) - The Chicago Marathon was cancelled mid-run Sunday after a record-breaking heat wave killed one person and sent more than 350 to hospital, officials said.

But thousands of runners ignored official warnings and ploughed on even as temperatures soared to 31 degrees Celsius, (88 Fahrenheit) and overloaded aid stations ran out of water.

Scores fainted, fell over with cramps and even threw up from the heat and stress. Most pushed forward as sweat poured off their bodies and onlookers rang cowbells and shouted "you can do it!"