VANCOUVER, Nov 17, 2007 (AFP) - Some 650 people attended the funeral Saturday of a Polish emigree who died at Vancouver airport after police stunned him with a Taser, a disturbing incident that was videotaped by a bystander and shown around the world.

'We were quite surprised. People came from everywhere,' said Kamloops Funeral Home employee Lawrence Schrader. The funeral home owner, Zofia Cisowski, also the mother of the 40-year-old victim, Robert Dziekanski, had planned for 100 mourners, he said.

LONDON, Oct 17, 2007 (AFP) - Bury me naked. Put a mobile phone in the coffin. Cremate me with my pet's ashes. Bury me with my teeth in. And do make sure I'm actually dead.

Those were some of the most popular requests by people planning their funerals, according to research by the British charity Age Concern, which promotes the interests of elderly people.

Britain is known for being a nation of animal lovers and it seems Britons cannot bear to be separated from their beloved pets -- even when both parties are dead.

WASHINGTON, Oct 15, 2007 (AFP) - A top US Air Force acquisition official who had been in the news recently because of his work with a defense contractor was found dead at his home on Sunday, an apparent suicide, a defense official said Monday.

Charles Riechers, deputy assistant secretary of the air force for acquisition, 'passed away this weekend,' said Lieutenant Colonel Ed Thomas, an air force spokesman. 'The detail of the incident are still under investigation.'

PARIS, Oct 10, 2007 (AFP) - Rights groups on Wednesday staged a mock hanging in central Paris to denounce executions in Iran and mark World Day against the Death Penalty.

An effigy masked in black was hoisted by the neck on a crane above the crowd of a few dozen people, also wearing black, in front of a poster showing the same technique used in real-life hangings in Iran.

'We decided to focus our protest on Iran, where the number of executions skyrocketed this year,' said organiser Emmanuel Maistre, citing the number of 210 executions since the start of the year.

BRUSSELS, Oct 10, 2007 (AFP) - EU lawmakers observed a minute of silence Wednesday for victims of capital punishment to mark the World Day against the Death Penalty, with their president criticising China in particular.

'The death penalty must disappear across the world and the Olympic Games next year offer the occasion to break the wall of silence behind which China hides,' said European Parliament president Hans-Gert Poettering.

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 through the race even as temperatures soared to 31 degrees Celsius (88 Fahrenheit) and overloaded aid stations ran out of water.

'We tried blocking the route and people just ran through the police line or jumped over their bikes,' said Joe Roccasalva, a spokesman for the Chicago fire department which oversaw race safety.

LUSAKA, Sept 30, 2007 (AFP) - Polish-born Roman Catholic Cardinal Adam Kozlowiecki, the first Archbishop of the Zambian capital Lusaka, has died in Zambia aged 96, the Church announced Sunday.

Kozlowiecki died of an old age-related illness in Lusaka on Friday, Church spokesman Father Paul Samasumo said in a statement.

'Always jovial and simple, the Cardinal will be greatly missed,' the statement said.

Kozlowiecki was ordained a priest in 1937 before being held by the Nazis at the Auschwitz and Dachau camps during World War II.

STRASBOURG, Sept 27, 2007 (AFP) - The Council of Europe on Thursday proclaimed a European Day against the Death Penalty for October 10, after Poland blocked European Union plans to do the same.

The Committee of Ministers of the Council of Europe, which brings together representatives from 47 nations, expressed the hope that the EU would join the initiative 'as soon as possible'.

MIAMI, Sept 26, 2007 (AFP) - One man was found dead on Wednesday after he was thrown from his boat as he tried to avoid a large fish that jumped out of the water in a Florida river, where collisions with sturgeons have injured nine boaters this year.

'His body was found this morning,' said Karen Parker, of the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission (FWC).

The 22-year-old was reported missing on Tuesday after he and another man were ejected from their small motorboat as they swerved to avoid a fish that suddenly jumped out of the water.

PARIS, Sept 24, 2007 (AFP) - A Chinese woman who jumped from a Paris window thinking she was being sought by immigration officials has died in hospital, doctors said Monday.

The 51-year-old illegal immigrant tried to flee her flat on Thursday when she saw police arrive below, but she landed badly on her head and fell into a coma. She died on Friday.

According to the police, the officers were not on her trail but wanted to talk to a Chinese man who shared her flat about an alleged theft.

PARIS, Sept 4, 2007 (AFP) - Here are a couple of career tips for anyone who wants to be a rock star yet also avoid the price of fame -- fatal overdoses, binge boozing, car wrecks, suicide -- that go with it.

Try to survive beyond the first five years after your first big hit.

Oh, and try to be a Brit, too.

That way, the chances of joining Paul McCartney, Mick Jagger and Elton John in qualifying for your pensioner's bus pass rise hugely.

HARARE, Sept 2, 2007 (AFP) - Two people were killed during a stampede at a fireworks display at the close of the annual Zimbabwe agricultural show, police said on Sunday.

Police spokesman James Sabau that a woman and a boy, whose ages were not given, died on the spot after they were trampled upon as thousands of people rushed to leave the sprawling showgrounds in Harare on Saturday night.

The show drew farmers from across the nation, once southern Africa's bread-Basketball but currently suffering from severe food shortages.

LAGOS, Aug 12, 2007 (AFP) - A foreign hostage died shortly after being released at the weekend in oil-rich southern Nigeria, a military officer said Sunday.

'He was abducted by militants. They demanded a ransom but no ransom was paid and a group of community leaders went to release him. He died before he could be taken to hospital for treatment,' Major Omale Ochaguba of the Joint Task Force told AFP.

Five of the man's abductors had also been arrested at the weekend, he added.

The incident happened in or near the Bayelsa state capital Yenagoa.

LOS ANGELES, Aug 3, 2007 (AFP) - A man working as a caretaker in a home owned by 'Pulp Fiction' star Ving Rhames was found dead inside the property, apparently the victim of a vicious attack by two dogs, police said Friday.

The man, who as in his 40s, had dog bites all over his body when he was found in the upscale Los Angeles suburb of Brentwood, but a coroner has yet to determine the exact cause of death, authorities said.

BUCHAREST, Aug 3, 2007 (AFP) - The patriarch of the Romanian Orthodox Church, Teoctist I, was buried Friday in Bucharest's Patriarchal Church in a ceremony attended by top Romanian officials and delegations from sister congregations.

Teoctist died Monday aged 92 after suffering a heart attack following an operation.

Some 4,000 faithful followed the funeral mass, celebrated by the Ecumenical Patriarch of Constantinople Bartholomew I, on giant screens in front of the church. It was also broadcast live on all Romanian television stations.

BANGALORE, India, Aug 3, 2007 (AFP) - The Indian parents of a man who died overnight after crashing a vehicle into Glasgow airport a month ago were Friday clinging desperately to the hope that he is not their son.

Moqbool and Zakia Ahmed haven't received any confirmation from British authorities the man is their son Kafeel Ahmed, 27, who died after fighting for his life for a month in hospital with severe burns, said the family's lawyer.

BANGALORE, India, Aug 3, 2007 (AFP) - The Indian parents of a man who died overnight after crashing a vehicle into Glasgow airport a month ago said Friday they were still waiting official confirmation he was their son.

'We are waiting for confirmation of the identity of the person who received 80 percent burns,' family lawyer B.T. Venkatash told AFP.

'Till today, British authorities have not identified him as Kafeel Ahmed (to his family),' the lawyer said.

'Once we get information regarding the same we will be able to make a statement.'

LONDON, Aug 2, 2007 (AFP) - One of the men wanted in connection with the failed June 30 car bomb attack at Glasgow airport died in hospital Thursday, British police said.

Kafeel Ahmed, 27, suffered 90 percent burns to his body in the attack at Scotland's biggest airport, which came a day after a linked failed incident in London.

Ahmed, an engineer from Bangalore in India, was the driver of a Jeep Cherokee sports utility vehicle, packed with gas canisters, which crashed into the front of Glasgow airport, setting the SUV and part of the building ablaze.

BUCHAREST, July 30, 2007 (AFP) - The patriarch of the Romanian Orthodox Church, Teoctist I, died Monday aged 92 after suffering a heart attack following a prostate operation in Bucharest, a hospital source said.

'The patriarch died at 5:00 pm local time (1400GMT),' doctor Constantin Sava said.

Teoctist had been admitted to Fundeni hospital in Bucharest Monday morning for his operation.

Sava said the patriarch's condition following the operation had been 'good' but he had then suffered a heart attack following 'complications'.

GHAZNI, Afghanistan, July 30, 2007 (AFP) - Afghanistan's Taliban militia said it shot dead late Monday a South Korean hostage, among 23 captured two weeks ago, after its deadlines expired for the government to free prisoners.

'We set several deadlines and the Afghan government did not pay attention to our deadlines,' spokesman Yousuf Ahmadi told AFP. 'Finally tonight at 8:30 (1600 GMT) we killed one of the Koreans named Sung Sin with AK-47 gunshots.'

GHAZNI, Afghanistan, July 31, 2007 (AFP) - Afghanistan's Taliban militia said it shot dead a South Korean hostage late Monday after its deadlines expired for the government to free prisoners in jail.

'We set several deadlines and the Afghan government did not pay attention to our deadlines,' spokesman Yousuf Ahmadi told AFP. 'Finally tonight at 8.30 we killed one of the Koreans named Sung Sin with AK-47 gunshots.'