UNITED NATIONS , Aug 31, 2007 (AFP) - UN chief Ban Ki-moon on Friday ordered a high-level internal probe after potentially hazardous chemicals mistakenly shipped from an Iraqi chemical weapons plant more than a decade ago were found in a UN office in New York.

In a statement released from the Italian city of Turin where he is attending a seminar on UN reforms, Ban said he had asked some of his top aides to rush back to UN headquarters to look into the matter.

ATHENS, Aug 22, 2007 (AFP) - A Nigerian diplomat called for calm Wednesday after several days of clashes over the death of an immigrant in the northern Greek city of Salonika, which protestors have blamed on police.

'I want to advise my fellow citizens to be calm,' said Nigeria's charge d'affaires Mohammed Sani Dole in a statement issued by Greek police after Dole met with the head of the Greek police, Anastassios Dimoshakis.

ATHENS, Aug 20, 2007 (AFP) - Nigerian immigrants Monday clashed anew with Greek police following the death of a compatriot who jumped from the terrace of a cafe because he thought authorities had come to arrest him.

Several protestors marched on a police station in the western city of Salonika, where the 25-year-old man died on Saturday.

Holding up photographs of the man, they threw stones at the police station and shattered the windows and windscreens of parked cars. Police then fired tear gas shells to disperse the crowd.

MOSCOW, Aug 20, 2007 (AFP) - Russian police have uncovered two caches of World War II-era weapons near the Moscow to Saint-Petersburg highway and an adjacent oil pipeline, reports said Monday.

A total of 108 rounds of ammunition, including mortar shells, artillery rounds and hand grenades, were discovered, a spokesman for the Leningrad region military district told RIA Novosti news agency.

The road was closed briefly while sappers cleared the site.

MOSCOW, Aug 20, 2007 (AFP) - Russian police overnight found two weapons caches hidden meters away from the Moscow-Saint-Petersburg highway and an oil pipeline, NTV television reported Monday.

The first cache contained some 40 mines and shells, while the other concealed two bombs, officials said, adding that the discovered weaponry apparently dated back to the second World War.

Last week, a homemade explosive device placed on the tracks derailed a Moscow-Saint Petersburg train, injuring 60 passengers.

ATHENS, Aug 19, 2007 (AFP) - Nigerian immigrants clashed with police in northern Greece after the death of a Nigerian man who jumped from an upstairs terrace because he thought authorities had come to arrest him, police said Sunday.

A group of Nigerians and young people wearing hoods gathered overnight in front of a cafe in Kalamaria, a suburb of Salonika, where the 25-year-old man had jumped, throwing objects at police who arrived at the scene.

Police responded by throwing tear gas, local media reported.

BUCHAREST, Aug 14, 2007 (AFP) - An Emirates Airlines flight travelling between Frankfurt and Dubai made an emergency landing in Romania Tuesday evening after smoke was spotted in the cargo bay, an airport official said.

The 194 passengers on board the Airbus A330 were able to get off the plane safely, said a spokesman for Bucharest airport, Florin Iordache.

The source of the smoke had not yet been determined, he said.

BUCHAREST, Aug 14, 2007 (AFP) - An Emirates Airlines flight travelling between Frankfurt and Dubai made an emergency landing in Romania Tuesday evening after smoke was spotted in the cargo bay, an airport official said.

The 194 passengers on board the Airbus A330 were able to get off the plane safely, said a spokesman for Bucharest airport, Florin Iordache.

The source of the smoke had not yet been determined, he said.

NICOSIA, Aug 1, 2007 (AFP) - A Spanish fisherman and an elderly Cypriot woman died of heatstroke as the holiday island sizzled in temperatures touching 40 degrees celsius (104 Fahrenheit) on Wednesday, doctors said.

The fisherman was found dead in his cabin in a trawler anchored at Limassol hours after after police rescued an ailing fellow crew member at sea.

The 38-year-old's body was found on the six-man Jose y Rafaela soon afer midnight Tuesday and later pronounced dead on arrival at Limassol hospital, police said.

NICOSIA, Aug 1, 2007 (AFP) - A Spanish fisherman was found dead in his cabin on Wednesday in a trawler anchored at the southern Cypriot port of Limassol, hours after after police rescued an ailing fellow crew member out at sea.

The body of the 38-year-old crewman was found on the six-crew Spanish fishing trawler Jose y Rafaela soon after midnight Tuesday and later pronounced dead on arrival at Limassol hospital, police said.

Although the cause of death is not yet known, doctors say it may be related to food poisoning.

MOSCOW, July 26, 2007 (AFP) - A blast hit a major gas pipeline near Saint-Petersburg, Russia`s second largest city, resulting in a powerful fire, Russian news agencies reported early Thursday.

The blast was probably due to repairs conducted at the pipeline, which is part of the grid supplying Saint-Petersburg and its region with gas, the regional administration`s spokesman Valentin Sidorin said.