● NEW YORK. Heat wave cooks half of the US. Blistering heat settled over the eastern half of the nation, sending man and beast in desperate search of relief: An air-conditioned subway car in New York City. A plunge into the Atlantic Ocean in New Jersey. And cold showers for suffering livestock in Ohio. The same heat wave that was blamed for as many as 164 deaths in California brought a fifth straight day of oppressive weather to Chicago and promised at least three days of brow-mopping temperatures in the New York metropolitan area. Residents on Chicago?s South Side were evacuated from buildings by the hundreds, one day after the power went out to 20,000 customers. Illinois officials blamed three deaths on the heat. The blistering temperatures also scorched Conyers, where a high school football player died one day after collapsing at practice.

● ISLAMABAD. Pakistan set to change Islamic rape laws. Pakistan is expected to propose amending Islamic rape laws that currently place an almost impossible burden of proof on women and expose victims to adultery charges, officials said. The move would end years of outrage by rights groups who say that President Pervez Musharraf has failed to tackle widespread discrimination against women in this Islamic republic.The cabinet of Prime minister Shaukat Aziz met yesterday and was due to discuss draft legislation that would change the 27-year-old laws, an official at the ministry for women?s development told reporters. If the cabinet approves the draft the government will formally table a bill in parliament next week, the official said, requesting anonymity. Under Islamic laws imposed by military dictator Zia-ul-Haq in 1979, a woman must produce four adult Muslim male witnesses to prove an act of rape.

● MEDAN. Indonesia tests 7 for bird flu from same village. Seven Indonesians from the same village in North Sumatra have been hospitalised and are being tested for bird flu, an official said yesterday, raising fears of new cluster cases in the country. The group comes from Karo district in North Sumatra province where bird flu killed as many as seven people in an extended family in May, triggering fears the H5N1 bird flu virus had mutated into a form that could spread easily between people. The seven were admitted to the local Kaban Jahe hospital, with three referred to the state-run Adam Malik hospital. The latter three are children -- two siblings aged 10 and six and their 18-month-old neighbour.

● SONGKHLA. Bomb in Thailand?s south kills 3, hits rail traffic. Militants detonated a bomb by a bridge on the main railway line through Thailand?s rebellious Muslim south yesterday, killing three policemen and stranding thousands of travellers, police and a rail official said. At least five trains, including one from Bangkok and one from the Thai-Malaysian border, had to stop at nearby stations as security officials checked the line for damage and more devices, officials said. Militants detonated a 5 kg (11 lb) bomb placed by the bridge as a car carrying four rail patrolmen passed by. Three of the officers died instantly and the other was wounded. The blast followed a night of arson, bombs and shooting across Thailand?s three southermost provinces, where more than 1,300 people have been killed in a mysterious two-year Muslim separatist insurgency.

● KINSHASA. Congo presidential hopeful claims fraud. A former rebel leader-turned presidential candidate alleged massive fraud in Congo?s historic elections, but pledged that his protest would remain peaceful as preliminary results began to trickle in Official, final results from Sunday?s elections were not expected for weeks. But a sample of results announced by UN radio suggested that sitting President Joseph Kabila and Vice President Jean-Pierre Bemba had emerged as leading contenders for the presidency.The United Nations tallied about 600,000 votes across Congo?s provinces ? about 2 percent of votes in small town and 65 percent in larger cities. An analysis of the figures showed Kabila and Bemba leading, with Harvard-educated Dr. Oscar Kashala receiving strong support in opposition areas.