France has declared war on al-Qaida, and matched its fighting words with a first attack on a base camp of the terror network's North African branch, after the terror network killed a French aid worker it took hostage in April. The declaration and attack marked a shift in strategy for France, usually discrete about its behind-the-scenes battle against terrorism. "We are at war with al-Qaida," Prime Minister Francois Fillon said Tuesday, a day after President Nicolas Sarkozy announced the death of 78-year-old hostage Michel Germaneau. The humanitarian worker had been abducted April 20 or 22 in Niger by al-Qaida in the Islamic Maghreb, and was later taken to Mali, officials said.
A passenger jet carrying 152 people crashed into the hills surrounding Pakistan's capital amid rain and caught fire Wednesday, officials said. At least 25 people were killed and five survived with injuries, but many more were feared dead in the smoking wreck.
The cause of the Airblue crash was not immediately clear, said Pervez George, a civil aviation official. He said the plane had left the southern city of Karachi at 7:45 a.m. for a two-hour scheduled flight to Islamabad and was trying to land during difficult, cloudy weather. Airblue is a private service based in Karachi, Pakistan's largest city.
Rescue workers have recovered at least 25 bodies from the wreckage, sources said.
WikiLeaks' chief claims his organization doesn't know who sent it some 91,000 secret U.S. military documents, telling journalists that the website is set up to hide the source of its data from those who receive it. Editor-in-chief Julian Assange says the added layer of secrecy helps protect the site's sources from spy agencies and hostile corporations. He acknowledged that the site's anonymous submissions raised concerns about the authenticity of the material, but said the site has not yet been fooled by a bogus document. Assange made the claim in a lengthy hour talk before London's Frontline Club late Tuesday, in which he outlined the workings of WikiLeaks and defended its mission. The International Monetary Fund said China's yuan is undervalued in a mildly worded assessment Wednesday of its controversial currency controls and praised Beijing's response to the global crisis. The comments came in a review by the Washington-based fund of Chinese economic policy, the first in three years. Such reviews usually are annual but the process was postponed due to disagreements with Beijing. The IMF said several members of its board "agreed that the exchange rate is undervalued" but gave no details. The 24-member board includes the United States, China, several other individual governments and members that represent groups of economies.
Beijing held the yuan steady against the dollar beginning in late 2008 to help China's exporters compete amid weak global demand. Washington and other trading partners complain that has hurt their companies and some U.S. lawmakers demanded sanctions on Chinese goods.
British Prime Minister David Cameron and a massive delegation of Cabinet ministers and dignitaries fanned out across India on Wednesday in a visit aimed at rebuilding trade relations and other ties between the two nations.
As the former colonial power here, Britain has had a complicated bond with India. But Cameron's newly elected government has placed special emphasis on India, hoping its emerging economy and growing international influence can help fuel British growth.
Cameron's decision to visit India so soon after taking office has sent a strong message of the value he places on the relationship between the two countries.
Diego Maradona reigns as Argentina coach, the Argentine Football Association (AFA) has confirmed. Maradona, 49, admitted he wanted to stay in the job ahead of a meeting with AFA president Julio Grondona on Monday.
But, after Maradona rejected demands to change his backroom team, the AFA voted not to renew his deal and made under-20 coach Sergio Batista caretaker boss. Argentina crashed out of the 2010 World Cup finals at the quarter-final stage, where they lost 4-0 to Germany.
The parliament of Catalonia is to vote on whether or not to become the first region of mainland Spain to ban bullfighting. The vote is taking place as the result of a petition brought to parliament signed by 180,000 people who argue that the practice is barbaric and outdated. Bullfight supporters insist that the corrida, as it is known, is an important tradition to preserve. Wednesday's vote could bring a long tradition in Catalonia to an end. Barcelona's main bullring is one of the oldest in Spain, but support for the bullfight has waned here. Now the regional parliament will decide whether to ban the practice altogether. The vote was brought to the agenda by activists who argue it is cruel and unacceptable.
Drinking alcohol can not only ease the symptoms of rheumatoid arthritis it appears to reduce disease severity too, research suggests. Scientists at the University of Sheffield asked two groups of patients with and without the disease to provide details of their drinking habits. They found that patients who had drunk alcohol most frequently experienced less joint pain and swelling. Experts say this should not be taken as a green light for drinking more. |