■ France
Murder trial finally starts
One of France's most sinister multiple murder mysteries was to finally come to court yesterday, with a 70 year-old former bus-driver tried for the deaths of seven mentally-disabled young women who went missing more than 25 years ago. Suspicions that Emile Louis was linked to the case known as the "Disappeared of the Yonne" were first raised in the early 1980s, but he was able to avoid investigation until just four years ago when he confessed under questioning and led police to two shallow graves. The seven, aged between 15 and 25, were all in the care of the social services in the town of Auxerre when they disappeared between 1975 and 1979.
■ Russia
Several hurt in blast
Several people were injured in an explosion in a parking lot in Makhatchkala, capital of the southern Russian republic of Dagestan, local officials told the Interfax news agency. Dagestan borders the war-torn separatist republic of Chechnya. Two people who were seriously injured were taken to hospital, the head of the emergency services at the Dagestan medical center, Kazanfar Kurbanov, told Interfax. He said there several other people injured were being treated at the scene. A spokesman for the local interior ministry said that several cars were on fire, but would not comment on the casualties.
■ France
Arafat to get more tests
Tests on Yasser Arafat showed problems with digestion, but the Palestinian president has recovered sufficiently to undergo further examinations that could not be performed when he was first rushed to France, an aide said. Arafat, 75, felt well enough to follow the US election on Tuesday, and over the past two days was able to talk with doctors, colleagues and heads of state, officials said. Israel military intelligence's latest judgment is that doctors have not completed their diagnosis, but are considering that Arafat has either a viral stomach disorder that can be treated or some form of stomach cancer, according to an Israeli official.
■ United Nations
Sudan cited for violation
The top UN envoy to Sudan accused security forces in southern Darfur of forcing several thousand people who had taken refuge in a camp to move against their will in "flagrant violation" of international law. Jan Pronk demanded that all those rounded up and forced to leave the El Geer camp at 3am Tuesday be returned immediately from the Sherif camp, where they were taken. Pronk demanded that the government keep its agreement with the UN barring the forced transfer of any internally displaced people, known as IDPs.
■ Iraq
Oil official gunned down
A senior Oil Ministry official was killed yesterday by gunmen on his way to work, the ministry's spokesman said. Hussein Ali al-Fattal, director general of the oil by-products distribution company, was shot to death by unknown assailants after leaving his house in the Yarmouk district of western Baghdad, said spokesman Assim Jihad. "He did not care about the threats that many of the ministry officials received. They are trying to undermine this vital sector in the country," Jihad said. "He is great loss to the oil sector." Iraq's oil industry, which provides desperately needed money for Iraq's reconstruction efforts, has been the target of repeated attacks by insurgents in recent months.
Far from the violence ravaging Haiti, a market on the border with the Dominican Republic has maintained a welcome degree of normal everyday life. At the Dajabon border gate, a wave of Haitians press forward, eager to shop at the twice-weekly market about 200km from Haiti’s capital, Port-au-Prince. They are drawn by the market’s offerings — food, clothing, toys and even used appliances — items not always readily available in Haiti. However, with gang violence bad and growing ever worse in Haiti, the Dominican government has reinforced the usual military presence at the border and placed soldiers on alert. While the market continues to
An image of a dancer balancing on the words “China Before Communism” looms over Parisian commuters catching the morning metro, signaling the annual return of Shen Yun, a controversial spectacle of traditional Chinese dance mixed with vehement criticism of Beijing and conservative rhetoric. The Shen Yun Performing Arts company has slipped the beliefs of a spiritual movement called Falun Gong in between its technicolored visuals and leaping dancers since 2006, with advertising for the show so ubiquitous that it has become an Internet meme. Founded in 1992, Falun Gong claims nearly 100 million followers and has been subject to “persistent persecution” in
ONLINE VITRIOL: While Mo Yan faces a lawsuit, bottled water company Nongfu Spring and Tsinghua University are being attacked amid a rise in nationalist fervor At first glance, a Nobel prize winning author, a bottle of green tea and Beijing’s Tsinghua University have little in common, but in recent weeks they have been dubbed by China’s nationalist netizens as the “three new evils” in the fight to defend the country’s valor in cyberspace. Last month, a patriotic blogger called Wu Wanzheng filed a lawsuit against China’s only Nobel prize-winning author, Mo Yan (莫言), accusing him of discrediting the Communist army and glorifying Japanese soldiers in his fictional works set during the Japanese invasion of China. Wu, who posts online under the pseudonym “Truth-Telling Mao Xinghuo,” is seeking
‘SURPRISES’: The militants claim to have successfully tested a missile capable of reaching Mach 8 and vowed to strike ships heading toward the Cape of Good Hope Yemen’s Houthi rebels claim to have a new, hypersonic missile in their arsenal, Russia’s state media reported on Thursday, potentially raising the stakes in their attacks on shipping in the Red Sea and surrounding waterways against the backdrop of Israel’s war with Hamas in the Gaza Strip. The report by the state-run RIA Novosti news agency cited an unidentified official, but provided no evidence for the claim. It comes as Moscow maintains an aggressively counter-Western foreign policy amid its grinding war on Ukraine. However, the Houthis have for weeks hinted about “surprises” they plan for the battles at sea to counter the