European aircraft maker Airbus announced a sharp fall in its orders on Monday, a setback for the company in its battle with Chicago-based Boeing and a sign that the United States group is in the ascendancy. Airbus said it had booked 117 firm orders for passenger jets in the first half of 2006, fewer than half the number in the same period of 2005 and far behind Boeing.
Chechen rebel leader Shamil Basayev, the most-wanted man in Russia, who claimed responsibility for the Beslan school hostage massacre and was blamed for many other attacks, has been killed, Russian news agencies said on Monday, quoting the FSB security service. Basayev was killed in an overnight operation by Russian special forces.
Little seems to frighten Taliban fighters in their relentlessly bold and bloody attacks on British bases across Helmand. Little, that is, except the menacing throb of an approaching Apache. The British Apache attack helicopters have blunted numerous Taliban offensives and become a key battlefield weapon, according to commanders who are quickly forgetting earlier controversies over the -million per-plane cost.
Defence Secretary Des Browne was expected to announce details on Monday of promised reinforcements for the 3Â 300 British troops in Afghanistan whom he admits are facing an "energised" Taliban. Browne revealed last week that commanders in the restive southern province of Helmand had asked for more troops.
The Somali transitional federal government has called for the powerful Islamist militia to be excluded from peace talks this week after sparking clashes in the capital that killed at least 21 people on the weekend, officials said on Monday. Deputy Prime Minister Hussein Aidid said the Supreme Islamic Council of Somalia militants had violated a truce deal.
The United Nations Children’s Fund (Unicef) issued an urgent appeal on Monday for ,7-million to save the lives of hundreds of thousands of children in Ethiopia. Unicef said that unless it secured the funding, it would have to cancel the second half of a programme that reaches seven million children twice a year.
Springbok coach Jake White said on Monday his side would target the Australian scrum in this week’s Tri-Nations clash, after the Wallabies’ front five was humbled by the mighty All Blacks. New Zealand pummelled the Australian scrum in Christchurch, helping the Kiwis secure a crushing 32-12 victory against the visitors on Saturday.
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The South African Students’ Congress (Sasco) on Sunday called for a speedy corruption trial for African National Congress deputy president Jacob Zuma. Although it has not organised any pro-Zuma rallies, Sasco believes in Zuma’s innocence until proven otherwise in court.
Zulu King Goodwill Zwelithini’s suggestion that KwaZulu-Natal’s name be changed should be supported because the current name is associated with suffering and humiliation, the Pan Africanist Congress said on Monday. Zwelithini has also called for the history of the Zulu nation to be rewritten to correct ”falsifications” of history.
A Pakistan International Airlines’ Fokker passenger plane crashed on Monday killing all 45 people on board, the police chief in the central city of Multan said. ”Everyone is dead. I am standing at the site,” said police chief Iftikhar Babar. Flight PK 688, en route for Lahore before flying on to Islamabad, crashed 10 minutes after take-off from Multan airport.