For tourists, they are part of the fabric of France — tree-lined avenues throwing dappled shade on to country lanes. For local authorities, they are a menace. Over the past 30 years they have felled thousands of maples, planes and poplars because of fears that they distract drivers and cause accidents.

After besieging the town of Falluja for more than a week, with the loss of an estimated 700 Iraqis as well as scores of Americans, the United States has given up on its demand for the handover of those who killed four American security guards and mutilated their bodies, say senior Iraqis involved in talks in the town.

In what may prove to be the first sighting of Pyongyang’s atomic arsenal, Abdul Qadeer Khan — the father of Pakistan’s uranium weapons programme — has told investigators he saw three nuclear bombs in North Korea five years ago, the New York Times reported on Tuesday.

British intelligence about a terrorist suspect arrested in the United States in 2001 could have helped disrupt the September 11 plot, but an urgent request for information was treated as a low priority in London, a commission of inquiry found on Tuesday.

A bottle store owner in Brakpan said on Wednesday the nearby polling station had given his business a significant boost. ”Sales are much better than a normal Wednesday and a bit better than any other public holiday,” said Joao Achadinha, owner of Sherwood Liquors. ”I actually wouldn’t mind if they had an election more often. This is great.”