France is to begin flying humanitarian supplies into eastern Chad on Sunday to help tens of thousands of Sudanese refugees and Chadians displaced by violence in Darfur, an army spokesperson said on Friday. The humanitarian air bridge will likely only function for several weeks.
Two Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) soldiers went on trial before a military court hours after being arrested for the murder of a prominent radio journalist, an official said on Friday. A local media rights group, Journalists in Danger, condemned the summary trial, saying that no serious inquiry had been made.
Côte d’Ivoire is seeking up to €340-million from Dutch-based multinational Trafigura to clear up pollution that killed 15 people, in a draft settlement proposal seen by Agence France-Presse. This would be in addition to the €152-million already agreed by Trafigura in February in an out-of-court settlement.
Bags of blood. A code name taken from his dog, Birillo. A year of secrets and lies. It all came back to haunt Ivan Basso on Friday when he received a maximum two-year ban for doping. The 2006 Giro d’Italia champion became the first high-profile rider suspended for the recent scandals rocking cycling.
Steady as you go — that was the word from Tiger Woods as he stalked the leaders at the halfway stage of the United States Open. The world number one has not been firing on all cylinders at the treacherous Oakmont layout, but he has been workmanlike. Going into the weekend, he is five strokes behind leader Angel Cabrera.
The Pakistani army is paralysed by the growing Taliban threat and some retired officers are covertly aiding the militants, according to a former CIA officer. Soldiers posted to Waziristan, a tribal area that hosts an estimated 2 000 al-Qaeda fighters, are ”huddling in their bases, doing nothing”, said Art Keller.
Federal authorities in the United States are under pressure to make a final effort to bring unsolved race crimes from the civil rights era to trial after a 71-year-old former Ku Klux Klansman was found guilty of charges over the 1964 deaths of two black teenagers.
More than 450 slave workers — many of them maimed, burned and mentally scarred — have been rescued from Chinese brick factories in an investigation into illegal labour camps, it emerged on Friday. The victims, including children as young as 14, were reportedly abducted or tricked into labouring at the kilns.
Jubilant Hamas militants cemented their domination over Gaza on Friday, but appeared to make conciliatory overtures to their Fatah opponents after a week of intense fighting that has effectively broken Palestine in two. Ismail Haniyeh, the Hamas leader in Gaza, called for new talks with the Fatah leader and Palestinian president.
Nasa reported major progress on glitches in a critical computer system on the International Space Station on Friday as astronauts repaired insulation damage to the space shuttle Atlantis during a spacewalk. Four of the six boxes or ”lanes” that comprise the computer were up and running.