AFGHANISTAN

US surprises with plan to pull out of combat

THE US took Kabul by surprise by laying out plans to end its Afghan combat role earlier than expected, just after the leak of a secret report that the Taliban is confident of regaining control of the country.

US Defence Secretary Leon Panetta said the US would stop taking the lead in combat operations before the end of 2013 and step into a supporting role.

A senior Afghan security official said the move "throws out the whole transition plan".

"It will certainly have an effect on our readiness and training, and on equipping the police force," he said. - Reuters

DR Congo

Kabila's party loses seats in parliament

THE ruling People's Party for Reconstruction and Democracy has lost more than 40% of its legislative seats to rivals, an outcome that will complicate President Joseph Kabila's task of forming a majority coalition.

"With more than 80 parties in parliament, it will not be easy to manage," said Philippe Biyoya, a professor of politics at the University of Kinshasa.

"Everyone will want their seat in government. The future government will be even more heterogeneous than the one that came from the elections in 2006. A heterogeneous coalition means weak government." - Reuters

ISRAEL

'200000 missiles pointed at us'

ISRAEL is currently threatened by 200000 enemy missiles, military intelligence chief Major-General Aviv Kochavi said yesterday.

The missiles are capable of landing anywhere in Israel, and their ranges and the size of their warheads are growing, Kochavi said.

"Most of the missiles have a 40km range, but some have a range of hundreds of kilometres," he said.

They could reach heavily populated areas in Israel from Syria, Lebanon and Iran.

"Every 10th house in Lebanon serves as a missile storage facility or a rocket-launching site." - Sapa-dpa

ZAMBIA

Ex-president's son wanted for corruption

THE son of former president Rupiah Banda is on the run from police after he was accused of corruption in the sale of state fixed-line operator Zamtel to a Libyan company.

Police chief Martin Malama said yesterday Zambian police had issued a "warrant of arrest and written to all 190 Interpol member states. Henry [Banda] has to answer to serious allegations of corruption".

Banda had been sought for questioning since October.

He has not been seen in public since his father lost the September presidential election to opposition leader Michael Sata. - Sapa-AFP

SENEGAL

Opposition counts on 'African Spring'

THE senegalese opposition is hoping that the cocktail of social discontent, a clinging leader and the threat of hereditary power that has sparked deadly riots can kindle a successful "African Spring".

Having exhausted all legal avenues, opposition groups are counting on street pressure to force President Abdoulaye Wade, 85, to drop his candidacy for a third term .which they have branded a "constitutional coup d'etat".

Since Friday, the anti-Wade June 23 Movement (M23) has protested angrily and violently in Dakar. Four people have died in the violence. - Sapa-AFP

INDIA

Home of the worst air to breathe

INDIA has the worst air quality in the world, beating even its neighbour China, according to an annual survey based at Yale and Columbia universities in the US.

Of all the countries surveyed in the Environmental Performance Index, which measures the effects of polluted air on human health, India ranked the lowest at 132.

The study used satellite data to measure pollution concentrations.

The level of fine particulate matter in India is nearly five times the limit where it becomes unsafe for humans.

The country was way behind Bangladesh, the next worst, which scored 13.66. - Sapa-AFP

FRANCE

Paris opens inquiry into Costa Concordia crash

THE Paris prosecutor's office opened a preliminary inquiry yesterday into the causes of the cruise ship disaster in Italy last month, following a decision to group together legal complaints by relatives of French victims.

The prosecutor's office said survivors of the shipwreck would be questioned as it seeks to establish whether there are criminal liabilities in the case and to assess the psychological damage caused.

Four French nationals were among the 17 casualties. About 15 people, two of them French, are unaccounted for and a criminal investigation is under way in Italy. - Reuters

Iraq

Court ratifies execution of church attackers

IRAQ'S highest court ratified death sentences yesterday for three men convicted of a 2010 attack on a Syrian Catholic cathedral in Baghdad, the bloodiest attack on Iraqi Christians after the 2003 invasion.

Gunmen linked to al-Qaeda seized hostages during Sunday Mass at the church on October 31 2010. About 52 hostages and police were killed and 67 people were wounded in the attack.

Abdul-Sattar al-Birqdar, spokesman for the Supreme Judicial Council, said: "The sentence is final and it will be sent to the presidency to issue a decree to the Justice Ministry to execute it." - Reuters

US

Greenies sue to halt landscape artist Christo

A COALITION of environmentalists, outdoor enthusiasts and wildlife advocates have filed a federal lawsuit to block artist Christo from draping fabric canopies along the Arkansas River in Colorado.

Opponents of the proposed "Over the River" project sued the US Bureau of Land Management in Denver for approving the project, arguing that allowing the drilling of about 9000 bores to anchor 925 fabric panels would have an adverse impact on wildlife, traffic and recreation.

"The art project is, in fact, more similar to mineral resource extraction and development than recreation," the suit said. - Reuters

BELGIUM

Big freeze shuts off Manneken Pis

THE bronze statue of a boy that is a symbol of Brussels and a major tourist attraction has had to stop peeing because of sub-zero temperatures.

Officials turned off the flow of water through the Manneken Pis, which has stood on a Brussels corner since the 1600s, out of concern the cold might damage its internal mechanism.

Temperatures in the capital were set to fall to minus 10C, far below the average minimum for February.

"It all depends on the weather; if the temperatures go up again it will work again," a tourist office spokesman said. - Reuters