A roadside bomb blast in southern Afghanistan has claimed the life of a retired US Customs officer and left three other customs workers wounded.

A roadside bomb blast in southern Afghanistan has claimed the life of a retired US Customs officer and left three other customs workers wounded.

The attack at the Inland Customs Warehouse in the province of Kandahar killed David Hillman, a retired US Customs and Border Protection officer, on Monday.

According to a statement released by US Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano in Washington, Hillman had worked for the US government for 30 years, AP reported. 

France has decided not to send additional troops to Afghanistan in 2011 as US-led soldiers struggle to rein in the nine-year-old war in the country.

France has decided not to send additional troops to Afghanistan in 2011 as US-led soldiers struggle to rein in the nine-year-old war in the country.

"We have a group of around 4,000 soldiers in the field and we do not intend to increase that," AFP quoted French Defense Minister Alain Juppe as saying during his meeting with US Defense Secretary Robert Gates in Washington on Tuesday.

Juppe, however, noted that France will continue to redeploy some of its troops from around Sarobi -- located between Kabul and Jalalabad in Kabul Province -- in order to pave the way for handing over the security missions to Afghan forces. 

US, China closer to trade war

US lawmakers say they are pushing for a legislation that would punish China for allegedly manipulating its currency.

The draft bill, which is to be submitted on Thursday, is to address what the US senators describe as the unlawful practice of currency manipulation, according to the AP.

Both Republican and Democratic senators had informed US Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner about the draft bill a month ago.

Relations between Beijing and Washington have been strained over the issues of currency and trade. 

FARC 'to release more hostages'

The Colombian FARC rebel group has promised to free more hostages in the coming days following the release of former councilor Marcos Baquero.

The former councilor is the first of five abducted politicians the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC) have so far released.

According to a statement released by the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC), Baquero was handed over to former Senator Pierdad Cordobahas, ICRC delegates and a member of Colombians for Peace in a rural area of the Meta province on Thursday. 

Egyptian pro-democracy protesters are calling for the formation of a civilian government as the threat of a military coup by the country's army looms.

Egyptian pro-democracy protesters are calling for the formation of a civilian government as the threat of a military coup by the country's army looms.

"We want a civilian government, not a military rule," pro-democracy protesters chanted in Egypt on Thursday.

It comes on the 17th day of protests against Mubarak's 30-year rule.

Earlier Thursday, a senior member of the Muslim Brotherhood, Egypt's biggest opposition group, said he feared that the Egyptian military was staging a coup.

"It looks like a military coup ... I feel worry and anxiety," Essam al-Erian told Reuters.

"The problem is not with the president, it is with the regime."

His remarks come as Muslim Brotherhood cited presidential sources as saying that Mubarak has left Egypt.

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Pakistan, India agree to resume talks

The Pakistani foreign minister is set to visit India in July to resume talks which were suspended after a terrorist attack on the Indian city of Mumbai in 2008.

Pakistani Foreign Minister Shah Mehmood Qureshi said on Thursday that the two countries will hold talks on various issues before he visits India in July.

Last week, the foreign secretaries of the two countries agreed to continue talks on important issues, which were suspended by India after Pakistan's Lashker-e-Toiba attacked the financial capital of Mumbai in 2008, killing some 170 people. 

The lawyer of WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange says he has seen some 100 text messages by Assange's alleged victims, which can help clear him of his charges.

The lawyer of WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange says he has seen some 100 text messages by Assange's alleged victims, which can help clear him of his charges.

Bjorn Hurtig said the messages by the women accusing Assange of rape show they sought payment, wanted to get “revenge” and disgrace him by informing media of his affairs.

Hurtig, though, said the Swedish authorities are denying his client the right to a fair trial as they have not let him have copies of the texts.

Israel has held a rapid-response drill to gauge abilities of its armed forces as the Israeli ruling class is afraid the outcome of the Egyptian revolution affects Tel Aviv.

Israel has held a rapid-response drill to gauge abilities of its armed forces as the Israeli ruling class is afraid the outcome of the Egyptian revolution affects Tel Aviv.

Israeli police spokesman Mickey Rosenfeld told Xinhua news agency on Thursday that police and border police units held an exercise on Thursday to deal with "any possible scenario” in Israel.

The drill came as outgoing police chief Insp.-Gen. David Cohen said on Wednesday that 27,000 members of Israeli forces are ready to handle any breakout of protests in Israel. 

Senior Iranian lawmaker Mohammad Hassan Aboutorabi-Fard says the 1979 Islamic Revolution helped Iran find its real place in the region and Asia.

Senior Iranian lawmaker Mohammad Hassan Aboutorabi-Fard says the 1979 Islamic Revolution helped Iran find its real place in the region and Asia.

“Before the victory of the revolution, the US and Western states believed that they dominated political and security issues of other countries,” the vice speaker of the Iranian Parliament (Majlis) said on Thursday.

Aboutorabi-Fard added that before the 1979 revolution, the West controlled the destiny of other countries, and “promoted [military] assault on Muslim nations,” Mehr News Agency reported.

India and Pakistan say they have agreed to resume peace talks "on all issues".

India and Pakistan say they have agreed to resume peace talks "on all issues".

Peace moves were put on hold after Pakistan-based militants attacked Mumbai in 2008, although the sides have met a number of times in the past year.

The nuclear-armed rivals' decision to discuss key issues in the dispute came after top officials met at a summit in Bhutan at the weekend.

Pakistan's foreign minister will visit India by July to review progress in the dialogue, a joint statement said.

Before then, senior officials from both sides will get together to discuss a range of issues which have harmed relations for decades.

"They have agreed to resume dialogue on all issues following the spirit of the Thimpu meeting between the two prime ministers," a joint statement said, referring to weekend talks in the Bhutanese capital.

BBC correspondents say no-one is expecting swift progress on issues at the heart of the dispute.
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A row has flared in Mexico after a radio station fired a journalist, who said on air that President Calderon should respond to drinking allegations.

A row has flared in Mexico after a radio station fired a journalist, who said on air that President Calderon should respond to drinking allegations.

Carmen Aristegui said the station was pressured by the presidency to make her apologise, which she refused to do.

The president's office denied any involvement in her sacking.

Officials have said rumours about Mr Calderon do not merit a response and his private secretary said that the president enjoyed good health.

The controversy began last week when a left-wing deputy unfurled a banner in Congress, alleging that Mr Calderon had alcohol problems.

Ms Aristegui, who is a well-known radio and TV host, said the accusation was serious and warranted an official response from the presidency.

On Monday she was sacked by MVS Noticias, who said they were terminating her contract because she had violated their code of ethics by "broadcasting rumour as news" and had refused to apologise.

The journalist hit back on Wednesday, telling a news conference that MVS Noticias, which is waiting to renew its broadcast licence, had come under official pressure to fire her.

"An act like this is only imaginable in a dictatorship that nobody wants for Mexico: punishing for opining or questioning rulers," Ms Aristegui said, adding that she had nothing to apologise for.

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The number of homes repossessed in the UK last year dropped by 24% to 36,300, the Council of Mortgage Lenders (CML) has said.

The number of homes repossessed in the UK last year dropped by 24% to 36,300, the Council of Mortgage Lenders (CML) has said.

The number of people in arrears by 2.5% or more of their outstanding loans also fell last year, by 13% to 169,600.

The continued low level of interest rates has helped many home owners in financial difficulties.

However, the CML repeated its warning that arrears and repossessions may rise this year.

"As we go through 2011, the number of people facing payment pressures may increase if interest rates rise, and as a result of the spending cuts that have resulted in reductions in the level of public support available," said the CML's director general Michael Coogan.

"We will be monitoring developments closely, but at present we continue to expect the number of arrears and repossessions to be in line with our forecasts of 40,000 repossessions and 180,000 arrears cases as at the end of 2011."

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