Mali: French Air Strikes Drive Back Militants

Mali's army has driven back Islamist rebels from a strategic central town after France intervened with air strikes to stop militants controlling the country's desert north from advancing.

One French pilot has been killed in the military action and hundreds of French soldiers have been deployed in the West African country.

French President Francois Hollande took action at the request of interim President Dioncounda Traore, who has declared a state of emergency.

Western governments expressed alarm on Thursday after an al Qaeda-linked rebel alliance captured the town of Konna, a gateway towards the capital Bamako 600km (375 miles) south.

The Malian army has said it was attacking the "last pockets of resistance" by insurgents in Konna after they recaptured it with the help of the French.

It said as many as 100 Islamist fighters had been killed in the battle for Konna.

The UN's Sahel envoy Romano Prodi, left, and President Dioncounda Traore

Mr Hollande said the "terrorist groups, drug traffickers and extremists" in northern Mali "show a brutality that threatens us all." He vowed that the operation would last "as long as necessary".

The West African regional bloc ECOWAS has now authorised the immediate deployment of troops to Mali.

The bloc's commission president Kadre Desire Ouedraogo said it made the decision "in light of the urgency of the situation".

For the past nine months, the Islamic militants have controlled a large swathe of northern Mali, a lawless desert region where kidnapping has flourished.

Mr Hollande said the operation was aimed in part at protecting 6,000 French citizens in Mali, including seven who are being held captive.

UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon said Senegal and Nigeria also responded to an appeal from Mali's president for help to counter the militants.

Late last year, the 15 nations in West Africa, including Mali, agreed on a proposal for the military to take back the north, and sought backing from the UN.

The Security Council authorised the intervention but imposed certain conditions, including the training of Mali's military, which has been accused of serious human rights abuses since a military coup last year sent the nation into disarray.

Al Qaeda's affiliate in Africa has been a shadowy presence for years in the forests and deserts of poverty-stricken Mali.

Most Malians adhere to a moderate form of Islam, but in recent months the terrorist group and its allies have taken advantage of political instability, taking territory they use to stock weapons and train forces.

The Islamists have insisted they want to impose Sharia only in northern Mali, though there long have been fears they could push further south.

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Crossword Setter Araucaria Sets Cancer Clue

A well-loved national newspaper crossword setter has used one of his own puzzles to announce that he is terminally ill.

The Rev John Graham, who goes by the pseudonym Araucaria  - from the Latin for the monkey puzzle tree - as The Guardian's puzzle setter, revealed he was dying of cancer in Friday's crossword.

The answers revealed the diagnosis

Above a cryptic crossword was the message: "Araucaria has 18 down of the 19, which is being treated with 13 15."

Readers who solved the puzzle discovered this meant he had cancer of the oesophagus, and was receiving palliative care.

Mr Graham, from Cambridge, told the Guardian: "It seemed the natural thing to do somehow. It just seemed right."

Doctors do not know how much longer he has to live.

The 91-year-old said he was touched by the reaction to his crossword, which first appeared in the 1 Across puzzle magazine in December.

"People have been ringing and sending me cards," he said. "It's been very nice, but I can't reply to them all."

He says he does not intend to refer to his illness in future crosswords.

"I should think this is a one-off because I don't know what else there will be to say," he added.

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Somalia Hostage Raid: French Agent 'Killed'

France has said one of its soldiers and an intelligence agent have been killed in a failed hostage rescue attempt in Somalia.

The agent, who is code-named Denis Allex and was captured by militants in 2009, died in the fighting with Islamists overnight, the French government said.

However, the Al Shabaab militia has said he is still alive.

Another special forces soldier is missing following the fighting, France's defence minister Jean-Yves Le Drian said.

He said 17 Somali Islamists had been killed and that the operation was not linked to a separate military operation in Mali aimed at quashing a push by Islamist fighters.

Al Shabaab has reportedly said Mr Allex remained in their captivity and was being held far from the base where French helicopters attacked in the early hours of Saturday.

The al Qaeda-linked insurgents also said they were holding an injured French soldier.

Both sides described a fierce firefight during the raid on the Horn of Africa country that France said was carried out by the intelligence agency that Mr Allex worked for.

Sky's Middle East Correspondent Sam Kiley said questions remained about whether the raid was planned because France feared repercussions from its operation in Mali.

He said: "It seems a long way away but ideologically - and, according to some intelligence agencies, physically - the Shabaab have been linked into a network of radical Islamist groups (in countries including Mali).

"There may have been some sense among French decision-makers that because they were getting involved in Mali, they ought to trigger this operation."

However, Kiley said it was more likely that France had received local intelligence in Somalia that there was a threat to the hostage.

The French government said: "Faced with the intransigence of the terrorists, who refused to negotiate for three-and-a-half years and who were holding Denis Allex in inhumane conditions, an operation was planned and carried out."

Authorities in Bula Marer, a town about 120km (75 miles) south of Mogadishu, said helicopters attacked at around 2am local time.

France said Mr Allex was kidnapped - along with another agent who later escaped - when he was carrying out an official aid mission with the Somalian government.

France has previously said the two men were in the Somali capital to train local forces.

After his abduction Al Shabaab issued a series of demands, which included an end to French support for the Somali government and the withdrawal of African Union peacekeepers, whose 17,600-strong troops are helping battle the rebels.

A video of Mr Allex pleading with French President Francois Hollande to negotiate his release appeared on a website in October.

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Killed Russian Woman's Boyfriend Remanded

The boyfriend of a 23-year-old Russian woman found dead in her south London flat has appeared in court charged with her murder.

Felipe Lopes, 27, was remanded in custody at Bromley Magistrates' Court and will appear next at the Old Bailey on Tuesday, Scotland Yard said.

Lopes was arrested on the street in the Farnborough area of Bromley, south London, on Wednesday morning after police discovered the body of Anastasia Voykina a few miles away at an address in Streatham at around 2am on Monday.

A post-mortem examination gave her cause of death as multiple fractures to the face, head and neck.

A missing person report for Ms Voykina was made on Sunday after people she knew became concerned.

Officers had gone to a maisonette in James Boswell Close, Streatham, where they found her body.

Formal identification has not yet taken place but detectives are confident the deceased is the missing woman. Next of kin have been informed.

Police said she made a phone call to her family on December 30, which was the last known contact with her.

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Costa Concordia To Be Removed By September

The stricken ship Costa Concordia will be removed from the Italian coast between June and September - later than originally planned, officials have said.

The vessel has been resting on its side off the Tuscan coast since it capsized last year killing 32 people.

Speaking on the eve of the first anniversary of the disaster, officials highlighted the difficulties of the salvage operation, including the huge size of the vessel and environmental concerns.

Franco Gabrielli, the chief of Italy's Social Defence Department, said officials were looking to remove the ship between June and September depending on weather conditions.

Originally, they had hoped to have it removed in the spring.

The Concordia slammed into a reef off the island of Giglio on January 13, 2012 after its captain took it off course in a stunt to bring the ship closer to the island. As it took water in, she ship rolled onto its side.

The salvage efforts will also require 400m euro (£331m) - up from the 300m euro originally estimated.

The Concordia sinking shortly after it struck rocks

Sky's Europe correspondent Robert Nisbet says the delays and overspending are linked to the technical complexities of an unprecedented operation involving a ship the length of 11 football fields and weighing twice as much as the Titanic.

Officials want to remove it as opposed to breaking it up on the site because the waters surrounding Giglio are of particular environmental significance - part of a marine sanctuary and a favourite spot for scuba divers.

The ship's captain, Francesco Schettino, has been accused of multiple manslaughter, causing a shipwreck and leaving the ship before all passengers were evacuated.

Since the tragedy, the Costa Concordia has turned into a macabre tourist attraction, with hundreds of sightseers catching a ferry from Porto Santo Stefano to Giglio so they can look at the ship and take pictures before returning to the mainland.

Francesco Schettino remains under house arrest

Sunday's anniversary commemorations in Giglio include a ceremony to honour rescue teams and a mass held in the island's tiny church, where many of the injured were treated.

A memorial in honour of the 32 dead will also be unveiled.

But the commemorations have been marred by controversy over a letter reportedly sent by ship owner Costa Crociere to survivors, telling them not to bother attending the ceremonies.

The company cited logistical difficulties on the tiny island and the desire for privacy expressed by the families of the victims, according to news reports.

Some 4,200 people between passengers and crews survived the tragedy.

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Pensions: Flat Rate Set For 2017 Introduction

Details of a radical shake-up of the state pension are due to be unveiled by the Government on Monday.

A single flat rate, equivalent to around £144 in today's money, is expected to be introduced for new pensioners from 2017, to try to simplify the system.

Some six million workers will face higher national insurance payments in future as the practice of "contracting out" the state second pension to employers is ended.

Those affected are expected to include more than a million private sector staff enrolled in final salary schemes, and an estimated five million public sector workers.

However, it is not clear how many will lose out overall as they are likely to receive a higher state pension than before.

Funds and firms could also alter their schemes and contribution levels to take account of the shift.

Some groups - such as women who have taken career breaks to have children and the self-employed - will benefit.

The Department for Work and Pensions confirmed that the White Paper is being published on Monday.

Iain Duncan Smith and Steve Webb, his Liberal Democrat deputy at the Department for Work and Pensions, are believed to have overcome Treasury concerns to get final sign-off for the policy.

Pensions expert Malcolm McLean, from Barnett Waddingham, said: "The concept of a single, simpler-to-understand state pension pitched at a level that lifts as many people as possible off means testing and encourages them to save privately to give themselves a better standard of living in their later years is very desirable if not essential in a society such as ours with an ageing population."

But he warned: "The task of bringing together the various diverse components that currently collectively make up state pension provision was never going to be easy and it is inevitable that there will be some losers as well as winners in the process of change."

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Britons Lose £10m In Indian Call Centre Scam

Thousands of Britons have fallen victim to a multimillion-pound Indian call centre and internet fraud.

The Daily Mail has reported that up to 60,000 people were deceived by the scam, making the fraud one of the biggest ever carried out in the UK from abroad.

At its height, more than 1,000 people a day seeking unsecured loans with banks and finance companies were being contacted by call centres in New Delhi, with 100 of them being conned daily into signing up and paying a "processing fee" to get non-existent cash.

A spokesman for the Serious Organised Crime Agency, the UK's national police agency, confirmed the fraud.

"We shared intelligence with the Indian authorities, which led to them investigating and making arrests," the spokesman said.

Indian police believe at least £10m was cheated out of Britons seeking loans.

Most have lost sums between £90 and £250, though one man is said to have lost more than £200,000.

Three Indian men have been arrested on suspicion of involvement in a conspiracy to commit fraud using electronic equipment, while others remain at large in the UK and India.

Details the fraudsters obtained include the fact that an individual was seeking a loan, the amount required, his or her telephone number, email address, date of birth and home address.

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Birmingham: Big Issue Vendors Stabbed To Death

By Lisa Dowd, Midlands Correspondent

The Big Issue has confirmed that two men who were stabbed to death in Birmingham city centre worked as vendors of the publication.

The magazine's founder and editor-in-chief John Bird said: "Myself and everyone at The Big Issue has been deeply saddened to hear the tragic news that two of our well-liked Birmingham based vendors were stabbed to death in the city centre.

"We are struggling to make any sense of this utterly senseless attack, and our sincerest condolences go out to the families of the victims.

"This awful crime, perpetrated against two hard working, mild mannered men, only serves to illustrate the extreme vulnerability of people who live and work on the streets."

The two men, who were in their thirties, were attacked just before 6pm on Friday in front of "potentially hundreds of witnesses".

One victim is thought to have been stabbed outside a Sainsbury's store in Martineau Place, while the other was found slumped near a Boots store in Union Street with fatal injuries.

A police spokeswoman said: "One line of inquiry is that the victims were people who frequented the city centre."

Officers administered first aid on both men, but both were pronounced dead at the scene.

Kevin Blake, 52, who was leaving work at the time, told Sky News: "There was someone lying on the ground with a police officer pumping his chest and someone holding a white compress on his lower abdomen and someone sort of incubating him.

"He was in a very very bad way. As I walked to the train station there was huge droplets of blood for about 30 or 40 yards, which signified that he was very, very seriously injured.

"It was a surprise to read in the paper that two people had been stabbed and not just the one that I saw. It was quite a sight."

A man was arrested in New Street near the Odeon Cinema minutes after the stabbings.

Police confirmed a 23-year-old man is being questioned on suspicion of stabbing the two men to death.

Inspector David Keen said: "Two men have suffered fatal injuries - these have been inflicted in the heart of the city at a busy time when workers and shoppers would be heading home.

"There are potentially hundreds of witnesses, either people who saw the stabbings or the offender leaving the scene, and I'd urge people to get in touch immediately - they could have vital information."

Forensics and search experts cordoned off several scenes in and around Union Street to preserve evidence. Those cordons have now been lifted.

A spokeswoman for West Midlands Ambulance Service said: "Crews arrived to find two men who had been stabbed and were being given excellent first aid by police officers and passers-by.

"Both men went into cardiac arrest. Crews and the team of medics administered advanced life support to both men but, sadly, despite the best efforts, nothing could be done to save them and they were confirmed dead on scene."

Post-mortem examinations on the two victims are due to take place to determine the exact cause of their deaths.

Police said they were mounting "extra reassurance" patrols in the area.

:: Anyone with information is asked to call police on 101.

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Belfast Protests: Four Police Officers Injured

Five police officers have been injured during disorder in East Belfast this afternoon.

Police used water cannons during sectarian clashes between loyalists and republicans in the Castlereagh Street area.

Trouble flared after a city centre demonstration against the council's decision to limit the number of days the Union flag is flown from City Hall.

Water cannons were deployed and a non-lethal baton round fired by riot police as they separated opposing factions.

A hail of bricks and fireworks rained down at the Albertbridge Road near the nationalist Short Strand.

Earlier, nearly 1,000 people gathered at Belfast City Hall to protest.

Police officers confront protesters in Belfast

Senior politicians from Belfast, Dublin and London are to meet next week to discuss the protests after more than 40 days of road blocks and sporadic violence by loyalists have failed to produce a solution.

Stormont First Minister Peter Robinson and his deputy Martin McGuinness will join Northern Ireland Secretary Theresa Villiers and Ireland's Tanaiste (deputy leader) Eamonn Gilmore.

Mr Gilmore said: "This violence is being orchestrated and those behind it are known criminals, intent on creating chaos.

"This has nothing to do with real issues around flags and identity in a shared society, which are the subject of intensive political discussions at present."

The demonstrations against Belfast City Council's decision to hoist the union flag from the City Hall only on designated days like royal birthdays have brought many parts of Northern Ireland to a standstill.

More than 70 officers have been injured and over 100 arrests made during weeks of sporadic trouble, the Police Service of Northern Ireland (PSNI) said.

Businesses in Belfast's city centre have struggled to cope, with many reporting lost trade, and the Confederation of British Industry (CBI) warned some investors may think again.

A doctor was prevented from attending a terminally ill cancer patient because of loyalist road blocks in south Belfast, it was revealed.

The GP was travelling to a home call with the sick man when he was stopped twice by crowds of demonstrators who blocked the road.

Police asked them to move but they refused, nationalist SDLP MLA Conall McDevitt said.

He said: "These are depraved acts which immediately dismiss any claim on aprotest being peaceful."

The doctor had to wait until the blockade was lifted.

A unionist forum chaired by DUP leader Mr Robinson and UUP leader Mike Nesbitt met last week to discuss ways of empowering loyalist working class communities.

A second peace rally is to be held outside Belfast City Hall tomorrow.

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Pollution: Beijing's Levels 'Beyond Hazardous'

By Mark Stone, China Correspondent in Beijing

Pollution in China's capital Beijing has reached levels well beyond those considered hazardous to human health.

According to an unofficial air quality monitor on the roof of the American Embassy in Beijing, the Air Quality Index on Saturday afternoon hit 732. Any figure above 300 is considered "hazardous".

It is hard to see more than about 150 metres on Beijing's streets; the skyscrapers which dominate parts of the city are barely visible.

The pollution is so bad that it is possible to smell the air and even taste it. Residents are being urged to remain indoors but few appear to be listening to the advice.

An air quality map reveals Beijing's score of 732. Data: China Air Quality

Beijingers are used to severe pollution but not usually on quite such a level. It is not clear why it should be so bad this weekend.

Fumes from the ever-increasing number of vehicles on the city's streets contribute, but the factories surrounding the city also cause significant pollution. 

Beijing is flanked on two sides by mountains. The air is dry, cold and hangs over the city. If there is no wind, all the factors combine to create the smog.

China's government says it is trying to tackle the problem. It is aware that it does nothing for the country's image.

The Chinese last year asked the American Embassy not to publish the figures from its monitor. The Americans refused, insisting that the information was for the benefit of its personnel.

The Chinese publish their own figures for the same air.

Today, at the time the US monitor was recording a figure of 736, the official Chinese figure was 500 - still well beyond the hazardous level.

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