Reuters
Tuesday, November 8, 2005; 2:56 AM

Australia police say Muslim cleric led attack plot

CANBERRA (Reuters) - An Australian Muslim cleric who said Osama bin Laden was a "great man" has been named by police as the spiritual leader of a group of 16 men charged on Tuesday with planning a terrorist attack in Australia. Abdul Nacer Benbrika, also known as Abu Bakr, has long been monitored by Australian authorities and grabbed headlines in August after he praised bin Laden, blamed for the September 11, 2001, attacks on the United States.

French youths riot again despite curfew threat

PARIS (Reuters) - Ignoring the government's threat of a curfew, youths rioted for a 12th successive night in France, torching more than 800 vehicles around the country and injuring four police, the Interior Ministry said on Tuesday. The nightly protests against racism and unemployment dropped markedly in the greater Paris region, where violence had escalated to the point of shooting at police, but continued unabated in other parts of France, a ministry statement showed.

Man dies of bird flu as global experts meet

HANOI (Reuters) - A Vietnamese man has died of bird flu, the latest case in Asia that underlines the urgency for top health experts drawing up a strategy in Geneva to prevent the virus from spreading to humans around the globe. The World Bank says a flu pandemic lasting a year could cost the global economy up to $800 billion and health experts say it is imperative to control the spread of the H5N1 avian flu virus in animals before it mutates and spreads easily among people.

S.Korean, Japanese leaders to meet despite rift: Roh

SEOUL (Reuters) - South Korea's president announced on Tuesday he would meet Japan's prime minister next week despite a visit by the Japanese leader to a war shrine that angered Seoul. Roh Moo-hyun also told foreign correspondents at the presidential Blue House it was unlikely North Koreans would attend next week's Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) summit in the South Korean port city of Pusan.

WTO may have to lower sights for Hong Kong meet

LONDON (Reuters) - Trade ministers appeared ready on Tuesday to discuss lowering expectations for a World Trade Organization (WTO) meeting next month because their differences are too wide. At the end of six hours of talks in London between ministers from Brazil, India, the United States, the European Union and Japan, India's Trade Minister Kamal Nath told journalists that the WTO might not be able to achieve the full blueprint for a global free trade deal as planned.

US soldiers killed in spate of Iraq bombings

BAGHDAD (Reuters) - Four U.S. soldiers were among at least 15 people killed in a bloody day of suicide car bombings in and around Baghdad on Monday as a major offensive against Sunni Arab insurgents took place near Iraq's border with Syria. The four soldiers from Task Force Baghdad were killed when a car bomber attacked their checkpoint on a road south of Baghdad, the military said in a statement.

Israel's Sharon is dealt blow in parliament showdown

JERUSALEM (Reuters) - Prime Minister Ariel Sharon suffered a humiliating parliamentary rebuke by rebellious members of his own party on Monday, reflecting fallout over Israel's Gaza pullout that could lead to early elections. In a test of strength, parliament first rejected three cabinet appointments presented in an "all or nothing" package but then approved Ehud Olmert as finance minister when Sharon re-submitted his deputy's nomination for a separate vote.

UN, Red Cross say cash crisis hits quake relief

GENEVA (Reuters) - The United Nations and the global Red Cross/Red Crescent said on Monday that urgent cash support from the outside world was vital to save thousands of lives as winter moves in on homeless survivors of the Pakistan earthquake. The United Nations, struggling to raise $550 million for a medium-term program to help quake victims and rebuild shattered communities, appealed to donor countries for $42.4 million to fund relief in the region this month.

China jails three for illegally printing Bibles

BEIJING (Reuters) - A Chinese court on Tuesday sentenced a Protestant minister, his wife and her brother to prison terms of up to three years for illegally printing Bibles and other Christian publications, one of their lawyers said. The conviction of house church minister Cai Zhuohua, 34, and his family by the Beijing People's Intermediate Court came days before U.S. President George W. Bush arrives for a state visit.

US condemns Myanmar over secret trials

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The United States on Monday condemned military-ruled Myanmar's secret trials and lengthy prison sentences for eight Shan political leaders in a Yangon court last week. Hkun Htun Oo, Chairman of the United Nationalities Alliance, a coalition of pro-democracy ethnic parties, was sentenced to 53 years and two life sentences, the U.S. State Department said.