France

Hollande defends war

France's president said his country must fight harder against terrorists in Africa, following two suicide bombings staged by extremists angry over the French military intervention in Mali. "We will stay in Mali and around Mali because we haven't finished with terrorism," Francois Hollande said on Friday, in a sweeping speech on the country's military doctrine.

Turkey

Country bans alcohol ads

Turkey banned alcohol advertising and increased restrictions on alcohol sales on Friday in a move likely to anger secularist Turks who accuse the government of having an Islamic agenda. The sale of alcohol will be outlawed from 10 pm to 6 am, and alcohol producers will have to place health warnings on packaging.

United Kingdom

Plane lands after engine problem

A British Airways plane traveling from London to Oslo was forced to make an emergency landing at Heathrow Airport on Friday after a technical fault in an engine. "The BA762, Heathrow to Oslo service, returned back to Heathrow shortly after takeoff due to a technical fault," BA parent company IAG said. The Airbus A319 aircraft was carrying 75 passengers.

Seaweed stops nuclear plant

A rising tide of seaweed halted a nuclear power station near Edinburgh on Thursday, threatening to clog up its cooling system. EDF Energy took both reactors offline, the company said on Friday. "Around 11:30 (local time) on Thursday night, Unit 2 at Torness power station came offline due to increased seaweed levels as a result of the severe weather and sea conditions in the area."

Russia

Massive quake felt in Moscow

A massive undersea earthquake on Friday in Russia prompted a tsunami warning and unleashed tremors across Russia, including in Moscow, around 10,000 km away, but caused no casualties or damage. The United States Geological Survey estimated the quake at 8.3 magnitude and placed its epicenter in the Sea of Okhotsk at a depth of more than 600 km.

Pakistan

Mosque blast leaves 3 dead

A suicide bomber on Friday hit a vehicle belonging to an Afghan Muslim scholar in northwest Pakistan, killing three people, including the cleric's guard and driver, officials said. The bomber detonated his explosive jacket close to Haji Hayatullah's car as worshippers were leaving a mosque, local police chief Liaquat Ali said.

Reuters-AP-AFP

(China Daily 05/25/2013 page8)