BBC News with Gaenor Howells
Activists and officials in Syria say more than 80 people have been killed in a huge explosion at the University of Aleppo as students were sitting in exams. Activists and eyewitnesses say government aircraft bombed the building but the Syrian government blames rebel fighters. James Reynolds reports
Radio footage shows the facade of one of the university's dormitories blown away. The pictures also show burned-out cars and bodies on the street outside. Syria state TV described the explosions at the University of Aleppo as a terrorist attack that’s the standard government description for any strike carried out by opposition forces. But no rebel group has claimed responsibility for the attack and opposition activists say that the government itself sent its own fighter planes to bomb the university’s grounds.
French warplanes have carried out further air strikes on rebel positions in Mali. They bombed a town of Gao, an important base for Islamists who’ve taken control of much of the north of the country. The French Defense Minister Jean-Yves Le Drian says Malian government forces have yet to retake another town Konna whose capture last week by Islamists sparked the current crisis. Hugh Schofield reports from Paris.
Konna is the town in central Mali whose capture by the advancing jihadists led to the first French airstrike in support of government forces. The French say that their action stopped the Islamist advance there but now the Defense Minister has said that the Malian army has yet to retake Konna. The significance of this is unclear but it does suggest that the Malian army does not have the capacity to take any advantage on the ground of the air support offered by the French. Meanwhile further to the west, Mr. Le Drian said that Islamists still occupied the town of Diabaly which they took on Monday and from where they’ve threatened to move further south towards the capital Bamako.
The American talk show host Oprah Winfrey says the disgraced cycling champion Lance Armstrong didn’t come clean in the manner she expected as he addressed doping allegations during their interview. The cyclist has for years denied accusations that he used performance-enhancing drugs. But Oprah Winfrey told CBS television she was satisfied by Mr. Armstrong’s responses.
“I didn’t get all the questions asked but I think the most important questions and the answers that people around the world had been waiting to hear were answered.”
The World Anti-Doping Agency is insisting that Armstrong make a full confession under oath before seeking a reduction in his lifetime ban from elite sport.
The Cuban Health Ministry has confirmed the first outbreak of cholera in the capital Havana in more than half a century. Fifty one people have been infected so far and doctors had been going house to house in many areas to check for signs of sickness. The BBC understands one man died of cholera in Havana earlier this month but that hasn’t been confirmed by the authorities.
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The Pakistani Supreme Court has ordered the arrest of the Prime Minister Raja Pervaiz Ashraf on charges of corruption. Mr. Ashraf and 15 other officials are alleged to have received kickbacks from private power companies when Mr. Ashraf was Minister of Water and Power. From Islamabad, here is Orla Guerin.
Pakistan’s beleaguered government is now under pressure on two fronts—from a mass protest on its doorstep in Islamabad and from the judges of the Supreme Court. Their order for the arrest of Prime Minister Raja Pervaiz Ashraf could hardly have come at a worse moment for Pakistan’s leaders. The government said it was very unexpected and the timing should be noted. An aide to the Prime Minister went further, accusing Pakistan’s powerful military of engineering both the protest movement and the court ruling.
A court in Bangladesh has formally charged the former Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina Wajed with corruption. The charges alleged that she abused her powers while she was in office between 2001 and 2006. If she were to be convicted, she’d be unable to contest in next year’s general elections.
New research suggests that soot or black carbon makes a much bigger contribution to global warming than previously thought. Scientists who have published a new study say particles from diesel engines and wood burning could have twice the warming effect that past estimates had indicated. The study says soot emissions from Europe and North America have been declining due to emissions restrictions but have been growing steadily in the developing world.
The mayor of a town on the Italian Island of Sicily has apologized to victims of the mafia. The town of Corleone is infamous for its gangster connections and produced one of the mafia’s most brutal bosses Toto Riina known as ‘The Beast.’ Although the mafia still has a presence in the town, it’s no longer the force it once was there.
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