US air-guard boost after UK bombs

The US is increasing the number of air marshals travelling on flights between the US and UK following three failed car bomb attacks in London and Glasgow.

Homeland Security head Michael Chertoff said security would also be beefed up on flights to and from mainland Europe.

He said the US threat level would stay at orange - its second highest level - but that security would be tightened on all US travel networks ahead of 4 July.

France is also bolstering security in the wake of the attempted UK bombings.

French solidarity

Interior Minister Michele Alliot-Marie said that although there was no specific intelligence to suggest France could be next "it is obvious that France, like a number of other countries, is a potential target of terrorism".

She was speaking after a top-level security meeting in Paris which brought together senior members of France's intelligence services, national police force and border police.

On Saturday, President Nicolas Sarkozy sent a letter to new UK Prime Minister Gordon Brown saying that "in this implacable fight against terrorism, our countries are not only unfailingly united but also in close and constant co-operation".

On Sunday, US President George W Bush said he welcomed the UK government's "strong response" to the attacks.

"It just goes to show the war against these extremists goes on," Mr Bush said. "You never know where they may try to strike, and I appreciate the very strong response that the Gordon Brown government's given to the attempts by these people."

Speaking on a series of US TV chat shows over the weekend, Mr Chertoff said the US was increasingly worried about threats originating in Europe.

He particularly spoke about Europeans going to terror training camps in South Asia then returning to Europe to use it as a staging post for attacks in Europe or the US.

Mr Chertoff said that UK attacks had forced a reassessment of security precautions:

"We haven't singled out Glasgow until a couple of days ago as a particular location for focus, but there has been a strategy of mixing up the deployment of these air marshals, sometimes more in one destination, sometimes more in another destination," he said.

"Going forward, we will be doing some enhanced air marshal work and similar types of activities with respect to UK travel."

Mr Chertoff said that although there were concerns that there could be copy-cat incidents in the US that the country's security level would remain as it is, at orange - the second highest threat level.

However, he said that as a matter of course there would be a tightening of security at airports, railway stations and other travel hubs as the 4 July holiday weekend approached.

UN chief: World desperately needs WTO deal

GENEVA - United Nations Secretary General Ban Ki-moon on Monday said a successful conclusion to long-stalled global trade talks was desperately needed to help lift millions out of poverty.

"The world desperately needs a successful conclusion to the Doha negotiations," Ban told a meeting of the UN Economic and Social Council in Geneva.

"Existing trade barriers, agricultural subsidies, and restrictive rules on intellectual property rights reinforce global inequities -- and they make a mockery of our tall claims to eliminate hunger and poverty from the world," he said.

However, the chances of a deal in the short-term look scant after the collapse last month of talks between four key powers in the World Trade Organisation, the so-called "G4" group of the , European Union United States, Brazil India

The talks on a new global trade agreement, launched with great fanfare in the Qatari capital Doha six years ago, have been mired in an impasse between developed and developing countries over agricultural subsidies, tariffs and market access.

Ban Ki-moon also reiterated calls for developed countries to be more generous with overseas aid in order to help meet the UN's Millennium Development Goals of halving extreme poverty by 2015.

"I cannot stress strongly enough the need for developed nations to keep their promises. They have to meet the 0.7 percent Official Development Assistance target."

"Today, I urge donors to issue timelines for scaling up aid to reach their target commitments by 2010 and 2015," he said.

According to a UN report issued Monday, there has been "mixed" progress at meeting the Millennium Development Goals, with millions still living in poverty in Asia sub-Saharan Africa.

S Korea tycoon jailed for assault

One of South Korea's richest businessmen, Kim Seung-youn, has been jailed for 18 months for abducting and assaulting workers in a karaoke bar.

Kim, 55, chairman of the Hanwha Group, was convicted of attacking the men with the aid of his bodyguards, to punish them for scuffling with his son.

He admitted responsibility for much of the violence, but said his bodyguards took over when he "got tired".

The case has generated intense public interest in South Korea.

Heads of family-controlled business conglomerates like Hanwha - which has interests in petrochemicals, finance, insurance, construction and retail - wield huge power.

Courts have often been lenient with these business leaders, but correspondents say the ruling in Kim's case shows that the judiciary is becoming more even-handed when sentencing the rich and powerful.

Serious injury

Passing sentence at Seoul District Court, the judge, Kim Chul-hwan, said Kim Seung-youn had used his position to take revenge on the workers, carrying out the attacks in a "systematic manner".

"The violation of the law is big and is serious," said the judge.

During the trial, prosecutors told the court that this was a revenge attack after an incident involving the defendant's son, Kim Dong-won, a Yale University student.

Kim Dong-won, 22, was reported to have needed stitches for an eye injury sustained in a brawl with bar workers at the Seoul club.

Kim Seung-youn was said to have mobilised his bodyguards and local gangsters to take the off-duty bar workers to a mountainside construction site, where the revenge beating occurred.

The judge found the tycoon guilty of "beating the defenceless victims with a metal pipe, and threatening them with a stun gun," although none of the workers sustained serious injuries.

The court ruled that a jail sentence was inevitable.

Before being taken into custody, Kim Seung-Youn apologised, saying that he had lost his temper and hoped that foolish fathers like himself would think twice before following his actions.

Heavier penalties

Traditionally, senior Korean business leaders have enjoyed favourable treatment by the courts in consideration of their contributions to building the country's economy.

More recently, however, the courts have started to hand down heavier sentences on the business elite.

In February Chung Mong-koo, the chairman of Hyundai motors, was sentenced to three years in jail for breach of trust and embezzling company funds.

Mr Chung appealed earlier this year and prosecutors reacted by asking for his sentence to be increased to six years.

Obama leads in campaign funding

Democrat Barack Obama has taken the lead over rival Hillary Clinton in the battle to raise funds for the bid to become US president.

The Illinois senator's presidential campaign raised $32.5m (£16.2m) in the period from April to June, a record for a Democratic candidate, his team said.

Mr Obama has now collected a total of $55.7m (£27.9m) in funding.

But Mrs Clinton, whose team said she raised around $27m (£13.5m) in the same quarter, still leads in opinion polls.

Former Senator John Edwards said his campaign had garnered a second-quarter total of just over $9m (£4.5m) from some 100,000 donors.

Other Democratic candidates Bill Richardson and Christopher Dodd reported raising $7m (£3.5m) and $3.25m (£1.6m) respectively.

Republican candidates have not yet announced their funding totals for the second quarter but are expected to do so well in advance of the 15 July deadline for submitting reports to the Federal Election Commission.

Mr Obama said he received at least 154,000 contributions in the last accounting period, bringing the total number of donors to 258,000 in the first half of the year.

Mr Obama said his was the "largest grassroots campaign" for this stage of a presidential race.

"We now have hundreds of thousands of Americans who are ready to demand health care for all, energy independence and an end to the war in Iraq," Mr Obama said.

"That's the kind of movement that can change the special interest-driven politics in Washington and transform our country, and it's just the beginning."

According to campaign aides, $31m of Mr Obama's total funds are earmarked for use in party primaries.

In the first quarter of the year, Mr Obama raised at least $25m (£12.6m) and Mrs Clinton raised $26m (£13).

However Mrs Clinton has an extra $10m (£5m ) on top of these donations, left over from her earlier Senate campaign.

On the Republican side, former Massachusetts Governor Mitt Romney indicated on Friday that his second quarter funds fell short of the $21m (£10.5m) raised in the first quarter.

Rudolph Giuliani, who raised nearly $15m (£7.5m) in the first quarter, is expected to announce his figures on Monday or Tuesday.

Senator John McCain is hoping to come in third in the Republican fund-raising stakes, correspondents say.

He announced an overhaul of his fundraising operation in April after declaring a disappointing $12.5m (£6.2m) for the first quarter of 2007.

Money pledged for the presidential election in November 2008 - should a contender become their party's nominee - cannot be spent on campaigning for the primary.

Ferrari revival thwarts Hamilton

Ferrari reignited their season as Kimi Raikkonen and Felipe Massa finished first and second at Magny-Cours to end Lewis Hamilton's run of victories.

But Hamilton, 22, took third place to extend his lead to 14 points at the top of the drivers' standings with his eighth consecutive podium finish.

The Ferrari pair had too much pace for McLaren, with Raikkonen gaining the lead from his team-mate on lap 47.

Britain's Jenson Button came eighth to claim his first point of the season.

Defending champion Fernando Alonso, who started from 10th place after mechanical problems in qualifying, battled his way to seventh place but still lost ground on his McLaren team-mate in the title race.

Alonso trails Hamilton by 14 points, with Massa a further three points behind.

Hamilton - who opted for a three-stop strategy - started from second on the grid but Raikkonen got off to a lightning start to overhaul the Briton at the first corner.

The Finn called on his superior pace again to get beyond Massa after his second stop on lap 46, overtaking him as he surged out of the pits.

"Finally the start worked for me," said Raikkonen, who chalked up the 11th victory of his career in France, and his first since his opening day win in Australia.

"I tried to push Felipe, I knew I would stop later and I managed to get ahead of him in the end.

"I expected to go through difficult times and people always think you have lost it if you're not winning, so it's nice to win."

Massa, who started on pole, had amassed a three-second lead over Raikkonen just before his second stop but his chances faded when he got held up by the back-markers.

"I lost the race because of the traffic," said Massa. "I lost too much time and speed, and that was the biggest problem for me.

"But the car is great and we are happy to get the first one-two of the season for Ferrari."

Hamilton made a sluggish start and, on an unusual three-stop strategy, never really threatened the Ferraris.

However, the British rookie showed his class when he jinxed past Robert Kubica at the tight Adelaide Hairpin to regain third after his second stop.

It still says alot for Hamilton that this result in Magny-Cours was his worst since he was third on his debut in Melbourne, following four successive runner-up places and back-to-back wins in Canada and the United States.

"I didn't get off to the best start," said Hamilton. "I don't know what happened, but I saw Kimi flying past.

"But I'm still feeling fairly confident, and as long as we continue to have reliability, then I can look forward to my home race."

ROMANIA: Cannes Award Brings Back Memories

A Romanian triumph at the Cannes film festival this year has revived painful memories for thousands of women.

The film '4 months, 3 Weeks, and 2 Days' presents the picture of illegal abortions during the communist days in Romania. Scriptwriter and director Cristian Mungiu tells the story of a university student trying to get rid of an unwanted pregnancy with the help of her roommate.

The two young women are forced seek the help of "Mr. Bebe", a fixer who takes advantage of them. The story is set in the late 1980s during the Communist dictatorship of Nicolae Ceausescu, when abortions were illegal.

Mungiu said the experience of someone he knows inspired him to write the script for this film. Most Romanians have a relative or a friend who terminated a pregnancy in illegal and dangerous circumstances.

Mungiu's film has not yet been distributed in Romania. Still, people talk about it as if they have seen it already.

"This film came to me in a period when I am looking back at my life," said Crenguta, 55, an accountant from Brasov. "My two children have grown up. They are the same age I was when I was making the abortions. Looking at them, I wonder how I survived all those attempts. My body was very strong. And I ignored most of the dangers I was putting myself through."

Abortions were allowed in Romania until 1966, when the Communist government passed a decree making them illegal. Women who violated the law could get between six months and two years in prison. Doctors who carried out abortions without permission could get between one and three years imprisonment.

Pregnancy-related medical procedures undertaken in hospitals were supervised by special commissions made up of prosecutors, members of the secret police, of the Communist Party and sanitary inspectors.

Given the high risks, women would rarely find a doctor who would carry out an abortion. Many tried to terminate the pregnancies themselves or looked for midwifes who claimed experience in childbirth and abortions.

"Out of desperation, women would resort to insane methods," medical generalist Elena Borza explained. "They would use salt, detergent, or any other substance which they thought could help them get rid of the baby." Women would inject such substances into the uterus, hoping this would eliminate the foetus.

Other methods involved drinking large quantities of red boiled wine, injecting hormone-based substances in their veins, and hitting themselves in the belly.

Women were often unaware of the serious threats posed by these procedures. According to data provided by the National Centre for Statistics and Legal Medicine, between 1966 and 1989, more than 9,000 women died because of such clandestine abortions.

"These techniques would cause inflammation of the uterus. Many women would become infertile after that," gynaecologist Anca Galitianu told IPS. "Sometimes, the infections were so severe that the women died."

Maria, 50, a kindergarten teacher from Brasov, thinks that the tumor in her uterus could have been caused by abortions done through inappropriate methods. "Nobody told me that, but I know what I have done to my body. I must have injected alcohol or etilic acid in my uterus on at least five occasions. I didn't know what I was doing then, but I am feeling the consequences today."

After the first birth, Maria's husband did not want any more children. "Sometimes, if he got mad at me, he would even threaten to tell the police I made the abortions," she said.

The brutality of the abortion methods and the constant state of fear imposed by the regime would often place a heavy burden on the couple.

"I will never forgive my husband for not helping me when I almost bled to death during an abortion," says Valentina, 54, a physical education teacher. "I was just sitting over the bowl, which was filling up with blood. We were afraid to call an ambulance because they would understand what I did, and arrest me." Valentina added that, after that, she could never have sexual intercourse again.

"I remember once the pain was so much that I had to go lie down on the cool, concrete floor of the balcony to feel better. But it kept hurting. I never thought I would survive that," Maria recalls. "I did survive it," she added, "but the pain and the fear gradually weakened me. I remain a vulnerable person."

Abortions were legalised in Romania in December 1989, through the first decree passed by a revolutionary government brought to power at the end of a popular revolt against the Communist dictatorship.

Crenguta, Maria and Valentina all have adult daughters. Crenguta said the story of Mungiu's movie made her talk to her daughter about pregnancies and abortions all over again, just to make sure her daughter is never in need of advice and afraid to ask for it. (

PM defiant over 'al-Qaeda threat'

Britain will not yield despite a sustained threat from people associated with al-Qaeda, Gordon Brown has said after three car bomb attacks in the UK.

The prime minister was speaking to the BBC after Saturday's attack on Glasgow Airport was linked to the two car bombs found in London's West End on Friday.

He said: "We will not allow anyone to undermine our British way of life."

Police are now holding four people over the attack on the airport and are searching houses near Glasgow.

'Maximum damage'

The UK has moved to its highest level of terror alert - critical - after a burning car crashed into the airport and the government's emergency response unit, Cobra, is holding its fourth meeting in three days.

Mr Brown told Andrew Marr on BBC1's Sunday AM it was "clear that we are dealing, in general terms, with people who are associated with al-Qaeda."

"It's obvious that we have a group of people - not just in this country, but round the world - who're prepared at any time to inflict what they want to be maximum damage on civilians, irrespective of the religion of these people who are killed or maimed are to be," he said.

Mr Brown also praised the "magnificent work" of police and security services and the public for being vigilant and for helping prevent what could have been loss of life.

He said people still needed to be "constantly vigilant" against what was a "long-term and sustained threat".

"We have to fight it in a number of different ways - militarily, by security, by police, by intelligence," he added.

"And I think it's important to say also on a day like this - we've got to also fight it as a battle of hearts and minds.

"We've got to separate if you like those great moderate members of our community from a few extremists who wish to practise both violence and inflict maximum loss of life in the interests of a perversion of their religion."

Critical condition

Of the four people being held over the attacks, two men were arrested at Glasgow Airport, in Paisley, after their Jeep Cherokee crashed into the main doors and burst into flames.

One of the suspects suffered severe burns and was taken to the city's Royal Alexandra Hospital, where he is said to be in a critical condition.

The other two people were arrested on the M6 in Cheshire overnight.

Earlier, an eyewitness to the arrests in Cheshire, Peter Whitehead told BBC News 24 that three cars straddled the motorway and brought traffic to a halt.

"It turned out they were unmarked police cars. In front of them were a couple of other unmarked police cars and they forced a car onto the hard shoulder and got the occupants out and as far as I can see arrested them," he said.

Counter-terrorism police made the arrests hours after Strathclyde police had confirmed they were linking the attack in Glasgow with events in London.

Chief Constable Willie Rae said: "There are clearly similarities, and we can confirm that [the Glasgow attack] is being treated as a terrorist incident."

Gas cylinders

Strathclyde Police had believed he was in possession of "a suspect device", but it was later found not to be explosive.

The vehicle involved has been made safe and will be examined by forensic experts.

Two Mercedes containing petrol, gas cylinders and nails were found outside the Tiger Tiger club in London's Haymarket and a nearby street on Friday, but the devices did not detonate.

BBC home affairs correspondent Danny Shaw said the decision to raise the UK's security level to critical on Saturday reflected concern that those responsible have the capability and intent to carry out further bombings.

He said the similarities between the attacks suggested they were carried out by the same individuals or by members of the same cell.

The critical threat level, the highest one possible, indicates terror attacks are "imminent".

All flights to and from Glasgow Airport were suspended after the attack.

The airport is now operating a phased reopening and flights from Orlando and Ibiza have arrived.

And a number of other airports stepped up security, including Edinburgh, Newcastle, Birmingham, Manchester and Blackpool.

Security has also been tightened at airports across the US.

Police have been increasing patrols and security for events in London over the weekend, including the Concert for Diana at Wembley Stadium on Sunday and the ongoing Wimbledon tennis championships.