World briefs 11/5/05

U.S. warns tourists as riots in France spread

AUBERVILLIERS, France -- Marauding youths set fire to cars and warehouses and pelted rescuers with rocks early today, as the worst rioting in a decade spread from Paris to other French cities. The United States warned Americans against taking trains to the airport via strife-torn areas. A savage assault on a bus passenger highlighted the dangers of travel in Paris' impoverished outlying neighborhoods, where the violence has entered its second week. Rioters burned more than 500 vehicles Friday as the unrest grew beyond the French capital for the first time. Unrest returned to the streets in the evening and early today, the ninth night in a row. Police said troublemakers fired bullets into a vandalized bus and burned 85 more cars in Paris and Suresnes, just to the west. In Meaux, east of Paris, officials said youths stoned rescuers aiding someone who had fallen ill.

Al-Qaida in Iraq threatens foreign diplomats

BAGHDAD, Iraq --The country's most feared terror group warned foreign diplomats Friday to flee Iraq after announcing it will put to death two kidnapped Moroccan Embassy employees. Insurgents killed 11 Iraqi security troops and an American soldier in separate attacks. The warning came in a statement posted on an Islamist Web site in the name of al-Qaida in Iraq, which also claimed responsibility for the July kidnap-slaying of two envoys from Algeria and one from Egypt as well as the abduction and beheading of many foreign hostages. Also Friday, the U.S. military announced it killed five senior al-Qaida figures during an airstrike Oct. 29 against three buildings in Husaybah. The five included at least one North African and were holding a strategy meeting.

China, Vietnam report new bird flu outbreaks

BEIJING -- China and Vietnam reported new bird flu outbreaks in poultry Friday despite massive prevention efforts, while Japan prepared to destroy 180,000 birds to stop a suspected outbreak and Thailand announced plans to distribute its own generic anti-viral drug. As global jitters mounted, a meeting of ministers from 17 African nations appealed to the continent's governments to share resources, warning that migratory birds from Europe and Asia could carry the virus to their shores.

Pakistan's president opts for quake aid over jets

MUZAFFARABAD, Pakistan -- President Gen. Pervez Musharraf suspended a major purchase of U.S. fighter planes, saying Friday that funds are needed first and foremost for earthquake recovery. The president -- who has been criticized for refusing to cut the nation's enormous military budget in light of the disaster -- called on the world to send more money, saying the response to the killer quake has fallen far short of that for last year's tsunami or Hurricane Katrina. Musharraf said he was delaying the purchase of 77 F-16 fighters because of the need for rebuilding large swaths of northern Pakistan flattened by the Oct. 8 temblor, which killed about 80,000 people.

-- From wire reports