PARIS (AFP) - Air France said it expects to fly only half of its long-haul and 70 percent of short- and medium-haul flights on Tuesday as a strike by French aviation workers intensifies.

KANO, Nigeria (AFP) - Gunmen attacked a police station in Nigeria's flashpoint city of Kano on Monday and multiple blasts rocked a market in Maiduguri, the base of Islamist group Boko Haram, residents said.

BUCHAREST (AFP) - Romanian President Traian Basescu on Monday named intelligence chief Mihai Razvan Ungureanu as the new prime minister after Emil Boc resigned following wide protests against austerity cuts.

WASHINGTON (AFP) - The White House warned Syria's allies Monday that backing President Bashar al-Assad was a "losing bet" after China and Russia blocked a UN Security Council resolution condemning his crackdown.

VATICAN CITY, Holy See (AFP) - Pope Benedict XVI on Monday urged "profound renewal" in the Catholic Church to combat child abuse in a message to participants of a first-ever Vatican conference on the issue.