The Schools White Paper proposals could deliver for black pupils, the chair of the Commission for Racial Equality says.

AFP - The leader of the Lebanese fundamentalist Shiite movement Hezbollah claimed that if Muslims had executed British novelist Salman Rushdie others would not dare to insult Islam.

AP - The managing editor of a French newspaper was fired after it republished caricatures of the Prophet Muhammad that sparked fresh anger among Muslims, employees at the paper said Thursday.

Mark Oaten wants to continue as an MP despite involvement in a sex scandal, he tells his local paper.

AP - The Minnesota Timberwolves didn't have much success with their old roster against the Pistons last week. Playing Detroit with three new players and the Pistons coming off a rare loss wasn't any better.

AFP - A fireworks explosion that killed 36 people as they celebrated the lunar new year at a temple festival in central China was most likely caused by a child playing with firecrackers.

AP - Steelers linebacker Joey Porter minded his manners and said nothing derogatory about the Seahawks during his first two days at the Super Bowl. That changed Wednesday after Seattle tight end Jerramy Stevens effectively guaranteed a victory.

Reuters - Brain lesions known as neurofibrillary tangles, such as those seen in Alzheimer's disease, are also associated with impaired gait in older subjects with or without dementia, according to a postmortem study.

Reuters - First came thousands of police and troops to guard the roads, then hundreds of officials to monitor residents, and finally the Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao to share Lunar New Year celebrations with ordinary citizens.

AP - Time Warner Inc.'s profits rose 21.2 percent in the fourth quarter on strong results from the company's cable TV, movie studios and cable networks businesses.

A French paper reproduces the Danish cartoons of Prophet Muhammad which have sparked Muslim outrage.

High-tech sorting machines sift through mountains of rubbish, letting consumers skip the onerous task of sorting their recyclables. By Bryan Ball.

AP - The man who shot Pope John Paul II in 1981 was back in an Istanbul prison Saturday, and his brother demonstrated outside to accuse judicial authorities of bowing to government pressure.

AP - Kosovo President Ibrahim Rugova died Saturday, his spokesman said. The 61-year-old Rugova had been suffering from lung cancer.

AFP - Jubilant or angry, Turkish newspapers have all hailed the court decision to send Mehmet Ali Agca, the man who tried to kill pope John Paul II, back to jail after just eight days of freedom.