Warnings from Africa

Warnings from Africa

UNITED NATIONS — African leaders warned Monday that a lingering global financial crisis coupled with the collapse of talks on a world trade agreement could significantly harm the U.N. campaign to improve life for hundreds of millions of the world’s poorest.

But the head of the 53-nation African Union said that if rich nations really care, they will keep helping Africa in spite of the financial meltdown.

The financial storm clouds hovered over a high-level meeting on Africa’s development needs ahead of the U.N. General Assembly’s annual ministerial session, which opens today.

Stonehenge discoveries

LONDON — The first excavation of Stonehenge in more than 40 years has uncovered evidence that the stone circle drew ailing pilgrims from around Europe for what they believed to be its healing properties, archaeologists said Monday.

Archaeologists Geoffrey Wainwright and Timothy Darvill said the content of graves scattered around the monument and the ancient chipping of its rocks to produce amulets indicated that Stonehenge was the primeval equivalent of Lourdes, the French shrine venerated for its supposed ability to cure the sick.

An unusual number of skeletons recovered from the area showed signs of serious disease or injury.

Children killed in Iraq

BAGHDAD — A bomb hidden under a pile of trash struck children playing soccer near the northern city of Mosul on Monday, killing at least five of the youths, Iraqi officials said.

The blast occurred about 6 p.m. in the Sunni town of Hamam al-Alil, just south of Mosul, which has been the site of ongoing U.S.-Iraqi military operations aimed at routing insurgents.

Violence has dropped dramatically in Iraq, especially in Baghdad, but the U.S. military has warned that Sunni and Shiite extremists maintain the ability to carry out deadly attacks.

Baghdad also faced more violence Monday, with at least three Iraqi civilians killed in two separate bombings.

Near-miss on Pa. runway

ALLENTOWN, Pa. — A United Express flight had to brake and swerve at 140 mph to avoid by about 10 feet a small plane on the same runway, airport and federal officials said Monday.

The flight crew of Chicago-bound Flight 7138 spotted the Cessna four-seat propeller plane just ahead of it and aborted takeoff Friday night at Lehigh Valley International Airport, the National Transportation Safety Board said.

No injuries were reported among the 60 United passengers or to those aboard the Cessna.

Afghan operation extended

UNITED NATIONS — The U.N. Security Council voted unanimously Monday to extend the NATO-led force in Afghanistan but was critical of the growing number of civilian casualties, and urged its troops and U.S.-led forces to make major efforts to minimize civilian deaths.

The issue was propelled to the forefront of U.S.-Afghan relations when an Afghan commission found that an Aug. 22 U.S.-led operation in the western village of Azizabad killed 90 civilians, including 60 children. That finding was backed by a preliminary U.N. report, though the U.S. is still investigating the incident.

4 new pennies planned

WASHINGTON — Next year, the penny will be getting not just one new look but four, the first changes to the 1-cent coin in 50 years.

The U.S. Mint unveiled the new designs during a ceremony Monday at the Lincoln Memorial. The coin changes are part of the government’s commemoration next year of the 200th anniversary of Lincoln’s birth.

Lincoln’s profile will remain on one side of the coin, but the Lincoln Memorial will be replaced on the other side by the new images, with a different one being introduced every three months.

The first new design will depict a log cabin, representing the place in Kentucky where Lincoln was born in 1809.

The second design will feature a young Lincoln taking a break from working as a rail splitter in Indiana by reading a book. Lincoln as a young lawyer standing in front of the old state capitol building in Springfield, Ill., will be the design on the third coin.

The final coin in the series will show the half-completed Capitol dome, evoking Lincoln’s famous order that construction of the Capitol should continue during the Civil War as a symbol that the Union would continue.

The first new penny is scheduled to go into circulation starting Feb. 12, Lincoln’s birthday, and then every three months after that.

Associated Press