Argentina's economy minister resigns

Argentina's political crisis has deepened. Jorge Remes Lenicov, the country's fifth economy minister in just over a year, has resigned, reportedly followed by at least two other ministers. President Eduardo Duhalde is said to be trying to form a new cabinet. It comes after politicians delayed a vote on a last-ditch package to prevent a collapse in the banking system. For a second day, protestors have gathered outside a heavily-guarded Congress building in Buenos Aires, protesting against the plan to convert frozen bank savings into government bonds. Some commentators believe the departure of the economy minister could mark the beginning of the end for President Duhalde. Jorge Remes Lenicov has spent four months battling in vain to persuade the International Monetary Fund to give credit, while a newly-floated peso lost two-thirds of its value against the dollar. In the north-west province of San Juan, several people have been injured after state workers , unpaid since January, attacked goverment buildings. Police responded with rubber bullets. Back in the capital, police have had to escort senators out of the Congress building which had been surrounded by people angered at the prospect of their savings being converted into low-interest bonds.

Israel sets terms for UN mission

Israel has blocked UN plans to send a fact-finding mission to the Jenin refugee camp. It decided it will not allow the team into the shattered West Bank city unless it includes military and counter-terrorism experts. The reason: Israel says it wants a fair hearing from the UN over its operation to crack down on militants amid Palestinian claims that the Israelis carried out a massacre in Jenin. In Bethlehem's Church of the Nativity the standoff between armed Palestinians inside and the Israeli army outside goes on. But Israeli and Palestinian negotiators said they will continue talks. Earlier three Armenian monks left the church - they waved a sign saying "Please Help". In Ramallah Palestinian president Yasser Arafat is still isolated by the Israeli army, although he is being allowed to hold talks with an EU delegation later, a sign he may be becoming less isolated.

Le Pen gives policy guide

"France for the French" - the message from extreme right wing leader Jean-Marie Le Pen as he announced the moves he will make if he is elected President. Speaking at length on television for the first time since his shock qualification for the second round run-off vote, the head of the National Front outlined the propositions he would put to the people in a series of referendums. "There'd be a vote on stopping and then reversing immigration", he said, "and, on incorporating into the constitution, priority for French citizens in areas like housing and state benefits". "There would be a vote too on ending the right of babies born to foreigners in France to become French citizens", he added. Meanwhile in the city of Rennes conservative Jacques Chirac has been rallying his party faithful to try to make sure le Pen does not get the chance to put those plans into motion. Jacques Chirac has already ruled out a televised head to head with his rival, whose other referendum plans include a vote on taking France out of the European Union, saying he wouldn't debate with intolerance and hatred. "We refuse simplistic brutal solutions that always end up one day or another in state violence," he told his supporters. Meanwhile, parties of the centre-right are already looking ahead to parliamentary elections that follow the Presidential poll, planning joint moves to keep the National Front as well as the Socialists at bay.

Spain detains suspected Al-Qaida finance chief

Spanish police have arrested a man suspected of being a member of the Islamic terrorist group Al-Qaida in Madrid. An Interior Ministry statement said Muhammed Galeb Kalaje Zouaydi was alleged to have helped finance the Al-Qaida network using funds from Spain. The money, which came mainly from property development and sales, was allegedly funnelled to Muslim militants in the US, Belgium, China, Turkey and several Middle Eastern countries. Meanwhile Germany has detained 11 members of Al-Tawhid, a Palestinian group suspected of planning attacks inside the country. A prosecutor has said some of those arrested, during a nationwide search of 19 sites in various cities, had trained in Afghanistan. Police also found equipment for producing false passports. The arrests come almost two weeks after an attack in Tunisia killed 17 people including 11 Germans, although the prosecutor's office said there was no connection between the two cases. In Frankfurt, the trial is s continuing of five Algerian men accused of plotting to bomb a Christmas market in the French city of Strasbourg. One of them, Aeurobui Beandali, has now admitted gathering explosives to blow up a synagogue, after being trained in Afghanistan, but denied having links to Al-Qaida. Police arrested Beandali and three others in Frankfurt in December 2000. Beandali has told the Frankfurt court that he is not using his real name for fear of endangering his family in Algeria.

Pope says paedophile priests are criminals

The pope has given a strong indication that the Vatican is considering turning over paedophile priests to the civil authorities as soon as they are discovered. He was speaking at the end of the first day of a crisis meeting in Rome to discuss the U.S. catholic hierarchy's handling of child abuse cases. In his most forthright statement so far on the scandal the Pope said paedophelia was rightly considered a crime by society and there was no place for it in the Church. American senior clergy have been accused of sheltering paedophile priests in a nationwide cover up. The Pope also offered an apology, his first specifically directed to American victims and the catholic community in the country

Milan mourns

Thousands of mourners filed into Milan's Duomo Cathedral on Tuesday to take part in the funeral of two women killed when a plane crashed into the city's largest skyscraper. The lawyers died when a light aircraft flew directly into the landmark Pirelli Tower. Cardinal Carlo Maria Martini told the congregation that the incident had "violated a symbol of the city and region." Many of the victims' colleagues were still suffering from injuries sustained in the crash. The country's President Carlo Azeglio Ciampi also attended the service. During his sermon the Cardinal commented on the fear felt by Italians since the September 11th attacks. However officials have ruled out that there could any link to terrorism in this case. Now investigators are trying to determine whether it was an accident or suicide.