Around the world: US general warns against President's Afghan deadline

A SENIOR US general has warned that President Barack Obama's deadline to begin pulling troops out of Afghanistan is encouraging the Taleban.

US General James Conway, head of the US Marine Corps, said the deadline was "giving our enemy sustenance".

Gen Conway warned that US forces in southern Afghanistan will probably have to stay in place for several years.

His comments are likely to fuel debate over US strategy in Afghanistan and Mr Obama's July 2011 withdrawal date.

Administration officials say privately they are not surprised to hear the comments from the general, who, correspondents say, has typical US Marine Corps bluntness and is also about to retire.

Gen Conway, who just returned from Afghanistan, said he is concerned the date may signal to the Taleban that the US was preparing to wind down the war.

"In some ways we think right now it's probably giving our enemy sustenance,'" Gen Conway told a Pentagon news conference.

"I honestly think it will be a few years before conditions on the ground are such that turnover will be possible," he said.

Pupils told to plan terror attack

A TEACHER in Australia who gave her Year 10 students at Kalgoorlie-Boulder Community High School in Western Australia an assignment to plan a terrorist attack did not intend to promote terrorism, the principal said.

Six miners buried alive

Six miners were killed and two injured in Venezuela when they were buried in an abandoned mine where they were illegally working.

Mining minister Jose Khan said that the accident occurred as the men were using jackhammers to dig four tunnels in the open-air mine.

Police admit siege errors

Philippine police have admitted they did not have the skills, equipment or training to handle Monday's bus siege, in which eight Hong Kong tourists were killed after being taken hostage.

The force said talks with the gunman had been handled poorly, and relations with the media had broken down.

The hostage drama came to an end when police marksmen killed the gunman, identified as Rolando Mendoza, a former policeman.

Sarkozy feels heat over debt

French president Nicolas Sarkozy is preparing for his first cabinet meeting after the summer today, under pressure to tackle public debt and pension reform.

Unions are threatening major strikes in early September over plans to raise the retirement age from 60 to 62.

Hunt for clues after 42 killed in plane crash

China: Aviation officials searched through debris today for clues to why a passenger jet crashed while trying to land, killing 42 people and injuring 54 others.

The Henan Airlines plane crashed late yesterday, near Lindu airport outside Yichun.

United States: The government will appeal against a court ruling that undercut federally funded embryonic stem cell research, the Obama administration declared.