BBC News, I'm Marian Marshall.
President Bush has announced plans to freeze interest rates for hundreds of thousands of home owners facing financial difficulties as the crisis in the United States loans market threatens the wider American economy. Mr. Bush said the package of measures was a sensible response to a serious challenge. Richard List reports from Washington.
President Bush suggested irresponsible lenders and borrowers who were largely to blame for the current crisis. Almost two million people took out cheap mortgages at artificially low-interest rates but hundreds of thousands are now finding it hard to maintain their payments as the rates increase, leading to a sharp rise in bank for closures. Many international investments are tied to these loans, causing billions of dollars in losses around the world. President Bush says mortgage companies have now agreed to freeze rates for five years or refinance loans for those unable to meet future rate rises.
The Colombian left-wing rival group the FARC, has given a cautious welcome to an offer by President Nicholas Sarkozy of France to help negotiate an exchange of hostages for captured guerrillas. The FARC describes Mr. Sarkozy's initiative as praiseworthy, but warns that international mediation can only succeed if it's impartial. On Wednesday, President Sarkozy made a direct appeal to the FARC for the release of the French-Colombian politician Ingrid Betancourt who has been held hostage since 2002.
French anti-terrorist police are trying to find the motive for a parcel bomb attack at a law firm in Paris that killed a woman and injured several people. Two linked explosive devices went off when the package which was reportedly addressed to the lawyers was opened. Jean-Claude Marin is the city's chief prosecutor. "The technical and scientific police are on the ground. We are also looking into images taken at the arrival of the carrier. We are trying to put together all the pieces, and the testimonies to know who the parcel was destined for.
British government plans to increase the maximum period that police in Britain can hold terrorism suspects without charge have been greeted with fierce criticism from campaigners and opposition politicians. Ministers say the maximum pre-charge detention period should be increased from 28 to 42 days in exceptional cases. But civil liberty's group say the plan would rob people of their basic rights. And opposition politicians say it's chaotic and unnecessary. David Davis, the opposition Conservatives spokesman on home affairs says the measure could also prove counter-productive. "If you actually lock up somebody who is innocent for long length of time, then that of itself can create resentment and become recruiting cells for terrorism, and understand there have been six people locked up for 28 days under the proposal since the day it came into effect, half of them are innocent. That can not improve communal relations and as a result can't improve our battle against fundamental extremist Islamic terrorism.
World news from the BBC
The president of Zimbabwe, Robert Mugabe has arrived in Lisbon for this weekend's European Union Africa summit, his first trip to Europe in six years. The British Prime Minister Gordon Brown is boycotting the event in protest at Mr. Mugabe's human rights abuses. The EU has banned Mr. Mugabe from traveling there because of his human rights record. But Portugal allowed him in after other African leaders threatened to stay away if he is not invited.
The National Assembly of Panama has given conditional approval to a bill that will make it obligatory for all schools around the country to teach Chinese. There is also a proposal to encourage the immigration of Chinese citizens to train local teachers. Julian Milia Raney reports.
Supporters of the bill in Panama's National Assembly say that the teaching of Chinese at local schools would increase its competitiveness, given China's growing importance in the world economy. They say that China is already the largest single user of the Panama Canal which connects the Pacific and Atlantic Oceans. They also want the Panamanian government to encourage the immigration of Chinese citizens to train local teachers. The bill's supporters say that they have already discussed this aspect of their plans with the Chinese government.
The French formula-1 team Renault had been found guilty of fraudulent conduct but won't face punishment by the sport's governing body, the FIA. Renault was accused of having unauthorized technical information about cars owned by its British rival McLaren. Renault has denied any wrongdoing. A spokesman for the FIA said it would outline the reasons for its decision not to impose sanctions on Friday.
British police has been questioning the man who re-appeared at the weekend, saying he'd lost his memory five years after he was pronounced dead following a canoeing trip. John Darwin was arrested on suspicion of fraud while his wife, ann, confirmed to journalists in Panama where she has been living that the couple had been photographed together last year.
BBC World Service News.