Almost a decade now into United Nations' mission in Afghanistan and there is a growing acknowledgement that things are a mass. The UN special representative there didn't use that word of course, but Kai Eide's assessment paints a bleak picture indeed. He is worried about certain negative trends which he fears could become unmanageable. Afghans are frustrated with the situation, he says, so to international donors. And like many,he worries that the insurgency is growing stronger.
A leading Democratic Party member of United States Senate Christopher Dodd says he won't be standing for re-election this year, a senator for over 30 years. Mr Dodd has faced questions about his links with the financial industry. His decision to stand down clears the way for another leading Democrat Richard Blumenthal to run for the seat.
French police were investigating reports that passengers on an Air France Flight from Tokyo to Paris had nearly 6,000 dollars stolen from their wallets. The thief is alleged to have struck while the victims all in business class were asleep. Police briefly searched the plane on landing but failed to make any arrests. Air France said such events almost unheard of, but stressed that passengers were responsible for their own carry-on belongings.
And as a row intensifies about a huge statue being built in the Senegalese capital Dakar, an architect involved in the project has said the woman featured in the monument should be dressed more decently. The architect said he'd submitted a proposal to President Abdoulaye Wade to cover the woman's bare-legs with a concrete skirt. The 27-million-dollar statue has been denounced as idolatrous by Muslim leaders.