its rightful pride as has been the case in the last five years. Tonight, through the vote of the French, I am the candidate of all those who want to turn one page and open a new one."
The United States and Afghanistan have put the final touches to a draft strategic agreement that sets out the future of their relationship after the planned end of America's combat mission in 2014. Jonathan Blake reports from Washington.
This agreement comes after months of talks between the US and Afghanistan on the future of the two countries' relationship. The main
stumbling
blocks were night raids by US forces and Afghan civilians being held in US-run prisons. Both two issues were dealt with in separate agreements. No detail of this pact has been released, but it will establish guidelines for any US military presence in Afghanistan after 2014 and the extent of financial support that the country will receive.
Tens of thousands of people have attended a prayer rally in Moscow in support of the Russian Orthodox Church amid anger at a political protest by a punk rock band. The all-female group Pussy Riot burst into a Moscow cathedral in February to perform a song criticising the Church's close ties with the Kremlin. The women are in jail, facing trial for
hooliganism
.
World News from the BBC
State media in China say police have
confiscated
27 million drug capsules on suspicion that they were made from industrial waste. They say 80 production lines have been closed and scores of people detained. The capsules are said to have been made from industrial gelatin containing potentially toxic levels of chromium and