CIA flights may have landed in France
Paris Two flights chartered by the CIA made stopovers in France in 2002 and 2005, the French newspaper Le Figaro said Friday, adding to likely questions facing U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice when she visits Europe next week.
French officials said they had no knowledge of the clandestine flights via France.
Le Figaro said it was possible for the flights to have gone undetected by French officials because private flights from outside the Europe’s “Schengen” passport-free zone could transit freely through France, provided they gave their flight plan.
Several European governments have launched investigations into whether covert CIA flights were used in the aftermath of Sept. 11, 2001, to transfer Islamist suspects to third countries where they could be interrogated beyond the reach of international law.
Israel successfully tests missile defense system
Jerusalem Israel’s Arrow missile defense system intercepted and destroyed a missile similar to Iran’s long-range Shahab-3 during a test Friday, prompting Israel’s defense minister to declare it an effective shield against a possible future Iranian nuclear threat.
Defense Minister Shaul Mofaz said that in light of Iran’s recent threats against Israel and efforts to develop non-conventional weapons, Israel needs an effective shield.
Iran’s Shahab-3 can be equipped with nuclear warheads and can reach Israel, as well as several U.S. military installations in the Middle East. Israeli concerns were heightened after Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad said Israel must be “wiped off the map,” in October.
State-owned Israel Aircraft Industries and U.S.-based Boeing Co. began developing the Arrow system after Iraq fired 39 Scud missiles at Israel during the 1991 Gulf War.
Ransom paid to free American missionary
Port-au-Prince, Haiti Gunmen have released 14 Haitian children and an American missionary who were abducted in separate incidents, police said Friday.
The missionary, Phillip Snyder, was released Friday after a ransom was paid, said police Commissioner Francois Henri Doussous, head of Haiti’s anti-kidnapping unit. He would not specify how much was paid but said it was “much less” than the $300,000 the kidnappers initially sought.
The gunmen released the children and their school bus driver unharmed Thursday night, hours after their bus was hijacked by gunmen on the way to school.
Atlantic Ocean gets 14th hurricane of ‘05
Epsilon strengthened into a record 14th hurricane in the Atlantic Ocean on Friday – two days after the 2005 season officially ended. Forecasters said it posed no threat to land.
Epsilon, with maximum sustained winds near 75 mph, was centered about 1,165 miles west of the Azores.
The Atlantic hurricane season began June 1 and officially ended on Wednesday. Epsilon was only the fifth December hurricane recorded in more than 120 years, National Weather Service Hurricane Specialist Stacy Stewart said.
By December, upper-atmosphere winds are normally strong enough to keep storms in check, Stewart said, “but about every 20 years or so, the atmosphere allows it to happen.”