Mr. Chirac's comments Sunday follow nearly two weeks of violence by what authorities say are mainly young black and Arab Muslims of North African origin from low-income neighborhoods. Authorities say the rioters are becoming increasingly organized and violent -- looting, torching thousands of vehicles and setting fire to buildings. On Sunday, more than 30 police officers were wounded.
Pakistani police have fired shots in the air to disperse Kashmiri villagers, as India and Pakistan opened a crossing along their de-facto border in the divided region to facilitate relief supplies for earthquake survivors.
Hundreds of Kashmiris from the Pakistani side approached the Poonch-Rawalakot border crossing, chanting "we want freedom." The crowd dispersed after police fired warning shots.
China says it has destroyed six million birds in the northeastern province of Liaoning over the past two days, after the H5N1 bird flu virus was found in the area.
Chinese officials also say they have asked the World Health Organization for help in determining if three people in central Hunan province contracted bird flu. One of the people has already died.
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