Islamist rebel says he ordered Moscow airport blast

A Chechen warlord has apparently claimed responsibility for last month’s carnage at Russia’s busiest airport and warned of further such attacks.

In a video on an Islamist website, Doku Umarov said he ordered the “special operation” to avenge what he called Russian “crimes” in the Caucasus.

He does not mention Domodedovo Airport in Moscow by name. But his reference to the 24th – the suicide bombing occurred on January 24 – looks to confirm suspicions of his involvement.

The blast in a crowded terminal building killed 36 people and injured 180 others.

Umarov has warned he will make 2011 a year of “blood and tears” for Russia.

PIA strike grounds some Pakistan flights

KARACHI, Pakistan (AP) -- Employees at Pakistan's state-owned airline went on strike Tuesday in protest against a proposed route-sharing agreement with Turkish Airlines, an airline spokesman said. The move grounded two international and four domestic flights.

The action involved a small group of pilots and support staff, according to Pakistan International Airlines spokesman Mashhood Tajwar. Some employees opposed to the strike scuffled with its supporters at Karachi International Airport, according to witnesses.

Union bosses were not available for comment, and it was not clear whether the strike would spread or be sustained.

PIA bosses have said they are considering sharing some routes with Turkish Airlines to try and increase profitability. Carriers around the world have increasingly done this to tap new markets without investing in extra planes and staff.

Some of PIA's around 20,000 employees fear this will lead to job or pay cuts, though this has been denied by PIA management.

Plagued by bad management and hit hard by Gulf airlines offering better services, PIA has posted multimillion dollar losses for years. Subsiding it and other loss making state-run businesses eats up a significant chunk of the government's budget each year.

Myanmar's opposition says sanctions on junta work

YANGON, Myanmar (AP) -- The pro-democracy party of Aung San Suu Kyi endorsed Western sanctions against Myanmar on Tuesday, saying they hurt the authoritarian regime not ordinary citizens and implying it's too early to lift them.

For weeks, there have been indications that the Nobel Peace Prize laureate was questioning her longtime support of sanctions. But a four-page report issued by her party Tuesday was the first clarification of her position and could temper any momentum to lift sanctions.

Suu Kyi had suggested after her recent release from years of house arrest that she might be open to an easing of the measures. Her comments raised interest in the West, which has long taken its cues from her and her party on the subject.

The report is bound to anger Myanmar's military rulers who have long sought to have the sanctions lifted on grounds that they hurt the people of Myanmar and have pushed the country deeper into poverty. They have trumpeted elections held in November as evidence of their commitment to democracy, but the polls were widely criticized as rigged to cement the junta's power.

Third week of protests begins in Cairo

Cairo, Egypt (CNN) -- Egypt's revolt entered its third week Tuesday as anti-government protesters formed a human chain in Cairo's Tahrir Square, vowing not to budge until President Hosni Mubarak and those around him are forced from office.

"Tahrir Square wants Mubarak to go as soon as possible, but it also wants the dismantling of his regime," actor Khalid Abdalla, the star of the 2007 film "The Kite Runner," said Monday. "It wants the dismantling of the police state. It wants the dismantling of the emergency law. It wants the dissolution of the parliament, which was corruptly elected."

Mubarak has ruled Egypt since 1981, aided by an emergency decree that gives him sweeping powers. Since the protests began January 25, he has appointed a vice president for the first time, reshuffled his cabinet and announced that he won't seek a new term in September. His new deputy, longtime intelligence chief Omar Suleiman, has been holding talks with opposition parties in hopes of creating a smooth transition, and key members of the ruling National Democratic Party --including Mubarak's son Gamal -- resigned from leadership positions Saturday.

Stocks fall modestly as China lifts rates

LONDON (AP) -- Stocks fell modestly Tuesday after China's central bank raised interest rates for the second time in just over a month in a bid to dampen high inflation.

In a widely expected move, the People's Bank of China announced Tuesday on its website that the benchmark 1-year deposit rate would rise by a quarter percentage point to 3 percent and the 1-year lending rate would increase by the same amount to 6.06 percent.

"The announcement may cause jitters about the impact tightening will have on Chinese growth but these should not be overplayed," said Mark Williams, senior China economist at Capital Economics. "The latest increases are in line with the gradual policy tightening that has been underway over the last few months and will not do much to slow growth."

Stock markets took a small knock on the news, a day after many of the world's major indexes closed at their highest levels since the summer of 2008, before the collapse of Lehman Brothers set off the biggest bear market since World War II.

In Europe, the FTSE 100 index of leading British shares was down 0.3 percent at 6,035 while Germany's DAX rose 0.1 percent to 7,293. The CAC-40 in Paris was 0.1 percent higher at 4,087. All three had been trading higher before news of the Chinese hike filtered through.

Wall Street futures were still modestly higher - Dow futures were up 15 points at 12,123 while the broader Standard & Poor's 500 futures rose around a point to 1,317.