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Pakistan foreign minister condemns drones

ISLAMABAD, Jan. 22 (UPI) -- Pakistani Foreign Minister Hina Rabbani Khar said Tuesday U.S. drone attacks are a violation of Pakistan's sovereignty and are also against international laws.

Khar said in a statement she plans to take up the issue with U.S. Ambassador to Pakistan Richard Olson, Geo News reported.

In the statement, Khar said Pakistan is not oblivious to the problems confronting the country, Dawn News reported.

The statement came after the Obama administration finalized a rule book on targeted drone killings that would not apply to Pakistan. The new rules would allow the CIA to conduct drone strikes in the Federally Administered Tribal Areas, Dawn News reported.

Militants luring children into Mali fight

BAMAKO, Mali, Jan. 22 (UPI) -- Islamist militants in Mali are using candy and money to recruit young children to fight against government and French troops, say villagers and rights groups.

French troops that have intervened in the fighting are very popular in Mali, but the militants, who are not, have taken steps to improve their image among the young, McClatchy Newspapers reported Tuesday.

Witnesses say the militants invite children to join them for tea and give them candy. They tell the youths they are free to walk around town.

They also give the boys money and ask for information about people in the village to learn who are government soldiers or officials, who are then executed.

Egypt: Clashes at unemployment protest

DOKKI, Egypt, Jan. 22 (UPI) -- Demonstrators and police clashed in front of Egyptian Prime Minister Hisham Qandil's home after a sit-in protesting unemployment in the country, officials said.

The April 6 Youth Movement had arranged the week-long sit-in in Dokki to protest to rising unemployment, Egypt Independent reported Monday. At least 3.4 million Egyptians were unemployed during the second half of 2012, reports by the Central Agency for Public Mobilization and Statistics indicated.

Police said they arrested April 6 member Mohamed al-Assad after he allegedly threw a gasoline bomb at a police truck at Qandil's home.

Another April 6 member, Mohamed Kamal, said al-Assad was not responsible for the incident because it was an infiltrator hired at the scene who threw the improvised explosive.

Twelve other people at the sit-in were also arrested, al-Ahram Online reported.

Blast in northwestern Baghdad kills five

BAGHDAD, Jan. 22 (UPI) -- A car bomb detonated in northwestern Baghdad Tuesday, killing at least five people and injuring 12 others, security officials said.

The security official said the five who died in the explosion in the al-Shula area were civilians, IraqNews.com reported.

Security forces barricaded the area around the blast site and transferred the injured to the hospital for treatment, the official said.

IraqiNews.com did not report whether any organization claimed responsibility for the car-bombing.

Americans at odds on climate change source

WASHINGTON, Jan. 22 (UPI) -- Americans are divided over whether global warming -- an issue brought back to the fore by President Obama -- is a man-made phenomenon, a CNN poll indicated.

On the subject of illegal immigration -- another flashpoint issue Obama discussed in his inaugural speech -- the a CNN-ORC International survey released Tuesday indicated a slight majority said the focus of the federal government should be on developing a plan to allow undocumented immigrants to become legal residents instead of deporting them.

The poll indicated 49 percent agreed with Obama that global warming is a proven fact and the result of emissions from cars, power plants and factories. The figure is twice as high as the number who said that global warming has not been proven; 24 percent said global warming was proven, but man-made sources weren't the cause.

Concerning the federal government's role in immigration, Americans, by a 53 percent-to-43 percent margin, said the federal government should develop a plan that would allow undocumented immigrants to become legal residents.

Poll results also indicated 51 percent of Americans favor all or most of the provisions in the Affordable Care Act while 44 percent opposed to all or most of the provisions in the law.

Results are based on nationwide phone surveys with 814 adults conducted Jan. 14-15. The margin of error is 3.5 percentage points.