Definition of Health

Police: Kids, 8, used as bombers

2013-03-14T21:27:00.000-07:00

Pakistani police with young children suspected of planting bombs, in Quetta on March 13, 2013.STORY HIGHLIGHTSThe suspects range between ages 8 and 15They may have been used by a separatist groupThe children and their families were paid $25 to $50 to deliver the bombs

(CNN) -- A separatist group fighting the Pakistani government for years has deployed a new weapon in its arsenal, police said: child bombers.

Police in the southwestern Balochistan province say they have arrested a group of children as young as 8 that the United Baloch Army has been using to carry out attacks.

"All the children belong to extremely poor and down-trodden families," officer Zubair Mehmood told a crowded news conference Wednesday.

The militant group paid them $25 to $50 to drop off packages carrying bombs with timers, he said.

Police said the militant group used children because they seldom arouse suspicion.

In 2011: 9-year-old girl told to be suicide bomber, Pakistan police say

Largest but poorest

For years, militants in Balochistan, a province rich in natural gas, have been fighting for self-rule.

They complain that the government has paid little attention to them and their economic needs.

While it's the largest province in Pakistan, it's the poorest in per capita income.

And for needy families, $25 to $50 (2,450 to 4,900 rupees) can go a long way.

'The children have confessed'

Authorities rounded up 11 children, as young as 8 and no older than 15, during a raid near the provincial capital, Quetta.

Eight adult members of the group fled during the raid.

"The children have confessed to more than a dozen bombings," Mehmood said.

One of the suspects confessed to a January 10 blast that left 11 people dead and 67 wounded.

In the attack, a bomb was left near a busy market.

Some attacks have targeted other populated areas while others have targeted routes used by security forces.

In some cases, the bombs were placed inside trash containers on deserted roads -- possibly as a scare tactic, police say.

Not without precedent

In 2009, Pakistani and U.S. officials alleged that a top Taliban leader in Pakistan was buying and selling children for suicide bombings.

Pakistan's military released a video showing children going through exercises in training for their attacks.

Taliban leader Baitullah Mehsud then sold the children to other Taliban officials for $6,000 to $12,000, Pakistani military officials said.

Mehsud was killed in an apparent U.S. drone strike in August 2009.

Since then, there have been other sporadic cases.

In 2011, a 9-year-old girl who says she was kidnapped by militants in Pakistan and told to be a suicide bomber.

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France: Arm Syrian rebels now

2013-03-14T21:12:00.000-07:00

French Minister of Foreign Affairs Laurent Fabius addresses members of Parliament on Tuesday in Paris.STORY HIGHLIGHTSNEW: A report says abuses continue, mostly by government, but by rebels, tooNEW: The U.N. calls for more funding to help refugees fleeing SyriaFrench foreign minister: The rebels must have the ability to defend themselvesBritain's foreign secretary has also alluded to wanting to arm rebels

(CNN) -- With the carnage in Syria mounting out of control, there's only one thing left to do, France says: Lift a European Union embargo and start arming rebels.

"We must convince our partners, particularly in Europe, that we have no other choice but lift the arms embargo in favor of the (opposition) Syrian Coalition," French Foreign Minister Laurent Fabius wrote in an op-ed for the French newspaper Liberation.

"We must go ahead and allow the Syrian people to defend themselves against this bloodthirsty regime. It's our responsibility to help the Syrian National Coalition, its leaders and the (rebel) Free Syrian Army by all the possible means.

"If not," Fabius warned, "the slaughter will continue, and there will not be any other possible outcome but to strengthen the most extreme groups and the collapse of Syria with devastating consequences for the country itself and the region."

The cost of war: 2 million Syrian children afflicted

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China officially gets new leader

2013-03-14T20:57:00.000-07:00

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Latin Americans praise choice

2013-03-14T20:42:00.000-07:00

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First appearance as pope

2013-03-14T20:27:00.000-07:00

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Photos: 'Francis': A name in good company

2013-03-14T20:12:00.000-07:00

He's no longer Jorge Bergoglio, but Pope Francis. To be frank, the name has a long and storied history, putting the new pope in good company.

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Popemobiles from trucks to limos

2013-03-14T19:57:00.000-07:00

"Benedict XVI disembarks the latest version of the Popemobile in St. Peter's Square on February 27, 2013, the day before he stepped down as pope." border

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Photos from his life

2013-03-14T19:42:00.000-07:00

"The new pope is Argentinian Cardinal Jorge Mario Bergoglio, the former archbishop of Buenos Aires, who takes the name Pope Francis. The announcement came on Wednesday, March 13, the first full day of the cardinals' conclave in the Sistine Chapel." border

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Straight shooter, voice of the poor

2013-03-14T19:27:00.000-07:00

Posh pads for pooches

2013-03-14T19:12:00.000-07:00

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Expert advice for inventors

2013-03-14T18:57:00.000-07:00

Life-size robot for under $1,000

2013-03-14T18:42:00.000-07:00

"The InMoov Robot, designed by French sculptor Gael Langevin, is comprised almost entirely of 3D printable parts, small motors and cheap circuit boards. " border

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5 things to know about the new pope

2013-03-14T18:27:00.000-07:00

Frostbite ends historic expedition

2013-03-14T18:12:00.000-07:00

Ranulph Fiennes on Antarctic adventureThe other five members of the expedition will continue the journey without Fiennes as their leader, Medniuk said.

Read: Veteran explorer sets off on "The Coldest Journey."

They plan to travel almost 4,000 kilometers (2,485 miles) through icy wilderness mostly in complete darkness and in temperatures as low as minus 90 degrees Celsius. The journey is expected to take six months.

A Norwegian team recently completed a winter crossing of the Arctic but this is the first attempt to traverse the Antarctic.

Fiennes has previously been the first person to reach both the North and South Poles by land and the first to cross Antarctica on foot.

The team set sail from London in December and were building a base camp and supply depot inland from Crown Bay when Fiennes developed the case of frostbite. They are due to begin the polar crossing as scheduled on March 21.

Before his latest adventure, 68-year-old Fiennes described polar exploration as a drug or addiction.

"Once you get bitten by polar records, you keep going for it," he told CNN.

First woman to cross Antarctic solo: I've never felt so alone

Fiennes, who lost five fingers to frostbite on a previous expedition and also suffered heart problems during an attempt to climb Mt Everest, was sanguine about the risks of this adventure.

"I don't think about not coming back, because I mean, more people get killed on the roads here

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'Dead-icated' to stopping zombies

2013-03-14T17:57:00.000-07:00

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CNN crew chased in China

2013-03-14T17:42:00.000-07:00

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World's biggest mall a 'ghost town'

2013-03-14T17:27:00.000-07:00

The challenge facing China is moving from an export and investment driven economy to a more sustainable consumption-driven economy, writes Li Gan.iReport: Have you been to China?

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In pictures: Darfur conflict

2013-03-14T17:12:00.000-07:00

The Darfur conflict began in 2003. The U.N. estimates that by 2008, 300,000 people had been killed, and more than 3 million displaced.Pictured, two girls in the Abushouk camp for internally displaced persons, in North Darfur, in January 2012.

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Duchess hints at baby's gender?

2013-03-14T16:57:00.000-07:00

Royal pregnancy births new jokes"I said to her: 'You were going to say daughter, weren't you?' She said: 'No, we don't know'. I said: 'Oh I think you do', to which she said: 'We're not telling'."

Does royal gender slip give palace the baby blues?

Whatever Catherine, now five months pregnant, might have been meaning to say, the story has prompted a rash of headlines in UK newspapers.

"It's a girl! Pregnant Duchess of Cambridge drops huge hint she's having a daughter," proclaimed the Mirror.

"Has Kate just given the game away?" asked the Daily Mail.

Author's description of Catherine as 'machine-made' doll sparks angry reactions

A royal source quashed the speculation, telling CNN that the duke and duchess don't yet know the sex of their baby.

Catherine, who was hospitalized with acute morning sickness in December, recently returned to public duties.

The baby, who will be a great-grandchild of Queen Elizabeth II, is due in July.

If the child does turn out to be a girl, she is destined to ascend the throne as queen one day.

Planned changes to the law of succession that end the tradition of a boy taking precedence over an elder sister are already de facto in effect, the British Cabinet Office has said.

The child will be next in line to the British throne after William, whose father Charles is first in line.

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3 challenges for China's leaders

2013-03-14T16:42:00.000-07:00

STORY HIGHLIGHTSCNN asked experts to explain biggest challenges facing ChinaExperts: Economic disparity, gender imbalance, water and food security are big issuesDelegates are meeting for National People's Congress in BeijingXi Jinping to formally become Chinese president at end of congress

Hong Kong (CNN) -- Four months after hushed deal-broking produced a new leadership lineup for China, Xi Jinping is to set to formally take charge of the country he'll rule for the next 10 years.

Xi, along with new premier Li Keqiang, has inherited a supercharged economy that's created vast riches for some, a growing middle class, and many poorer migrant workers who are becoming increasingly frustrated with their lot in life.

But the deepening wealth divide isn't the only challenge facing the country's population of 1.3 billion people.

In November, as China was convening its 18th National Communist Party Congress, CNN asked a number of China experts to define what they believe to be the country's most pressing challenges. We revisit their thoughts four months on, as delegates attend the 12th National People's Congress in Beijing.

Wen opens China's People's Congress with call to unite

1. Closing the wealth gap

In February, the Chinese government announced plan to raise spending on social welfare by two percentage points within the next five years.

Economist Li Gan says that's nowhere near enough to narrow the wealth gap and argues that the country needs to work on a "much larger scale."

"If the government creates a stronger social safety net for its citizens, Chinese workers will feel less pressure to save for health emergencies, unemployment and retirement, and more likely to buy goods and services -- and create a mature consumer-driven economy," he says.

Gan explains his views here.

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Photos: Locusts in Holy Land

2013-03-14T16:27:00.000-07:00

"Locusts that recently arrived from Egypt cling to a tree in Kmehin, Israel, on Wednesday, March 6. Tens of millions of locusts have overtaken Egyptian desert land in the past few days and are heading to Israel and Jordan, according the
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Iran sharpshooters target rats

2013-03-14T16:12:00.000-07:00

While Pope Francis will get the keys to a bomb and bullet-proof Mercedes Popemobile, his predecessors were not so lucky.Five stories other than the conclaveMarch 14, 2013 -- Updated 1312 GMT (2112 HKT)

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Ship reveals its darkest secrets

2013-03-14T15:57:00.000-07:00

Photos: 2 years after Japan quake

2013-03-14T15:42:00.000-07:00

"A police officer searches for remains in a wrecked vehicle at a beach in Namie, Japan, near the stricken Fukushima Dai-ichi nuclear plant, on Monday, March 11, the second anniversary of the tsunami. Two years ago, a magnitude-9.0 earthquake unleashed a wall of water that killed nearly 16,000 people in northeast Japan and sparked the world's worst nuclear crisis in 25 years." border

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Rodman plans return to N. Korea

2013-03-14T15:27:00.000-07:00

Rodman's bizarre trip to North KoreaA spokesman for Rodman said Kim extended the offer during Rodman's visit a few weeks ago.

Rodman and Kim sat next to each other February 28, watching an unusual basketball exhibition in Pyongyang, North Korea.

The visit came at a time of heightened tension between the United States and North Korea, a result of Pyongyang's pursuit of a nuclear program.

Rodman and Kim: Friends for life?

Kim has made it clear that his country's nuclear test in February signals a new phase of confrontation with the United States, which Pyongyang has described as "the sworn enemy of the Korean people."

On Monday, the North Korean military scrapped the Korean War armistice agreement, according to Rodong Sinmun, the official newspaper of North Korea's ruling Workers' Party.

Pyongyang scraps armistice amid heightened saber rattling

Kim is known to be a big basketball fan and one of his favorite players was Chicago Bulls legend, and Rodman teammate, Michael Jordan.

Rodman, 51, was one of the greatest rebounders in NBA history, ranking 11th all-time in average rebounds per game.

The defensive star helped the Detroit Pistons and Bulls win five NBA championships.

The flamboyant Rodman frequently dyed his hair (sometimes many colors), sported multiple tattoos and facial piercings. One of his autobiographies is "I Should Be Dead By Now."

5 ways North Korea keeps getting stranger

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