World in brief

Air collision barely averted over France

BASEL, Switzerland - Two airliners, together carrying more than 200 people, were involved in a near-miss over northern France, officials said Thursday.

A Swiss International Air Lines flight from New York and a KLM jetliner from Geneva were within 1,000 feet of each other Wednesday before crews and warning equipment took action to avert a crash, they said.

"Thanks to the swift response of both crews and the onboard warning systems, the incident passed without consequence," said a statement from Swiss International. France's civil aviation authority said the planes came within 15 to 35 seconds of colliding.

Flight LX17 was traveling to Zurich, Switzerland, from New York with 137 passengers and a crew of 11, said Swiss International spokesman Jean-Claude Donzel. Hugo Baas, a spokesman for KLM, said there were 75 passengers and five crew members aboard flight KL1924 from Geneva to Amsterdam.

WASHINGTON - The government has ordered banks to freeze the assets of the U.S. arm of a large Saudi charity that is accused of funneling contributions to help finance al-Qaida's terrorist activities.

The action announced Thursday affects the Al-Haramain Islamic Foundation's operations in Ashland, Ore., and Springfield, Mo., said Richard Newcomb, director of the Treasury Department's Office of Foreign Assets Control.

OFAC said the financial assets and property belonging to those branches "are blocked pending investigation" under the 2001 USA Patriot Act. Newcomb said it was too early to say whether any bank accounts or other assets have been found and their value.

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