Policing the World Continued:

The manual will place a greater emphasis on learning languages

The US army has drafted a new manual which for the first time puts an equal emphasis on winning hearts and minds as it does on defeating enemies by force.

The new guide is seen as a major development that draws on lessons of the wars being fought by US troops in Afghanistan and Iraq.

When I think about Afghanistan's difficult journey, I often remember its pilots.

They have crossed hostile skies across this land with their national carrier Ariana, sailed over jagged snow capped peaks of the Hindu Kush and navigated the risky entry into a capital ringed by majestic mountain ranges and ancient forts.

The flight is breathtaking, as much for the dramatic landscape as the plane's corkscrew descent in the worst days of war. It is a dive in a broad sweeping spiral to avoid enemy fire, and then a swift, safe landing.

When the Taleban were toppled in 2001, one of Ariana's senior pilots, whom I have known for years, took me to see the veritable Afghan museum strewn along the airfield's apron.

There was a Russian-built aircraft punctured by a mujahideen stinger missile during the Soviet occupation of the 1980s, as well as smaller jets hit during mujahideen infighting when they took power in the 90s, and the blackened remains of a plane virtually obliterated by US bombing during the onslaught against the Taleban in 2001.

Ariana lost six of its aircraft in that conflict. All told, theirs is the story of a country that has long been at war.

But Stewart Eldon, the UK's permanent representative to Nato, says there are some problems on the ground.

In an interview for the BBC's The World This Weekend, he says co-ordination must be improved and more members of the alliance must play a bigger role.

A key challenge, he also says, is to overcome a history in which different countries have focused on different regions of Afghanistan, in order to ensure a more harmonious approach across the country.

Mr Eldon also says it is important to make sure the overall international effort was better co-ordinated.

He denies Nato strategy was failing, but says there is a need to see more requirements being filled, and more equitable burden-sharing within the alliance. <http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/7237237.stm>

Robert Gates warned that the future of Nato was at risk if it became a "two-tiered alliance" of countries which fought, and those that did not.

Norway closes Kabul embassy after threat

In May 2007, Sgt Evan Vela shot Genei Nasir al-Janabi, after the man saw him and other US snipers hiding near the town of Iskandariya, south of Baghdad.

Vela had admitted to killing Mr Janabi, but tried to say it was an accident, blaming sleep deprivation.

His defence argued that Vela had shot the man because he was acutely sleep deprived, having slept for less than five hours in three days whilst out in hostile terrain.

And that he had lied about the incident afterwards partly because he had been suffering from post traumatic stress disorder.

Officers at RAF Wittering reported that servicemen have been taunted by people in nearby Peterborough who oppose UK involvement in Afghanistan and Iraq.

Although military staff are encouraged to wear uniform in public, a local decision was made against doing so in the city, the Ministry of Defence said.

But a spokesman for RAF Wittering said staff from the base had reported incidents of abuse "up the military chain of command".

It is a great shame that some individuals in this community don't respect our forces

Des Browne, Defence Secretary

He said acting on advice from RAF police, the station commander had then taken the decision that staff should not wear uniforms off site.

The move comes as a government review of public perception of the military is carried out.

It has been suggested as part of the review that soldiers may be encouraged to wear their uniforms off-duty to boost their popularity.

The gunman was shot dead after opening fire with an assault rifle inside a crowded library at the Mercaz Harav seminary in West Jerusalem.

Some Israelis have called for peace talks with the Palestinians to end but Israel has said they will continue.

Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas condemned his Hamas rivals - who are in control of Gaza - for hailing the attack.

Hamas described the shooting as a "natural reaction" to Israeli military actions in the Gaza Strip last week that left more than 120 Palestinians dead.<http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle_east/7282679.stm>

The Pentagon aims to decrease troop numbers in Iraq from 20 to 15 brigades. One brigade has already left, the last of the five is due to leave by July.

After meeting the US commander in Iraq, Gen David Petraeus, Mr Gates said he wanted a "period of evaluation".

Prosecutors will seek the death penalty for the six, who include alleged mastermind Khalid Sheikh Mohammed.

The charges, the first for Guantanamo inmates directly related to 9/11, are expected to be heard by a controversial military tribunal system.

On his latest visit to Iraq, the US Secretary of Defence Robert Gates arrived to the explosion of a suicide car bomb in a village near Balad, 75km (47 miles) north of Baghdad, which left more than 30 Iraqis dead.

As he was preparing to leave a day later, central Baghdad was shaken by two car bomb blasts in quick succession. Eleven people were killed as the explosives went off near a queue of people waiting to buy petrol.

In both instances, and in another attack by militants in the far north-west of the country on Sunday in which 15 people were reported killed, the targets were believed to be local Iraqis who had turned against al-Qaeda and its allies and joined the US and Iraqi government forces in fighting them. <http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle_east/7239931.stm>

He was speaking to the BBC after six men, including alleged plot mastermind Khalid Sheikh Mohammed, were charged.

They could face the death penalty if convicted of murder and conspiracy by controversial military tribunals.

But human rights groups have questioned whether such trials can be fair and said the defendants were tortured.

The BBC's Vincent Dowd in Washington says a confession gained from Khalid Sheikh Mohammed may prove problematic as the CIA admitted using "water-boarding" - or simulated drowning - as an interrogation technique.

The London-based group Amnesty International said ill treatment of prisoners was "just one flaw of a commission system set up precisely to obtain convictions under lower standards than would apply in normal courts".

Human Rights Watch, a New York-based organisation, also said the system lacked credibility.

"Possibly putting someone to death based on evidence obtained through water-boarding, or after prolonged periods of sleep deprivation while being forced into painful stress positions, is not the answer," said Jennifer Daskal, a lawyer for Human Rights Watch. <http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/7240213.stm>

Themed events will reveal the risks of sharing too much personal data and warn children that their virtual friends may not be who they say they are.

Public events will encourage parents to oversee their children's online life so they know who they are talking to.

Calls to ban 'anti-teen' device

Campaigners are calling for a ban on a device that emits a high-pitched sound to disperse groups of teenagers, saying it is not a fair way to treat them.

There are estimated to be 3,500 of the devices, known as the Mosquito, in use in England, many at shopping centres.

Their sound causes discomfort to young ears - but their frequency is above the normal hearing range of people over 25.

England's children's commissioner backs a ban but some stores say the devices can useful against anti-social youths.

The devices, which exploit the fact that a person's ability to hear high frequencies generally declines once they reach their 20s, have proved popular with councils and police who aim to tackle anti-social behaviour by using them to disperse groups of youths.

But a new campaign called "Buzz off", led by the children's commissioner for England and backed by groups including civil liberties group Liberty, is calling for them to be banned. <http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/7240180.stm>

Russian President Vladimir Putin made the comments in Moscow alongside Ukraine's President, Viktor Yushchenko.

Mr Putin has condemned US plans to include Poland and the Czech Republic in its missile defence shield.

Nearly all Italians prefer bottled water to the piped stuff

The patriarch of Venice is urging Catholics in the Italian city to give up bottled water for the Christian fasting season of Lent.

Angelo Cardinal Scola wants them to donate the money saved to a water pipeline project in Thailand.

He is being backed by the mayor, who says he drinks only tap water and calls bottled water an unnecessary luxury.

Some 100,000 families can now expect to get a carafe from a local water firm to keep their tap water fridge-fresh.

The industry is worth an estimated 3.2bn euros (£2.38bn) a year to the Italian economy.

Environmentalists do not like bottled water - partly because of the impact of discarded plastic bottles, but also because of the quantity of greenhouse gases produced in its preparation.

The Venice campaign echoes that of New York's Mayor, Michael Bloomberg. Last summer he urged city residents to rely on tap water rather than expensive bottled varieties. <http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/7240387.stm>

Researchers monitored 140 sleeping volunteers in their homes near Heathrow and three other big European airports.

Volunteers' blood pressure increased after exposure to a noise louder than 35 decibels - whether it comes from overhead aircraft, or snoring.

Measures need to be taken to reduce noise levels from aircraft, in particular during night-time, in order to protect the health of people living near airports

Dr Lars Jarup
Imperial College London

The researchers measured the volunteers' blood pressure remotely at 15-minute intervals.

Aircraft noise caused an average increase in systolic blood pressure of 6.2 mmHg and an average increase in diastolic blood pressure of 7.4 mmHg.

Judges said evidence suggested police and prosecutors were responsible for "serious defaults" in detaining Lotfi Raissi in jail for nearly five months.

The ruling means the government has to reconsider the 33-year-old's claim for compensation, which it had refused.

He called it a "seminal decision" not to intervene with force, taken partly out of the desire not to send US troops into another Muslim country.

He also discussed controversy over China's Olympics - saying he would attend the event as scheduled.

After Hollywood director Steven Spielberg withdrew his assistance to the Olympics in protest at China's policy towards Darfur, Mr Bush said he would not be taking a similar stance.

Both teams have returned to the capital from an exclusive tourist resort after the talks were adjourned on Thursday.

A BBC correspondent says the teams may have agreed in principle to share power but details still need to be finalised.

President Mwai Kibaki was formally declared the winner, but the opposition says the count was rigged.

At least 1,000 people have died and more than 600,000 have been displaced during the post-election violence.

If patients cannot access their medication, HIV could kill more people than injuries from bullets

Walter Kizito, MSF

Aids patients hit by crisis

The international community is pushing for a deal which would see Orange Democratic Movement leader Raila Odinga share power with President Kibaki.

On Thursday, government negotiator Mutula Kilonzo said the two sides had agreed to write a new constitution within a year.

She had unwittingly stepped into a trap laid by a trafficker, becoming a commodity in what campaigners say is the world's fastest growing illegal trade - in people.

Yet when Penny agreed to meet the agent, introduced to her by a friend, she was unaware that human trafficking even existed.

"I didn't think about the consequences. I just took the opportunity to get out of the country," Penny said.

Hundreds of thousands of families live under plastic sheeting, tarpaulin and other basic shelter that leaves them at the mercy of the elements, Oxfam says.

Cyclone Sidr struck in November, killing more than 3,500 people and destroying millions of homes.

Oxfam says it has spent $7m on supporting 193,000 people in five of the worst-affected coastal districts.

"More than 1.3m people are facing terrible monsoon weather with completely inadequate shelter," says Heather Blackwell, head of Oxfam in Bangladesh.

"Having suffered from the elements once, they could soon suffer again. It is vital that the Bangladeshi government and the international community - including the UN - urgently devise a better plan for giving these people proper shelter." <http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/south_asia/7246582.stm>

Admiral Mike Mullen said losing was not an option in Afghanistan

America's top soldier - chairman of the joint chiefs of staff Admiral Mike Mullen - has dismissed claims that Nato's Afghan mission is in difficulty.

He told the BBC it would take time for Afghanistan to be pacified - but that the US and its allies had to remain committed to the fight.

Admiral Mullen acknowledged that some parts of the country were heading in a strongly negative direction.

And he disagreed with a recent claim by respected US military think-tank, the Atlantic Council, that there was a "strategic stalemate" in Afghanistan. <http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/7247793.stm>

Surprise find: A king crab in the Antarctic deep

Robo-sub grabs crab

Unique marine life in Antarctica will be at risk from an invasion of sharks, crabs and other predators if global warming continues, scientists warn.

Crabs are poised to return to the Antarctic shallows, threatening creatures such as giant sea spiders and floppy ribbon worms, says a UK-US team.

Bony fish and sharks would move in if waters warm further, threatening species with extinction, they say.

Kosovo’s ‘independence’ alters global rules on separatism - MILF

02/18/2008 | 10:34 AM
The Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) on Monday said that the declaration of independence by Kosovo and its recognition by the United States is a precedent that could now form part of international law.

In a statement posted on their online site, Luwaran, Khaled Musa, the MILF deputy chairman on information, described the declaration as a "thunderbolt that rips apart the unwritten rule in the United Nations that it is prohibited for geographical areas of member states to become an independent state."

“The taboo has been shattered and no state can argue that secession or independence is not within the rule of the game in the United Nations," Musa added.

Asked whether Kosovo’s example would encourage the MILF to follow, Musa said, the present negotiations with the government, independence is not on the agenda for discussion.

Pressed to elaborate, he said, right at the start of the talks in 1997, the government and the MILF negotiators have agreed not to bring up the issue of independence on the part of the MILF and constitution on the part of the government.

This agreement is generally followed although the government sometimes from time to time brings up the issue of constitution, which the MILF objects to immediately.

He said the two parties are moving forward in their talks with their sight trained to address their single-point agenda, “How to solve the Bangsamoro peoblem."

Kosovo

He said in Kosovo’s example the question is no longer sharing of sovereignty as in other world conflicts but outright secession.

“What is prohibited for decades is now a virtual part of international law."

Kosovo was formerly a province in southwestern Serbia in the republic of Serbia and Montenegro (formerly the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia, or FRY).

Kosovo is bounded on the south by the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia, on the west by Albania, and on the northwest by Montenegro.

It covers an area of 10,887 sq km (4,203 sq mi). Mountains and hills cover part of the province, with several peaks in the Šar Planina range rising to more than 2,500 m (8,200 ft).

The mountain slopes are covered with deciduous forests, meadows, and pastureland. A branch of the Drin River rises in Kosovo, and the Ibar and Sitnica rivers also flow through the region.

The population of Kosovo is more than 90 percent Albanian, overwhelmingly Muslims.

Both Russia and Serbia are opposed to the independence of Kosovo. Other member states of the European Union mostly in the eastern part near Russia are also lukewarm to recognition of the newly independent state. - GMANews.TV <http://www.gmanews.tv/story/81017/Kosovos-independence-alters-global-rules-on-separatism---MILF>

Before meeting President Mwai Kibaki and opposition leader Raila Odinga in Nairobi, Ms Rice said a coalition was needed "so that Kenya can be governed".

Both sides agreed on Friday to set up a panel to review December's presidential vote, which Mr Odinga says was rigged.

The dispute has led to widespread political and ethnic violence in which at least 1,000 people have been killed and 600,000 have fled their homes. <http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/africa/7250158.stm>

In a cemetery for Armenian military heroes, high above the capital on a snow-covered hilltop, Gagik stands in silence after laying fresh flowers on his nephew's grave.

The 64-year-old pensioner says he has eight relatives buried here. The graveyard has become a symbol of the Armenian war with neighbouring Azerbaijan for the disputed mountain region of Nagorno-Karabakh.

"Of course, it's never good that people die, but people have to die to protect their nation," Gagik insists.

Correspondents say that if the blockade continues, elections scheduled for 10 April could be in jeopardy.

The blockade is part of a general strike staged by an ethnic group of the southern plains - or Terai - who want more rights and representation.

The transcript records an alleged conversation between assassin Lee Harvey Oswald and Jack Ruby, who killed Oswald before he could face trial.

The two men discuss a plot to kill the president a month before his 22 November 1963 murder in Dallas.

Burma lies between two emerging Asian powerhouses - China and India. Almost six months after the suppression of pro-democracy protests, a BBC correspondent reports from the country's main city, Rangoon. <http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/asia-pacific/7250517.stm>

Most African countries have been wary of plans to base the command, Africom, on the continent.

Africom's commander, Gen William Ward, said there were no plans to create large US garrisons on the continent.

The military command was created last year to unite responsibilities shared by three other US regional commands.

The US plan had been misunderstood by some African countries, Gen Ward told the BBC.

Moscow said the comments were made by Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov during a telephone conversation with his US counterpart Condoleezza Rice.

In Kosovo on Tuesday, Serbs opposed to independence attacked two border crossings in the Serb-dominated north of the territory, local police said.

At least one border post was burned down. Nato peacekeepers were sent to help police at the Jarinje and Banja crossings.

Documents seen by BBC News reveal how Major General Doron Almog managed to fly back to Israel when police failed to board his plane in September 2005.

Police were concerned about a potential clash with Israeli air marshals or armed personal security on the plane.

Maj Gen Almog had flown to the UK for social and charitable visits to Jewish communities in Solihull, in the West Midlands, and Manchester.

Lawyers acting for Palestinian campaigners lobbied the Metropolitan Police to act over allegations he had ordered the destruction in 2002 of more than 50 Palestinian homes in the Gaza Strip.

Campaigners say the homes were destroyed by the Israeli army as retribution for a Palestinian militant attack, in contravention of the laws of war protecting civilian property. Israel says destruction of Palestinian houses is among the necessary measures it takes to protect its citizens.

The Met initially refused to get involved, citing massive pressures on counter-terrorism teams in the wake of the London bombings.

The results in so far from Pakistan's elections suggest that all of President Pervez Musharraf's plans are being thrown into disarray.

It seems like Mr Musharraf's chief political ally, the Pakistan Muslim League - Quaid-e-Azam (PML-Q), has been routed.

The president must also be worrying about the rather unexpected rise of former Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif's PML-N party, which he ousted from power in a military coup in 1999.

MILF chief, US envoy meet, tackle peace process

A bottle of French champagne on the table and another of fine French cognac nearby.

Pasquale Condello - one of Italy's most wanted fugitives from justice, and one of the reputed masterminds of the Calabrian mafia, or 'Ndrangheta - put up no resistance when a crack five-man Carabinieri police team burst into an anonymous looking apartment just after sunset on Monday at the outskirts of Reggio Calabria.

It demands parliament be recalled to pass constitutional changes that would allow a power-sharing agreement.

The opposition say MPs have one week to meet but the president remains opposed to any constitutional changes.

Under the curfew, which began early on Wednesday, troops' movements will be restricted to allow them a "period of reflection", a military statement said.

Many Okinawans dislike the US presence. The recent alleged rape of a teenager by a US marine has caused outrage.

In 1995 there were mass protests in Okinawa after US troops gang-raped a 12-year-old girl - an incident which raised concerns for the future of the US-Japan security alliance.

US Navy missile hits dead satellite in orbit - official

Neri calls for year of 'social peace' amid ZTE mess

China's Olympic food

China has expressed regret that the US has decided not to trust its food during this summer's Olympic Games.

The US delegation has said it is planning to bring its own food for American athletes.

At a news conference in Beijing, a senior official, Kang Yi, said it was a pity that the US had apparently decided not to trust China's food.

Ms Kang insisted that the food served to athletes at the Olympics would exceed international health standards.

For China, a good Olympic Games means cheering spectators, record-breaking performances and athletes and fans all sitting down to enjoy some good Chinese-made food.

But the US is not so sure about the food part, and plans to import its own meat and cook its own meals for its athletes when they get to Beijing.

Ms Kang and her colleagues were asked about the allegation that chickens on sale here are so full of hormones that athletes would test positive for steroids if they were to eat them.

This is a radical departure from the 2002 elections in which a religious alliance, the MMA, scored a landslide victory in the north-west.

Islam does not make a distinction between religion and state and clerics in Pakistan have traditionally conducted political campaigns from mosques.

Some observers explain this turnaround in terms of the MMA government's failures.

Whatever the reason, the results have led to much jubilation all across a region which has lately been slipping under the influence of militants.

The region comprises the North West Frontier Province (NWFP), and a strip of semi-autonomous tribal territory that runs along the length of NWFP's western border and serves as a buffer between Pakistan and Afghanistan.

The tribal areas served as a launching pad for Afghan mujahideen for their forays against the Soviet troops who occupied Afghanistan in the 1980s.

Talks have been adjourned until Friday, as negotiators consult on a compromise which the BBC's Adam Mynott in Nairobi says has been largely been agreed upon.

The deal is understood to involve the creation of a prime minister's post which would be held by the opposition.

"I am beginning to see light at the end of the tunnel," Mr Annan said after negotiators from President Mwai Kibaki's government and the opposition Orange Democratic Movement (ODM) adjourned their talks on Thursday.

In the worst incident, Serbs angered by Western support for Kosovo's unilateral declaration of independence set fire to parts of the US embassy.

An unidentified charred body was found inside. The US denounced the "thugs" who carried out the attack, which the UN condemned "in the strongest terms".

Most Serbs regard the former Serb province as their religious and cultural heartland.

"As long as we live, Kosovo is Serbia. Kosovo belongs to the Serbian people," he told the flag-waving crowd.

Later, about 1,000 protesters smashed their way into the US embassy, throwing flares through a window while others scaled walls to rip down the US flag.

For a president whose foreign policy has been dominated by Iraq, this visit was a chance for George W Bush to show the world what he calls his mission of mercy - trying to rid Africa of HIV/Aids and Malaria.

There were strategic considerations too - showing China it is not the only power that can sign investment deals with African nations, and cementing friendly relations with West African countries.

George Bush says moral and national security considerations go together - by ending hopelessness, a moral imperative for a wealthy nation, so the conditions which breed extremism can be eradicated, thus making America safer.

Yet this visit was complicated by the unresolved question of where the planned US military command for Africa, Africom, would be located, and what exactly it is for.

An interesting debate is taking place in the cafes of Kosovo. The question concerns the six stars of the country's new flag.

Officially they are supposed to represent six ethnic groups here. But some suspect that they actually represent six areas where ethnic Albanians live and out of which extreme nationalists would like to fashion a Greater Albania.

Those six regions are: Kosovo, Albania, western parts of (FYR) Macedonia, parts of Montenegro, the Presevo Valley in southern Serbia and parts of northern Greece.

The truth is probably that when officials of the European Union saw the original version of the flag - with 12 stars, like the European flag - they demanded a change and so the Kosovans just randomly chopped the number in half.

Having said that, the question does arise: is Kosovo's independence the end of the disintegration of the old Yugoslavia or might it continue? <http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/7256488.stm>

Some alleged survivors of the gun battle near the southern Iraqi town of Majat-al-Kabir also claim that corpses were mutilated by UK military.

Solicitor Phil Shiner said: "We would be very surprised if [the evidence] did not shock the nation."

All claims of any kind of abuse by British troops have been strongly denied by the Ministry of Defence.

Thousands of soldiers are thought to be involved in the operation which the army says began on Thursday evening after an air and artillery bombardment.

PM Tayyip Erdogan said rebel camps were the only target and that troops would return to Turkey as soon as possible.

"The target, purpose, size and parameters of this operation are limited," said Mr Erdogan, whose comments were televised.

PKK fighters are known to use the northern Iraq as a base

"Our armed forces will come back in the shortest time possible as soon as they achieve their objectives," he said.

A US official quoted by Reuters news agency appeared to express concern about the scale of the Turkish operation.

It was "not the greatest news" and marked "a whole new level", Deputy Assistant Secretary of State Matthew Bryza said in Brussels.

While supporting Turkey's right to fight "terrorism", the EU has asked Turkey to "refrain from taking any disproportionate military action".

The Americans are strong allies of Turkey but are also anxious not to see any action which might destabilise Iraq, BBC world affairs correspondent Nick Childs says. <http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/7258323.stm>

She spoke as the UN nuclear agency said it could offer no "credible assurances" that Iran was not building a bomb.

UN Security Council members the US, UK, China, France and Russia meet on Monday in Washington to mull their next step.

But Iran's top nuclear negotiator said the UN report backed Tehran's claim its nuclear programme was peaceful.

Fouad Mourtada was arrested on 5 February on suspicion of stealing the identity of Prince Moulay Rachid, younger brother of King Mohammed VI.

The prosecution had urged the court to impose a sentence which set an example for others.

Mr Mourtada was convicted of "villainous practices linked to the alleged theft of the [prince's] identity".

The farmers are seeking for the release of a farm leader, Ramiro Choc, arrested earlier this month on charges of robbery and illegally occupying land.

The government is now reportedly willing to help the farmers legalise their position on the land they use.

Local officials and representatives of Guatemala's Human Rights Prosecutor's office negotiated between police and farmers to ensure the hostages were freed, after 32 hours in captivity.

The $20m 'virtual fence' already covers 28 miles (48km) of the border between Arizona state and Mexico.

The system has already helped catch smugglers, and would be deployed elsewhere, said US Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff.

"I have spoken directly to the border patrol agents... who have seen it produce actual results in terms of identifying and allowing the apprehension of people who are illegally smuggling across the border."

Built by Boeing, the virtual fence is part of a strategy to stop illegal immigrants as well as drug-smugglers attempt to pass into the US on foot or in vehicles. <http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/7260179.stm>

About 1,000 protesters set fire to the embassy on Thursday in anger at Kosovo's declaration of independence, which the US and others recognised.

Both the Serbian president and PM have condemned the violence, which left one dead and more than 100 injured.

US embassy spokeswoman Rian Harris told AFP news agency: "Dependents are being temporarily ordered to depart Belgrade. We do not have confidence that Serbian authorities can provide security for our staff members."

Another spokesperson told Reuters news agency the ambassador, Cameron Munter, and core staff would remain.

The evacuation will be reassessed in seven to 10 days. Ms Harris said the embassy would reopen on Tuesday after repairs.

Fears remain of further violence in the wake of the declaration of secession from Serbia by Kosovo's ethnic Albanian leaders last Sunday. <http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/7259327.stm>

One week since the declaration of independence, Serb authorities in north-western Kosovo are pushing hard to eradicate all institutions with any connection to the new state.

And they are telling a cautious and already weakened UN mission, in its last months in office, that it should allow this - or face dire consequences.

There is genuine Serb grief over the loss of Kosovo, but there is also a carefully calibrated plan to win important parts of it back, and to sabotage Kosovo as an independent state.

The tools available include violence against property - grenades thrown at UN, EU, and Kosovan justice ministry buildings, and the carefully planned and executed burning down of two border and customs posts on 19 February.

The directive set limits on exposure to powerful electromagnetic fields - but doctors claimed they were so low using an MRI scanner could breach them.

A spokesman for the Parliament said it was still unclear whether MRI would have been affected, and further research would be carried out.

This would have been very bad news for patients

Professor Alexander Eggermont
ECCO

The magnetic field in an MRI scanner produces a detailed "3D" image of the body which can help diagnose serious illnesses such as cancer, or even help surgeons with "live" images during operations.

The directive, due to be in force this year, was designed to protect people from exposure to high levels of electromagnetism while at work.

The realisation that staff regularly operating the scanners in hospitals might be receiving an exposure higher than the proposed limit came only after the European Parliament had approved the measure.

Researchers discovered that simply regularly standing within a few feet of the machine could breach the limit.

Stay away from ancestral lands, rebels warn mining firms in Mindanao

"The shorter the better," he said, adding that Ankara should attempt to reconcile with its Kurdish minority.

Turkish troops began an offensive against the Kurdistan Workers' Party, the PKK, on Thursday.

The PKK says it has shot down a Turkish Cobra attack helicopter during clashes in the area.

Ahmed Danees, head of foreign relations for the PKK, made the claim - which has not been independently verified.

"At 6pm (1500 GMT) yesterday, our fighters shot down a Cobra helicopter," he told Reuters news agency.

Coming more than a month since he began mediation efforts between the Kenyan government/Party of National Unity (PNU) and the opposition Orange Democratic Movement (ODM), it is a sign of considerable frustration.

The former UN chief said this was not a "desperate measure" but a necessary move after no progress in negotiations in the past 48 hours.

Talks between the two panels, he said, had turned acrimonious and he would now take the outstanding issues to the two principals, President Mwai Kibaki and Raila Odinga.

Until now, the two four-person panels had been negotiating and referring decisions to their leaders, but it has become a process mired in indecision and prevarication.

"Now," Kofi Annan said, "it is time for the leaders to become engaged in the process."

He has decided to talk directly with the president and his opposite number in the hope that it "might lead to a more speedy resolution".

Under the technique, software sent in an email enables the authorities to spy on a suspect's computer hard drive.

The Federal Constitutional Court in Karlsruhe said cyber spying violated individuals' right to privacy and could be used only in exceptional cases.

Habiba Garba told the BBC she wanted people to see the reality of violence against women in northern Nigeria.

But Kano State authorities say they have received complaints the picture breaks Muslim rules about nudity.

Labaran Abdu Madari, who beat Mrs Garba in front of witnesses and police last week, is in jail and yet to be charged.

I want to show the people of the world what that man did to me

Habiba Garba

Kano is one of 12 mainly Muslim northern states to have implemented Sharia law since Nigeria's return to civil rule in 1999.

The BBC's Mustafa Muhammad in Kano says the state-owned Triumph newspaper, which published the picture showing Mrs Garba's injuries, has a very small circulation and few people in Kano have heard about the incident.

Colombian hostages freed by Farc

The four had a tearful reunion with relatives after being released in the Colombian jungle to Venezuelan envoys.

The Farc says it will not free more hostages until Colombia creates a demilitarised zone for talks.

The timing of the Turkish military withdrawal from northern Iraq came as a surprise.

Just hours after US President George W Bush called on Turkey to end its operation against the separatist Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) as soon as possible, troops were rolling back across the border.

The first clear signs of the withdrawal came midway through Friday morning, when a private local television channel reported dozens of army trucks ferrying tired-looking commandos back to their bases in south-eastern Turkey.

NTV reported that many more empty trucks were heading towards the border, to collect their comrades.

It was several hours before the Turkish General Staff officially confirmed the complete withdrawal on its website.

The statement was adamant that the move was pre-planned - judged according to military need, not forced through political pressure.

He told supporters in Harare that he was certain of victory in next month's presidential and parliamentary polls.

The economy has collapsed under Mr Mugabe, with the annual inflation rate at more than 100,000%. He is accused of rigging the last election in 2002.

Earlier, the head of the prison service in Zimbabwe, Retired Major-General Paradzayi Zimondi, ordered his staff to vote for the president and threatened to resign if the opposition won.

The protesters want her to step down over corruption claims surrounding her husband and an ally's involvement in a government deal with a Chinese firm.

Foreigners at Makati rally: Impressed but see no Arroyo downfall

Cory confident Arroyo will be forced to step down

The visit marks the culmination of a process of normalisation between the two countries after the long war they fought in the 1980s.

Correspondents say the two-day visit is also a strong show of support for the Shia-dominated government in Baghdad.

After talks with the Iraqi president, Mr Ahmadinejad said the visit opened a "new page" in Iran-Iraq relations.

"We have the same understanding of things and the two parties are determined to strengthen their political, economic and cultural co-operation," the Iranian president said in a joint news conference with his Iraqi counterpart, Jalal Talabani.

"A united, powerful and developed Iraq is in the interests of all countries of the region."

US forces are not involved in security for the visit and did not provide helicopters to transport Mr Ahmadinejad into central Baghdad.

Instead he had to travel by car along the usually dangerous road from the airport to Iraqi President Jalal Talabani's residence near the US-controlled Green Zone.

Esperon: Balikatan soon to include other allied countries

Seized laptop shows Chavez-rebel ties

For those who suspect their relatives were among the men, women and children snatched by North Korea to train their spies, this issue is much more than just a diplomatic hurdle.

It is an unsolved crime that has continues to cause deep distress to hundreds of Japanese families.

Every day a shortwave radio programme broadcast from Tokyo highlights the plight of those who were kidnapped.

It is compiled in a small booth in an office owned by a group which campaigns to keep the issue in the public eye and supports the families of those abducted.

JSR Shiokaze radio is broadcast once in the morning, once in the evening for 30 minutes.

There are editions in Japanese, Korean, English and Chinese, rotated on a regular basis.

Scientists have shown that it is possible to recover the key that unscrambles data from a PC's memory.

It was previously thought that data held in so-called "volatile memory" was only retained for a few seconds after the machine was switched off.

But the team found that data including encryption keys could be held and retrieved for up to several minutes.

"It was widely believed that when you cut the power to the computer that the information in the volatile memory would disappear, and what we found was that was not the case," Professor Edward Felten of the University of Princeton told BBC World Service's Digital Planet programme.

Volatile memory is typically used in random access memory (RAM), which is used as temporary storage for programs and data when the computer is switched on. <http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/technology/7275407.stm>

Diplomats speaking anonymously to news agencies said Western states had scrapped the plans in the face of opposition led by China and Russia.

Some objectors reportedly felt the move unnecessary, after the UN Security Council approved new sanctions over Iran's nuclear programme on Monday.

This resolution is illogical, illegal and totally politically motivated

Gholamali Haddad-Adel
Iranian Speaker

This can be undertaken for power generation, but may also be a precursor to building an atomic bomb.

Last week the chief inspector of the watchdog, the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), presented intelligence suggesting that Iran had in the past made attempts to weaponise uranium. <http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle_east/7277384.stm>

Blast hits military recruiting station in Times Square

NEW YORK - An explosive device was set off near a military recruiting station in Times Square Thursday, causing some damage but no injuries, police said.

Members of the police department's bomb squad and fire officials gathered outside the recruiting center, which had a large hole in the front window.

Witnesses staying at the nearby Marriott Marquis hotel said they heard a "big bang" and could feel the building shake. They said a large plume of smoke was also visible after the explosion.

The area was sealed off with police cars and yellow tape. Local television stations said subway trains were being prevented from entering the Times Square station during the investigation. - AP <http://www.gmanews.tv/story/83657/Blast-hits-military-recruiting-station-in-Times-Square>

US lobbies Poles on missile shield

By Adam Easton
BBC News, Warsaw

The US plans a global shield to protect against "rogue" states

The controversial US plan to build a missile defence shield in Europe is likely to dominate talks between President George Bush and Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk at the White House on Monday.

It is Mr Tusk's first visit to Washington as prime minister and many people in Poland had expected that a deal on missile defence would be reached there.

But that does not seem likely now. Mr Tusk's government has taken a much tougher stance during negotiations than its predecessor led by Jaroslaw Kaczynski, whose twin brother Lech is still the country's president and an ardent supporter of missile defence.

Russia has threatened to target Poland if the base, including 10 interceptor missiles, is built.

Tucked away in a forest of birch trees you would never know the airfield had any importance today, were it not for the small blue rigs drilling test holes

Mr Tusk wants concrete assurances that the Americans will agree to modernise the Polish military and specifically beef up Poland's air defences in exchange for the base.

"Co-operation with the Americans is for us one of the real guarantees of our security. That's why we take seriously any form of co-operation the Americans propose," Mr Tusk told the BBC.

"But the installation of the missile defence system will not by itself increase our security, just the opposite. That's why we expect from the Americans a parallel effort to concretely increase Poland's security, not just US security." <http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/7283408.stm>

New dawn for US-S Korean military ties

By John Sudworth
BBC News, Seoul

The commander of US forces in South Korea has told the BBC he welcomes plans to strengthen the military alliance between the two countries. In an exclusive interview, General Burwell Baxter Bell describes the proposals for a closer partnership as "positive and reassuring".

Gen Bell commands a force of around 28,000

For more than half a century, the strategic relationship between the two countries has meant that there are large numbers of US soldiers deployed in support of South Korean troops.

Today, Gen Bell commands a force of around 28,000.

But many observers believe the alliance has been tested and strained in recent years, as two successive liberal governments in Seoul pursued closer ties with Pyongyang - the so-called "sunshine policy".

This strategy of engagement tried to coax the North to reform by offering large amounts of aid and assistance.

But the parallel approach to secure nuclear disarmament through tough-talking international negotiations often left Washington and Seoul speaking with different voices.

US-centric

Now South Korea's newly elected president, conservative Lee Myung-bak, has made it clear that while he wants to continue the efforts towards rapprochement, he wants to see more concrete results in return.

North Korea has condemned joint US-South Korean military exercises

And he says he will once again place the US alliance at the centre of his foreign policy vision.
<http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/asia-pacific/7285650.stm>

Bush vetoes interrogation limits

Human rights groups say water-boarding is torture

US President George Bush says he has vetoed legislation that would stop the CIA using interrogation methods such as simulated drowning or "water-boarding".

He said he rejected the intelligence bill, passed by Senate and Congress, as it took "away one of the most valuable tools in the war on terror".

The president said the CIA needed "specialised interrogation procedures" that the military did not.

Water-boarding is condemned as torture by rights groups and many governments.

It is an interrogation method that puts the detainee in fear of drowning. <http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/7285290.stm>

Fuelling Baghdad's energy crisis

By Hugh Sykes
BBC News, Baghdad

Hours can pass without mains electricity in Iraq

I am writing this looking at a smart colour graph that has been sent to the BBC bureau in Baghdad by the US Department of State.

It is part of what they call the Weekly Essential Indicators report.

The graph shows the demand for electricity across the country compared with the supply.

Over the past year, supply has never even got near meeting the demand. <http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/programmes/from_our_own_correspondent/7283534.stm>

Royals see volcanic devastation

By Nick Davis
BBC News, Montserrat

The Prince of Wales and the Duchess of Cornwall have come face to face with the devastating sight of a modern day Pompeii during the latest leg of their royal tour of the Caribbean.

It is Prince Charles's first visit to Montserrat since a major eruption of the Soufriere Hills Volcano devastated the island in 1997. <http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/7285737.stm>

Manila 'bomb plotters' arrested

One of the alleged targets was the Australian embassy in Manila

The Philippine authorities say they have arrested three suspected militants accused of plotting to bomb foreign embassies in the capital, Manila.

The alleged targets were the British, US, Australian and Israeli embassies.

The three men are said to be Middle Eastern. One of them was carrying a Jordanian travel document.

Officials believe the men may have links to regional Islamist groups - Abu Sayyaf in the Philippines and Jemaah Islamiah in Indonesia.

"I don't have the names and the complete details of their arrests, but they were involved in teaching local terrorists on how to make bombs," Executive Secretary Eduardo Ermita said.

The Jordanian was arrested in Manila last month, while the two others were recently captured in the southern Philippines in two separate incidents. <http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/asia-pacific/7281321.stm>

Razon keeps mum on arrest of foreign terrorists

03/10/2008 | 12:57 PM

MANILA, Philippines - National Police chief Director General Avelino Razon Jr on Monday refused to disclose details about the recent arrests of three suspected foreign terrorists without first securing the approval of the Anti-Terrorism Council.

In a news conference at Camp Crame, Razon said he can only divulge details when the ATC, which is headed by Executive Secretary Eduardo Ermita, gives him the go signal.

"I am not allowed to discuss matters on that arrest. It is the Anti-Terrorism Council that is authorized to bring out news bulletins on the progress on that. I am tightlipped," he told reporters.

Ermita disclosed last week that there are already three foreigners under custody of Philippine authorities over the alleged assassination plot against President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo and the bombing of some embassies in the country.

Ermita said one was arrested in Metro Manila while the others were in the southern part of the
country.

Razon said that the foreigners were nabbed "not only for immigration matters, but also in the light of our campaign against terrorists."

He nodded when asked if the arrested foreigners were confirmed terrorists already.

Razon explained that the government is intentionally withholding the details of said arrests because "operations are still ongoing" against their cohorts that remain unaccounted for.

He admitted having reported these arrests during the 20th Interpol Conference at Hongkong last week, but "no specifics" were given out.

"These are not just matters of security but also international cooperation. So it (disclosing details) might jeopardize not only the Philippines' security but that of our ally countries as well," Razon said. - GMANews.TV <http://www.gmanews.tv/story/84093/Razon-keeps-mum-on-arrest-of-foreign-terrorists>

Pentagon insider attacks war plan

Mr Feith left the Pentagon in 2005

A former Pentagon official has written a book attacking Colin Powell, the CIA and other US officials over the US-led Iraq war, the Washington Post reports.

As under secretary of defence until 2005 Douglas Feith was closely involved with the planning of the invasion.

However, in "War and Decision", he blames officials outside the Pentagon for seriously mismanaging the invasion and occupation, the Post reports.

Out next month, it is the first insider account of Pentagon decision-making.

The newspaper says that Mr Feith accuses intelligence officials and the US state department, led at the time by Mr Powell, of repeatedly scuppering defence department plans for the invasion.

According to the Post, Mr Feith claims that US President George W Bush told a National Security Council meeting "war is inevitable" weeks before a team of UN weapons inspectors, headed by Hans Blix, had made their final report on Saddam Hussein's weapons capabilities. <http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/7286683.stm>

Gulf War illness 'chemical link'

New research links Gulf War health problems to Sarin-related chemicals

There is evidence linking chronic health problems suffered by Gulf War veterans to exposure to pesticides and nerve agents, US research has found.

A third of veterans of the 1991 war experienced fatigue, muscle or joint pain, sleeping problems, rashes and breathing troubles, the research found.

A US Congress-appointed committee on Gulf War illnesses analysed more than 100 studies in the research.

It found evidence linking the problems to a particular class of chemicals.

These were an anti-nerve gas agent given to troops, pesticides used to control sand-flies, and the nerve-gas sarin that troops may have been exposed to during the demolition of a weapons depot. <http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/health/7288902.stm>

BBC Arabic TV enters crowded market

As the BBC launches its new Arabic TV station, BBC News media correspondent Sebastian Usher examines some of the challenges the corporation faces in entering the slick, fast-changing world of Arabic satellite television news.

With its bright sets and glossy, poised presenters, the look of BBC Arabic should fit in seamlessly with the hundreds of Arab TV channels that have sprouted up in the past decade.

BBC Arabic TV's presenters will have to tackle sensitive topics

The driving force behind the new station is the BBC World Service - whose head is Nigel Chapman.

"The Arabic TV team will have roughly 200 people working for it, both in London and across the world," he says.

"It will have some of its own correspondents in some of the key places like Jerusalem, Cairo, North Africa, Washington, hopefully Moscow in the future - as well as of course drawing on the BBC's extensive newsgathering presence which already exists."

As well as the usual difficulties in setting up such a complex operation, Arabic TV and radio are also the first teams to use the BBC's state-of-the-art broadcasting centre being built in the heart of London. <http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle_east/7288827.stm>

Congress sues over US prosecutors

Mr Bolten and Ms Miers ignored a subpoena to testify

A Democratic-led Congressional panel has filed a lawsuit in a bid to force the White House to cooperate with its inquiry into the firing of prosecutors.

The suit calls for former White House counsel Harriet Miers to testify to the panel and for chief-of-staff Joshua Bolten to provide subpoenaed documents.

The House Judiciary Committee said it would not allow the Bush administration "to steamroll Congress" by refusing.

A White House spokeswoman dismissed the lawsuit as "partisan theatre".

The case, filed in the US District Court for the District of Columbia, is the latest development in a row over the firing in 2006 of nine US federal prosecutors.

Critics charged that the sackings were politically motivated, directed by the White House because the attorneys in question were not supportive enough of the Republican agenda.

The White House has repeatedly denied that allegation. <http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/7288432.stm>

US Mid-East commander steps down

Adm Fallon became head of US Central Command in March 2007

The commander of US forces in Iraq and Afghanistan, Admiral William Fallon, is to retire from his post early.

He cited the "embarrassing situation and public perception of differences between my views and administration policy" as the reason for retiring.

An article by Esquire magazine said he was opposed to the use of force against Iran over its nuclear activities.

Adm Fallon said he did not believe there were differences over policy objectives.

The 63-year-old admiral became head of the US Central Command - which covers an area from the Horn of Africa into central Asia and includes responsibility for US operations in Iraq and Afghanistan - a year ago. <http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle_east/7290826.stm>

US SC sets review of Marcos wealth claim; victims hopeful

03/12/2008 | 01:16 PM

MANILA, Philippines - Human rights victims under Ferdinand Marcos' regime expressed confidence Wednesday they will win a US Supreme Court review on a dispute with the Philippine government over who owns money allegedly stolen by the late dictator.

The court is set to hear oral arguments Monday on claims by the Philippine government and human rights victims to $35 million (€23.8 million) in Marcos assets.

The government asked the justices to take the case after two US courts awarded the funds to nearly 10,000 victims of Marcos' 20-year rule.

The lawsuit stems from an account set up with a $2 million (€1.3 million) deposit by Marcos in 1972 at a brokerage in New York. Merrill Lynch went to court in 2000 to determine the money's owner.

The government asserted sovereign immunity and said the case could not proceed in US courts.

The 9,539 people claiming grave human rights abuses, obtained a $2 billion (€1.3 billion) judgment against the Marcos estate in a US court in 1995 but have yet to receive money because of multiple appeals filed by the Philippine government. <http://www.gmanews.tv/story/84465/US-SC-sets-review-of-Marcos-wealth-claim-victims-hopeful>

Killings, corruption remain 'major' problems in RP - US

03/12/2008 | 03:27 PM

MANILA, Philippines - Despite "intensified" government efforts to address the problem, extrajudicial killings especially of activists and journalists remain a "major problem" in the Philippines in 2007, the United States said Wednesday.

In a country report on the Philippines' human rights practices for 2007, the US State Department also noted impunity in killings as members of the security services were tagged in some cases.

"Arbitrary, unlawful, and extrajudicial killings by elements of the security services and political killings, including killings of journalists, by a variety of actors continued to be a major problem.
Despite intensified government efforts to investigate and prosecute these cases, many went unsolved and unpunished. Concerns about impunity persisted. Members of the security services committed acts of physical and psychological abuse on suspects and detainees, and there were instances of torture," it said.

The report also chided the Arroyo administration for failing to curb corruption.

On the other hand, it said arbitrary or warrantless arrests and detentions were common, while trials were delayed and procedures were prolonged.

Prisoners awaiting trial and those already convicted were often held under primitive conditions. <http://www.gmanews.tv/story/84482/Killings-corruption-remain-major-problems-in-RP---US>

US report softens stance on China

The US said China had not undertaken democratic reform

The US state department has released its annual report on human rights around the world, detailing abuses in China, Russia, Syria and Zimbabwe.

Unlike in previous years, China is not listed as one of the world's most systematic human rights violators.

But it is described as an authoritarian regime that denies its people basic human rights and freedoms, tortures prisoners and restricts the media.

The report tracks changes in the past year, but has no binding consequences.

It is compiled with the help of US embassies, using information from governments, NGOs, academics and the media. <http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/in_depth/7291055.stm>

FSGO: Arroyo is at the center of government anomalies

03/13/2008 | 12:43 PM

MANILA, Philippines – After Malacañang ignored their recommendations to curb corruption, former senior government officials under different administrations said Thursday that President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo is at the center of anomalies hounding the government.

The group calling itself the Former Senior Government Officials (FSGO), however, fell short of calling for Mrs Arroyo’s resignation, saying such would depend on the individual decision of its members.

A GMA Flash Report said the FSGO has lost its confidence on Mrs Arroyo as the group questions her moral authority as well as her authority to govern.

As of posting time, Malacañang has yet to comment on the FSGO remarks.

Earlier, a dzBB radio report said the members of the FSGO, who met Thursday at the historic Club Filipino in San Juan City, decided to join the scheduled rally for truth and accountability in Manila Friday.

Former Civil Service Commission (CSC) chairperson Karina David said the FSGO is now questioning if Mrs Arroyo is fit to run the government, as recent events showed the Palace has a hand in covering up anomalous transactions.

David added the cover-ups rendered useless the Palace's repeal of Executive Order 464, which gags officials of the executive department from testifying before congressional investigations.

She urged government officials to examine their consciences if they should still serve under President Arroyo. <http://www.gmanews.tv/story/84626/FSGO-Arroyo-is-at-the-center-of-government-anomalies>

Grappling with global terror conundrum

The conference honoured those killed in the Madrid train bombing

The world's anti-terrorism experts met for a conference in Stockholm this week and, as Roger Hardy, the BBC's Islamic Affairs Analyst, found, optimism was in short supply.

As the event began - at a conference centre overlooking the famous Stockholm waterfront - we stood in silent commemoration of the victims of the Madrid train bombings of 2004.

It was a sign, had we needed one, that we were gathered in the Swedish capital to discuss one of the most important and difficult issues of our time.

The participants came at the topic from every angle.

There were senior soldiers and policemen, intelligence professionals, diplomats, think-tank experts, a handful of journalists - and, on the fringes, salesmen eager to explain the latest gadgets, designed to make us feel safer in a dangerous world. <http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/programmes/from_our_own_correspondent/7297139.stm>

UK dismisses al-Qaeda talks call

Jonathan Powell was a key member of Tony Blair's government

A call by a former senior aide to Tony Blair for the UK to start talks with al-Qaeda has been dismissed as "inconceivable" by the government.

Jonathan Powell, an ex Downing Street chief of staff, told the Guardian the Northern Ireland peace deal showed talking to terror groups could work.

He also said he would talk to Hamas in Gaza if he still worked at Number 10.

The Foreign Office said the government would not talk to any group actively promoting its aims through violence.

Mr Powell was one of the key negotiators for the government in reaching a settlement in Northern Ireland during Mr Blair's time at Number 10.

BBC political correspondent James Hardy said Mr Powell now believes that deal would not have been possible without secret channels being opened to the IRA three decades earlier. <http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/politics/7297896.stm>

Obama spurns pastor's 9/11 jibe

Barack Obama has been a member of the church since the early 1990s

Democratic presidential hopeful Barack Obama has denounced remarks made by his pastor that the 9/11 attacks were like "chickens coming home to roost".

The Illinois senator said the 2001 comments, which have resurfaced on the web, were "completely inexcusable".

Mr Obama said he had not been present during Rev Jeremiah Wright's sermon, at the Trinity United Church of Christ.

The black Chicago pastor brought Mr Obama to Christianity, officiated at his wedding and baptised his daughters.

Mr Obama, a member of the church since the early 1990s, posted a blog on the Huffington Post about his relationship with the pastor, who is now retired.

"I categorically denounce any statement that disparages our great country or serves to divide us from our allies," he wrote.

'God damn America'

Mr Obama, who conducted a number of media interviews on Friday to reject Mr Wright's comments, said he had looked to him for spiritual - not political - guidance.

In a sermon on the Sunday after the attacks of 11 September 2001, Mr Wright told his congregation: "We have supported state terrorism against the Palestinians and black South Africans, and now we are indignant because the stuff we have done overseas is now brought right back to our own front yards.

"America's chickens are coming home to roost.

In a 2003 sermon, Mr Wright said blacks should condemn the US.

"God damn America for treating our citizens as less than human", he said." <http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/7297943.stm>

China sets Tibet protest deadline

Witnesses said tanks were patrolling the streets of Lhasa

Rioting in Lhasa

The authorities in Tibet have given anti-Chinese demonstrators until Monday to surrender, following violence that officials say left 10 people dead.

"The plot of the separatists will fail," the head of Tibet's government warned as security forces patrolled the main city, Lhasa.

State media said the 10 killed in Friday's clashes had included business people who were "burnt to death".

But exiled Tibetan leaders put the death toll higher and blamed China.

"There have been 30 confirmed deaths until today, and over 100 unconfirmed deaths," the Tibetan government in exile, which is based in northern India, said. <http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/asia-pacific/7297911.stm>

Junk food advert code launched

Foods high in sugar are among those targeted by the code

A global campaign aimed at reducing the marketing of unhealthy food to children has been launched.

More than 50 consumer groups are backing a voluntary code of practice which includes tight restrictions on television and internet advertising.

It also calls for a ban on unhealthy food promotion in schools and an end to the use of celebrities and cartoon characters.

UK food manufacturers said removing adverts was no "silver bullet".

We challenge the giants of the food and beverage industry to throw their weight behind this and demonstrate they really do want to be part of the solution

Professor Philip James
International Obesity Task Force

World Health Organization figures suggest that up to 177m children worldwide are threatened by obesity-related diseases, and it is predicted that 2.3 billion people over 15 years old will be overweight by 2015.

The new measures have the backing of the London-based International Obesity Task Force, which says that the several billion pounds spent each year advertising food or soft drinks is partly to blame.

Its chairman, Professor Philip James, said: "It is vital that, as well as governments, food industry leaders support the new standards we propose.

"We challenge the giants of the food and beverage industry to throw their weight behind this and demonstrate they really do want to be part of the solution, not part of the problem."

The code concentrates on foods high in fat, sugar and salt, and, in addition to a ban on advertising between 6am and 9pm, asks for a complete halt to internet and new media advertising, and no use of celebrities or cartoon characters, competitions or free gifts.

Sue Davies, the chief policy officer of Which?, one of the 50 groups, said: "With rising rates of obesity and diet-related disease escalating globally, food companies need to take a more responsible approach to the way they market their foods to children, whichever part of the world they are trading in." <http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/health/7297084.stm>

My Lai: Legacy of a massacre

By Celina Dunlop

Forty years on, and "My Lai" is synonymous with "massacre".

504 people were killed by US soldiers in the My Lai massacre

The killing of Iraqi civilians at Haditha has often been referred to as a modern-day My Lai.
The name is shorthand for slaughter of the defenceless, the benchmark of American wartime atrocity.
The murders of 504 men, women, children and babies happened in a northerly province of South Vietnam on 16 March 1968.
It proved to be a turning point for public opinion about the Vietnam War.
Yet, most of what we know about the event comes from a single, widely publicised court martial in 1970-71.
A young Lieutenant - William Calley - in Charlie Company was tried and convicted of murdering 22 "oriental human beings" in My Lai on that sunny morning in 1968.

Forgotten tapes

Media attention on Lt Calley's trial was extensive and the glare of publicity so bright it hid the wider, more awful truth. <http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/asia-pacific/7298533.stm>

'Eighty killed' in Tibetan unrest

Chinese troops were out in force in Lhasa on Sunday

At least 80 people have been killed in unrest following protests by Tibetans against Chinese rule, the Tibetan government in exile says.

Indian-based officials said the figure was confirmed by several sources, even though China put the death toll at 10.

The Dalai Lama called for an international inquiry into China's crackdown, accusing it of a "rule of terror" and "cultural genocide".

Chinese troops were out in force in Lhasa, Tibet's main city, on Sunday.

Hong Kong Cable TV reported that about 200 military vehicles, each carrying 40 to 60 armed soldiers, had driven into the city.

Loudspeakers broadcast messages, such as: "Discern between enemies and friends, maintain order."

China tightly restricts Western journalists' access to Tibet and it is sometimes extremely difficult to verify what is going on. <http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/asia-pacific/7299212.stm>

Someone's watching you

A POINT OF VIEW
By Clive James

The age of electronic communication has allowed a hammer blow against privacy, Clive James writes, but even the last bastion, the humble letter, is under threat.

Let's begin, where British madness so often begins, in London.

London's mayor Ken Livingstone has an aide who has recently been busted sending amorous e-mails to a friend. The aide, known in the tabloid press as "Ken aide", has a few questions to answer about what he has been doing with some of the money entrusted to him.

No doubt he will give satisfactory answers, and I, to name only one, will realise that my council tax cheque has been put to good use under his guidance.

If everyone could suddenly read everyone else's thoughts then very few people would survive the subsequent massacre

Hear Radio 4's A Point of View

But he will find it harder to shake off the accusation that he has been writing besotted e-mails, because the Evening Standard printed them verbatim. Andrew Gilligan, in charge of that newspaper's investigations into Ken Aide's activities, can congratulate himself that he has caught Ken Aide red-eyed with lust, if not red-handed in malfeasance.

But I wonder if anyone else should be congratulating Mr Gilligan. Isn't there something wrong about helping yourself to the private e-mails of politicians, the private text messages of footballers, the private phone calls of... you fill in the blanks.

And to the contention that nothing is private for the prominent, shouldn't we be saying that privacy is for everyone, and not just for you and me?

To say that, however, you have to believe in private life as a value. I think most of us still do, although it may very well be true that a private life is becoming impossible to lead. But just because it's fading from existence doesn't mean that it was never vital. <http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/magazine/7296856.stm>

Thousands join anti-war protests

Organisers said there were 40,000 people

Thousands of people have joined demonstrations in London and Glasgow, to mark the fifth anniversary of the start of the war in Iraq.

Demonstrators called for troops to be withdrawn from Iraq and Afghanistan and for Gaza's borders to be re-opened.

Organisers said 40,000 people took part in London but police said 10,000. A Stop the War spokesman said Iraq had made the world a more dangerous place.

But a Foreign Office spokesman said Iraq was making "steady progress".

Tony Blair and Gordon Brown should be tried for war crimes

Caroline Lucas
Green MEP

Protesters embrace irony
Hundreds march in Glasgow
In pictures: London protest

In London there were speeches from the leaders of a range of groups including CND and the Palestinian Solidarity Campaign.

As well as anger over Iraq and Afghanistan, there were also calls for no action to be taken against Iran.

Speaking at the rally in Trafalgar Square, the Liberal Democrat peer Baroness Tongue told the BBC that the war in Iraq had been an illegal act, supported by false documentary evidence.

"We feel that there are people who have literally got away with murder. We have people who have made an illegal war happen, and no-one has brought them to book, and it's about time we did."

Former Labour cabinet minister Tony Benn said: "The troops in Iraq have caused devastation. It's the same in Afghanistan." <http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/7298205.stm>

Tories call for full Iraq inquiry

William Hague wants a comprehensive inquiry to start now

The prime minister is under fresh pressure from the Conservatives to agree a Privy Council inquiry into the "origins and conduct" of the Iraq war.

Shadow foreign secretary William Hague said the fifth anniversary of the war was the right time for a full probe.

And the Liberal Democrats have repeated their demands for an "early and full" withdrawal of British troops.

The party's leader Nick Clegg said Iraq was the biggest strategic failure of British foreign policy for decades. <http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/7299337.stm>

Toxic world fallout from Iraq invasion

By Paul Reynolds
World affairs correspondent BBC News website

Bush saw the war of the "advance of freedom"

The war in Iraq was supposed to be over long before now.

It was not supposed to provoke a conflict between Sunni and Shia or stir up an al-Qaeda hornet's nest.

Nor was it supposed to alienate much of the rest of the world from US foreign policy, which post 9/11 was on the crest of a wave of sympathy.

It was intended, its proponents argued, to remove a threat to world peace and to plant the flag of freedom in a Middle East democratic desert.

The critics countered that the threat was an illusion, that the US was invading illegally and sought control over the region and Iraq's oil. <http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle_east/7293689.stm>

Troops 'did not shoot Tibetans'

Tibet's governor said the security forces did not use lethal weapons

A senior Chinese official has denied that troops used lethal force to quell protests in Tibet's main city, Lhasa.

Qiangba Puncog, the Tibetan regional governor, insisted calm was returning to Lhasa, as a deadline for protesters to hand themselves in approached.

Thirteen "innocent civilians" were killed in the protests, he said. Exiled Tibetan leaders say at least 80 protesters died in a Chinese crackdown.

His comments follow reports of protests spreading to neighbouring provinces.

Rights groups say several people were killed when police and Tibetan protesters clashed in Aba, Sichuan province on Sunday. Protests were also reported in Gansu province.

China has given Tibetans involved in the protests a deadline of midnight on Monday (1600GMT) to surrender themselves to police.

The Dalai Lama has called for an international inquiry into China's crackdown, while western leaders have called for restraint. Olympic chief Jacques Rogge said he was "very concerned" about the situation. <http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/asia-pacific/7299965.stm>

Bleak picture of Iraq conditions

Iraqi hospitals lack qualified staff and basic drugs, the report said

Millions of Iraqis have little or no access to clean water, sanitation and healthcare, five years after the US-led invasion, according to the Red Cross.

The Swiss-based agency says Iraq's humanitarian situation is "among the most critical in the world".

It warned that despite better security in some areas, millions had been left essentially to fend for themselves.

Some families spend a third of their average monthly wage of $150 (£75) just buying clean water, the report found. <http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle_east/7299914.stm>

Iraq key players, then and now

The world was divided in 2003 into countries that supported or opposed the Iraq war. The UN was in the middle. Here we recount the arguments for and against made by eight key players, and where they stand now. <http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle_east/7297592.stm>

Web creator rejects net tracking

By Rory Cellan-Jones
Technology correspondent, BBC News

Sir Tim Berners-Lee has fears over the future of the internet

The creator of the web has said consumers need to be protected against systems which can track their activity on the internet.

Sir Tim Berners-Lee told BBC News he would change his internet provider if it introduced such a system.

Plans by leading internet providers to use Phorm, a company which tracks web activity to create personalised adverts, have sparked controversy.

Sir Tim said he did not want his ISP to track which websites he visited.

"I want to know if I look up a whole lot of books about some form of cancer that that's not going to get to my insurance company and I'm going to find my insurance premium is going to go up by 5% because they've figured I'm looking at those books," he said.

Sir Tim said his data and web history belonged to him.

I think consumers rights in this are very important - we haven't seen the results of these systems being used

Sir Tim Berners-Lee

He said: "It's mine - you can't have it. If you want to use it for something, then you have to negotiate with me. I have to agree, I have to understand what I'm getting in return." <http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/technology/7299875.stm>

Q&A: DC's gun laws

The US Supreme Court is grasping the thorny issue of Americans' right to bear arms for the first time in almost 70 years. At issue is a challenge to one of the nation's toughest gun laws - but the justices' ruling could have far wider ramifications. <http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/7301262.stm>

Obama says US cannot ignore race

Mr Obama called on his own history in an ambitious speech

Obama on race issues

US presidential hopeful Barack Obama has sought to tackle the issue of race and defuse a controversy over comments made by his former pastor.

Senator Obama said he understood the history of anger between black and white Americans but that the US could not afford to ignore race issues.

He referred to the uproar over what he called the Rev Jeremiah Wright's "profoundly distorted view" of the US.

Mr Wright said the 9/11 attacks were like "chickens coming home to roost".

After the remarks resurfaced, Mr Obama denounced them as "incendiary" and "completely inexcusable" and said he had not been present when they were made.

Mr Obama is locked in a close race with New York Senator Hillary Clinton for the Democratic nomination, with the significant Pennsylvania primary vote due on 22 April. <http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/7302938.stm>

Iraq war shows limits of US power

By John Simpson
World affairs editor, BBC News

Since the invasion of Iraq in 2003 I have spent almost a year of my life here, reporting on the conflict.

An increase in US troop numbers has helped contain violence

I have witnessed a disturbing amount of death and injury, and several of my friends have lost their lives. Others have become refugees and asylum-seekers.

It has lasted almost as long as World War II and cost almost as much.

Only one of its original aims, the overthrow of Saddam Hussein, has been achieved.

Of the other aims, one was unobtainable because Iraq had no weapons of mass destruction to be destroyed, and the other - bringing democracy to the Middle East - has been indefinitely postponed.

Nothing new in any of this, of course. Anti-war commentators have repeated it all again and again, while pro-war commentators mostly avoid mentioning any of it.

More importantly, the war has shown the limits of American power. It is clear the United States can only manage to fight two small wars at a time.

Iraq and Afghanistan have stretched the US armed forces almost to breaking point. America after the invasion of Iraq is no longer the superpower it was before. <http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle_east/7303985.stm>

Protesters 'surrender in Tibet'

Gansu protesters tore up China's flag and raised the Tibetan one

Protesters in China

More than 100 people have turned themselves in to police following anti-China riots in Tibet's main city, Lhasa, Chinese state media has said.

The authorities had threatened to punish harshly protesters who failed to surrender by a Monday night deadline.

Lhasa police have been searching homes and making arrests, activists say.

The news came as video emerged from nearby Gansu province showing Tibetans tear down a Chinese flag and replacing it with a Tibetan flag on Tuesday.

Hundreds of protesters can be seen on foot and horseback in the incident at a school near Hezuo, captured on camera by a Canadian film crew.

The demonstrators attempted to march on a government building before security forces used tear gas to stop them, reports from the scene said.

The protest followed several other reported incidents of unrest - some of them involving apparently more serious violence - in provinces close to the Tibetan border with large ethnic Tibetan populations.

Correspondents say China's authorities will be very anxious to stop the protests spreading from Tibet. <http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/asia-pacific/7304144.stm>

UN envoy disappointed over Burma

By Matthew Wells
BBC News, New York

Mr Gambari met Aung San Suu Kyi but not key military leaders

The United Nations special envoy to Burma says that his recent trip to the country yielded no concrete results.

However, addressing the UN Security Council, Ibrahim Gambari promised that dialogue with the military-led government would continue.

He also made it clear that relations between Burma and the international community will not improve without Aung San Suu Kyi's release.

Mr Gambari met the detained opposition leader on his visit earlier this month.

The UN is trying to influence the Burmese government's plans to hold a referendum on a new national constitution in May, on the road to what the leadership says will be "multi-party democratic elections" in 2010.

However, the military-led government is insisting on taking a bloc of seats in parliament, and exercising a veto over some parliamentary decisions. <http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/asia-pacific/7304133.stm>

John McCain holds talks in Israel

Ms Livni (L) said that Mr McCain shared Israel's view of the region

US senator and presidential hopeful John McCain is in Israel as art of a tour of the Middle East and Europe.

Mr McCain, who is set to be the Republicans' presidential candidate this autumn, met Israeli Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni.
In a joint news conference, Mr McCain reaffirmed his commitment to Israel and attacked the Islamist militant groups Hamas and Hezbollah.
Senator McCain is also due to meet Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert.

'Same understanding'

"If Hamas and Hezbollah succeed here, they are going to succeed everywhere," Mr McCain told reporters.
"They are dedicated to the extinction of everything that the US, Israel and the West believe and stand for," he added.
His sentiments were echoed by the Israeli foreign minister.

"I know that we share the same understanding of the nature of the crisis in the region," said Ms Livni. <http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle_east/7304581.stm>

Obama speaks out on US 'racial stalemate'

Jamie Coomarasamy
BBC News, Washington

Campaign banners were absent from the podium

There were no "Obama 08" posters, no "Change We Can Believe In" slogans behind Barack Obama as he spoke.

Just a row of American flags.

It was an appropriate backdrop for a speech that was designed to re-establish the Illinois senator's patriotic credentials, following the damage caused by the unpatriotic remarks of his former pastor, Jeremiah Wright.

It had been billed as a "major" speech on race and - by any standards - it was.

A far cry from the standard stump efforts, it was artfully constructed to try to deflate the immediate political crisis of Jeremiah Wright's remarks, by conflating them with the bigger picture of what Mr Obama called America's "racial stalemate".

Stylistically, it was a cross between the bookish Obama of last summer and the more focused Obama of Iowa and beyond.

But how effective was it? <http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/7304113.stm>

Nepal urged to stop crackdown vs Tibetan protesters

03/20/2008 | 03:19 PM

KATMANDU, Nepal - An international human rights group urged Nepal on Thursday to stop doing "Beijing's bidding" and end its crackdown on Tibetan exiles protesting against China.

New York-based Human Rights Watch said Nepal "should cease arbitrary arrests and detentions, harassment, and the use of excessive force to silence Tibetan protesters, activists and journalists."

Nepal's government, in response, denied using excessive force and said it would continue to clamp down on illegal anti-China rallies in Nepal.

On Thursday, police prevented Tibetan exiles, including several Buddhist monks, from gathering in front of the UN headquarters in Katmandu and arrested nearly 20 people.

Police searched the streets surrounding the building for more protesters to prevent any new gatherings by the exiles.

The rights group said in a statement that Nepal's government needs to reaffirm its commitment to freedom of assembly, association and expression.

There have been several protests by Tibetan exiles in Katmandu in the past week. On Wednesday, about 100 Tibetan protesters were prevented from rallying at the UN headquarters to demand an investigation into China's recent crackdown in Tibet.

Police have fired tear gas and beat protesters with bamboo batons at several of the demonstrations. Scores have been arrested and detained.

Human Rights Watch said it had witnessed Nepali police hitting, kicking and dragging protesters.

"The police are violently dispersing peaceful Tibetan protesters in Nepal's capital and arbitrarily detaining increasing numbers," Human Rights Watch's Brad Adams said in the statement.

The group urged Nepal's government to ensure police don't use force against peaceful protesters.

"Now is the time for the Nepali government to protect Tibetans, not to do the bidding of Beijing," Adams said.

The Nepali government denied it was using excessive force, saying it was only trying to stop political activities by Tibetans. <http://www.gmanews.tv/story/85621/Nepal-urged-to-stop-crackdown-vs-Tibetan-protesters>

US 'reassures Russia on shield'

US and Russian officials met in Moscow earlier this week

The US has offered Russia assurances over parts of a missile shield it wants to deploy in Europe, the Russian foreign minister has said.

In an interview with the daily Izvestiya, Sergei Lavrov said the US had agreed to allow Moscow to monitor the missile protection system.

The comments came after high level bilateral discussions in Moscow.

Russia has opposed US plans to establish missile defence installations in two central European countries.

These currently include some interceptor missiles in Poland and an associated radar facility in the Czech Republic.

The US says these are needed to counter a potential threat from Iran, though Moscow fears they could be used against Russia. <http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/7306133.stm>

Annan warns against conflict with Iran

03/21/2008 | 03:39 PM

NEW YORK - Former U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan warned Thursday that military action against Iran would be "a real disaster" and said the Middle East could explode if the international community doesn't handle the many conflicts in the region very carefully.

He also said there was "quite a bit of hypocrisy on all sides" in trying to resolve the five-year conflict in Sudan's Darfur region — especially in encouraging the African Union to take on peacekeeping when it didn't have the resources.

At a wide-ranging round-table with journalists, Annan said he didn't have enough information to comment on the justification for the U.N. Security Council's demand that Iran suspend uranium enrichment until it allays suspicions its nuclear program is trying to produce weapons. Tehran insists the program is peaceful, aimed only at using nuclear power to generate electricity.

Annan said he had told Iranian leaders that "if indeed you have nothing to hide and you are not making a bomb and your intentions are pacific, open your doors, let the inspectors come, let them go anywhere — find a way of reassuring the world, not just the U.S."

Asked how the international community should deal with Iran, he said dialogue was the only way.

"We cannot, I'm sure, take on another military action in Iran, and I hope no one is contemplating it. It would be a real disaster," he said.

Calling the broader Middle East "a very dangerous region," Annan said that "many conflicts have converged and are feeding off each other, and the international community has to handle that situation very carefully because any miscalculation can lead to very serious explosions." <http://www.gmanews.tv/story/85693/Annan-warns-against-conflict-with-Ira n>

Motive sought for Obama passport breach

03/21/2008 | 04:46 PM

WASHINGTON - The State Department says it is trying to determine whether three contract workers had a political motive for looking at Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama's passport file.

Two of the employees were fired for the security breach and the third was disciplined but is still working, the department said Thursday night. It would not release the names of those who were fired and disciplined or the names of the two companies for which they worked. The department's inspector general is investigating.

State Department spokesman Sean McCormack said that for now it appears that nothing other than "imprudent curiosity" was involved in three separate breaches of the Illinois senator's personal information, "but we are taking steps to reassure ourselves that that is, in fact, the case."

It is not clear whether the employees saw anything other than the basic personal data such as name, citizenship, age and place of birth that is required when a person fills out a passport application.

Bill Burton, a spokesman for Obama's presidential campaign, called for a complete investigation.

"This is an outrageous breach of security and privacy, even from an administration that has shown little regard for either over the last eight years," Burton said. "Our government's duty is to protect the private information of the American people, not use it for political purposes."

"This is a serious matter that merits a complete investigation, and we demand to know who looked at Senator Obama's passport file, for what purpose and why it took so long for them to reveal this security breach," he said.

The breaches occurred on Jan. 9, Feb. 21 and March 14 and were detected by internal State Department computer checks, McCormack said. The department's top management officer, Undersecretary Patrick Kennedy, said certain records, including those of high-profile people, are "flagged" with a computer tag that tips off supervisors when someone tries to view the records without a proper reason.

The firings and unspecified discipline of the third employee already had occurred when senior State Department officials learned of the breaches. Kennedy called that a failing.

"I will fully acknowledge this information should have been passed up the line," Kennedy told reporters in a conference call Thursday night. "It was dealt with at the office level."

In answer to a question, Kennedy said the department doesn't look into political affiliation in doing background checks on passport workers. "Now that this has arisen, this becomes a germane question, and that will be something for the appropriate investigation to look into," he said. <http://www.gmanews.tv/story/85699/Motive-sought-for-Obama-passport-breach>

Iraq: Five years on

<http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/in_depth/middle_east/2002/conflict_with_iraq/default.stm>

Palestinian rivals' talks 'fail'

Yemen's plan calls for Gaza to be run by a national unity government

Talks between rival Palestinian factions Fatah and Hamas have collapsed, Palestinian Authority and Fatah leader Mahmoud Abbas has said.

Both sides blamed each other for the failure of the discussions, which took place in Sanaa, in Yemen.

Mediators called for Gaza to be returned to the control of a national unity government and new elections.

Fatah and Hamas admit their feud is damaging the Palestinian cause but will not yet compromise, correspondents say.

The BBC's Aleem Maqbool says the major sticking-point appears to be Fatah's insistence that Hamas give up the power it took by force in Gaza in June 2007.

Hamas refuses to do that without conditions. It has previously ruled out new elections, saying it won the right to govern in a fair vote two years ago. <http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle_east/7307260.stm>

US hopefuls in Middle East minefield

By Paul Adams
BBC News, Washington

Mr McCain visited Iraq after securing the Republican nomination

Five years on from the Iraq invasion, the war looms large over the US presidential campaign.

As the anniversary was being marked, the Republican candidate, confident of his party's nomination, was touring the Middle East, while the two Democratic rivals tore strips out of each other back home over the degree of their opposition to the war.
Last year, Republican Senator John McCain's campaign seemed to be going as badly as the war. But as the surge has delivered on the ground, in reduced violence, so his fortunes have improved.
Back home, meanwhile, Democrat Barack Obama says Americans are "less safe and less able to shape events abroad".
But what about the wider region? As the presidential candidates vie for power, what, if anything, is there to gain from straying into the minefield of interconnected Middle Eastern issues?

Resist the temptation

The short answer is - if you have anything more than mere platitudes in mind, resist the temptation. It is all too complicated and, besides, voters at home simply do not care.
There is one notable exception. Jewish voters in swing states like Florida and Michigan care a great deal about Israel.

Presidential candidates know they must establish their credentials as strong supporters of the Jewish state. <http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/7306822.stm>

Tibetans appeal for world's help but resigned to getting little

03/22/2008 | 01:29 PM

DHARMSALA, India - Nearly six decades of struggle against the might of China have taught the Tibetans one thing: Ask the world for little, expect less.

As Tibetans rose up in recent weeks against China's harsh rule over the Himalayan region and Beijing sent forces to quell the protests, Tibet's government-in-exile sent its envoys to far-flung capitals with appeals for help.

But guided by the Dalai Lama, the Tibetan spiritual leader, they kept their requests modest, knowing that few countries are willing to cross China, particularly with the world counting on the emerging superpower to keep the global economy ticking as the United States appears headed into a recession.

"His Holiness says we have to be realistic," said Tenzin Taklha, a senior aide to the 72-year-old Nobel Peace Prize winner who has come to embody the Tibetan struggle since he fled to India in 1959 in the wake of a failed uprising against China.

From the Tibetan exile leaders there were no calls for sanctions, like those imposed when Myanmar suppressed pro-democracy protests last year, or even a boycott of this summer's Beijing Olympics.

It's an approach that reflects the pragmatism of the Dalai Lama, who has long sought an accommodation based on his "Middle Way" dialogue with Beijing aimed at autonomy for Tibetans under Chinese rule.

Instead, the Tibetans appealed for international pressure on China to act with restraint, to open the area to international investigators and the media and for organizations like the International Red Cross to be allowed in to ensure the wounded get treatment.

The Dalai Lama has said he had received reports that many Tibetans wounded in clashes were not going to Chinese hospitals for treatment, fearing arrest.

"Specific things are very difficult. No one is going to send in a peacekeeping force," said Taklha.

The Tibetans have, however, won the moral support of many nations. <http://www.gmanews.tv/story/85729/Tibetans-appeal-for-worlds-help-but-resigned-to-getting-little>

Dutch Islam film website 'shut'

The content of the film is unknown but it has already sparked protests

A website that a Dutch right-wing politician was planning to use to release a film expected to be fiercely critical of Islam has been suspended.

The US hosting service, Network Solutions, said it was investigating complaints that it may have breached guidelines on hate language.

Dutch politician Geert Wilders says the 15-minute film describes Islam as "the enemy of freedom".

The planned release has sparked angry protests in many Muslim countries.

The Dutch government has disassociated itself from Mr Wilders' views, but there are fears the film will spark protests similar to those that followed the publication in Denmark two years ago of cartoons seen as offensive to Muslims.

The film has already been condemned by several Muslim countries, including Iran and Pakistan. <http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/7310439.stm>

Cheney urges Mid-East concessions

Mr Cheney went straight into talks with Mahmoud Abbas

US Vice-President Dick Cheney has said peace between Israel and the Palestinians will require painful concessions on both sides.

He said the creation of a Palestinian state was long overdue, but rocket attacks against Israel hindered peace.

Mr Cheney was speaking after talks with Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas in the West Bank town of Ramallah as part of a Middle-East tour.

He has already given Israel strong backing on security issues.

The visit was part of a bid to revive the peace process, but correspondents say people on both sides remain sceptical.

It came as rival Palestinian groups signed a Yemeni-brokered reconciliation deal promising to revive direct talks - possibly next month.

Correspondents say it is the first real sign of progress since Hamas seized control of the Gaza Strip from Fatah last June.

Fatah wants Hamas to relinquish control of Gaza.

A leading Hamas official, Dr Moussa Abu Marzouk, told the BBC the aim of the dialogue was to restore all the Palestinian territories to a single control. But, he said, Hamas would retain control of Gaza until agreement was reached. <http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle_east/7310418.stm>

Musharraf vows to back coalition

Mr Musharraf (R) said he was proud of his achievements in eight years

Pakistan President Pervez Musharraf has pledged full support to the incoming coalition government, which will be made up of his political opponents.

At a military parade to mark Pakistan's national day, Mr Musharraf said a new era of democracy was beginning.

The remarks came a day after his political opponents nominated Yusuf Raza Gillani as candidate for PM.

Mr Gillani, a supporter of assassinated opposition leader Benazir Bhutto, is likely to be confirmed on Monday.

He will lead a coalition government of Ms Bhutto's Pakistan People's Party and former Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif's PML(N) party.

He told reporters in Islamabad that he would need the prayers and co-operation of the entire nation.

Mr Musharraf, a US ally who came to power as a general in a 1999 coup, suffered heavy losses in the polls and appears increasingly isolated, say analysts. <http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/south_asia/7310253.stm>

Medvedev warns on Nato expansion

Mr Medvedev has pledged to continue Vladimir Putin's policies

The incoming Russian President, Dmitry Medvedev, has said his country is not happy about the prospect of Ukraine and Georgia joining Nato.

Speaking in an interview with the Financial Times of London, he said such a move could affect European security.

Mr Medvedev said no country would be happy about a military bloc to which it did not belong approaching its borders.

Asked about recent troubled relations with the UK, he said he was open to restoring full co-operation.

Mr Medvedev is succeeding Vladimir Putin after winning a landslide victory in the presidential election earlier this month.

He has pledged to continue the policies of Mr Putin, who is expected to become his prime minister. <http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/7312045.stm>

How the open net closed its doors

By Clark Boyd, Technology correspondent, in Boston

A new book details the extent to which countries across the globe are increasingly censoring online information they find strategically, politically or culturally threatening.

Access Denied: The Practice and Policy of Global Internet Filtering challenges the long-standing assumption that the internet is an unfettered space where citizens from around the world can freely communicate and mobilise. In fact, the book makes it clear that the scope, scale and sophistication of net censorship are growing.

"There's been a conventional wisdom or myth that the internet was immune from state regulation," says Ronald Deibert, one of the book's editors.

"What we're finding is that states that were taking a hands-off approach to the internet for many years are now finding ways to intervene at key internet choke points, and block access to information."

Mr. Deibert heads The Citizen Lab at the University of Toronto. The Lab, along with Harvard Law School, the University of Cambridge, and Oxford University, has spent the last five years testing internet access in some 40 countries. <http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/technology/7312327.stm>

China's battle to police the web

By Darren Waters
Technology editor, BBC News website

Web users in China are able to view the BBC News website for the first time in years. So how does the so-called great firewall of China work?

The Chinese government oversees what people do online

It is not clear why China's net population, the world's largest, is suddenly able to view the BBC News website after years of being blocked. Nor is it clear how long the access will continue.

But what is certain is that China's authorities have dynamic control of what their citizens can and cannot access.

Most countries that block or filter the internet do so on a site-by-site basis. For example, Pakistan blocked YouTube recently by telling Internet Service Providers (ISPs) in the country to redirect traffic whenever someone typed in the address for the popular video sharing site.

By deliberately rewriting the net address books inside Pakistan, authorities were able to redirect traffic.

But this is a blunt method of filtering and relies on authorities to actively track websites it wants to ban.

China does not block content or web pages in this way. Instead the technology deployed by the Chinese government, called Golden Shield, scans data flowing across its section of the net for banned words or web addresses.

There are five gateways which connect China to the internet and the filtering happens as data is passed through those ports.

When the filtering system spots a banned term it sends instructions to the source server and destination PC to stop the flow of data.

Amnesty International has accused net giant Cisco and Sun Microsystems of actively assisting with the development of censorship and surveillance systems in the country.

Both firms have rejected the accusation and have said the equipment they sell to China is no different from products sold in other countries.

The dynamic nature of filtering in China gives the government more control over content and means the authorities can react to news events. <http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/technology/7312746.stm>

US investigates Taiwan arms error

US Air Force Secretary Michael Wynne was "very concerned"

The US says it has launched an investigation after four fuses for intercontinental ballistic missiles were mistakenly sent to Taiwan.

The shipment, which should have been helicopter batteries, was made in 2006 but only discovered last week.

The Pentagon says no nuclear materials were shipped and the parts have been returned to the US.

The issue of US arms sales to Taiwan is sensitive as China regards the island as a renegade province. <http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/7313268.stm>

'Leave Taleban to Afghans' call

The Afghan National Army works alongside Nato forces

An influential Afghan minister has called on the West to allow local communities in Afghanistan to take over the fight against the Taleban.

Education Minister Mohammad Hanif Atmar said the answer lay in what he called the "Afghanisation" of security.

Mr Atmar, who is a close ally of President Hamid Karzai, said Afghan forces needed more training.

In the latest violence, officials say the Taleban killed six people in the western province of Herat. <http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/south_asia/7313823.stm>

Lebanon not to attend Arab summit

By Mike Sargeant
BBC News, Beirut

The decision not to attend was made by the Lebanese cabinet

The Lebanese government has announced that it will boycott the Arab summit due to be held this weekend in the Syrian capital, Damascus.

A government minister said parliament's repeated failure to elect a president had made it impossible for Lebanon to attend the meeting.

Lebanon has been without a president since last November.

The Western-backed government blames Syria for the current deadlock, a charge Syria denies. <http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle_east/7313761.stm>

'Many surrender' over Tibet riots

China has increased its security presence in Lhasa since the unrest

More than 660 people have turned themselves in to police following recent violent protests in and around Tibet, Chinese state media has said.

Xinhua news agency reported 280 people in Lhasa had handed themselves in by late Tuesday, and earlier reports said 381 people in Sichuan had surrendered.

China is trying to end the biggest protests by Tibetans in 20 years.

Meanwhile, a group of foreign reporters has been allowed into Lhasa for the first time since the violence began.

The group, which does not include the BBC, would be able to interview "victims of criminal acts", foreign ministry spokesman Qin Gang said on Tuesday. <http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/asia-pacific/7313966.stm>

Deadly TB strain sweeps Kyrgyz prisons

A drug-resistant and virtually untreatable form of tuberculosis is spreading from prisons in Kyrgyzstan to the general population. The BBC's Geneva correspondent Imogen Foulkes travelled to Kyrgyzstan with the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) to see why.

Overcrowding in Kyrgyz prisons helps spread tuberculosis

Colony 19 is a rundown, Soviet-era prison just outside Kyrgyzstan's capital Bishkek.

Four hundred prisoners live inside its crumbling walls. Conditions are cramped and dirty, there is little water or electricity.

But the worst threat here is invisible.

Dr Maxim Berdnikov is an infectious diseases doctor with the ICRC. His regular visits to Kyrgyz prisons have led to an alarming discovery.

"Levels of tuberculosis in Kyrgyzstan's prisons are the highest I have seen in my entire career," he says.

"I've worked in the Caucasus, where TB is very prevalent too, but here it is higher. It is very worrying."

Today Dr Berdnikov is screening new arrivals for TB, but his equipment is poor - a 40-year-old truck, with X-ray equipment that is even older.

The young men lined up outside will have to wait several days at least before they know the results. <http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/asia-pacific/7307398.stm>

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Policing the World-03
Globalisation Index
News Index
Index Nation States
Index Cultural Systems
Some personal Reflections on the News
Theory Forming and Articulation
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Policing the World Continued (2):

New approach for US army manual

Piloting Afghanistan to a prosperous future

Nato's Afghan strategy 'working'

US warning on Nato's Afghan role

Norway closes Kabul embassy after threat

US sniper jailed for Iraqi murder

Airmen told 'no uniforms in city'

Attack won't halt talks - Israel

US may pause Iraq troop pull-out

US 'to charge six 9/11 suspects'

Iraq 'reverse surge' plays on US minds

Fair trial pledge to 9/11 accused

Internet Day highlights web risks

Calls to ban 'anti-teen' device

Russia in Ukraine missile threat

Venice's 'war' on bottled water

Sleepers 'at risk' from jet noise

Fraud fears overshadow Pakistan polls

9/11 case pilot can claim damages

Bush defends US record on Darfur

Security tight for Manila rally

Annan set to unveil Kenya 'deal'

Trafficking: A very modern slavery

'Monsoon risk' to cyclone victims

US denies Afghan mission troubled

Warming risks Antarctic sea life

Kosovo’s ‘independence’ alters global rules on separatism - MILF

Rice in Nairobi to push for deal

Conflict overshadows Armenia polls

Kathmandu is 'almost out of fuel'

JFK murder 'transcript' unveiled

Burma: Sandwiched between giants

US drops Africa military HQ plan

Russia warns US over Kosovo move

Police feared 'airport stand-off'

Election leaves Musharraf reeling

MILF chief, US envoy meet, tackle peace process

Who are the Calabrian mafia?

Renewed threat of Kenyan protests

Curfew for US troops in Okinawa

US Navy missile hits dead satellite in orbit - official

US missile hits 'toxic satellite'

US spy satellite plan 'a cover'

Shot satellite fuels arms race fears

Neri calls for year of 'social peace' amid ZTE mess

US to take own food to Olympics

New US rape allegation in Okinawa

All change in Pakistan's 'wild west'

Annan hails Kenya talks progress

Storm over Serbia embassy attacks

Aids, oil and Africom on Bush tour

Could Balkan break-up continue?

Claim UK troops 'executed' Iraqis

Turkish troops enter north Iraq

US will back new Iran sanctions

Jail for Facebook spoof Moroccan

Guatemala farmers release police

US-Mexico 'virtual fence' ready

US to evacuate staff from Serbia

Serbs enact plan to sabotage Kosovo

Scanner ban fears eased by vote

Stay away from ancestral lands, rebels warn mining firms in Mindanao

US urges short Turkish campaign

How Kenyan talks ground to a halt

'FBI fugitive' is innocent German

German court limits cyber spying

Row over Nigeria nudity picture

Colombian hostages freed by Farc

Iraq troop withdrawal baffles Turks

Mugabe dubs poll rivals 'witches'

Ex-presidents at Philippine rally

ON THIS DAY -1 March 1954: US tests hydrogen bomb in Bikini

Foreigners at Makati rally: Impressed but see no Arroyo downfall

Cory confident Arroyo will be forced to step down

Iran leader in landmark Iraq trip

Esperon: Balikatan soon to include other allied countries

Colombia neighbours deploy troops

Monitors criticise Russian poll

Japan whalers in 'butter attack'