Policing the World -5:

Freed Guantanamo prisoner is home

US rebuke over Palestinian funds

'DC Madam' found dead in Florida

A 'George Washington' for Europe

Delay likely for Pakistan to restore judges

Zimbabwe's unending election count

Tough call for Zimbabwe opposition

Court challenge to EU referendum

My brush with a suicide bomber

Iraq First Lady survives bombing

Rice seeks Mid-East breakthrough

Labour 'will recover,' says Brown

Iraq prepares for Baghdad exodus

Medvedev becomes Russia's leader

Mass challenge over Zimbabwe poll

India launches ballistic missile

Sixty years of Middle East division

Fritzl daughter letters published

Hezbollah warns cabinet of 'war'

Google faces human rights votes

Getting the boot from Burma

UN to resume Burma food flights

Militias 'to rig Zimbabwe poll'

Czech 'mystery impostor' cleared

Judge prolongs Fritzl's custody

Hezbollah takes over west Beirut

High stakes of Lebanon crisis

Tanks rejoin Moscow V-Day parade

MILF girds for battle, accuses Arroyo of renewed war policy

Flask from the past Enlarge Image

Global temperatures did not dip sharply in the 1940s as the conventional graph shows, scientists believe.

They say an abrupt dip of 0.3C in 1945 actually reflects a change in how temperatures were measured at sea.

Until 1945, most readings were taken by US ships; but after the war, UK vessels resumed measurements, and they took the sea's temperature differently.

Writing in the journal Nature, the researchers say this does not affect estimates of long-term global warming.

In the 1940s, there was no universally accepted way of measuring sea temperature.

British vessels typically lowered a bucket over the side of the ship, pulled it up full of seawater, and put a thermometer in.

US vessels, on the other hand, usually had thermometers in place near the pipe where water was pumped in to cool the engines.

The bucket method is known to produce readings slightly lower than the actual temperature, because a fraction of the water will evaporate as it is hoisted on board.

The conventional temperature history shows a sharp fall around 1940

But engine intake measurements can produce higher temperatures than are actually there.

In the war-ravaged seas of the early 1940s, about 80% of the readings put into supposedly global datasets came from US ships. But after the war, the British research effort ramped up sharply, and soon half of the readings were coming from British vessels.

Researchers have now taken the sea temperature record and extracted all the natural variations from the El Nino/La Nina cycle and from weather patterns. When they did, the abrupt fall of 0.3C showed up clearly - but only in data from oceans, not from the land.

"I think the reason this hadn't been found before was that the abruptness of this change only became clear once you took out of the data the natural variability associated with El Nino and 'noise' from weather," lead researcher David Thompson from Colorado State University in the US told BBC News.

Other sharp dips in the 20th Century are associated with volcanic eruptions; but for this, there is no natural explanation that the researchers can find.

The answer, they suggest, has to lie in the ship-borne measurements. <http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/science/nature/7423527.stm>

What huge Senate security costs, Lozada asks critics

Nouri Maliki (left) has demanded nations reopen embassies

UN chief Ban Ki-moon has praised progress in Iraq at a UN forum in Sweden on the situation in the country.

Mr Ban said Iraq was "stepping back from the abyss that we feared most" but warned the situation "remains fragile".

Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri Maliki called for debt cancellation, mainly from Arab nations.

Nearly 100 countries are taking part in the forum, which is aimed at supporting Iraq's efforts to restore stability and rebuild a functioning economy.

Correspondents say progress in these areas remains fragile.

The UN called the conference to review a five-year package it brokered last year, called the International Compact with Iraq.

Iraqi PM Nouri Maliki called on neighbouring countries to Iraq's forgive debts and waive compensation payments for wars fought under Saddam Hussein.

"Iraq is not a poor country. It possesses tremendous human and material resources, but the debts of Iraq... which we inherited from the dictator, hamper the reconstruction process," he said.

Iraq owes more than $60bn (£30.4bn) debt in total, with Kuwait and Saudi Arabia among the biggest creditors. It also owes about $28bn in compensation claims dating from the 1991 Gulf War.

Swedish officials had earlier played down the possibility of new initiatives at the meeting, and Foreign Minister Carl Bildt said debt was not its subject.

Meanwhile US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice urged countries to stand by Iraq during reconstruction.

She said Iraq was "making good progress" but "challenges" remained.

But Iran's foreign minister blamed the US-led coalition's "mistaken policies" for the "grave" situation in Iraq, the Associated Press reported. <http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle_east/7424782.stm>

Martha Emack, one of the parents who brought the case

The Supreme Court in the US state of Texas has ruled children taken from the ranch of a polygamist sect must be returned to their parents.

Officials raided the compound in April, saying young girls were being forced into marriage and sex. The children were placed into foster care.

The court said child welfare officials had overstepped their authority.

It said that it had not been proven some 460 children taken from the ranch were in immediate danger.

The Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints had denied abuse and said it was being persecuted. <http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/7426814.stm>

About a quarter of the deaths occurred in Iraq

The US army has said the number of suicides in the military last year was the highest since records began, with 115 recorded.

The year saw increased violence in Iraq and Afghanistan, and about a quarter of the suicides happened in Iraq.

The extension of deployments from 12 to 15 months added to the strain on soldiers serving abroad.

Democratic presidential hopeful Barack Obama called the figures a tragic reminder of the costs of the Iraq war.

The figure of 115 deaths in 2007 represents an increase of almost 13% over the number for 2006, an army source told the Associated Press.

A military official acknowledged that the wars were having an effect.

Binyam Mohamed came to the UK as an asylum seeker in 1994

The only remaining British resident to be held in Guantanamo Bay has been charged with terrorism by a US military tribunal, the BBC has learned.

Binyam Mohamed, who denies the charge, says he was repeatedly tortured by interrogators in Morocco, where he was sent under "extraordinary rendition".

If convicted of conspiring to commit terrorism, the 29-year-old from west London could face the death penalty.

His lawyers are calling on the British government to help with his defence.

The BBC's Newsnight programme, which has learned of the charge against Mr Mohamed, also reports that the FBI opened a war-crimes file after concerns were raised about interrogation techniques being practised by other agencies at Guantanamo.

Torture allegations

Newsnight correspondent Peter Marshall says news of the war-crimes file, which was opened six years ago, has emerged after a Department of Justice (DoJ) investigation.

US congressman Bill Delahunt says he wants the DoJ director general to appear before his foreign affairs committee next week to explain.

Newsnight also reveals that earlier this year Foreign Office officials sent an e-mail to the foreign secretary saying there were "serious allegations" that Mr Mohamed had been tortured.

They suggested that Britain should ask the US to investigate, but so far there has been no response.

Meanwhile, following claims that Britain has been complicit in the treatment of Mr Mohamed, the Foreign Office has said it cannot hand over information to defence lawyers, which might relate to intelligence operations.

Mr Mohamed says he was sent by the CIA to Morocco under what the US calls "extraordinary rendition".

He says he was brutally tortured in Morocco and Afghanistan and has also been repeatedly maltreated in Guantanamo Bay. <http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/7427767.stm>

Children - seen here after the raid in April - were separated from parents

Parents' hopes of quick reunions with some 400 children removed from a polygamist sect's Texan ranch have been hit by a legal row over restrictions.

The state's supreme court ruled earlier that agents had had no authority to seize the children in a raid in April.

Families hoped to reunite on Monday but a judge has ruled 38 of the mothers, scattered across Texas, must personally sign up to a set of conditions.

State officials accused sect members of abusing children on the ranch.

But correspondents say that following the supreme court's ruling, the biggest child custody case in US history has effectively collapsed.

'Not simple'

The children, aged between six months and 17 years, have spent nearly two months away from their families.

Heavily armed police were on hand during the raid in April

Under the rules - agreed by the families' lawyers and state child-welfare officials - children will be allowed back home to the ranch near Eldorado but they must not be taken out of Texas and their parents must agree to take parenting classes.

Lawyers for the parents said the new requirement made timing for the reunions uncertain.

"It's not as simple as going across the street and setting up a booth," said lawyer Andrea Sloan. <http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/7428840.stm>

Most of those killed in the Lockerbie bombing were Americans

The US and Libya have agreed to work together to resolve compensation claims from the Lockerbie bombing and other 1980s attacks blamed on Libyan agents.

Libya has already paid out $8m (£4m) to each Lockerbie victim's family but has not made final payments of $2m amid a dispute over America's obligations.

A US court ruling that Libya should pay billions of dollars to Americans killed by another bomb incensed the Libyans.

They are hoping for an all-in-one deal to cover that and the other attacks.

They are also said to be wary of a new US law allowing victims of terrorism to seize US-held assets of states held responsible.

Libya reportedly complained that it was being punished rather than rewarded for its decision in 2003 to stop working on weapons of mass destruction.

That decision led to the restoration of US diplomatic ties with Libya, which was removed from America's list of countries sponsoring terrorism.

But Libya feels the US is not living up to its obligations and wants more political and economic benefits from its new ties with Washington, the BBC's Kim Ghattas reports from Washington. <http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/africa/7428901.stm>

Gen Chedondo said troops were being deployed to help control violence

Chief-of-staff Maj Gen Martin Chedondo said soldiers had signed up to protect Mr Mugabe's principles of defending the revolution, state media reported.

"If you have other thoughts, then you should remove that uniform," he said.

Gen Chedondo was speaking at a target-shooting competition outside Harare, the Herald newspaper reported.

Zimbabwe's generals have in the past vowed never to support the main opposition candidate, Morgan Tsvangirai, if he is elected in the 27 June run-off election. <http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/africa/7429238.stm>

Violence in Mogadishu has driven away thousands of people

The UN Security Council is on a mission to Africa to look at the continent's wars and see how they might be ended.

The mission is due to have its first discussions with Somalia's government and its opponents, then go to Sudan and several other countries at war.

It has decided it is too dangerous to hold its Somali talks on Somali soil - they will be held in Djibouti instead.

The Security Council is also hoping to broker the first official direct talks between the Somalis.

BBC World Affairs correspondent Mark Doyle, who is travelling with the mission, says there is less optimism about the situation in Sudan.

The mass displacement of civilians in the country's troubled western province of Darfur is still unresolved, and the peace agreement between the north and south of the country is in the midst of new tensions.

The mission will also visit the Democratic Republic of Congo, where millions of people have been displaced by fighting in the east of the country. <http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/africa/7430661.stm>

The Olympics will be the biggest sporting event ever hosted by China

China's Communist Party rulers have been dreaming of this moment for at least 15 years.

Winning and then staging what are sure to be spectacular and successful games will help justify the party's continued rigid authority, and let it bask in most Chinese people's excitement to be hosts.

But the games will also be seen as one of history's most expensive, and well-orchestrated, coming-out parties.

After three decades of breakneck economic growth, the gleaming new airport, sports stadiums, ring roads and underground stations are set to send a powerful message around the world - that China has arrived.

Neighbours' unease

So how should the rest of us respond?

It's a pretty rootless society, highlighted by the fact there's 100m people on the move, looking for jobs Prof Jonathan Spence

Clearly it is a moment for celebration, that a country which for large parts of the 20th Century suffered civil war, famines, political mayhem and introversion, is now wealthy, stable and worldly enough to begin the new century with such confidence.

Yet many will also be watching with unease.

For neighbours like Japan or India, China's revival as an economic and political power is also a challenge, especially over energy resources. For the US, China's increased military spending makes it an emerging Pacific Ocean rival.

China's environmental problems are serious enough for the whole world to choke on. And it continues to be ruled by an unelected elite ready to lock up critics and pander to nationalism to serve its cause.

'Entry into the big time'

Professor Jonathan Spence, who delivers this year's BBC Radio 4 Reith Lectures, is well placed to make sense of the competing visions.

Born and educated in England, he moved to Yale University in the US in 1965 and is now one of the West's most eminent historians of China.

His best-selling books - like The Search for Modern China and To Change China - have explored first European then American attempts to understand the continent-sized country, and also our fascination with it.

"China sees [the Olympics] as its entry into the big time, even more so than their huge trade success," he says.

"There's a feeling [in China] that Chinese were not admired in the West, that China was on the less desirable end of the scale, in sports, and terms of strength. Now, China is going to take 25 gold medals, some in person-to-person competition. For people in China, the thought of winning all that is intoxicating," he says.
<http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/asia-pacific/7427992.stm>

An estimated 2.5m are in need of help a month after Cyclone Nargis

Towering over the heart of Rangoon is what Rudyard Kipling called Burma's "golden mystery": the Shwedagon Pagoda.

One hundred metres high, covered from top to bottom in shimmering gold leaf and more than 1,000 years old, it is for Burmese Buddhists the country's most sacred site.

I was there posing as a tourist. Foreign reporters are barred from Burma.

In the grounds of the temple I was approached by a young man. He wanted foreigners to know what was happening, he said.

He came from a village in the Irrawaddy Delta region devastated by the cyclone, a village which is now only water.

"In my village about 1,000 people are dead now," he said.

The village had seen no aid organisations and received no help, he said.

And for that he blames the government.

"After the cyclone we never saw the UN or other organisations," he said. "They want to help but the government has closed my place to visits. They know about the cyclone so why don't they come to help?"

Defiance

With more than 130,000 people dead or missing, and 2.5m in need of food, shelter and medicine, Burma's generals have been lambasted from without and within the country.

They are used to thumbing their noses at foreigners, but they may not have expected the fury of their own people - people like Zargana, a famous comedian here who has spent time in prison for criticising the generals.

Monasteries have been handing out food aid to hungry refugees

"The victims are very angry with the military junta," he said, but added that they were not the only people frustrated by the lack of aid.

"The second group is the donors... They want to donate directly to the victims but the military junta and some police are stopping them from donating directly."

"Thirdly there's the government officers," he added.

"They are human beings. Some of their relatives disappeared in the delta region but they couldn't go there, so they feel anger towards the military junta." <http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/asia-pacific/7430867.stm>

Some 5,000 Australian soldiers were killed, injured or captured at Fromelles

Archaeologists in France excavating the suspected mass grave of hundreds of British and Australian World War I soldiers have found human remains.

The dig at Fromelles has uncovered body fragments, including part of a human arm, but experts believe the site may hold the remains of almost 400 troops.

They died during a disastrous mission in north-east France in July 1916.

Many relatives are anxious for the team to find their loved ones so they can finally be given a proper burial.

Bloody failure

The Battle of Fromelles was intended to divert German troops from the Battle of the Somme which was raging 50 miles to the south.

But due to poor planning, the mission was a complete and bloody failure which greatly soured relations between the Australians and their British commanders.

For Australia, Fromelles saw one of the single greatest losses of life in the whole of the war.

In total, 5,000 Australians were killed, injured or captured, with around 2,000 lives lost in the first 27 hours of fighting.

Alongside them, some 1,500 British soldiers were also killed.

A young Adolf Hitler, then a 27-year-old corporal in the Bavarian reserve infantry, is believed to have been involved in the operation.

The dig, by Glasgow University Archaeological Research Division (Guard), is examining ground near woods where it is believed the Germans buried the dead in pits.

With Australian soldiers standing guard close by, the team is sifting through the soil for bone, weapons and uniform fragments. So far remains have been found in five of the eight burial pits.

Peter Barton, a WWI historian involved in the dig, said he hoped to be able to determine the nationality of any remains found.

The aim of the battle was to distract the Germans from reinforcing the battle of the Somme Major General Mike O'Brien Australian army

"By looking at fragments of uniform, experts can tell whether they are British or Australian because they had different buttons," he said.

Mr Barton said that after the battle the dead soldiers' personal possessions had been removed by the Germans and eventually returned to their families.

He said it was "possible" more personal items could be uncovered if the Germans had "missed anything". <http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/7430622.stm>

CHR nearing completion of report on Batangas ‘rubout’

UK forces use Chinook helicopters in Afghanistan

Commons public accounts committee chairman Sir Edward Leigh said the Chinooks had been "languishing" while troops in Afghanistan needed aircraft.

A National Audit Office report says a string of problems have seen their £259m cost soar since delivery in 2001.

The MoD said it was trying to get the Chinooks operating as soon as possible. <http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/7434205.stm>

People's movements were not as random as predicted

The study concludes that humans are creatures of habit, mostly visiting the same few spots time and time again.

Most people also move less than 10km on a regular basis, according to the study published in the journal Nature.

The results could be used to help prevent outbreaks of disease or forecast traffic, the scientists said.

"It would be wonderful if every [mobile] carrier could give universities access to their data because it's so rich," said Dr Marta Gonzalez of Northeastern University, Boston, US, and one of the authors of the paper.

Dr William Webb, head of research and development at the UK telecoms regulator, Ofcom, agreed that mobile phone data was still underexploited.

"This is just the tip of the iceberg," he told BBC News 
<http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/science/nature/7433128.stm>

Protestors have numbered 20,000 who object to US beef imports

Not least South Korea's President, Lee Myung-bak, who, just 100 days into office, has managed to pull off a classic reverse Midas touch.

The landslide popularity that brought him to power has evaporated, the more humiliating opinion polls put his support rating barely into double digits.

The reason?

A once seemingly mundane and long running agricultural dispute has mushroomed into one of the biggest political crises in recent memory.

It is a crisis that has taken shape on the streets.

Mass movement

What started as a series of relatively small-scale candlelit vigils against a lifting of the five-year ban on American beef imports, has now taken on the air of a mass movement.

We are creating the fear of mad cow disease in our own minds. Candlelights should be used to brighten the darkness, not burn down our own homes Lee Sae Jin, lone pro-beef import protestor

Mothers pushing prams marched alongside ranks of high-pitched school children, all carrying delicate, fluttering flames through the dark Seoul night.

The symbolism is potent. It is a picture of the nation's most cherished and vulnerable under threat from a cavalier government and the poisoned, imported produce of a foreign power.

"I am afraid of American beef," one 13-year-old protester told a US newspaper reporter. "I could study hard in school. I could get a good job and then I could eat beef and just die."

This week, the growing intensity of the protests and sporadic outbreaks of violence finally forced a government U-turn.

The lifting of the ban on US beef has been put on hold.

"The essence of the beef protests is anti-American," says Keun Park, President of the Korea-America Friendship Society.

"The left-wing media has instigated the feeling that there is a good reason to fear US beef." <http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/asia-pacific/7436914.stm>

In recent days anti-government protesters have returned to the streets

Army Commander General Anupong Paochinda has said so, and now the Supreme Commander of the Armed Forces, General Boonsrang Niumpradit, has echoed him.

Both men played an instrumental role in the 2006 coup that unseated then-Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra.

"I don't think any commanders want to launch a coup now," said General Boonsrang. "The problems in the country are too complex to be solved by a coup."

Of course the military said much the same back in 2006, but this time they seem to mean it.

They found the going unexpectedly tough after they seized power two years ago, and recognised early on that the public had limited tolerance for military intervention.

When the party of Mr Thaksin's allies, the PPP, did much better than expected in the election that brought back democratic rule last December, the military accepted the result and handed back power without protest.

So why have coup rumours been sweeping the capital, causing the stock market to plunge?

Clash of ideas

The reason is this. Just five months into the new government, the deep conflict in Thai society, between those loyal to Mr Thaksin and his vision of a dynamic new, business-driven democracy (led by his party of course), and those loyal to a fuzzier concept of democracy in which the traditional, palace-connected elite make many of the key decisions, has come out into the open again.

Mr Thaksin says he has no more political ambitions

Since his return from exile in March, Mr Thaksin has stayed in the background and publicly vowed that he has no more political ambitions.

But no-one believes that, least of all the traditionalists who took such a risk when they used the military to oust him two years ago.

With his immense wealth and unrivalled political skills, they are convinced he could again amass the kind of unchallenged power he wielded as prime minister from 2001 to 2006.

To counter this they have built their own checks and balances into the constitution, Thailand's 18th, that they brought in last August.

That charter weakens elected governments in all sorts of ways - making impeachment of the prime minister easier, and making the Senate a semi-appointed body.

Crucially it gives enhanced powers to Thailand's top judges, those who sit on the Supreme Court and the Constitutional Court.

The judges are far less likely to be swayed by the power or wealth of an elected politician, however popular. <http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/asia-pacific/7427309.stm>

The quake claimed at least 270 children at Juyuan Middle School

Parents fear there will not be a proper investigation into why so many schools collapsed in last month's earthquake in China.

Many complain that although local authorities have promised to investigate, they are slow to give out information and worried that contractors and officials responsible for shoddily-built classrooms will not be held accountable.

Their concerns are voiced as China once again promises to investigate the schools issue, according to state-run news agency Xinhua.

Nearly 70,000 people died when the magnitude-8 earthquake struck south-western Sichuan Province on 12 May.

Children paid a heavy price in the disaster, although there is still no overall government figure of how many thousands of school pupils perished in the rubble.

Quality problems

Parents immediately demanded to know why so many school buildings collapsed, and the government initially responded to that call with officials promising within days of the quake to conduct a thorough investigation.

Officials are not answering questions - they are just playing for time Zhao Deqin, parent

"If quality problems do exist in school buildings, we will deal with the persons responsible strictly," said Han Jin, an education ministry spokesman.

He added that parents who had lost children would get answers, Xinhua reported.

That message was repeated again on Wednesday when the State Council, China's Cabinet, said all collapsed school buildings would be appraised.

But parents whose children died when Juyuan Middle School fell down complain they have been told little about any investigation.

Zhao Deqin's twin 15-year-old daughters died when the school, near the city of Dujiangyan, collapsed killing at least 270 children.

She said: "Officials are not answering questions. They are just playing for time."

Another parent said he had visited the local government offices many times, but had been told only that the "relevant authorities" were investigating.

"The school fell down after 10 seconds. What else do you need to know," he said. <http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/asia-pacific/7436647.stm>

More than a month on, many people still need much more help

US Navy ships are due to leave Burma's coastline because of the continued refusal of the government to allow them to help victims of Cyclone Nargis.

The navy said it would withdraw the four ships, carrying helicopters and landing craft, after 15 failed attempts to convince the regime to let them in.

French and British navy ships have also been withdrawn after being refused permission to operate.

Cyclone Nargis left more than 133,000 people dead or missing.

More than a month after the disaster, the UN estimates that 2.4 million people are in need of food, shelter or medical care, and more than a million have yet to receive foreign aid. <http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/asia-pacific/7435188.stm>

Locals knew about Machu Picchu before Western explorers found it

A team of historians says the lost city of the Incas, Machu Picchu, in Peru was discovered more than 40 years earlier than previously thought and ransacked.

Machu Picchu, now Peru's biggest tourist attraction, was famously believed to have been discovered in 1911 by US explorer Hiram Bingham.

The ruins are the crown jewel of Peru's archaeological sites in Peru and draw thousands of tourists every day.

Machu Pichu carries symbolic value for Peru's indigenous people.

It was built by one of the last Inca emperors, Pachacutec, in around 1450 and kept secret from the Spanish conquerors who invaded about 100 years later.

Now the story about its discovery by the western world has been shaken up by a team of historians who say a German businessman looted its treasures more than 40 years before.

They say the adventurer, Augusto Berns, who traded in Peru's wood and gold, raided the citadel's tombs in 1867 apparently with the blessing of the Peruvian government.

He had set up a sawmill at the foot of the forested mountain on which Machu Picchu stands and systematically robbed precious artefacts which he sold to European galleries and museums.

Only when one of the historians found a map in Peru's national museum were his activities traced.

Until now it has been believed that Hiram Bingham, an American academic from Yale University, brought the Inca city to the attention of the world in 1911, although local people clearly already knew of its presence. <http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/7439397.stm>

Replacements for the two men have not yet been announced

The US air force's two most senior officials have resigned after a report suggested it was performing poorly in its handling of nuclear arms and parts.

Gen T Michael Moseley, the chief of staff, and Air Force Secretary Michael Wynne were both asked to resign by Defense Secretary Robert Gates.

Mr Gates told reporters that the security of US nuclear weapons and parts had been in question.

One incident involved the sending of nuclear weapons fuses to Taiwan.

Mr Gates said he had accepted the two men's resignations and that he would announce their replacements at a later time.

He also announced that former Defence Secretary James Schlesinger would head a senior level task force to "recommend improvements necessary to ensure that the highest levels of accountability and control are maintained in the stewardship of nuclear weapons".

Cruise missile mix-up

Mr Gates cited two embarrassing incidents. In the first, electrical fuses for ballistic missiles were mistakenly sent to Taiwan in 2006 in place of helicopter batteries.

The fuses, designed for the nose cone of a nuclear missile, were sent from a US airbase in Wyoming.

The B-52 crew had been unaware they were carrying nuclear missiles

The Chinese government, which vehemently opposes US arms sales to Taiwan and has threatened to attack the island if it declares independence, was informed by the US about the error.

The other embarrassing incident, Mr Gates added, was a flight across the US by a B-52 bomber mistakenly armed with six nuclear-tipped cruise missiles, without anyone realising the weapons were on board.

Three colonels, a lieutenant-colonel and 66 other personnel were punished following the incident at Minot Air Force Base, North Dakota, on 29 August last year.

Speaking in Washington, Mr Gates said his decision to request the two resignations had been based on the findings of an investigation into the Taiwan error by Adm Kirkland Donald.

The admiral had found a "lack of a critical self-assessment culture" in the air force. <http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/7439044.stm>

The Ainu have lived in Hokkaido for centuries (Image: Ainu Museum)

It meant "Land of the Ainu", a reference to the fair-skinned, long-haired people who had lived there for hundreds of years.

The Ainu were hunters and fishermen with animist beliefs.

But their communities and traditions were eroded by waves of Japanese settlement and subsequent assimilation policies.

Today only small numbers of Ainu remain, and they constitute one of Japan's most marginalised groups.

On Friday they will have something to celebrate.

Japan's parliament is to adopt a resolution that, for the first time, formally recognises the Ainu as "an indigenous people with a distinct language, religion and culture".

In a nation that has always preferred to perceive itself as ethnically homogenous, it is a highly significant move.

"This resolution has great meaning," says Tadashi Kato, director of the Ainu Association of Hokkaido. "It has taken the Japanese government 140 years to recognise us as an indigenous people." <http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/asia-pacific/7437244.stm>

The recent royal visit to Turkey highlighted the headscarf issue

Turkey faces a long, hot and potentially tense summer after the constitutional court voted to overturn an amendment which would have allowed female students to wear Islamic headscarves on university campuses.

The decision on Thursday is a serious blow for the government of Prime Minister Tayip Erdogan, which passed the amendment earlier this year, fulfilling a promise he made to the electorate when first elected to office nearly six years ago.

Although voted through by a two-thirds majority in the Turkish parliament, the change has been strongly opposed by Turkey's secular elite, who have been quick to back the court's decision.

Deniz Baykal, the leader of the main opposition Republican People's Party which filed the legal action against the amendment, called the decision "important and just" while General Yasar Buyukanit, the head of Turkey's powerful military, commented that the decision "must be respected".

Reactions from within Mr Erdogan's AK Party (AKP) have been mixed.

Bekir Bozdag, the head of the AKP's parliamentary group, described the court ruling as "against the constitution" and accused the court of "exceeding its authority".

But other senior party figures, including Mr Erdogan himself, and the Turkish President Abdullah Gul have chosen not to comment.

Shut-down inevitable

Having lost this case, their attentions are likely already focused on another ongoing legal action calling for the closure of their party and the banning from office of 71 senior party members, including Mr Erdogan and Mr Gul.

That case was launched in March by senior state prosecutor Abdurrahman Yalcinkaya, who alleges that the AKP poses a threat to Turkey's secular democracy.

It cites the constitutional amendment allowing girls to wear headscarves to university as evidence.

The courts are expected to take their time delivering a ruling on whether it will close the party down and no decision is expected before September or October.

Although publicly the AKP continues to defend itself against the allegations, they recently abandoned plans to amend the constitution again to end the right of the courts to close down political parties.

The move to allow the headscarf in universities has prompted protests

Privately, party officials complain that they are faced by forces they cannot compete with and accept that closure is inevitable.

Many expect that a new party will be founded and the bulk of the AK Party's majority parliamentary group enrolled as members even before the court ruling is announced.

However, few expect that the transition to a new party and a new government can be done smoothly given the exclusion of the existing party's key leadership figures.

Some even predict that the result may be an early general election, little over a year after the AK Party was swept back to power with 47% of the vote. <http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/7439056.stm>

By 0900, the children at Bisidimo Hospital, near Ethiopia's eastern town of Harar, are on their third feed of the day.

The weakest children have red mugs, the stronger ones blue and green

Hospital staff have set up a table under the shade trees in the grounds.

On it are three plastic pails - one red, one green and one blue - and health workers are busy ladling out different kinds of formula milk into matching, colour-coded mugs.

The government has said that it is facing a "critical food shortage", after the failure of this year's early rains.

The Disaster Prevention and Preparedness Agency says 4.5 million people will need emergency food assistance, and 75,000 children are already severely, acutely malnourished.

As a man calls the children's names, their mothers come forward for a carefully measured ration.

Modern therapeutic feeding is a precise and scientific business.

One of the children at Bisidimo, a miserable little scrap, was still being fed through a tube because he was unable to drink, but all the others sat on their mothers' laps, clutching their mugs of milk.

The weakest children had red mugs, and their mothers were helping and encouraging them to sip. <http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/africa/7438554.stm>

Call to prosecute BT for ad trial

BT conducted two "small scale" trials of the Phorm system

BT should face prosecution for its "illegal" trials of a controversial ad-serving technology, a leading computer security researcher has said.

Dr Richard Clayton at the University of Cambridge made his comments after reviewing a leaked BT internal report.

The document reveals details of a 2006 BT trial with the Phorm system, which matches adverts to users' web habits.

"It's against the law of the land," he told BBC News. "We must now expect to see a prosecution."

But BT plans to push ahead with a further trial of the technology later this summer, the BBC has learnt.

"We have not announced a date yet; we are still planning - it will be quite soon," a spokesperson said.

Revelations about earlier trials have prompted some customers to organise protests in London to coincide with BT's AGM on 16 July. <http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/technology/7438578.stm>

Nguyen Viet Chien (L) is one of two journalists arrested last month

Vietnam's patchy record of media freedom was in the spotlight again this week when a meeting of international donors urged the country to expand press liberties.

Foreign representatives at the Third Dialogue on Anti-Corruption in Hanoi expressed their concern about last month's arrest of two well-known local journalists, fearing that it could set a "bad precedent" for the future reporting of corruption cases.

Nguyen Van Hai, 33, and Nguyen Viet Chien, 56, are in jail and under investigation for their reports on one of the most notorious scandals in Vietnam, where millions of dollars of public funds were used to bet on European football matches.

The scandal, dubbed the PMU-18 case, broke in 2006 and led to the arrest of a number of high-ranking government officials, including a vice minister of transport. The minister, Dao Dinh Binh, was forced to resign.

Newspapers were praised by the authorities at the time for their detailed coverage of the scandal.

No-one paid attention to the fact that long before the investigations were completed, the newspapers had already accused the jailed officials of all kinds of wrong-doing and described them as villains. <http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/asia-pacific/7437343.stm>

The debate on Iran's nuclear intentions is heating up again, as is talk of attack

Last December American intelligence agencies said they had "high confidence" that in late 2003 Iran had stopped trying to build nuclear weapons.

That seemed to end much of the talk about an American - or Israeli - attempt to destroy the facilities that Iran has developed for what it insists is a purely peaceful nuclear programme.

Plenty of influential people in the Middle East, Europe and the United States think an attack on Iran would have consequences potentially as disastrous as the invasion of Iraq in 2003. It would also send oil prices, already through the roof, into orbit.

But the talk has started again. Negotiations with Iran - and sanctions against it - have not stopped it enriching uranium, which its critics say is being done to make a bomb.

In one of his first acts after he secured the Democratic nomination for president of the US, Senator Barack Obama told Aipac, America's most powerful pro-Israel lobby, that he would do everything in his power to prevent Iran from getting a nuclear weapon.

He repeated the word "everything" several times. Even allowing for the fact that he was also trying to dispel the impression that he was soft on Iran, it was strong language. <http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle_east/7439431.stm>

Basic foods are fast becoming beyond the reach of even those with jobs

In the week in which world leaders met in Rome to discuss an ongoing global food crisis, will Zimbabwe's own food crisis be exacerbated by the announcement that aid groups and non-governmental organisations should stop operations at once and re-apply for their permits?

Put together the facts - a recurring poor harvest of basic cereals like maize and wheat; persistent droughts; a farming infrastructure which has been in renewal or chaos; economic inflation beating even the projected figures - and you can see that this country is seriously in need of the kind of assistance these groups have been told to stop providing.

And there are many of them, all channelling food for the needy throughout Zimbabwe from the UN, the World Food Programme (WFP) and elsewhere.

A quick look through the Harare phonebook will reveal the existence of Save The Children UK, Save The Children US, Save The Children Norway, Care International and Christian Aid - all operating in Zimbabwe.

No-one will talk for fear of jeopardising access to people who still need help USAid doctor

The country directors of these organisations have become strangely reticent on the nature of their work, who they are feeding and where.

A call to Save the Children Norway, in the capital's Five Avenue, has one begging for anonymity and then clamming up. "No comment at this stage, please," he says. <http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/africa/7441006.stm>

The National Identity Scheme will hold data on everyone over 16 in Britain

The home affairs select committee called for proper safeguards on the plans for compulsory ID cards to stop "function creep" threatening privacy.

It wants a guarantee the scheme will not be expanded without MPs' approval.

The Ministry of Justice said it had to balance protecting the public with protecting a right to privacy.

The Home Secretary Jacqui Smith told BBC One's Andrew Marr Show that many people welcomed the use of devices such as CCTV cameras.

"I know that when as it was then, the Labour-controlled council in my constituency, funded CCTV cameras in the town centre to help to protect people when they wanted to go out and have a night out without being blighted by anti-social behaviour, people supported it.

"So I know for example with the DNA database that tens of thousands of crimes have been solved because of the use of the DNA database."

'Ambiguity'

The National Identity Scheme is due to start rolling out later this year, and will eventually hold details on everyone in Britain over the age of 16.

The select committee said in a report: "It should collect only what is essential, to be stored only for as long as is necessary.

"We are concerned... about the potential for 'function creep' in terms of the surveillance potential of the national identity scheme.

"Any ambiguity about the objectives of the scheme puts in jeopardy the public's trust in the scheme itself and in the government's ability to run it."

However, "we seek the further assurance that any initiative to broaden the scope of the scheme will only be proposed after consulting the information commissioner and on the basis that proposals will be subject to parliamentary scrutiny in draft form," it said.

Committee chairman Keith Vaz said there could be "potentially disastrous consequences" if data was mishandled. <http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/politics/7441693.stm>

Sak Sokhum says he does not know why so much killing took place

He was only 15 when he joined the Maoist movement in 1974.

Everyone had to, he says. They were going to save Cambodia from capitalists and the mounting threat from the Vietnamese.

First he was a driver. Later, when the Khmer Rouge had emptied cities and sent millions of people to work in the fields, he became a bodyguard for a mid-ranking commander.

When the regime fell in 1979, he and many thousands of fighters fled northwest to continue the battle.

For years he was a signals operator, relaying information between base commanders and guerrillas in the jungle along the Thai border.

Then he worked in a medical corps. In 1995 his leg was blown off by a landmine laid by another Khmer Rouge unit.

WHO WERE THE KHMER ROUGE? Maoist regime that ruled Cambodia from 1975-1979 Founded and led by Pol Pot, who died in 1998 Abolished religion, schools and money to create agrarian society Estimated 1.7 million died from starvation, overwork or execution Ex-leaders on trial: Head of State Khieu Samphan; Pol Pot's deputy Nuon Chea; Foreign Minister Ieng Sary; Social Affairs Minister Ieng Thirith; Tuol Sleng prison chief Duch

When the fighting finally ended in the mid-1990s, Sak Sokhum settled down with his family to work as a welder.

He has regrets about the past, but says it was a war and he had to follow orders. He was happy when fighting ended, he says, because he always expected to die.

Now a UN-backed genocide court is preparing to try five of the most senior Khmer Rouge leaders for crimes against humanity.

"The trials are good for Cambodia, because we are all victims of the Khmer Rouge," he says. "It is a good example for the children - it shows that if you do wrong, you must face trial."

But he does not know who should take responsibility for the 20% of the population who died - from starvation, disease, execution and torture - under the Khmer Rouge.

Former head of state Khieu Samphan was a good guy, he says, as was Nuon Chea, deputy to the now deceased Pol Pot.

"At that time, there was killing everywhere. It is hard to say who specifically killed who and where," he says. <http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/asia-pacific/7421084.stm>

The trip will probably dwell on historic ties rather than differences

With the US presidential election now moving into high gear, the visit by President George W Bush to the major capitals of western Europe this week, expected to be his valedictory trip, has become something of a sideshow.

The eyes of many peoples and governments in Europe will be on Senators Obama and McCain, as Europe hopes for better things from the next US president.

A poll by the UK's Daily Telegraph website in late May showed that in Britain, France, Germany and Russia, more people regarded the United States as a force for evil than for good. Only in Italy did the US fare better.

And Senator Barack Obama was the clear preference (52%) across the five countries to be the next US president.

This indicates that the mood in Europe is one for change, though it remains true that countries of the former Soviet bloc have much more positive views of the Bush administration than those in Western Europe. <http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/7427439.stm>

Nepal declared itself a republic last month

Nepal's Supreme Court has ordered the relocation of the cavalry, in the latest blow to the abolished monarchy and the traditionally pro-royal army.

The case was brought on the grounds that the horses pollute the main complex of government buildings.

Nepal became a republic late last month, but up to now the King's Household Cavalry has not had to change its name.

It will, however, have to move its headquarters within a year.

The cavalry has been part of the Nepalese army since the 19th Century. With more than 100 horses it has an important ceremonial role.

It has been ordered to relocate for environmental reasons.

Health hazard?

Both the Supreme Court itself and the lawyers who brought the public-interest litigation case seem to have had a personal interest in this outcome.

The court and Nepal's bar association are situated in the rambling and ornate complex called Singha Durbar, which houses many ministries. It also houses the cavalry.

According to the lawyer who brought this case, Prakash Sharma, the waste matter from the horses gives off such a bad smell that people working near the stables have to close their windows or flee to other offices.

He told the BBC it was especially off-putting for judges currently undergoing a gender equality workshop.

Mr Sharma said that under the Supreme Court ruling, the cavalry would have to move and its waste be properly managed.

No location has been suggested but Mr Sharma suggested a "less dense area". The judges said people's health was being damaged. <http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/south_asia/7442323.stm>

Top Israeli officials are meeting amid growing public frustration

Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert is meeting top military officials and ministers to discuss a possible wider military offensive in the Gaza Strip.

Violence flared in north-east Gaza as talks began, with militants mortaring southern Israel and an Israeli missile strike killing three militants.

Egypt is trying to broker a truce over the Israel-Gaza border.

On Monday, the parents of an Israeli soldier held by Palestinian militants in Gaza received a letter from him.

Israel wants Cpl Gilad Shalit to be freed as part of any truce, but the Hamas militant movement - which controls Gaza - says his release can only be part of a separate deal involving an exchange of prisoners.

Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni and Defence Minister Ehud Barak joined Mr Olmert along with military strategists to discuss the situation, before a security cabinet meeting which will be held on Wednesday.

"The current situation cannot last. The prime minister will discuss the various options available, including the use of force," a government spokesman told the AFP news agency.

"It is possible a decision will be taken after this meeting of the security cabinet." <http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle_east/7445725.stm>

Lawyers from across Pakistan are taking part in a countrywide protest to demand the reinstatement of senior judges sacked under emergency rule last year.

The protesters are demanding the resignation of President Pervez Musharraf who dismissed the judges

Correspondents say the action is also a test for the new government, which is split on how to reinstate the judges.

The lawyers say the protest - named the long march - will reach the capital, Islamabad, later this week.

'Historic day'

The protesters are converging by road vehicles on the city of Multan, the official starting point, where they have been joined by deposed Chief Justice Iftikhar Mohammed Chaudhry.

They want Mr Musharraf's actions overturned.

"The lawyers' representative body has called for this march against the atrocious acts of Pervez Musharraf on 3 November 2007 and they are demanding unconditional reversal," Athar Minallah, a spokesman for Mr Chaudhry, told the BBC.

The convoys will then head for Islamabad, making several stops on the way where reception camps have been set up to receive them, offer them drinks and shower rose petals on them.

They will be joined by civil society activists and some political parties.

Sabihuddin Ahmed, the deposed chief justice of the high court in the southern province of Sindh, told lawyers in Karachi that Monday, when the pre-march rallies began, was a "historic day".

"Judges have come out to protect the country and the constitution," he said.

Correspondents say that about 4,000 activists from various political parties chanted slogans such as "Go, Musharraf, Go!" and "Musharraf is an American dog!"

Security forces were also out in large numbers, but the rally was peaceful. <http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/south_asia/7444265.stm>

Details of the clashes that sparked the apparent air strike remain unclear

Pakistan's military has condemned what it says was an air strike by US-led forces that killed 11 Pakistani troops as a "cowardly attack".

Details of the incident on the border with Afghanistan are still unclear.

Reports suggest it took place as US-led forces operating in Afghanistan were tackling pro-Taleban militants.

The US military confirmed it had carried out the operation, which comes amid rising tensions between the US and Pakistan militaries.

The soldiers' deaths occurred overnight at a border post in the mountainous Gora Prai region in Mohmand, one of Pakistan's tribal areas, across the border from Afghanistan's Kunar province.

Eight Taleban militants were also killed in the clashes, a Taleban spokesman said.

A spokesman for the US forces in Afghanistan confirmed to the BBC that the operation on the border was carried out by US forces, but said the military had no further comment to make.

'Act of aggression'

In a statement, the Pakistani military quoted a spokesman who condemned "this completely unprovoked and cowardly act", which it blamed on "coalition forces".

Pakistan-US relations hit a low Meeting feared Pakistani militant

The spokesman said the incident "hit at the very basis of cooperation and sacrifice with which Pakistani soldiers are supporting the coalition in war against terror" and added that the army had launched a "strong protest".

The BBC's Barbara Plett in Islamabad says the statement was very strongly worded, describing the incident as an "act of aggression".

Our correspondent says the incident seems to have been an operation against Taleban militants that went wrong.

But details remain sketchy of how the initial clashes broke out.

Maulvi Umar, spokesman for a pro-Taleban militant group in Pakistan, told the BBC that the militants attacked Nato and Afghan forces when they tried to cross the border to the Pakistan side. Subsequently, he said, air strikes were called in, and the Pakistani checkpoint was hit.

A spokesman for the Nato-led Isaf forces in Afghanistan told the BBC that their forces were fired on from across the border and retaliated by firing back.

Low ebb

Both US forces and a Nato-led coalition forces are operating in Afghanistan, with Nato focused on peacekeeping and reconstruction and the US troops working more directly to combat militant activity.

Alleged US missile strikes have sparked anger in Pakistan

An unnamed senior Nato official told the BBC an attack had been carried out by US - not Nato - forces.

The US has in the past launched missile strikes into Pakistani territory from unmanned aircraft, although it does not officially confirm such attacks.

Our correspondents says these strikes have caused anger in Pakistan as they are widely seen as a violation of its sovereignty, and there has been a lot of disquiet in Pakistan during the past month over the issue.

She says that if one of these air strikes did kill some Pakistani soldiers, it will certainly not help US-Pakistan relations, which some analysts say seem to be at their lowest ebb since the 11 September 2001 attacks on the US.

Pakistani troops have been killed in "friendly fire" on the border with Afghanistan on several occasions in the past.

But the latest is thought to have been the most deadly single incident. <http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/south_asia/7447608.stm>

David Cameron accused Gordon Brown of making "so many concessions" in his bid to win the terror detention limit vote the legislation was now "unworkable".

He said the PM's case for extending the limit from 28 to 42 days would be stronger if it had the backing of the police and security services.

Mr Brown accused Mr Cameron of leading "opposition for opposition's sake".

Lib Dem Nick Clegg asked why the PM was "playing politics with our liberties" over a move that was "unnecessary".

The heated exchanges came just hours before a crunch vote at about 1800 BST over extending the terror detention limit to 42 days. <http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/politics/7447477.stm>

Chief Phil Fontaine says the residential schools caused profound harm

Aged four, he was sent from his home to a series of state-run church boarding schools, where he was stripped of his language, religion and culture.

He was physically and sexually abused.

When he returned home 12 years later, his mother did not recognise him.

"To apologise for taking me away from my family, for losing my culture and the loss of my childhood and the loss of my mother's love... How does one apologise for that?" he asks.

Still, he will be there in Ottawa when Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper takes to the floor of parliament for the historic step of apologising on behalf of the nation for one of the darkest chapters in its history.

Assimilation

Between the late 19th Century and the late 1970s, about 150,000 aboriginal children in Canada were taken from their home and forcefully sent to boarding schools, known as residential schools.

Originally an extension of the missionary work of various churches, the schools began receiving state funding in 1874, after the government moved away from a policy of fostering aboriginal autonomy and sought instead to assimilate aboriginals into mainstream society.

CANADA'S ABORIGINALS Made up of Indians, known as First Nations people, Metis and Inuit Population 1.2 million out of total 33 million Canadians 48% of aboriginals are under 25 years old (31% for non-aboriginals) Unemployment rate for 25-64 year olds almost three times the national rate 34% do not complete secondary school (15% for non-aboriginals) Suicide rate among young aboriginals almost twice the national average Sources: StatsCan, Aboriginal Health Organisation

From 1920, attendance was compulsory for seven- to 15-year-olds, although many former students say they were taken at a much younger age.

While many parents wanted their children to get an education and felt it was necessary to integrate into Canadian society, many children were taken from their families and communities by force.

The goal was to Christianise the children and to erase all traces of their aboriginal culture. One government official in the late 1920s boasted that within two generations, the system would end the "Indian problem".

It should "kill the Indian in the child", it was said.

What it did, says Chief Phil Fontaine, head of the Assembly of First Nations which represents Indians and himself a former student, was cause "profound harm, loss and grief to individuals, families, communities and subsequent generations".

The system was "assimilation founded on racist premises - premises of inferiority, disrespect, discrimination and inequality", he says. <http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/7438079.stm>

The humiliation of June 2007 will not easily be forgotten by Fatah's people

One of his senior ministers exploded with such fury whenever I asked him about it that his voice sent the dials on the BBC's recording equipment hurtling into the red.

They all felt the humiliation inflicted by Hamas when it seized power in Gaza from Fatah exactly a year ago as if it was a personal physical pain.

Hamas men with guns roamed through Fatah buildings, shooting up the offices of men who had been grandees.

The fighter who emptied his Kalashnikov into the desk of Mohammed Dahlan, until that day the Fatah strongman in Gaza yelled "This is the fate of traitors like the scumbag Dahlan" as he pulled the trigger, and it was recorded and put on television for all to see. <http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle_east/7448406.stm>

No govt sanction on talks for release of ABS-CBN crew

Guantanamo's Camp Delta compound has housed prisoners since 2002

Foreign suspects held in Guantanamo Bay have the right to challenge their detention in US civilian courts, the US Supreme Court has ruled.

In a major legal setback for the Bush administration, the court overturned by five to four a ruling upholding a 2006 law which removed such rights.

It is not clear if the ruling will lead to prompt hearings for the detainees.

Some 270 men are held at the US naval base, on suspicion of terrorism or links to al-Qaeda and the Taleban.

The White House has said it is studying the latest decision.

Thursday's ruling potentially resurrects several cases which had been put on hold in recent months.

Federal judges, law clerks and court administrators are scrambling to read the 70-page opinion and work out how to proceed.

And a military lawyer for Osama Bin Laden's former driver, Salim Ahmed Hamdan, is requesting that charges against his client at Guantanamo be dismissed.

The military judge in the case had postponed Mr Hamdan's trial, which had been scheduled to start earlier this month, pending the outcome of the Supreme Court case. <http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/7451139.stm>

Pakistani ex-PM Nawaz Sharif has denounced President Pervez Musharraf at a rally demanding the restoration of an independent judiciary.

Arriving during the night at the protest in Islamabad, he told thousands of lawyers and activists that Mr Musharraf must be held "accountable".

President Musharraf sacked the chief justice and about 60 other judges last November under emergency rule.

Hundreds of buses brought protesters close to parliament in the capital.

They arrived at 0200 on Saturday (2000 GMT Friday) and crowds have been milling close to the floodlit building to hear speeches by Mr Sharif and others.

'Hang Musharraf'

Mr Sharif, who is in the new coalition government, has pulled his ministers out of the cabinet in protest at the government's failure to keep its promise to restore them to office.

Parliament must now respect the sentiments of people, the people have spoken and they want the restoration of the judges Lawyers' leader Aitzaz Ahsan Voices from 'long march' Q&A: Pakistan's judges

On Saturday, he turned his anger towards Mr Musharraf as some in the crowd, numbering at least 15,000, chanted "Hang Musharraf!".

"Listen Pervez Musharraf," he said in his speech.

"The nation has given its verdict against you. Listen Musharraf to what the nation is saying and what the nation is demanding."

"Now people have given a new judgement for you... they want you to be held accountable," he added.

Barricades have been set up around the presidency and parliament buildings and extra security forces brought into the capital.

The BBC's Barbara Plett in Islamabad says the authorities are nervous about potential violence.

But neither side wants trouble, our correspondent says.

The convoy travelled from the city of Lahore on the last leg of the nationwide protest.

The "long march" - as it has been dubbed - has passed through different towns and cities on its way to the capital.

Protesters were showered with rose petals as they passed through the city of Jhelum en route to Rawalpindi and the capital. <http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/south_asia/7454322.stm>

An official in the southern city told the BBC about 350 Taleban militants had got away and 15 guards were killed in the truck bomb and rocket attack.

More than 1,000 people are thought to have escaped, Kandahar provincial council head Wali Karzai said.

Nato troops are helping Afghan forces hunt for the prisoners.

The BBC's Martin Patience, in Kabul, says the Afghan police and army are conducting house to house searches in Kandahar, while Nato forces are using helicopters to secure the city and the outlying districts.

A state of emergency was declared in the city, the second biggest in the country, after the attack on Friday night. All residents were ordered to stay in their homes.

A Taleban spokesman, Qari Yousef Ahmadi, said that 30 fighters on motorbikes and two suicide bombers had attacked the prison, freeing about 400 Taleban members. <http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/south_asia/7454021.stm>

Gone are the days when the Afghan summer was the season of plenty.

Where are the roads, clinics and reconstruction that were promised to us? Haji Baz Mohammad

Now, as the snow melts off the Afghan peaks, a sense of foreboding hangs in the air. The summer in Afghanistan is fighting season.

Over a traditional Afghan dinner of rice, lamb and delicious Afghan bread, a senior Afghan official in his Kabul mansion admits he expects Taleban attacks to rise, but insists that they will not win.

"They can't take over any place," he says, as he struggles with a bony piece of meat.

After a few seconds he forgets the food and repeats in a serious tone the Afghan government line that continuing Taleban suicide bombings shows their "weakness".

But he says the fighting is at stalemate and blames alleged outside support.

"We are fighting a war whose very source is based outside of Afghanistan, inside of Pakistan. As long as the Taleban has a base, we won't be able to win this war."

Chaotic

While the doubts about the fight against the Taleban continue, so too do the doubts among ordinary Afghans about life since the Taleban were toppled in 2001.

Many ordinary Afghans are living in extremely difficult circumstances

One morning I took an early tour of Kabul.

At 0700 there was already a chaotic traffic jam at Charahi Malak Azghar in the heart of the city.

Land cruisers belonging to the United Nations, warlords and government officials sit alongside taxis and vehicles belonging to common Afghans.

All of these vehicles are competing for space. There are no traffic lights, and no traffic rules. Street children and beggars were gathered along the main road.

Saqib Baghlani, 43, a high school teacher, sits on his old Chinese bicycle.

He welcomes the demise of the Taleban. "Afghanistan has made remarkable progress compared to its pre-war and Taleban days," declares the tall, confident, blue-eyed teacher.

But he says the failures of his government are unacceptable.

He insists that President Hamed Karzai should fire corrupt officials and provide people with basic services, such as health care and clean drinking water, as this could bring peace.

There is growing international pressure to improve living standards

"Go and see who owns these expensive houses in (the suburb of) Wazir Akbar Khan and who is driving land cruisers," he says. "Karzai should ask these officials how they got so rich overnight, instead of making empty promises again and again."

He castigates government ministers. "We are not asking for skyscrapers. The demands of our people are simple. Millions of dollars are going towards land cruisers and salaries. Everyone is corrupt."

What puzzles poorer Afghans is why so many basic problems haven't been solved, despite the billions of dollars of international aid.

A short walk from the affluent neighbourhoods of Wazir Akbar Khan and Shari Naw, in the streets of downtown Kabul, Afghanistan's unemployed are gathered in their hundreds.

Most say they have to wait for days, hoping to find one day's work to feed their entire family.

Kabul is considered the safest spot in the country, but basic services such as clean drinking water, electricity, and sewage systems remain unavailable to most people.

Waiting outside one of Kabul's main government hospitals is Haji Baz Mohammad. He has accompanied a patient from his home province in northern Afghanistan. He is busy praying and is visibly sad.

''We are not politicians or people who have the aid money," he says. "Where are the roads, clinics and reconstruction that were promised to us?'' <http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/south_asia/7451165.stm>

The Taleban first came to prominence in the autumn of 1994

Six years after losing power, the Taleban are continuing to make their presence felt by launching guerrilla operations against the Nato-led International Security Assistance Force (Isaf), killing large numbers of soldiers and civilians.

Although the group has suffered high casualties itself in the last two years as a result of concerted offensives by Nato troops, the violent attacks it has carried out have increased markedly in number and become ever more deadly.

On Thursday, the US Director of National Intelligence, Mike McConnell, said the Taleban had retaken about 10% of Afghanistan, due partly to increased support from al-Qaeda, while he warned the central government controlled just 30%.

Mr McConnell also said there remained major problems in trying to crack down on the group's activities in the lawless tribal area on Afghanistan's border with Pakistan.

Analysts say the Taleban may lack the capacity to make or hold further territorial gains, but with it still able to recruit and its well-armed fighters showing no signs of demoralisation, the security situation is likely to deteriorate further in 2008. <http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/south_asia/1549285.stm>

Investigating al_Qaeda

Timeline: Al-Qaeda The history of Osama Bin Laden's network and major attacks linked to it.

<http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/in_depth/world/2001/war_on_terror/default.stm>

A year after Hamas took over Gaza by force, BBC Ramallah correspondent Aleem Maqbool went to the strip to speak to residents about their experiences.

A presidential run-off election is to be held on 27 June 2008

"We would like to apologise for the late release of results, this was due to the rigging process which was more difficult than we anticipated."

This joke was being passed around on mobile phones the last time I was in Zimbabwe.

It was early April and the country felt as though it was on the brink of historic change.

But I have just returned from another visit and this time the atmosphere could not be more different.

Sinister gangs

Many people have been arrested, more than 60 opposition activists have been murdered, thousands have been beaten, and tens of thousands of people have been driven from their homes.

People have learned to live very different lives.

They talk in code and use passwords to communicate with friends.

Anyone who has been actively involved in opposition politics can be assumed to be a target of the sinister gangs which come at night, dragging people from their beds for a savage beating or sometimes worse.

There are days when it feels that everyone is hiding something, running from something, planning or plotting something.

The vast majority of the violence over the last two months has been in the countryside.

We left Harare and headed east towards Manicaland, a lush, fertile, province whose rolling fields give way to mountains on the Mozambique border.

The areas that have seen most of the violence are those which have historically voted for Zanu-PF but which switched sides in the last election. Manicaland is one of those places.

We knew that hundreds of opposition supporters had been forced from their homes in a brutal campaign of retribution. <http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/programmes/from_our_own_correspondent/7452828.stm>