INCINERATOR FULL OF DRUGS EXPLODES!

Blast as Kenya burns cocaine haul.

Witnesses were not at risk, authorities said. An incinerator, where one of Africa's biggest hauls of narcotics is being burnt in Kenya, has exploded, delaying the process, police say. No-one was hurt in the blast but it will now take 11 hours - three more than initially expected - as only one incinerator is working.

Police seized the 1.1 metric tons of cocaine worth $88m in December 2004. The BBC's Karen Allen in Nairobi says the drugs are being destroyed to dispel fears they could be sold. An official said the high temperatures reached by the bags of cocaine led the incinerator to malfunction. "The exercise is going on smoothly despite" the blast, said director of public prosecutions Keriako Tobiko. For the past few days, tests have been carried out on the cocaine seizure to prove that the sachets of drugs have remained intact.

COCAINE DESTRUCTION
Initial burning time: 8h 30mins
Heat: 900C-1,200C
Value: $88m
Weight: 1.1 metric tons

Seized: December 2004Since the consignment was taken into police custody, speculation has been rife that some of the cocaine may have leaked out onto the international market. The burning of more than 950 sachets of cocaine is being witnessed by foreign journalists, diplomats, members of the judiciary and suspects arrested for trafficking the shipments. Some 200 policemen are also there to ensure security.

Officials say the witnesses will be not affected by the smoke and fumes coming from the incinerators. Afterwards the residue will be buried in the grounds of Kenya's Medical Research Institute. US officials were called in to inspect the drugs. All week as part of a high security operation, tests have been conducted on the drug, closely monitored by international observers and in the coming weeks, more sophisticated forensic experiments will be carried out.

The falling drug prices in the capital and a number of arrests of Kenyan Airways staff carrying cocaine into the UK had led to speculation that some of the consignment may have been sold. Our correspondent says that despite evidence that the haul was not tampered with, some Kenyans remain sceptical about what they see as a public relations exercise. Intelligence circles accept that drug cartels are now using Kenya to store their drugs - and that is only possible with protection from senior authorities, she says.

BBC NEWS REPORT.

AIRZORBING - EXTREME SPORT!

NZ's extreme ball sport takes off.

The zorb protects the user with a cushion of airZorbing - effectively throwing yourself down a slope in a giant ball - has become the latest extreme sport craze to sweep the world. Although zorbing was invented in 2000, it has only recently begun to take off around the world. It involves a giant plastic ball, which has two skins - one inside the other. The person zorbing is in the area between the skins, which is pumped up with air. The middle ball effectively suspends them on a cushion of air 700mm off the ground, and the ball is then rolled down a hill. "It's not really amazingly scary, it's not an amazing adrenaline rush - it's just bizarrely fun," the inventor of zorbing, Andrew Akers, told BBC World Service's Culture Shock programme. "I don't know why." Like a number of other extreme sports, such as bungee jumping, zorbing originated in New Zealand.

Mr Akers explained that there are a number of reasons New Zealanders why have developed an attraction to developing these types of activities. "We're so far away from anywhere that we've really had to make our own fun," he said. "Also, if you injure yourself, then the government is going to pay for you to not only get back on your feet, but they're going to rehabilitate you and get you back into the workplace as well. "This means that we have a non-litigious society, and so a lot of things start up that possibly would not be able to start up anywhere else in the world."

There are two different ways to zorb - either harnessed inside the ball, or "hydrozorbing", which involves putting water in the ball, which zorbers can slide around on as it revolves. Mr Akers explained that initially, there were fears that people would be sick. "You can imagine if it happened it would be completely disgusting," he said. "However, of over 100,000 people who have now done it, no-one has ever thrown up inside the zorb." This is because as the zorb is 3.2m in diameter, it rotates only once every 10m - so even down 100m of hill, it will make a full rotation only 10 times. "The whole feeling is actually not that quick - it's kind of a slow going over and over," Mr Akers said. "For some people this will be the scariest thing they do, but for people who do bungee jumping or skydiving or white water rafting, this really is nowhere near that sort of level of adrenaline or fear factor," Mr Akers added.

BBC NEWS REPORT.

BEWARE A LOVER'S SCAM!

'Scammed by my internet lover".
Ghanaian Robert Adda, 35, told the BBC News website how he got scammed on the internet while searching for love.

Robert wonders if his so-called friend ever existed I was scammed two years ago, via the internet, by a woman I thought was pushing me into love. Initially she wasn't too ambitious to meet me. She just wanted to build a friendship, it seemed and so we exchanged photographs and communicated by email. A few months went by and as time passed our intimacy increased. Not a day went by without us being in contact. I was single at the time and was looking to have a relationship. I didn't think it would lead to what it did. I believe that she preyed upon my wish to find love. She started talking to me about us being together, physically. She was living in the US and I in Ghana. But I explained that I didn't have immediate plans of travelling, and because I was working, it would be difficult for me to travel any time soon.

Everyone should know that free things can turn out to be the most expensive - Sophia Malinga, Kampala, Uganda.

She understood but then as time went by she started being pushy - continuing to say that if I loved her then I would find a way to be with her so that we could stay together. She then introduced me to a programme called WRAHA which I think she said stood for West African Refugee and Humanitarian Authority or something like that. Initially I objected. I didn't want to be a part of it. It was devious and dishonest and purely, I really didn't want to travel abroad - that was my major thing. But as I discussed it with friends they encouraged me to try. There were actually a lot of people who wanted to give it a go. Even someone I know who had been previously been a victim to a similar scam wanted to try.

He told me that these matters were all down to luck and if you were lucky then you would succeed. For months afterwards I had to manage on very little money. I had to use all my savings We were not lucky, my friends and I. We were tricked into making advance payments for emigrating to the US. We paid a number of fees ranging between $110 and $346 as our applications progressed from one stage to the next. Each time we were told that time was limited, because of deadlines, and so there were only a few hours to get our payment through. This deadline rush ended up being our trigger to suspect that something was not right.

Sitting together and thinking and we all concluded that we'd been scammed. My friends were disappointed, like me, but they were not angry with me. They knew that I was not the one who collected their money and they knew that it had been a risk. I never heard from my so-called friend in the US once I told her that it was not going to be possible to continue making all the payments. That was when our relationship came to an end. I wonder if she ever even existed. I was really disappointed in myself for having got involved in such things. I couldn't be angry though. Instead I took as a lesson and put it down to a bad experience.

For months afterwards I had to manage on very little money. I had to use all my savings and start again from scratch. If she actually existed and something more had happened then I would have felt heartbroken, instead I felt as though someone had played with me. I am sorry that I allowed someone to play with me like that. The reason these terrible scammers get away with their troublemaking is because people are not satisfied with what they have. Unfortunately, people's wish to travel abroad keeps these groups going. I know some people who have fallen for these tricks not just once but twice, even thrice.

BBC BEWS REPORT.

NIGERIA'S CENSUS?

Thumbs up for Nigeria's census?
By Alex Last BBC News, Lagos.

Nigeria's population is estimated to be between 120 and 150 million. In the poor tenements and slums of Nigerian's main city of Lagos, census workers came to count the population. Clipboards in hand, they asked everything from people's age to what kind of toilet they used. Once counted, thumb prints were put on the form and fingernails marked with indelible ink. Many residents were pleased that they had not been ignored in the country's first census for 15 years. "I am very happy and surprised that they came here. It's the first time I have ever been counted," said Awhanji Madelenu from Makoko slum, where her house stands on stilts among the rotting waters on the edge of the city's lagoon. But there have been complaints around the country - from herders in the north-eastern state of Yobe, to a densely populated district of the Lagos - that they had not been counted in the seven-day operation.

Census: In pictures
Counting controversy

The Nigerian National Population Commission (NPC), which ran the census, says overall it has been a success. NPC chairman Sumaila Makama said it was inevitable that a few people would be missed out, but almost all Nigerians had been counted. "There is nowhere in the world where you achieve 100% enumeration, but it is our aim to count all Nigerians, everybody who has made himself available to be counted," he said. The logistical challenge facing the census operation was huge. Nigeria's population is estimated to be between 120 million and 150 million.

The forms will be processed digitally over the next few months.The government says the census is to help plan development and had been planning it for three years. But from the very start the operation was dogged by problems. There were delays because of a lack of census forms and arguments with the enumerators over payment. The resulting backlog forced the government to extend the count from five days to a week. There was some violence in the east of Nigeria directed against census workers, blamed on the Biafran separatist group Movement for the Actualisation of the Sovereign State of Biafra (Massob); though not on the scale many had feared.

Two of the most sensitive issues of religion and ethnicity were deliberately excluded from the questionnaire. The government was concerned that the results could trigger sectarian and ethnic riots. Just last month, more than 100 died in inter-communal violence in three towns. People in Lagos were ordered to stay at home to be counted.But the census form did include questions about people's origin. In Nigeria, that can give at least a clue as to people's likely ethnicity or religion. One of the biggest challenges for this census is credibility. In the past, censuses have been marred by widespread allegations of fraud and manipulation. In Nigeria, the higher a state's population the more money it gets from the federal government. Allocation of some government posts is also supposed to reflect different regions' populations.

The NPC says this time it will be fair. It has digital processing of the forms, and satellite positioning was used to identify the areas to be counted. The information is to be collated over the next few months. But in the end, it will only be when the results are finally announced, that the real test comes. Will Nigerians accept that the country's countless millions have finally been counted?

BBC NEWS REPORT

A 400km TAXI RIDE IN AFGHANISTAN!

Afghanistan's hair-rising highway - the road connecting the capital, Kabul, with the southern city of Kandahar is one of Afghanistan's key highways. The BBC's Bilal Sarwary took a taxi ride down the 250-mile (400km) highway, rebuilt by the Americans, and found the journey perilous in more ways than one. I had to travel back to Kabul from Kandahar so I went to the main taxi stand in Kandahar to find a ride.
Taxi driver Abdul Bari was playing loud Pashto music and joking with his friends as I approached the group and politely asked them if there was somebody who could take me to Kabul. He was quick to get up. "I will take you and I will get you there before any one else. But I want 3,500 Afghanis ($70)," he said. It seemed a fair bargain so I agreed. Like all taxi drivers around the world, Afghan cabbies are also very keen to engage you in conversation - whether you like it or not. As it turned out my driver had a particularly colourful past.

QUICK GUIDE
Afghanistan

As a young man, he had fought the Soviets. Many of his family members were jailed, some even killed. But he became disillusioned with the anti-communist mujahideen when they began abusing their power following the defeat of the Soviet troops. He fled to Pakistan and began supporting the Taleban "because they were the good guys". Soon after, he returned to Kandahar and bought himself a taxi. "I've been driving on this road for the past 10 years," says Abdul Bari. As we started driving towards Kabul the complaints began. Apparently driving down this highway was particularly hazardous. "You know the police take money from me, the Taleban come out and start breaking my music cassettes," he said. I inquired why the police asked him for money. "Just wait and see for yourself," he said.

As we tried to get out of Kandahar we were stopped at the first police checkpoint in Daman district. A uniformed policeman approached us and asked Abdul for 100 Afghanis ($2), claiming he had not been paid his salary. But once paid the policeman was very polite and thanked the driver. I had never driven at such a high speed in my life... Afghanistan's roads were never good enough "Our government has robbers and thieves to guard us," Abdul told me angrily. As we drove past Zabul the topic changed to the Taleban. According to Abdul Bari, they come out at different times "mostly early morning and late afternoon". The driver was quick to emphasise they did not ask for money or take belongings.
"They will break the cassettes... Start beating the passengers. We intervene and beg the Taleban not to harm them," he said. Sometimes robbers wearing police uniforms come out on to the road, he says. "The first thing they ask for are mobile phones. They don't take mine but they once told me if I ever had a foreigner I should call them," he said. By now we were hurtling down the highway at 140kph. I had never driven at such a high speed in my life. I always wanted to, but Afghanistan's roads were never good enough. The Kandahar to Kabul highway is not a place for the faint-hearted.I asked Abdul why he had not put on his seat belt. His answer was quite shocking. "I will die whenever God decides - nothing will keep me alive if my number is up. "Only the stupid foreigners put their seat belts on all the time, they are so scared," he added, sniggering. I just could not convince him to put his seat belt on.
We hardly saw any traffic police on the way. The only place you would see them was at the site of an accident. There are a few every day. The drivers try to drive really fast and race each other. Most accident victims die because they cannot make it to the hospitals in time and there are none on the road. As we talked about problems and security fears. I suddenly noticed a group of four cars had been stopped along with our taxi by police from a nearby checkpoint. Apparently an attack had been launched on the police post from the mountains which surrounded the road. The police returned fire using a heavy machine gun.
Goats and sheep far outnumber people along the road.In a few minutes they told everyone they could leave. I was shocked but it appeared very normal to everyone else. As we passed Zabul we reached Shah Joy, an area where the Taleban is strong and their members can often be seen driving on motorcycles. We stopped for lunch at a local restaurant. As I went inside, I saw a group of men on motorcycles driving around the car holding walkie-talkies. Security still a problem "Taleban," Abdul said quietly, "They come and check the cars and passengers and then they radio their friends. They are looking for foreigners and anyone working for the Afghan government."
During the five-hour drive to Kabul I did not see a single house or village along the road. I could see goats and sheep, but hardly any people. Burned and destroyed buildings could be seen - it was clear security in the south was still a big problem. As we said goodbye in Kabul Abdul Bari told me he dreamed of driving along this road without being asked for bribes. "I voted for [President Hamid] Karzai to make things right. I will not vote for him again unless he notices the problems of the poor like me," he warned.

BBC NEWS REPORT.

ITALY'S OUTSPOKEN PRIME MINISTER!

Berlusconi baby gaffe riles China.

Silvio Berlusconi is known for his outspoken remarks. Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi has landed himself in hot water with comments that the Chinese under Mao Zedong "boiled babies". The PM, who is running for election in April, refused to withdraw his remarks when pressed by reporters, saying it was "an historical fact". But the gaffe has angered China, which is marking the Year of Italy in 2006. The Chinese foreign ministry has said it is "dissatisfied with such groundless words". "Italian leaders should use words and actions that are beneficial to stable and developing friendly relations between China and Italy," the ministry said in a statement. The Chinese embassy in Rome has also expressed its dismay.

Mr Berlusconi is renowned for making outspoken comments. At the launch of his 2006 election campaign, he told his audience: "I am the Jesus Christ of politics. I am a patient victim, I put up with everyone, I sacrifice myself for everyone." His comments on Maoist China were first made at a rally on Sunday. "I am accused of having said that the [Chinese] Communists used to eat children," he said. "But read The Black Book of Communism and you will discover that in the China of Mao, they did not eat children, but had them boiled to fertilise the fields." He tried to calm the furore on Wednesday, telling Italian TV: "It was questionable irony, I admit it, because this joke is questionable. But I did not know how to restrain myself."

Romano Prodi, his main opponent in the elections being held on 9 April, said his comments were "unthinkable". "The damage caused to Italy by an insult to 1.3bn people is by all means a considerable one," he told Italian radio.

BBC NEWS REPORT.

ON THIS DAY

THE LAST USA TROUPS LEFT VIETNAM, ON THIS DAY IN 1972,

ENDING AN EIGHT YEAR INTERVENTION THAT COST THE LIVES

OF 58,000 AMERICANS AND ESTIMATED TWO MILLION VIETNAMESE.

"TALAQ"!

Muslim rejects 'sleeping divorce'. An Indian Muslim says he will not be separated from his wife, despite uttering the words necessary for divorce while he was asleep. Akhtar, from West Bengal state, told the BBC a ruling by village elders that the couple were divorced was unfair. Uttering the word "talaq" (I divorce you) three times allows a Muslim man to divorce his wife with immediate effect. But Akhtar says it has no force because he did not mean it, and he and his wife both say they want to stay together. We have become a laughing stock... I can't stay without my husband Akhtar's wife, Sobena.

The BBC's Amitabha Bhattasali in Calcutta says several Muslim authorities in India have spoken out against the elders' ruling, arguing that the "triple talaq" pronouncement must be intentional to be recognised. India's minority Muslim population has its own personal laws on issues such as marriage, divorce and inheritance.

Clerics in the village of Dalgaon Basti near Falakata in northern West Bengal found out about Akhtar's unfortunate pronouncement after his wife, Sobena, told friends. News of the case arose when the couple sought advice from the local counselling centre. Akhtar says he came home on the night in question last December and took sleeping tablets following a row with his wife. "I uttered the 'talaq' while I was asleep. I didn't mean it," Akhtar, a worker at a local brick field, told the BBC. "It's unfair that I'll have to leave my wife for what I said in my sleep and we are being socially boycotted by the villagers because we haven't accepted the verdict of the clerics." Sobena says: "Enough is enough. We have become a laughing stock. Come what may, I can't stay without my husband."

Akhtar's father, Ebadat, agrees the clerics "have taken a wrong decision". "I am victimised as I am still in touch with Akhtar. Nobody is coming to my grocery shop." The clerics, though, are refusing to budge. Village community leader Abbas Ansari says they have been told of the apparent mix-up. "But they have passed a verdict that Akhtar and Sobena can't stay together till they remarry each other." The couple registered their marriage under the special marriages act to get round the divorce ruling last week - it remains to be seen whether that will be enough.

BBC NEWS REPORT.

WORLD MARVELS AT TOTAL ECLIPSE!

TOTALITY

Eclipse myths

Libyan eclipse experience

The total eclipse of the Sun finished its journey across the globe at 1148 GMT (1248 BST) in sunset along Mongolia's northern border. Skywatchers around the world marvelled as they caught a glimpse of the "ultimate astronomical show". As the spectacle passed overhead, witnesses prayed, cheered and clapped. The eclipse took just over three hours to sweep a narrow corridor across the world, crossing Africa, Turkey and Central Asia. 'The most amazing sight' The Moon's umbral shadow first touched down on Earth at 0836 GMT (0936 BST) at sunrise on the east coast of Brazil. It then raced across the Atlantic Ocean before making African landfall in Ghana at 0908 GMT (1008 BST), where residents of the capital Accra filled the streets to view the event. As the temperature dropped and the sky darkened the crowd looked skywards and shouted and clapped as the eclipse swept above.

Find out more about the route of the eclipse across the Earth
More details

An eclipse watcher in the capital said it was "the most amazing sight" and "a must see experience". At 1011 GMT (1211 BST) the eclipse reached the desert of southern Libya where professional and amateur astronomers had gathered to witness the point of greatest eclipse; a sight which lasted a total of four minutes and seven seconds. The Libyan government prepared for the tourist rush by erecting desert tent villages, with a total capacity for 7,000 people. Continuing on a northeast course, the eclipse then crossed the southern Mediterranean coast at 1040 GMT (1140 BST). Astronomers from the US space agency (Nasa) and Britain's Royal Institute of Astronomy joined thousands of skywatchers to view the phenomenon from a Roman amphitheatre in Turkey. "It's one of those experiences that makes you feel like you're part of the larger universe," said Nasa scientist Janet Luhman.

Other scientists viewed the eclipse from Kastellorizo Island in Greece. "It was more fabulous even than we expected," said Jay Pasachoff, professor of astronomy at Williams College, Massachusetts, after he had observed his 42nd solar eclipse. "All the technical equipment worked perfectly, the corona shone brightly, and sunspots on the eastern edge of the Sun provided an even more dramatic show than predicted." The eclipse then moved across Russia through to Central Asia, where its journey finally ended at 1148 GMT (1248 BST) at sunset in the northern borders of Mongolia.

See how the world reacted to the event
In pictures

A partial eclipse was visible across a much wider region, including most of Africa, all of Europe, and much of western and southern Asia. In the UK overcast weather hampered many hoping to catch a glimpse of the event. "Solar eclipses are the ultimate astronomical show," Dr Robert Massey, senior astronomer at the UK's Royal Observatory Greenwich told the BBC new website. "It's up there with the highest-rated television programme. If there is one thing you do to do with astronomy in your lifetime, go and see a solar eclipse." Over the past 25 years there have been 16 total solar eclipses, a rough average of one every 18 months. They occur when the Moon completely covers the face of the Sun as seen from the Earth's surface. The track of the Moon's shadow across Earth is called the "path of totality". The Sun's harsh light should only be viewed through protective equipment - proper solar glasses or through a pinhole projection system. The last total eclipse took place on November 23, 2003, but was visible only from a part of Antarctica. The next is due on August 1, 2008, and will cross North America, Europe and Asia.

BBC NEWS REPORT.

TWELVE DIE IN JOHANNESBURG FIRE!

Deaths in Joburg building blaze. Twelve people have died after a fire broke out in a central Johannesburg building early on Wednesday. Officials said the deaths were caused by asphyxia, and that 33 were injured. Exit routes were blocked by belongings that people had tried to remove. The building was an abandoned factory, now occupied illegally. Rapid urbanisation and housing shortages have led to the squatting of many Johannesburg buildings, often in dangerous conditions. "We had to remove 12 bodies. They died from traumatic asphyxia," emergency services spokesman Malcolm Midgley said. People were sleeping on at least three storeys of the building when the fire broke out around 0100 local time (2300 Tuesday GMT).

Mr Midgley said of the men who died appeared to have been pushed against a locked security gate in the rush to get out. "One of the bodies had the imprint of a security gate on his skin. For those imprints to have remained on him for several hours, you can imagine the pressure with which he was squeezed against it," he said. The injured were taken to hospital, some of them severely hurt. It is not known how many people were inside the building at the time of the blaze. The nationalities of the victims are also unknown, though reports say Malawian passports were found on the scene after residents had left the building.

BBC NEWS REPORT.

SEVERE DROUGHT THREATENS TURKANAS!

Kenyans battle cattle-raiders and drought.
By Tim Cocks BBC News, Kenya.

Kenya's Turkana people have long struggled with poverty and deadly cattle-raids. Now a severe drought threatens them with starvation. The Turkanas are known for their colourful necklaces. On the shores of Kenya's biggest lake in the north-west, all but a few live a subsistence life, herding goats in one of East Africa's poorest and most neglected places. Like pastoralists the world over, the Turkana have found themselves increasingly edged out of greener lands by agricultural peoples, leaving them hemmed into an inhospitable environment. Insecurity plagues the region, with cheap, easily available AK-47s putting a deadly edge on traditional conflicts between the Turkana and neighbouring groups. Heavily armed cattle-rustlers from Karamoja, on the Ugandan side to the east, and the Pokot, to the south, attack Turkana villages and often leave a trail of dead in their wake. Retaliations are swift and just as brutal.

International aid agencies have launched a massive appeal to save millions across East Africa from famine and emergency relief aid is pouring in. But aid workers say more can be done in the long term to improve the livelihoods of people in this drought-prone region.

Turkana's drought in pictures

Like their close cousins, the Maasai, the Turkana are a tall, dark and slim people, easily identifiable by their elaborate jewellery, piercings and colourful bead necklaces. To maintain their traditional lives, they need pasture for their growing herds to graze. But with drought drying up the already thin vegetation, thousands of livestock whose milk, blood and meat the Turkana depend on for their survival, have died. "It's never been this bad before," said Chegem Epeyon, from Nandanpal village, who doesn't know his age but thinks he is about 60. "Livestock and people are dying. People are drinking dirty water from the muddy riverbed and getting sick."

Famine has already claimed human lives. Lea Emathe brought her one-year-old daughter Juma to a hospital in the town of Lodwar after she became sick from malnutrition. "She started losing weight and coughing all the time. She was really sick," Mrs Emathe said. "We don't have enough food, so I didn't produce enough milk for my baby." Lea Emathe's daughter Juma died two days after this photo was takenEmaciated and too weak to move, the nurses put Juma on an emergency drip. But the help came too late. Two days later, she succumbed to hunger and died on her hospital bed. "We've seen a lot of these malnourished children coming in like this," said Alice Akalapatan, senior nurse at the hospital. "There's little we can do once they get this bad. They urgently need more food in their homes."

Thanks to a rush of emergency food aid for east Africa, a widespread famine is likely to be averted. But aid agencies say they are still short of funds and warn of a catastrophe if the season's rains, expected March-May, fail like last November's did. As droughts get more severe throughout Africa, some blame global warming.

BBC NEWS REPORT.

ON THIS DAY

FRANCO'S NATIONALIST FORCES ON THIS DAY,

IN 1939 ENTERED MADRID,

AFTER A SEIGE LASTING ALMOST THREE YEARS,

BOMB ATTACKS IN ADDIS ABABA!

Addis Ababa hit by fatal blasts.

The minibus was full at the time of the blast, One person has been killed and at least 14 injured in five bomb attacks in the Ethiopian capital, Addis Ababa. The most serious blast destroyed the rear of a minibus in the south of the city, killing one and injuring three. Explosions at a small cafe, a guard shack, an abattoir and a residential home followed in what is the latest in a string of attacks to hit the city. The government has in the past blamed the opposition and separatists for the attacks, and suspects Eritrean backing.

"The explosions which caused loss of life and destruction of property are aimed at disrupting the peaceful lives of citizens," a police statement read out on television said. The 11-seater bus was attacked just south of the city's central Meskel Square on Monday morning, police spokesman Demsach Hailu told the AFP news agency. "I was sitting in the back of the bus. It was full. I was on my way to work when suddenly it blew up," Mohamed Rachid, 30, who escaped with a broken nose and leg burns, said.

A government-owned abattoir became the next target, although the blast caused no casualties or damage, Mr Demsach said. At least 10 people were injured in the attack on the cafe, while a fourth blast tore the tin roof off a guard's shack in the busy Mercato trading district and injured a street seller, Reuters news agency reported. An explosion also went off outside a house in a residential suburb but there were no reports of injuries.There have been no immediate claims of responsibility.

Tensions have been running high in the capital since 80 people were killed in violence following last May's disputed general election. A number of public buildings and hotels in Addis Ababa were damaged by explosive devices in January. Earlier this month, four people were injured in three small explosions in the city. A restaurant, crowded market area and tourism training centre were hit. The government accused Eritrea of supplying the grenades to the "terrorists", a charge denied by Eritrea. It has also blamed the attacks on the main opposition coalition, as well as separatists from the southern Oromo region.

BBC NEWS REPORT.

ANOTHER TOXIC GAS LEAK IN CHINA!

Race to plug China toxic gas leak.

Tons of cement and slurry are being trucked in to plug the leak. Emergency workers are trying to seal a leaking gas well in China that has forced 11,500 villagers to evacuate their homes. The leak triggered a huge explosion in the south-west municipality of Chongqing on Saturday. There were no initial reports of deaths or injuries and the incident has not caused any serious contamination, according to the local government. A broken pipeline is believed to have caused the blast, the China Daily said. A similar leak in the same area in 2003 killed 243 people.

Both accidents were in operations run by the Chuandong Drilling Company, owned by China's largest oil firm. Tons of cement and chemical slurry were being trucked in to plug the well, Chinese news agency Xinhua said. Checks were also being made for other possible leaks over an area extending 4km (2.5 miles) from the well. "We are studying the possible consequences of the capping and trying to figure out how big the evacuation should be," China's official Xinhua news agency quoted Chongqing's vice mayor Zhou Mubing as saying.

Authorities evacuated 10,000 people from the area on Saturday and another 1,500 on Sunday evening, Xinhua said. Officials have warned local residents against drinking water from a nearby river in Gaoqiao town, Kaixian county, where the accident took place. A gas leak in the same area in December 2003 spread toxic hydrogen sulphide across mountain villages, killing 243 people in one of China's deadliest industrial accidents. More than 41,000 villagers were forced from their homes and thousands of survivors suffered lung damage and burns on their eyes and skin.

Six gas company employees were sentenced to prison in 2004 for negligence. Industrial accidents are increasing in China. Last year a chemical spill in the country's north-east left the residents of Harbin without water supplies for several days.

BBC NEWS REPORT.

QUOTES

"WAKE UP WITH A SMILE

AND GO AFTER LIFE.......

LIVE IT, ENJOY IT, TASTE IT, SMELL IT, FEEL IT"!

~ Joe Knapp.

THIS WEEK'S ECLIPSE IN LIBYA!

Libya seeks boost from eclipse tourists. By Rana Jawad BBC, Tripoli.

Libya is opening its doors to thousands of tourists for this week's total solar eclipse and says all nationalities are welcome - except Israelis.

Special glasses are needed to view the eclipseIn a country where visas are hard to come by, the large influx of tourists expected for the event is a massive undertaking. The eclipse will be visible from much of Asia, Turkey, and Brazil, but Libya will experience the best and longest view. Individual tourist visas are normally hard to come by but authorities here have assured people that the process will not be bureaucratic for this special event. Tourists will be able to view the eclipse for up to four minutes and seven seconds.

How a total eclipse happens

The tourism ministry says it has issued 6,700 special one-week visas so far. The largest contingent, 2,000, is from the United States, followed by the United Kingdom, France, and other European countries. These figures exclude other nationalities, like Egyptians and Tunisians, who do not require visas for entry. But viewing the eclipse from the deserts of Libya will be an expensive matter. Prices are fixed by the tourism ministry, which issued licences to just five local tourism agencies to handle transport and accommodation.

Libya will have one of the best views of the eclipseThe best - and most expensive - eclipse viewing, from the desert town of Waw Al Namus, 2,000km south of Tripoli, costs 2,200 euros ($2,650) for four day including flights, says Abdel Rizak Rwasht, chairman of the Winzrik tourist agency. Most flights from Europe will land in nearby desert towns and eclipse enthusiasts will be driven to the designated locations. According to tourism officials, the special camp sites set up for this event will include full hotel services in four locations: Bir Ghbay, Waw Al Namus, Jalu and Bardi. Libya is often criticised for its limited tourism infrastructure and organisational capacities.

"We started to work on the infrastructure of this event in 2003," says Abdulrazzag Abulgassim, head of development in the tourism ministry. "There will be no problems because the eclipse line is in the desert, so the tourists will come to the camps there and we will take care of security, health and sanitary facilities." This will be the largest tourist event Libya has ever undertaken. The authorities here are confident they can do the job. Libyans are hoping the eclipse event will generate a long-term positive impact on their tourism sector, an industry that has been ignored for decades.


Return to text

BBC NEWS REPORT.

MISSING ATHLETES DETAINED IN AUSTRALIA!

Police catch runaway athletes.

Australian police have detained six athletes from the Sierra Leone team who went missing from the Commonwealth Games village in Melbourne. Eight other Sierra Leone squad members are still unaccounted for, and Cameroon report nine of their athletes missing. They were all hoping to stay in Australia after the Games finished but will now have their visas revoked. The three men and three women from Sierra Leone will be detained until immigration authorities collect them. Immigration officials said they would be happy to talk to the missing athletes if they came forward. Over half of Sierra Leone's 22-strong squad have disappeared, following the 21 who went missing in Manchester four years ago.

Eleven athletes were reported missing to police between last Tuesday and Friday, while another three had disappeared from the athletes village in Melbourne by Sunday. A statement from Games organisers confirmed: "At the request of the management of the Sierra Leone team, the Melbourne 2006 Commonwealth Games Corporation has withdrawn accreditation from 14 athletes officially described as missing by Victoria police." An immigration spokesman added: "We strongly urge the athletes, or anyone who knows their whereabouts, to contact local police or their nearest department of immigration office."

Australian Prime Minister John Howard has already warned that the country does not give"blanket asylum" to athletes who go missing from sporting teams visiting the country. Australia has some of the toughest policies in the world against illegal immigration. A Tanzanian boxer and a Bangladeshi runner have also gone missing.

BBC NEWS REPORT.

BOLIVIA HAS A LOT TO OFFER THE TOURIST.

Bolivia finds hope in Jesuit treasures.
By David Atkinson In Bolivia.

The Jesuit mission at Conception.
Enlarge Image

As dusk settles across the main square, a virtuoso performance of traditional Baroque scores by local violin-toting teenagers accompanies the nightly Mass at the mission church, which was founded in 1708. Outside a ragtag of photocopied signs around the remote jungle settlement proclaim an event to be held March 23-24 to bring the rich colonial heritage of the missions to the world's attention. Until now, Bolivia's Jesuit missions had been all but forgotten, overgrown with jungle foliage and isolated from the outside world. Indeed, with just 400,000 international tourist arrivals per year to Bolivia, the seven principal mission settlements - which form a trail strung out across Bolivia's eastern lowlands towards the Brazilian border, in the region known as Chiquitania - have traditionally been overlooked by even the backpackers.

Local tourism authorities hope that will all change, however, when the "Global launch of JesuitMissions of Chiquitos" showcases the culture of the missions before an audience of invited dignitaries. Jesuit missionaries brought Catholicism to Bolivia in the late 17th Century. The elaborate churches they founded went on to become important centres of cultural learning with each church founding its own Baroque orchestra to accompany the Mass. Unesco inscribed the seven churches that currently form the Missions Trail as World Heritage Sites in 1990.

Click here to see a map of the trail

Today, while Jesuit Missions in Paraguay and Argentina have since fallen into disrepair, their Bolivian counterparts remain a vibrant cultural force, set against a frontier-town backdrop straight out of the 1986 Robert de Niro film, The Mission. "The missions house rare musical instruments, musical scores, and priceless works of art," says Geoff Groesbeck, who runs the website Chiquitania.com, dedicated to the culture of the missions. "They also train the next generation of local artists and artisans, who remain faithful to the music and carvings their ancestors produced centuries ago." The biggest tourism initiative in recent years, the launch event has been conceived to restore confidence in Bolivia's fledgling tourism industry after the country was hit by massive social unrest and transport strikes in 2005.

The combination of rediscovered musical scores and a setting that takes you back in time is quite earth-shattering Local councillor Mike BennettBolivia's National Chamber of Commerce reported the tourism sector lost US$20m (£11.5m) during the unrest in May and June last year, while agents in La Paz reported up to 80% cancellations in the immediate aftermath. But can an influx of tourists to the missions bring credibility to beleaguered Bolivian tourism, just as the Jesuit missionaries hoped to bring salvation to the "heathen lands of South America" some 300 years earlier? The new government led by Evo Morales, Bolivia's first indigenous president, elected by a popular mandate in December 2005, has brought relative calm to the country, but UK tour operators, at least, are reserving judgement.

In Santa Cruz de la Sierra, Bolivia's economic powerhouse city, the talk is of a tourism renaissance. If the three to five-day Missions Trail tour, best accessed by jeep from Santa Cruz along dirt road, is a success, the potential knock-on effect could bring vital tourist greenbacks to a previously little-explored area. The town of Porongo, located 27km (17 miles) north-west of Santa Cruz, is vying for its share with its own Jesuit-built mission church and baroque music school making it an ideal spot for day-trippers.

Until now, Bolivia's Jesuit missions had been all but forgotten. In this quest it has a secret weapon: its former "gringo" (foreign) mayor. Michael Bennett, a six-and-a-half foot (1.98m) native of Stoke-on-Trent, England, who gave up his job in mining to stand as a local councillor.Mr Bennett subsequently served as mayor of Porongo from 2000 to 2003 before becoming a councillor in Santa Cruz for the Unity and Progress Movement (Mup). "Bolivia is still cheap, unspoiled and has now got over the trauma of its new government, so in terms of tourism things can only improve," he explains as we survey his erstwhile domain, the rustic mission church looming over a serene town square surrounded by lush, tropical foliage.

BBC NEWS REPORT.

CLIMATE CHANGE TO HIT THE POOR!

Climate change 'harms world poor'.
By Roger Harrabin BBC News Environment Correspondent.

More extreme weather events are forecast. The poorest people in the world in Asia and Africa will be worst hit by climate change, a UK government report says. It says droughts and floods fuelled partly by carbon emissions from countries such as the UK will hurt the same people targeted by overseas aid. The report was obtained by BBC News under the Freedom of Information Act. It says emissions are making natural disasters worse and warns that rising sea levels could undo more than half the development work in Bangladesh. The internal report at the Department for International Development (Dfid) reveals the depth of concern shared by officials about climate change.

It forecasts that global warming threatens to reduce India's farm output by as much as a quarter - just as its population is booming. In Africa, the number of people at risk from coastal flooding is likely to rise from one million in 1990 to 70 million by 2080. The Dfid report will increase pressure on the Prime Minister. Next week, the government publishes its review of Climate Change Strategy. It's committed to cutting emissions by 20% below 1990 levels but under Labour emissions have actually increased by 1.9%. The report is Dfid's contribution to the UK government's review of climate economics being carried out by Nick Stern, former chief economist of the World Bank. The Dfid report points that natural disasters cost donors $6bn annually. Seventy-three percent of them are climate related, so the bill will almost certainly soar if, as forecast, extreme weather events get much worse as the climate changes.

Ice melt 'to hasten sea rise'

Dfid says the world will need to adapt to some degree to an inevitable measure of change fuelled by greenhouse gases already in the atmosphere; but it says all international development policies must be framed with climate change in mind. It urges a target to stabilise greenhouse gas concentrations (a difficult goal as the US - the main emitter of these gases - refuses to discuss any such target). And it complains that the price of carbon is too low internationally to prompt cleaner development.

"It's crazy for the UK government to be talking a lot about climate change while at the same time our emissions are increasing," Farhana Yamin of the Institute of Development Studies at the University of Sussex, told the BBC. "A great deal more action is needed domestically to reduce our carbon footprint which is going to have a massive impact on developing countries."
Until recently, the debate over climate change economics tended to have been dominated by industry lobby groups worried about the effect of clean-up measures on growth. I understand that the Stern review is likely to predict that it will be much cheaper to reduce emissions than to attempt to deal with all the consequences of climate change.

BBC NEWS REPORT.

COMMONWEALTH GAMES REVIEW.

Commonwealth Games day 10 review.

England grabbed five boxing golds and Scotland one on a dramatic day in the ring and Melbourne's athletics arena. A disqualification denied England's women gold in the 400m relay, while their 4x100m team claimed silver. England's Nick Nieland and Phillips Idowu won the javelin and triple jump and Jamaica cruised to victory in the men's and women's 100m relays. Shooter Mick Gault won his fourth Games gold and Scot Susan Hughes clinched bronze in the badminton singles.

Photos from Melbourne
Day 10 schedule
Live blog: From our reporters in Melbourne

The highlights of the day's action are listed below - if you want to find out more on individual events use our schedule and/or results pages.
You can also watch the highlights on the website if you are a UK broadband user by choosing the sport you'd like to follow from our five video streams.

DAY 10 HIGHLIGHTS - all times GMT.

Athletics
Boxing
Diving
Table tennis
Shooting
Round-up

BBC SPORTS REPORTS.

QUOTES

"LIFE IS A GREAT BIG CANVAS;

THROW ALL THE PAINT ON IT YOU CAN"

Danny Kaye 1913 - 1987. American Actor.

WORST VIOLENCE IN YEARS IN MOGADISHU!

Global battle plays out in Somalia.

Gunmen have controlled Mogadishu for 15 years. Since the 11 September attacks on the United States more than four years ago, Somalis have feared that their lawless country could become the setting for a battle between US-backed anti-terror forces and al-Qaeda sympathisers. Now it seems as though their worst fears may be coming true. The capital, Mogadishu, has been rocked by the worst violence in almost a decade, leaving at least 70 people dead. Hundreds of people have fled their homes as the rival militia clashed with mortars and anti-aircraft guns. The few private hospitals still operating are unable to cope with the deluge of people injured in the fighting.

The fighting is between the Islamic Courts' militia, which wants to set up Sharia law to end the years of anarchy, and a coalition of the warlords who have devastated the country, fighting for control in the 15 years since there was last an effective national government. The Islamists say the warlords, who recently formed the Alliance for the Restoration of Peace and Counter-Terrorism, are being funded by "non-Muslim foreigners", taken to mean the US anti-terror task force based in neighbouring Djibouti.

Facts and figures about life in Somalia
At-a-glance

The US authorities have not commented on these latest allegations. They have previously said they had "no information" on widely accepted reports that warlords had kidnapped terror suspects in Mogadishu and handed them over to US agents to be flown abroad for questioning. The warlords - Mohammed Deere, Mohammed Qanyare and Bashir Rageh - and their business allies control large parts of Mogadishu and crucially the airstrips around the capital. It is always difficult to know exactly what is going on in a country with no central authority. Some analysts say the fighting may also be over business rivalries between militia leaders.

The BBC's Hassan Barise in Somalia says the latest fighting is the worst seen in Mogadishu for almost a decade - since the aftermath of the last US intervention in the country and the death of warlord Mohammed Aideed. To make matters worse, the fighting has come at a time when there seemed finally to be some progress in Somalia's snail-like peace process. Most people are just desperate to be able to go about their daily lives without the fear of being killed by a stray mortar.

Eyewitness: 'Waiting to die'

More than a year after a new parliament and president were sworn in in neighbouring Kenya, the MPs finally started their first meeting on Somali soil last month - just a week after the fighting between the Islamic Courts and the warlords first started. A diplomat following the Somali peace process told the BBC News website that the fighting was a "serious blow", which has overshadowed the parliamentary session in the town of Baidoa. "Three of those involved should be in Baidoa but instead they are fighting in Mogadishu," he said. President Abdullahi Yusuf has long argued that Mogadishu is too dangerous to host the government. He has set himself up in Jowhar, 90km north of the capital, to the concern of some MPs, led by Speaker of Parliament Sharif Hassan Sheikh Adan.

They say the president does not have the authority to move Somalia's capital. This latest fighting only makes it more difficult to set up a government in Mogadishu and puts backwards the date when Somali can again be a "normal" country. Some Somalis back the Islamic Courts for doing something to establish law and order in a country where the law of the gun has long held sway. But the warlords, and others, say the Islamists are also behind a series of targeted assassinations of prominent figures, including a peace activist and senior military officials.

A US anti-terror base is as close as it could be to Somalia.Many of the Somalis killed are those who had argued in favour of a foreign peacekeeping force in Somalia - an idea strongly rejected by the Islamists. The warlords further accuse the Islamic Courts of sheltering a Sudanese man, known as Zuweydan, wanted by the US as a terror suspect. Western diplomats have long said that Somalia was home to training camps for Islamic radicals. In a country without a government, a group with enough money can do just about anything it wants. Weapons are easily available in Mogadishu's arms bazaar.

Last year the International Crisis Group, a political think-tank, reported that: "In the rubble-strewn streets of the ruined capital of this state without a government... al-Qaeda operatives, jihadi extremists, Ethiopian security services and Western-backed counter-terrorism networks are engaged in a shadowy and complex contest waged by intimidation, abduction and assassination."

One of the key figures in the Islamic Courts, Sheikh Hassan Dahir Aweys, who is wanted by the US, denies the existence of training camps in Somalia. Sheikh Aweys denies terror groups operate in Somalia.But he says he has sympathy for the "Muhajadeen who are fighting back" against attacks by the US and their allies around the world. On the streets of Mogadishu, many distrust the Islamic Courts but also have little time for the warlords who have ruined their country, or for the US, which they see as oppressing Muslims. The thousands living as refugees, in tents or wooden shelters erected on waste ground or in derelict buildings, are desperate for more permanent shelter, and for schools and clinics. Before then, however, most people are just desperate to be able to go about their daily lives without the fear of being killed by a stray mortar.

BBC NEWS REPORT.

REINING IN MILITIA GROUPS

Enticing rebels out of DR Congo's forests.
By Nick Miles BBC News, DR Congo.

As The Democratic Republic of Congo prepares for its first multi-party presidential elections in four decades, the world's largest peacekeeping force is stepping up its efforts to rein in the militia groups, which continue to rampage in parts of the east. The peacekeepers hope the leaflets will persuade rebels to leave the forests. The United Nations's peacekeeping operation in DR Congo, Monuc, is using force but increasingly this is an information war. Inside a UN military helicopter flying above impenetrable tropical rainforests, half a dozen men are huddled around some cardboard boxes full of leaflets. They each pick up a handful, open the round cabin windows and hurl them out as we pass a village. "Civilians or combatants from here or abroad please come to Monuc reception centres, we will provide security," the leaflets say in both Swahili and Rwanda's main language, Kinyarwandan.

The leaflets are aimed at members of the FDLR militia group, which has some 10,000 armed soldiers, mostly concentrated in a swathe of forest about 100km to the west of Goma, on the border between DR Congo and Rwanda. Its hardline core is made up of ethnic Hutus from the Interahamwe militia that was involved in the Rwandan genocide in 1994. We've lived a terrible life, eating whatever we could find... I want to go back to see my family and continue my life Miseke Fungan - Former Rwandan rebel. "This terrain - steep hills and thick forest - is similar to that of central Vietnam so there is no way we can win a military victory here," says Ramon Miranda Ramos from Monuc's demobilisation programme. "We have to steal supporters from the militia groups, convince them that life in the forest is no life."

Mr Miranda takes us to another of his projects. Perched high on a hillside near the town of Minova two hours by dirt road from Goma, there is a farmyard. Past a chicken coop and some snorting pigs, sit two men in a wooden shack in front of a black radio transmitter the size of a small suitcase. They talk earnestly into the microphone. Their voices are transmitted in a 50km radius to the rebel held areas all around. "At the moment the messages are about how we are here to make their lives better, how there is no future for them in the forest," Mr Miranda tells me. "If that fails then we'll start more personal attacks of their leaders, we have to undermine their support."

The FDLR is one of the largest of the militia groups operating in the area. Prominent too are the Mai Mai militias, that were mobilised by the Congolese government from 1998 onwards. Those who leave the forests are given pots, pans and a radio.Both groups have been linked to widespread human rights abuses of Congolese civilians, including thousands of rapes. "They are a menace to the population and as far as Monuc is concerned, we can never have enough security here," Jean-Marie Guehenno the UN head of peacekeeping told the BBC in Goma during a recent two-week tour of the region. "But I think if there's the political will here we can have credible elections in all areas this June." There are increasing numbers of foreign militia members coming forward to the UN's disarmament programme. Over the last year, some 1,000 FDLR fighters have voluntarily handed themselves in to Monuc.

When we met Miseke Fungan at Monuc's demobilisation centre in Goma, he was holding a rusting AK47 rifle, which soon joined a pile of hundreds of other guns to be destroyed. He says he fled for his life from Rwanda 12 years ago. Now he feels the situation is safe enough to go home. Some 2,000 ex-rebels have now gone back to Rwanda. "We've lived a terrible life, eating whatever we could find... I want to go back to see my family and continue my life." As with all of the former militia members we interviewed, he denied ever having seen or having carried out any of the long list of atrocities on civilians in eastern DR Congo in recent years.

BBC NEWS REPORT.

Cathy Buckle's Letter from Zimbabwe!

Million Dollar Loaf?
Saturday 25th March 2006.

Dear Family and Friends,

Almost every night now the electricity goes off for at least two hours and that's if we are lucky. In the last week the daily power cuts have ranged from 1 to 6 hours at a time and they almost always coincide with the main evening TV news bulletin. In these circumstances it is very hard to keep track of what is happening in the country - both news and propaganda. Frankly most people would rather not know anymore as it's all just too shameful. On the one evening when both electricity and news were on at the same time this week, I watched a group of agricultural experts presenting the facts and figures about the imminent winter wheat crop. It made me feel very afraid for Zimbabwe. According to the permanent secretary in the Ministry of Agriculture, Zimbabwe is planning to plant one hundred and ten thousand hectares of wheat this winter. If everything was as it should be, this hectarage would yield four hundred thousand tonnes of wheat - this, coincidentally, is almost exactly how much wheat the country needs for a year. According to the agricultural experts though, this 110 000 hectares is unrealistic in the extreme and three main farming unions said that at best they would only be able to plant 45 000 hectares this winter. The reasons were glaringly obvious. A shortage of tractors for ploughing was one reason, no fuel was another and then there were the nitty gritty's like money, pesticides, fertilizer and irrigation. A pesticide expert said there are currently only enough chemicals in stock to treat thirty thousand hectares of wheat - just over a quarter of the government planned crop. Referring to crippling controlled prices imposed by the state, the fertilizer representative said that unless government allowed them to charge viable prices they would go out of business. The expert didn't give figures but said there was currently "hardly any fertilizer in the country" and that 72 000 tonnes would be needed for the wheat crop. The final "challenge" to the winter wheat crop was apparently going to be ZESA . (Zimbabwe Electricity Supply Authority) The experts pointed out that wheat is dependant on irrigation and said that any periods of "outage would derail the crop." Outages, in ordinary English, are power cuts and the acronym ZESA, it is now joked, stands for Zimbabwe Electricity Sometimes Available. In March 2005 a loaf of bread was four thousand eight hundred dollars. In March 2006 that same loaf is sixty six thousand dollars. Unless something dramatic happens in the next few weeks and assuming prices continue to rise at their present rate, a loaf of bread in March 2007 will be nine hundred and eight thousand dollars. Imagine, almost a million dollars for a loaf, what shame upon Zimbabwe. It is impossible to believe that just six years ago we were called the "Breadbasket of Africa".

Until next week,
love cathy.

DEATH PENALTY UNLESS HE RECONVERTS!

Mood hardens against Afghan convert.
By Sanjoy Majumder BBC News, Kabul.

Abdul Rahman is refusing to return to Islam. Increasing international pressure over the case of Christian convert Abdul Rahman is forcing the Afghan government to play a careful balancing act between its Western allies and religious conservatives at home. Under the interpretation of Islamic Sharia law on which Afghanistan's constitution is based, Mr Rahman faces the death penalty unless he reconverts to Islam. "The Prophet Muhammad has said several times that those who convert from Islam should be killed if they refuse to come back," says Ansarullah Mawlafizada, the trial judge. "Islam is a religion of peace, tolerance, kindness and integrity. That is why we have told him if he regrets what he did, then we will forgive him," he told the BBC News website.

The judge's comments are one indication of why President Hamid Karzai, who already has a reputation for being pro-Western, faces some difficult choices. The president has yet to comment publicly on the trial but statements put out by his office point out that, while the government respects human rights and personal freedom, the country has an independent judicial system. In practice, it is even more complicated. The Afghan judiciary is dominated by religious conservatives, many with strong religious ties or backgrounds. Many feel it will be difficult for the president and the government to confront the judiciary. But the bigger problem confronting the president is that an overwhelming number of ordinary Afghans appear to believe Mr Rahman has erred and deserves to be executed.

At Friday prayers in mosques across the Afghan capital, the case of Abdul Rahman and the consequent international outcry is the hot topic of discussion and the centrepiece of sermons.
"We will not let anyone interfere with our religious practices," declared cleric Inayatullah at Kabul's Pulakasthy mosque, one of the city's largest. "What Rahman has done is wrong and he must be punished."

The issue has not reached the stage of street protests, as was the case recently during demonstrations against the publication in the West of cartoons satirising the Prophet Muhammad. But there is little doubt that feelings run deep and can easily be inflamed. The mood among worshippers in Kabul is hardening."What is wrong with Islam that he should want to convert?" asks an agitated Abdul Zahid Payman. "The courts should punish him and he should be put to death."

Few were willing to listen to the growing condemnation in the West. "According to Islamic law he should be sentenced to death because God has clearly stated that Christianity is forbidden in our land," says Mohammed Qadir, another worshipper. US President George Bush says he is "deeply troubled" by the case. That cuts no ice with Mr Qadir. "Who is America to tell us what to do? If Karzai listens to them there will be jihad (holy war)." Western backers of the Afghan government are pressing to create a country that is a moderate and progressive democracy, able to turn its back on its Taleban past. But analysts say they often forget that Afghanistan is a deeply conservative country rooted in tribal traditions. "This is a Muslim country. The state is Muslim, people are Muslim 99%," says Judge Ansarullah. "This is a very sensitive issue."

Afghanistan's constitution, written in 2004, enshrines the country as an Islamic state under which no law can contravene Islam. But it also protects personal freedom and respects international human rights conventions. "It is a deliberately ambiguous document which tries to paper over the cracks and contradictions of Afghanistan," says one Afghan law professor privately. "But now the contradictions have risen to the surface."

BBC NEWS REPORT.

LIFE IN SOMALIA!

Somali deaths in fierce clashes. Mogadishu has been ruined by years of fighting. Heavy fighting continued on Friday between an Islamic militia and an alliance of warlords and businessmen in the Somali capital, Mogadishu. At least 70 people are now reported killed in the three days of fierce clashes between rival forces. A BBC correspondent in the city says the fighting,concentrated in the north-east, has further intensified, with hundreds fleeing their homes. These are the most serious clashes in Mogadishu for almost a decade. Hundreds of people have been fleeing the northern suburbs where their homes have been hit in the cross fire. "Today we've lost five people shot dead," an Islamist militia leader told Reuters news agency by telephone on Friday. "And on the other side, they've lost six who were burned in a technical [a truck with a mounted gun]," he added.

SOMALI STRUGGLE
No government for 15 years
Peace process was inching forward
Mogadishu fighting worst since 1996
'Anti-terror' warlords fighting Islamist militia.
Global battle plays out in Somalia

Eyewitness: 'Waiting to die'

The conflict began in mid-February, when Somali warlords who control Mogadishu formed an alliance to challenge the emerging influence of the Islamic militia. The warlords in the Alliance for the Restoration of Peace and Counter-Terrorism have accused the Islamists of sheltering foreign fighters, assassinating critics and having links to al-Qaeda. The BBC's Mohamed Olad Hassan in Mogadishu described this week's fighting as "horrific" as people's homes were hit by anti-tank shells and mortar rounds. "Many people could be seen fleeing from the area with their children on their backs and what you can see on the ground is only militiamen carrying guns from the line of fighting," he said on Thursday. In February, the clan-based warlords formed an alliance to challenge the Islamic militia which has set up a system of Sharia courts. The dispute started near the port area, which is currently controlled by powerful businessmen.

Facts and figures about life in Somalia.
At-a-glance

Much of the fighting has been in residential areas and the latest clashes are reportedly closer to the city centre. There are fears that with such a strong ideological divide between the two sides, it may prove difficult to negotiate an end to the fighting. Somalia has been without an effective central government for 15 years and has been carved up by rival militias. A transitional parliament met recently for the first time on home soil since it was formed in Kenya more than a year ago as part of attempts to restore peace and stability.

BBC NEWS REPORT

QUOTES

"ECONOMIC FORECASTS ARE NO BETTER THAN

LONG RANGE WEATHER FORECASTS!!

DENNIS HEALEY

U.K. Politician.

"ADWAITA" FOUND DEAD!

'Clive of India's' tortoise dies.

Watch the tortoise

A tortoise that once belonged to British colonial general Clive of India in the 18th Century has died in a zoo in Calcutta. Adwaita, "the only one" in Bengali, was found dead by keepers in Alipore Zoo on Wednesday. His shell cracked some months ago and a wound had developed. West Bengal officials said records showed Adwaita was at least 150 years old but other evidence pointed to 250.

The shell of Adwaita, an Aldabra tortoise, will now be carbon-dated. Forestry minister in the West Bengal government, Jogesh Barman said: "Historical records show he was a pet of British general Robert Clive of the East India Company and had spent several years in his sprawling estate before he was brought to the zoo about 130 years ago." Mr Barman said Adwaita was probably brought from the Seychelles in the Indian Ocean and presented to Clive, an increasing force in the East India Company's military hierarchy.

Clive was reportedly brought four tortoises but only Adwaita livedAldabra tortoises are found in the four-island Aldabra atoll of the Seychelles, a UN World Heritage Site that now has about 152,000 giant tortoises. They average about 120kg (265lbs) and are thought the longest-lived of all animals. The BBC's Amitabha Bhattasali in Calcutta says Adwaita brought in many of the zoo's visitors and when he fell sick for the first time eight years ago with a leg infection a full medical board was instigated to treat him.

The director of the zoo, Subir Chowdhury, said Adwaita's shell would be preserved and kept there. One zookeeper told the Reuters news agency: "This is a sad day for us. We will miss him very much." Lord Clive, the son of a Shropshire squire, became a soldier and adventurer who rose through the East India Company. He won the key Battle of Plassey against the Nawab of Bengal in 1757. Lord Clive later became an opium addict and committed suicide in 1774 at the age of 49.

BBC NEWS REPORT.

LAND ISSUES IN KENYA!

Kenya removes forest squatters.

Land is a sensitive issue in Kenya. Kenyan police have evicted more than 3,000 people who have been squatting on forest land in Rift Valley province. Police and forest officials reportedly destroyed more than 100 squatters' homes in the Kipkurere forest area. The operation followed a series of meetings between local officials, some of whom accused the squatters of causing environmental damage.

The squatters say they had long appealed to the Kenyan authorities to resettle them elsewhere. The squatters watched in disbelief as forest guards and police officers set their houses on fire following the expiry of a 21-day eviction notice, Kenya's Daily Nation newspaper reports. The forest area is the subject of long-running dispute between the Ogiek people, who claim the forest as their ancestral land, and other communities who have settled in the area more recently. "Some outsiders have taken advantage of our presence to encroach on [the forest] despite being allocated alternative land by the government," Shadrack Mtung, a member of the Ogiek community who welcomed the eviction, told the paper.

In the 1990s, the Rift Valley was the scene of violent ethnic and political clashes over land.

BBC NEWS REPORT.

CRIME OVERTAKES CORRUPTION IN KENYA!

Kenyan crime puts off investment.

Corruption worries are long-standing in Kenya. Crime has now topped corruption as the biggest barrier to foreign investment in the Kenyan capital Nairobi, a senior UN official has warned. Paul Andre de la Porte, who heads the United Nations Development Programme in Nairobi, noted that Kenya still led global corruption tables. But he said the capital's soaring crime rate was now even more of a problem. Nairobi and its 3.5 million population has had to endure increasing levels of robberies, murder and rapes. We consider there is an insecure climate in terms of foreign investors operating in the country [Kenya] Risk consultant Rashna Writer.

"We are living in dangerous times," Nairobi's Sunday Standard newspaper said in a recent report on crime. It is today so much a fact of life in the city that private security guards stand outside banks and shops, and homes in well-off suburbs are protected by high walls and electric fences. Public information billboards warn women to guard themselves against rape. "If we could get rid of the level of insecurity that we have in Kenya, that would be a major breakthrough for its socio-economic development," said Mr de la Porte.

Recent figures show that Kenya received just $46m (£26m) in foreign direct investments in 2004, compared to $237m in Uganda and $470m in Tanzania. Such are the twin problems of corruption and crime in Kenya that Merchant International Group - a London-based consultancy which measures investment risk - recently gave Kenya a worse rating than Sudan, despite the conflict in Sudan's Darfur region. "We consider there is an insecure climate in terms of foreign investors operating in the country [Kenya]," said Rashna Writer, head of the consultancy's global risk department.

Thousands of people recently marched through Nairobian protest at a police clampdown against an independent newspaper. They have called for the resignation of the government's internal security minister John Michuki.

BBC NEWS REPORT.

WATER-SAVING TECHNOLOGY FOR ANGOLA!

Israelis bring high-tech food to Angola,
By Sarah Grainger BBC, Luanda

An Israeli company is using the latest water-saving technology to grow fruit and vegetables in Angola, which imports much of its food after 27 years of civil war. No water is wasted in growing the crops"I think Angola is experiencing a boom time right now," says Uri Ben Basat, co-manager of Terra Verde, a 45-hectare farm outside the capital Luanda. The farm was set up at the end of the war in 2002 and has been harvesting tomatoes, peppers, cucumber, mangoes, melons and grapes for three years. In fact, the farm produces 35 tonnes of vegetables every week of the year, selling most of this food to supermarkets and restaurants in Luanda.

During the war, the agricultural sector was devastated. Bridges were blown up and roads and railways mined, so the food which was grown locally could not be transported to where it was needed. Those who could afford to, came to rely on expensive imports from the rest of the world, rather than food grown within Angola.

Terra Verde is a joint Angolan-Israeli business, but the agricultural expertise comes from Europe and Israel. The company has built its own pumping station 6km away on the banks of the River Bengo to ensure that its drip-irrigation system, where plants are fed water and fertilizer drip by drip through ground level pipes, would never run dry. Because of the war there are untold numbers of mines out there and goods and people can't move freely Rick CorsinoWFP Country Director A computer programme calculates the exact amounts of water needed, depending on temperature and humidity.

Different varieties of vegetables are grown both in open fields and greenhouses depending on their suitability to Angola's almost tropical climate. And the company buys in boxes of bees to pollinate its tomato plants organically. All this investment came with a price tag of some $8m.
The company says the farm is paying its way but will not say how much profit they make or what their turnover is like. "This is a long-term project," says marketing manager Merav Zacharin. "Terra Verde is very much our calling card. We want investors to see what we have done here and realise that we could build the same thing for them somewhere else in Angola."

Some 200 jobs have already been created and the company is expanding. Another farms has been set up in Kwanza Sul province, which is 10 times bigger than Terra Verde at 450 hectares.
"Angola is hungry for food now," says Mr Ben Basat. Most of the produce is destined for upmarket supermarkets"They have an impressive history of agricultural production, lots of good land and water." But 27 years of civil war have taken their toll. "The biggest problem this country has is access to food," according to WFP Country Director Rick Corsino. "There are certain parts of the country in which most of the food is grown. Because of the war there are untold numbers of mines out there and goods and people can't move freely."

This is why those residents of Luanda who can afford to, still rely heavily on expensive imported food and Terra Verde sees imported vegetables as its main competitor. A kilo of tomatoes costs about $4 in the supermarket, compared to $6 for imported produce. This is not cheap food and the average Angolan can't afford the produce grown at Terra Verde. Their market includes large supermarkets, restaurants and the country's big employers - the oil and diamond companies. Mr Ben Basat thinks there's only one way to lower prices considerably in Angola. "In most countries the government assists the agricultural sector. But here they haven't helped us at all," he says. "It's very expensive to produce here and so the prices are very high. If they want the prices to go down so that everybody from Angola can buy our product, then it needs the power of the government. I don't see any other way."

BBC NEWS REPORT.

ON THIS DAY

AUSTIN PEAY, GOVERNOR OF TENNESSEE, ON THIS DAY IN 1925,

APPROVED A STATUTE FORBIDDING THE TEACHING OF

DARWIN'S THEORY OF EVOLUTION

IN STATE SCHOOLS.

PRINCE URGES RESPECT AMONG FAITHS.

The prince and duchess are on a two-week Middle East tour.
Prince's comments

Prince Charles has called for greater respect between religions, saying his "heart is heavy from... never-ending death and destruction" in the world. The prince said the row over cartoons of the Prophet Muhammad showed "the danger... of our failure to listen and to respect" others' views. He was giving a speech at Al-Azhar University in Cairo on a tour of Egypt with the Duchess of Cornwall. Charles was awarded an honorary degree by the university. One of the few non-Muslims to have been invited to speak at the university, the prince told 800 Islamic scholars that religious leaders needed to encourage understanding. Images of communities torn apart by religious conflict are deeply harrowing said Prince Charles.

Royal tour in pictures

"We must foster, encourage and act upon that which embodies the divine attributes of mercy and compassion," he said. "That calls for calmness and the exercise of restraint. And, if I may say so, it requires all those who are in positions of authority in our different faiths to preach clearly and consistently to others the eternal values of these divine attributes. "I look forward to a world in which we share a vision that acknowledges our differences with respect and understanding, that recognises what others hold sacred, and to a world in which we see that we cannot and must not abuse our great traditions and their teachings as a weapon in the service of selfish worldly power." He added: "The recent ghastly strife and anger over the Danish cartoons shows the danger that comes of our failure to listen and to respect what is precious and sacred to others."

The prince said fears about growing misunderstanding between the West and Islam that he had more than a decade ago - expressed in a 1993 speech at the Oxford Centre for Islamic Studies - appeared to have come true. "For so many, those years have been profoundly bleak. My heart is heavy from witnessing the never-ending death and destruction." He added: "Images of communities torn apart by religious conflict are deeply harrowing, from Bosnia to Baghdad, from Chechnya to Palestine - evidence of just how far misunderstandings have continued and escalated."

An interview with the prince had earlier been broadcast on Nile TV, in which Charles spoke about similarities between Christianity, Islam and Judaism. "People who are reasonable and responsible and feel things in the heart need to work even harder and speak up louder about the vital importance of understanding that the three great Abrahamic faiths share an awful lot more in common than perhaps people realise," he said.

The 15-minute television broadcast was pre-recorded at Clarence House before Charles and Camilla left for the official two-week visit to Egypt, Saudi Arabia and India. The prince said he had been given an insight into the effects of terrorism as a young man when he suffered the loss of the great-uncle he also regarded as his mentor in 1979. Lord Mountbatten was on a fishing trip in the Irish Republic when his boat was blown up by the IRA. Charles said he has "some understanding... of what people go through with these horrors". He added: "It seems to me that we have to work even harder."

BBC NEWS REPORT.

INTERNATIONAL CRIMINAL COURT WAR CHARGES!

DR Congo rebel in landmark trial.

Thomas Lubanga's UPC has been battling for control of Ituri's gold. The leader of a Democratic Republic of Congo militia has become the first war crimes suspect to face charges at the International Criminal Court. Thomas Lubanga was transferred to ICC custody on Friday from DR Congo. He appeared before the court, based in the Dutch city of The Hague, to face three charges relating to the use of children in armed groups. The ICC was set up in 2002 as a permanent court to deal with war crimes and genocide around the world.

QUICK GUIDE
The war in DR Congo

"For 100 years an international court was a dream, now it's becoming a reality," said chief prosecutor Luis Moreno-Ocampo. Mr Lubanga appeared on Monday before judges in a hearing that mainly dealt with administrative issues. Further charges are being prepared and are expected to be confirmed at the court's next session in June. He wore a dark suit and speaking in French, he said he was "a politician by profession". His provisional defence lawyer Jean Flamme said he would be asking for his client to see the file on his case, as he said Mr Lubanga had been held in jail for a year without being told of the charges he was facing.

Mr Lubanga was arrested a year ago after nine Bangladeshi UN peacekeepers were killed in the volatile Ituri area. His ethnic Hema Union of Congolese Patriots has been battling rivals from theLendu ethnic group, partly for control of Ituri's large deposits of gold.

CHARGES FACED BY LUBANGA

Enlisting children under the age of 15 into armed groups
Conscripting children under the age of 15 into armed groups
Using children under the age of 15 to participate actively in hostilities
Q&A: ICC

Several teams of ICC investigators have been sent in recent months to Ituri, where more than 50,000 people have died since the inter-ethnic war began in 1999. The BBC's Robert Walker, who has travelled widely in eastern DR Congo, says Mr Lubanga emerged as one of the most notorious warlords in the civil war of the late 1990s. Soldiers under his command are accused not just of murder, torture and rape, but also of mutilating their victims, our correspondent says.

In one massacre, human rights groups say, Mr Lubanga's militiamen killed civilians using a sledgehammer. At different times, the UPC was backed by both Uganda and Rwanda - DR Congo's neighbours, which were closely involved in its conflict. Some 17,000 UN peacekeepers are in DR Congo, tasked with ensuring that elections scheduled for June go smoothly. They have been backing up the Congolese army as it conducts raids against the numerous rebel groups based in the east.

Our correspondent says the challenge for DR Congo and the ICC is to bring to justice the many other warlords who committed crimes during the civil war. Rape and killings still continue in the east and for now the charges against Mr Lubanga are an exception, and impunity still the norm, he says. The ICC has also issued its first arrest warrants for the leaders of Uganda's rebel Lord's Resistance Army but they remain at large. It is also investigating alleged war crimes in Sudan's Darfur region. The existence of the court is strongly opposed by the United States, which fears its troops could face political prosecutions.

BBC NEWS REPORT.

TSOTSI FILM HIJACKED BY PIRATES!

SA pirates 'hijack' Tsotsi film.

Actor Presley Chweneyagae plays the troubled Tsotsi. South Africa's Oscar-winning film Tsotsi (slang for "gangster") has fallen prey to real-life tsotsis. Pirate DVD copies are selling in Johannesburg for less than a quarter of the retail price of a commercial DVD. The pirate DVDs give the film, about the life of a young car-jacker, a different ending from the one being shown on the big screen. The film, with a South African director and cast, this year won South Africa its first foreign language film Oscar.

Director Gavin Hood expressed anger at the appearance of the pirate discs. "When you buy a ticket and when you buy a genuine DVD, you are an investor in South African film as your money is going back to people who invest in local films," he told the Sunday Times newspaper. "But when you buy a DVD you are giving your money to criminals who are in the business of investing in nothing but their greedy souls." The pirate DVD is selling on the streets for less than 50 rand ($9) - commercial DVDs sell for over 200 rand in South Africa. A cinema ticket in South Africa costs up to 38 rand.

Mr Hood confirmed the ending on the DVD was not the same as in the big-screen version. Three different versions were filmed. The DVD was made from a rough edit that was apparently taken illegally from the edit room while editing was still under way. It lacks the full soundtrack and colour grading. "It's a rough mess, so anyone who buys it is getting a poor-quality version," Mr Hood said.

BBC NEWS REPORT.

MASS ACTION CALLED FOR IN ZIMBABWE!

Mugabe rival urges mass campaign.

Morgan Tsvangirai is hoping to put a party split behind him. Zimbabwean opposition leader Morgan Tsvangirai has called for mass action against the government at a congress of his party in the capital, Harare. He called for a short, sharp programme of action and a sustained and concerted effort by all Zimbabweans. Mr Tsvangirai's party has been trying to unseat Robert Mugabe who has been in power since independence in 1980. His Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) is holding its first congress since it split last year. Mr Tsvangirai is facing a challenge from the breakaway faction which last month elected a rival leader, Arthur Mutambara, and held its own congress.

The BBC's Peter Biles says this weekend's congress should indicate whether Mr Tsvangirai is still a major political player. His rivals accuse him of ignoring the party's wishes while his supporters say the split was engineered by Mr Mugabe's party. Our correspondent says for the past six years, opposition supporters have expected much of the MDC led by Mr Tsvangirai. Arthur Mutambara returned from exile to lead the other MDC faction.But President Mugabe's hold on power remains as strong as ever as internal wrangling within the MDC divides the party, he says.

The split was sparked by a row over whether to take part in elections to the senate last year. But senior party officials say the decision highlighted a problem with Mr Tsvangirai's leadership. They say he imposed an election boycott even though a majority of party leaders wanted to take part. Nelson Chamisa, a spokesman for the pro-Tsvangirai faction, said the Mugabe government was behind the split. "These divisions have been induced by this dictatorship, people who have been bought over by Zanu-PF and the regime of Mugabe," he told the BBC's Network Africa programme. Mr Chamisa also predicted the congress would boost Mr Tsvangirai. But our correspondent says the relationship between the two MDC factions remains hostile and the differences apparently irreconcilable.

Observers say President Mugabe continues to take advantage of the weakened opposition although Zimbabwe is still experiencing serious shortages of food, fuel and foreign currency, as well as hyperinflation.

BBC NEWS REPORT.

Cathy Buckle's Letter from Zimbabwe!

Value Bacon for a house.
Saturday 18th March 2006.

Dear Family and Friends,

It was with a feeling of great sadness to watch the opening ceremony of the Commonwealth Games this week and not see Zimbabwe walk in with all the other countries. All our African neighbours were there, smiling, colourful and bursting with patriotic pride. Even though I knew that our President had withdrawn Zimbabwe from the Commonwealth, still I watched, expectant, hopeful but at last sad and disappointed as we were not present at the "friendly games." What a shame it is that our rising young sportsmen and women have to suffer this isolation. It is things exactly like these lost opportunities which push more and more Zimbabweans into the agonising decision to leave the country. For six years we have been going backwards in nearly every regard and now almost a whole generation of youngsters have gone from home. It is hard to see what Zimbabwe has to offer that would entice them, or their parents, to come back. There is still no place like home but right now Zimbabwe feels like somewhere else, nothing makes sense anymore and the overwhelming feeling is one of exhaustion.

A simple shopping trip to a supermarket has become an exhausting and depressing event. You cannot take the price of anything for granted as almost everything seems to go up every third or fourth day. It doesn't take long to gather up the few things you can afford and then you wait, twenty or thirty minutes to get to the tills. A combination of exorbitant prices and ridiculously small denomination bank notes makes for very long delays while tellers count great handfuls of money. As I stood behind ten people, none of who had more than six items to pay for, it was a long twenty minutes to get to the front of the queue. The woman in front of me had a bag of flour, it cost four hundred thousand dollars, she was paying in ten thousand dollars notes and that meant forty notes for her to count and then forty notes for the teller to count. As I stood waiting for my turn I looked at the prices of things and it is like being in cuckoo land. A 500 gram packet of "value" bacon costs more than I paid for my entire house just five years ago ! A single egg now costs twenty five thousand dollars and a friend told me that he had bought his two thousand acre farm a few years ago for the price of two eggs and half an egg shell! Familiar international brands of things like toothpaste have disappeared and been replaced by complete unknowns. Products once made in Zimbabwe but now imported because companies have relocated, are ludicrously expensive. You see a familiar product, put your hand out and then gasp in despair when you realise that just a bottle of shampoo costs 1.2 million dollars. Five years ago I could have bought a prime luxury car for just over a million dollars. When you finally get to the till and your goods are rung up, there is a scam going on but you have to know about it to benefit. If your goods have cost more than three hundred thousand dollars you can buy a bag of sugar - its on the floor under the tellers feet. People being supported by families outside of the country are still coping with Zimbabwe's nightmare days but the vast majority are struggling desperately and everyone is so overwhelmingly tired of it all.

Until next time,
with love cathy.

NELSON MANDELA - A PIG THIEF!

Mandela the teenage pig stealer.

Mandela said the film Tsotsi had put South Africa on the map. Nelson Mandela has spoken of his youthful exploits as a pig thief. The former South African president made the revelations during a visit from the director and stars of the film Tsotsi, which won a Best Foreign Film Oscar.

Tsotsi is about a young gangster, and Mr Mandela said he identified with the main character. Mr Mandela told how as a teenager in South Africa's rural Transkei region, he and friends would use the dregs of traditional beer to lure pigs. "We'd go to the direction of the wind, so that the wind would blow from us to the village where the pigs are. "And then we leave a little bit of the remains of the beer, and then the pigs come out... then we go further and put the stuff further away." The future president and his friends would then stab the pig to death. "The owners will not hear its shouts, and then we roast it and eat it."

"Some of the leaders of this country and elsewhere in the world started with misdemeanours of all kinds, but as they grew up, they became responsible people who have served our country very well," Mr Mandela said during his meeting with director Gavin Hood, and actors Presley Chweneyagae and Terry Pheto. "And don't dismiss any youngsters who are not behaving according to your wishes. It is better to talk to them, to say 'no', you have made a mistake here. The correct procedure, you should have done so and so," he said.

Mr Mandela also thanked the makers of Tsotsi for putting South Africa "on the map", but Gavin Hood responded that it was Mr Mandela himself who had done this. "You put us on the map so that we could follow, because without what you did, we would not have been able to make this film together as South Africans in a free country," the director said.

BBC NEWS REPORT.

ON THIS DAY

THE AMERICAN ENTREPRENEUR G.S. SELFRIDGE, ON THIS DAY,

OPENED THE FIRST DEPARTMENT STORE IN LONDON,

ON A SIX-ACRE SITE IN OXFORD STREET, IN 1909!

WHERE WILL MILOSEVIC BE BURIED?

Death stirs debate over sullied leaders.
By Becky Branford BBC News.

The struggle over where Slobodan Milosevic should be buried goes to the heart of the debate about his legacy. The body of Ferdinand Marcos, forlornly awaiting a state burial. Authorities were faced with a dilemma: allowing a home burial could be seen as conceding Milosevic a measure of historical respect. But for the nationalist leader a foreign resting place would have been a final snub. It's a decision many governments have had to face. Repatriating or honouring the remains of leaders who die after being exiled or overthrown risks signalling the rehabilitation of their reputations - a worrying prospect for authorities keen not to resurrect old social divisions.

But a newfound fondness for leaders past can also be traced to nostalgia for the passage of history with which they are associated. For more than 20 years from Uganda's independence in 1962, power exchanged hands several times between two men - Milton Obote and Idi Amin. Both were eventually deposed and exiled, Amin in 1979 and Obote in 1985.

Both leaders were accused of atrocities in power, with hundreds of thousands of people estimated to have died due to the actions of each man. But when they died in exile within two years of each other, only one was accorded a state funeral: Obote, whose remains were flown back to Kampala from Zambia after he died in 2005. When Amin died in Saudi Arabia in 2003, his family were given the option of flying his remains home, but a state ceremony was ruled out.

The Romanov family came to symbolise a bygone era"To put it crudely, it's the kill rate," Patrick Smith, editor of the UK-based Africa Confidential newsletter, told the BBC News website. "I know people differ on this, but most of the counts reckon Amin was the most evil of all the mass murderers."
While opinion on Obote was mixed, with some crediting him for helping bring independence to Uganda, "everyone was heartily sick of Amin and glad that he was gone", says Mr Smith. But Mr Smith says international perceptions of the two leaders also helped shape domestic reaction to their deaths. "They are different figures - Obote was a presidential figure with an academic backdrop, while Amin was a large thug. There was caricature and racism in the way the West treated Amin," he says.

Far away in the north of the Philippines, the corpse of the authoritarian former President Ferdinand Marcos, who died in exile in Hawaii in 1989 after being overthrown in popular protests in 1986, lies in a refrigerated mausoleum. For years, his wife Imelda has campaigned for his remains to be given state honours and a hero's burial in Manila. But her husband is so discredited - and his wife so maligned in the press for her lavish lifestyle and corrupt associations - that she has little chance of ever realising her goal, say analysts.

In China, authorities are acutely aware of the power of memorial ceremonies to become a focus for protest. The Tiananmen Square protests of 1989 were triggered by the death of a party leader, Hu Yaobang, a reformist dismissed in 1987 for failing to deal strongly enough with student protests. His successor, Zhao Ziyang, opposed the harsh measures taken against the Tiananmen protesters - and was himself sacked and put under house arrest. When he died in 2005, authorities acted quickly to minimise the public reaction. Government officials known to be sympathetic to him were forbidden to leave their homes, and only officially approved guests were allowed entry.

The story of the Romanovs - the family of Russian Tsar Nicolas II - also provides an interesting example of how the bestowal of state honours can be symbolic of a deeper social judgement. The family and their servants were shot dead and buried in a forest pit by the Bolsheviks after the October 1917 revolution. In 1998, the remains were reburied at St Petersburg cathedral. President Boris Yeltsin spoke during the ceremony, referring to the murders as one of the most "shameful pages" in Russia's history. "The reburial was hugely significant," says Professor McGregor Knox, European historian at LSE. Despite his defeat in successive wars, many Russians associate Tsar Nicolas with the great expansion of Russia in the 18th and 19th Centuries, says Prof Knox. More importantly, however, he says the homage paid to the imperial family reflected profound dissatisfaction with the decades of communist rule. "I remember seeing, during the collapse of the Soviet Union, a demo on Red Square. There was a placard which said '70 years on the road to nowhere' - it was the sense that Russia had been ripped off its normal path by the revolution," he said.

French emperor Napoleon Bonaparte died in 1821 in lonely exile on the island of St Helena, six years after surrendering to the British at the Battle of Waterloo. But 19 years later his remains were returned to Paris to be entombed under the magnificent dome of Les Invalides. The government seemed afraid of the ghost it was evoking. It both showed and concealed Napoleon
Victor HugoOne of France's most vaunted writers, Victor Hugo, witnessed the scene. "At eleven, I leave the house. The streets are empty, the shops shut. Here and there an old woman walks about," he wrote in an article on 15 December 1840 called The Interment of Napoleon. "You can feel all of Paris tilt to one side, like water in a basin... Rue Sainte-Andre-des-Arcs, you begin to sense the festivities. - Yes, festivity: a corpse-in-exile is coming back in triumph... "I came home along the boulevards. The mass of people remains enormous. ... Little children shout: 'Long live the emperor!' This whole ceremony had something of a magician's trick about it. The government seemed afraid of the ghost it was evoking. It both showed and concealed Napoleon. What was too great or too touching about him was set aside." (Translation by Keith Botsford.)
In the intervening years between his death and the repatriation of his remains, "Napoleon's reputation had gone up enormously," says Prof Knox. "The 1.8m French dead in the wars of revolution were forgotten, and the drab restoration monarchy was not inspiring to many good French nationalists. Napoleon represented the era of glory when France dominated Europe."

Some discredited leaders are aware of the sensitivities their deaths may occasion. Disgraced US President Richard Nixon, for example, averted a posthumous row by himself decreeing that he should not be buried with state honours.

But there are other arguments looming. In Africa, the former rulers of Ethiopia and Chad, Haile Mengistu Mariam and Hissene Habre, are growing old in exile. And deep-rooted passions will return to the surface in Chile when General Augusto Pinochet dies.

BBC NEWS REPORT.

THE D.A. WINS MAYORAL RACE IN SOUTH AFRICA.

Opposition wins Cape Town contest.

Helen Zille won the contest by three votes. South Africa's opposition Democratic Alliance has won a closely-contested mayoral race in the city of Cape Town. DA mayoral candidate Helen Zille was elected by council members who were chosen in an election on 1 March. No party achieved an outright majority on the council, and the last two weeks have seen intense negotiations as parties tried to reach a deal.

The outcome makes Cape Town the only major South African city headed by a mayor not from the governing ANC. The DA secured the support of the smallest parties on the council to gather 106 votes in favour of Ms Zille, against 103 for ANC candidate Nomaindia Mfeketo. The Independent Democrats, who won 23 council seats and were expected to play a kingmaker role in choosing the mayor, did not support the DA.

Our great challenge... is to ensure that our diversity is not a weakness sad Helen Zille,Cape Town mayor.In her acceptance speech, Ms Zille said it would be a challenge to make multi-party democracy succeed in Cape Town. "Our great challenge in Cape Town is to ensure that our diversity is not a weakness but what we claim it to be, our greatest strength," she told councillors. "We can make it work." In a statement, the ANC congratulated Ms Zille and pledged to "continue to work with other parties to unite the people of Cape Town".

Earlier, a DA statement accused the ANC and Independent Democrats of "disgraceful behaviour" during the mayoral selection process.

ON THIS DAY

THE BIRMINGHAM SIX, ON THIS DAY, WERE RELEASED AFTER THE COURT

OF APPEAL QUASHED THEIR CONVICTIONS FOR THE MURDER OF 21 PEOPLE

IN TWO BIRMINGHAM PUB BOMBINGS!

ANNUAL MEETING OF PARLIAMENT IN CHINA!

Chinese PM issues rural pledge.

Mr Wen promised more rural protection. China's prime minister has ended an annual meeting of parliament vowing to improve the lives of poor farmers, amid worries about rising rural tensions. Wen Jiabao promised to punish officials who seized land without offering compensation and to tackle a growing gap between China's rich and poor. Mr Wen also accused Taiwan's President Chen Shui-bian of damaging stability by pressing for the island's independence. Other issues raised included media freedom, Japan, India, and the economy. This year there appears to have been more debate and disagreement as China addresses some of the problems inherent in its breakneck economic growth.

NPC session fosters debate
Rural millions left behind

Standing before a television audience of hundreds of millions, Mr Wen told them that he felt their pain. In particular he was talking to China's 700 million peasant farmers. "We will make sure we guarantee the long-term land rights of farmers. We will maintain the strictest controls to prevent their land being forcibly taken away from them," he said. One of the Chinese prime minister's greatest talents is his ability to empathise, says a BBC correspondent in Beijing, Rupert Wingfield-Hayes. But when it came to concrete measures he was far less clear, our correspondent says. Asked if he supported giving peasants legal title to their land, he said China's current system of collective ownership was still the best.

Taiwan flashpoint

The issue of land seizures for development is one of the catalysts for growing social unrest in China's countryside. Commenting on the rise, Mr Wen said: "China is in a stage of rapid economic development, which is a period when various contradictions emerge." For Taiwan there were both threats and conciliation. He accused Taiwan's president of "risky, dangerous and deceptive" behaviour, and said Mr Chen was intensifying efforts to make the island independent. At the same time he offered direct talks, if Taiwan recognised Beijing's principle of "one China" - something Taiwan's leaders have never been prepared to do.

Mr Wen also said:

There would not be another surprise revaluation of China's currency
That relations with Japan would not improve unless its leaders stopped visiting the Yasukuni war shrine
That environmental protection would improve, following a string of industrial accidents.

China and India should boost ties and usher in a "new Asian century"

The issue of China's control over its media was also raised, following a crackdown on errant websites and newspapers in the last few months. Mr Wen said internet companies in particular should be careful to censor their content. "We maintain that the (internet) industry should exercise self-discipline and self-management," he said. "Websites should convey right messages and information and should refrain from misleading the general public or exerting an adverse impact on social and public order."

BBC NEWS REPORT.

INCREASED INFECTIONS IN WOMEN IN ZIM.

Quality test for Zimbabwe tampons.

The sanitary towel shortage has led to an increase in infections. Zimbabwe's government says sanitary towels donated during an international appeal must be quality tested before any duty exemption will be considered. The economic crisis has led to a desperate shortage of tampons and pads and many women cannot afford them. Trade unionists say the government initially agreed to waive duty charges. "We will pay because women can't wait, but we want the government to reimburse us," Thabitha Khumalo of the Zimbabwe Congress of Trades Unions told the BBC.

The first 40-ton truckload of what is hoped will be monthly shipments is due to leave South Africa in the next few days. With an 80% unemployment rate and a minimum monthly wage of $21, a packet of 10 sanitary towels costing $5 is beyond the reach of most Zimbabwean women.
The government maintains the problem is being blown out of proportion.

The ZCTU launched the sanitary towel appeal in October last year in the UK and South Africa and has been overwhelmed with the response from big business as well as ordinary South Africans. Zimbabwe's deputy information minister said the involvement of the ZCTU - allied to the opposition Movement for Democratic Change party - had politicised the issue. It's outrageous to make gain out of international solidarity between women Actsa's Euan Wilmshurst"People are creating a crisis that does not exit. It's a lie to seek attention," Bright Matonga told the BBC's Focus on Africa programme. The ZCTU says that the ministry of finance had promised in February that duty charges would not be applied and has reneged because the trade union is not a charity. "It's a dignity issue. I don't see why we should pay duty. Over and above that, every single woman will benefit because it's a free distribution," Ms Khumalo said.

But Mr Matonga said the organisation should apply to the health ministry for duty exemption and a quality-control test, after this the sanitary ware could be distributed by the ministry. The move has been criticised by international organisations involved in raising money. "These are donated goods, not a political issue. It's outrageous to make gain out of international solidarity between women," Action for Southern Africa's Euan Wilmshurst told the BBC News website. Congress of South African Trade Unions' Peter Craven said it was "absolutely deplorable". Taboo Until 1999, sanitary towels were manufactured locally but the economic crisis has meant many companies have left Zimbabwe.

A truckload of donated sanitary towels are waiting to be shipped.Ms Khumalo says the critical shortage has been ignored as it is taboo to talk about periods in public, which is why the unions sought international help. "Women have resorted to using newspapers, tissue papers and those in rural areas are using leaves and the bark of trees," she said. This, she says, has led to an increase of vaginal infections. "Gone are the days when women were embarrassed to talk about it because women are getting sick.

Mr Matonga dismissed these allegations saying there were enough sanitary towels available. "The Zimbabwe government won't sit back and let women suffer. We care about our women," he said. The ZCTU said it will raise the money for the duty from its partners abroad and hopes to be able to start distributing sanitary towels to women next week.

BBC NEWS REPORT.

ON THIS DAY

THE LOWELL OBSERVATORY IN ARIZONA, ON THIS DAY, ANNOUNCED THE ASTRONOMER CLYDE TOMBAUGH'S DISCOVERY OF THE PLANET PLUTO!

THE QUEEN IN SYDNEY!

Queen visits Sydney Opera House.

The Queen has opened a new wing of Australia's Sydney Opera House - which she called "the symbol of a nation". The newly opened western side of the site features large windows providing views of Sydney's harbour and skyline. The Queen opened the building in 1973, and returned with Prince Philip during a five-day visit to Australia in which she will open the Commonwealth Games. They were greeted by about 2,000 people who cheered and sang along when the British national anthem was played. A 21-gun salute boomed across Sydney harbour while the Queen inspected a guard of honour before meeting political dignitaries. The Opera House is not something sacred, but a living structure, a vibrant and evolving place that meets the needs of its users.

The Queen
In pictures: The Queen's visit

She said: "When in October 1973 I opened this building, it was universally agreed that the Opera House was something more than a performing arts centre, more than a great work of architecture. "It was seen even then as, and has certainly since become, the symbol of the nation itself - a building to which visitors happily return again and again for renewed joy and inspiration." And the monarch heaped praise on the original architect Jorn Utzon, who designed the new feature with his son Jan. "It confirms that the Opera House is not something sacred, but a living structure, a vibrant and evolving place that meets the needs of its users and reflects the wishes of the people," she said, commenting on the new development.

Mr Utzon stopped working on the building in 1966 following a series of disagreements with the then state government of New South Wales. His son, Jan, spoke at a reception for the Queen: "My father, who is turning 88 next month, sends his warmest wishes and greetings to everyone here," he said. He added that his father, who could not make the journey to the building, took "much pleasure" from the Queen's opening of the new development.

The Queen, who turns 80 this year, later attended a Commonwealth Day service in Sydney - the first time the event has been held outside the UK. The day was commemorated with a service of song, dance and prayer at St Andrew's Cathedral. The theme of this year's day is Health and Vitality: the Commonwealth Challenge. In her Commonwealth Day message, played to the congregation, which included Australian Prime Minister John Howard, the Queen said: "Good health is a precious gift. "Yet many do not share in this." She praised international action taken on polio and hoped the same success could be achieved with diseases such as malaria and tuberculosis. The Queen was due to leave Sydney for Canberra later on Monday.

BBC NEWS REPORT.

A MUGABE PLOT !!!

Eight charged over Mugabe 'plot'.

Robert Mugabe celebrated his 82nd birthday last month. Eight people, including an opposition MP, have been charged in Zimbabwe over an alleged plot to assassinate President Robert Mugabe. The accused were arrested last week after an arms cache was allegedly discovered at the home of one of them. Four of those charged are reportedly police officers. Zimbabwe authorities say the group planned to ambush Mr Mugabe after his 82nd birthday party, which took place last month. Among those charged was Giles Mutsekwa, an opposition MP for the Movement for Democratic Change (MDC). They also included Peter Hitschmann, who is reported to be a former member of the old Rhodesian security forces.

It is at his home, in Mutare, that a weapons cache including automatic rifles, ammunition and tear gas canisters was allegedly found. The Zimbabwe authorities claim that Mr Hitschmann is linked to an organisation called the Zimbabwe Freedom Movement, and that this group is seeking to overthrow Mr Mugabe's government.

Zimbabwean TV has reported that the men had brought drums of oil with the intention of pouring it on a road just before the presidential motorcade passed. The group were remanded in custody until Wednesday. Security Minister Didymus Mutasa warned anyone planning violence: "If it came to a position where we have to eliminate them physically because of what they are doing, then it is their fault, that is what they are looking for, and we will not hesitate to do that."
The opposition MDC has denied all knowledge of the alleged plot, and says it is an attempt by the state to derail the party's congress next Friday.

"We wish to place it on record that the MDC does not have any links with Mr Hitschmann, the so-called Zimbabwe Freedom Movement or any other person or group that seeks to effect a regime change through the barrel of the gun, an armed struggle, violence or unconstitutional means," said an MDC spokesman.

PEOPLE DO BUY FAIR TRADE LABELS!

How fair is Fairtrade?
By Andy Webb BBC Money Programme.

More and more of us are prepared to pay extra to buy Fairtrade products, but is it really money well spent? The Terry family try to steer clear of non-Fairtrade produce. In the last year, the Fairtrade market grew by 40% to a value of £200m, while the range of products is now over 1500 items. After years as a niche product, Fairtrade seems to have finally broken through into the mainstream. Yet as the movement grows, there is concern about the premium pricing of Fairtrade products in some supermarkets, and there is dismay in some circles that the controversial food giant Nestle has been granted Fairtrade status.

The Terry family from Hampton in West London see themselves as a Fairtrade family. Every week Christopher, his wife Sarah and son Joe buy Fairtrade products like coffee, tea and bananas. They believe that the extra money they pay at the supermarket can make a huge difference to producers around the world, so they are big fans of the system. The parents admit that their son was the driving force behind their support. "We're responding to Joe's idea about Fairtrade. He wants us to think more carefully about where we buy our food from," they say. Ian Bretman of the Fairtrade Foundation says the increasing number of families like the Terrys is testament to the movement's continuing success. If you think this is just beards and sandals and idealistic amateurs, then you should get out more Open University.

OU: Fairtrade matters

"In the last three-four years, what we've seen is a really rapid growth," he says. "It's very clear to us that as people become aware of the difference that Fairtrade makes to people in the developing world, they see that this is an opportunity for them to make a difference in their everyday lives, they really grasp that opportunity." But not everyone is convinced.

Although the reverend John McCabe admits to being a fair-trade fan, he thinks the price of products is too high, and does not think that all the extra he pays at the till goes to the farmers.
Mr McCabe has analysed supermarket prices and the amount of money that goes back to the producers under the Fairtrade system, and he cannot quite make the sums add up. He believes the supermarkets are not being sufficiently open about their pricing of Fairtrade products. "What I'd like to see is the whole premium going back to producer, and that being the only difference between non Fairtrade and Fairtrade."

The supermarkets insist they are playing their part to support fair trade, but one big name has gone further than the others. The selection of Fairtrade products has become massive. In 2002, the Co-op converted all its own-brand coffee and chocolate to Fairtrade. Until this week, they were the only supermarket to have done so. The Co-op's Brad Hill says it was a risk. "There was a cost to pay. Now there was no way we could ask consumers to pay that in its entirety so what we did, we absorbed some of that cost. "We put some of that cost onto retail, but we reduced our profitability." The decision paid off and they now sell £3m worth of chocolate a year.

But pricing is not the only concern for Fairtrade consumers. In late 2005, Nestle, one of the world's most controversial companies, released its own Fairtrade coffee: Partners' Blend. The company is already subject to an international boycott for selling powdered baby milk in less developed countries. Now, after years of saying Fairtrade was bad for the industry, Nestle admits that it was market forces that have changed its mind. "We researched the market and we found that there are consumers out there who are very interested in development issues that are probably not currently buying a Fairtrade product, and they would be attracted into this market by the strength of the Nescafe brand, says Hilary Parsons, head of Partner's Blend Project at Nestle UK.

But critics insist that this is little more than a PR exercise. Food expert and writer Joanna Blythman argues that Nestle's approach is a very good example of what is being described in some circles as "greenwashing" - an attempt to give a large company a much more eco-friendly image, whatever the reality. "The danger really is that consumers don't trust Fairtrade, they just say 'come on, I thought I was buying into something that was generally ethical'." The problem facing the Fairtrade Foundation is whether they can go mainstream without making too many compromises with big business, and whether core supporters will continue to stick with them.

BBC NEWS REPORT.

ON THIS DAY

POPE JOHN PAUL ll ASKED FORGIVENESS, ON THIS DAY,FOR

THE MANY PAST SINS OF HIS CHURCH, INCLUDING ITS

TREATMENT OF JEWS, HERETICS AND WOMEN, IN 2000.

H5N1 NOW RECORDED IN CAMEROON.

Cameroon records first bird flu. The lethal H5N1 strain of bird flu has been detected in Cameroon, making it the fourth African country to be hit by the virus. A government statement said it had been found in a duck on a farm near the northern town of Maroua, on the border with Nigeria. H5NI had previously been detected in poultry in Nigeria itself, Niger and also in Egypt.
Cameroon banned all imports of Nigerian poultry last month.

QUICK GUIDE
Bird flu

The tests from the farm near Maroua had been carried out in Paris, the Cameroonian government statement said. No human cases of the H5N1 strain have yet been found in Africa. But the United Nations has warned of a possible regional disaster if the disease continues to spread.

1ST WORLD SUDOKU CHAMPIONSHIPS!

Sudoku title for Czech accountant.

The winner saw off challenges from 84 other finalists. An accountant from the Czech Republic has beaten players from 21 other countries to win the inaugural world Sudoku championships. Jana Tylova, 31, saw off challenges from two US competitors - a Harvard University graduate student and a software engineer - to take the honour.

After a preliminary qualifying round, 85 puzzle-solvers took part in the two-day event in Lucca, Italy. Competitors tackled the classic 9x9 Sudoku grid and a range of variations. These included Diagonal Sudoku, Irregular Sudoku, Sum Sudoku, Toroidal Sudoku and Odd/Even Sudoku. Ms Tylova was regarded as a somewhat surprising winner after only lying in ninth place at the end of the first round. "I find it very difficult to give advice at all, but I can advise people to practise every day and to follow websites where there are a lot of games available," she said. Ms Tylova was presented with her winner's trophy by former New Zealand criminal court judge Wayne Gould, who has helped popularise the pencil and paper number game of logic, which originated in Japan.

DO THE PUZZLES
World Sudoku Championships - example puzzles [2.3MB]
Most computers will open this document automatically, but you may need Adobe Reader.
Download the reader here

His syndicated Sudoku games now appear in more than 400 newspapers around the world.
The competition also attracted entrants from countries including Austria, France, Germany, Poland, India, Italy, Japan, Venezuela, the Philippines, Turkey and the UK.

HOW TO PLAY SUDOKU

Grid: Classic Sudoku is a grid divided into nine 3x3 boxes.
Aim: Fill grid so that every row, column and 3x3 box contains the digits from 1 to 9, without repeating
Skills: Reasoning and logic. No arithmetic needed

But organisers have said they had still not yet decided if the world championships will become a regular event. Thomas Snyder, 26, who was leading the competition until the final round, came second, while Wei-Ha Huang, 30, who works for internet search engine firm Google in California, took third place. Women made up about one third of the competitors but Ms Tylova was the only one to finish in the top 18. "There is no difference between men and women and I tried to prove that even in logic, men and women are on the same level," she said.

BBC NEWS REPORT.

ON THIS DAY

THE DAILY COURANT, ENGLAND'S FIRST DAILY NATIONAL NEWSPAPER, ON

THIS DAY, WAS PUBLISHED FROM PREMISES NEAR FLEET STREET, IN 1702!

"LITTLE BUDDHA" GONE MISSING!

Nepal's 'Buddha' boy goes missing
By Bhagirath Yogi BBC News, Kathmandu.

Ram Bomjan's followers claimed he did not take food or water. A 16-year-old boy who had been meditating and fasting in a Nepal forest for 10 months has been missing since Saturday morning, police say. Locals and police searched the area in the southern district of Bara but have not been able to locate him so far. Police have rejected reports that the young boy, popularly known as "Little Buddha", may have been abducted. His followers say Ram Bomjan may have moved deep inside the forest looking for a quieter place to meditate.

Hundreds of people used to visit the area every day where the young boy was meditating. Make-shift shops had been set up by the locals to cater to the visitors who came from different parts of Nepal and neighbouring India. Buddhist flags were erected around the site where Bomjan was meditating. Booklets carrying his photo and CDs sold like hotcakes in Kathmandu and other parts of the country.

His followers claimed that Bomjan did not take food or even water throughout his t10 month-long meditation. They refused, however, to allow any independent investigation about the health conditions of Bomjan saying that "it would disturb him." The authorities also did not intervene to avoid hurting local feeling. While critics accused Bomjan's followers of fooling people, the young boy continued to hog media headlines. Tired from the decade-old armed conflict that has already claimed more than 13,000 lives, followers of Bomjan claimed that he was an incarnation of Lord Buddha who was born in Nepal more than 2,500 years ago. They are still hoping that Bomjan will reappear somewhere deep in the forest and continue his meditation.

BBC NEWS REPORT.

INFLATION NOW AT 782% IN ZIMBABWE!

Zimbabwe sees record inflation.

Zimbabweans are adopting increasingly desperate measures. Zimbabwe's inflation has hit a record high of 782%, the country's Central Statistics Office announced on Friday. On a month-by-month basis, the consumer price index went up by 27.5%, compared with 18.6% in January. The rise was due to further hikes in transport, education and housing costs, the office said. Fuel and food shortages have left some two-thirds of the population unemployed and impoverished, with no sign of economic recovery, analysts say. A shortage of fuel has forced up the price of transport. Rents have also risen following the government's controversial demolition of many homes, creating more homeless people. Analysts said the government needed to take steps to strengthen property rights, liberalise the exchange rate and deregulate prices.

The statistics come after the International Monetary Fund decided not to renew the country's voting and associated rights within the international agency nor provide any more funds. The IMF's board said Zimbabwe's crisis demanded a "comprehensive policy package, comprising several mutually reinforcing actions in the area of macroeconomic stabilisation and structural reforms". Earlier this month, Zimbabwe's main milling organisation said the country had only two weeks of wheat supply left, while citizens were facing soaring bread prices.

BBC NEWS REPORT.

RAMBLINGS

IF I CAN DO THE THINGS I OUGHT,

AT LEAST THAT'S SOMETHING DONE;

IF I CAN SMILE WHEN THINGS GO WRONG,

WHY, THAT'S A VICTORY WON!

Anonymous.

HOTMAIL PRANK AGAIN!

Thousands fall for Hotmail prank.
By Tim Weber Business editor, BBC News website.

I'm always pleased when I see healthy page views for our business stories - but there are exceptions.

February 2001: MSN 'to charge user fee'

Take this story:

"MSN 'to charge user fee'" says the headline, and for a few weeks it has steadily moved up the ranks of our daily statistics. On Sunday it was the most-read business story, and on Monday and Tuesday it featured in the top five. The hitch: It was written five years ago - on 25 February 2001. Back then we reported comments made by a Microsoft executive, who said the company was considering introducing fees for its free Hotmail service. It was one year after the dotcom crash and everybody, even mighty Microsoft, was pondering how to make some money on the internet. So why is this old story so popular? Forward first, ask questions later Well, a chain e-mail is making the rounds: Microsoft will soon charge all Hotmail account holders, it claims, and backs up the assertion with a link to our story.

Readers alerted me to the e-mail two weeks ago, even before I noticed the story in our rankings. Some wanted confirmation whether the story was true. Others assumed that our servers had been hacked and demanded we should improve security. Unfortunately many people failed to spot clear signs that this was an old story. For starters, all our news stories have a timestamp - between the red BBC banner and the story headline. And there are two more obvious give-aways: Our website looks quite different today, because it had two redesigns since the MSN story was published. We use a different navigation, colour scheme and it is also a third wider, because most people have larger computer screens Then there is Hotmail itself. Our old story features a little screen shot of the hotmail front page - five years ago. Hotmail users might notice that their log-in screen looks quite different these days.

But as with all things spam and scam, some people forward first and ask questions later. Breaking the chain. Several readers have suggested I should take down the old story, make it disappear from our servers. Others say I should add a big disclaimer to the story, to alert people there is a scam making the rounds pointing to this story. I don't believe either approach will work. It is not unusual for pranksters and scammers to back up their sting with links to well-known websites. I regularly get scam e-mail from alleged bankers or relatives of deposed dictators, asking me for help to squirrel away some money. The claim is usually backed up with a link to a CNN or BBC story about the firm or dictator.

At any given time there are thousands such scams, and if we were to take down every story the scammers link to, our archive would soon have plenty of bald patches. Some people might actually start circulating scams just to persuade us to delete a story they don't like. And given the sheer volume of these e-mails, it would be impossible for us to keep track and add disclaimers to every story that's abused that way. All we can do is keep warning people about online fraud. Check the source. Verify wild claims on urban legend websites like Snopes or the Stella Awards. Or simply copy a snippet of text from the questionable e-mail into any search engine. Very quickly you will find online references that prove that it's a scam. It may hurt our page views a little. But I'm more than happy to take the hit.

BBC NEW REPORT.

GUN BATTLES IN THE NIGER DELTA

Nigeria militants fight military.

Militant attacks have led to a 20% drop in Nigeria's oil exports. The Nigerian military says it has fought a fierce gun battle with heavily armed militants in the Niger Delta. Thirty speed boats each carrying 15 militants attacked a petrol tanker demanding fuel, an army source says. The group, which is demanding a greater share of the region's oil wealth, says the military initiated the attack. Wednesday's incident took place in an area known as a militant stronghold and near where it is suspected three foreign hostages are being held.

In a statement, the Movement for the Emancipation of the Niger Delta (Mend) said their forces were out patrolling the rivers and creeks when they were attacked in the broad mangrove-lined Escravos River by a total of seven navy patrol boats near the village of Okerenkoko in the western Niger Delta. The militants, who were armed with rifles, machine guns and rocket-propelled grenades, said the gun battle lasted for 45 minutes. However, military sources and an Ijaw leader says the militants attacked a petrol tanker because they needed fuel. The vessel, which had a military escort, then sent out a distress signal and military reinforcements were despatched. Both sides agree that the ensuing fire fight was fierce and it was deadly. The militants say they killed 13 government soldiers; the military says its forces killed many militants.

The BBC's Alex Last in Lagos says there have been no reports of further clashes on Thursday, but the increased tension in the area will be of concern to the negotiators trying to secure the release of the three foreign hostages. Six hostages were released last week, but two US citizens and one Briton are still being held and have now spent more than two weeks in captivity. The militants have issued a long list of demands. In particular, they want a pledge from the government that it will not retaliate once the hostages are released and a greater local control of revenue produced from the oil industry. The recent unrest in the Delta region has led to a 20% drop in Nigeria's oil exports.

BBC NEWS REPORT.

ON THIS DAY

NAPOLEON BONAPARTE, ON THIS DAY, MARRIED

JOSEPHINE de BEAUHARNAIS, IN 1796!

TURKEY BUS ACCIDENT!

Hopes fade in Turkey bus plunge.

Watch rescue attempt

Sixteen people are dead, and at least 16 more feared killed, after a bus plunged into a river in central Turkey. The bus fell into the fast-flowing Kelkit river in Tokat province, about 330km (200 miles) east of Ankara. Eleven survived the crash. Divers were looking for those missing hours after the crash - but hopes of finding more survivors are fading, officials say. The bus was carrying passengers from Istanbul to the eastern city of Van, near the Iranian border. One passenger reportedly managed to free himself from the bus and walk to a nearby village to raise the alarm, the Anatolia news agency reported.

One never gives up hope in God, but they have been under the water for several hours - Ferhat KurtogluLocal official. Some of the 13 bodies recovered so far were found as far as 20km (12 miles) downstream from the crash. It is not clear exactly how many people were on the bus. The company operating the service said there were 39 ticketed passengers, but a local official said there could have been more on board. "We do not have clear information on the number of children or passengers travelling on the bus without tickets," sub-governor Ferhat Kurtoglu told AFP news agency. He said he had little hope of finding more survivors. "One never gives up hope in God, but they have been under the water for several hours," he said.

BBC NEWS REPORT.

HEAVY RAIN CAUSES CHURCH TO COLLAPSE!

Uganda church crushes worshippers.

The church collapsed during heavy rainfall. At least 27 people have been killed after a church roof collapsed and crushed them during a service in Uganda's capital, Kampala. At least 86 other worshippers were injured in the accident. Most of the dead were crushed when a wall crumbled during a heavy storm. All the bodies have been removed and the remaining walls will have to be demolished for safety reasons. The flouting of building regulations is a common problem, say reporters. The accident occurred at about 1900 local time (1600 GMT) in the northern suburb of Kalerwe and it remains unclear how many worshippers, who were seated on plastic chairs, were present at the service when the wall collapsed.

In pictures: Church collapse

"We were in the church for the service and it was raining very heavily," said worshipper Nsubuga Hannington, who suffered a head injury. "All of a sudden, I heard a crash and the wall fell down." Fire and rescue chief Joseph Mugisa told the Associated Press news agency: "It was completely chaotic. Everyone was trying to get out. People were yelling and shouting." We're hoping that a good Samaritan has picked her up and is looking after her - Sunday Sula Lasa First person at the scene

Helping Ugandan worshippers

The church is located in a slum area and there have been frequent power cuts in recent weeks.
The agency quoted witnesses as saying that people had burned chairs to provide light to help rescue teams dig through the wreckage. The church was under construction, but regional police commander Grace Puryagumanawe said officers were "going to investigate the poor build standards". The Ugandan police spokesman says the problem of poorly constructed buildings has recently become rampant and blames the urban planning authorities. Although there are planning and building regulations, high levels of corruption mean short cuts are often taken. The BBC's Will Ross at the scene says that with close to 100 of the injured taken to hospital, and with many of them critically injured, the number of dead is likely to rise.

BBC NEWS REPORT.

ON THIS DAY

THE "FEBRUARY REVOLUTION", ON THIS DAY,

BEGAN WITH RIOTING AND STRIKES AT

PETROGRAD (NOW ST. PETERSBURG) IN 1917!

ARMS CACHE FOUND IN ZIMBABWE!

Arrests for Zimbabwe 'arms cache'.

MDC leader Morgan Tsvangirai has twice been charged with treason. Two senior Zimbabwean opposition officials have been arrested after police said they had found an arms cache in the eastern city of Mutare. The Movement for Democratic Change identified them as MP Giles Mutsekwa and regional treasurer Brian James. MDC spokesman Nelson Chamisa strongly denied that the party had any links to the weapons, or plans of violence. Security Minister Didymus Mutasa has warned that those planning violence would be physically "eliminated". The cache was said to contain rifles, machine guns and tear gas canisters, which officials suspect were to be used in acts of "sabotage and destabilisation".

The alleged owner of the weapons, Peter Hitschmann, was a member of the army before independence and is expected to appear in court. State media has reported that he has told the police he was working for the MDC. "We wish to place it on record that the MDC does not have any links with Mr Hitschmann, the so-called Zimbabwe Freedom Movement or any other person or group that seeks to effect a regime change through the barrel of the gun, an armed struggle, violence or unconstitutional means," said Mr Chamisa, spokesman for the MDC faction led by Morgan Tsvangirai. Mr Tsvangirai has twice been charged with treason over alleged coup plots - he was acquitted once and the charges were dropped the second time.

Referring to Mr Tsvangirai and anyone planning violence, Security Minister Didymus Mutasa told state television: "If it came to a position where we have to eliminate them physically because of what they are doing, then it is their fault, that is what they are looking for, and we will not hesitate to do that."

President Robert Mugabe played a key role in ending white rule in Rhodesia and he and his Zanu-PF party have dominated Zimbabwe's politics since independence in 1980. The main challenge to the octogenarian leader's authority has come from the MDC. But observers say the recent split in the MDC over whether to contest last year's senate elections has weakened its opposition to Mr Mugabe.

BBC NEWS REPORT.

HINDU TEMPLE CITY BLAST IN INDIA

Indian temple city hit by blasts

The temple was packed at the time of the blast. At least 15 people have been killed in three explosions in the northern Indian pilgrimage city of Varanasi. At least 60 others were injured, police said. The first blast occurred at a Hindu temple and was followed by two more at the main railway station. Police also said they defused two bombs in the city. No-one has so far said they were behind the attacks. Varanasi is the religious capital of Hinduism and is usually packed with Indian pilgrims and foreign tourists. Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh condemned the blasts and appealed for calm. The city in the state of Uttar Pradesh, about 670km (415 miles) south-east of the capital Delhi, has a history of religious violence.

The first explosion took place in the major Sankot Mochan temple dedicated to the Hindu God Hanuman at about 1815 local time (1245 GMT) . People were screaming, saying that there had been a big bomb blast said Francesco Marino eyewitness.

In pictures: Deadly blasts
Eyewitness: 'It was terrible'
High priest horrified

At least 10 people were killed and a number of others injured in the blast, Uttar Pradesh officials said. An eyewitness, Siddharth Suri, told the BBC that thousands of people were at the temple at the time of the blast. Tuesday is a special day at the Sankat Mochan temple and the explosion took place just minutes before the main worship. "There was a loud explosion followed by dust. There was pandemonium in the front of the temple," Mr Suri said. "The explosion at the temple is horrific and shocking to me," high priest of the temple Veer Bhadra Mishra told the BBC News website. "The Sankat Mochan temple is loved, respected and revered by so many people as a place of religious worship and ritual. I am so pained," the priest said. The complex would have been packed with worshippers and the fear is the explosion was timed to have maximum impact, the BBC's Nadvip Dhariwal in Delhi reports.

Minutes later, the city's main railway station was rocked by two blasts, with eyewitnesses saying they saw a number of casualties. One of the blasts occurred in a train carriage reportedly packed with passengers, and the other near the station's ticket counter.

Officials said experts also defused two bombs - on the bank of the River Ganges and at a city market. One of the bombs had a timing device. Police secured the sites of the blasts, and security was stepped up throughout the city. Major cities across India, including the capital Delhi, were put on high alert, following the explosions. India's cabinet committee on security, meanwhile, is holding an emergency meeting.

BBC NEWS REPORT.

WAKEUP WORLD -COULD YOU LIVE LIKE THIS?

Cement Bag!

Tuesday 7th March 2006
Dear Family and Friends,

This letter is being sent out three days later than normal because I am now entering the 92nd hour with only enough electricity for lights in my home. At midday on Friday the voltage to my home crashed and the power is insufficient to heat the water geyser, run a fridge or stove or even boil a kettle. 25 telephone calls to the electricity supplier in the last four days, a personal visit to the faults office, a number of offers to provide fuel or go and collect electricians are all to no avail.

In the villages less than 15 kilometres out of Marondera there is also no electricity which means the grinding mills are not working. I was told by a friend that there are scores of people now going without food and that the atmosphere is extremely tense. This morning there is literally mud coming out of the taps in my home which means there are problems pumping water too. Zimbabwe is now entering the darkest of days. It is hard to describe how anyone is surviving now and this week I had the most amazing encounter which helped me put my own problems into perspective.

Standing at the entrance gates of a wholesaler there was a thin, gaunt, tired looking man. On the ground next to him was a small pile of empty cement bags. He bent and picked up a bag and held it towards me, asking me to buy it. An empty cement bag, turned inside out and with two crude holes cut into the top for handles. "Only thirty thousand dollars" the man said to me. This was literally just an empty cement bag, it hadn't been sewn, reinforced or even cleaned very well. I could think of no earthly reason why I would want an empty cement bag but the look in the mans eyes, the slight trembling of his hand and the thinness of his body gave me a whole lot of reasons. I gave the man forty thousand dollars and told him to keep the change. I took my cement bag and the man called out "God bless you, thank you," as I walked away. We both knew that the money I'd just handed over would buy the man just half a loaf of bread but to me, and obviously to him, selling cement bags enables a slither of dignity to be maintained.

Please keep the people of Zimbabwe in your thoughts and prayers in these very hard times and thank you for reading.

Love cathy.

PROTESTS OVER RAIDS IN KENYA!

Kenyans protest at media raid.

Protester want John Michuki to go. Thousands of demonstrators have been marching through Kenya's capital, angry at a police raid on a media group. The Nairobi protesters waved placards demanding that Internal Security Minister John Michuki "must go".

Last week, hooded policemen seized equipment, halted TV broadcasts and burned thousands of newspapers belonging to the Standard media group. The operation has been described as the biggest media crackdown seen in Kenya since independence. Thousands of others are reported to be protesting in the cities of Mombasa, Nakuru and Kisumu. The raid followed a story published by the media group that said the president had secretly met a leading opponent. Those responsible should go, without negotiation - Protester Rhoda Atieno.

Have Your Say
Detained at gunpoint
In pictures: Press raid

Some protesters held placards that read: "Mr President, Stop Sponsoring State Terrorism." A protester told AP news agency that a free press in Kenya was vital. "The assault on the Standard newspaper group was outrageous and shouldn't happen in a democracy, and those responsible should go, without negotiation," said Rhoda Atieno. The demonstration was organised by a coalition of opposition parties known as the Orange Democratic Movement.
The internal security minister said the raids, which have provoked national and international condemnation, were designed to protect state security. "If you rattle a snake, you must be prepared to be bitten by it," John Michuki said. Demonstrators also called for Communications Minister Mutahi Kagwe to step down. Raid During the raid, masked and armed police seized tapes, destroyed equipment and burned thousands of copies of the Standard newspaper at the press where it is printed.

Thousands marched through Nairobi's streets.A similar raid was carried out at the Kenya Television News (KTN) station. The Standard - Kenya's oldest newspaper - has been critical of President Kibaki's handling of recent corruption scandals. The government has repeatedly accused the newspaper of fabricating stories. The paper has threatened to sue the government over the raids. Three Standard journalists, arrested before the raids over a story about President Kibaki, have been charged with publishing alarming statements and released on bail.

BBC NEW REPORT.

MARCH SPORT DIARY!

March 2006 calendar
Key events this month:

Feb 18-Apr 15 CRICKET England tour of India
1 FOOTBALL England v Uruguay, Scotland v Switzerland, Wales v Paraguay, Northern Ireland v Estonia, Republic of Ireland v Sweden
7-8 FOOTBALL Champions League round of 16, second legs
9 FOOTBALL Uefa Cup round of 16 first legs
10-19 PARALYMPICS Winter Games
10-12 ATHLETICS World Indoor Championships, Moscow
11 RUGBY UNION RBS 6 Nations: Wales v Italy, Ireland v Scotland
12 MOTOR RACING Bahrain Grand Prix
12 RUGBY UNION RBS 6 Nations: France v England
14-17 RACING Cheltenham Festival
15 FOOTBALL Uefa Cup round of 16 second legs
15-26 COMMONWEALTH GAMES Melbourne
18 RUGBY UNION RBS 6 Nations: England v Ireland, Italy v Scotland, Wales v France
19 MOTOR RACING Malaysian Grand Prix
20-23 FOOTBALL FA Cup quarter-finals28-29 FOOTBALL Champions Lge, q/finals 1st leg
31-Apr 2 RUGBY UNION Heineken Cup quarter-finals.

The month in detail:
Feb 27-Mar 5 TENNIS Abierto Mexicano Telcel, Acapulco
Feb 27-Mar 5 TENNIS Dubai Championships
Feb 27-Mar 5 TENNIS Tennis Channel Open, Las Vegas
Feb 27-Mar 5 TENNIS Qatar Women's Open, Doha
Feb 27-Mar 5 TENNIS Mexicano Abierto Women's, Mexico
Feb 27-Mar 5 SNOOKER Welsh Open (TBC)
1-5 CRICKET India v England 1st Test
1 FOOTBALL England v Uruguay, Scotland v Switzerland, Wales v Paraguay, Northern Ireland v Estonia, Republic of Ireland v Sweden
3 ATHLETICS Indoor meeting, Lievin
3 ATHLETICS Indoor meeting, Chemnitz
3-5 RALLYING Rally Mexico
5 ATHLETICS European Indoor Cup, Lievin
5 ATHLETICS International cross country race, Fukuoka
5-8 ATHLETICS Challenge Cup, Moscow
6-18 TENNIS Pacific Life Open, Indian Wells
7-8 FOOTBALL Champions League round of 16, second legs
9-13 CRICKET India v England 2nd Test
9 FOOTBALL Uefa Cup round of 16 first legs
9 ATHLETICS Melbourne Track Classic, Melbourne
10-19 PARALYMPICS Winter Games
10-12 ATHLETICS World Indoor Championships, Moscow
11 RUGBY UNION RBS 6 Nations: Wales v Italy, Ireland v Scotland
12 MOTOR RACING Bahrain Grand Prix
12 RUGBY UNION RBS 6 Nations: France v England
15 FOOTBALL Uefa Cup round of 16 second legs
15-26 COMMONWEALTH GAMES Melbourne
16-19 GOLF TCL Classic, Hainan Island
18-22 CRICKET India v England 3rd Test
18 RUGBY UNION RBS 6 Nations: England v Ireland, Italy v Scotland, Wales v France
18-19 ATHLETICS European Cup winter throwing event, Tel Aviv
19 MOTOR RACING Malaysian Grand Prix
19 ATHLETICS International cross country meeting, Chiba
20-23 FOOTBALL FA Cup quarter-finals
20-Apr 2 TENNIS Nasdaq-100 Open, Miami
23-26 GOLF Madeira Island Open, Madeira
24-26 RALLYING Rally of Spain
26 MOTOR CYCLING British Superbike Championship, Brands Hatch
28 CRICKET India v England 1st ODI
28-29 FOOTBALL Champions League quarter-final first legs
30 FOOTBALL Uefa Cup quarter-final first legs
30-Apr 2 GOLF Algarve Open, Penina
31 CRICKET India v England 2nd ODI
31-Apr 2 RUGBY UNION Heineken Cup quarter-finals.

BBC SPORTS REPORT.

ON THIS DAY

VERDI'S OPERA "LA TRAVIATA" , ON THIS DAY,

RECEIVED ITS PREMIERE IN VENICE IN 1853!

IMPACT CRATER FOUND IN EGYPT!

The crater dwarfs the next largest known Saharan crater.

A giant crater made by a meteorite impact millions of years ago has been discovered in Egypt's western desert. Boston University experts found the 31km (19 mile) wide crater while studying satellite images of the area. It is more than twice the size of the next largest Saharan impact depression and more than 25 times the size of Arizona's famous Meteor Crater. The American team that found it says its sheer size may have helped it escape detection all these years. The structure, which has an outer rim surrounding an inner ring, has been named "Kebira", which means "large" in Arabic and also relates to the crater's physical location on the northern tip of the Gilf Kebir region in southwest Egypt.
"Kebira may have escaped recognition because it is so large," said Dr Farouk El-Baz, director of the Boston University Center for Remote Sensing, where the find was made. "Also, the search for craters typically concentrates on small features, especially those that can be identified on the ground. The advantage of a view from space is that it allows us to see regional patterns and the big picture." Water and wind erosion may also have helped hide its extra-terrestrial origin.

Meteor Crater is probably the most studied impact structure on EarthThe heat from this impact may be responsible for the extensive field of "Desert Glass", yellow-green silica glass fragments found on the desert surface between the giant dunes of the Great Sand Sea in southwestern Egypt. The crater's vast area suggests the location may have been hit by a meteorite equivalent in size to the diameter of the famous Meteor (or Barringer) Crater in Arizona which is 1.2km across. The impact would have wreaked devastation for hundreds of kilometres. The 65 million-year-old Chicxulub crater in Mexico is estimated to be 160 to 240km (100 to 150 miles) wide and is a likely culprit in the extinction of the dinosaurs.

BBC NEW REPORT.

AN OSCAR FOR S.A. "TSOTSI".

Tsotsi takes foreign film Oscar
By Manoush Zomorodi BBC News.

Actor Presley Chweneyagae plays the troubled Tsotsi. Tsotsi, by South African director Gavin Hood has won the Oscar for best foreign language film. Tsotsi is a young gangster who hasfended for himself in a shantytown just outside of Johannesburg since he was a child. He and his pack of feral friends have little regard for human life. They rob and murder to survive. One night Tsotsi steals a wealthy black woman's car. When he drives away he realises that an infant is in the back seat. Tsotsi tries to care for the child by carrying him around in a shopping bag and coercing his neighbour, a young mother, to nurse him.
Tsotsi is based on the novel by renowned South African writer Athol Fugard. His book is set in the South Africa of the 1950s, a nation then rife with apartheid. But director Gavin Hood sets his film version in the present and focuses on the modern day struggles of poverty and Aids. Hood says his film is more about class than race. "The issues in the film are very much about the gap between the haves and have-nots, if you want to politicise it in some way. "Really we wanted to make a film about a young guy who's angry and struggling with his own identity who becomes a young man. "In a sense it's a coming of age story, a universal story, but it just happens to be set in a quite an extreme place." Hood admits he was inspired by films like City of God, a 2004Oscar-nominee which is set in the Brazilian slums. He decided to shoot Tsotsi in the street dialect of Tsotsi-taal with all local actors rather than in English with a big name star. South Africans hail local film's Oscar victory.

In pictures

Getting cast as Tsotsi - which means 'thug' in the ghettos of South Africa - was young actor Presley Chweneyagae's big break. "I grew up in a township so I knew guys like Tsotsi... we had lots and lots of screenings in the townships, for street kids, and I remember one day one of the guys said "oh that's me", and that was a relief. "For South African actors to look and me and go 'oh wow, this is his first film and he can go to the Oscars', it gets them going! "I'm still not over it... I'm going to the Oscars! It's every actor's dream," Cheweneyagae says.

Although this is not South Africa's first time at the Oscars, director Hood says being nominated for an Academy Award is a thrill because South Africa's film-making community is hardly vast. "We have a small industry at home in terms of the local product that we make - there's quite a big industry because a lot of the international production shoots there but in terms of our own local storytelling we're just beginning to make more than one film every couple of years."
Director Gavin Hood describes Tsotsi as a 'coming of age' story.Hood believes South Africa submitted Tsotsi to the Oscars because the film has a message of forgiveness, without being sugary sweet. Although South Africa continues to struggle with disease and inequality, Hood says South Africans are proud to have transitioned from apartheid to democracy without bloodshed, which he feels is reflected in his film. "I believe we have one central issue that we are proud of - and that is that we almost had a bloody revolution," he said. "Mandela and De Klerk and Tutu with the Truth and Reconciliation Commission brought us back. "Men like that really taught us about redemption and personal responsibility and forgiveness. And I think that these themes of redemption, forgiveness, and personal responsibility are themes that South Africans proudly understand. "That's at the core of Tsotsi and that was why it was put forward as South Africa's entry and we're really proud of that."

BBC NEWS REPORT.

U.K. TENNIS NUMERO UNO!!!

Murray is new British number one.

Coach Mark Petchey has joined Murray in Las Vegas this weekAndy Murray has been confirmed as the new British number one in the latest world rankings. The 18-year-old Scot replaces long-standing British number one Tim Henman, who slips to third behind Murray and Greg Rusedski. Murray moves up to 42 in the world after reaching the quarter-finals in Memphis last week and winning the San Jose title two weeks ago. Rusedski remains 43rd, while Henman has fallen nine places to 49th.
Murray's move to the top of the domestic rankings ends Henman's seven-year reign as Britain's top player, but the Scot has played down the achievement."It's not really that big a deal to be honest," said Murray. "Obviously you'd rather be British number one than British number 20, but I'd much rather have a higher world ranking than British because you don't play any tournaments that are just British players. "You're competing against the whole world and that's where you get your credit from the players from. "If you're number one in your country it's obviously nice but it doesn't mean anything to the other players, whereas if you're in the top 10 in the world that's pretty special."
Henman told his website: "I think it's great that Andy has been able to do as well as he has in such a short space of time, and it's great for British tennis to have three players inside the top 50 in the world. "Hopefully that will help inspire others to train just that little bit harder and believe that they can do it too." Murray continues his season this week with an opening match against Tommy Robredo in Las Vegas, where top seed Andy Roddick has withdrawn because of "weariness".

This week's ATP men's rankings

Henman and Rusedski are in action in Dubai alongside Roger Federer, Rafael Nadal, Andre Agassi and a returning Marat Safin. Henman takes on Feliciano Lopez on Tuesday, while Rusedski faces a tough challenge against Andre Agassi.

BBC NEWS REPORT.

ECHOS OF DARK PAST!

Police raids - watershed for Kenya.
By Karen Allen BBC News, Nairobi.

There is a genuine shock and amazement in Kenya that hooded armed police were used to raid media houses. Kenyans fear hard won press freedom has gone up in flames. For the past three years, the government has been applauded for opening up "democratic space", and allowing a fair degree of press freedom. The fact that the only response to come from government so far has been the colourful retort of Internal Security Minister John Michuki that "if you rattle a snake, you must expect to get bitten", smacks of arrogance to the minds of many here, and a government that has grown drunk with power.
Such is the level of dismay in the Kenyan press, amongst human rights activists and the legal profession, there is considerable pressure to ensure the government thinks twice about repeating these tactics. The storming of the offices of The Standard newspaper and its sister television station KTN, have prompted words such as "outrage" and "barbaric" in Kenya's newspapers. The United States described the behaviour as "thuggish" and diplomats have issued a statement calling for the government to explain its actions.
The reason why the raids are so significant is that they come at a time when the government of President Mwai Kibaki is looking weak and cornered. They are troubling too because they have occurred under an administration that came to power on a promise to adhere to the principles of democracy. A referendum defeat last year (a huge embarrassment for the president) led to the sacking of rebel ministers and the fragmentation of an already fragile coalition. That, coupled with recent allegations of grand corruption in the president's own newly formed cabinet, has led to high profile resignations and calls for further ministers to go.
President Kibaki is under pressure from several sides. So President Kibaki is losing friends among the very people that helped bring him to power and every twist and turn in his coalition's political demise has been picked over by the press. On the face of it, Thursday's raids seem to have been prompted by an article published last week in The Standard, claiming that a senior opposition figure who was one of the cabinet rebels sacked after the referendum defeat, had secret talks with President Mwai Kibaki. Both sides deny the meeting happened, but the fact that the politician in question, Kalonzo Musyoka, has added his voice to those condemning the police raids gives some measure of how alarmed many Kenyans feel.
Farida Karoney, managing editor of The Standard said the storming of their offices and the rounding up of staff reflected a "growing level of political intolerance" in the country. Thursday's raids mark a watershed. Some Kenyans fear that the actions of President Kibaki's government have an eerie echo of Kenya's dark past.

BBC NEWS REPORT.

FASCINATING FACT............

FASCINATING FACT -

CALLS ACROSS THE OCEAN GO ONE WAY BY SATELLITE,

AND THE OTHER BY UNDERSEA CABLE TO AVOID DELAYS!

A TRAGIC STORY

A life ended by child traffickers.
By Jane Elliott BBC News health reporter.

Mounriatou and her baby died, Mounriatou was just 16 when she was taken from her home in Togo to the oil-rich state of Gabon. Less than a year later she was dead from Aids after being gang-raped by a group of boatmen on her way to the "promised land". Just before she died she told aid workers her story.

Now the charity, Plan International, is fighting to stop child trafficking and keep children like Mounriatou safe in their own countries. Mounriatou's family were in dire financial straits. She had been forced to drop out of school to help her mother make a living frying bean nuts. One day a woman came to their village to see her mother and told of a life of riches in the Gabon. Mounriatou decided to go with her to seek her fortune and left without telling her mother. She was taken with four other women to the capital of Togo, Lome, and from there to Lagos, in Nigeria.
While waiting to move on from Lagos, Mounriatou had to work as a maid to survive. She worked for just 55 US cents a day and when Adama, the woman who had recruited her and the other women, returned she took all their earnings. By now she had a collected a group of 14 girls and moved them to a village in the southwest of Nigeria. She promised they would soon be heading for the Gabon, but for months they were forced to work to pay for their trip with street traders - and were raped nightly by the canoe men.

Mounriatou told charity workers: "Finally, we were told one night that we were leaving by sea early the following morning at dawn. "There were between 300 and 350 clandestine passengers and children were in the majority. "We spent five days on high seas trying to hide from the coastguards. "This made some of us sick and the canoe men got rid of those who were very ill by throwing them into the sea." Mounriatou was ill, but she managed to survive.

But when she reached the shore it became obvious that she was heavily pregnant and of no use to her 'mistress'. "I was six months pregnant due to the numerous sexual abuses meted on us by the canoe men to pay for our trip to the Gabon." Adama dumped her with just $18. She was taken to the Togo Embassy and left with the Catholic sisters until she gave birth. When she gave birth, both she and her child had Aids. The Togo Embassy helped her to return home and within nine months both she and her child were dead.

Each year thousands of children like Mounriatou are enticed or snatched from their homes in Africa and Asia with promises of a better life. They are subjected to enforced labour and many are abused or forced into prostitution, contracting HIV/Aids. Many of the children become sick and die because the health infrastructure in these countries is often poor.
Charity workers want the international community to stop more cases like Mounriatou's. Plan International works with local NGOs and the Togolese government. Children rescued from trafficking are being offered the chance of vocational training to help them build a new life.
In addition they will get basic medical and psycho-social support and monitoring. Stefanie Conrad, country director of Plan Togo, says: "Plan not only calls for the abolition of child slavery, we are also supporting children who have already been trafficked. Children who are intercepted or returned often have nowhere to turn to for help. "The staff at the few transit centres and shelters that do exist often lack the qualifications and experience to deal with these vulnerable children. Where there is no temporary shelter available, many children are held in jails on their journey home. "It is common for children who have been returned home to be trafficked again due to the lack of other opportunities at village level.

"There has been no support for children left traumatised and in of need psycho-social support. Plan is now working to provide this type of essential support."

BBC NEWS REPORT.

SECURITY FORCES IN ZIMBABWE ON ALERT!

Zimbabwe 'running out of wheat'.

The price of bread rose by 30% in one week. Zimbabwe has only two weeks of wheat supply left, while citizens are faced with soaring bread prices, Zimbabwe's main milling organisation has said. The cost of bread has risen by 30%, pushing Zimbabwe's inflation rate to more than 600%. Zimbabwe has been in economic decline since President Robert Mugabe began seizing white-owned farms in 2000. The government is reported to have put its security forces on alert in the rising discontent leads to protests.
David Govere, deputy chairman of the Millers Association, told AFP news agency the scarcity of wheat has meant a reduction in supplies to bakeries. Due to depleted stocks, GMB [state-run food distributor Grain Marketing Board] is now giving us 400 tons of wheat a week, down from 600 tons," he is quoted as saying. Shortages of wheat could force bakers to import flour from South Africa, which could lead to more price rises. A loaf of bread in Zimbabwe currently costs $66,000 Zimbabwean (66 US cents), having risen 30% in just one week. President Mugabe denies that his land reform programme has contributed to the crisis, blaming the effects of drought instead.

Zimbabwe's opposition Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) says the situation is becoming unbearable. "It's terrible right now because of shortages," Arthur Mutambara, leader of one of two factions of the MDC. "Fuel is not available, commodities are unaffordable, unemployment 80%, inflation above 600%. "It's a travesty of justice that the country has been so run down by Robert Mugabe's regime."

Zimbabwe's leading millers - National Foods, Blue Ribbon and Victoria Foods - have shut production at most of their mills because of the wheat shortage, according to AFP. International aid agencies say about 4.3m out of Zimbabwe's 13m people will require food aid until the next harvest in May. The country has suffered increasing food shortages, rising unemployment and runaway inflation since the government began redistributing seized white-owned farms six years ago. Economists say the rate of inflation could reach 1,000% by April.

BBC NEWS REPORT.

FASCINATING FACT............

PETROLEUM IS USED TO MAKE PRODUCTS

FROM ASPRINS AND TOOTHPASTE TO CDs,

AS WELL AS GASOLINE OR PETROL!

POLITICAL TEMPERATURE RISING IN NIGERIA!

Nigeria warns on political riots.

Police were unable to quell the killings. The Nigeria government says it will take tough action against politicians stirring up violence, after more than 100 deaths in religious riots. Information Minister Frank Nweke said the authorities had heard of plans to provoke student demonstrations during the forthcoming census. Nigeria's political temperature is rising ahead of next year's elections. President Olusegun Obasanjo, a southern Christian, has fallen out with Muslim Vice-President Atiku Abubakar. There are moves to change the constitution to enable Mr Obasanjo to contest a third term. These are being strongly resisted by Mr Abubakar's supporters, especially in the mainly Muslim north.

Mr Nweke said the government would not hesitate to crack down on "selfish, unpatriotic, unprogressive and criminally minded persons", who he said were planning unrest. Abubakar used to be a close ally of President Obasanjo"The identities of those who hide under the guise of religion to foment trouble and cause mayhem are also known. "They will be unmasked and punished according to the laws of the land," he added. He warned that high position would not protect troublemakers against arrest or prosecution. The clashes started with Muslim protests against the cartoons satirising the prophet Muhammad in the north. These overlapped with anti-third term protests and dozens of Christians were killed, sparking revenge attacks in the south.

Elections are not due to take place in Nigeria until next year, but the ruling party will soon have to choose its presidential candidate. The BBC's Elizabeth Blunt in Abuja says this has unleashed a round of furious - if secretive - political campaigning. Proposals to change the constitution and allow the president to seek re-election went to public consultation last week. If Mr Obasanjo were to stay on, our correspondent says it would dash the hopes of his Mr Abubakar, as well as a number of ambitious state governors - all of whom are keen to stand. It would mean that the same region - the Yoruba south-west - could hold on to the presidency for another four years, when other regions and religions think it is their turn. There is no love lost between the president and his deputy, and a number of Mr Abubakar's associates have already found themselves in trouble with the law or being investigated for financial malpractice.

Meanwhile, a national census is also stirring up strong feelings. So keen is every regional and religious group to prove its numerical strength that what should be a simple administrative exercise has become another fiercely contentious issue which - in the words of the information minister - is now "heating up the polity".

BBC NEWS REPORT.

EDITOR JAILED FOR GAY LIBEL!

Jail term for Cameroon gay libel. This is not the first such campaign in Cameroon. A Cameroon newspaper editor has been sentenced to four months in jail and to pay a fine for defaming a minister by saying he was gay. Jean Pierre Amougou Belinga must pay 1m CFA francs ($1,800) to the state and a symbolic franc to Minister for Parliamentary Affairs Gregoire Owona. He was one of 50 leading figures on a list published by L'Anecdote newspaper.

Homosexual acts are banned in Cameroon, with up to five years in jail. Hundreds of anti-gay protesters were at court. But the BBC's Randy Joe Sa'ah in Yaounde says the crowds were smaller than on other days of the trial. Like much of Africa, Cameroon is a conservative society, where homosexuality is frowned upon. But our correspondent says it is an open secret that homosexuality is alive in the country and that the law banning homosexual acts is rarely used.

Mr Belinga was not in court but a warrant for his arrest was not released. He was also ordered to publish the judgement in 15 local and international media. The judge said he had failed to prove that Mr Owona had had homosexual relations. Mr Belinga had supplied the court with the name of the minister's alleged gay partner but had not produced him in court. Mr Belinga's lawyer said he would appeal against the verdict.

Other newspaper joined in the campaign to "out" homosexuals, which proved very popular and sparked a national debate about gay rights and privacy. One newspaper had to have extra print runs. Last year, lobby group Human Rights Watch condemned the practice of forced anal examinations of those arrested on charges of having gay sex.

BBC NEWS REPORT.

ON THIS DAY

MOROCCO. ON THIS DAY, DECLARED ITS POLITICAL

INDEPENDENCE FROM FRANCE IN 1956!

THE 3 JOURNALISTS IN KENYA STILL HELD!

Kenya admits armed raids on paper. Thousands of copies of the Standard were burnt. Kenya's government has confirmed it ordered masked gunmen to storm a media group, disabling printing presses and briefly shutting its TV station. Internal Security Minister John Michuki said the raids on the Standard group in Nairobi were to protect state security. "If you rattle a snake, you must be prepared to be bitten by it," he said, amid protests by opposition MPs.

Three Standard journalists are still being held without charge following a story about President Mwai Kibaki. Both the president and senior opposition figure Kalonzo Musyoka deny a report in the Standard last week that they had been holding secret meetings. Energy and resources being used to crack down on the media need to be channelled toward the fight against corruption
Eddie Mandhry, New York.

Send us your comments
In pictures: Press raid

Detained at gunpoint. Initially, the information minister denied any knowledge of the raids while opposition leader Uhuru Kenyatta called the action a "dark day". The BBC's Karen Allen in Nairobi says the raids are being seen as an indicator of growing political tension in an administration facing charges of corruption. Three ministers have resigned this year after details of a corruption investigation were leaked to several newspapers. The US embassy in Nairobi has condemned the raids as "acts of thuggery [that] have no place in an open democratic society". In a statement, it said: "We note that these attacks were preceded by threats directed against the Standard from representatives of the Kenyan government." It urged the government to stop its "campaign of vilification and harassment of selected media".

Police Commissioner Jasper Ombati said he had evidence that journalists were being paid to incite ethnic hatred. He said that police officers routinely wore masks to hide their identities in sensitive cases. Three Standard journalists are still being held. Hooded men carrying AK-47 assault rifles raided the headquarters of the Standard group just after midnight. Staff were kicked and beaten and forced to lie on the floors as offices were searched and equipment taken away, the Standard newspaper said on its website.

"They kicked us as we went down, they frisked our pockets and took our belongings," one member of staff said. A similar raid was carried out about an hour later at the group's newspaper presses in the capital's industrial area. Thousands of copies of Thursday's edition of the newspaper were dragged out into the yard and set on fire. Meanwhile, another group of masked men went to the offices of the independent Kenya Television Network (KTN), a sister to the Standard. The station was off air until 1100GMT, and men carried away computers and transmission equipment, and detained four staff members.

Opposition MPs joined by more than 100 demonstrators marched from parliament to outside the Standard's offices in protest at the raids, which Standard group Chief Executive Tom Mshindi had condemned earlier. "If it is confirmed the action was sanctioned by the government, it would reflect badly on our country's claims to democracy and freedom of the media," he said.

President Kibaki's government has been rocked by graft allegations.Information Minister Mutahi Kagwe, a former Standard editor, initially denied any knowledge of the raid, saying he first learnt about it on television news reports. Kalonzo Musyoka, the former environment minister who was sacked after opposing a proposed new constitution and is named in the now controversial newspaper report, condemned the raids. "This is a very very dark morning for this beautiful country," he said.

The newspaper has been critical of President Kibaki's handling of recent corruption scandals. The three Standard journalists, Chaacha Mwita, Dennis Onyango and Ayub Savula were arrested on Tuesday following the publication of the most recent article. The government has repeatedly accused the Standard of fabricating stories.

BBC NEWS REPORT.

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BBC NEWS REPORT.

SOUTH AFRICAN LOCAL ELECTIONS!

SA local polls to test government.

The ANC is more concerned about apathy than the opposition. South Africans have voted in local elections seen as a big test for the African National Congress, which has governed the country since 1994. As President Thabo Mbeki cast his vote, he urged South Africans to turn out at polling stations in large numbers. However, although the ANC should win most seats, voter turnout appears to have been low across the country.
Frustration over the slow pace of service delivery has caused frustration and occasionally led to violence. At the Orlando West polling station in Soweto, there was a steady and orderly stream of people, old and young, casting their votes reports the BBC's Peter Biles. Heavy rain over the eastern half of the country left some polling stations cut off by floods, and ballot papers had to be flown in by helicopter.
The Independent Electoral Commission (IEC) reported that all stations were operating by the afternoon. In Cape Town, power cuts mean vote counting is set to take place by candlelight. Despite huge support nationally, the ANC has performed poorly at local level with the absence of a strong credible opposition weakening the country's young democracy. When President Mbeki cast his vote in Pretoria, he spoke of how important it was for voters to make the effort. "I hope that all our people, all 21 million [registered voters], will come out to vote because we need a very strong and legitimate local government," he told AP news agency.

Democratic Alliance (DA) leader Tony Leon predicted that his party would do better than the last local elections in 2000. Former President Nelson Mandela voted near his home in Johannesburg's Houghton suburb. "Even if I go to my grave I will wake up and come and vote," Mr Mandela said. Polls opened at 0700 (0500 GMT) across the country with more than 60,000 police officers and about 14,000 reservists deployed to ensure a peaceful vote.

Pictures of an angry township
Voting in pictures

As well as poor service delivery, corruption among local councillors is another major concern. In the past month, the government has also been troubled by protests in one particular township, Khutsong, 100km west of Johannesburg, where there has been opposition to planned municipal boundary changes.
The BBC News website's Justin Pearce in Khutsong says most voters there appeared to be boycotting the elections, with no more than 20 votes cast at polling booths there all morning. President Mbeki said Khutsong voters made up only a fraction of 1% of the country's 21 million voters. "I understand why you ask about them, but let's not concentrate only on them," he told journalists at the IEC headquarters in Pretoria.
Any discontent with the ANC is likely to be reflected by low voter turnout rather than by a swing to the opposition. Cape Town is one of the few parts of South Africa where the ANC does not have an overwhelming majority and could be defeated. The ANC is criticised for failing to deliver services to all.There is anger over 10 days of power cuts which the DA has used to illustrate what it says is the failure of the ANC government to deliver good services.
Polling stations are equipped with candles. The government blamed sabotage at the local nuclear reactor for the power cuts, but this suggestion has been dismissed by the opposition. "I think the fact that the power outages have happened in such a dramatic and unpleasant fashion reinforces the fact that we need to pay more attention to the basics and not just the politics," DA leader Tony Leon said after casting his vote.

BBC NEWS REPORT.

ON THIS DAY

CHARLES AUGUSTUS, INFANT SON OF THE AMERICAN AVIATOR

CHARLES LINDBERGH, WAS ABDUCTED ON THIS DAY,

FROM HIS NURSERY,

AND LATER FOUND DEAD IN 1932.

WELCOME TO THE MARDI GRAS!

New Orleans celebrates Mardi Gras.

Bourbon Street was bustling with Mardi Gras revellers. Tens of thousands of revellers have helped New Orleans celebrate its first Mardi Gras since it was devastated by Hurricane Katrina six months ago. While numbers appeared down on previous years, costumed celebrants still threw traditional beads to cheering crowds. Many wore costumes mocking local and federal services, whose response to the hurricane has been much criticised.

New York saluted the city by lighting up the Empire State Building in purple, green and gold - the carnival colours. New Orleans Mayor Ray Nagin said it was a "true honour". The carnival marks the day before the Christian period of Lent begins, and is traditionally a raucous occasion. Locals hoped the festivities would speed the city's recovery from the devastating flooding in August 2005. Mr Nagin insisted visitor numbers were "absolutely comparable in size" to previous years. 'We're not down' Carnival celebrations came to an end at midnight (0600GMT), although the party was expected to continue into the early hours in bars in the French Quarter.
During the parades, many revellers made reference to Hurricane Katrina in their costumes.

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Some wrapped themselves in the blue tarpaulins used to cover damaged roofs and others dressed as the mould which is present in many flood-damaged houses. One man wore a white blanket labelled "2,000lbs" and hung a model helicopter over his head to depict one of the sandbags dropped to try to prevent the floodwater spreading. Another group dressed as blind men with walking sticks and dark glasses, and wore T-shirts that read "levee inspector" - a reference to the breached levees that led to much of the flooding. Some of the floats showed signs of storm damage, with water marks and flaking paint. Carnival participant Snooky Meyaski saw his St Bernard Parish home swamped after Katrina, but said he was all for the carnival. "To pass it up would be to just tell the world, 'Hey, we're down for the count'," he said. "And we're not down for the count."

Others have criticised the decision to go ahead - Mardi Gras has been cancelled before in times of national emergency. Samuel Spears, now a refugee in Houston, said the footage of the festivities had made him more angry.

In pictures: Mardi Gras

"With them putting on Mardi Gras, without still having not addressed the basic human needs in this city, why that's just a slap in the face," he was quoted by the Associated Press news agency as saying. "I can't go home, but they can have a parade? That's ridiculous." Some say the carnival has highlighted continuing difficulties. Parades have passed through areas devastated by the flood, such as the Lower Ninth Ward. It comes as an opinion poll published by Gallup showed that the majority of residents believe that local corruption, rather than a lack of government help, is the biggest obstacle to rebuilding New Orleans. More than 1,300 people were killed across the states affected by Katrina - most of them in Louisiana. The population of New Orleans fell from nearly 500,000 to less than 200,000.

BBC NEWS REPORT.

ARE OUR PETS AT RISK FROM BIRD FLU?

Bird flu: Are pet cats at risk?
By Henri Astier BBC News

No need to lock up your cat. The discovery of a German cat who died of bird flu - the first mammal found with the H5N1 virus in Central Europe - raises stark questions for pet owners across the world. How easily can avian flu jump from birds to domestic animals? If a pet gets sick, should the owners be worried about their own health?
Scientists have known for at least two years that felines could catch the deadly bird flu virus. It was found in 2004 in Thailand in two domestic cats. Big cats who had been fed infected chicken carcasses in a Thai zoo were also killed by H5N1. And last year, wild civet cats died after contracting the virus. Cats tend to go for sick birds, so it is not unexpected if cats catch and kill infected birds
Dr Paul HunterUniversity of East AngliaSo the discovery of the dead German cat in an area where dozens of birds had died from H5N1 does not come as a big surprise. Paul Hunter, professor of health protection at the University of East Anglia in the UK, points out that like all predators, felines hunt weaker animals. "Cats tend to go for sick birds, so it is not unexpected if cats catch and kill infected birds," he told the BBC news website. The risk of cats getting the H5N1 virus is real. But according Dr Hunter, it is "not huge". He notes that in affected areas in Asia, where people live in close proximity with poultry, hundreds of thousands of humans have handled infected birds - and yet less than 200 are known to have contracted the virus.

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The H5N1 strain does not jump easily to other species - and this applies to cats as well.
However, Professor Peter Openshaw, head of respiratory infections at London's Imperial College, believes the German discovery represents a worrying development. He says intimate contact between cats and their owners heightens the risk of transfer and potentially lethal mutation. "It would be a risk because of the very intimate contact that people have with their cats," he said.
Professor Openshaw fears the development also increases the risk of the virus strain mutating into one that passes more readily between humans - a scenario that scientists fear will create a devastating global pandemic. "Generally, when a virus makes an excursion into a [new] species, it is under considerable evolutionary pressure to mutate... Typically this is followed by a period of rapid mutation and then stabilisation within new species. "This certainly adds to the concern that it may transmit to humans."
But Dr Hunter argues that there is little cause for alarm on that count as well. "The risk of your cat getting bird flu from a bird is small, the risk of your getting it from your cat is equally small. A small risk within a small risk is a very small risk," he says.
Poultry could provide the best vehicle for the virusBut the issue - both for pets and humans - is whether the H5N1 virus mutates within the host population. According to a 2004 paper by Dutch virologist Thijs Kuiken, cat-to-cat transmission is possible and could provide an "opportunity for this avian flu to adapt to mammals". But for the time being experts are telling people not to panic. "The thought to hang on to at the moment is the current strains of the virus appear to be really inefficient at infecting non-bird species," says the head of the British Veterinary Association, Frieda Scott-Park. "And indeed the virus has been circulating throughout large swathes of the world already, and there haven't been numerous deaths from the disease in domestic mammals."

Nevertheless, Professor Openshaw believes there is now a case for keeping cats indoors in risk areas. Vaccination of animals that bring us into close contact with it seems to be a high priority
Professor Peter OpenshawImperial College, London"It also raises the question of whether cats should be vaccinated... Vaccination of animals that bring us into close contact with it seems to be a high priority." He urged a new focus on vaccines that are broadly protective rather than too specific, to improve chances of general protection. But he admitted there was little incentive for pharmaceutical firms because such research had a high risk of failure with the prospect of low financial returns. "In a situation where it is becoming endemic, vaccination seems a way forward. Relying on anti-virals is not realistic."

BBC NEWS REPORT.

US HOSTAGE RELEASED!

Nigeria militants free US hostage

Militants allowed Mr Hawkins to talk to reporters last FridayOne of the nine foreign oil workers being held hostage by militants in southern Nigeria has been released. Macon Hawkins, a US citizen, was handed over to journalists who met militants on a river in the Niger Delta. Mr Hawkins, 69, said it felt great to be free. He said the other eight hostages were in good health and he was hopeful they would be released soon.

The militants have been demanding a greater share of the region's oil wealth for local Ijaw people. Their attacks have led to a 20% drop in Nigeria's oil exports. The handover took place in the western Niger Delta. Armed with machine-guns and rocket-propelled grenades, the militants appeared out of the mango creeks to deliver Mr Hawkins.

Nigeria's oil hope and despair
The shadowy oil militants

The militants from the Movement for the Emancipation of the Niger Delta (Mend) said they were releasing Mr Hawkins - who turned 69 on Wednesday - for humanitarian reasons. "He was released on account of his age and poor health with a stern warning not to return to the Niger Delta unless as a visitor," a statement by the Mend said. "No ransom for him or any other hostage has been demanded or received," the statement said.

Mr Hawkins, who suffers from diabetes, is now being handed over to US officials in Nigeria. The nine hostages - three Americans, two Thais, two Egyptians, a Briton and a Filipino - are all employees of US oil services company Willbros. They were seized on a boat on 18 February while laying a pipeline for Shell.

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U.S. HOSTAGE FREED IN NIGERIA!

Nigeria militants free US hostage.

Militants allowed Mr Hawkins to talk to reporters last Friday. One of the nine foreign oil workers being held hostage by militants in southern Nigeria has been released. Macon Hawkins, a US citizen, was handed over to journalists who met militants on a river in the Niger Delta. Mr Hawkins, 69, said it felt great to be free. He said the other eight hostages were in good health and he was hopeful they would be released soon.
The militants have been demanding a greater share of the region's oil wealth for local Ijaw people. Their attacks have led to a 20% drop in Nigeria's oil exports. The handover took place in the western Niger Delta. Armed with machine-guns and rocket-propelled grenades, the militants appeared out of the mango creeks to deliver Mr Hawkins.

Nigeria's oil hope and despair
The shadowy oil militants

The militants from the Movement for the Emancipation of the Niger Delta (Mend) said they were releasing Mr Hawkins - who turned 69 on Wednesday - for humanitarian reasons. "He was released on account of his age and poor health with a stern warning not to return to the Niger Delta unless as a visitor," a statement by the Mend said. "No ransom for him or any other hostage has been demanded or received," the statement said.

Mr Hawkins, who suffers from diabetes, is now being handed over to US officials in Nigeria. The nine hostages - three Americans, two Thais, two Egyptians, a Briton and a Filipino - are all employees of US oil services company Willbros. They were seized on a boat on 18 February while laying a pipeline for Shell.

BBC NEWS REPORT.