ON MY TRAVELS

THIS IS JUST TO LET YOU ALL KNOW THAT I AM OFF ON MY TRAVELS AGAIN - I WILL BE BACK ..................................

BRAZIL MEETS OIL NEEDS WITIH A RIG!

Brazil meets oil needs with rig.
By Steve Kingstone BBC News, Sao Paulo.

Brazil now expects to become a net oil exporter. Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva has opened a vast new oil rig which will enable the country to be self-sufficient in oil production.
Costing more than $600 million (£337m), the platform will generate 180,000 barrels a day. The total amount of oil produced by Brazil now exceeds the amount consumed by its people. In the past, South America's largest country had been painfully dependent on imported oil. Friday's opening of the rig was greeted with some patriotic fanfare. For decades Brazil relied on other countries to supply it with oil - a dependency that proved disastrous during the two oil shocks of the 1970s. Then, as prices soared, the Brazilian government had to borrow heavily to meet its energy needs, triggering a destructive cycle of debt and inflation.

Against that backdrop, Friday's opening of the rig off the coast of Rio de Janeiro is being seen as a major step forward in the nation's development. Dressed in orange overalls, Lula personally flipped the switch to start production. As the flow began, the president gleefully drenched his hands in Brazilian oil. The state-controlled energy company, Petrobras, says the new rig will increase national production to 1.9m barrels of oil a day - slightly more than the quantity Brazil consumes. Self-sufficiency is quite an achievement for a country that only discovered off-shore oil 30 years ago.

And with global prices on Friday hitting $75 a barrel, it has come at an opportune moment. "It's an extraordinary achievement, a privilege only a few countries have," Lula said. Looking ahead, Brazil now hopes to become a net exporter of oil, taking advantage of deep-sea drilling technology that is considered some of the best in the world.

BBC NEWS REPORT.

BENGALI REMAINS GIVEN BACK!

Bengali hero's remains given back.
By Zaffar Abbas BBC News, Islamabad.

Rehman was given the highest Bangladeshi gallantry award. Pakistan has agreed to hand over to Bangladesh the remains of a Bengali air force officer after 35 years. Flight Lieutenant M Matiur Rehman, now a decorated war hero in Bangladesh, died in August 1971. He was killed while trying to fly away with a Pakistan air force jet, just before Bangladesh's independence. The move follows a formal request from Bangladesh Prime Minister Begum Khalida Zia during a recent visit to Islamabad, the foreign office told the BBC. Pakistani foreign ministry spokesperson Tasneem Aslam called it a goodwill gesture, but declined to comment on the tricky issue which was linked to the Bengali air officer's role in the struggle for the creation of Bangladesh. An official of Bangladesh's High Commission in Islamabad said arrangements were being finalised to take Rehman's remains to Dhaka, but did not give any date.

Rehman was a flight lieutenant in the Pakistani air force when he attempted to hijack a jet aircraft during a training flight. Pakistan has always maintained that the trainee pilot, Rashid Minhas, prevented the attempted hijacking, which resulted in the aircraft crashing shortly before leaving Pakistani airspace on 20 August, 1971. Both Rehman and Minhas were killed. Minhas was immediately decorated with Pakistan's highest gallantry award, the Nishan-e-Haider, and Rehman declared a traitor. But as East Pakistan became Bangladesh in December 1971 after the country's war with India, the newly independent state declared Rehman as one of its war heroes.

He was decorated with Bangladesh's highest military honour - the Bir Sreshtho. Once the remains are taken back to Dhaka, they will be buried with full military honours, the Bangladesh high commission official said.

BBC NEWS REPORT.

MISSILE EXPORTS TO IRAN ALARM USA.

Iran's military plans are a matter of concern to Washington. Washington has asked Moscow to reconsider selling Iran anti-aircraft missiles as the crisis over its nuclear programme continues.
Russia plans to sell Tehran 29 TOR M1 mobile surface-to-air missile defence systems in a deal said to be worth about US $700 million (£392m).
"This is not time for business as usual with the Iranian government," a top US state department official said. The US also urged other states like China to review defence sales to Iran.
"There are a lot of countries that allow the export of dual-use technologies, and the position of the United States is that should be prohibited," said Undersecretary of State Nicholas Burns. This is not time for business as usual with the Iranian government
Nicholas BurnsUS undersecretary of state
"All countries should refrain from military sales and arm sales."
Speaking about the Russian missiles, he said:
"We hope and we trust that that deal will not go forward because this is not time for business as usual with the Iranian government."
Russia and China are both strongly resisting attempts to impose United Nations sanctions on Iran, which the US and other Western states believes is pursuing nuclear weapons.
The US arms appeal is a sign of increasing concern in Washington at the speed with which Iran is pursuing its programme, the BBC's Jonathan Beale reports from Washington.
New report
Russia says it has to see concrete proof that Iran's nuclear programme - which it is supplying with technology - is not peaceful.

IAEA POSITION - In resolutions on Iran the IAEA has said:
There is an "absence of confidence that Iran's nuclear programme is exclusively for peaceful purposes"
Iran had failed to meet obligations on reporting of nuclear activities, and had a "policy of concealment"
The agency was "still not in a position to conclude that there are no undeclared nuclear materials or activities in Iran"
IAEA resolution
The UN's position is that so far no proof has emerged that Iran is seeking nuclear weapons but nor has Iran proved that it is not.
The UN Security Council is awaiting a report from Mohamed ElBaradei, head of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), next week.
Tehran has defied UN calls to stop nuclear activity, saying last week it had successfully enriched uranium.
However it denies any nuclear weapons plans, saying it wants nuclear power only for energy purposes.
Iran's ambassador to the IAEA said on Friday Tehran would "continue its full co-operation" with the body.
But the IAEA says Iran has not co-operated fully, and one of its senior inspectors has called off a visit to the country that was supposed to have taken place on Friday.

CARDINAL BACKS LIMITED CONDOM USE!

Cardinal backs limited condom use

Cardinal Martini is one of the Church's most prominent leaders. One of the Roman Catholic Church's most distinguished cardinals has publicly backed the use of condoms among married couples to prevent Aids transmission. Cardinal Carlo Maria Martini said that in couples where one had HIV/Aids, which could pass to the partner, the use of condoms was "a lesser evil". The Vatican says condoms should never be used, even to stop Aids spreading from one married partner to another. The Church teaches that abstinence is the best way to tackle disease.

Cardinal Martini, who used to be Archbishop of Milan, made the comments in an interview with the Italian weekly magazine l'Espresso. In it he says that the fight against Aids, which has caused more than three million deaths, mostly in sub-Saharan Africa, must be pursued by all available means. The Vatican has made no official comment on the article, in which the cardinal also raises the possibility of single mothers adopting abandoned children.

But the BBC's David Willey in Rome says that such matters are an increasingly important subject of discussion in Church circles. According to insistent reports, Cardinal Martini was a close runner-up in last year's papal election.

BBC NEWS REPORT.

US STEPS UP FIGHT ON CHILD PORN!

Alberto Gonzales says child pornography is widespread online. The Bush administration is pushing for tougher measures to combat child pornography online. The proposals were announced by US Attorney General, Alberto Gonzales, who said that the net had created an "epidemic" of child pornography. He said the internet encouraged paedophiles to create "new and increasingly vulgar material". The comments were made in a speech at the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children in Virginia. Mr Gonzales highlighted the problem of adults preying on children in chat rooms and networking sites with the purpose of making sexual contact. He quoted a study that said one in every five children is solicited online. "It is simply astonishing how many predators there are, and how aggressive they act," he said.

In his speech, Mr Gonzales also detailed examples of graphic sexual and physical abuse investigated by the US Immigrations and Customs Enforcement. It included what he described as "molestation on demand", where a child is abused as others watch live through streaming video. Some of the offences were committed abroad but viewed by people in the US. New technology such as file-sharing meant that law enforcement agencies are no longer able to control child pornography. "Sadly, the internet age has created a vicious cycle in which child pornography continually becomes more widespread, more graphic, more sadistic, using younger and younger children," he said.

In response, he announced proposed changes in the law under the Child Pornography and Obscenity Prevention Amendments of 2006. The proposals have been sent to Congress and include new laws that will require ISPs to report child pornography and bolster penalties for those companies that fail to do so. Mr Gonzales also said that he is also investigating ways to ensure that ISPs retain records of a user's web activities to track down offenders. "The investigation and prosecution of child predators depends critically on the availability of evidence that is often in the hands of internet service providers," he said. "Unfortunately, the failure of some internet service providers to keep records has hampered our ability to conduct investigations in this area."

In the UK some ISP's have already taken the initiative on this issue. Companies like BT already block access to sites it believes contain child pornography. The telecoms giant says that its servers block 35,000 attempts to view child porn each day.

BBC NEWS REPORT.

CHARLES TRIBUTE TO 'DARLING MAMA'

Charles's tribute

Prince Charles has paid tribute to his "darling Mama" on her 80th birthday. The "proud and loving son" thanked The Queen for the "many wonderful qualities she has brought to almost an entire lifetime of service and dedication". The message was broadcast ahead of a private black-tie dinner for The Queen and close family at Kew Palace. The event, which began with fireworks, marked the climax of the celebrations. Earlier The Queen met thousands of well-wishers at a walkabout in Windsor. The Queen and Prince Philip arrived at Kew Palace in the Royal Botanic Gardens in Kew, west London, for the birthday dinner at about 2000 BST.

BIRTHDAY DINNER GUESTS
The Queen, Prince Philip
The Prince of Wales, Duchess of Cornwall, Prince William, Prince Harry
The Duke of York, Princess Eugenie, Princess Beatrice
The Earl and Countess of Wessex
The Princess Royal, Rear Admiral Tim Laurence, Peter and Zara Phillips
The Duke and Duchess of Gloucester (Queen's cousin and spouse)
The Duke and Duchess of Kent (cousin and spouse)
Prince and Princess Michael of Kent (cousin and spouse)
Princess Alexandra (cousin)
Viscount and Viscountess Linley (nephew and spouse)
Lady Sarah Chatto and Mr Daniel Chatto (niece and spouse)

Queen marks 80th at Windsor

The Queen and her guests enjoyed a three-course dinner which included delicacies from the Royal estates. Hebridean smoked salmon, Juniper-roast loin of Sandringham Estate venison and birthday chocolate sponge cake filled with a Highgrove fruit filling, were among the delights. Along with immediate family members, others in attendance at the dinner include The Queen's cousins, niece and nephew. Prince of Wales, Camilla and Prince Harry were the first to arrive, followed by the late Princess Margaret's children, Lady Sarah Chatto and Viscount Linley Chatto and their spouses. Prince William, accompanied by his cousin Zara Phillips, turned up next as scores of schoolchildren waving Union flags cheered.

In his message, which was broadcast on TV and radio, Charles reminisced about life in the royal household as he was growing up and wished his mother the "happiest of birthdays". Ahead of the Coronation, he said, he had vivid memories "of my mother coming to say goodnight to my sister and me while wearing the crown so that she could get used to its weight". She has shown the most remarkable steadfastness and fortitude, always remaining a figure of reassuring calm and dependability.

Charles's tribute in full

The heir to the throne also spoke about his separation from his parents as a child while they were away on overseas tours in the 1950s and his joy at being reunited with them. "I remember too the excitement of being reunited with our parents when my sister and I sailed out in the then-brand new yacht Britannia, to meet them off Tobruk at the Commonwealth Coronation Tour in 1954 - a tour that had lasted over six months and taken in 13 countries," he said. He concluded: "There is no doubt that the world in which my mother grew up and, indeed, the world in which she first became Queen, has changed beyond all recognition. "But during all those years she has shown the most remarkable steadfastness and fortitude, always remaining a figure of reassuring calm and dependability - an example to so many of service, duty and devotion in a world of sometimes bewildering change and disorientation."

BBC News royal correspondent June Kelly said it was interesting he focused on his mother's absences abroad, because relations between the pair had been strained and Charles had reportedly said she had been remote. The prince was "given to introspection and he would have put an awful lot of thought into this", she added. "But at the end of the day it is just a very warm tribute to a mother on this landmark birthday."

Earlier, Charles thanked well-wishers at the Gordon Highlanders Museum, Aberdeen, which he was officially reopening after a £1.2m refurbishment. During the informal walkabout in Windsor, the band of the Irish Guards played Happy Birthday and crowds of about 20,000 cheered. The Queen - dressed in a vibrant pink coat and hat - accepted gifts, cards and flowers as she and Prince Philip walked around the town for 45 minutes. The crowd unfurled Union Jacks and birthday banners over police security barriers.

Earlier in the day, some 300 well-wishers in New Zealand, the first Commonwealth country to celebrate the Queen's 80th, spelt out: "EIIR 80" on Government House's lawn, in Wellington. Also among the birthday messages was a special visual tribute from 500 crew members of the Royal Navy aircraft carrier HMS Illustrious, who lined up in formation to spell out 'Happy 80th'.
And the Queen thanked the 40,000 or so people who had sent her cards and e-mails, saying they had helped make the day a "special one". The Queen's birthday present from the Cabinet was a china tea set made by Spode pottery in Staffordshire. The prime minister's official spokesman said Buckingham Palace had indicated it was "something the Queen specifically would like".

BBC NEWS REPORT.

US PROTOCOL CRUMBLES ON HU VISIT!

US protocol crumbles on Hu visit

By Jonathan Beale BBC News, Washington It seemed to be going so well. Chinese President Hu Jintao had arrived in the other Washington - State, not DC - happily adapting to his role as the leader of a new global power. Secret Service staff quickly moved to hush the protester Even his reserve and awkwardness appeared to fade as he rubbed shoulders with the chairman and founder of Microsoft, Bill Gates. The world's new "big spender" with the world's richest man. President Hu was warmly embraced by the staff of Boeing - buoyed by his promises to buy more of their planes. He even donned a baseball cap! Was this a sign that these two great countries' mutual suspicions were melting away? Even the White House had appeared to throw caution to the wind. Okay, this was not the official state visit that the Chinese government had wanted, but when President Hu arrived in Washington DC he still received a 21-gun salute, a guard of honour and marching bands - all witnessed by every senior figure of the Bush administration. Blacked out But it then all unravelled. The Chinese may have been willing to overlook the foul-up as their National Anthem was introduced as that of "the Republic of China" - the other name for Taiwan - the part of China that has rebelled and broken away from the mainland and sought security from the United States. But to have their president's speech interrupted by not just a protester, but one from the banned quasi-religious group Falun Gong, would have been difficult to swallow. In Beijing, television screens showing the BBC and CNN went to black as the cameras focused on Wang Wenyi shouting out "President Hu, your days are numbered". President Bush apologised to his Chinese guest for this unfortunate incident - but it showed the gulf that remains between these two countries. The Falun Gong protester was only reflecting a wider disgust in Washington over China's human rights record. And American concerns are not just confined to that one issue. Republicans and Democrats are worried about the growing trade imbalance. The Bush administration wants China to play a more active role in confronting the threat from Iran and North Korea's nuclear programme. President Hu may in the end feel he got what he came for - a show of respect from the world's only superpower for the new kid on the block. But discussions between the two leaders failed to produce anything concrete and the United States is still uncertain as to whether China will live up to its challenge of becoming a "responsible stakeholder" in the international community. Relations may have improved - but there is still a lack of trust. That one protester may have done everyone a favour by reminding us that China and America - whatever their common interests - are still poles apart. BBC NEWS REPORT.

QUEEN CELEBRATES 80TH AT WINDSOR!

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Queen celebrates 80th at Windsor.

Some of the crowd sang to the Queen as she stopped to chatThe Queen has met thousands of wellwishers at an informal walkabout in Windsor, on her 80th birthday. The band of the Irish Guards played Happy Birthday and the crowd cheered as she emerged from Windsor Castle. The Queen - dressed in a vibrant pink coat and hat - accepted gifts, cards and flowers as she and Prince Philip walked around the town for 45 minutes.

Later she will join her family for a private dinner to be hosted by Prince Charles at Kew Palace. The Queen earlier thanked the thousands of people who sent her cards and messages. They had helped make the day a "special one", she said. I have been very touched by what you have written and would like to express my gratitude.

Buckingham Palace said the Queen had received 20,000 cards and 17,000 e-mails - sent via her 80th-birthday website. She said: "I would like to thank the many thousands of people from this country and overseas who have sent me cards and messages on my 80th birthday. "I have been very touched by what you have written and would like to express my gratitude to you all."

BBC NEWS REPORT.

ON THIS DAY

THE NEW CITY OF BRASILIA, ON THIS DAY, WAS INAUGURATED

AS THE MODERN CAPITAL OF BRAZIL, IN 1960

SWISS HUNKS TO WOO WORLD CUP WIDOWS!

In pictures: Swiss advert

The Swiss Tourist Board hopes scenes of bare-chested hunks tossing hay in mountain valleys will entice women dreading a summer of World Cup boredom. While husbands are glued to television sets, Switzerland has a whole lot more to offer, suggests the TV advert. A swarthy mountaineer gives a steamy look, while Mr Switzerland 2005 gently milks a cow's udders and a voice asks: "Ladies, why don't you spend this summer in Switzerland, where men focus less on football and more on you?"

Switzerland Tourism spokesman Oliver Kerstholt says the advertisement for the Alternative Ladies' Programme is not, of course, encouraging ladies to play away from home during the action in Germany. "As our neighbouring country is hosting the World Cup, we thought what can we do to benefit?" he told the BBC News website. "Mostly men will be interested in the games going on, so we thought: let's focus on the women who, in general, tend to be less interested in soccer." So Switzerland Tourism has a variety of offers tailored for "football widows" - from golf sessions and glacier adventures to relaxing weekend breaks and shopping.

Mr Kerstholt says the advertisement was intended for television but it has already attracted interest from around the world, despite only having been broadcast on the internet. For those planning a family holiday over the World Cup period, one firm advertising on the tourist board's website aims to cater for all: "While dad watches the football World Cup, mum enjoys the delights of a massage and the kids set off in search of Zwerg Bartli the dwarf." An added bonus is that "every time the German or Swiss team scores a goal each hotel guest is treated to a glass of champagne and for every win the reward is a whole bottle of champagne".

And there is the one potential hiccup - the Swiss team has actually qualified for the tournament for the first time since 1994, so Swiss beefcakes may have other things on their mind after all.
But there is always Swiss chocolate.

BBC NEWS REPORT.

NIGERIAN CAR BOMB ATTACK!

Attacks by the militants has cut Nigeria's oil production by 25. %Nigerian militants have claimed responsibility for exploding a car bomb at an army barracks in the southern oil city of Port Harcourt. Two people died in the attack a day after the Movement for the Emancipation of the Niger Delta renewed its threat to target oil installations. On Wednesday, Mend rejected plans announced by President Olusegun Obasanjo to develop the Niger Delta. The militants are demanding more local control of the region's oil wealth. In recent months there has been an upsurge of attacks on foreign oil interests which have cut the country's oil production by 20%. This has cost Nigeria millions of dollars of lost revenue and helped to drive up world oil prices.

In a statement, Mend said the attack which killed two people and critically injured six more on Wednesday night "was symbolic rather than strategic". The group said the attack was a warning to the Nigerian military and the oil companies in the area and proved that the Nigerian military was incapable of protecting itself, let alone protecting the oil industry. "We suddenly heard one heavy bang and saw fire shoot up and everybody fled," nearby witness Tekena Lawson told AP news agency.

The shadowy oil militants

Military spokesman Maj Sagir Musa said explosives were placed in a Mercedes car parked inside the barracks and were detonated by remote control. He said a number of civilians on the base were caught in the blast but he said no military personnel were hurt. The BBC's Alex Last in Lagos says the use of a car bomb by militants is new. Most previous militant attacks have been carried out among the creeks of the Niger Delta, not inside a major city like Port Harcourt.
It is also the first time Mend has claimed responsibility for an operation in the eastern Niger Delta. So far, their attacks have been confined to the west, our correspondent says. Recently the militants announced it would stop taking hostages and use different tactics in its campaign to gain greater local control of the area's oil wealth.

Mend says the government's development plan announced this week was trying to remedy 50 years of injustice with the promise of menial jobs. The oil militants rejected President Obasanjo's development planAt the first meeting of a council set up to speed up development in the Niger Delta, President Obasanjo promised thousands more jobs and a $1.8bn (£1bn) motorway project for the oil-rich region. Despite being home to Nigeria's oil industry for more than 50 years, there is acute poverty in the Delta. Our reporter says the militants' grievances were not addressed at the meeting. Although there have been promises of development in the past, few have become reality, he says. In recent months, Mend have kidnapped foreign oil workers and warned them to leave the Delta. Nigeria is the world's eighth largest oil exporter.

BBC NEWS REPORT.

UGANDA TREASON WITNESS 'IS SICK'!

Kizza Besigye is accused of working with the LRA rebels. The star prosecution witness in the treason trial of Ugandan opposition leader Kizza Besigye has appeared in court, scotching reports she had fled. Jennifer Aryemo said she needed an operation on her left ear and may need a hearing aid. Correspondents say this raised laughter in court, following accusations she was being coached via an earpiece hidden under a wig and a headscarf. Dr Besigye denies meeting rebels and says the charges are political.

Judge Vincent Kagaba, who on Wednesday gave prosecutors a day to produce their witness in court, warned Ms Aryemo, 34, that she would have to return to finish her testimony. "If you stop at this stage, your evidence will be treated as useless," he said. Deputy Director of Public Prosecution (DPP) Simon Byabakama Mugenyi asked for an apology from the defence lawyers who had said Ms Aryemo had fled the country. She has told the court that Dr Besigye had sent her to meet the Lord's Resistance Army rebels in 2001.

After defence accusations she was being coached last week, the judge ordered her not to wear her "mountainous headgear" the next time she appeared in the witness stand. Earlier this month, Dr Besigye lost an appeal against his election defeat to President Yoweri Museveni in February. Last month, a judge dismissed rape charges against him, saying the prosecution case had been "crude and amateurish".

BBC NEWS REPORT.

QUEEN VISITS BBC ON HER BIRTHDAY TOUR!

The Queen has met a host of BBC stars at Broadcasting House in central London on the day before her birthday. The monarch chatted to broadcasters including Sir Terry Wogan, John Humphrys and Chris Moyles. Earlier, she heard a debate about world politics during a visit to the Royal Institute of International Affairs at Chatham House. Both organisations were granted their royal charters in 1926, the same year the Queen was born. The visits come on the day an official photograph of the Queen by Lord Snowdon was released to mark her 80th birthday. The Queen has been celebrating her birthday with a variety of events spread over the week.

The Queen wore a dark blue suit and hat for her visits on Thursday.Sir Terry said afterwards he had been asked by the Queen how long he had worked for the BBC. "I said the old joke, I have never worked here, Ma'am, I haven't worked for 40 years," he said. He joked: "There was a long line of presenters and as she came in she first went over to Radio One, and I must say full marks to her for pretending to know who they were." He added that the Queen was also shown a copy of the royal charter during her tour of Broadcasting House, the home of BBC radio. Mr Humphrys, presenter of Radio Four's Today programme, said afterwards he had quizzed the Queen as to why Cuba's leader, who is also soon to be 80, was not among birthday guests at Buckingham Palace.
"I suggested it was a bit mean not to invite Fidel Castro to the Palace because he's 80 as well and she didn't seem to think it was a very good idea," he said. Radio One breakfast presenter Chris Moyles said he had wished the Queen a happy birthday. "She asked me what time I got up," he said. "And I said I was tired but it wasn't that early. I told her I listened to Wogan and John on the radio in bed and then get up. She said 'oh lovely'. "She seemed sweet enough."

Historical links.

The Queen also officially re-opened part of the refurbished Broadcasting House. During her BBC tour the monarch was shown other items symbolising the corporation's past and its future. These included an ipod loaded with podcasts, digital radio technology, and a microphone her grandfather, King George V, used for his Christmas broadcasts.

Earlier on Thursday, the Queen visited the Royal Institute of International Affairs, one of the world's leading bodies for the analysis of international issues. The Queen, who is patron of the organisation, heard a debate on the future of the world. The event was held behind closed doors.
After her visit, Baroness Williams, one of Chatham House's presidents, said: "The Queen has become much more relaxed in her 80th year - she has a lovely smile. Before she was quite shy".
"She's much more at ease, she smiles at people and relaxes with them. She's like a great oak tree - she's blossoming again." The Queen will spend her birthday on Friday at Windsor Castle, where Prince Charles will host a family dinner.

SHOT TO KILL CURFEW IN NEPAL!

Protests have spread across NepalAn 18-hour curfew is force in the Nepalese capital, Kathmandu, ahead of a major demonstration planned by opposition parties. Ten people have been killed at rallies in two weeks of protests calling for an end to King Gyanendra's direct rule.
Authorities have said anyone violating the curfew would be "shot on sight". The BBC's Sanjoy Majumder in the capital Kathmandu says protests have already started in some parts of the city, despite the curfew. Thursday's pro-democracy rally, planned in defiance of a ban on public meetings, would mark the start of the third week of countrywide marches and strikes. The government has accused Maoist rebels have infiltrated rallies to sow violence.

We have been very concerned about the closing of the space for peaceful demonstrations in Nepal - Kieran Dwyer, UN human rights spokesman

Growing anger against king
In pictures: Nepal protests

Soldiers are pushing back the few people who have ventured out, our correspondent says. "We are just ordinary people, not members of any political party. This is a peaceful protest. Yet the king has declared a curfew," said 27-year-old resident Sudarshan Rimal. A few groups of tourists escorted by the police have left for the airport to catch flights. A group of people have gathered in the Samakhusi area defying the curfew. Nepali Congress party leader Shobhakar Parajuli told the AFP news agency that demonstrations would go ahead despite the curfew. "The state has taken every step to repress our movement," he said. "We will not remain silent, we will defy the curfew order and stage demonstrations as scheduled," he said. The curfew does not extend outside Kathmandu and protesters are expected to gather on the outskirts of the capital.

Locals and tourists in Nepal give their views on the crisis -
In pictures

In addition to the curfew, the government has doubled the period of detention orders on a number of imprisoned human rights campaigners and opposition politicians. In previous curfews over the past two weeks, passes were issued to tourist, press, diplomatic and emergency vehicles. Wednesday was the 14th day of a nationwide shutdown called by the opposition, angered by the king's decision to sack his government and assume direct powers in February 2005. In what was the worst day of violence since the protests began, security forces opened fire on protesters in the eastern town of Chandragardi, killing four people and wounding dozens.
Reports from inside the town, 600km (370 miles) east of the capital, suggest that at one point the crowd of anti-royal demonstrators started to run. The security forces are said to have channelled protesters towards a stadium and then opened fire.

International condemnation of the crackdown has been growing. In a BBC interview a spokesman for the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights in Nepal, Kieran Dwyer, expressed concern over the "escalation of excessive use of force" by the authorities. An envoy from India - which borders Nepal and is a major ally - is visiting to try to help defuse the crisis. In talks on Thursday, Karan Singh is expected to try and bring pressure on the monarch to take concrete steps towards reconciliation with the political parties. Indian Foreign Secretary Shyam Saran is also expected to attend the talks amid increasing concern in India about the political crisis. In advance of the envoy's arrival, the Nepalese authorities released two senior opposition figures - the Communist Party (UML) leader Madhav Kumar Nepal and Ram Chandra Poudel of Nepali Congress - after three months in detention.
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BBC NEWS REPORT

ERROR STRIKES THE BBC CLIMATE MODEL!

Error strikes BBC climate model .

Climateprediction.net uses the power of thousands of ordinary PCs A "major error" has been discovered in the world's biggest online climate prediction project, backed by the BBC. The fault in a Climateprediction.net model launched in February causes temperatures in past climates to rise quicker than seen in observations. The program, which runs on users' computers when they are idle, aims to generate forecasts of climate change. The project scientists have now restarted the model but say the data collected so far is still useful. "At some point in the future we may have down an experiment like this anyway," Myles Allan, principle investigator of the project told the BBC News website. "People have not been wasting their time." Global dimming Climateprediction.net was established more than two years ago but a new computer model, was launched in February this year in collaboration with BBC Four. The simulation is more sophisticated than previous versions and provides the scientists with a more accurate representation of the real world, including an ocean that interacts with the atmosphere. The experiment uses "distributed computing" where the combined power of numerous PCs is tapped rather than using a single super computer. What we've seen in the runs is the unadulterated impact of global warming Myles Allan, principle investigator, Climateprediction.net Each participant downloads a program which runs unique climatic simulations from 1920 to 2080 to build a picture of the possible range of outcomes. The error in the climate models has been traced to a file that is responsible for introducing man-made sulphate emissions into the atmosphere. Sulphate particles reflect sunlight back into space causing a cooling of the atmosphere, in a phenomenon known as 'global dimming'. "What we've seen in the runs is the unadulterated impact of global warming which means that all of the models have warmed up too fast," Dr Allan said. Big disappointment The problem was picked up by scientists when a handful of the 200,000 people that have downloaded the program reached the end of the simulation. Climateprediction.net An announcement by Nick Faull, project coordinator of Climateprediction.net was posted on the website's message board as soon as the scientists realised that the experiment would have to be started again. "I regret to announce that we've recently discovered a major error in one of the files used by the climate model," it read. "It's a big disappointment to have to give you this news." However, the scientists say that all is not lost for the data collected over the last two months. "Running a model without global dimming is exactly the kind of thing we do in modelling centres," Dr Allan said. These attribution studies, as they are known, allow scientists to determine what factors have contributed to climate change. "We have done the most comprehensive attribution study by mistake." The data will be used at a later date to determine the contribution of global dimming to temperature changes in the twentieth century. Problem solved However, some of the participants in the project have questioned why the model was not tested thoroughly before its release. "I can't believe that this program wasn't completely tested before being released to thousands of people around the world," reads a post on the Climateprediciton.net message board The team behind the model say the error was introduced by a minor last-minute change to the programme, which made it easier to download. It would have taken between three and four months to run the model for faults. The error has now been fixed and all computers running the model will be automatically restarted at 1920. The results of the BBC experiment were due to be announced as part of the Climate Chaos season of programmes on BBC Four this summer. The results and the programme will now be delayed until enough people have had time to rerun the model. BBC NEWS REPORT.

ORPHAN ALI SETTLES INTO LONDON LIFE!

Orphan Ali settles into London life.
By Gareth Furby BBC News, London.

Three years after losing his arms and his parents when his home in Baghdad was destroyed by an off target Allied missile, Ali Abbas is a changed boy. Ali's plight moved people across the world.At Hall School in Wimbledon, south-west London, where 15-year-old Ali has been given free tuition for more than two years (it normally costs around £8,000 a year) the teenager has been fitting into school life, and is making remarkable progress. His favourite lessons are maths and geography but he is also a keen artist. An exhibition of his work was on display at a local gallery just last month. The school provides him with his own tutor, Caroline Morris, so he can keep up in class. But Ali has learned to write with his feet and he can also type on a computer with his toes.

Ali Abbas now lives in Wimbledon. The school hopes that Ali will go on to take at least five GCSEs and even go on to university, should he wish. Perhaps bizarrely Ali also enjoys playing violent computer games in school break time, again using his toes on a lap top computer's touch pad or using a Playstation. But Ali says: "Everyone enjoys violence. Every Iraqi boy is used to it." Ali's says one of his favourite pastimes at school is eating and is savouring an ambition to open a restaurant called 'Ali's' perhaps in London or even Iraq. In his kitchen at his Wimbledon home, he is helped by his uncle to prepare a lamb dish based cooked in a traditional Iraqi style.
He now lives in a rented house paid for by a charity, which he shares with his uncle and a friend called Ahmed, who also lost his hand and part of a leg during the war in Iraq. Both boys came to London to be fitted with artificial limbs. But at home, it seems Ali chooses to leave his arms on his bed. He said: "I don't like wearing them at home. They are too heavy."

Ali has leant to play computer games with his feet.He chooses not to wear his artificial arms when he goes to the gym, when he goes cycling on a special bike, and when he plays football, which he does every weekend. At the moment Ali wears them at school because he says it makes him feel normal. But he may yet change this habit as well. "I can play football much better without the arms," he said. "My balance is much better. I am thinking about stopping wearing them altogether." He added he does want to return to Iraq but he cannot for two reasons.

Ali likes to take his arms off when he is at home. First of all, it is too dangerous at present in Baghdad where the surviving members of his family live. Secondly, Ali is worried that his current high profile status may single him out as a target for kidnapping. "Some people think because I have been on television I am rich," he said. "So I may be taken and held for ransom. I can only go back when the Iraq returns to normal." When asked when he thought that might be, he replied "God knows." But for now, his life is improving both at home and at school in Wimbledon.

BBC NEWS REPORT.

KENYAN MPS BACK CRACKDOWN ON GRAFT!

Kenyan MPs back graft crackdown

Moody Awori denies any wrong-doing. Kenyan MPs have approved a report which implicates top ministers and civil servants in a corruption scandal. The move could lead to the prosecution of current Vice-President Moody Awori. Two months ago, Mr Awori told the Parliamentary Accounts Committee he had no knowledge of the Anglo Leasing affair and refused to step down. The scandal involved contracts worth hundreds of millions of dollars being awarded to fictitious firms for items such as hi-tech passports. The scandal has already led to the resignations of former ministers Kiraitu Murungi and David Mwiraria and the sacking of Chris Murungaru.

The report calls for further investigations and prosecutions of ministers and top government officials named by former anti-graft tsar John Githongo. Mr Githongo fled to the UK and was interviewed there by members of the PAC, which includes opposition leader Uhuru Kenyatta. "The director of the anti-corruption commission should liaise with the attorney general, the police commissioner and other relevant bodies with a view to prosecuting persons who are involved in negotiations and approval of the procurement of passport-issuing equipment project," the report said.

BBC NEWS REPORT.

MUGABE WARNS OPPOSITION!

A demonstration near Johannesburg called for Mr Mugabe's removal. Zimbabwean President Robert Mugabe used his Independence Day speech to promise tough action against his opponents. He also reiterated plans for greater state control over the mining industry. Zimbabwe on Tuesday marked 26 years since independence from Britain, amid a deepening economic crisis with inflation at 900% per annum. Mr Mugabe called on Zimbabweans to stand together and blamed the current problems on a persistent droughts and "evil" sanctions by Western nations.

In an apparent warning to opposition leader Morgan Tsvangirai, who has called for mass action against the government, Mr Mugabe said those who plotted against him were playing with fire.
"Anyone... who dares lead any group of persons to embark on a campaign of violence or terrorist activities will be inviting the full wrath of the law to descend mercilessly on him or on those who follow him," he said. Mr Mugabe said the government would press ahead with plans to extend greater state control over the mining industry. "Non-renewable resources are ours in the first place, Mugabe said. "You, the investor, will get a reward, yes, but that reward will be balanced by what we keep for ourselves."

In South Africa, a few dozen of the many thousand Zimbabwean exiles who live in the country demonstrated near the African parliament, in Midrand, north of Johannesburg, calling on Mr Mugabe to resign so they could return home.

BBC NEWS REPORT.

GOLDEN BALL FOR THE WORLD CUP FINAL!

'Golden ball' for World Cup final.

The official name for the ball made by Adidas is Teamgeist Berlin. The two teams playing in the World Cup final in Germany on 9 July will use a specially produced "golden ball". A giant model of the football, with six of the 14 panels coloured gold, was unveiled in Berlin by the head of the World Cup organising committee.
German football legend Franz Beckenbauer said it was a great idea to create a special ball for the match. The ball for the other 63 games will be black and white for the first time since the 1994 tournament.
For the French World Cup of 1998, Adidas produced a tricolour ball in the national colours and the Korea-Japan tournament of 2002 featured gold and red in its design.
The ball for the final is called Teamgeist Berlin while the black and white ball - the traditional colours of hosts Germany - has been branded Teamgeist (team spirit). For each match, there will be sets of 15 balls, each bearing the date, the venue, the kick-off time and the names of the teams.
All the balls will be made in Thailand except the 15 for the final, which will be from Germany.

BBC NEWS REPORT.

CONCERT CANCELLED IN JOHANNESBURG

Ashanti mourns cousin after crash.

Ashanti cancelled a performance in Johannesburg after the accident A cousin of American R&B star Ashanti has been killed in a car crash in Johannesburg, South Africa. Quinshae Snead, 20, worked as Ashanti's personal assistant and the pair were reportedly close and lived together. Ashanti had been due to perform in the city on Saturday but her appearance was cancelled after the accident. Ms Snead was on her way to a hotel to collect items for her cousin before the concert when a speeding car hit the back of her vehicle, police said. Arrest Ms Snead was thrown out of the car, which rolled over into the path of another car in the opposite lane. A 17-year-old was arrested on suspicion of drunken driving. Ms Snead was credited as Ashanti's personal assistant on the singer's most recent album Concrete Rose. Ashanti has sold six million albums, won a Grammy Award for her self-titled debut in 2002, and has appeared in films including Coach Carter and John Tucker Must Die. BBC NEWS REPORT.

ISRAEL 'WILL NOT STRIKE AT HAMAS'

Tensions have risen between Israelis and Palestinians recently. Israel will hold Hamas responsible for a deadly suicide bombing in Tel Aviv but will not hit back against the Palestinian Authority, officials say. A special cabinet meeting ended with agreement to increase security efforts but not launch a military strike. Instead it backed plans to revoke the Jerusalem residency of several Hamas MPs, adding to the group's isolation. Hamas described Monday's bombing by Islamic Jihad, which killed nine people, as an act of "self-defence".

The BBC's Caroline Hawley, in Jerusalem, says Israel seems to have decided for now not to embark on a collision course with the Hamas-led government. Three Hamas MPs living in East Jerusalem, occupied by Israel, appear set to have their residency permits revoked. Our people have the will and the right to defend themselves and to confront as much as they can the arrogances of the occupation - Siad SiyamPalestinian interior minister.
Palestinians feel the pinch
Witnesses tell of shock

Borders between Israel, the West Bank and the Gaza Strip will also see increased security, reports said, but officials revealed few details. Overnight the US labelled Hamas and Islamic Jihad as "terrorist" groups, and said the bombing risked further international isolation for the Palestinians. Israeli forces also arrested more than 20 Palestinians in raids across the West Bank. The father of the bomber who carried out Monday's attack was reported to be among those detained.

Despite fierce criticism from around the world, Hamas has refused to retract its support for the suicide bombing. On Tuesday Interior Minister Siad Siyam became the first cabinet member to voice support for the strike. "We are not a great power who can confront the planes and the missiles of the occupation, but our people have the will and the right to defend themselves and to confront as much as they can the arrogances of the occupation," he said.


Attack claimed by Islamic Jihad. Nine people killed and more than 50 injuredMonday's attack at a falafel restaurant in Tel Aviv occurred during the Jewish festival of Passover. Palestinian leader Mahmoud Abbas condemned the attack, but a spokesman for Hamas said it was "a natural result of the continued Israeli crimes" against Palestinians. Israel has intensified artillery bombardments into the northern Gaza Strip in recent weeks, firing some 2,000 shells since the start of April. It insists its actions are in response to an increase in rocket attacks against Israeli towns by Palestinian militants from within Gaza. Although Hamas militants have observed a year-long truce as the group entered the political arena, Islamic Jihad says it has continued to recruit suicide bombers.

Japan has confirmed that it will halt new aid payments to the PA, adding to a financial crisis. Japan, which has given $840m (£474m) to the PA since 1993, said it wanted to see Hamas adopt a more peaceful policy, but did not expressly link its decision to the Tel Aviv attack. However, emergency aid - such as a payment last month of $6 million (£3.4m) to the UN's World Food Programme - would continue, officials said. Projects such as repairing roads and building residential homes are also likely to receive continued funding. Both the US and the EU have already suspended aid payments to the PA, leaving the newly-formed Hamas government unable to pay its workers and facing a financial crisis. Qatar and Iran have each pledged $50m (£28m) in new funds.

BBC NEWS REPORT.

NUCLEAR ROW SENDS OIL TO NEW HIGH!

Traders are worried about instability in Iran and Nigeria. Oil prices have hit a record high of $70.88 a barrel, fuelled by growing fears over Iran's nuclear standoff with the international community. US light, sweet crude rose 48 cents in Asian trading, passing last year's previous high of $70.85 reached after Hurricane Katrina. Prices have risen 16% in the past month as Iran's nuclear row has worsened and Nigerian supplies have been disrupted. Brent crude hit also hit a new record of $72.20 a barrel in London. By early afternoon, US light sweet crude was trading at $70.75 while Brent crude had eased slightly to $71.91.

Analysts said that prices would continue to head upwards as long as Iran's dispute with the international community over its nuclear intentions remained unresolved. "We have broken new ground today," said Victor Shum, an energy analyst with Singapore-based Purvin & Getz. "The market sentiment is bullish, with yesterday's record closing, momentum has been built up to cause a wave of buying." Militia violence in Nigeria, which has led to the suspension of 25% of its output, has also forced prices upwards in recent weeks.

Over the past month, prices have gained more than $10, or 16%. Global demand for oil remains intense, particularly in the run-up to the US driving season, while available supplies remain tight. "The basic thing underlying the industry is that global demand remains very strong," said Tobin Gorey, commodities strategist with the Commonwealth Bank of Australia. Countries in the Opec oil producers' cartel have admitted there is little they can do to quell the rise in prices.

BBC NEW REPORT.

SAN FRANCISCO FACES BIG SHAKER!

San Francisco faces big shaker
By Molly Bentley in San Francisco.

Removing un-reinforced masonry would reduce casualtiesAnother magnitude 7.9 earthquake in the San Francisco Bay Area would probably produce much stronger shaking than the catastrophic 1906 event of the same size. The wider region should also expect thousands of fatalities and economic losses in the billions. These conclusions are contained in two reports released to coincide with the 18 April centennial of the great quake that destroyed the city and killed 3,000 people. The studies will be discussed at a special conference this week.
Scientists say the next big quake - a magnitude 6.7 or larger - will likely come within 30 years.
The first study, When the Big One Strikes Again, was commissioned by conference organisers and provides an estimate range of the death and damage toll for Northern California if an earthquake similar to 1906 hit the region today.

The city was shattered, and what remained then went up in flames

In picturesThe other study, produced by the US Geological Survey (USGS), shows how shaking intensity would change if the San Andreas Fault were to rupture in a different place to 1906.
USGS scientists believe they have been able to reproduce the ground motion that occurred 100 years ago fairly accurately, making it a useful model to estimate the damage caused by the next big quake. "These studies allow us to model the shaking and fill in the big gap in the data," said Dr Greg Beroza, a geophysicist at Stanford University who helped create the USGS simulation."We can apply the results to other large earthquakes." The conference-commissioned report was prepared by Charles Kircher, a private engineering consultant.

The chances of another big Bay Area quake have been assessed
More detailsOne of its shaking scenarios suggests that out of the 10 million residents in 19 counties, a 7.9 earthquake could kill 1,800 and seriously injure 8,000 if it hit at night; and kill 3,400 and seriously injure 13,000 if it hit during the day. Total economic losses could reach more than $120bn. "Daytime casualties are typically higher than night-time, when people are in homes that are less susceptible to collapse than commercial buildings," said Dr Kircher.However, the proportion of night-time deaths is raised slightly in San Francisco itself, where older homes are more vulnerable to collapse. Roughly one quarter - 800 - daytime deaths and almost a third of night-time deaths- 574 - would be in SF city districts.
The estimates are based on death by building collapse by shaking alone; not by fire, which could raise the death toll. Of the city's 400,000 residents in 1906, it is estimated that 3,000 died from both building collapse and the conflagration that swept the city immediately afterwards. While it was unlikely a fire that size would rage again, smaller fires were very possible, said Dr Kircher

"Soft storey" architecture often features an un-reinforced garage"We expect fires to contribute significantly to the total loss," he added. Adding in the cost of damage due to fire and lifeline infrastructure - such as highways - could raise the economic bill to $150bn. And this does not include long-term economic impact, the sort experienced in New Orleans after Hurricane Katrina. The total is 10 times the loss from the 1989 Loma Prieta Earthquake, a 6.7 tremor on the San Andreas Fault centred in a mountainous region 100km (60 miles) to the south of San Francisco.
Dr Kircher's study estimated loss to the area by using two 7.9 shaking scenarios that produced two sets of figures.
Click here to see a summary of the loss estimates
One set, expressed by the Modified Mercalli Intensity (MMI) scale, is based on a re-evaluation of the actual ground shaking in the 1906 earthquake. (However, scientists do not expect the ground to shake exactly like it did in 1906.)
The second set, referred to as M7.9, is based on a standard model of energy propagation from an earthquake occurring on the segments of the fault that ruptured in 1906; a sort of generic 7.9 quake. Death and damage estimates are lower in the MMI model than in the M7.9; 800 night-time and 1,600 daytime deaths for the region, and $90bn dollars in economic loss.
While the population has increased 10 fold since 1906, when less than a million people called the greater San Francisco Bay area home, the number of fatalities does not increase proportionally in the recent estimates. "Our knowledge of earthquakes and how they affect buildings have advanced quite a bit and our seismic codes have been advancing," said Dr Beroza, "but we're still talking about thousands of deaths. Will the public say that's acceptable?"
Dr Kircher said that an important finding of the study was that vulnerable buildings - un-reinforced masonry, older reinforced concrete and "soft-story" - made up less than 5% of all buildings in the region but would kill more than half the people. "Fixing those buildings would cut our casualties in half," said Dr Kircher.

The second USGS study to be presented to the conference offers scientists a re-creation of the 1906 shaking, and a how it might change if the fault ruptured other than where it did, 2km off the coast of San Francisco. The computer model draws on a new and highly detailed 3D geologic model of the Bay Area.
USGS SHAKING SIMULATION For a rupture on the San Andreas Fault in the same place as the 1906 earthquake (100k)
In pictures

While scientists do not know when the next big quake will come or where it will originate, they do say that a 7.9 quake is unlikely to mirror 1906. "There is no guarantee that the next big one will begin exactly where the last big one began," said Dr Beroza. "It will be different and may not start in the same place." In the USGS simulations, a rupture at the northern end of the San Andreas Fault, with the same amount of slip, creates the same or greater shaking for San Francisco as it did in 1906; while an epicentre at the southern end of the northern portion of the fault, near San Juan Batista, creates considerably stronger shaking for the city.
USGS SHAKING SIMULATION A rupture at the northern end of the San Andreas Fault at the location of Bodega Bay (100k)
In pictures

This is due to variations in local geology and the fact that the energy from the rupture and seismic waves increase as they propagate toward the city. "Things could be worse for San Francisco itself with a rupture that begins south of the city, than it was in 1906 when the rupture began very close to it," said Brad Aagaard, a USGS research geophysicist who ran the simulations. This, ironically, makes the original 1906 quake, with its epicentre near the city, a best-case scenario for San Francisco if a 7.9 earthquake were to hit again.
USGS SHAKING SIMULATION A rupture to the south of San Francisco near the location of San Juan Bautista (100k)
In pictures

But increased shaking in one area means less shaking somewhere else. Moving the epicentre to San Juan Batista produces more intense shaking for San Francisco, but milder shaking in the Silicon Valley region. "The bottom line is that the next large event on the San Andreas Fault will differ in some ways from the 1906 earthquake," said Dr Aagaard. "We need to consider many scenarios in order to be prepared for such an event."

The 100th Anniversary Earthquake Conference continues through to 21 April in San Francisco.
SUMMARY OF DAMAGE AND LOSSES
SCENARIO
1906 MMI
M7.9
NUMBER OF SEVERELY DAMAGED BUILDINGS
Residential buildings
80,000
120,000
Commercial buildings
7,000
10,000
SOCIAL LOSSES DUE TO BUILDING DAMAGE
Displaced households
170,000
250,000
Serious injuries - night-time
4,000
8,000
Serious injuries - daytime
6,000
13,000
Immediate deaths - night-time
800
1,800
Immediate deaths - daytime
1,600
3,400
DIRECT ECONOMIC LOSSES DUE TO BUILDING DAMAGE
Structural damage
$15bn
$20bn
Non-structural damage
$57bn
$75bn
Contents and inventory damage
$14bn
$17bn
Business interruption
$8bn
$11bn
TOTAL DIRECT ECONOMIC LOSS
>$90bn
>$120bn
Source: When the Big One Strikes Again
Click here to return

BBC NEWS REPORT.

GEORGE WEAH'S PAPERS 'SEIZED' !

Weah's diplomatic papers 'seized'

Mr Weah appeared to accept the new government last week. The party of Liberian football star George Weah has complained of a "witch-hunt" after his diplomatic passport was seized at the airport. Mr Weah was "bundled off" a plane by security agents, said the party's Secretary General Eugene Nagbe. Mr Weah came second in last year's polls but says he was cheated out of victory. Observers rejected his claims. The government says it is investigating the incident and denies issuing an order to seize Mr Weah's passport. Mr Weah, 1995 world footballer of the year, was appointed Liberia's "sports ambassador" in the 1990s and given a diplomatic passport.

The government of President Ellen Johnson-Sirleaf, who took office in January, says it has launched an investigation into who is using diplomatic travel documents but said the reported seizure of Mr Weah's passport was against "the spirit of political unity and reconciliation".

Guide to Liberia and its recent turbulent history.

At-a-glance

Mr Weah and Mrs Johnson-Sirleaf met last week in order to ease tensions after last year;s bitter election campaign, which followed 14 years of civil war. "I told the president that I wish for her a good government that will satisfy the many needs of the people," Mr Weah told the AFP news agency. But the good feeling seems to have disappeared. "We will not accept a witch-hunt, and we have the capability to stop such, and this is what we will do, because we represent the people," said Mr Nagbe of the Congress for Democratic Change. "I also want to bring to your attention that our Standard Bearer was being hustled and bundled off the plane." He said Mr Weah and two colleagues were detained for 30 minutes before being allowed to return to Monrovia but without their documents.

BBC NEWS REPORT.

EUROPE'S FLOODS

Thousands of people have been evacuated in Bulgaria, Romania and Serbia as melting snow continues to swell the River Danube to its highest level for more than a century.

In the Serbian capital, Belgrade, some streets have been under water for several days.

Civil defence teams in Serbia have built sandbag dams along the banks of the swollen River Danube, while a state of emergency has been declared in 10 regions.

In Nikopol, Bulgaria, residents erected planks to enable them to cross their flooded streets.

In parts of the Serbian capital, Belgrade, people are using boats to get around the city.

Here, a water-skier surfs the flood waters in Belgrade. Some low-lying streets in the city, where the Sava River meets the Danube, have been under water for days.

East of the capital, Serbian farmers rescue a cow from the floodwaters.

The floods have left whole tracts of woodland under water - a scenic picture amid wider devastation.
Back

BBC NEWS REPORT.

GIANT MAO STATUE ERECTED IN TIBET!

Mao is still revered by many as the founder of modern China. The Chinese authorities say they are putting up a huge statue of Chairman Mao Zedong in Tibet. The 35-ton memorial is being built to commemorate the 30th anniversary of the former leader's death. It is being erected in Gonggar County, near the Tibetan capital Lhasa, China's state-run news agency Xinhua said.The statue will rise 7m from a 5m pedestal strengthened to withstand earthquakes. Mao Zedong ordered the Chinese takeover of Tibet in 1950. The statue will be the central landmark of Gonggar County's Shangcha square, which covers about 40,000 sq metres, and is scheduled for completion in July.

According to the Beijing authorities, the statue of Mao Zedong will be the largest of its kind in China and the first in Tibet. Changsha, capital of Hunan province and Mao's hometown, has donated 6.5m yuan ($811,000; £461,000) towards the cost of the plaza and statue, Xinhua reported. "Many Tibetan people suggested we should have a statue of Chairman Mao to show our gratitude," a local Communist Party official told Xinhua:

The BBC's Daniel Griffiths in China says the statue is likely to get a mixed reaction from many Tibetans. From Beijing's perspective, the area has been part of China for centuries. But for many, the Chinese government is an occupying power which has shown scant regard for human rights or for Tibet's unique culture, our correspondent says. Communist troops marched into Tibet in 1950. Nine years later, the region's spiritual leader, the Dalai Lama, fled into exile along with tens of thousands of his followers after a failed uprising against Chinese rule. Since then, China has exerted tight control over the region and this new statue of Mao Zedong is another reminder of Beijing's influence there, our correspondent adds.

BBC NEWS REPORT.

LIBERIAN POLICE "BURNED MARKET"!

Traders say they have no other way to earn their living. Liberia's police have set fire to stalls in order to enforce a new ban on street trading, market traders say. The traders said they saw police officers burn their stalls in the early hours of the morning in the eastern Paynesville district of the capital. The fire came shortly after new police chief Beatrice Munnah Sieh toured the area as the ban came into effect. The ban is supposed to ease congestion in Monrovia, where thousands of people fled during 14 years of civil war. There are no reports of any injuries in the fires, as the fires were started during the night.

The BBC's Jonathan Paye-Layleh in Monrovia says traders are angry at the new ban but there have been no reports of resistance to it. The campaign aims to end traffic chaos in especially the busy Paynesville district, where traders come from other parts of Liberia to do business with those in the capital. There, every day is market day, our correspondent says. The taking over of streets by peddlers and vendors has made driving difficult and denied motorists access to many commercial districts in post-war Monrovia. After blocking access routes to the city's largest waterside market, street sellers have lately advanced to the city centre, in a desperate attempt to take control of a key avenue on which leading banks are located.

Ms Sieh, Liberia's first female police chief, says it is time to put things right. After touring marketplaces on Sunday, she told the BBC her force was making the street-clearing exercise a matter of priority because "every human being in this country should have their rights; those who are walking on the sidewalks - poor people who do not have cars - have their rights; those who own cars, too, are supposed to ride the cars, it is their right." Before Monday's fire, Paynesville market's superintendent Roland Tuazama said he backed the police intervention. "Most of the people on the streets are people who participated in the war, they are ex-combatants; it is hard to talk to them," Mr Tuazama said. The authorities have urged the vendors to move to enclosed market buildings, which have empty space.

However, the traders fear this would hit their sales because their wares would no longer be on display to passers-by. Those traders who do not have fixed stalls, such as the cassette retailers who transport their goods around town in wheelbarrows, will not be affected by the crack-down.

BBC NEWS REPORT.

MINISTER SAYS BNP TEMPTING VOTERS!

The MP has been campaigning to counter BNP efforts. White working class voters are being "tempted" by the British National Party as they feel Labour is not listening to their concerns, a minister has said. Employment minister Margaret Hodge said the BNP could win seats in her Barking constituency in May's council polls. She said the area's "difficult" change from a white area to a multi-racial community had caused some people to seek out "scapegoats". The BNP said Labour were ignoring fears over "mass immigration" to the UK In last year's general election the BNP polled third in Barking, east London, receiving 17% of the vote.

Mrs Hodge told BBC Radio 4's The World This Weekend: "The political class as a whole is often frightened of engaging in the very difficult issues of race and...the BNP then exploits that and try and create out of a perception a reality which is not the reality of people's lives." She added that Labour had to promote its achievements to the electorate. Part of the reason they switch to the BNP is they feel no-one else is listening to them -Margaret Hodge.

Barking poll candidates

"We also have to go out and say very, very strongly the benefits of the new, rich multi-racial society which is part of this part of London for me." She said the change from a white working class community to a multi-racial community was "difficult". "In that context, if people find there are things they can't access, you very quickly look for a scapegoat. That is what is happening," Mrs Hodge said. "If we are to counter that perception - which the BNP seek to exploit and Migrationwatch fans - if we are to counter that we need to go out and we need to engage in a very direct way with all our voters."

The Sunday Telegraph reported that Mrs Hodge said many constituents were angry at the lack of housing and asylum seekers being housed in the area by inner London councils. Mrs Hodge told the paper she has been out campaigning two days a week in an attempt to counter the BNP efforts. She has found that as many as eight out of 10 white families admit they are tempted to vote BNP. "That's something we have never seen before, in all my years. Even when people voted BNP they used to be ashamed to vote BNP," she said.

The BNP said the party had been demonised by the "far left" for talking about immigration. BNP spokesman Dr Phil Edwards said: "People are being tempted by the BNP because Labour and the Tories don't have any inclination to debate the effect of mass immigration on communities in Britain. He went on: "In a democracy we should have all opinions. We should debate whether mass immigration is a good thing." The BNP said Labour was "culpable, it's mainly their fault that people in places like Dagenham and Barking have become so alienated."
He said that it was up to the BNP to "sort out the mess that Labour has created".

BBC NEWS REPORT.

ON THIS DAY

THE ROYAL YACHT 'BRITANNIA' WAS,

ON THIS DAY, LAUNCHED IN 1953!

BUSINESS BAN WITH HAMAS-LED P.A.

US business ban on Hamas-led PA.

Ismail Haniya's administration was sworn in last month. The United States has banned its nationals from doing business with the Hamas-led Palestinian Authority, a Treasury spokesperson says. The Treasury ruled this week that the militant Islamist group has a vested interest in the transactions of the Palestinian Authority. That decision made the PA automatically subject to existing US bans on doing business with "terrorist entities". The US and EU cut off aid to the PA after Hamas took power on 30 March.

Palestinian Prime Minister Ismail Haniya said on Friday the cut in aid would not weaken the Palestinian people's resolve. "We will eat salt, but we will not bow our heads for anybody other than God, because we are faithful to the rights of our people and our nation. We will not betray it," he said. Mr Haniya was addressing worshippers in Gaza before the start of a series of rallies aimed at demonstrating support for the Hamas-led administration. Thousands of Palestinians in the West Bank and Gaza rallied in support of their new government.

The US and EU consider Hamas a terrorist group. "Hamas is a designated terrorist group" under three different sets of regulations, Molly Millerwise of the US Treasury Department said. "As a result, US persons are prohibited from engaging in transactions with the PA unless authorised by the Treasury's Office of Foreign Assets Control." The US is making exceptions for government entities under the direct control of Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas, a moderate whose Fatah movement is a rival of Hamas. The ban also does not forbid Americans from doing business with non-governmental organisations or private sector banks, among other exceptions.

Also on Friday, another Hamas leader warned that if the party's government was broken by its enemies, Hamas would go back on the offensive. Younes al-Aftal, a Hamas MP, said there would be Hamas suicide bombings again in the heart of Israel. This is the first time a prominent Hamas leader has talked in these terms since the Hamas-led Palestinian cabinet was sworn in two weeks ago. Hamas has carried out nearly 60 suicide bombings in Israel since the start of the second intifada in 2000. It is currently maintaining a ceasefire, but remains committed to the destruction of Israel.

BBC NEWS REPORT.

OPENING & CLOSING CEREMONIES FOR 2008

Spielberg and Yimou join Olympics.

Film-makers Steven Spielberg and Zhang Yimou are to join the team designing the opening and closing ceremonies for the 2008 Beijing Olympics. Zhang will lead the team, largely comprised of other Chinese impresarios, while Spielberg will be a consultant. Zhang's best-known films include Raise The Red Lantern and costume epic Hero. Zhang, 54, said: "I'm very honoured. I make a solemn promise to the Chinese people I will complete the task beautifully and successfully."

Costume epic Hero is one of Zhang's best-known filmsSpielberg, whose last film, Munich, concentrated on the killing of 11 Israeli athletes at the 1972 Olympics, said: "Our one goal is to give the world a taste of peace, friendship and understanding. "Through the visual arts, the art of celebration of life, we are dedicated to making this the most emotional opening ceremony ever." The opening ceremony is scheduled to take place in the Chinese capital on 8 August 2008.

BBC NEWS REPORT

NEW YORK CAT FINALLY FREED!

Eight lives left for freed NY cat.

See rescue attempts

A cat trapped within the walls of a New York delicatessen for nearly two weeks has finally been freed, animal rescue workers say. The owner of the deli said 11-month-old Molly was "in great shape" and had tucked into roast pork and sardines. The rescue effort had involved hammering out bricks of the deli, using kittens to appeal to Molly's maternal instinct and a pet therapist. Molly is employed as a mouser at the Greenwich Village deli.

The 19th century building is part of a historic district where alterations are banned without permission - but officials told rescuers they should "do whatever is necessary to recover the cat". Jean Tannenbaum, a spokeswoman for Animal Care and Control, which has a contract to handle lost or unwanted animals, reported the release.

Rescuers reached Molly by drilling through three layers of bricks.Molly was found on Friday night wedged in between bricks and sheet metal. She appeared calm in front of the media, which have followed her plight intensely. Molly's cries had been heard clearly from the pavement so it was thought she was not far inside the wall. Cat therapist Carole Wilbourn had used the sounds of whales on tape and soothing words to try to "give inspiration" to Molly. "Oh come on Molly you can do it. We love you Molly," she said.

Despite the traps, kittens and therapists it appeared it was the drilling through three layers of bricks that finally freed her. She was rescued by volunteer Kevin Clifford, a tunnel worker who had been working on a nearby project. "I think you'll all agree that she is in great shape," said deli owner Peter Myers.

BBC NEWS REPORT.

ON THIS DAY

THE WHITE STAR LINER "TITANIC", ON THIS DAY,

STRUCK AN ICEBERG AND SANK,

ON HER MAIDEN VOYAGE IN 1912!

OIL OUTPUT THREATENED BY CHAD!

Chad threatens to halt oil output.
By Stephanie Hancock BBC News, N'Djamena.

Chadian President Idriss Deby and the World Bank are at loggerheads. Chad has threatened to stop oil production next week if it does not immediately receive several months' worth of oil revenues. It wants the US-led consortium that runs Chad's pipeline to hand over $100m (£57m) it says it is owed by Tuesday.

The row over the country's oil wealth has been brewing for months. Last December the Chadian government fell out with the World Bank, after it changed a law which carefully controlled how oil revenues were spent. The World Bank, which financially backs the oil project, repeatedly asked Chad not to change the law but it went ahead anyway. In response, the Bank froze all payments of oil revenues to the government. Since then, it is the consortium which runs the pipeline led by US oil giant Exxon Mobil, which has been storing Chad's share of the oil profits.
Five months of talks between Chad and the World Bank have failed to break the stalemate and the government has now issued its ultimatum.

The consortium must hand over $100 million Chad is owed by noon on Tuesday, otherwise the pipeline will be shut. And if the flow of oil is stopped, the huge profits enjoyed by oil companies here will dry up along with the pipeline. The row over unpaid oil revenues comes at the end of a tumultuous week for the country, when a rebel attack in the capital killed scores of people.

BBC NEWS REPORT.

CLASHES FOLLOW EGYPT COPT FUNERAL.

The funeral procession turned into a protest. Clashes broke out between Muslims and Coptic Christians in Alexandria in Egypt, after the funeral of a Coptic worshipper killed in church on Friday. Police fired tear gas and tried to separate the groups, who threw stones and attacked each other with sticks. This followed the funeral of Nushi Atta Girgis, 78, who died after being stabbed in one of three knife attacks at Alexandria churches.

Christians have accused the government of failing to protect them. Mourners shouted anti-government slogans as the funeral procession - attended by an estimated 3,000 people - turned into a protest outside the church where the funeral was held. At least 15 people were injured and four vehicles were burned out, an interior ministry source said.

The government has announced the arrest of a "deranged" man it says was responsible for all the attacks, but some Copts believe they were carried out simultaneously as part of an anti-Christian plot by extremist Muslims. A judge remanded Mahmoud Salah-Eddin Abdel-Raziq, 25, into custody. "Certain papers speak of a madman. I don't believe a word. It is propaganda to silence us and to make us believe it is an individual incident," said Karim, a 78-year-old Copt at the funeral. "We have always been peaceful, but we are always crushed by the Muslims," said 30-year-old Girgis Mina. "If the state does not protect us, we will do it ourselves." Christians make up 10% of the Egyptian population and have complained of harassment and discrimination. Some Copts argue that previous attacks on them have gone unpunished or have drawn light sentences.

Most Christians in Egypt are Copts - Christians descended from the ancient Egyptians. Their church split from the Eastern Orthodox and Roman Catholic churches in 451AD because of a theological dispute over the nature of Christ, but is now, on most issues, doctrinally similar to the Eastern Orthodox church.

BBC NEWS REPORT.

'FIRST FACE TRANSPLANT' FOR CHINA!

A man who was disfigured after being attacked by a bear has become the first in China to have a face transplant, a hospital in the country has announced. Xijing military hospital in the central city of Xian said it had given the man a new cheek, upper lip and nose from a single donor, in a 14-hour operation. This would be only the second time the procedure has been performed anywhere. A woman in France made history last year when she become the first in the world to receive a face transplant. Isabelle Dinoire, 38, was given new lips, chin and nose last November after her face was mauled by her dog while she slept.

Xijing hospital said in a statement its surgery had been "even more complex and meticulous than the one performed by the French". The patient was identified as Li Guoxing, 30, a hunter from the Lisu ethnic minority in the south-western province of Yunnan, who was attacked by a bear two years ago. "Up to now, the patient is in good condition," the hospital said. "The operation was successful. It is predicted that the wounds can be healed within one week."

BBC NEWS REPORT.

DANES LAUNCH ART ATTACK ON MLADIC!

Pia Bertelsen and Jan Egesborg carry out hotspot art. Two Danish artists who have ridiculed Zimbabwe's Robert Mugabe and the Iraq war have turned their attention to Serbia's fugitive Ratko Mladic.There is still support for Mr Mladic in Serbia, and nationalist groups recently plastered Belgrade with posters of him. But most are now covered with little blue stickers that read: "We know where you are"; "We know when you have sex".

Artists Jan Egesborg and Pia Bertelsen, say their additions are a fun way of saying that Mr Mladic's time is up. Ms Bertelsen says the stickers are a way of telling Mr Mladic that people like Nato and the Serb government know where he is. Mr Mladic is wanted in connection with the massacre of nearly 8,000 Muslims at Srebrenica and the siege of Sarajevo in 1995.

But the actions of the artists, which they call "art in hotspots", has provoked different reactions on the streets of Belgrade. "Reaction has been divided," says Ms Bertelsen, 32. "Half of the people say they think it is funny and brave and laugh about it - some asked us for stickers to give to their bosses. I"But we met a 19-year-old who says Mladic will never surrender and he is a Serbian hero. "Another, who was in the Bosnian Serb army, said: 'Put up the stickers, but we will never let him surrender'." The aim of their group "Surrend" is to invite tyrants and war crimes suspects to give themselves up, and to inject a little humour. Mr Egesborg, 42, says they do not belong to any party or activist organisation.

Last year, he and another artists put up 1,000 ironic anti-war posters in Iraq - to get their message heard by ordinary Iraqi people. The posters showed elephants, mice and cats together with messages like "Trust in Propaganda" and "Kill your Enemy". He said they were in Belgrade for the funeral of Slobodan Milosevic and were struck by the lack of people demonstrating against him - or against Mr Mladic, who the Serbian government has promised to hand over to the UN war crimes court. "I think we can make a difference in a positive way because it seems people in Serbia are quite depressed about the situation," he said. "We are hoping we can inspire people to get on the streets and protest like they did a few years ago."

BBC NEWS REPORT.

VIOLENCE OVER INDIAN STAR'S DEATH.

People queued since early morning to pay homage. Five people, one a policeman, have been killed in violence in the southern Indian city of Bangalore following the death of legendary film actor Rajkumar. Police opened fire on rioting mourners, killing four people. The policeman died after being beaten by a mob. Tens of thousands of mourners bid an emotional farewell as the body of Rajkumar was buried in a grave at a studio that he owned in the city. The Kannada film icon died on Wednesday following a heart attack aged 77. I appeal with folded hands to all of you to maintain peace - Rajkumar's son, Raghvendra.

In pictures: Death mourned

Rajkumar's son, Raghvendra, pleaded with fans to be calm - but with no apparent effect. "I appeal with folded hands to all of you to maintain peace," he told crowds using a microphone.
From early on Thursday morning, thousands of fans, including women and children, carried garlands and incense sticks to a site near the actor's body which lay in state in a public stadium.
Many fans wept and beat their chests shouting "Long live Rajkumar". Police used batons to control the crowd of fans."Our hero is dead. Annavaru [elder brother] was our inspiration," a mourner, Hanumanthaiah, told Reuters news agency.

Several politicians and actors including Tamil superstar Rajinikanth paid homage to Rajkumar at the stadium. "One thing that stood out in him was his simplicity... He has inspired many actors and producers," Rockline Venkatesh, a producer and Rajkumar's close friend, told AFP. The country's technology hub in Rajkumar's home state of Karnataka remained shut for the second day and all transport was off the roads, as the authorities made arrangements to hold a state funeral for the actor.

The office of US technology giant Microsoft, which is located near Rajkumar's house, was stoned by angry mourners All commercial establishments were closed and even cable television operators across the city blocked national entertainment channels to mourn the actor's death. LK Advani, senior leader of India's main opposition Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), cancelled the Karnataka leg of his national campaign tour as a mark of respect for Rajkumar. Irate fans damaged over 50 buses, torched two police vans and 10 private vehicles on Wednesday following the news of the actor's death, police said.

Rajkumar - whose name was sometimes written Raj Kumar - starred in such films as Bangaradha Manushya (The Golden Man) and Shabdavedi. Thousands of fans have gathered to see the actor. Although he had given up acting in recent years, he remained one of India's best-loved figures with many of his fans calling him 'Annavaru' (elder brother). In July 2000, he was kidnapped along with three members of his family from his home in Gajanur, Tamil Nadu, by notorious Indian bandit Veerappan. His kidnapping sparked violent protests in Karnataka with people demanding his immediate release. Rajkumar was freed by Veerappan after spending weeks living in the forests of southern India.

Local reports said a large ransom had been paid for his release, although Rajkumar denied that.
Veerappan, a self-styled champion of the Tamil people, was killed by police in 2004.

BBC NEWS REPORT.

ON THIS DAY

SIDNEY POITIER, ON THIS DAY, BECAME THE FIRST BLACK ACTOR

IN A LEADING ROLE, TO WIN AN ACADEMY AWARD,

FOR THE FILM " LILIES OF THE FIELD" IN 1964!

NEW SOURCE OF LIGHT !

Natural light 'to reinvent bulbs'

The clock is ticking for light bulbs. A light source that could put the traditional light bulb in the shade has been invented by US scientists. The organic light-emitting diode (OLED) emits a brilliant white light when attached to an electricity supply. The material, described in the journal Nature, can be printed in wafer thin sheets that could transform walls, ceilings or even furniture into lights. The OLEDs do not heat up like today's light bulbs and so are far more energy efficient and should last longer. They also produce a light that is more akin to natural daylight than traditional bulbs. "We're hoping that this will lead to significantly longer device lifetimes in addition to higher efficiency," said Professor Mark Thompson of the University of Southern California, one of the authors of the paper.

Traditional light bulbs were invented more than 130 years ago. Since then the basic principle of creating light remains the same, although the design has been tweaked. An electric current passing through a tungsten wire causes it to heat up and glow white hot. Today, more than 20% of electricity used in US buildings is eaten up by lights and nearly half that amount is used by traditional, incandescent light bulbs. It has been a long-term goal of scientists to come up with something that would reduce this mammoth energy demand. The new work exploits the properties of carbon-based polymers to produce the white light. These are already found in some mobile phone displays and MP3 players.

Light bulbs: Not a bright idea?

Until now, they have been unable to generate sufficient light to illuminate a room. To create the new material, the scientists build up ultra-thin layers of plastics coated with green, red and blue dyes. When an electric current passes through them, they combine to produce white light. Previous attempts to make OLEDs like this have largely failed to make an impact because traditional phosphorescent blue dyes are very short lived.

The new polymer uses a fluorescent blue material instead which lasts much longer and uses less energy. The researchers believe that eventually this material could be 100% efficient, meaning it could be capable of converting all of the electricity to light, without the heat loss associated with traditional bulbs. The new material can also be printed onto glass or plastic and so in theory could create large areas of lighting, relatively cheaply.

Before this becomes a reality, the scientists need to work out a way to seal the OLEDs from moisture which can contaminate the sensitive material, causing it to no longer work. If that barrier can be overcome, the new polymer could eventually become the material of choice for stylish, environmentally friendly lighting. The research team incorporated members from Princeton University, the University of Southern California and the University of Michigan.

BBC NEWS REPORT

2006 AVENTIS GENERAL PRIZE FOR SCIENCE BOOKS

Titles collide for Aventis Prize.

The six books in the running to claim the 2006 Aventis General Prize for science books have been named.

Shortlisted authors include Jared Diamond, vying for an unprecedented third win, and Vivienne Parry, who has made the cut with her first book.

The winner will walk away with a prize of £10,000 and sure-fire boost to their sales.
Broadcaster Nick Ross, chair of the judging panel, said picking a winner would be extremely tough.

The Aventis Prize is now in its 18th year, and marks a bastion of excellence for popular science writing. Two prizes are on offer: the General Prize, for science books aimed at the wider population; and the Junior Prize, for books geared towards those under the age of 14. "These books are really mind-opening - each in its own way brings things to life that are profoundly important to all our lives. The standard of writing and accessibility in science has improved enormously," said Mr Ross. "It was hard to choose a longlist of 13, and bringing that longlist down to just six books was a hugely difficult task. The problem for us now is that picking the eventual winner will be even tougher."

Alongside Mr Ross, the tricky task of selecting the winner will fall to maths promoter Johnny Ball, geneticist Steve Jones, psychologist Anjula Mutanda, along with Fiammetta Rocco, the literary editor at the Economist. The judging panel will have to decide between six books that span a plethora of subjects from cosmology to civilisations, electricity to endocrines. It will be looking for a book that is not only the most informative and readable, but also the most accessible to the general public. In 2005, Philip Ball won the General Prize for his book, Critical Mass: How One Thing Leads to Another, and other past winners have included Bill Bryson, Stephen Hawking and Chris McManus.

The prizes will be announced at an awards ceremony at the Royal Society on 16 May.
The full shortlist for the 2006 Aventis General Prize:

Power, Sex, Suicide - Mitochondria and the Meaning of Life, by Nick Lane (Oxford University Press)Mitochondria are tiny structures within all our cells that do the essential task of producing energy. They are pivotal in power, sex, and suicide. In his book, Nick Lane shows how understanding mitochondria is of fundamental importance, both in understanding how complex life came to be, but also in order to be able to control our own illnesses, and delay our degeneration and death.

Empire of the Stars - Friendship, Obsession and Betrayal in the Quest for Black Holes, by Arthur I Miller (Little Brown)In August 1930, the young Indian scientist Subrahmanyan Chandrasekhar calculated that certain stars could end their lives by collapsing indefinitely to a point - to nowhere. This idea brought Chandra into conflict with Sir Arthur Eddington, the grand old man of British astrophysics, who publicly ridiculed the idea. Empire of the Stars teases out the major implications of this infamous event, setting it against the backdrop of the turbulent growth of astrophysics.

David Bodanis tells the story of electricityElectric Universe - How Electricity Switched on the Modern World, by David Bodanis (Little Brown)For centuries, electricity was viewed as little more than a curious property of certain substances that sparked when rubbed. Then, in the 1790s, Alessandro Volta began the scientific investigation that ignited an explosion of knowledge and invention. In Electric Universe, Bodanis weaves the tales of romance, divine inspiration, and fraud that surround the story of electricity.

Collapse - How Societies Choose to Fail or Survive, by Jared Diamond (Penguin Allen Lane)Why do some societies flourish, while others founder? What happened to the people who made the long-abandoned statues of Easter Island or to the architects of the Maya pyramids? And will we go the same way? Bringing together new evidence and piecing together the myriad influences that make societies self-destruct, Collapse shows how, unlike our ancestors, we can benefit from our knowledge of the past and learn to be survivors.

Parallel Worlds - The Science of Alternative Universes and our Future in the Cosmos, by Michio Kaku (Penguin)Getting a grip on the creation and ultimate fate of the Universe is one of the great scientific stories of the 20th Century. In the 21st, the story is expanding to enfold many universes. Parallel Worlds tells that new story. Using the latest astronomical data, it explores the Big Bang, "theories of everything", our cosmic future and the human implications of this story.

The Truth About Hormones - What's Going on when We're Tetchy, Spotty, Fearful, Tearful or Just Plain Awful, by Vivienne Parry (Atlantic Books)Hormones rule our internal world: they control our growth, our metabolism, weight, water-balance, body clocks, fertility, muscle bulk, mood, speed of ageing, whether we want sex or not (and whether we enjoy it) and even who we fall in love with. In The Truth About Hormones, Vivienne Parry explains how, exactly, these mysteriously powerful things affect us.

BBC NEWS REPORT.

DR CONGO'S KABILA AND HIS KINGDOM!

DR Congo's Kabila and his kingdom.
The BBC's Arnaud Zajtman profiles Joseph Kabila, the man most likely to become the Democratic Republic of Congo's first democratically elected leader since independence in 1960, in a piece published in the Focus on Africa magazine.

Joseph Kabila succeeded his assassinated father Laurent-Desire. It looked like a church service. Two huge portraits of the leader were hanging from the high ceiling and thousands of people were dancing and singing in devotion to a 34-year-old man who was nowhere to be seen. At the end of the ceremony broadcast live on state television, the master of ceremony Abdoullaye Yerodia - a Marxist psycho-analyst turned vice-president - closed it with the words: "In the name of the father, the son and the PPRD." Members of the People's Party for Reconstruction and Democracy (PPRD) had gathered to beg Joseph Kabila, DR Congo's transitional president, to stand as their candidate in elections due in June.

But Mr Kabila never showed up. Only his closest disciples, known as "the Kabila boys", were on the stage, rallying the crowd and hailing the merits of the absent man. Since his appointment as president after the assassination of his father Laurent-Desire Kabila in January 2001, Joseph Kabila, the world's youngest head of state, has only given two news conferences in Kinshasa and has made very few speeches. "Kabila is not shy, he is reserved. This is part of his Swahili cultural background," explains Kabila's personal secretary, Kikaya Bin Karubi.

Indeed, this reservation is in contrast to the usual Congolese effusiveness. Campaigners want to present their leader as genuinely CongoleseJoseph Kabila was born in the mountains of Fizi, eastern DR Congo, the stronghold of his then-rebel father, but grew up in exile in Tanzania. His schoolmates at the Zanaji secondary school in Dar es Salaam nicknamed him "War bus" because of his enjoyment of war films and martial arts. Still, they were all surprised when they saw the first pictures of him and his father fighting a real war, which ended when they seized power in DR Congo (then Zaire) and overthrew President Mobutu Sese Seko in May 1997. "We didn't even know he was Congolese," recalls one of them, who did not want to be named.

The Kabila family lived in Dar es Salaam under the discreet protection of then-Tanzanian President Julius Nyerere - a man Joseph Kabila claims to be his "role model". So as not to attract the attention of Mobutu's intelligence service, they pretended they were members of the Fipa people, a small ethnic group from south-west Tanzania. This upbringing and the fact that Mr Kabila speaks French with an English accent and knows no Lingala (DR Congo's lingua franca) has fuelled his detractors' argument that he is in fact "a foreigner".

The Union for Democracy and Social Progress - the opposition party of veteran opposition leader Etienne Tshisekedi - has spread the rumour that he is not Laurent Kabila's legitimate son, but is in fact of Rwandan origin - a strong accusation in a country that was invaded by the Rwandan army during a five-year war. The Congolese know exactly where their interests are.

With elections coming up, "the Kabila boys" are trying hard to present their leader as genuinely Congolese. During the February political rally, they introduced his mother, Sifa, and his brother and sister to the militants, while Vice-President Yerodia insisted that he witnessed Mr Kabila's birth in Fizi. Mr Bin Karubi adds that if Mr Kabila is not well known to the Congolese, it is mainly because he spends all week working hard in the office and some of his weekends cropping and doing motocross on his farm, Kingakati, on the outskirts of the capital. Indeed, in spite of the 2002 power-sharing agreement that includes four vice-presidents from rebel groups who fought during the war, and a cabinet of more than 50 ministers in his interim administration, President Kabila still runs a staff of 200, described by the opposition as a "parallel government".

His experience as a general in the Congolese army also helps him to keep direct control over a 7,000-strong army unit known as the Republican Guard, which allegedly includes a few Zimbabwean commanders. DR Congo's war led to shady business deals, but Mr Kabila has not been directly implicated in any. The same cannot be said of 'the Kabila boys'. One of them, Katumba Mwanke, a minister at the presidency, was forced to resign because of accusations in a 2002 United Nations report that he was profiteering from the war through deals made with Zimbabwean officials.

Yet, he remains close to the centre of power, acting as one of Mr Kabila's top advisers. On his campaign posters, Mr Kabila says: "The Congolese know exactly where their interests are. There is a reason to hope." The Congolese people will be hoping that Mr Kabila, the clear favourite to win the presidency, also knows where the genuine interests of DR Congo are, and that he will keep reminding his "boys" that they are in politics to serve the nation of 56 million.

BBC NEWS REPORT.

AFRICAN FISH LEAPS FOR LAND BUGS!

African fish leaps for land bugs.
By Rebecca Morelle BBC News science reporter.

The first time we saw it, we were amazed - it was really spectacular. Sam Van Wassenbergh, University of Antwerp. Scientists have discovered a fish that can hunt and catch its prey on land. The eel catfish, Channallabes apus, is found in the muddy swamps of the tropics of western Africa. The 30-40cm-long (12-16in) fish is able to propel itself out of the water and bend its head downwards to capture insects in its jaws.

The Belgian researchers, writing in the journal Nature, hope this discovery will help to explain how fish moved from sea to land millions of years ago. With a small head and a long, flexible body, C. apus has an eel-like appearance. The fish's diet provided the scientists with the first clue to its remarkable behaviour - it mainly eats beetles which are found on land. The fish tilts its head downwards to engulf its preyAfter an expedition to study the fish in its swampy habitat in Gabon, Africa, the team brought some of the animals back to Belgium for further research. They placed the fish in a specially designed aquarium with both wet and muddy areas, mimicking C. apus's natural environment.

"We pointed high-speed video cameras towards the place where we had left the prey and waited until the fish was hungry enough to leave the water and catch it," explained Sam Van Wassenbergh, an author on the Nature paper and a biologist from the University of Antwerp, Belgium. "The first time we saw it, we were amazed - it was really spectacular." The fish captures its prey by propelling itself onto the shore, raising the front part of its body and bending its head downwards over the insect.

A local fisherman in the Gabon holds up a specimen of C. apusUsually, the fish uses suction to feed underwater; but because air is much less dense than water, the fish needs to employ a new strategy to catch its food. "The way it positions its head prevents the prey from being pushed away," said Mr Van Wassenbergh. "This way it can place its jaws over the prey; and when it is strongly between the jaws, the fish will return to the water where it can further ingest the insect." C. apus has a specially adapted spine which gives it extra flexibility, allowing it to tilt its head. The fish uses the rest of its long body to maintain stability while it is out of the water.
The best studied fish that feeds on land is the mudskipper. It feeds using a similar method to the catfish, but can use its pectoral fins to hop onto land and to lift and lower its head.

Arctic fossils mark land move

The researchers hope the discovery of another species of land-going fish will help shed light on how sea creatures evolved into land-living tetrapods during the Devonian Period, about 400 million years ago. They say C. apus bears similarities to fossils found from this period, including the recently described Tiktaalik rosea. This creature, found in Arctic Canada, may be a "missing link" between sea and land-living animals. "[T. rosea] had a neck that appears to be quite mobile, and strong fins. If you ask me if it could feed terrestrially in a similar way to catfish or mudskippers - I would say it probably could," said Mr Van Wassenbergh.

BBC NEWS REPORT.

IRAN'S INTENTIONS ARE PEACEFUL!

Iran urged to stop nuclear work.

Mahmoud Ahmadinejad says Iran's intentions are peaceful. Iran is facing growing calls from the international community to halt its nuclear activities after announcing it has successfully enriched uranium. The US secretary of state said it was time for "strong steps" by the UN, and her Russian counterpart said Iran was going "in the wrong direction". Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad has stressed that his country's nuclear intentions are peaceful. The UN's nuclear watchdog chief is flying to Tehran to discuss the crisis. We will continue our path until we achieve production of industrial-scale enrichment - Mahmoud AhmadinejadIranian president.

Iran press hails 'great day'
In quotes: Foreign reaction

Mohamed ElBaradei, who heads the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), is to report back to the UN Security Council at the end of this month on whether Tehran is complying with its demand to stop all enrichment activity by 28 April or face isolation. Iran could be in a position to produce enough fissile nuclear material to make a nuclear bomb within 3-5 years, according to the London-based International Institute of Strategic Studies. Iran's deputy nuclear chief Mohammad Saeedi has said Iran intends to move toward large-scale uranium enrichment involving 54,000 centrifuges, signalling the country's resolve to expand its nuclear programme.

His comments come a day after Iran announced it had succeeded in enriching uranium on a small scale for the first time, using 164 centrifuges, at a facility in Natanz. UN Secretary General Kofi Annan said on Wednesday he hoped that Mr ElBaradei would be able to persuade Iran to resume negotiations. "They have pursued their research but I hope they will be able to come back to the table and work with the international community to find a negotiated solution. "And I appeal to every one to work more actively in search of a diplomatic solution and to cool down the rhetoric," Mr Annan said.

Amid a growing international outcry, US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice said the Security Council would need to take "strong steps" to maintain "the credibility of the international community on this issue".

Iranians give their views on the nuclear dispute.
In pictures

UK Foreign Secretary Jack Straw said he was "seriously concerned", adding Iran's latest move "further undermines international confidence in the regime and is deeply unhelpful". Germany and France also voiced their worries, and China said it was "concerned about the event and the way things are developing." However, China's ambassador to the UN Wang Guangya urged all parties to "exercise restraint, act constructively and not to take action that might further aggravate the situation". Although Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said the move was "in the wrong direction", he warned against dramatising the situation and reiterated Moscow's firm opposition to any military action against Iran.

President Ahmadinejad, announcing Iran's breakthrough in a televised speech on Tuesday, said it was a "very historic moment" and "the start of the progress of the country". He urged the West to respect what he called Iran's right to peaceful atomic technology. The US and Europe are pressing for sanctions against Iran, a step Council members Russia and China have so far opposed.

The BBC's Steve Rosenberg in Moscow says Tehran's announcement undermined Russia's attempts to promote a compromise deal which would allow Tehran to enrich uranium, but only on Russian soil and under strict Russian supervision. As frustrated as Russia is, Moscow still seems reluctant to increase the pressure too much on the Islamic republic, our correspondent says. Moscow knows that if diplomacy fails, and the UN Security Council imposes sanctions, then Russia's extensive economic interests in Iran could be dealt a heavy blow, he adds. Iran said it had operated 164 centrifuges, creating the cascade required to achieve "industrial output" of enriched uranium.

But the process would only create the low-level enrichment needed for nuclear fuel. Iran would need thousands of centrifuges to create the highly enriched uranium needed for nuclear weapons. Experts say Iran is some way off from having a nuclear bomb, with predictions ranging from a year to more than a decade.

BBC NEWS REPORT.

DEFRAUDING THE STATE IN GHANA!

Ghana former first lady in court.

Mrs Rawlings' lawyer said her mood was "confident and angry". The wife of Ghana's ex-president, Jerry Rawlings, has appeared in a packed courtroom, where her case of defrauding the state was adjourned until 11 May. The charges relate to the privatisation of a state-owned company in the 1990s. Nana Konadu Agyemang Rawlings and seven other defendants are accused of failing to service a loan they took out to acquire the firm, Nsawam Cannery. The trial was delayed because some papers had not been served. She is expected to plead not guilty.

The BBC's Kwaku Sayki-Addo in Accra says security was tight with horse-mounted police around the court, which was packed with Mrs Rawlings' supporters. Lawyer Tony Lithur told the BBC's Network Africa programme that Mrs Rawlings had been charged because of her position as chair of the company board. The charges arise from a report by the auditor general, he said. "I have not seen any information in the charge sheet that she personally did any act that caused the financial loss," he said. "She will certainly plead not guilty," Mr Lithur said, describing his client's mood as "confident and angry".

Jerry Rawlings first came to power in a coup in 1979, and in 1981 again seized power from his democratically-elected successor. He won democratic elections in 1992 and 1996 but stood down at the 2000 election, when his chosen successor, John Atta Mills, was defeated by current President John Kufuor.

BBC NEWS REPORT.

INSTANBUL NOMINATED FOR 2010 CULTURE CITY

Turkey celebrates EU culture boost.
By Oana Lungescu BBC News, Brussels

Turkey's bid to enter the EU has been controversial. The Turkish city of Istanbul has beaten the Ukrainian capital, Kiev, for the third nomination as European capital of culture for 2010. The other two chosen capitals are regional centres in EU countries - Pecs, in south-eastern Hungary and Essen in Germany's industrialised Ruhr Valley. The nominations, made by a jury of European experts, are expected to be confirmed by EU culture ministers next November. The significance of the choice is more than cultural.

There were gasps, applause and even some tears from the Turkish delegation when Sir Jeremy Isaacs, the chairman of the selection panel, made his announcement. The reason for the panel's choice, he explained, was not only the well-known fact that Istanbul lies at a geographical cross-roads with Europe and has interacted with European civilisations for centuries. The city's bid, he said, was well prepared and highly effective. "Interestingly, the Istanbul application, the bid, did not begin either with the government of Turkey or with the government of the city of Istanbul, but with groups of public-spirited citizens, who took into their own hands the initiatives of leading their city towards this bid," he said.

Ukraine is keen to be regarded as a truly European country."As a consequence, groups of people within the city own the bid in their own right. "They told us of the different elements that went to make up their bid, of their dialogue that they intend with Europe on issues which we share and on differences that distinguish us," he added. By contrast, Kiev only started preparing its bid about a year-and-a-half ago. In fact, the idea originally came from members of the European Parliament, who had observed the contested presidential elections in December 2004 and the Orange Revolution that followed. EU flags were waved in Kiev along with those of Ukraine, to show the country was looking westwards.

But the short preparation period took its toll, Sir Jeremy explained. "They had less to say to us about the actual events of 2010 than other cities might have done. But they put forward to us passionately and urgently their city's desire to be considered as a living part of European culture," he said.

There is little doubt that the bids from Istanbul and Kiev are part of intense lobbying from Turkey and Ukraine to be recognised as truly European countries which deserve to be part of the EU too. Turkey is a formal candidate country, which started membership talks last year, while Ukraine is currently treated by the EU as a close and valued neighbour, but no more. Sir Jeremy denied, however, that the choice of Istanbul was political. The panel concentrated only on cultural criteria and chose the city that had made the most impact, he said. Western people will see the true Turkey, because there are some prejudices, some disinformation
Dilek Istar Ates,Istanbul bid supporter.

Viktoria Borodina, the spokeswoman for Ukraine's mission to the EU, took it with good grace. "We are very glad for the Istanbul delegation, they received today a chance, a very good chance," she said. "We hope that Ukraine will continue on this way. Anyway, Kiev - European capital of culture - and all events in the framework of the European capital of culture 2010 will take place."

Dilek Istar Ates, one of the Istanbul supporters, could barely contain her emotion. "At first, emotionally, it's really important for us. Spirits will go up... Western people will see the true Turkey, because there are some prejudices, some disinformation. This will disappear with Istanbul, capital of culture 2010," she said.

It may be rather optimistic to think that prejudice about Turkey in western Europe will disappear by 2010. But the title allows the chosen cities to draw more tourists, improve access to cultural events and boost infrastructure. Past capitals like Glasgow in Scotland, Lille in France and Salamanca in Spain, took the opportunity to revamp city centres and market themselves as tourist magnets. However, after 2010, cities outside the bloc can no longer apply. So this was the last opportunity for Istanbul and Kiev to gain the title European capital of culture, though few dispute that both remain great European cities regardless of the outcome.

BBC NEWS REPORT.

AFRICAN SCI-FI WINS COMPETITION!

Kenyan writer John Rugoiyo Gichuki chose the year 2410 as the setting for his radio play Eternal, Forever and won the BBC's African Playwriting competition for 2006.

"The BBC made me a playwright""I thought I would be the first person to write science fiction for the competition," says Gichuki. "But it is also the story of a man searching for his family. I wanted to give it that human dimension." Eternal, Forever is set in the United States of Africa, 400 years from now, when Gichuki would have the continent at the cutting edge of technological advances. "There is always cyclical development. The British Empire was big. Now America is there. "Maybe in the next 50 years it's going to be the Chinese. "Maybe in 100 years it's going to be Africa."

Competition judge Ola Animashawun of London's Royal Court Theatre had the hard task of choosing the ultimate winners from a shortlist of ten. "Apart from the craft of the writing itself, I loved the aspirational aspect of the play, set in the future when the continent is leading. "Everything I was reading about people struggling, about economics, about migration, here, it said 'we can do it'.

Ola thinks radio is good for sci-fi."The writer has also given the director the freedom to explore and create within the text itself. Radio is one of the best places to do science fiction. " Chika Maureen Ukaigwe's drama about mob justice, Slayed Dog, took second place. Ukaigwe, a 22-year-old medical student studying in Benin City, Nigeria, is a first-time prize winner in the competition. As a young girl, she saw a picture of someone who had been killed by a mob, and the image stayed with her. Ukaigwe paints a vivid world in which mistaken identity and mob rule cause a tragic death.

The rivalry between two West African "giants" is the subject of the joint third prize winner, Once Upon a Time in Lagos by Efo Kodjo Mawugbe. Two unemployed graduates, a Nigerian and a Ghanaian, act out all their frustrations to hilarious effect. "There is this rivalry in terms of language, in terms of business and there is a perception that Ghanaians cannot equal Nigerians in terms of literature. "So I said, let me take the fight back to their own backyard!" Mawugbe is a playwright and director of culture based in Ghana.

From Sierra Leone, playwright Mohamed Sheriff penned an interesting portrait of a woman betrayed by the man she loves. The Spots of the Leopard won Sheriff shared the third prize. A well-known proverb predicts that the leopard never changes its spots, but Jamila is blind to this truth until all is finally revealed. The sensitive issue of marital infidelity through the sexual abuse of a poor female relative is well depicted. "Of all the plays, this one had a lot of honesty and truth," says Animashawun.

BBC NEWS REPORT.

NIGERIAN FLIGHTS UP BY 20%

Rush to beat Nigeria airfare hike.

Tickets bought before the deadline will still be valid for travel later. The cost of flying in Nigeria goes up by 20% on Monday owing to an increase in aviation fuel costs and taxes. A one-hour trip will rise in price from 10,000 to 12,000 naira ($70 to $83).Reports said there had been a run on tickets from people wanting to take advantage of the old prices before the midday deadline. The cost of aviation fuel rose last month rose to between N72 ($0.50) and N85 per litre, prompting local carriers to put up their fares.

President Olusegun Obasanjo has ordered fuel to be piped direct from depots to airports, to cut out the cost of transporting the fuel in tankers. Ticket desks were "besieged" by people trying to obtain tickets for travel later on at the old price, the Nigerian Guardian newspaper reports.Tickets bought before the deadline will still be valid for travel later, though one airline official warned that passengers might still have to pay an additional reservation fee. Nigeria's domestic carriers have been hit by the entry of foreign competition into the local market.

Late last year, the industry's image was tarnished by two serious crashes, which prompted the president to invoke powers to suspend the services of airlines that did not comply with safety rules.

BBC NEWS REPORT.

THREE DAYS OF NATIONAL MOURNING

Kenyans mourn air crash victims.

There was a sombre mood at the airport where the caskets arrived. Kenya has begun three days of national mourning after a plane carrying several prominent politicians on a peace mission to the north crashed. The bodies of the 14 dead passengers, who include two assistant ministers and four other MPs, have arrived back in the capital, Nairobi. The BBC's Ruth Nesoba says the mood at the airport where the caskets arrived was sombre with many in tears. The crashed plane struck a hill while landing near Marsabit in heavy rain. President Mwai Kibaki declared that three days of mourning would start on Tuesday, and ordered flags to be flown at half mast

In pictures: Crash tragedy

He was amongst many other MPs gathered on Tuesday afternoon to receive the bodies from the crash site near Marsabit. With the caskets displayed - draped in the Kenyan flag - many of the families and dignitaries had difficulty holding back their tears, our correspondent says Plans to bury two of the victims on Tuesday were abandoned as pathologists have had difficulty identifying the bodies. National Assembly sittings have been suspended until funerals arrangements are complete. Assistant ministers Mirugi Kariuki and Titus Ngoyoni are among the dead. Bonaya Godana, the deputy leader of Kenya's main opposition party, Kanu, and two other members of parliament also died in the crash near Marsabit, 450 km (280 miles) north-east of Nairobi.

The politicians were travelling to the region to mediate in a bloody feud between rival communities near the border with Ethiopia.

NAMES OF POLITICIANS KILLED
MP Mirugi Kariuki, assistant minister internal security
MP Titus Ngoyoni, assistant minister regional development
MP Bonaya Godana, deputy leader official opposition
MP Abdi Sasura
MP Guracha Galgallo
Abdullahi Adan , MP in the East African parliament
Peter King'ola, Moyale district commissioner
Source: Kenya State House.

The area has been volatile in recent months due to drought, with nomads competing for scarce water resources. One UN official said it would be difficult to find new individuals who have the influence and expertise to persuade local clans to remain peaceful. "Every one of us is called upon by this happening to join solidly in serving the people of Kenya, and in serving them it is to abandon the cause for which these gentlemen may have lost their lives," President Kibaki said at the airport on Tuesday. The speaker of the Kenyan parliament, Francis Ole Kaparo, described the accident as the worst tragedy to hit the national assembly. He paid tribute to his colleagues and said that parliament would be suspended until the funerals had taken place. Three years ago, a plane carrying four ministers and several MPs crashed, killing one minister.

A commission of inquiry into that incident recommended that government officials should not travel together in one plane. The three survivors - the Eastern Province's provincial commissioner and two Kenyan Airforce crew members - are reported to be stable in hospital.
A fourth survivor died later on Monday.

BBC NEWS REPORT.

ON THIS DAY

A TREATY ESTABLISHING AFRICA AS A NUCLEAR-FREE ZONE WAS,

ON THIS DAY, OPENED FOR SIGNATURE IN CAIRO, IN 1996!

IRAN ATTACK DEBATE!

Iran attack debate raises nuclear prospect.

By Paul Reynolds World Affairs correspondent, BBC News website The US has the military capability to attack Iran's nuclear facilities The debate over whether the US might attack Iran's nuclear installations has taken a step forward with the publication of an article which suggests that the US has considered using a nuclear "bunker buster" in such an operation. The article, in The New Yorker magazine, is by veteran military analyst Seymour Hersh. It is a follow-up to one he wrote in January 2005 in which he suggested that an air attack on Iran was possible. What is new is that he raises the prospect that such an attack might be nuclear in nature. However, the problems of using a nuclear weapon would be so huge that few people are taking this seriously. The British Foreign Secretary Jack Straw said the idea was "completely nuts". Hersh himself downplayed the prospect. In an interview with the BBC, he said the Pentagon had told the Bush administration initially that a nuclear attack was the only way of guaranteeing success: Graphic: Conventional v nuclear bunker busters "Nobody was advocating it, they were just saying a 100% guarantee. Where it becomes interesting, the joint chiefs, in one of its subsequent papers, wanted to withdraw that option because of course it's madness, a nuclear weapon in the Middle East to an Arab [sic] Muslim country, my God. And the White House won't withdraw. "That's the issue, that the White House, some people there still wanted to have this option. That's what's causing the trauma, not that they're going to do it, but the White House won't take it off the table." Two issues One should separate the two issues here. The first is a possible attack on Iran. The second is the nature of that attack. An attack at some stage is possible and the White House has not ruled anything out. It never does, in fact. For the moment, though, diplomacy is the chosen route in the effort to get Iran to give up its nuclear programme. This explains why western diplomats talk about an attack not being "on the agenda." It is not at present; but the phrase does not rule it out for the future. Nuclear option problems But a nuclear attack is improbable. There are three main reasons of military and diplomatic importance for this. The first is that even a nuclear "bunker-buster" would produce large amounts of radiation. This could cause thousands of casualties among civilian populations. The Federation of American Scientists says that "the bombs would penetrate at most only a few metres into rock, causing no reduction in blast, fire, or fallout damage on the surface. The largest would have blown out a crater almost a thousand feet across and thrown a cloud of radioactive fallout tens of thousands of feet into the air where it would be blown hundreds of miles downwind." The second is that the political implications are so huge of the US attacking, with nuclear weapons, a country (and in the Muslim world) which is not armed with similar weapons and which says it has no intention of making. The third reason is that, doctrinally, the US is moving away from developing new nuclear bunker busters. It does have one already, the B61-11, but it cannot penetrate very deeply and last year Congress withdrew, at the administration's request, funding for further research. Legality issue There is also the question of legality to be considered. Any attack would be hard to justify. Jack Straw told reporters recently: "I don't happen to believe that military action has a role to play in any event. We could not justify it under Article 51 of the UN charter which permits self-defence." In the absence of Security Council approval, the US might argue that its interests in the Gulf were at stake and that its ally Israel was at risk. Conventional bombs Instead of nuclear bombs, conventional weapons would be used, but of a massive type. They would try to do a similar job, but without the same physical and political fallout. One called "Big Blu" is currently under development. Hersh also said, in both articles, that the US had infiltrated agents into Iran to pick targets and make contacts with dissident groups. Iran insists its nuclear programme is for peaceful purposes One reading of the White House attitude is that it wants to scare Iran into making concessions and wants in any case to foment political unrest. This it hopes might eventually produce policy change by producing regime change. Hersh says that Washington regards President Ahmadinejad as a "potential Adolf Hitler." US threats What nobody doubts is that the US is determined to stop Iran from become nuclear-armed. Iran says it will not build a bomb but wants the technology only to make fuel for civil nuclear power. It is allowed to make its own fuel under the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT). However, the dilemma might be more difficult than that because Iran might not became "nuclear-armed". It might simply become nuclear-capable. The technology in question can be used for both civilian and military purposes. Consequences If attacked, Iran might simply leave the NPT, as it has the right to do, and go ahead with nuclear development anyway. That could set the scene for further attacks over a long period of time. Iran might also retaliate, against US interests in Iraq and the Gulf, and might use the militant group Hezbollah in southern Lebanon to attack Israel. The region could be in uproar. On this side of the Atlantic, Dan Plesch, Research Associate at the London School of Oriental and African Studies, is proclaiming the same message. He gave a speech analysing the options recently and told the BBC News website: "The United States has the capability to come out of the clear blue sky and destroy the Iranian military infrastructure." He went on: "You can say we are being hysterical and are a band of doom-mongers. But I fear the US has lost confidence in the UN or the EU to solve this. And it could do it militarily. All this does not mean it will happen. It does mean it is being debated. rock type, this could potentially crush a bunker at about 70 metres depth But the issiles cannot penetrate deeply enough for the radioactive fallout to be contained.

THE DA VINCI JUDGEMENT!

'No surprise' in Da Vinci judgement.
By Jon Silverman Legal affairs analyst.

The plaintiffs' case was weak and vague, say lawyers.After the High Court ruled Da Vinci Code author Dan Brown did not breach the copyright of an earlier book, the BBC News website assesses the case's impact. This judgement was expected. Since there is no copyright in an idea, any claim for breach of copyright must rest on the way that the idea is expressed. In this case, it was described as the "architecture" or "structure" of the work, The Holy Blood and the Holy Grail. The plaintiffs claimed that this structure - the central theme - had been lifted by Dan Brown for the Da Vinci Code. The judge himself acknowledged that nothing in the plaintiffs' case would have stultified creative endeavour.

Court rejects Da Vinci claim

The judge rejected this claim even though he said that Brown had copied some language from the earlier book. But to suggest, as Gail Rebuck, the chief executive of Random House, did outside court, that the judgement represented a significant victory for creative freedom, is probably going too far. The judge himself acknowledged that nothing in the plaintiffs' case would have stultified creative endeavour or extended the boundaries of copyright protection. In launching their claim, the authors of The Holy Blood and the Holy Grail, were aware of a similar High Court case brought in 1980 by an author called Ravenscroft, who wrote a non-fiction work titled The Spear of Destiny.

Co-incidentally, it also had Christ's fate as its central theme. Ravenscroft argued successfully that the novelist, James Herbert, had infringed his copyright by using the same characters, incidents and interpretation of events in parts of his thriller, The Spear. I estimate that in a 20-minute period, he was forced to retract two or three claims and to apologise to Dan Brown for making them.

But, as copyright lawyer, David Hooper, points out, the key issue is the amount of a book, both in quantity and quality, which is copied by someone else. "Frankly, the only hope for the plaintiffs in the Da Vinci case would have been to produce a detailed schedule showing on which pages of Dan Brown's book their ideas, language and structure had been plagiarised. "But their argument was vague and shifted course during the trial and was always based on a weak foundation." Copyright lawyer Simon Gallant agrees. He was in court as an interested spectator when Michael Baigent was giving evidence. "It was electrifying. I estimate that in a 20-minute period, he was forced to retract two or three claims and to apologise to Dan Brown for making them. "I would have been astonished if he and his fellow plaintiff had won the case because the threshold you have to reach to prove infringement of copyright is a high one and they did not come close to it."

Under the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988, the creators of literary, dramatic, musical and artistic works enjoy protection for original work if they can establish " a degree of labour, skill or judgement" in producing it. That formula is crucial. The courts have denied protection to certain works, including some advertising slogans. Once a work has been created, it will automatically be protected by copyright. No formal steps, such as registering it, need to be taken. Copyright in a literary work generally lasts for 70 years after the last remaining author of the work dies.

BBC NEWS REPORT.

LACK OF HOUSING IN SOUTH AFRICA!

Johannesburg poor fight for their homes.
By Justin Pearce BBC News website, Johannesburg.

A stump of a candle and a box of matches lie on the table next to Nelson Chawe's neatly made-up bed; several months' worth of a weekly football magazine are stacked on a table where the afternoon sun filters through the curtain. Nelson Chawe and his neighbours won a court battle to stay in their building "You have to try and keep your place clean and dry," Mr Chawe says of his flat in Johannesburg's inner-city Berea neighbourhood. "I'm a human being - I have to look after myself." No-one else is looking after Mr Chawe and his neighbours. Every week they get together to clean the communal stairways and passageways of the building, though there is not much they can do about the choking smell of sewage that rises from the ground floor. In a few hours, he will have to light that candle. The place has no electricity.
San Jose, a 10-floor building with the concrete walkways and wide picture windows of the 1950s or 1960s, has been at the centre of a legal battle that could have profound consequences for how central Johannesburg develops in the next few years. Mr Chawe, who sells clothing on the city's streets, moved into the block in 2004, when the city authorities had already announced plans to evict the occupants, none of whom were paying rent.

On 3 March this year, the Johannesburg High Court ruled that moves by the Johannesburg Metropolitan Council to evict the occupants were illegal, unless the authorities provided alternative accommodation. The council argued that the building was unfit for human habitation; the residents argued that they had nowhere else to go.

HOUSING IN SOUTH AFRICA
1.5m houses built since 1994
7.5m lack access to adequate housing
Some earn as little as $35 a month
Source: COHRE

The case drew attention to the critical housing shortage faced by South Africa's poorest people, 12 years after the end of apartheid. The government says 1.8m new houses have been built since 1994, or are currently under construction. "These are high delivery rates by any standards," a report on housing in Johannesburg by the Centre on Housing Rights and Evictions (COHRE) - an international NGO - argued last year. The report nevertheless says "huge backlogs in infrastructure inherited from apartheid, and the unprecedented influx of people to the Johannesburg area" are making it unlikely that the poorest people will find affordable housing close to where they work.

The City of Johannesburg's housing subsidy waiting list stands at over 250,000, the COHRE report says. Residents of San Jose are trying to keep the building clean and habitable The problem keeps getting bigger. The ANC inherited the country from a government that not only neglected housing for the poor, black majority, but also pursued policies that kept most black people out of the cities.
Apartheid blocked the flow of people to the cities that any normal society would expect - the dismantling of that system prompted a flood of urbanisation. At the same time, South Africa attracted refugees and fortune-seekers from across Africa, who also needed shelter. There is no doubt that many buildings in the inner city do pose a risk to health and life. Nelson Chawe has succeeded against the odds in keeping his flat in a liveable state without electricity or running water - more typical are the ones where five people or more live, sleep, and cook on paraffin stoves in a room three metres square.

JOHANNESBURG
200,000 shacks
235 inner city "bad buildings"
250,000 - 300,000 housing waiting list
Source: COHRE

Recently, 12 people died in a fire that was apparently caused by a fault in an illegal electrical connection in a building occupied by migrant workers. Expressing his condolences to victims' families, Mayor Amos Masondo said the authorities were "committed to enforce efforts to bring a solution to the challenges of illegal occupation of property and unauthorised access to essential services provided to registered residents".

But a statement by COHRE and the Centre for Applied Legal Studies, a human rights law centre based at the University of the Witwatersrand, blamed the fire on the city's "failure to provide alternatives, which leaves the inner city poor vulnerable". "The real motive behind evictions from 'bad buildings' in the inner city is not the need to ensure the health and safety of the occupiers. It is, rather, to push the poor out of the inner city," the organisations argue.

Inner-city property prices have risen 230% in the past five years. Rapid growth and traffic congestion in the suburbs have prompted property developers in the city centre to try to lure back the businesses and middle-class residents who abandoned the area two decades ago. Illegal electricity connections have caused deadly fires in some buildingsOld office blocks are being converted into flats that range in price from 500,000 to 2m rand ($83,000 to $330,000) - middle to upper income in South African terms. The city council website describes one such development as "perfectly located for the black yuppies who are snapping up flats in the inner city - close to major corporates... and a number of banks". People like Mr Chawe, counting their irregular monthly income in hundreds rather than thousands of rand, say even subsidised housing - available to those earning R1,250 ($200) and above - is beyond their means.

Poor residents of the inner city complain that most of the new cheaper housing is on the periphery of the city - from there, they will have to spend at least 12 rand ($2) a day commuting. Some analysts point out that some buildings have been abandoned by their owners where the rates owing to the council exceed the value of the building - creating the legal space for an innovative solution for the poor. "The government should attach buildings and renovate them," argues Sheresa Sibanda of the Inner City Resource Centre, a group opposing evictions. "By throwing people out they are causing more slums, because when people are thrown out they will go and occupy another building. "The government says there is no land for housing, but there are buildings."

BBC NEWS REPORT.

ZUMA'S HIV COURTROOM REVELATIONS!

Zuma's HIV courtroom revelations
By Peter Biles BBC southern Africa correspondent.

South Africa's former deputy president, Jacob Zuma, is on trial for rape. It is alleged that he attacked a family friend, who is HIV positive. Mr Zuma denies the charge. The nation has absorbed intimate details of what may or may not have happened on the night in question, some of which have appalled many local Aids activists. Every morning at 0900, a convoy of luxury cars with blue lights flashing, sweeps into Pritchard Street in downtown Johannesburg. They pull up outside the High Court - a granite, domed building, and men in black suits emerge from the vehicles. Presidential-style, Jacob Zuma's bodyguards form a phalanx around his car, and then trot into the yard at the back of the court. On the street outside, the diehard Zuma supporters cheer and sing, but are held back by the police. During the five weeks since this trial began, their numbers have dwindled markedly.

This time last year, though, Mr Zuma was the second most powerful person in the land - deputy president of South Africa - and a strong contender to succeed Thabo Mbeki when he steps down in three years' time. Mr Zuma certainly had many of the right credentials to lead this country.
He was a fighter in the ANC's liberation struggle, a prisoner on Robben Island for 10 years, and a former head of intelligence when the ANC was in exile. Now though, Mr Zuma has suffered a dramatic fall from grace. He is on trial for rape, with the details of his sex life splashed across the newspaper front pages day after day. It is more than most people can stomach, but there is no respite. We now know, at the very least, that Mr Zuma had unprotected sex with an HIV-positive woman, half his age, who says she regarded him as a father figure. She used to call him Malume - the Zulu word for uncle - because her late father and Mr Zuma were once comrades-in-arms.
Inside Court 4E, the atmosphere is always expectant.

Zuma's comments about HIV have angered Aids activistsThere is no jury system in South Africa, and the sole arbiter in this case is Judge Willem Van Der Merwe, described by the press as a "courteous, anglicised Afrikaner". He is best known as the man who sentenced the notorious apartheid assassin, Eugene de Kock, to multiple life terms for murder in 1996. On the left hand side of the court, sits the prosecution team, led by Advocate Charin De Beer. She is the one who subjected Jacob Zuma to two gruelling days of cross-examination. She too, is Afrikaans. Her command of English is strong, but sometimes rather quaint. At one stage, she put it to Mr Zuma that he had "tippy-toed" down the passage to see if the complainant was sleeping, shortly before the alleged rape.

Facing the judge is the Zuma defence team, headed by the Dickensian-looking Advocate Kemp J Kemp. With his tangled mop of hair and ill-fitting legal attire, the papers call him "Unkempt Kemp". But although he is a virtual stranger to criminal trials, he is no slouch, and is regarded as one of the best defence lawyers in the country. Finally, there is Mr Zuma himself. First sitting in the dock, and then taking his seat on the witness stand when he was called to testify. He chose to speak in Zulu, with the aid of a court translator, although it soon became clear that Mr Zuma's English may well be superior.

Frequently, he would lean over to assist the interpreter. Zulu culture has featured rather heavily in this trial. Mr Zuma is described by his followers as "the 100% Zulu Boy". Under cross-examination, he was asked why he had taken the risk of having sexual intercourse with a woman who was HIV positive, when he had no condom available.

HIV/AIDS 2005
Sub-Saharan Africa: 25.8m
Asia: 8.3m
High-income nations: 1.9m
Latin America: 1.8m
E Europe, C Asia: 1.6m
Australasia, Pacific: 74,000
N Africa, Mid East: 510,000
Caribbean: 300,000
Source: UNAids/WHO
Living with HIV
The biology of Aids

He explained unashamedly, that in accordance with Zulu tradition he had been brought up to understand that a man could not abandon a woman in a state of arousal, otherwise she might become infuriated, and accuse him falsely of rape. In other words, he had had no choice but to carry on. If that was not bad enough, Mr Zuma told the court he thought the risk from HIV was small, and that he had taken a shower immediately after the sexual intercourse on the night in question, because - he believed - it was one thing that might reduce the chances of contracting HIV. These assertions came from the man who was head of the National Aids Council and the Moral Regeneration Campaign. This is someone who should have expert knowledge of the threat of Aids in a country where more than five million people are HIV positive.

Local Aids activists and supporters of the complainant who have been picketing the court, have been horrified and outraged by Mr Zuma's comments. They say it has set back South Africa's battle against HIV and Aids by many years. One of the country's top cartoonists, Zapiro, summed it all up with a sketch about "The Jacob Zuma Moral DE-generation Handbook". Under a code of ethics, is Point 3: "Before casual unprotected sex, remove brain and place on bedside table".

BBC NEWS REPORT.

CHINA STANCE WITH ONLINE GAMERS!

China wrestles with online gamers.
By Richard Taylor Click editor

China is presenting a brave new image to the Western worldThe public face of modern, metropolitan China is all gleaming towers and conspicuous consumption. But behind the facade of the new China lies a less glamorous underbelly, a world inhabited largely by the next generation. Internet cafes do not often look up to much but, for the country's 30 million online gamers, they offer a means of escape to worlds far, far beyond.

The hugely popular World of Warcraft is typical of role-playing fantasy games. Hundreds of players can be pitted against each other at any one time, using their in-game characters to battle it out for status and riches in this virtual universe. However, the real fortunes are made elsewhere, by the games providers themselves. Last year alone, Chinese players paid out $500m (£280m) in subscriptions for this part-time escapism.

The government wants a piece of the action too, recently announcing it will invest almost $2bn (£1.14bn) developing the industry. Gaming analyst Jim Sun says: "They try to encourage the local games companies to improve their in-house game development capability, so in future they can export more and import less." But there is a social price to be paid. Players often spend hour upon hour in front of PC monitors, not even taking a breather for life's most basic necessities.

Some even end up at Beijing's internet addiction centre. It opened its doors last year to players who are prepared to slay their own demons and take up healthier living. To the Chinese authorities, the mere existence of the centre is symptomatic of the dangers the internet can present. So the same government actively encouraging home-grown gaming is, somewhat schizophrenically, drawing the conclusion that the online gamers themselves should be regulated.

No time to eat, too busy gamingSince the end of last year they have taken aim at the hardcore players, issuing directives to make sure the games have technical blocks hindering excessive game play. Under the new system, your online character becomes less and less effective. After three hours, the number of in-game "experience points" for, say, killing an opponent are reduced by half. After five hours you do not get any at all. It is called the fatigue system. One government official told Click the new directive has won the support of both players and parents.

Kou Xiao Wei, from the Chinese Internet Agency, said: "This regulation strikes a good balance between the interests of the games developers on the one hand, and the need to foster a healthy game-playing environment on the other. "I think in the long run people will come to realise the importance of this new directive."

BBC NEWS REPORT.

BOMB VICTIMS TO SUE GADDAFI!

IRA bomb victims to sue Gaddafi.

The bomb victims are suing Col Gaddafi. IRA victims are to sue the Libyan government and its leader Colonel Gaddafi over claims the country supplied explosives for bomb attacks. A class action is to be filed in US courts along with lawsuits from American victims of IRA bombings. The litigants include Colin Parry whose son died in the 1993 Warrington bomb. Jason McCue of H2O Law said the case would take into account 10 IRA attacks, including the Enniskillen Remembrance Day bombing in 1987, which killed 11.

The Harrods bomb of 1983 which claimed the lives of six people and the Manchester bomb of 1996, in which no-one died, also form part of the case. Mr McCue said the lawsuits were based on any attack where Semtex allegedly supplied by Libya was used for a bomb or to boost a fertiliser bomb. He said UK victims of the IRA were able to take action in a US court if they joined a legal action being brought by US citizens. Mr Parry, whose son Tim, 12, died in the Warrington attack, said: "It is important the state of Libya is held to account."

He was awarded the OBE in 2004 for his peace campaigning work, which includes setting up the Tim Parry Jonathan Ball Trust and the Peace Centre in Warrington in 2000. Three-year-old Jonathan Ball was also killed in the same blast as Tim Parry. No-one at the Libyan Embassy was available for comment. London-based law firm H2O is also involved in suing the alleged perpetrators of the 1998 Real IRA Omagh bombing.

BBC NEWS REPORT.

Mara 2005

Mara 2005
Originally uploaded by Mara 1.

This is one of the two new Males who recently took over. The evening sun gives him a real glow, and I love the tuft of hair on top of his head.
This is a photograph I took in the Masai Mara in Kenya two years ago, and he is one of the main attractions in the BBC Big Cat Diary series.

ZIMBABWEANS HAVE SHORTEST LIVES!

Zimbabwean women are more likely than men to be infected by HIV. Zimbabweans have the shortest life expectancy in the world, with neither men nor women likely to live until the age of 40, according to a UN report. Zimbabwe's women have an average life expectancy of 34 years and men on average do not live past 37, it said.

The World Health Organisation report said women's life expectancy had fallen by two years in the last 12 months. Correspondents say poverty because of the crumbling economy and deaths from Aids are responsible for the decline. Zimbabwean women have the lowest life expectancy of women anywhere in the world, according to the report. Women in the country are also more likely than men to be infected by the HIV virus. According to the report, all 10 countries with the world's lowest life expectancy were in Africa. People in Swaziland and Sierra Leone are also expected to die before they reach the age of 40, the report said.

Japan was said to have the highest life expectancy in the world, with people there living on average until 82. According to the BBC's Africa editor, David Bamford, the latest figures are extraordinary for a country like Zimbabwe, which until 20 years ago, had a relatively high standard of living for Africa. The HIV/Aids epidemic sweeping across southern Africa cannot alone be blamed for this - especially as recent figures show a slight drop in HIV infection rates in Zimbabwe.

Our correspondent says the key reason behind the drop in Zimbabwe's average life expectancy is the fall in the standard of living, triggered by an economic crisis. Zimbabwe's economy has shrunk by an estimated 40% in the last seven years under President Robert Mugabe.

BBC NEWS REPORT.

LIFE IN MOYALE NOW!

Rains only add to Ethiopian hardships.
By Russell Smith BBC News website Africa editor, Moyale, southern Ethiopia.

Salade, an eight-month-old Ethiopian girl, is unlikely to be the last person to die of hunger this year in the Horn of Africa.

In pictures: Life in Moyale

She was buried a day before aid agencies launched a $426m appeal for the 15 million people they say need food aid in the region. Salade's family had little to start with and they lost their cattle in the drought. Then her mother became ill as the rains began and could not breast-feed her. Her father wept as they stood over her tiny grave. Salade spent her short life in the small border town of Moyale, which is at the heart of the drought after two failed rains. Poverty is pervasive in the region at the best of times. To make matters worse, Moyale lies within the triangle of conflict - an area that also covers northern Kenya and Somalia.

The rains have finally come but the situation remains desperate and the downpours do not necessarily help. The downpours bring new life and growth but also death. I worry about the creating of a dependency culture because of food aid said Sora Adi.

Ethiopian villagers answer drought questions

Is Africa in denial?

Tari Bonja, in the village of Bokala, saw his entire 27 herd of cattle die, and with it his livelihood. The cattle could not handle the cold that comes with the rain. Weak from hunger, their stomachs were also unable to digest the new grass which sprouted shortly after the rains fell. Then on Thursday, the morning of our laptop-link-up, I hear that Ibraham Ali, one of the six participants, cannot make it. His son has been swept away in the floods and drowned as he returned from school on the Kenyan side of the town. Problems get worse when the rain comes and the drought is far from over. A few hours of sun and raging torrents of water are transformed into a dry, sandy landscape again. Some three months of rain are needed before the water stops sinking through the sand, I am told. This is why the area cannot support much agriculture and is populated mainly by cattle herders.

Tari Bonja's cows died after eating new grassAnd when drought hits and cattle start dying, the chances of raids talking place increase as stealing another group's herd is a tempting option. Traditionally the casualties were pretty limited, but now gun traders sell AK-47s across the porous borders and peace would not help their incomes. Tato, who took part in the laptop link-up, had all her cattle taken in a raid which inspired her to try to establish peace. Some efforts are being made, both to help those affected by the drought in the short term, hence the appeals, and to try to ensure that people become more able to cope when drought strikes again.

Sora Adi works for a local pastoral group trying to pass on traditional survival techniques that have been forgotten: accessing water, tubers, wild berries and honey. "I worry about the creating of a dependency culture because of food aid," he says. But there is clearly a sense among many that a traditional way of life is increasingly unsustainable. A recent report by the US-based Famine Early Warning System showed that in the past six years rainfall levels had fallen. It hinted at the possibility that global warming could be a cause. Many parents I spoke to expressed their hopes that children would receive education and with it a passport to an easier and more prosperous way of life.

Nineteen-year-old Naima is desperate to get away from Moyale and pursue her dreams of a good job and independence. "It would enable me to make more money and change not only my life but also that of my parents and family members," she told a British questioner on the laptop link up. On the subject of aid, Momina said it was too late for many and help for cattle should have come months ago. Last-minute doubts over whether Ethiopia and Kenya will take part in this appeal suggest that their governments also feel that aid appeals may not necessarily always be the right solution. The United Nations is already feeding some 155,000 people in the Borena region but local officials say 368,000 people need food aid - one third of the population. The concern is that if the rains are as short as people fear, then the number of those needing help is only going to rise.

BBC NEWS REPORT.

GENOCIDE SURVIVOR CAN'T FORGIVE!

Odette Mupenzi is a survivor of the Rwandan genocide in which an estimated 800,000 minority Tutsis and moderate Hutus were killed. Now in the UK and awaiting reconstructive surgery, she tells the BBC on the 12th anniversary of the start of the killings that she is not willing to forgive and forget the people who murdered her family and shattered her mouth and jaw.

Odette Mupenzi says she no longer has any dreams for her futureBefore the genocide, I was a 17-year-old student and my dream was to become a medical doctor. In 1994, the night President Juvenal Habyarimana was killed in a plane crash, my family took refuge in a religious seminary. I was busy making tea in the kitchen when I heard a lot of noise and when I went out I saw this girl who had been stabbed in the stomach. That's when we thought that things were really getting serious. There were many Interahamwe, men who had been trained to kill the Tutsis, outside the gate of the seminary, so we ran to the classrooms to hide under mattresses. The next thing we knew they were inside the grounds and they came to where we were. They were making a lot of noise screaming things like, "How many 'Inyenzi' (cockroaches) are in this school?" They referred to Tutsis as cockroaches. "Does the government know there are so many inyenzi here?" We begged and cried and screamed that we were not cockroaches. They said, "Yes you are, and it's you that killed our president."

There were very, very many - there were three military men and the rest of the group were Interahamwe. They asked us to open the door and my father, who was the only man in the room, went to open the door. They hacked him straight away. In reaction to seeing my father hacked to death, I moved from under the mattress. It still feels like yesterday that it happened.
As I came out I felt something weird inside me and then when I looked around I realised that the military man was shooting. I saw blood on me so that's how I knew I had been shot. I was shot on the face, on the shoulder - the whole of the right side.

After I was shot the military man told the Interahamwe to get in and look for the "cockroaches" that were still breathing, so they would finish them off. So one of them came to me and touched me where I had been shot and after that I fainted. I don't know what happened next. Later on I woke up. In the years since the genocide, I have been very sick and constantly in pain. I live on pain killers - I'm always on medication. I can't forgive the people that did this to me. It is impossible. Maybe one can forgive somebody who has asked for forgiveness, but they've never come to me to ask for forgiveness.

BBC NEWS REPORT.

FREE HEALTHCARE IN ZAMBIA NOW

Zambia overwhelmed by free health care. As the World Health Organization reports that poor countries need an extra 4m health workers, the BBC's Said Penda reports from Zambia, one of the worst affected countries. Despite the lack of doctors and nurses, clinics in rural areas have started offering free health care starting this week, thanks to savings that have come through debt relief but the clinics have been overwhelmed by the demand.

Nurses are dealing with ever-increasing numbers of patients Miria Mware is waiting on a bench outside the consulting room at Kafue hospital, her eyes red with tears. "I've been here more than eight hours and I still haven't managed to see a doctor." In rural areas like Kafue, 45 km south of the capital, Lusaka, "doctor" can mean simply a nurse. Miria Mware's situation is not the result of free health care, but it does illustrate the problems that can result when millions of poor people, who in the past were unable to go to hospital, arrive at rural clinics. In Kafue district, there are only seven doctors for a population of more than 250,000, says Dr Mwila Kaunda Lembalemba, who is in charge of health services in the district.

Dr Lembalemba is optimistic that the health services will be able to deal with the greater case load"It's true that it's a difficult challenge, particularly because of the shortage of health personnel," he says. "We operate with 50 to 60% of the staff we need, but we're doing everything to relieve the shortfall," he says. Most Zambians, particularly those in the countryside, are still unaware that they can now seek free health care. Only 300m from Kafue hospital, a teenage mother who was harvesting maize knew nothing about free treatment. But others do know. "Turnout has been exceptional since Monday - it's people who weren't coming before because they had no means of paying: often it's the poorest of the poor," Dr Safare of Kafue hospital told the BBC. "We risk becoming overwhelmed as soon as everyone in the countryside learns that it's already free," Dr Safare says.

A Heath Ministry official, who did not want to be named, expressed similar fears: "Under the pressure of the flood of patients who are going to take the opportunity of free health care, health personnel risk giving patients less time and less attention, putting quantity ahead of quality."

The government is trying to encourage new nursing recruitsBut Dr Lembalemba does not share these worries, believing the Zambian government is working in good faith and that "the measures that have been taken are a cause for optimism". He points to measures taken by the government in the last few years, either to keep health workers in the profession, or to recruit new staff. Yet the figures do not encourage optimism. The country has one doctor for every 14,000 people, as compared with one in 600 in the United Kingdom, for example. In a country that is home to 11m people, there are only 600 doctors, 24 pharmacists and not a single psychiatrist.

In July last year, Zambia secured $4bn in debt relief during the G8 summit at Gleneagles in the United Kingdom. According to a World Health Organization official who is in the country to mark World Health Day on 7 April: "If a good part of the money that Zambia was having to pay in debt repayments is effectively invested in health, the country can meet the enormous challenge that it faces in delivering free care."

BBC NEWS REPORT

AFRICAN WORKERS GAIN A STAKE IN DE BEERS

De Beers to sell 26% of SA unit.

De Beers' South African workers are gaining a stake in the firm. Diamond giant De Beers has finalised a deal to sell 26% of its South African unit to a new black-owned company. The sale, which meets new rules from the South African government on increasing black economic empowerment, totals 3.7bn rand ($611m; £349m). This is 100m rand less than when the deal was first announced last autumn. The 26% stake is being bought by new firm Ponahalo Holdings, which is 50% owned by De Beers staff and pensioners, and 50% by a black investment firm.

"The transaction has received the necessary regulatory approvals from the South African Reserve Bank and the South African Competition Tribunal," said De Beers. It added that the entire purchase price was being financed over seven years by Standard Bank, of which 800m rand would be guaranteed by De Beers. The final deal is expected to be concluded by 20 April. Johannesburg-headquartered De Beers is 45%-owned by London-based global mining giant Anglo American. The investment company that owns 50% of Ponahalo Holdings is called Ponahalo Capital. The chairman of Ponahalo Capital is Manne Dipico, a senior member of the ruling African National Congress (ANC) who owns an 18% stake in Ponahalo Capital.

BBC NEWS REPORT.

SWAN TESTS IN SCOTLAND CONFIRM H5N1

Swan tests confirm deadly virus.

Poultry owners within wild bird risk area must keep birds indoors or, if not possible, ensure they are kept away from wild birdsBird transport within 6 mile (10km) surveillance zone will be curbed and gatherings bannedPoultry within 1.8 mile (3km) protection zone must be kept indoors and will be testedA swan found dead in Scotland has tested positive for the deadly H5N1 strain of bird flu. The Scottish Executive has extended surveillance zones in Scotland to include 175 properties with 3.1 million birds, as well as free-range poultry. The dead mute swan was found in Cellardyke, Fife, eight days ago. Other birds are being tested. The H5N1 virus does not currently pose a large-scale threat to humans as it cannot pass easily between people. But experts fear the virus could mutate to gain this ability, and in its new form trigger a flu pandemic, potentially putting millions of human lives at risk.

Scotland's Chief Veterinary Officer Charles Milne, announcing confirmation of H5N1, said a surveillance zone was being extended to 965 sq miles (2,500 sq km). The zone contains 175 registered premises, with in total 3.1 million poultry. About 48 are free-range premises with 260,000 birds. A total of 14 cases of birds are being checked for bird flu from Scotland including 12 swans and two other species. Mr Milne said: "There is no indication that any of these are positive."

BIRD FLU FACTFILE
Bird flu viruses have 16 H subtypes and nine N subtypes.
Four types of the virus are known to infect humans - H5N1, H7N3, H7N7 and H9N2
Most lead to minor symptoms, apart from H5N1
H5N1 has caused more than 100 deaths in Cambodia, China, Indonesia, Thailand, Turkey and Vietnam.
The World Health Organisation says not all H5 or H7 strains are severe, but their ability to mutate means their presence is "always a cause for concern".

Britain's bird flu preparations
What is imminent threat?

Farmers are being ordered to house their birds where possible, or separate them from wild birds. However, the Scottish Executive said it would be "disproportionate" to house poultry UK-wide. Officials were also banning the gathering of birds and enhancing their surveillance. An initial 1.8 mile (3km) protection zone was set up around Cellardyke on Wednesday, surrounded by a six-mile (10km) surveillance zone. The infected bird, a native UK breed, was collected from Cellardyke harbour on 30 March - a day after it was reported by a resident. Mute swans are considered to have a "stable" population in Scotland at this time of year, but Mr Milne said he "cannot entirely rule out" that the swan had migrated. It is vital that test results are accurate and, because of the badly decomposed state of this sample, a number of tests were carried out.

The Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs responded to criticism over the delay in dealing with the dead swan by saying there was no reason to suggest it should be given priority over other samples. Preliminary work was carried out on Friday in preparation for testing on Monday. "Where we have specific reason to believe that a sample is infected the labs at Weybridge are open on a 24/7 basis," Defra said. "It is vital that test results are accurate and, because of the badly decomposed state of this sample, a number of tests were carried out."Defra said that since 21 February the laboratory at Weybridge had tested more than 1,100 samples.

Extensive surveillance The UK's chief veterinary officer, Debbie Reynolds, said bird flu could stay in Britain for some time. "We simply don't know, but of course that's why we've got our programme of wild bird surveillance. "It's been very extensive; over 3,000 wild birds tested already this year, and over 400 swans. "There are more under way, being tested at the moment, and any wild swan that's reported found dead should be collected and tested," Dr Reynolds said.

The National Farmers' Union said the presence of H5N1 was an "unwelcome and important development from the point of view of poultry health" but that it was "well prepared". Liberal Democrat leader Sir Menzies Campbell, whose Fife constituency includes Cellardyke, said the government appeared to have the situation in hand. Restrictions on the movement of poultry, eggs and other poultry products have been implemented.

It is the first time the strain has been found in a wild bird, but H5N1 was detected in birds held in quarantine in the UK after infected Taiwanese finches arrived at a secure animal unit in Essex in October. Consumers should not be concerned so long as they are in the habit of cooking...foods effectively - Harry BurnsChief medical officer. Officials emphasised that the risk to humans was very low.

Scotland's chief medical officer Harry Burns said that eggs and poultry should be "properly cooked" as per usual. "It's proven very very difficult for the virus to get into human populations.We know that it doesn't have the right composition to easily infect humans. "So the arrival of one bird in Scotland does not really add to the risk of this virus emerging as a human strain. "I will be eating chicken tonight but it will be well-cooked chicken. The evidence from the Food Standards Agency is that in properly cooked meat the virus is killed."

BBC NEWS REPORT.

RAINS FALLS IN KENYA AT LAST!

Heavy rain in drought-hit Kenya.

The north-east of the country has been hit hard by the drought. Heavy rain has fallen in northern and eastern parts of drought-hit Kenya. The falls have brought some relief to the African nation but also caused flooding and damage to roads. And a government spokesman said that although famine had been averted so far, without sufficient rainfall the country would be in "deep trouble".

Months of drought have left 3.5 million people in Kenya and at least 11 million across the Horn of Africa in need of food aid. UN relief co-ordinator Jan Egeland is due to launch an appeal for international aid for the region on Friday. Kenyan government spokesman Alfred Mutua said systems were currently in place to feed the people until June. "If it doesn't rain, then we are in deep trouble, then we have to start importing food," he said. "But we have asked for international assistance because it is very, very expensive to feed our people." He said the rain, though welcome, had brought havoc in some areas, damaging roads and leading to flooding.

Ethiopians at heart of food crisis answer your questions

Some 3,000 people had to leave their homes in the north-east of the country after a river burst its banks, Reuters news agency reported. Aid workers were having trouble getting to the area because of damage to roads, an official told Reuters. Aid agency Oxfam warned last month that north-eastern Kenya could take 15 years to recover from the effects of drought. The BBC's Karen Allen says although the rain may provide temporary relief, millions of people will still have to rely on food aid for some time to come, and it is clear the crisis is far from over.

BBC NEWS REPORT.

FARMS OF FEAR PART 2

FARMS OF FEAR !

Her father’s farm has to go. “I’m busy selling it,” she says. “I have to, to pay for my mom’s treatment. But I’m going to stay here. I don’t have an electric fence. I trust in the Lord. He will help me. “I was very bitter at first. That passed with losing my husband. I realised it doesn’t matter how you die. And I have my three children. “But I will say this: if I killed one of them, you’d hear it all over the world. But if they kill my dad, no one hears anything, not even here.”

There are other stories, one after another. Herman de Jager’s father, Pieter, was shot as years of work came to fruition. The family had cleared the bush from their land, by hand and tractor, and planted 7,800 macadamia nut trees – Pieter de Jager had hand-grafted each one himself. “That morning, we finished the drip irrigation system,” de Jager says. “We said, ‘Now we’re ready to farm.’ I was away from the house. My mother got me on the cell, she said it’s a farm attack. I found my father under a tree. He died in my arms.” Billy Meyer, a small-scale farmer, was shot dead through the head at 7.30pm on a Saturday as he sat in his house with his baby. Farmers tracked his killers for 60 kilometres towards the border with Zimbabwe but did not catch them.

His near neighbours Gillie and Sophia Fick have a prosperous spread of 17,000 acres. “It’s only God’s will that we’re still here,” they say. At 5.45am, Gillie got into his bakkie to drive out to the fields. There were four attackers. Two of them pointed guns at his head. They pulled him out of the truck and forced him to the ground. Then they started breaking in the windows and burglar bars with a pickaxe. “I heard the glass go,” says Sophia. “I took my pistol and fired three shots out through the curtains. I wasn’t worried for my husband. I thought he was already dead. Then I pushed the panic alarm. The siren went off. They fired some shots and drove off in our bakkie. They dumped it at the tarmac road, where they had cars waiting.” “The farmers put up a roadblock and caught some of them,” says Gillie. “We got a helicopter from friends and we spotted another in thick bush and caught him. The police were hopeless. They didn’t even take fingerprints from my bakkie, though the four of them were in it.” Their farmhouse, like others, is surrounded by a high electric fence. “But there’s no way you can stop them,” Gillie says. “They dug a hole under it. They use aerosol cooking oil or fly killer to deal with the dogs. They smash burglar bars. I’ve put concrete foundations round the fence. Next time, they’re going to have to dig a deeper hole.”

“Kill the farmer! Kill the Boer!” was a slogan of ANC guerrillas in apartheid days. A presidential commission into the attacks examined claims that the ANC remains involved, and that the assaults are part of a deliberate campaign. No evidence has been found. No pattern has emerged. Some attackers are locals. Some are Zimbabwean. Some drive 200 miles to the farms from the Jo’burg townships. Some are revenge attacks by disaffected employees. Some are motivated by money – attacks the night before payday, when there is cash in the farmhouse. In others, valuables are ignored and nothing is taken. The government is manifestly innocent - of inspiring the attacks, but ministers are more open to charges of neglect. South Africa is a mining and industrial giant. It is the wealthiest country in Africa. Agriculture accounts for only 3.4% of the economy, though it employs 30% of the labour force. That makes it easier to ignore.

The Cape winelands and golf courses, the Garden Route along the coast to Durban, the Kruger national park – the tourist gems that attract visitors by the thousands – are tucked away from the worst areas of violence. “Rural insecurity gets swept under the carpet,” says Chris van Zyl, who is responsible for security in the TAU (Transvaal Agriculture Union). “It’s stock theft and livestock maiming, too, and harvest theft, fields stripped of maize, orchards of fruit. As a career, farming is blighted. When a farmer dies, the chances are there’s no family member willing to take over the farm.” His colleague Gideon Meining, a farmer, is a case in point. His one son is a businessman. The other is in London, one of as many as 1.4m South Africans thought to be living in Britain. Black as well as white farmers are targeted. “We’ve black members who’ve lost so much cattle and sheep, they say they can’t continue with livestock,” says Kobus Visser, spokesman for another big farmers’ union. “But they have less chance of being murdered.”

The record of livestock thefts from April to September 2005 show that 30,000 cattle and 49,000 sheep were stolen. In the same period, the Krugersdorp rural area reported 29 farm attacks, eight murders, six farmers shot, 22 beaten and one raped, 45 break-ins and 12 armed robberies. “We recorded 97 farm attacks in this small area last year, with 14 murders,” says Trevor Roberts, who runs the private Conserv security services near Muldersdrift, just northwest of Jo’burg. “This year is worse. We’ve had 28 attacks in less than two months, with three murders. If it was all criminality, they’d do it when people are away,” Roberts says. “But they don’t. They wait for people to come home, and sometimes they torture them and kill them.” The attackers who shot Peter Binggeli, one of Roberts’s clients, on his farm, waited until the family was home at 11:30pm. Binggeli was shot three times and beaten with an iron bar. He owes his life to his wife. She ran into the bush. The attackers failed to find her and fled, fearing she had called for help. Eiderdowns stolen from a wendy house on the farm were found behind rocks. It was clear the attackers had lain there for days observing the Binggelis before they struck.

The elderly are often targeted. Nearby, Paul Hart grew up on the farm where his parents, John and Sylvia, lived for 43 years. It is called Swing-gate Farm after a lane in Berkhamsted. “Mum and Dad came out from Hertfordshire in 1949. Dad had £46. This place was bare veld.” The house they built is thatched, the gardens shaded by the trees they planted. A finely restored Jaguar XK140 and a yellow E-type in the garage hint at John Hart’s business. “Dad was a mechanical engineer,” says Hart. “Mum was the farmer – rabbits, asparagus, Jersey cattle, market gardening and dairy. We children would help pack the food to take off to market. They didn’t want to retire to the city. They wanted to stay here. Dad was 88 and Mum was 83. But they were still -fit. Dad swam every day. He restored his cars. He was a perfectionist. He played golf and classical guitar. He took precautions.” A high electric fence runs round the house and gardens. John Hart checked it every day at 5pm. The windows and doors are guarded by thick burglar bars. He had a .38 revolver.

At some time between 12.30 and 2.30pm on November 18 last year, he was outside the fence by the cattle sheds when he was battered to death. Sylvia was in the house. The gate in the fence was opened, and the attackers got into the house. They seem to have first beaten her for the key to the upstairs safe. Then, although by now they had John Hart’s .38, they beat her to death with one of her husband’s golf clubs. Africa had been kind to the Harts. “Not long before they died, Mum gave Dad a big kiss,” says Hart’s sister, Lesley. “And she said, ‘Thank you for bringing me to Africa. I’ve had a marvellous life.’” Her brother says he understands the motives for robbery. “When there’s no work, a man has to feed his family,” he says. “We’re soft targets. Close to town, near highways, nice open farmland, fairly well off. I can accept the crime. But not the violence that goes with it. They had the key to the safe. They had a revolver. Why bludgeon an 83-year-old lady to death? I don’t think robbery was the main motive. The gardener hasn’t been since before the murder. Something Dad said upset him. I think this was a revenge attack.”

The police, he says, are hopelessly under-resourced. “The local police station is only three kilometres away, but it’s two-thirds under strength in manpower. It has so few vehicles that sometimes policemen have to use their own.” He has put the farm on the market. He and his sister only visit now with their private security guard, Godknows Malulaka, and his shotgun. Though they are still British citizens, like other victims, the British government has shown little interest in their fate. President Mbeki has said that whites have a “psychosis” of “fear about their survival in a sea of black savages”. He has said, remarkably, that they are “addicted” to their fear. Farmers blame government indifference. “Protection isn’t improving,” says van Zyl. “It’s getting worse.” “We had our commandos, authorised volunteers who’d served in the army, in country districts,” says Meining. “They gave real security. But the government has disbanded most of them, so we try to look after ourselves with Farm Watch, our own self-defence groups.”

Police are short of manpower and training. Accusations of incompetence – failing to fingerprint, to take blood samples, basic police skills – are widespread. Kiewiet Ferreira, of the Agri SA farmers’ union, spoke last month of the “helplessness and frustration” among farmers, black and white, at the “apparent unwillingness and ignorance” of some police officers. “It’s common knowledge among prosecutors and the public that cases are not properly investigated,” says Reino Mostert, control prosecutor at Makhado. “Experts should be first at a murder scene. They’re not. The local uniformed men get there and wander round, and the evidence deteriorates. The unnecessary violence is what worries me. I’ve discussed this with fellow prosecutors, and I can tell you, there are no attacks like this on black farmers. I know these people who’ve been killed. Like Ben Keyter, a lovely old man, defenceless, killed like a dog.” It is, of course, to South Africa’s credit that it has become more difficult to get a conviction. In apartheid days, confessions were wrung from suspects easily enough.

But Mostert himself knows the near-collapse of law and order. “I was woken up by breaking glass at 4am,” he says. “I shouted, ‘Get me my pistol – I’m going to kill them.’ I hoped that would see them off. But it didn’t. They got in and they were taking the DVD and TV by the time I’d got a rifle. I had my wife and kids there. I swear I’d have shot them dead. But then they made off. I fired some shots after them.” The prosecutor, it should be added, lives across the street from the courthouse and police station. Makhado boasts a high-security prison too – the most modern in the country. It houses 3,800 hardened criminals. The prison choir performed with Jo’burg’s symphony orchestra in February. It says much for the new South Africa. So, alas, does what followed last month. The wardens went on strike. The inmates rioted and set one of the blocks on fire. No police or troops were at hand to secure the perimeter.

The prison authorities asked Farm Watch for help. As flames and smoke drifted across the night, every 20 yards a bakkie was drawn up at the wire, and a Boer, unmistakable in rugger shorts and a khaki shirt, stood guard until the army arrived. Zimbabwe’s cull of farmers can be repeated by default, as well as by design. There are signs of growing haste and impatience in land reform. New possibilities of legalised expropriation were opened on March 1. The deputy president, Phumzile Mlambo-Ngcuka, spoke at a recent conference in Pretoria. “We’ve got lessons to learn from Zimbabwe,” she said. “How to do it fast. We need a bit of oomph. So, we might want some skills exchange between us and Zimbabwe.” The remark was made with a smile, it was reported, and “to muted laughter”. The farmers in her audience might be forgiven for not getting the joke.

THE SUNDAY TIMES MAGAZINE


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~ PAUL CEZANNE. ~

DIPLOMAT IN SEX SCANDAL IN RWANDA!

John Ngarambe has now returned to Rwanda. Rwanda has protested to Uganda about the arrest of a top diplomat for adultery, which is illegal in Uganda. John Ngarambe was briefly detained after he was photographed naked with a married woman at a hotel on Saturday. Rwanda's foreign minister told the BBC it was a "diplomatic scandal" and that police had entered his room and forced him to undress.

On Monday, Rwanda accused Uganda - its neighbour and former ally - of harbouring two Rwandan rebel groups. Relations between the two countries soured after they supported rival groups in the Democratic Republic Congo conflict. Correspondents say the sex scandal is likely to further exacerbate growing strains. "This incident is a diplomatic scandal," Rwanda's Foreign Minister Charles Muligande told the BBC's Kinyarwanda service. In a letter handed to Uganda's ambassador to Kigali, Rwanda said the way in which Mr Ngarambe was handled was not acceptable.

Ugandan Information Minister James Nsaba Buturo says Mr Ngarambe should have made clear his diplomatic status earlier, and will not be charged. "Personal matters should not be interpreted at a national level," Mr Nsaba Buturo told the BBC in response to the letter. Under Ugandan law, those caught committing adultery can be fined about 200 Ugandan shillings (10 US cents).Mr Ngarambe - number two at Rwanda's embassy in Kampala - has since returned home.

Meanwhile, Rwandan official Richard Sezibera said on Monday that the Ugandan government was harbouring two groups hostile to Rwanda. He said the Rally for Unity and Democracy (RUD-Urunana) and the Rally of the Rwandan People were being trained and armed with a view to toppling the government in Kigali. The president of RUD-Urunana denied the accusation.

BBC NEWS REPORT.

SADDAM'S TRIAL RESUMES!

Saddam Hussein dismisses evidence.

Saddam Hussein's trial resumed after a three-week break. Saddam Hussein has dismissed evidence suggesting he approved the execution of people under 18 - the minimum age for death sentences under his rule. He was being cross-examined for the first time about the killing of Shias in the town of Dujail, following an attempt to assassinate him in 1982. He also said prosecution witnesses at his trial in Baghdad had been bribed and coached in what to say. A defence lawyer was ejected from court after an altercation with the judge. She was ordered from the hearing when she tried to display photos of Iraqis tortured in US-run prisons. "This is what the Americans did to Iraqis in Abu Ghraib," she said, as the court was examining alleged deaths during interrogation under Saddam Hussein's rule. The judge later told her she would not be penalised for her outburst, and she could resume her place in court.

Saddam Hussein, who appeared on his own, is on trial with seven others for the killing of 148 people in 1982. During Wednesday's proceedings, the prosecution produced documents suggesting that 28 people whose executions Saddam approved had been under 18. Chief prosecutor Jaafar al-Moussawi presented the court with some of the identification cards of the children and read out their dates of birth. But Saddam said ID cards could easily be forged. He told the court: "There is a clear ulterior motive by those who have given you these documents," the Associated Press news agency reported. "You can buy IDs like this in the market. Is it the responsibility of the head of the state to check the IDs of defendants and see how old he is?"
New charges

The day began with acrimonious exchanges between the trial judge and the ousted Iraqi leader himself. When told by the judge to refrain from political statements, Saddam Hussein said: "You're scared of the interior minister, he doesn't scare my dog."

Q&A: Saddam on trial
Trial timeline

The interior ministry has been accused of human rights violations under the new regime. Saddam's latest trial appearance comes a day after the court announced that he would face new charges of genocide and crimes against humanity. The charges relate to a military campaign against Kurds in northern Iraq in the late 1980s, in which as many as 180,000 people may have died. The new charges, which came at the end of a three-week break in the trial, refer to a campaign known as the Anfal. The case will be tried separately.

The former leader demanded that an international body examine signatures on an order approving death sentences against those accused of organising an assassination attempt against him in Dujail in 1982. He has previously acknowledged ordering the trial in which many people were sentenced to death, but has said his actions were legal. Some of Saddam's co-defendants, who have already testified, said their signatures were forged. In further testimony, he said witnesses presented by the prosecution in the case were bribed. "The witnesses who testified were brought here after being bribed and briefed of what was to be said," he said, the AFP news agency reported.

He also challenged the judge, saying: "Who could dare to give a verdict against the president who defended his country and stood up against those who fought with Iraq?" Previous trial sessions have been halted by protests from the defendants. All of the accused deny the charges. The trial was adjourned until Thursday.

BBC NEWS REPORT.

KUWAITI WOMEN VOTE FOR 1ST TIME!

Dr Khader calls it a proud day for Kuwait's women. Polling is taking place in a Kuwaiti council by-election in which women are allowed to vote for the first time. Two women are also among eight candidates running for the seat in the Salmiya district, south of the capital. The 28,000 eligible voters, 60% of whom are women, are voting in segregated polling booths, a condition demanded by Islamist and tribal MPs. Women were granted equal political rights last year and will vote in full legislative polls in 2007. Voting was reported to have begun slowly, as Tuesday is a normal working day in the conservative, oil-rich state.

GULF DEMOCRACY
Bahrain: Constitutional monarch, universal suffrage, political parties banned
Kuwait: Constitutional emir, first elected parliament
Oman: Absolute monarch, elections to consultative bodies
Qatar: Constitutional emir, first to allow women's vote in municipal election
Saudi Arabia: Absolute monarch, consultative elections, but no women's vote
United Arab Emirates: Federation of unelected sheikhs
How democratic is Mid-East?
Profile: Gulf Co-operation Council

Kuwait's first women candidates are 32-year-old Jenan Boushehri, a chemical engineer at the Kuwait Municipality, and 48-year-old Khalida Khader, a US-educated physician and a mother of eight. "I am so pleased that I have become one of the first Kuwaiti women candidates to run in elections," Dr Khader said in an interview with AFP news agency. "I have broken the ice and hope this will benefit the cause of women."

Women voters quoted by news agencies reflected the years of frustration which this election finally dispels. "They have given us some attention. We became equal," said voter Iman al-Issa talking to AP. "It's certainly a historical moment for me. I felt very happy while casting my vote," Afaf Abdullah told AFP outside a polling station.

Jenan Boushehri is one of two female candidates"I had participated in co-operative society elections before, but the feeling here is totally different. I feel that justice has been achieved for Kuwaiti women." Despite the segregated voting, women were required to show their faces to judges supervising the elections for the purposes of identification. There are reports of at least one woman refusing to remove her Islamic veil and leaving the polling station without voting. The Salmiya seat of the Kuwait Municipal Council fell vacant when incumbent Abdullah al-Muhailbi was named a minister in the Kuwaiti cabinet formed in February.

Attempts by the ruling Sabah family to change the male-dominated legislative structure succeeded in May 2005 - after being blocked for six years by tribal and Islamist members of the National Assembly. Prime Minister Sheikh Nasser al-Muhammad al-Sabah said on Tuesday that women suffrage boosts Kuwait's international standing. "We say to our Kuwait sisters, 'Forward, and take your place with your Kuwaiti brothers'," he said in a statement.

BBC NEWS REPORT.

FARMS OF FEAR!

It’s not the Somme, it’s South Africa — and a memorial to nearly 2,000 white farmers murdered in the last 10 years. The motive? Not theft, nor land grab, as in Zimbabwe — but revenge, fuelled by racism and envy. And as the killing goes on, the police do nothing. Brian Moynahan reports
The N1 is South Africa’s grand trunk road. It runs north from Cape Town and the Paarl vineyards, clean across the country, past the flyovers and interchanges of Johannesburg and Pretoria, until it ends at Beitbridge, the border crossing on the Limpopo.
Here, a darker Africa begins: Robert Mugabe’s ruined Zimbabwe, the towns squalid and shattered, the countryside desolate and overgrown. Many of its famished and tattered blacks seek to escape at Beitbridge, swimming the river, or paying the waiting omalume, “uncles”, the people traffickers, to smuggle them past the border patrols to a new life in South Africa.
For almost all of its 1,200 miles of polished tarmac and plump service stations, the N1 offers evidence that post-apartheid South Africa has avoided the bloodshed and collapse that have haunted its neighbours. In a continent awash with troubles, its prosperity and stability draw not just illegals from across the Limpopo, but even French-speakers from Niger and the distant Sahara.
A tiny half-mile section of the N1, though, past Mokopane in Limpopo Province, chills the heart. It is overlooked by a large white cross that lies on a green hillside. Look closer, and the cross is seen to be made up of scores of small white crosses planted in neat lines. And then the eye is drawn to what seem to be bursts of snowdrops on the kopjes, the two small hills that lie on each side of the cross. These, too, are little white crosses, swirling on the slope.
The Afrikaners, the native whites of South Africa, have a flair for setting monuments to their rugged history in such sweeps of landscape. The crosses are their handiwork – or, more specifically, that of the “Boers”, or “farmers”. They seem to commemorate some distant epic, a trek with ox wagons, a battle with Zulus or the British.
But Mokopane is not to do with the past. The word “Plaasmoorde” is hand-lettered on the slope. It means “farm murders”. Over 1,700 of South Africa’s commercial farmers and their families, mostly white and Afrikaans, but including a substantial number of English speakers, have been killed since the end of apartheid in 1994.
The ages of the victims vary – from infants to people in their eighties. The attackers usually operate in gangs of three to eight. Extreme violence, including rape, torture and physical mutilation, is often involved. Sometimes nothing is stolen, leading to claims that the attackers are motivated by racism and a desire for revenge.
Mokopane, then, deals with the present, and, in the most brutal way, with a future in which the rural Boers, for more than 300 years the white tribe of Africa, fear they face extinction.
The world has more than an inkling of what has happened in Zimbabwe. Over the past six years, to the accompaniment of farm invasions, beatings, livestock maiming and now mass hunger, Mugabe has seized more than nine-tenths of his country’s white-owned commercial farms. He is about to complete the ethnic cleansing of rural Zimbabwe.
What is happening in South Africa is less known and is, in most respects, different. In Zimbabwe it is government policy, instigated by the president, and seen through by party thugs. South Africa, in which the bulk of commercial farmland remains in white hands, has model policies of land restitution and reform – validation by land claims courts, compensation at market value, incentives for black empowerment and land ownership – whose principles are accepted by most landowners.
The process of restitution is intended to be scrupulously fair, untouched by the rancour that built up over the long years of baaskap, white supremacy. Whites moved from areas designated as black “homelands” by the apartheid regime are entitled to claim on the same basis as displaced blacks, though the latter- are far more numerous. Valuations are by independent assessors. Progress has been slow, though the white farmers have little reason to complain. A decade after apartheid, less than 5% of commercial farmland is in black hands, though the government has set a target of redistributing 30% of white-owned land to blacks by 2014.
For all the legislation and goodwill, there is horror. Zimbabwe’s white farmers were expelled, and uncompensated. Very few were murdered.It is true, sadly, that South Africa suffers from a general epidemic of violence, and farmers cannot expect to be immune in a country where 18,793 people were murdered in the year to March 2005, the great majority of them urban blacks.
But the farmers’ numbers are small, and their vulnerability high: 10 times higher than for the population at large, or so it is claimed, making them the most at-risk profession in the non-military world. Go to the farmlands, and it shows.
The last town on the N1 before Musina and the Zimbabwe border is Makhado. It was named, until recently, after Louis Trichardt, the Boer Voortrekker, who reached the foot of the Soutpansberg mountains here in 1836, on his way north to escape the British at the Cape.Tollbooths mark the approach of the town. A gravel road leads from the tarmac. After some distance, a gate and a long rutted track mark the entrance to a farm set well back from the road.
It is owned by Ernest Breytenbach. He has 120 cattle on 5,700 acres, with a simple house built round an Aga brought in by wagon in the 1920s.His father, André, was killed when he got out of his “bakkie” (pick-up truck) at the gate in August 1998. It was a bad month on the farms: 66 people were murdered – four of them set on fire. In another attack, the farmer had been bound and beaten, but nothing was taken from the house and his firearm was still on the wardrobe.
“They were waiting for my dad to get back from dropping off his workers,” Breytenbach says. “He was shot in the stomach. They made off with his bakkie and dumped him. When we found him, they’d taken the spotlights off the bakkie. They put them by his face, like eyes, and they put the licence plates at his head and his feet. I don’t know why they did it. Maybe it was to say, ‘Look what we did,’ to get on the front page.”
Breytenbach blames the ruling ANC, President Thabo Mbeki’s African National Congress, for continuing incidents on the farm. “I see people hunting with dogs or collecting firewood on my land,” he says. “I ask my people if they know them. It’s always ‘No’ because they have to answer to them. I have a lot of game theft. They make snares from my fence wire. I think it’s ANC intimidation. They want us out.”
His father was the first to be murdered at Louis Trichardt. Many attacks have followed. Werner and Brigitte Wiedeck live close by, in a pin-neat house with garden gnomes in the conservatory and doilies on the armchairs. They have been robbed eight times in three years. Twice they were beaten. The worst was last April.
“They put a gun to my husband’s head and tied him up, and gagged me with a scarf,” says Brigitte. “Then they started beating me with a steel pole. They already had all our money, but they kept demanding more. I was choking on my own blood. I feigned dead and they went.
“I got free and I cut Werner loose. I was very lucky. The doctors were fighting for three days for my life. I had serious skull fractures. I needed nine steel plates. I lost my right eye.” The police, she says, took two hours to drive the few miles from town. “No one checked for bullets, for fingerprints, for tracks in the bush. They did more or less nothing.”
Dolores de Agrella runs Adam’s Apple, a roadside inn on the way into town. “There was a whole spate of attacks in June 2004,” she says. “We were robbed twice: videos, TVs, even a pot of oxtail I was making for Father’s Day lunch. We were cleaned out, so I thought we were safe. One evening, the dog barked, and a figure appeared in my room. He pulled my jaw down and put a gun in my mouth, and pulled the trigger. Without a word. Just like that. But it didn’t go off. Then he started trying to pull me down. I started kicking and screaming and grappling with him. He was a puny little thing. As fast as he’d arrived, he was gone. I’m only alive because he had the wrong calibre bullet in the gun.” The aftermath, she says, was terrible. “The pit of my stomach was churning and churning. My life-saver was a pepper spray. I’d sit clutching it the whole time like a TV remote.
“If we got a good offer, I’d be straight off. It’s harder for the Afrikaners, though. This is their heritage. Their fathers and grandfathers were born on their farms. It’s different for them.”
One of those is Celia Guillaume. She was the first woman in Africa to become a licensed big-game hunter. She has ranged across southern Africa in her bakkie, an independent and once fearless soul who grew up with the locals. She built a house on her father’s land, looking out across the Soutpansberg, green and alpine in the rain, with thatched rondavels (circular buildings) in a miniature village she built for conferences.
She grows flowers and nuts on her 500 acres, and has a seed export business. “I was 100% self-sufficient,” she says. “I grew maize and coffee, soya beans, chickens, butter, milk. I shot a bushbuck every month. I loved it. I didn’t mind being alone. Now, I won’t come here on my own. I don’t like being here at night, even if I have people staying.”
Her four attackers came one morning last year. “I’m sure it was an inside job,” she says. “I was packed to go to Zambia the next day, and I had a lot of foreign currency. They knew I was alone. They hit me with guns, and stripped me, and tied me up and gagged me. They had everything they wanted right away. Everything in my safe, my guns, everything with a plug on it – TV, stereo – all my CDs, the keys to my bakkie. But they stayed on for hours. I thought they were going to kill me. My father comes up to see me at 5pm every evening, and I thought, ‘Please, God, don’t let Daddy find me dead like this.’ Then they went off in the bakkie, and I managed to free myself. But it’s still there. They f*** up your future, and they also steal your yesterdays.”
She has no confidence in the police. “We can’t depend on them,” she says. “The farmers were here first. They washed my blood, they found my bakkie. When the police finally came, they fingerprinted everything, videoed it, took still pictures – and all of it has disappeared.
“We knew who’d done it soon enough. Local people know. They came from 40 kilometres away. They were caught with my personal possessions on them and in their homes. The dossier was opened for attempted murder and armed robbery. But because it all went missing, they were charged with possession of stolen property and got a slap on the wrist. They’re already out. If I did pursue it, they might kill me next time. They’ve rung me to say, ‘We know you haven’t got a gun now, we had six months inside because of you, we’re going to get you.’”
Mimie du Toit runs a game farm that caters for hunters, mainly Scandinavian and Spanish. Her husband was killed when the steering column on his vehicle broke on a hunting trip. Her father, Ben Keyter, farmed cattle 30 miles away. He was murdered in January 2005.
“They asked my mom for water,” she says. “She opened the door and they pushed in. Two of them pulled my dad outside. They made my mom watch while they killed him with a spade. They said, ‘Look, you can’t help him.’ Then they hit my mom very bad. She had blood all on one side, and they threw the deepfreeze on top of her and left her for dead. Then she got a stroke. Now she’s in Pretoria for speech therapy.” Her father was 79. He was killed for his cell phone and his 780 rand (£70) monthly pension. Three arrests were made. “It was the farmers who got them,” she says. “The police did nothing.”

THE SUNDAY TIMES MAGAZINE.

TIME AND DATE!

On Wednesday, at two minutes and three seconds after ONE 0'Clock in the morning,
The time and date will be:

01:02:03 04/05/06

This won't ever happen again (at least not in our lifetimes).

You may now return to your normal life.

BLOGGING BOOK PRIZE!

US cook wins blogging book prize.

Powell tried to master French cooking. An American cook's adventures in the kitchen have won the first literary prize for bloggers turned authors. Julie Powell's tales of French cooking beat the intimate diary of a prostitute and a guide to the UK's best "greasy spoon" cafes to take the Blooker Prize. The contest was set up for bloggers who have turned their episodic journals into books. In the last few years, regularly updated web logs, or blogs, have become a major feature of the internet. There are believed to be more than 60 million blogs in existence.

"Blooks are the new books, a hybrid literary form at the cutting edge of both literature and technology," said Bob Young, founder of self-publishing site Lulu which organised and sponsored the prize. The winning blog began life as a online diary of the attempt by Julie Powell to cook the recipes in the 1961 cookbook by Julia Child, Mastering the Art of French Cooking.

BLOOKER WINNERS

Overall and non-fiction: Julie and Julia: 365 Days, 524 Recipes, 1 Tiny Apartment Kitchen by Julie Powell
Fiction: Four and Twenty Blackbirds by Cherie Priest
Comic book: Totally Boned: A Joe and Monkey Collection by Zach MillerHer blog built up a cult following.

The entries were published as a book last year and has since sold almost 100,000 copies. "The community aspect of blogging and the interaction with others kept me honest, kept me writing and kept me from sinking into my habitual black hole of self-loathing," said Ms Powell. A total of 89 entries vied for the Blooker, including two strong contenders from the UK. One was the notorious Belle De Jour, who blogged about life as a prostitute. The other was Russell Davies, who turned his affection for greasy spoon cafes into a blog called eggbaconchipsandbeans and a book detailing the 50 best cafes in the UK.

"Those who dismiss blogging as 'mere' confessional writing and complaining about one's day job fail to appreciate just how engrossing those genres can be when handled by a talented writer like Julie Powell," said writer and activist Cory Doctorow, who was on the judging panel. "The story of how blogging, writing in public, changed Powell's life is both memorable and inspirational."

BBC NEWS REPORT.

CHINA TO BUY AUSTRALIAN URANIUM!

Australia has three working uranium mines, one in a national park. Australia and China have signed a nuclear deal allowing Beijing to import Australian uranium for power stations. The agreement was signed under the gaze of both countries' prime ministers. Australia, which has 40% of the world's known uranium deposits, sells uranium only to members of the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty. The two countries had previously failed to agree a deal amid concerns China would use the uranium in its nuclear weapons programme. No relationship has been more greatly transformed over the last 10 years than our relationship with China - John Howard Australian Prime Minister.

Quarrying for uranium

Australia insists that potential uranium buyers must agree to a separate bilateral deal stipulating that they will not divert nuclear fuel into weapons programmes. Australian Prime Minister John Howard and his Chinese counterpart, Premier Wen Jiabao - on a four-day visit to the country - looked on as their foreign ministers signed the pacts. Australian Foreign Minister Alexander Downer stressed the importance of ensuring the uranium would never be used in military schemes. "These agreements establish strict safeguards, arrangements and conditions to ensure Australian uranium supplied to China, and any collaborative programmes inapplications of nuclear technology, is used exclusively for peaceful purposes," he said. Good relations Under the terms of the deal, Australia will export 20,000 metric tons of uranium toChina each year, beginning in 2010, the AFP news agency reports.

MAJOR URANIUM PRODUCERS
Australia
Canada
China
Kazakhstan
Namibia
Niger
Russia
Uzbekistan
Nuclear fuel cycle

Both prime ministers praised the nuclear deals, which were among eight bilateral agreements signed on Monday. "Of all the important relationships that Australia has with other countries, none has been more greatly transformed over the last 10 years than our relationship with China," said Mr Howard. Mr Wen said Sino-Australian relations were currently at an all-time high. "There are no issues left over from history and there are no cultural matters standing in the way of our bilateral relations," he added. Environmental and opposition groups criticised the deal, suggesting that a guarantee of Australian uranium would allow Beijing to earmark more domestically-produced uranium for its nuclear weapons programme. Mr Downer dismissed the argument, telling Australian radio the deal "is not going to make the slightest difference" to the Chinese weapons programme.

China is desperate for energy to fuel its booming economy, the BBC's Daniel Griffiths reports from Beijing.

ENERGY IN CHINA
Fossil fuels currently provide 80% of energy
Hydro-electric projects provide 18% of energy
Nuclear energy from nine reactors currently supplies 2%
Plans for 30 new reactors to be built by 2020
Nuclear power to account for 4% of national output by 2020
Sources: World Nuclear Association and Reuters

The old coal mines that the country relies on cannot keep up with demand and there is not enough oil to go around. With power shortages and blackouts in big cities common, the government is looking for new sources of energy and nuclear is top of the list. Beijing wants to build 40 to 50 nuclear reactors over the next 20 years and a steady supply of uranium is vital. The Chinese premier also confirmed on Monday that his country was negotiating a free trade deal with Australia. The aim, he said, was to lay the foundation for reaching an overall free trade agreement within two years. Australian Trade Minister Mark Vaile said there were "sensitivities" about the talks but Australia and China were "committed to working through the complex issues to achieve a positive outcome".

BBC NEWS REPORT.

ON THIS DAY

SIR ROBERT WALPOLE WAS APPOINTED, ON THIS DAY IN 1721,

FIRST LORD OF THE TREASURY AND CHANCELLOR OF THE EXCHEQUER, EFFECTIVELY MAKING HIM BRITAIN'S FIRST PRIME MINISTER, IN 1721!

CHAD GENERAL DIES IN BATTLE.

Many soldiers have deserted to rebel ranksChad's senior army commander has been killed in fighting with rebels on its border with Sudan, army officials say. Gen Abakar Itno - the nephew of Chad's President Idriss Deby - died of injuries in clashes in the Moudeina area, south of the border town of Adre. Chad alleges Rally for Democracy and Liberty rebels receive support from the Janjaweed militia operating in the neighbouring Sudanese region of Darfur. Aid officials say the fighting involved about 1,000 men on each side. Gen Itno was commanding the military operation launched 10 days ago against the rebels. "Gen Abakar Youssouf Mahamat Itno has died of his injuries," an unnamed military source told Reuters news agency. "Caught without communications, the general was surprised by the rebels who seriously wounded him," the source added.

The start of the operation came a week after the Chadian government said it had foiled a coup attempt against President Deby.

Chad: Ripe for a coup?

In December, Chad declared a state of war with Sudan following a deadly attack launched from Darfur by Chadian rebels. Sudan repeatedly denied allegations made by Chad that it was backing the rebels and sending Arab militias in support.In February, Chad and Sudan signed an accord to resolve their differences over fighting along the border. Mr Deby seized power in 1990 after launching a rebellion from bases in Darfur.

BBC NEWS REPORT.

NASA'S NEW MAPS OF JUPITER.

The colour maps are the most detailed yet (Image: Nasa/JPL/Space Science Institute)
Enlarge Image

The US space agency (Nasa) has released the most detailed colour maps of the planet Jupiter ever produced. The stunning maps were pieced together by researchers from images taken by the Cassini spacecraft as it approached Jupiter on 11 and 12 December 2000. Raw images exist in only two colours so the maps were coloured to show how Jupiter would appear to the naked eye. They consist of one cylindrical map of the planet along with north and south polar maps of Jupiter. The maps were created from 36 frames captured by Cassini as it passed the giant planet on a gravity assist manoeuvre to get it to Saturn. Cassini arrived in Saturn orbit on 1 July 2004.

The maps show a variety of colourful cloud features, including parallel reddish-brown and white bands, the Great Red Spot, multi-lobed chaotic regions, white ovals and many small vortices. Many clouds appear in streaks and waves due to continual stretching and folding by Jupiter's winds and by turbulence.

The maps were pieced together from images taken by the Cassini probe (Image: Nasa/JPL/Space Science Institute)
Enlarge Image

Small bright spots within the orange band north of the equator are lightning-bearing thunderstorms. Recently, astronomers have noted that Jupiter appears to be "growing" another red spot, which they have nicknamed "Red Jr". Both red spots are actually raging storms in Jupiter's cloud layer, but scientists don't yet know how they get their characteristic brick colour. Jupiter's Great Red Spot is twice as wide as our planet and at least 300 years old. The Cassini-Huygens mission is a cooperative project of Nasa, the European Space Agency (Esa) and the Italian Space Agency (Asi).

BBC NEWS REPORT.

THE RISE OF THE 'CHILDFREE'!

Birth rates in the European Union are falling fast. The BBC News website's Kathryn Westcott talks to those among a growing group who have chosen not to have children, and are fed up with the emphasis given to family life. Childless or childfree? Not so long ago, all women without children were known as childless, with its implication of a state of loss. Nowadays, a growing number of women are insisting on the term childfree - with its emphasis on liberation.

Mariah, who lives in Sweden, decided to be sterilised at the age of 25An increasing number of women in their 30s are rejecting the job description that they believe comes with parenting - loss of freedom, reduced career prospects and financial burdens. Numbers are difficult to come by, but London School of Economics sociologist Dr Catherine Hakim has carried out some extensive research in this area. She has no doubt rising numbers of people are actively choosing not to have children. "In many European countries around 10% of women reach the age of 45 with no kids," she says. "Of that figure, there are those who have chosen to remain childfree, those who have delayed having a child and are experiencing problems, and those who are infertile. A UN fertility study says 2-3% will fall into that category." She believes the number without children will double in many countries to around 20% - except Germany, where the figure is already closer to 30%, partly because it is seen as having some of the most family unfriendly policies in Europe.

"The whole idea of the childfree lifestyle is beginning to be recognised by the media," says Dr Hakim. "Private feelings are being legitimised and people are beginning to feel that they are not being deviant in some way. More and more people are questioning whether children are for them"Very consciously people are more confident in saying they have a different lifestyle." Despite that, in some countries where there are very strong pro-natal policies, such as France, the idea of women actively choosing not to have children is, to many, an anathema. Until recently, it was extremely difficult for men and women to undergo sterilisation in France. "In France, it is difficult being a women without any children," says 33-year-old Alexandra, who lives in Nantes. "The subject is just taboo. There is no open debate. People refuse to believe you could not want to have children - they always think it's because you simply haven't met the right person." A falling birth rate is a good thing. The planet is already overpopulated - Claire, London. Alexandra, who has a long-term partner, says that up until her mid-20s, she always thought she would have children. But, after changing her mind, she says she is confident that nothing will make her change it back again. She says that the assumption that it is only the work-mad who shun parenthood is far from accurate. "I didn't make the choice for career reasons - it was a lifestyle choice. I only work part-time and I like to enjoy life," she says.

FERTILITY RATES
In Europe 2.1 children per woman is considered to be the population replacement level. These are national averages
Ireland: 1.99
France: 1.90
Norway: 1.81
Sweden 1.75
UK: 1.74
Netherlands: 1.73
Germany: 1.37
Italy: 1.33
Spain: 1.32
Greece: 1.29
Source: Eurostat - 2004 figures

At-a-glance: National policies

Dr Hakim says that governments with "vague pro-natal attitudes" such as France, Sweden and Norway, claim that there is no such thing as voluntary childlessness in their countries. But Mariah who lives in the city of Linkoping, Sweden, says that over the past few years, she has met more and more Swedes who are opting for a childfree lifestyle. The 30-year-old says she has known that she never wanted to have children since she was a child herself. "I was sterilised at the age of 25. It's a choice I have never regretted," she says. "Once I had made the decision, I felt stronger as a woman. I have a long-term partner and he is happy with my decision." She says that in Sweden there is a lot of pressure from family and friends to have children. "It's the norm and Swedes really don't want to stand out in a crowd. But, in the past few years, I feel there have been more and more people questioning whether or not they having children is really for them.

"Some people simply have no maternal feelings - some are worried about how the world is going, some like to travel, some like to pursue their careers - we're not selfish people." "Selfish and irresponsible," are words that 43-year-old Jane, who lives in London, is used to hearing. I've been called irresponsible for not having children but there are many couples who have had children without thinking seriously about the impact such a decision will have Jane, 43In the UK, the most commonly cited statistic is that by 2010, one in four will be either childfree or childless. "I made the choice early on not to have children. I don't dislike them - I simply decided that I could not devote 100% of my time to someone else," she says. "I have also been called selfish but I think that people who have three children are encroaching on the planet's resources - I can't believe the amount of waste that children produce. "The world's population is still growing - it's only people in the West who are perceived to be not having enough children. People will always have children and the world will continue," she says.

Jane, who works in the media, says there is an increasing tension in the workplace because many employees without children feel that parents get a better deal when it comes to time off. This is partly why Europe is now following the US with the establishment of active groups of the childfree, some of whom are demanding a better deal for their members. Jonathan McCalmont is the founder of Kidding Aside (The British Childfree Association), which was first set up on the internet to lobby for equality for people without children. He is fed up with the way the government is wooing parents with longer maternity pay, paternity leave, flexible hours and family tax breaks. He describes the latter as "simply a middle-class tax break masquerading as social policy." He is angry at what he says is a redistribution of money from people without children to those with. He contends that childfree people who have other responsibilities - such as looking after an elderly parent - should get the same benefits. "We believe it is up to the individual to decide what constitutes a family," he says. "It's not up to the state."

BBC NEW REPORT.

UGANDA REBEL 'TERROR' APPALS U.N.

Mr Egeland's remarks

The activities of rebels in northern Uganda are "terrorism of the worst kind anywhere in the world", UN humanitarian affairs chief Jan Egeland has said. Security must be improved in the region where Lord's Resistance Army rebels abduct children and carry out attacks, he said while visiting Pader district. Mr Egeland urged the Ugandan government and international community to do more to end the humanitarian crisis. Almost two million people have been displaced during 20 years of civil war. They live in camps, often in appalling conditions, in attempts to escape attacks by the LRA. We are not wanting all the LRA killed - these are children, abducted children of these women around us saidJan Egeland,UN under-secretary general for humanitarian affairs.In addition, many thousands abandon their homes in rural villages every night for the relative safety of big towns. In Pader district, the worst affected area of northern Uganda, Mr Egeland visited Patongo camp, a squalid home to about 40,000 people.

The BBC's Will Ross in Uganda said Mr Egeland did not hold back when assessing the situation, and described the current humanitarian relief effort as plasters on the wound. "I don't think we really understand what it is when 90% of a population is terrorised into crammed camp conditions like this," Mr Egeland said. "I just met a women's group where all of the women had had their children abducted, Most of them had never heard back from them." Residents of the camps live in fear of rebel attacks.Some of the camp's residents told Mr Egeland about the problems they face, which included inadequate healthcare and poor access to education.

But the worst problem was insecurity. Mr Egeland said that although the rebels had become weaker, they remained strong enough to prevent people from returning to their villages. "Everybody has to do more," he said. "The government of Uganda has to do more, the army has to provide real security for the people, not only when they are inside cramped camps but when they go out of these camps. "We as aid organisations have to also improve conditions. Still too many are dying from lack of sanitation, lack of proper care." Former LRA child fighters needed to be reintegrated and the rebel leaders brought to justice, he added.
Reintegration
As residents were telling Mr Egeland they did not feel it was safe enough to go home, the Ugandan military said it was clashing with pockets of rebels in the same district. Almost two million people have fled their homes. Our correspondent says the problem is how to end the war. Negotiations with the senior commanders seem to be out of the question as they have been indicted by the International Criminal Court, he adds. Mr Egeland said ending the insecurity was his hope for 2006. But he said he did not think there was a purely military solution. He pointed to the insecurity caused by small groups of rebels and the fact the rebels were mainly abducted children. "We are not wanting all the LRA killed - these are children, abducted children of these women around us. "They should be able to demobilise and be reintegrated into society and I think it can happen," he told the BBC.

After meeting Ugandan President Yoweri Museveni on Friday, Mr Egeland said it was positive news the government of Uganda was acknowledging the situation more than it had previously, and was promising action. On Sunday, the UN humanitarian affairs chief will visit southern Sudan, which is also blighted by Ugandan LRA attacks.

BBC NEWS REPORT.