NEW BACH MANUSCRIPTS FOUND!

Experts say the composer's script was quite distinctive. Researchers in Germany say they have unearthed two previously unknown manuscripts written by Johann Sebastian Bach when he was a teenage organist. The handwritten manuscripts, dating from about 1700, are copies of organ music composed by Dietrich Buxtehude and Johann Adam Reinken. At the time Bach was 15 - and these are the oldest known manuscripts by him.

They were among archives taken from a library in Weimar, east Germany, which was ravaged by a fire two years ago. The Bach manuscripts survived because they were stored in the building's vault. The fire at the Duchess Anna Amalia Library, part of a 16th-Century palace, destroyed about 50,000 books.

According to Bach experts Michael Maul and Peter Wollny from the Bach-Archiv foundation in Leipzig, the manuscripts shed new light on the career of the young Bach. They confirm that he was a student of the organist Georg Boehm in the north German city of Lueneburg. The researchers say the latest find is more significant than the discovery last year of a previously unknown vocal piece by Bach, which was also among the papers removed from the library. Bach's script was quite distinctive, the researchers said, although there was some similarity to Boehm's.

The organ works that Bach copied were chorale fantasias called Nun freut euch lieben Christen gmein (Be joyful ye Christians) and An den Wasserfluessen Babylons (By the waters of Babylon). The Bach Archiv foundation said that "technically highly demanding, these organ works document the extraordinary virtuoso skills of the young Bach as well as his efforts to master the most ambitious and complex pieces of the entire organ repertoire".

BBC NEWS REPORT.

ISLAMIST CONSPIRACY FEAR IN TURKEY!

'Islamist conspiracy' fear in Turkey
By Paul Henley BBC Radio 4's Crossing Continents.

Turkey has long been valued by the West as a secular Muslim ally but now one former military officer tells the BBC that secularism is under threat. General Solmaztuerk talks of Islamist groups infiltrating the armyHaldun Solmaztuerk is a former brigadier general in the Turkish army. He has seen active service in the direst days of guerrilla war in the Kurdish south-east, as well in Somalia and in Bosnia. As he watches an elderly woman inch her way up a marble staircase on an extremely hot day in Ankara, he is moved to tears. "It's nearly 40 degrees today. And here there are people of all ages and backgrounds - small children, old people who can barely walk, climbing these steps because they want to pay their respects. "You see, we owe everything to this man," he says. The man he is talking about died nearly 70 years ago.

But the presence of Mustafa Kemal Ataturk, "Father of the Turks", is still felt very keenly. "Without Ataturk we would not have any Turkish Republic," says the general. Symbols of unity? We walk between stone lions guarding a half-mile long avenue which leads to the distinctive white and red of the Turkish flag and his hero's grandiose mausoleum. Ataturk founded the republic and became its first president"We are in the heart of that republic now. "It is a symbol not just of power, but of unity, of the whole nation together without any differentiation between ethnic origins," he says.

Symbols of such unity seem a little over-optimistic in today's Turkey, marked as it is by the regular bomb attacks of separatist Kurdish groups. In the towns and villages of the south-east, where support for the outlawed armed gangs of the PKK runs high, local officials sit with what must be permanently gritted teeth beneath the de-rigueur portraits of Ataturk. But there is another perhaps more significant reason why the Father of the Turks deeply divides his 70 million "children". And it is about more than ethnic difference. It has to do with religion.

The briefest search of the name Ataturk on the internet reveals website after website of invective, as well as praise. Ataturk turned Turkey into a new Europe-looking nation"He was truly an enemy of Allah to the core," writes one Islamist thinker. Ataturk made Turks look West, not East, for their cultural and political inspiration. As well as giving women the vote and introducing the Latin alphabet for the written Turkish language for the first time, he formed the secular state with a divide between religion and government enshrined clearly in law. His ban on women wearing headscarves in public institutions endures as one of the issues that most incites bitterness, even violence, in Turkey today.

For General Haldun Solmaztuerk, Ataturk's principles have never been more politicallyrelevant. General Solmaztuerk retired from the military last year, but he sees himself and his country as involved in a daily battle with forces he says are trying to destroy the gap between mosque and parliament and ultimately make Turkey an Islamic state under Sharia law. "The enemy,"he says, "is a way of thinking, of subjecting political decisions to religious rules. "I believe I am in line with values held dear by the EU and all Western democracies." Turkey's government strongly denies that it wants to undermine secularism.

Mr Erdogan has disavowed the hardline Islamic views of his pastTurkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan, an eager proponent of Turkey joining the European Union, recently stressed the need to "strengthen democracy, secularism... and the rule of law." But there is an increasing number of people in Turkey who doubt his secular credentials. His government has its roots in a party banned several years ago for allegedly trying to Islamise the country. His so far unsuccessful efforts to ease the headscarf ban, to promote religious vocational schools, to criminalise adultery and discourage alcohol consumption have outraged the secularists who are prominent in Turkey's judiciary, academia and above all in its military.

Solmaztuerk cannot speak for the military, not officially. No-one, it seems, is prepared to do that. With a refusal to allow the BBC any access to serving personnel or bases, the army preserves its reputation for secretiveness.But he is hardly a man to step out of line with the institution which gives him his very raison d'etre. "When I was 11 years old I was determined to become a soldier," he says, accompanied by the rhythmic boot-thuds of the changing of the guard at the Ataturk mausoleum." "Being in the armed forces has meant everything to me... because the Turkish army is not any army. "Institutions in this country are ineffective, bureaucracy is lazy... politicians are abusing democracy."

CROSSING CONTINENTS
Inside the Turkish Military was broadcast on Thursday 31 August at 1102 BST.
Programme information
Listen to the programme

The army is Turkey's most trusted institution but it is not so popular with the EU. There have been three coups since 1960. Each time the army has quickly handed back power to civilians. But a priority for the EU is that the military scale back its political influence. For example, the EU has made sure that the military budget is now under Parliamentary control. General Solmaztuerk's fear is that if the EU continues to water down the military's power it will be easy to narrow the separation between state and mosque. And he goes further than criticism of government policy. He talks of secretive Islamic groups "infiltrating" the army's ranks. "They see the army as the main obstacle to achieving their aim of an Islamic republic," he says. And he claims their method would mirror "orders given in the late 70s by Khomeini to some Iranian officers to kill their generals and launch the revolution."
The European Union, he concludes, should take note.

BBC Radio 4's Crossing Continents was broadcast on Thursday, 31 August 2006, and repeated on Monday, 4 September 2006 at 2030 BST.

BBC NEWS REPORT.

CHINESE THREAT FOR GHANA'S TEXTILE FIRMS!

Chinese threat for Ghana's textile firms.
By Orla Ryan Accra, Ghana.

Brightly coloured African textile designs are big business in Ghana. Ghanaian textile designer Philip Adu-Gyamfi wakes up in the middle of the night worrying about what he will design the next day. The African prints he and his team design for textile firm ATL are hugely popular. They are worn to church, funerals and weddings - every occasion, traditional or modern, that Ghanaians can find an excuse to wear them to.

But Chinese copies of these designs are being smuggled into the West African country and sold at vastly-reduced rates. And this is forcing designers like Mr Adu-Gyamfi to work doubly hard to stay ahead. "It is not easy at all," he says. "You get to a market and the design you have made has been copied, you feel like crying."Traditional African prints, some printed in wax, are a popular sight in Ghana and throughout West Africa. On Sundays, Ghanaian women, magnificently dressed in brightly-coloured fabrics, sail through the capital Accra's dusty streets to attend church services.

Most weekends, mourners attend funeral parties decked in red, brown and black traditional cloth. In some cultures, traditional African wax print is even included as part of the bride price. For many, there is no greater indicator of prestige or class than wearing clothes made from fine-quality African fabric. "When people see you (wearing African fabric), they appreciate you are of a certain class," says Mr Adu-Gyamfi.

Meeting the fashion needs of Ghanaian women is big business. Dealers can make more from fake textile designs than African originals. About 150 million yards of African prints worth up to $250m (£131.5m) are sold in Ghana each year. But just one quarter of Ghanaian demand for African prints is met by locally produced textiles - a situation that ATL attributes to smuggled Chinese imitations. Sales have fallen by between 50% and 75%, as customers buy Chinese copies of locally produced designs. "We started to realise there was a flood of Asian products arriving on the market two years ago. It started in 2004, it really built up. Last year it was terrible, there were loads coming in," says ATL's Steve Dutton.

Arriving in the free port of Lome and smuggled into Ghana, Chinese imitations retail at between 160,000 and 220,000 Ghanaian cedis per 12 yards. This is almost half to a third cheaper than the 300,000 cedis ATL charges. ATL is not the only textile firm to complain of competition from China. Many European and American firms struggle to compete with the Chinese manufacturing machine. Chinese imports are particularly likely to hurt Dutch firms, who have a long tradition of selling wax cloth in West Africa. The Ghanaian textile market has seen years of decline - much as Ghanaians love African prints, not everyone can afford them and many buy cheap second-hand Western clothes.

Cheap labour and high productivity makes it almost impossible to compete with Chinese firms, Mr Dutton admits. ATL had expected its creativity and market knowledge to give the firm an edge. This advantage, says Mr Dutton, is eroded by the fact that most of the Chinese fabrics arriving in Ghana are replicas of Ghanaian-copyrighted designs. Faced with the difficulty of tracking down Chinese manufacturers, ATL is tackling local traders instead. Some traders are happy to co-operate, others want to enjoy the higher margins on the fake products. It is nearly impossible to find out where the goods came from, but Ghanaian-made sales do rise after a crackdown. "All we can do is attack people selling it here, we don't want to do that, but that is the only line of defence we have," says Mr Dutton.

BBC NEWS REPORT.

OUTRAGE AT ZIMBABWE BUGGING PLAN!

The bill proposes bugging e-mail and phones. Zimbabwe's opposition and civil society groups have expressed anger at a proposed law to monitor communications. The bill proposes a monitoring centre, apparently with Chinese technology, that would eavesdrop on telephone, internet and other communications. The government says the bill is similar to anti-terror laws elsewhere to protect people from organised crime. Parliament began public hearings on the Interception of Communications Bill on Wednesday amid heated exchanges.

KEY PROVISIONS
Communications minister can issue warrants for interception
Police, security and revenue service bosses can apply to minister to issue warrant
Warrants can be issued in case of perceived crime or security threats
Warrants valid for three months, can be extended indefinitely
Right of appeal to minister, not to courts
ISPs must install monitoring hardware and software

"One of the key obligations on internet service providers (ISPs) is to install equipment which would allow them to interface between the ISP and the monitoring service," Jim Holland, spokesman for the Zimbabwe Internet Service Providers' Association, told the BBC News website. This equipment would have to be installed at the expense of the ISP.

Mr Holland said his organisation would seek clarification on whether the bill applied to all companies that provide internet services to the public. Asked whether Zimbabwe had the technological capacity to implement the changes proposed in the bill, Mr Holland said: "I would imagine it is now here. There are obviously now close links with the Chinese, who are specialists in the interception of radio and internet communication." Zimbabwean telephone calls are already monitored. "The Posts and Telecommunications Regulatory Authority said the interface was already there - all that is required is to connect to the monitoring centre," Mr Holland said.

Monitoring internet communication is nevertheless more complicated than monitoring phone calls, and Zimbabweans using an overseas-based webmail service would be able to avoid bugging by the authorities in Zimbabwe. The government has defended the proposal in the name of national security. "The advancement in technology today means that no one is safe at all from the source of terrorism, mercenarism and organised crime," Brig Gen Mike Sango of the Zimbabwe Defence Force told the hearing.
"A piece of legislation has been long overdue on this particular problem."
'Carte blanche'
Critics raised concerns that the bill does not make provision for decisions to be reviewed by the judiciary. "An aggrieved person is given a right to appeal to the Minister (of Transport and Communications), who is neither independent nor impartial. He authorises the interception and monitoring in the first place," argued Wilbert Mandinde, legal officer of the Media Institute for Southern Africa in Zimbabwe. The opposition Movement for Democratic Change agreed: "It seems to give carte blanche - the minister is the judge and the jury, it violates the whole concept of the separation of powers," said MDC legal adviser Jessie Majome.

A special report will be tabled before parliament after the public hearings. President Robert Mugabe's government already faces criticism for laws that curtail free speech and movement.
Mr Holland said the lack of judicial oversight in the bill was similar to certain provisions of an earlier communications law that were overturned by the High Court in 2004 on grounds of being unconstitutional.

BBC NEWS REPORT.

E.U. PROMISES HELP WITH MIGRANTS !

The Canary Islands are coping with an unprecedented influx. The European Commission says it will do more to help EU member states handle large flows of migrants.
Justice Commissioner Franco Frattini was replying to a new appeal for help from Spain, which is struggling with an influx by sea from West Africa.
The EU launched an operation this month to turn back small boats carrying migrants from Cape Verde, Mauritania and Senegal to the Canary Islands. But Spain says the operation is not big enough and took too long to get going.
Deputy Prime Minister Maria Teresa Fernandez de la Vega said Spain needed "more boats, more planes, more personnel".
Mr Frattini said he would ask member states to show more solidarity with Spain, to increase the amount of money available for border control, and to strengthen the "operational capacity" of the new EU border agency, Frontex.

In pictures: Arrival in Europe

He also said he would back Spain's request for the Canary Islands operation, known as Hera, to be extended from the planned nine weeks to the end of the year.
More migrants have arrived on the islands this month than in the whole of 2005. In total, nearly 19,000 migrants have arrived on the islands this year. Estimates of the number that have died en route range from 590 to 3,000.
The operation, co-ordinated by Frontex, involves air and sea patrols along the coast of Cape Verde, Mauritania and Senegal.

Click here to see the routes taken by African migrants

So far, only one Portuguese ship has joined the Spanish effort. An Italian ship broke down en route, and a Finnish aircraft has yet to arrive. Other countries have provided experts in identification of migrants. A Frontex official said the experts were necessary because migrants tried to avoid repatriation by concealing their nationality.
A Spanish government official in the Canary Islands estimated that 5,000 had been repatriated so far this year.
The EU is planning a similar operation in the Mediterranean to intercept migrants from North Africa to Italy and Malta.
The Canary Islands crisis is headline news in Spain, even though the African migrants represent only a small proportion of the total flow of immigrants to the country - more than half a million in 2005.
A study published in Spain this week says that without the 3.2m immigrants that have arrived in the country in the last 10 years, the country's per capita output could have fallen, rather than rising by 2.6%.
The study by the Catalan state savings bank and the Autonomous University of Barcelona, quoted by the Financial Times newspaper, says per capita output would have fallen in many European countries - including Germany and the UK - if they had not benefited from immigration.

BBC NEWS REPORT.

OIL WEALTH FAILS CHADIAN VILLAGERS !

Oil wealth fails Chadian villagers.
By Stephanie Hancock Ngalaba, southern Chad.

Pylons criss-cross the landscape carrying power to the oil wells. Giant electricity pylons and the glow of gas flares dominate the landscape in southern Chad, but people living admidst the oil fields do not receive any of the power in their villages.
It makes for an unusual sight: the very best of modern industrial technology alongside a village people whose lifestyle has barely changed in centuries.
Although cattle still roam freely and the fields remain lush and green, villages like Ngalaba have become known as a "village enclave" - a community totally surrounded by oil wells.
Village chief Tamro Mbaidjehuernan says his community has been changed by Chad's oil project - but only for the worse.
"They took a lot of our fields to make room for the oil installation," explains Mr Mbaidjehuernan.
"We received compensation, but it wasn't very much. We used to cultivate peanuts, sorghum, maize and millet. But now we can hardly grow anything - there's just not the room."

Esso, the US company which operates the 1,070 km (664-mile) pipeline that runs from Chad through Cameroon to the coast, says it paid villagers market rates for their land, built a school in the village as compensation, and also donated a well.
But as a row over Chad's oil revenues intensifies in the capital, people in Doba Basin remain disillusioned with the project that began pumping oil three years ago.
A few minutes walk from Ngalaba lies the village of Maikeri, another "village enclave", where Chief Djinodji August says the project has proved a false dawn.
"They said this project would bring us happiness. But from where I'm sitting, it's going from bad to worse. There have been a lot of false promises."
The chief's son, Bendoh, also complains about a night-time curfew in their region, put in place by the local government after a spate of thefts at nearby oil facilities.
"This curfew has installed a climate of fear," says Bendoh. "If people go to their fields or want to visit a friend, they are scared of seeing a gendarme as he will make trouble for them.
"Even if you are transporting a sick person to a clinic - as there is none in our area - they will search you, ask you questions and sometimes take your money."

When the World Bank supported Chad's bid to start pumping oil, it insisted on setting up a group called the 5% Committee - which allocates extra oil revenues to the oil-producing region.
But despite being set up 18 months ago, the committee has yet to finish a single project.
Urbain Moyombaye, a local development worker who himself lives just kilometres from an oil field, says villagers' lives have not improved with the oil project.
"We have not seen any concrete positive impact for the local population," says Mr Moyombaye.
"There is nothing. Go to any village - I say any village - in the Doba Basin and there is nothing. Not a single thing has been built with oil revenue money."
However, some oil money is being spent in the region.
In nearby Doba town, the capital of this oil-producing region, work is starting on a brand new $5m football stadium.
But the stadium was not approved by the 5% Committee - instead, it is being built on the direct orders of Chad's president, Idriss Deby.

It is exactly the type of unilateral decision the World Bank was hoping this project could avoid.
Pierre Djasro is not hopeful that his school roof will be replaced soon.
"All these projects are being decided by 'derogation'," says Mr Moyombaye.
"Normally, before starting projects, the committee should ask local people what they want.
"How can we build a stadium when there are people who don't even have clean drinking water?"
Pierre Djasro is one of the nine members of the 5% Committee, and is also village chief of Miandoum village.
The roof of his village school was recently ripped off in a heavy storm, but even he admits this is unlikely to be fixed any time soon.
"I've formally asked the 5% Committee to come and have a look," said Mr Djasro, who adds that the school is so overcrowded many pupils study outdoors. "They said they'd come a week ago but they haven't come. Even today they promised me a visit, but they've not arrived."

While it is clear there is little respect for proper procedure, many people believe there is another reason why the oil cash is not getting through. Miandoum oil field is visible from Ngalaba village.
"The real problem in Chad is not lack of resources - it's corruption," says Arnaud Ngarmian, member of a civil society which monitors Chad's oil project.
"The World Bank agreed to finance this project to help reduce poverty, but the way oil revenues are being managed, this will never happen," he says. "Projects are being built without due process, and the World Bank says nothing. The World Bank has a big responsibility to the Chadian people."
Chad's oil project was designed to try and lift the country out of poverty. It was supposed to be the World Bank's flagship project, a way of making poverty - and corruption - a thing of the past. But three years into this project, ordinary Chadians say they are still waiting for their share of the country's oil riches.

BBC NEWS REPORT.

PRESIDENT PAYS TRIBUTE TO MAHFOUZ !

Naguib Mahfouz was a much-loved writer in the Middle East. Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak has paid tribute to writer Naguib Mahfouz, who has died in Cairo at the age of 94. "Mahfouz was a cultural light... who brought Arab literature to the world," he said of the first Arab to win the Nobel prize for literature. He said the author expressed "values of enlightenment and tolerance". The Egyptian writer had spent the last months of his life in hospital after falling during a midnight stroll and injuring his head in July.

His vibrant portrayal of the Egyptian capital in his Cairo Trilogy won the 1988 Nobel Prize for literature. US President George Bush has also expressed condolences, calling Mahfouz "an extraordinary artist who conveyed the richness of Egyptian history and society to the world". A White House spokesman said the author's work would "introduce his beloved Egypt to Americans and to readers around the world for generations to come".

International recognition The writer had suffered health problems since being stabbed in the neck in 1994 by an Islamist extremist, angry at his portrayal of God in one of his novels. After that incident he was in hospital for seven weeks and suffered nerve damage in his neck, which limited his ability to write and caused his eyesight and hearing to deteriorate. Mahfouz's Nobel Prize brought international recognition to a man already regarded in the Middle East as one of its best writers and premier intellectuals. Egyptian writer Ahdaf Souief, who knew Mahfouz well, said the writer was a "massively important influence" on Arabic literature. "He was our greatest living novelist for a very long time," he said. "Mahfouz was an innovator in the use of the Arabic language.

MAHFOUZ FACTS

1911: Born in Cairo
1934: Graduated in philosophy from Cairo University
1959: Al-Azhar, one of the most important Islamic institutions in the world, bans novel because it includes characters representing God and the prophets
1988: First and only Arab to win Nobel Prize for literature
1994: Mahfouz stabbed in the neck by Islamist militant angered by his work.

Obituary: Naguib Mahfouz

"He also embodied the whole development of the Arabic novel, starting with historical novels in the late 1940s through realism, through experimentalism and so on. "He single-handedly went through the whole development of the Arabic novel and made innovation possible for generations of writers after him."

The Cairo Trilogy - Palace Walk, Palace of Desire and Sugar Street, all of which appeared in the 1950s - detailed the adventures and misadventures of a Muslim merchant family. The books introduced a character who became an icon in Egyptian culture: Si-Sayed, the domineering father who holds his family together. Controversy came in 1959 with the publication of the novel Children of Gebelawi. First serialised in Egyptian newspapers, it caused an uproar and was banned by Egyptian religious authorities on the grounds it violated Islamic rules by including characters who clearly represented God and the prophets. Nonetheless, it was published in Lebanon and later translated into English.

In a career that spanned decades Mahfouz published more than 30 novels, short stories, plays, newspaper columns, essays, travelogues, memoirs and political analyses. His final published major work - a collection of stories about the afterlife titled The Seventh Heaven - came in 2005. "I wrote The Seventh Heaven because I want to believe something good will happen to me after death," he told the Associated Press in December 2005. "Spirituality for me is of high importance and continuously provides inspiration for me."

BBC NEWS REPORT

M.Ps APPROVE NEW S.A. MERCENARY BILL!

South Africans were among the group arrested in Zimbabwe in 2004. South Africa's National Assembly has approved a law requiring that citizens working as security staff abroad must seek permission from the government. It will also make South Africans seek permission to serve in foreign armies.

Defence Minister Mosiuoa Lekota said the law was to prevent mercenaries from subverting democracy across Africa but opponents say it is too stringent. South Africa is trying to get rid of a reputation as a haven for mercenaries and coup plotters. The authorities estimate at least 4,000 South Africans are employed in conflict areas, and several have been found to be involved in attempted coups. "Mercenaries are the scourge of poor areas of the world, especially Africa," Mr Lekota said. "Killers for hire, they rent out their skills to the highest bidder regardless of the political agenda."

The governing ANC's two-thirds majority in parliament ensured the bill was passed with a large majority, though several opposition parties opposed it. Critics say the bill could destroy the jobs of those South Africans who are currently doing genuine security work in countries such as Iraq and Afghanistan. "This could mean that thousands of South Africans currently doing legitimate work in such countries will now have to apply for authorisation and, if this is not given, will have to give up their jobs and return to South Africa where chances of employment are slim," Len le Roux of the Institute for Security Studies in Pretoria argues.

The UK High Commissioner to South Africa, Paul Boateng, was among those who appealed for changes to the bill, which is likely to affect 800 South Africans serving in the UK armed forces.
Mr Lekota defended South Africa's right to ban its citizens from serving in the British army if South Africa did not support the war in question. "If Her Majesty's Government was engaged in or getting into a conflict that is inconsistent with our law (which is based on the demands of the Constitution), we would say we are not going to do that. And that we will regulate," he said on Tuesday.

The bill was passed by an overwhelming majority in the National Assembly, and must now be approved by the Council of Provinces, the upper house of parliament. South Africa's role as a mercenary base was highlighted in 2004, when more than 60 SouthAfrican citizens - most of them former Angolans who had fought alongside South African troops in the Angolan civil war - were arrested in Zimbabwe in connection with an alleged coup attempt in Equatorial Guinea. All served a year in jail in Zimbabwe, and eight suspected ringleaders were subsequently charged in South Africa.

Also last year, Sir Mark Thatcher - son of former UK Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher - fell foul of South Africa's existing anti-mercenary laws in relation to the alleged coup plot and was given a suspended jail term and fined after agreeing a plea bargain to help investigators. The alleged ringleader of the plot, Briton Simon Mann, and the two pilots of the plane, remain in prison in Zimbabwe on longer sentences. In Equatorial Guinea, 14 other people were found guilty of charges linked to the alleged coup attempt, including plot leader Nick du Toit who received a 34-year jail sentence.

BBC NEWS REPORT.

ZIMBABWE CASH SWITCH : YOUR EXPERIENCES!

Zimbabwe cash switch: Your experiences.

Zimbabweans living in the country and abroad describe the effects of the recent currency reform, a week since the initial deadline expired rendering the old currency no longer legal tender. In a move to tackle hyper-inflation and crackdown on illegal trading activities the government removed three zeros from its currency's value at the beginning of August.
Click on the links below to read about their experiences.

KitBlack market trader
'There is always a plan to be made'

DesireOffice clerk
'People have used it as an excuse to hike their prices'

JohnProfessional
'It's a step in the right direction'

AnnaStudent abroad
'I can't see any way possible for me to continue studying'

People's names have been changed to protect their identity. The viewpoints have been selected from as wide a cross-section of people as possible and may not be representative of wider Zimbabwean public opinion.

BBC NEWS REPORT.

NIGERIA SETS APRIL ELECTION DATES!

President Obasanjo's term in office ends next year. Nigeria has announced that elections to choose a successor to President Olusegun Obasanjo and a new national assembly will be held on 21 April 2007. Voting for state governors and regional assemblies will take place on 14 April. The Independent Electoral Commission chairman said preparations for the elections were progressing well. This could mark the first successful democratic transfer of power from one civilian president to another since Nigerian independence in 1960.

President Obasanjo will have served two terms, the maximum allowed under the constitution, since being elected in 1999. It is not clear who will be in line to succeed Mr Obasanjo, who has denied favouring any particular successor to the presidency.

Vice-President Atiku Abubakar, who opposed moves to change the constitution so as to allow Mr Obasanjo a third term, is believed to be seeking the nomination of the governing People's Democratic Party (PDP).

Former military ruler Ibrahim Babangida - also a PDP member, and seen as close to Mr Obasanjo - has announced his intention to stand for the presidency, though not necessarily on a party ticket.

BBC NEWS REPORT.

THIRD OF CHINA HIT BY ACID RAIN!

Local leaders are accused of putting economics before environment. One third of China is suffering from acid rain caused by rapid industrial growth, an official report quoted by the state media says. Pollution levels have risen and air quality has deteriorated, the report found. This comes despite a pledge by the authorities to clean up the air. In the latest incident, a reservoir serving 100,000 people in north-west China was polluted by a chemical spill. China has some of the world's most polluted cities and rivers.

The pollution inspection report to the standing committee of parliament found that 25.5 million tonnes of sulphur dioxide were spewed out, mainly from the country's coal-burning factories last year - up 27% from 2000. Emissions of sulphur dioxide - the chemical that causes acid rain - were double the safe level, the report said. In some areas, rainfall was 100% acid rain, it added.
"Increased sulphur dioxide emissions meant that one-third of China's territory was affected by acid rain, posing a major threat to soil and food safety," Sheng Huaren of the standing committee, was quoted by state media as saying.

Local governments were accused of overlooking environmental regulations in the rush for economic development. "It is especially worrying that most local governments base economic growth on energy consuming industries, disregarding the environment's capacity to sustain industrial expansion," Mr Sheng said. His report echoes the findings from the State Environmental Protection Administration (SEPA) released earlier this month.

In July, China announced it planned to spend 1.4 trillion yuan ($175bn) over the next five years on protecting its environment. The sum - equivalent to 1.5% of China's annual economic output - will be used to improve water quality, and cut air and land pollution and soil erosion. Meanwhile, water supplies to the city of Hancheng in Shaanxi province were due to resume on Sunday, following an emergency when a nearby reservoir was polluted with 25 tonnes of caustic soda.

Officials brought in 10 tonnes of hydrochloric acid to neutralise the caustic soda, which was being carried by a tanker that fell into the Xuefeng reservoir on Friday, killing one person.

BBC NEWS REPORT.

BONFIRE OF THE BRANDS!

Bonfire of the brands.
By Neil Boorman

We are surrounded by myriad brands, flashing neon signs, billboards, labels on our heads, feet and bodies, and the objects we hold in our hands. But what happens when one man tries to live without them? I am addicted to brands. For as long as I can remember, they have occupied my thoughts during the waking day. What they look like, what they do, what they mean.
The majority of my modest income has been spent on them and I've gone to great lengths to acquire and be around them. I am a music promoter and style magazine editor by trade. In the first case that means putting on events that are often sponsored by brands. In the second it means understanding, keeping up with and talking about brands. Constantly. As a young teenager, all I ever wanted to do was to work with my favourite brands - Adidas, Technics, Budweiser, Sony - the names that were plastered over the things I craved to own.

Insurance firm AIG paid Man Utd £56m to put its name on their shirtsWhere some boys had posters of footballers or movie stars on their walls, I had images of trainers and turntables - to be surrounded by these names made me feel better about myself, transforming me from my humdrum middle class life in south London suburbia. But in less than a month's time, I am going to burn every branded thing in my possession. Gucci shoes, Habitat chairs, even Simple soap. I have reached the point in my life where I can no longer be around these things, no matter how special they make me feel. Yes, it is going to be a terrible waste, yes I'll no doubt feel lost when they're gone, but at this moment in time, it seems the only thing I can do.
Brands are all around us. In our homes, on our way to work, in the places we socialise and plastered over the things that entertain us. Some brands are causes for celebration, being symbols of status or objects of beauty (BMW). Others are the subject of ridicule, somehow signifying a state in life which we cannot slip below (Skoda). In both cases, we take for granted that brands and their messages (advertising) are ever-present in our lives. This is what has come to worry me.
I belong to a generation that has been continually sold-to, almost from birth. If someone had taken the time to videotape my life, in a Truman Show type of way, there would be less than a few hours of tape in which there were no brands on the screen. On my food, on my clothes, on the telly and in my brain.

In my world, the implications of wearing a crocodile as opposed to a polo player on the breast of one's shirt are of crucial importance - Neil Boorman. It is estimated that the average Briton receives over 3,000 advertising messages a day, and my brain's full of them: Mr Muscle loves the jobs you hate; Burger King flame grilled whopper for only £2.99; new Elvive anti-breakage shampoo from L'Oreal Paris; Oral B pulsar, changing the way you brush forever... and on it goes.
From an early age, I have been taught that to be accepted, to be loveable, to be cool, one must have the right stuff. At junior school, I tried to make friends with the popular kids, only to be ridiculed for the lack of stripes on my trainers.
Once I had nagged my parents to the point of buying me the shoes I was duly accepted at school, and I became much happier as a result. As long as my parents continued to buy me the brands, life was more fun. Now, at the age of 31, I still behave according to playground law.
I have been topping up my self-esteem and my social status by buying the right branded things, so that I feel good about myself, so that people can know who I am. In my world, the implications of wearing a crocodile as opposed to a polo player on the breast of one's shirt are of crucial importance. Understanding the differences between Dualit and Dyson, and what they say about their owners is reflection of style and good taste.
By now you're thinking that I am a particularly shallow individual, and to a certain extent, you'd be right. But I think that in small ways, we all behave like this in our daily lives. A stranger waves as they drive past in the same model car as our own. Snap judgments are made on youths dressed in white Reeboks and hoodies. That little bit extra spent on our favourite name brands in the supermarket is a small price to pay because we're worth it.

Cashing in on brands by association, Chinese style The manner in which we spend our money defines who we are. This theory isn't exactly new. Thorstein Veblen conjured the phrase "conspicuous consumption" back in 1899 in his book the Theory of the Leisure Class. In this secular society of ours, where family and church once gave us a sense of belonging, identity and meaning, there is now Apple, Mercedes and Coke.
These brands offer us a set of beliefs and goals which we can aspire to. Is this sounding far fetched? Don't take it from me, here's Kevin Roberts, worldwide CEO of Saatchi & Saatchi. "For great brands to survive, they must create loyalty beyond reason. The secret is the use of mystery, sensuality and intimacy... the power to create long term emotional connections with consumers."
Being the gullible fool that I am, I believed in the promises that these brands made to me; that I would be more attractive, more successful, more happy for buying their stuff. However, the highs of consumerism have been accompanied by a continual, dull ache, growing slowly as the years have gone by; a melancholy that until recently I could not understand.
I now realise that it's these damn brands that are the source of the pain. For every new status symbol I acquire, for every new extension to my identity that I buy, I lose a piece of myself to the brands. I placed my trust, even some love with these companies, and what have I had in return for my loyalty and my faith? Absolutely nothing. How could they, they're just brands.
So, this is why I am burning all my stuff. To find real happiness, to find the real me, I must get rid of it all and start again, a brand-free life, if that is indeed possible. Perhaps if I consume on the basis of need instead of want, on utility instead of status, I might start to value material things for the right reasons. For the time being, I can only hope.

BBC NEWS REPORT.

CYPRUS SLAMS TURKISH F1 'TRICK'!

Greek Cypriots watched the event live on state TV. Cyprus is making an official complaint to motor sport's world governing body over what it calls a political "trick" at the Turkish Grand Prix. The Turkish Cypriot leader, Mehmet Ali Talat, presented the Formula One trophy at the televised event in Istanbul. However, he was introduced as president of the Turkish Cypriot "state" - which is only recognised by Turkey. Cyprus has been split since 1974, when Turkish troops invaded the north of the island after a Greek-inspired coup. "The Cypriot government will denounce this unacceptable and provocative piece of theatre," Cyprus government spokesman Christodoulos Pashardis told reporters after the Grand Prix award ceremony.

Q&A: Cyprus peace process

He accused Turkish officials of exploiting a sporting event and "tricking" the organising body, the International Motoring Federation (FIA). "Mr Talat is neither a citizen nor an official of Turkey, the organising country, to be invited to present the Formula One winner's trophy," he stated. He also said the Cypriot Automobile Association would lodge a follow-up complaint. The event was watched by Greek Cypriots live on state television and by an estimated 2.5 billion people around the world.

BBC NEWS REPORT.

WAR CRIME CHARGE FOR CONGO REBEL!

Thomas Lubanga's UPC has been battling for control of Ituri's gold. The leader of a Democratic Republic of Congo militia has become the first war crimes suspect to be charged at the International Criminal Court. Thomas Lubanga, who led the Union of Congolese Patriots (UPC) militia group based in eastern DR Congo, is accused of recruiting child soldiers. International human rights groups argue that charges of murder, torture and rape should be brought against him. The ICC was set up in 2002 to deal with war crimes and genocide worldwide.

QUICK GUIDE
The war in DR Congo

Human Rights Watch (HRW) and other international watchdog bodies welcomed the charges, but said they did not go far enough. "Enlisting, conscripting and using children as soldiers in armed conflict are serious crimes that should be condemned and appropriately punished. However, much more is needed," HRW said in a statement addressed to the International Criminal Court last month.

CHARGES FACED BY LUBANGA

Enlisting children under the age of 15 into armed groups
Conscripting children under the age of 15 into armed groups
Using children under the age of 15 to participate actively in hostilities

Q&A: ICC

"We believe that you, as the prosecutor, must send a clear signal to the victims in Ituri and the people of the DRC that those who perpetrate crimes such as rape, torture and summary executions will be held to account," the statement said.

ICC deputy prosecutor Fatou Bensouda said the court had begun with the charges related to child soldiers because evidence was available. "This doens't mean the door is shut to other crimes," she told the BBC's Focus on Africa programme. "The office of the prosecutor is in no way saying other offences were not committed. But the quality of the evidence we have is also important." The Ituri region of eastern Congo saw 66,000 deaths in six years of fighting between the UPC, based among the Hema ethnic group, and rivals from the Lendu ethnic group, partly for control of Ituri's large deposits of gold.

Mr Lubanga was arrested in 2005 after nine Bangladeshi UN peacekeepers were killed in the volatile Ituri area. He emerged as one of the most notorious warlords in the civil war of the late 1990s. Soldiers under his command are accused not just of murder, torture and rape, but also of mutilating their victims. In one massacre, human rights groups say, Mr Lubanga's militiamen killed civilians using a sledgehammer. At different times, the UPC was backed by both Uganda and Rwanda - DR Congo's neighbours, which were closely involved in its conflict.

The ICC has also issued its first arrest warrants for the leaders of Uganda's rebel Lord's Resistance Army, who are currently in talks with the Ugandan government, which has offered them amnesty. It is also investigating alleged war crimes in Sudan's Darfur region. The existence of the court is strongly opposed by the United States, which fears its troops could face political prosecutions.

BBC NEWS REPORT.

AFRICANS IN FRENCH HUNGER STRIKE!

Limoges town hall gave the African illegals a place to stay. Over 40 Algerians and Guineans have started a fourth week on hunger strike in central France in an attempt to get temporary residence rights. The group of 44 - three of them women - want 12-month residence permits. They are occupying a former police station in the city of Limoges.

In June the French parliament adopted a new law tightening the entry rules for immigrants' dependents. Some immigrant families with school-age children are to get residence permits. The authorities are examining applications from thousands of illegal immigrants as part of the plan to regularise the status of about 800 sans-papiers (without papers) families. The condition is that the families must have children who were born and brought up in France. But the new immigration law makes it harder for unskilled migrants to settle in France.

A spokesman for the hunger strikers in Limoges, Houssni el-Rherabi, complained of "always having to hide for fear of checks which would lead to detention". "We don't work, we flee the boss, the bailiffs. We go to charities for our food, especially food for our children. It's better to die in dignity, for dignity's sake," he told the French news agency AFP. The French Interior Minister, Nicolas Sarkozy, introduced the new law in a drive to curb illegal immigration and promote selective immigration based on skills - a system similar to the Australian or US models.
The French government believes up to 400,000 people are now living in France illegally.

BBC NEWS REPORT.

NIGERIANS RE-LIVING THE HIGHLIFE!

Nigerians re-living the highlife.
By Alex Last BBC, Lagos.

Fatai Rolling Dollar is 79, but you wouldn't know it. Highlife is winning over a new generation of fans. Small and thin, eyes sparkling beneath his signature cloth cap, cigarette and guitar in hand, he's the oldest of the highlife stars still active on the music scene. From the 1940s to the 1960s, highlife was the sound of West Africa.

It was Africa's first example of musical fusion between African traditional songs and rhythms with western styles such as jazz, Caribbean calypso, Cuban son, rumba and military band music. The new forms spread as sailors brought new influences and instruments back to the West African coast from the 1920s. It got its name because the bands played in clubs frequented by the elite; people who were living the high life. Made famous in Ghana, highlife spread across the region. It was pioneered in Nigeria by the likes of Bobby Benson, Dr Victor Olaiya, and Cardinal Rex Jim Lawson.

Rolling Dollar started playing music in the 1940s, first using a thumb piano, before moving onto the guitar, and joining highlife bands in Lagos in the hey-day of the 1950s and 1960s. But in Nigeria, the music gradually went into decline - sparked by the Biafran civil war from 1967 to 1970 which split up bands, as musicians joined the army, and nightclubs closed. Today we are trying to push highlife back again. And it's coming back. Fatai Rolling Dollar"The whole band's boys went to join the army, the navy and the air force," Rolling Dollar recalls. "One day, we went to play at a club, and an army officer went and smacked one of my boys. "The next day he went and joined the army. And so from that time, highlife went down, because there was no-one to play it."

In the years that followed, new forms of music derived from highlife took over in Nigeria: Juju and Afro-beat in the 1970s and 1980s. These days hip-hop, R&B, and rap dominate the Nigerian music market. But some people are trying to revive highlife. In Ojay's bar in Lagos, the last Sunday of each month is the Great Highlife Party, when old stalwarts like Rolling Dollar come and play with the bands.

The Biafran war put an end to many highlife bands, Rolling Dollar says. It's a chance to hear the classics, but also to bring the music to a new generation. "Highlife declined over the years, but we are trying to revive it, because we feel that this young generation should know where our musical culture is coming from," says Benson Idonije, a music journalist and broadcaster who has been promoting the highlife revival.

Mr Idonije hopes the music will influence Nigeria's current music scene. "Just now hip-hop is the contemporary thing - you find Nigerians imitating the American style," he says. "But if they were inflamed by highlife, which we are trying to bring back, they would be fusing it with highlife. "If you listen to Ghanaian hip-hop, they call it hip-life, you find that in that country, even though it is hip-hop, the underlying beat is highlife. So they have an identity, but we don't have in Nigeria, because young Nigerians are looking up to America for their future."

Inside the club, the place is packed. On stage, the large bands with drums, bongos, guitars, trumpets and saxophones play the tunes, often cover versions of the hits from decades ago.Rolling Dollar has been playing since the 1950sThen Rolling Dollar bounds on stage, singing, playing the guitar, and dancing. Each tune is about 10 minutes long, and the performance defies the years. Nigerians both old and young are up and dancing at the front. Many of those in the queue to get in are younger Nigerians in their 20s and 30s.

"Highlife is the kind of music that when you listen to it, you feel more relaxed, than this modern music," one young woman says. A young man joins in: "When I was growing up, my dad used to listen this kind of music. I'm more interested in finding out what it was about. "Highlife is our heritage, its something that I grew up with, its something I enjoy, listening to and dancing to." Although many of the old highlife greats are no longer alive, the music is still popular, and as many including Rolling Dollar believe, its influence on Nigerian music over the decades means it will never die. "Today we are trying to push highlife back again. And it's coming back. From highlife, people got something - they got hip hop. What they are singing and dancing to now, it's from highlife."

BBC NEWS REPORT.

REBEL KILLING RAISES STAKES IN PAKISTAN!

Rebel killing raises stakes in Pakistan.
By Ahmed Rashid.

Guest journalist Ahmed Rashid assesses what the killing of a rebel tribal leader in Balochistan province means for the Baloch rebel movement and for the Pakistani government.

Nawab Akbar Bugti was a key figure in the Baloch movement.In his death and the manner in which it was carried out, Sardar Akbar Bugti is likely to become a martyred hero for Baloch nationalism and nationalists elsewhere in Pakistan - rather than the anti-government renegade and reactionary tribesman Islamabad would like to portray him as. Bugti, the Sardar or chief of more than 200,000 Bugti tribesmen, was killed along with more than 35 of his followers when the Pakistan Air Force bombed his hideout in the Bambore mountain range in the Marri tribal area.
Pakistani officials say that at least 16 soldiers including four officers were killed after they went in to mop up the remnants of the Baloch guerrilla group. A fierce battle ensued which led to their deaths. Bugti, a 79-year-old invalid who could not walk due to arthritis, is reported to be buried in the rubble of the cave where he was hiding. The tit-for-tat proxy war between Pakistan on one side and India and Afghanistan on the other will now heat up.

Rebel death sparks riot

For months, Pakistani politicians including members of the ruling party had been insisting that the military regime agree to hold talks with the Baloch leaders in order to stop what was becoming an ever-widening civil war in the province. Several security agencies and advisers to President Pervez Musharraf, including the Interservices Intelligence (ISI) and Intelligence Bureau, asked Musharraf to talk to the Baloch leaders.

However, other advisers and the hawkish Military Intelligence advised him to crush the Baloch leaders, which includes three prominent Sardars, Bugti, Khair Bux Marri and Ataullah Mengal.
Senior politicians say that Mr Musharraf's lack of understanding about the Baloch issue, his underestimation of the growing sense of alienation in all the smaller provinces and the attack on his ego when his helicopter was fired upon by Baloch rebels last December, all contributed to his helping him take the decision to kill Bugti.

Bugti was not the leader of the mysterious Balochistan Liberation Army which has been banned by Pakistan and Britain, but he was certainly its most visible spokesman over the past three years, as the Baloch insurgency against Islamabad has grown. The army has attempted to divide the Baloch by promising large aid grants to those tribal leaders who support the government, even as Islamabad claims that it is eliminating the Sardari system. Pervez Musharraf may have underestimated Baloch nationalism.Baloch nationalists have long argued that while Islamabad exploits their massive gas and mineral deposits, they give little in return to the province.

Last year, the ruling Pakistan Muslim League agreed on a package of incentives for the Baloch that included a constitutional amendment giving greater autonomy to the province, but it was overruled by Mr Musharraf and the army who then vowed to militarily crush the rebellion. The army argues that millions have been spent in development, but projects such as the building of the Gawadar port, the building of cantonments and even new roads do not necessarily benefit ordinary Baloch. The projects are defined by the army and its national security needs, rather than through consultations with the Baloch or even the Balochistan provincial assembly. Then the projects are carried out by outside companies who give few jobs to the Baloch.

By killing Bugti, the president has now earned the permanent enmity of not just the Baloch rebels but the wider Baloch population who may not believe in taking up arms, but are still frustrated with Islamabad for its failure to develop the province. He may have seriously underestimated the power of Baloch nationalism which has led to four wars with the Pakistan army in the past. Nationalism within the smaller provinces has always been the biggest threat to military regimes just as it is to mr Musharraf.

The hanging of former Prime Minister Zulfikar Ali Bhutto in 1979, who was a Sindhi, by an earlier military ruler has made Sindhis resentful of the army, while they have, by and large, always voted for the opposition Pakistan People's Party. In the North West Frontier Province where Talebanisation is rampant, Pashtun nationalism is presently taking the form of political Islam.

By killing Bugti, the army is sending a clear message to nationalists in other provinces as to how they will be dealt with if they rear their heads. However, the smaller provinces are seething with resentment against continued military rule. Their sense of frustration and alienation is growing as they see the army representing only its own interests or that of Punjab, the largest province in the country.

Bugti was killed in a battle near his mountain hide-out.The army is also sending a powerful signal to neighbouring India and Afghanistan. The army has accused India of financing and arming the Baloch rebels, while it has accused Afghan President Hamid Karzai of allowing the Baloch to train in Afghanistan. India and Afghanistan have denied these charges at the highest level, but Pakistani officials say there is little doubt that the Indians were involved in funding the Baloch movement because of their long-standing involvement with the Baloch and the evidence that arrested Baloch rebels have provided the Pakistani intelligence services. The tit-for-tat proxy war between Pakistan on one side and India and Afghanistan on the other, will now heat up.

India accuses Pakistan of continuing to arm and finance Islamic extremists in Kashmir and funding anti-government and Maoist movements in other parts of the Indian sub-continent.
Afghanistan accuses Pakistan of arming and giving sanctuary to the Taleban and its leadership.
Pakistan denies both charges. There is an ever-deepening political crisis in Pakistan which the death of Bugti will only exacerbate.

Many people say that the country is rapidly unravelling with Mr Musharraf refusing to give clear-cut guarantees about free and fair elections next year, while he insists on running again for another five-year term as president even as he remains army chief. Bugti's death will only add to the growing fears about the country's future and the danger inherent in a policy of killing political opponents rather than holding a dialogue with them.

BBC NEWS REPORT.

UGANDA AND LRA REBELS SIGN TRUCE!

Ugandan government and the rebel Lord's Resistance Army have signed a truce aimed at ending one of the most bitter wars in Africa.
The agreement, reached during peace talks held in Juba, southern Sudan, is expected to take effect on Tuesday. A final peace deal will then be sought.
Thousands have died during the 20-year conflict in northern Uganda, and more than one million have fled their homes.
Lengthy efforts to end the war have culminated in the peace talks in Juba.
Under the terms of the truce signed by both sides, the rebels will leave Uganda and their bases in Sudan and DR Congo to gather at two assembly points, where they will be protected by the government of southern Sudan.
The Ugandan government has promised that, once the truce is in place, it will not try to attack the rebels.
Talks on a comprehensive peace agreement will then get under way.
Ugandan President Yoweri Museveni has set a 12 September deadline for a final peace deal.

The LRA had already called a ceasefire, but Uganda had insisted that a comprehensive agreement - with the rebels providing details of their forces and deployment - needed to be in place before a ceasefire could be agreed.
The government also wanted a guarantee the LRA would not use the halt in fighting to reinforce its positions.
The International Criminal Court (ICC) wants the LRA's top officials - among them leader Joseph Kony - to face charges including murder, rape and forcibly enlisting children.
Against the wishes of the ICC, Uganda has offered amnesty to LRA leaders in exchange for the peace talks.
The LRA has abducted thousands of children and forced them to fight since the conflict began.

BBC NEWS REPORT

CHAD ORDERS FOREIGN OIL FIRMS OUT!

Chadian President Idriss Deby says the firms must go on Sunday. Chad has ordered two major foreign oil firms to leave the country on Sunday in a row over taxes.
President Idriss Deby gave the order to US firm ChevronTexaco and Malaysia's Petronas after deciding on Saturday.
"Chad has decided that as of tomorrow ChevronTexaco and Petronas must leave Chad because they have refused to pay their taxes," Mr Deby said.
There was no immediate comment from the two firms, which are responsible for handling 60% of Chad's production.
The decision leaves only Exxon Mobil remaining in the consortium which handles the country's oil production.
President Deby said his government would take control of the remaining reserves.
The BBC's Stephanie Hancock in the capital, N'Djamena, says the surprise decision has sent shock waves around the oil industry.
The government has recently been hinting it wants to join the consortium, she says.
Privately, many observers feel the firms may have been kicked out to make room for Chinese oil companies, she adds - just three weeks ago, Chad resumed diplomatic relations with Beijing.
If this proves to be true, it will mark a turning point for geo-political relations in this region, our correspondent says.

Rows surrounding Chad's oil revenues have been simmering for months.
Earlier this year, Chad threatened to stop oil production if it did not immediately receive several months' worth of oil revenues from the US-led consortium.
And last December the government fell out with the World Bank, after it changed a law which controlled how oil revenues were spent.
The 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.
That row was settled with a deal in July, under which Chad agreed to spend 70% of its oil revenues on development schemes, with 30% going into its overall budget.

BBC NEWS REPORT.

BORDER REGION STRUGGLES WITH INFLUX!

Border region struggles with influx.
Peter Biles, BBC News, South Africa.

The deserted road that runs parallel to the Limpopo offers a fine view of the river once described by Rudyard Kipling as "great, grey-green and greasy".

The fortified fence fails to deter those desperate to fleeThe crocodile-infested Limpopo forms a natural barrier between South Africa and Zimbabwe, but the illegal migrants who try to cross the border on a daily basis, also face a man-made barrier. A triple line of fencing and barbed wire is meant to prevent the influx of Zimbabweans into South Africa. Heading eastwards, close to the Beitbridge border post, I see two young men scurrying across the road.

When they hear my car approaching, they disappear into the bush. But a third man, trailing behind his friends, is still trying to find a way through the fortified fence. As I drive past, he quickly turns back down the slope towards the river bank to avoid being seen. Thousands of Zimbabweans, including women and children, are now risking the perilous border crossing in a desperate bid to flee a country that has descended into political and economic chaos over the past six years.
"The border fence is no deterrent", says Annette Kennealy who speaks for the farmers' union in Limpopo Province. "These Zimbabweans are hungry, destitute and driven to crime. We find a lot of them staying on local farms temporarily, but others move southwards, trying to reach the big cities; Johannesburg and Pretoria".

Every Thursday, a train pulls into the station at Musina, South Africa's most northerly town. Several hundred illegal Zimbabwean migrants who have been arrested, and held at a detention centre near Johannesburg, are being deported from South Africa. Under police escort in Musina, they wait in groups on the station platform, before being crammed into police trucks and driven to the border. In Zimbabwe, we're dying of hunger.

A recent report by Human Rights Watch claimed that migrants from Zimbabwe were vulnerable to human rights abuses in South Africa. It further alleged that police and immigration officials had violated the lawful procedures for arrest, detention and deportation. However, Inspector Jacques du Buisson of the South African Police Service (SAPS) denies that police have maltreated Zimbabwean migrants: "If they're arrested around here, they're brought to the police station in Musina, where they receive food and medical treatment if that's required."Then, on the same day, they'll be deported. We've never mishandled any illegal foreigner"

According to new figures released by the International Organization for Migration (IOM), the South African authorities have deported nearly 31,000 Zimbabweans since the beginning of June. This would seem to represent a sharp increase in the number of deportations. Annette Kennealy says the problem is escalating.In response, the IOM, in collaboration with the Zimbabwean government, has opened a reception and support centre at Beitbridge, on the Zimbabwean side of the border. This provides humanitarian assistance for the deportees on their return to Zimbabwe.

"We're counting 100,000 people a year in need of immediate help, on their arrival back in Zimbabwe", says Hans-Petter Boe, the IOM's Regional Representative. The problem is that while some of the illegal migrants may go back to their homes in Zimbabwe, many make repeated efforts to re-enter South Africa in the hope of finding work. Zimbabwe's economic collapse, with inflation in excess of 1,100% per annum, has led to increasing hardship. Musina is a South African frontier town, but Zimbabwean rhythms fill the air at the main taxi rank and traders can be seen carrying bundles of near worthless Zimbabwean bank notes.

Musina's taxi rank is full of Zimbabweans.Enoch Mafuso, 21, who entered South Africa legally last month, describes his predicament: "In Zimbabwe, we're dying of hunger. I used to drive taxis, but now there are no jobs and no money there. I want to stay here in South Africa, but it is very difficult to get a job". No-one is sure how many Zimbabweans are in South Africa, but the estimates range between two and three million. With no end in sight to Zimbabwe's woes, Ms Kennealy of the local farmers' union warns of an impending crisis in South Africa: "We're on the frontline here in Limpopo Province. People living further south don't realise what we're facing.
"If our government had the political will, they would patrol the borders, introduce more regulations and stop these people from coming in.

This problem is escalating and the long term effects for the rest of South Africa are going to be enormous."

BBC NEWS REPORT.

CATHY BUCKLE'S LETTTER FROM ZIMBABWE!

RAINING LEAVES

Dear Family and Friends,

This week I write about peculiar and mixed messages. This is very similar towhat our lives have become here - disjointed, fragmented, confusing and almostalways with nothing guaranteed.

Everyone thought there would be an extension to the 21 days given by theReserve Bank to hand in old currency and convert to the new money - that isn't really money and has been pruned of three digits. It seems we Zimbabweans haven't learnt a thing though, least of all the lesson that what we most expect is that which is least likely to happen. There was no extension to the deadline and in the first week of the new money most people were totally confused. Having just got used to counting zeroes and being able to distinguish between hundreds of thousands, millions and even billions, now suddenly we are back to hundreds and thousands. Our purses, pockets and handbags are frighteningly light in weight and most people are adding on three zeroes in their calculations to try and work out just exactly how much things really cost. The loss of three zeroes really is an illusion and it is just going to take a bit of time to get used toless digits which still don't buy enough and still leave you stone broke.

On the first night after the old notes had gone, the newsreaders on ZBC TV wereon a propaganda high, glowing and grovelling and singing the praises about what they said had been a smooth changeover. This was despite monstrous queues at banks, building societies and cash machines which were painfully slow andclearly visible. By the next day the propaganda had done a complete U turn and ZBC was talking about people swarming banks and police having to control crowds who were stranded with the old money. Then on the third day the spin was back and the reports were about the happiness of the "Transacting Public." You simply had to laugh by then and wonder about which clever cookie had come up with the phrase Transacting Public!Five days after the money changeover deadline had passed came a speech from the Governor of the Reserve Bank. This was serious stuff now and his vote of thanks included everyone who is anyone in Zimbabwe and went on for some considerable time.

Nothing was said about the fact that neither the old money nor the new is backed up by adequate gold reserves. Everything assumed elevated proportions in the Governors speech and ordinary words became proper nouns and were givencapital letters. We were told that a Special Window had been opened for SpecialCases of people in remote areas in a Mop Up Programme to hand in their old money. This was apparently the last attempt to recover 10 trillion dollars ofmoney that had not been accounted for. You have to shake your head in wonder at the utterly absurd thought of desperately poor people living in dusty villages without electricity or running water having 10 trillion dollars buried in theirback gardens!

There are some good things about life in Zimbabwe this week - it's raining leaves and summer is almost upon us. The temperatures are warming up and everything in the garden has started growing again. For this we are thankful.

Until next week, thanks for reading, love cathy.

Copyright cathy buckle 26August 2006. http://africantears.netfirms.comMy books "African Tears" and "Beyond Tears" are available from:orders@africabookcentre.com

WHAT NOW FOR NATASCHA?

What do psychologists make of the extraordinary case of Natascha Kampusch, abducted at 10, deprived of her childhood, and now back in the real world after eight years?
In March 1998, Natascha Kampusch was snatched from a Vienna street as she walked to school.
For eight long years, she was held in a cellar she believed to be rigged with explosives. Her only human contact was with her abductor, Wolfgang Priklopil, who effectively brought her up. He provided her with clothes, food, helped her with her studies. It is not yet clear if he sexually abused her.
But on Wednesday, Natascha escaped. An elderly neighbour of the man she had to call "master" found the 18-year-old, pale and in distress, and called the police. Natascha was soon reunited with her parents.
"Her life has been suspended, and it will take a lot to reconnect," says Dr Anuradha Sayal-Bennett. "She's obviously a very brave young woman, very resourceful, to have managed to escape."

Cellar girl 'our daughter'

That can only stand her in good stead for the long and difficult task of coming to terms with what she's been through. Natascha's is such a rare case that while she has undoubtedly suffered enormous trauma, there is no way of saying in advance what the precise effects will be - or how best to treat her.
Phillip Hodson, a Fellow of the British Association for Counselling and Psychotherapy, says those treating Natascha will be guided by her, asking her if she wants to talk about her experiences, and monitoring her for depression and flashbacks, for which there are a range of therapies.
"Go in with no assumptions, establish a basic rapport. Establish how used she is to conversation. Always put it as questions - 'they think you should talk about it; what do you think?'" he says.
Arrested development
It will be important to re-establish as normal a life with her loved ones as possible. But the life of a 10-year-old, or of an 18-year-old? For her first words to her father - after "I love you" - was "Is my toy car still there?" It had been her favourite plaything.
Dr Jack Boyle, a Glasgow psychologist who specialises in treating abused children, says a bit of both. "She has moved on emotionally from being a 10-year-old, yet that was the life she had that was abruptly cut off."

STOCKHOLM SYNDROME - Psychological response in hostages, in which they come to identify with their captor.

Named after 1973 robbery in Stockholm, where bank employees sympathised with their captors
Famous case is heiress Patty Hearst (above), who helped her captors rob a bankAnother difficulty will be the feeling of abandonment, that no-one came to rescue her. A 10-year-old believes that adults are to be trusted, that her parents will be there for her, and these expectations have been shattered, says Mr Hodson.
"At the time of the kidnap, she will have been saying 'why don't my parents come and get me?' Then she'll have despaired of that happening, and thought 'bugger them'. That will be a considerable barrier to reunited with her family."
Then there's Stockholm syndrome, the coping mechanism whereby abductees exhibit loyalty to their kidnapper. Because Priklopil committed suicide after she escaped, this will further complicate Natascha's reactions.
"She'll have a lot of conflicting reactions - guilt and relief," says Dr Sayal-Bennett.
Phillip Hodson says his death will, in a way, be like losing a family member - even if she's glad he's dead. "If somebody has been there through your transition from childhood to adulthood, it's impossible to not to form some sort of familial feeling. And she set in train the events that led to his death. That's a lot to come to terms with."

BBC NEWS MAGAZINE

NIGERIA TROOPS BURN DELTA SLUMS!

Nigerian soldiers have burnt hundreds of slum houses near where a soldier was killed during the kidnapping of foreign oil workers, residents say.
Residents in the city of Port Harcourt say the troops became angry when they learned one of their colleagues had been killed in a shootout.
Hundreds fled with their belongings as the fire spread through the slum area.
The army, which is pursuing militants in the Niger Delta, blamed the fires on militants disguised as soldiers.
At least three foreigners were abducted by gunmen from a bar close to the offices of a subsidiary of the Italian oil company, Eni, on Thursday night, near where the slums were burnt.
During the kidnapping, a soldier protecting the workers was shot and killed.
Surprised
Residents say the soldiers then poured petrol onto their houses and set them on fire, accusing the community of sheltering militants.
A local pastor denied militants had been hiding in the area.

Oil militants have caused a 25% drop in oil output. "The people who attacked came from the water, they do not stay here," he told the BBC's Focus on Africa programme.
"I have nowhere to stay. My church, my house, most of my documents are burnt," he said.
There are no reports of any deaths but one man had to go to hospital with burns, the pastor said.
Regional army spokesman Maj Sajir Musa denied the army had burnt the houses.
"It was the militants who disguised [themselves] in army uniform and set the places ablaze in an attempt to tarnish the image of the Nigerian army soldiers," he said.
"They have done that in response to our constructive efforts to get rid of armed robbers and hostage-takers."
A few residents have now returned to pick through the charred remains, hoping to recover some of their belongings.
The incident comes just a week after Nigerian President Olusegun Obasanjo ordered the police and army to take a new tough line with armed men, who have been responsible for at least seven separate kidnappings in the space of a few weeks.
As part of the new policy, security forces last week raided another slum inside the city and arrested more than 100 people, though most were later released.
The BBC's Alex Last in Nigeria says what concerns local leaders, and the oil companies, is that this new tough policy will only increase tensions in an already volatile region.
The abductions and attacks on oil facilities have led to oil companies withdrawing staff, cutting Nigeria's oil production by a quarter.
Foreigners in Nigeria's oil capital, Port Harcourt, now move around with several armed guards.
Oil industry sources say hostage-taking has become an attractive business, as oil companies strike clandestine ransom deals - frowned upon by the government.

BBC NEWS REPORT.

SOMALI WOMAN IS FLOGGED FOR DRUGS!

The woman protested her innocence as she was flogged. A Somali woman has been flogged in public for selling cannabis by Islamist militias who now control the capital. This is the first time a woman has received this kind of punishment since the Union of Islamic Courts seized Mogadishu in June. She got 11 lashes.

Arrested for a small bundle of the drug worth $1, she pleaded innocence while being beaten, AP news agency reports. Most sellers of the mild narcotic khat, widely used in Somalia, are women but the UIC has not opposed this trade.

The BBC's Hassan Barise in Mogadishu says women often sell khat because during the long civil war, they aroused less suspicion than men when crossing between areas controlled by rival factions. The UIC was set up two years ago by businessmen who wanted some law and order. Somalia has not had a functioning government since 1991.

Q&A: Islamist advance

Five men were also whipped in Thursday's ceremony, in which the seized drugs were burnt. This is only the second time that the UIC has carried out a public flogging in Mogadishu. The UIC is divided between radicals, who want to impose a Taleban-style state in Somalia, and moderates, who say they have no such plans.

It controls much of southern Somalia, while the internationally recognised government remains confined to Baidoa, some 200km to the north of Mogadishu. East African diplomats have been trying to bring the Islamists and the government together for talks.

BBC NEWS REPORT.

ANC STANDS BY JAILED FORMER M.P.

ANC leaders accompanied Yengeni to the gates of the jail. South African government and ruling ANC party officials accompanied former MP Tony Yengeni as he arrived to start a prison sentence for fraud. Mr Yengeni, once head of parliament's defence committee and ANC chief whip, lost an appeal this week.
He was convicted in 2003 after it was found he had received a large discount on the purchase of a luxury car, from a firm bidding for an arms contract.
He then initially lied to parliament about receiving this benefit.
Known as a flamboyant dresser, Mr Yengeni arrived at Pollsmoor Prison in Cape Town immaculately dressed in a striped pink shirt and a blue tail coat, the BBC's Mohammed Allie reports.
Housing Minister Lindiwe Sisulu, parliamentary speaker Baleka Kgotsile, and the premier of Western Cape province, Ebrahim Rasool, were among the crowd of about 300 people who supported the former MP as he arrived at the prison.
'Travesty'
Mr Yengeni appeared composed as he addressed his supporters at the prison gates.
"Suffice to say, what has happened is a great injustice - an unfortunate travesty of justice," he said.
"This is not going to break me. It will be difficult but I will emerge stronger and continue to work with the ANC," he said, to cheers from the crowd.
Mr Yengeni was sentenced to four years' jail, but could be released on parole after only eight months.
He is likely to be moved from the notoriously violent Pollsmoor to a newer prison at Malmesbury, 50km (30 miles) north of Cape Town.
The case has been seen as an important test of the South African government's willingness to fight corruption.
Corruption charges currently being investigated against former Deputy President Jacob Zuma arise from the same arms deal for which Mr Yengeni was convicted.
Mr Zuma denies the charges, and his case is due back in court next month.

BBC NEWS REPORT.

SYRIA WARNS OVER U.N. PEACEKEEPERS!

Syria is at odds with Israel over the deployment of peacekeepers. Syria has reportedly threatened to close its border with Lebanon if UN peacekeepers are deployed there. Finland's foreign minister made the claim after meeting his Syrian counterpart in Helsinki. "They will close their borders for all traffic in the event that UN troops are deployed..." Erkki Tuomioja said.

Earlier, the Syrian president, Bashar Assad, said the stationing of UN troops in the border area of Lebanon would be a hostile move against Syria. "This is an infringement on Lebanese sovereignty and a hostile position," President Bashar Assad told Arab TV. The comments came as Israel urged rapid action over an expanded peace force, warning of an "explosive" situation on the ground amid the diplomacy.

Israel accuses Syria of supplying arms to Hezbollah across the border with Lebanon, including the rockets which were used to attack Israel throughout the month-long conflict.
Efforts to build the expanded 15,000-strong UN force for Lebanon have been dogged by delay and difficulty.
The UN has been disappointed by the response so far from European nations, and says a bolstered force is urgently needed to enforce the fragile truce. Time was running out for the UN ceasefire resolution to be applied, Israeli Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni said after talks in Paris on Wednesday. The BBC's Michael Voss, in Damascus, says Lebanon once again finds itself caught between the Israelis and the Syrians.

Mid-East crisis: Key maps
Quick guide: Hezbollah
Send us your views

Israel has indicated it will not lift the air and sea blockade on Lebanon until international peacekeepers take up positions along the border. But, in an interview with Dubai Television, Mr Assad said: "This means creating a state of enmity between Syria and Lebanon. "First, it robs Lebanon of its sovereignty. No single state in the entire world would tolerate deploying foreign troops on its border posts unless there is a state of war with the other state... "The second point is that it signals a hostile stance towards Syria. Naturally, it will create problems between Syria and Lebanon."

Mr Tuomioja, whose country holds the EU presidency, will visit counterparts in Berlin and Paris on Thursday to discuss the bloc's contribution to the UN peacekeeping force. And UN secretary-general Kofi Annan will have talks in Europe on Friday before heading for the Middle East, officials said on Wednesday.

Laptop link-up: Lebanese residents took your questions

The UN has been disappointed by the response so far from European nations over the creation of the bolstered peace force urgently needed to enforce the fragile truce. Many nations have been hesitant to commit troops until there is greater clarity about the force's mandate, particularly on the issue of disarming Hezbollah. Ms Livni echoed the sense of urgency after her talks in France, which has offered only 200 extra personnel for the peace force. "Time is working against those who would like to see this resolution applied," Ms Livni said. "We are now in the most sensitive and explosive position."

The 10-day-old truce has already been tested by a number of skirmishes and an Israeli commando raid deep inside Lebanon. Since the truce came into effect, Israel has maintained restrictions on air and sea access to Lebanon, bringing a plea from Lebanese Prime Minister Fouad Siniora for US intervention. "The United States can support us in putting real pressure on Israel to lift the siege," he told reporters on Wednesday.

BBC NEWS REPORT.

UNEASY CALM AFTER KINSHASA TRUCE!

UN peacekeepers and European troops are patrolling the city. Police and peacekeepers are patrolling the streets of the capital of the Democratic Republic of Congo, Kinshasa, after a deal to end factional strife. Eight people died in gun battles that erupted on Sunday, after results from July's first round of voting emerged.

President Joseph Kabila fell short of 50% of the vote, prompting a run-off. His main rival for president, Jean-Pierre Bemba, gained about 20%. The two signed a deal on Tuesday to withdraw forces from the city centre.

Bodies of those killed in the violence remained strewn across the streets of Kinshasa as an uneasy calm returned to the capital on Wednesday morning , the BBC's Said Penda reports from the city. Several lifeless bodies were still visible in certain parts of Gombe, which saw the worst of the fighting earlier in the week.

Until midday, armed men loyal to Mr Bemba were at large in parts of Gombe that were still under their control, while police and soldiers loyal to Mr Kabila controlled other sectors. There were some incidents of looting, and occasional shots were heard in the city. Public transport was running again, but banks remained closed.

Earlier on Tuesday, more than 200 soldiers from several European countries flew into Kinshasa from neighbouring Gabon, to reinforce about 1,000 EU peacekeepers already in Congo.

DR CONGO RESULTS BY PROVINCE

NATIONALLY:
Joseph Kabila: 45%
Jean-Pierre Bemba: 20%
Antoine Gizenga: 13%
Nzanga Mobutu: 5%
Oscar Kashala: 4%
Turnout: 70%
Source: CEI

Fighting mars peaceful poll

The deal to end the violence was reached under pressure from the United Nations following three days of clashes.
Mr Kabila called for the withdrawal of government troops after meeting diplomats of the international committee overseeing the DR Congo's transition to democracy (CIAT).
Mr Bemba, a former rebel leader and a vice-president in the national unity government, also ordered his supporters withdraw to their original positions.
He retains his own personal security force but is now under UN protection.

A joint statement by UN Secretary General Kofi Annan, the UN Mission in the Congo (Monuc) and CIAT said the conflict must resolved through dialogue. "The solution to end the differences opposing President Kabila's militia and that of Vice President Jean-Pierra Bemba is political and not military," the statement said. Neither faction in DR Congo accepted responsibility for starting the recent fighting. "An investigation will be opened to determine what started the exchange of fire," a presidential spokesman told AFP news agency.

The fighting has prompted some residents to flee KinshasaMr Bemba's spokesman Germain Kabinga told the BBC's Focus on Africa programme that the opposition leader was still committed to the run-off but that the UN should create a buffer zone between the two camps.
"We really want to go to the second round. We don't want to restart the war," he said. After the election results were declared, Mr Kabila appeared on state television, saying he had won a "great victory". Some of his rivals, including those from Mr Bemba's party, say there was widespread fraud in the elections.

The 30 July election was intended to be the first fully democratic poll to be held in the country since it gained independence in 1960. It follows the official end of a five-year conflict, which dragged in several other African countries and led to the death of more than 3m people. The results show a regional division in DR Congo, a country two-thirds the size of western Europe.
Mr Bemba won most votes in the west of the country, while Mr Kabila gained most support in the Swahili-speaking east.

BBC NEWS REPORT.

COUPLES WHO WED IN BRITAIN'S MED!

Couples who wed in Britain's Med.
By Simon Atkinson Business reporter, BBC News, Gibraltar.

Rock solid love - but this shot requires a trip into Spain. In Joseph Luis Mascarenhas's photography shop on Gibraltar's Main Street a fiver will buy you a snap of the territory's most famous wedding couple.
The tasteful shot of John Lennon and Yoko Ono posing on the airport runway in front of the rock in March 1969 is not a bad souvenir alongside your duty free Marlboro Lights and stuffed-toy Barbary ape.
For another fiver you can get a copy of their marriage certificate as well.
But each year hundreds of overseas visitors to Gibraltar are going a step further and tying the knot there themselves.

Weddings have become big business in Gibraltar with the tourist board targeting romantics looking to get hitched as a "niche market" in the same way they do birdwatchers and scuba divers. They are an alternative to the day-trippers and cruise ship passengers who are the lifeblood of tourism in Gibraltar. It's appealing because it's on British soil and everything is in English - Peter Canessa Chief executive Gibraltar Tourist Board.
And the rationale is simple: if couples come here to get married they and their guests will spend cash staying in hotels, eating in restaurants, drinking in bars and splashing out in shops.
"There is even an element of future planning," says head of the Gibraltar Tourist Board Peter Canessa.
"If you get married here then at some point in your life - maybe when you have a couple of kids - you will want to come back."
Last year 641 of the 822 weddings in Gibraltar involved two "outsiders" - the majority being Brits coming from the UK or their homes in Spain.
Most ceremonies take place in the registry office or hotels, but if a cable car company gets its way, and its licence, it may soon be possible to get married on the Rock of Gibraltar itself - perhaps the world's most recognisable lump of Jurassic limestone.
Besides the sunshine, the big attraction is the Special Governor's Licence, which means you only have to be in Gibraltar for 24 hours before a marriage can take place.

Finally made the plane into Paris, honeymooning down by the Seine,Peter Brown called to say you can make it okay,You can get married in Gibraltar, near Spain.
'The Ballad of John and Yoko'by John Lennon (1969)

The provision, a hangover from the territory's days as a garrison town when weddings needed to be conducted quickly, gives it the potential for spur-of-the moment nuptials - to become a Gretna Green in the sun.
But while a few elope here, most plan ahead - not least because everything is booked up months in advance. According to staff, though, it is not uncommon for a couple due to wed to simply not turn up, and if there is a last minute availability they will do "everything they can" so you can say "I do".

The demand to marry in Gibraltar is such that the government is now advertising for six "freelance" registrars who can conduct the services.
"For the UK market, it's appealing because it's on British soil and everything is in English," Mr Canessa says.
"People are familiar with the legal terms because the Gibraltarian law is based on UK law.
"And because it's two and a half hours from England, it does not cost the earth. It has really taken off, and that's why we are specifically advertising it."
We need to strike a balance between marriages being conducted freely but without it becoming a Las Vegas style scenario
George FlowerGibraltar's registrar
Inside the tiny office of Gibraltar's civil registry - responsible for passports and identity cards as well as births, deaths and marriages, registrar George Flower sounds like a man trying to keep everyone happy. While understanding the argument for tourism, he is adamant weddings will "not" become an industry. "It's not a case of come and marry in Gibraltar - the more the merrier because the reality is we are a small operation," he says.
"There's room for improvement and expansion but there are realistic constraints. "We need to strike a balance between marriages being conducted freely but without it becoming a Las Vegas style scenario." He adds: "The tourist board and local hotels have advertised the product (of marriage) if you want to call it that but we must keep the seriousness of it. "We can't possibly, just simply for the benefit of the tourist industry and to make money, put in jeopardy the credibility and validity of Gibraltar marriages. "After all we are first and foremost here for Gibraltar residents."

And there is some anecdotal evidence that not all weddings are big money-spinners for the local economy. "We marry people from all over the world here, but the majority are Brits who spend a couple of weeks on the Costa Del Sol and who, during that period come here and get married, combining the marriage and honeymoon," Mr Flower says.
"In those cases they don't actually bring much benefit to Gibraltar. They might stop for a drink in the pub but then they will go back to Spain to celebrate." Another ongoing concern is ensuring that those marrying are able to do so legally and that these marriages are genuine, rather than fraudulent shams designed simply to help someone get EU residency.
Because most couples only arrive in Gibraltar a couple of days before the ceremony, they are urged to send documents in advance.
"There's an element of duty towards the UK and other European countries. We can't have a situation where Gibraltar is being used to circumvent immigration rules," Mr Flower says.

An estimated 60% of those marrying here are older couples who are each onto their second or third wedding and want limited fuss away from all but closest family and friends.
"It has become very popular and you do get all sorts of people," says Marilyn Richardson of the Caleta Hotel, one of those licensed to host weddings.
It tempts guests with promises of Mediterranean views, sumptuous menus and a spurious tale on its website that Eastenders' Grant and Tiffany eloped here (we are informed it was, in fact, Paris).
"One girl who married recently was dressed in pink, like a Cinderella. It wasn't everyone's cup of tea, mind you, but I thought she looked absolutely beautiful."
Back in his shop, Mr Mascarenhas prepares another album from a recent ceremony - but questions whether Gibraltar is truly able to host many more weddings. "I went to take photos in the garden of the registry office a little while ago and do you know what they had left in the middle of the grass?" he says, disbelievingly.
"A toilet! Incredible! You don't believe me? I took a picture of it."

BBC NEWS REPORT.

CAMEL DAIRY CREAMS THE PROFIT!

Camel dairy creams the profits.
By Sylvia Smith BBC, Mauritania

Camels are more like cats than cows, or so Nancy Abeiderrahmane believes.

Camels only release their milk when their young are present"They tolerate humans in exchange for food, but they can control whether they let down their milk or not."
But these temperamental animals are becoming a cornerstone of the local economy in Mauritania, thanks to a project that English-born Mrs Abeiderrahmane has set up to pasteurise and market their milk.
Camels used to be milked next to the road "on demand", with the risk of spreading disease in a desert country where temperatures soar as high as 50 C.
Although this is a long-established tradition, in the sweltering heat the milk quickly went off and was wasted.
Unlike cows, female camels need their young around them if they are to give a steady supply of milk.
So every mother camel wears a sort of bra to prevent the baby feeding whenever it wants.
Herds usually consist of about 100 female camels and each produces about 10 litres a day.
Quality
The semi-nomadic herdsmen bring the camel milk to one of the collection points that have been set up close to where they graze their camels.

Demand has grown over the years because we deliver it to thousands of corner shops and it has caught on as a refreshing and convenient drink with the public - Nancy Abeiderrahmane. The milk is measured and tested for cleanliness and quality, and the herdsmen receive an agreed amount per litre.
"Our scheme has helped slow down urban drift," says Mrs Abeiderrahmane.
"Herdsmen now have a steady source of income throughout the year. They don't feel the financial necessity to move into town."
But it is in the capital, Nouakchott, that the milk is pasteurised and packaged.
It is brought to a state-of-the art aluminium factory by tankers, and in the course of a few hours is turned into a tetra-packed modern product. "We customised standard dairy equipment to suit the special properties of camel milk," says Mrs Abeiderrahmane.
"Camel's milk is nutritious and low in fatAlthough the packs of milk are popular, in the early days there were hurdles to overcome.
Even the idea of selling milk to someone you didn't know seemed strange to the very traditional tribesmen.
But Mrs Abeiderrahmane persisted. "It's partly due to the fact that I think camel's milk is exquisite," she confesses.
"It is absolutely delicious and healthy."
Camel's milk has less fat and more vitamins than cow's milk. What's more, it makes very good long-life milk.
For Mrs Abeiderrahmane this super-healthy low fat camel milk has also proved that the country doesn't have to be dependent on imported milk.
It can hold its own against European imports and save Mauritania much needed foreign currency
"Given the right conditions pasteurised milk could be sold to Europe in the form of cheese," Mrs Abeiderrahmane claims.
"It's only European Union red tape and regulations that are holding us back. We need to meet certain standards because it is an animal product.
"Buyers from some of Europe's most prestigious food shops think the cheese is great. I'm sure it will appeal to the European taste for new and exotic delicacies."
Mrs Abeiderrahmane is hopeful of exporting the milk as cheese - to be known as camelbert.

BBC NEWS REPORT.

THE MYSTERIES OF THE EQUATOR!

The mysteries of the equator.
A new three-part series for BBC Two, Equator, charts a 25,000 mile-journey around the world. This dividing line between the northern and southern hemispheres has fascinated people for centuries, resulting in an abundance of myth, legend and heresay. BBC weather presenter and meteorologist, Phil Avery, separates some of the fact from the fiction.

Does water really flow down a plug-hole clockwise in the southern hemisphere and anti-clockwise in the northern hemisphere?
Is the moon "upside down" in the southern hemisphere?
And in equatorial regions is the climate always the same?
If you start drawing imaginary lines on a planet, I suppose there is bound to be endless scope for myths to develop.
But perhaps the greater degree of surprise comes from the knowledge that not all the myths date from ancient history.
Dare to express an opinion about water disappearing down a plug-hole anywhere near the equator, and you enter a world of entrenched opinion and scathing ridicule of your grasp of science.
'Line-crossing ceremony'
Portugese adventurers and explorers of the early 15th century would never have passed the headlands of Northwest Africa had they believed the myths of monsters and boiling seas which were so widespread in western Europe at the time.

EQUATORIAL COUNTRIES

Brazil
Colombia
Rep of Congo
Dem Rep of Congo
Ecuador
Gabon
Indonesia
Kenya
Kiribati
Maldives
Sao Tome/Principe
Somalia
Uganda

The "line-crossing ceremony" - a seafaring tradition dating back to the Middle Ages - commemorates a sailor's first crossing of the equator and is still practiced - to an extent - aboard some naval ships today.
It was originally created as a test for seasoned sailors to ensure their new shipmates were capable of handling long, rough times at sea.
Traditionally presided over by "King Neptune and his Royal court", the ceremony was part of an initiation into "The Solemn Mysteries of the Ancient Order of the Deep".
In the 19th century and earlier, it was quite a brutal event and would sometimes involve sailors being beaten with wet boards and ropes, and then occasionally throwing these men overboard.
Night and day
There are some indisputable facts about the equator:
The region around the equator is the area with the world's greatest concentration of human poverty and natural biodiversity. Almost half the world's rainforests are concentrated on the equator in just three countries: Brazil, Congo and Indonesia.
The Sun - in its seasonal movement - traverses directly over the equator twice each year, on the spring and vernal equinoxes.
Locations along the equator experience the fastest rates of sunrise and sunset on the planet. The transition from day to night takes only minutes.
The lengths of day/night time vary very little, while more northerly and southerly locations can vary enormously. Season-long days and nights are a feature of life at the poles.
Common myths
While on the astronomical aspects of equatorial misconceptions, discussions have ranged over the moon's ability to turn upside down once across the equator.
Not a question that crossed this inquiring mind but, once again, choose your website with care and you too can become immersed in the subject.
To save you the bother though, the consensus seems to be that the Moon does appear to have such an ability, but this is the exception to a much more prevalent rule.

The direction in which water drains is the most debated equator myth.
But this debate is nothing compared to the old chestnut of the water disappearing down the plug-hole in different directions depending on your hemisphere of choice.
I offer one line of argument only (although I am not sufficiently arrogant to believe that anything I write will settle this once and for all).
Water flows down the plug-hole in the direction it is introduced into a sink or drain.
The effects of Coriolis - when the rotating earth causes the winds to deflect to the right in the northern hemisphere and the left south of the equator - on baths of water, at whatever distance from the equator, is minimal.
Very large vortices are affected by Coriolis. The Coriolis force is too weak to affect a system as short-lived as a basin full of water.
Hurricanes and our more familiar areas of low pressure all spin in opposite directions in the two hemispheres. From a meteorological perspective, the myth of the equatorial climate always being the same certainly needs to be dispelled.

Regular downpours feed the lush landscape in western Sumatra.
Tropical areas along the equator can experience wet and dry seasons while other spots may well be wet for much of the year.
Given that the length of the equator is just short of 25,000 miles (40,000kms), there is obvious scope for variety.
Seasonal variation is supplemented by the influences of elevation and the proximity of an ocean.
Life at 5,790m on the slopes of Volcan Cayambe in Ecuador is very different to that on the Aranuka and Nonouti Atolls in the Gilbert Islands; both areas through which the equator passes.
Snow lies on the ground in Ecuador, but is in very short supply in the Gilbert Islands.
Precautionary measures
The extent of web debate over equator-related myths is astounding.
And whatever wonders scientific discoveries may hold, I am sure seafarers will continue to pay their dues to King Neptune as they cross the equator for the first time.
The elaborate and often amusingly degrading initiation rituals are a safer bet than falling foul of the King of the Deep.
Well, would you take the chance?

Equator will be broadcast on Sunday, 27 August, 2006 at 2100 BST on BBC Two.

BBC NEWS REPORT.

TALKS URGED ON IRAN NUCLEAR ISSUE!

Western powers suspect Iran is trying to produce a nuclear bomb. China and Russia have said negotiations are the only way of easing tension over Iran's nuclear programme, following Tehran's offer of talks on the issue.
Beijing said it hoped all parties would show calm, patience and flexibility so that negotiations may be resumed.
Iran has offered "serious talks" with six world powers in response to a UN demand that it stop enriching uranium.
It has until September to suspend enrichment or risk sanctions amid fears that it is building a nuclear bomb.
Tehran denies it is building a bomb and maintains it has a right to civilian nuclear technology.
The US, UK, Russia, China, France and Germany have offered Iran a package of incentives - including help with civilian nuclear technology - in exchange for suspending enrichment.
Iran's chief nuclear negotiator, Ali Larijani, said on Tuesday that his country was ready for "serious talks" on the issue - but did not give any more details of its response to the offer.
A Chinese foreign ministry statement said Beijing was "carefully studying" Iran's reply.

Iran's leaders insist the nuclear programme has a civilian purpose.
"China has always believed that seeking a peaceful resolution of the Iranian nuclear issue through diplomatic talks is the best choice and in the interests of all parties concerned," the ministry said.
Russia echoed the Chinese stance, stressing its commitment to a negotiated solution to the crisis over Iran's nuclear programme.
Russia will continue "seeking a political, negotiated settlement concerning Iran's nuclear programme," Interfax news agency quotes a Russian foreign ministry spokesman as saying.
Sanctions threat
Although Mr Larijani has spoken of "serious talks", what the Security Council needs to know is whether Iran is willing to suspend uranium enrichment by 31 August or not, says the BBC News website's world affairs correspondent, Paul Reynolds.
While the U.S. has been playing poker in the region, Iran has been playing chess -Nadim ShehadiChatham House expert.

Iran 'boosted' by US-led wars

If it is not, or gives no clear response on this, the US and its allies will take it as a "no" and will press for sanctions, though these would need a separate council decision, our correspondent adds.
Iranian officials had previously said the response would address ambiguities over its right to nuclear technology.
Enriched uranium is used as fuel for nuclear reactors, but highly enriched uranium can also be used to make nuclear bombs.
Iran points out that as a signatory to the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT) it is entitled to a nuclear power programme and says it has broken no rule.
But the Western powers accuse Iran of concealing an enrichment programme, and Washington has refused to rule out military action.

Meanwhile, a report by UK-based think tank Chatham House says Iran can afford to continue equivocating in the dispute over its nuclear programme because of its regional supremacy.
"The US-driven agenda for confronting Iran is severely compromised by the confident ease with which Iran sits in the region," the report says.
The report argues that Iran has emerged as the biggest beneficiary of the US-led "war on terror" in the Middle East.
Recent US-led wars have "eliminated two of Iran's regional rival governments - the Taleban in Afghanistan and the Saddam's Hussein regime in Iraq in April 2003".
The report says the US "has failed to replace either with coherent and stable political structures".
Iran wields more influence than the US in Iraq, the report said, and is also "a prominent presence" in Afghanistan.

BBC NEWS REPORT.

REWARD TO CATCH EAGLE POISONERS!

RSPB Scotland said it was determined to catch the culprits. The poisoning of two golden eagles has seen RSPB Scotland offer a reward for the first time in its history to help catch the culprits.
The deaths in the Glenfeshie Estate in the Cairngorms and Dinnet and Kinnord Estate near Ballater, in Aberdeenshire, are being investigated.
RSPB Scotland is now offering £1,000 for information on each death which leads to arrest and conviction.
It said the deaths, which took place in May and June, were "dreadful crimes".
The Ballater death being probed by Grampian Police happened on 13 May, and Northern Constabulary is investigating a similar incident in the Cairngorms from 10 June.
It is the first time RSPB Scotland has offered a financial reward for information in relation to the death of a bird.
Hopefully the reward will stimulate the public to come forward with information and we can trace those responsible - Grampian Police.
It hopes the move will highlight the serious nature of this type of crime, as well as underlining the RSPB Scotland and police determination to detect those responsible and bring them to justice.
It is understood that both birds were poisoned using illegal carbofuran poison. Possession of this substance is in itself a crime.
'Awe inspiring'
Stuart Housden, director of RSPB Scotland, said: "Golden eagles are magnificent icons of the Scottish uplands.
"We should be proud that Scotland supports some 442 pairs of these awe inspiring birds that attract tourists from all over the world.
"Yet some in our country selfishly persecute these birds, through the use of poisoned baits or other means. In space of just three months, two dead eagles have been found - killed illegally."

Police hope the RSPB Scotland reward will help the appeal
Grampian Police wildlife officer Dave MacKinnon: "We look forward to developing our partnership with the RSPB Scotland in relation to what is a very serious offence.
"Hopefully the reward will stimulate the public to come forward with information and we can trace those responsible."
And Northern Constabulary wildlife crime co-ordinator John Bryden said: "The force takes any type of crime against wildlife very seriously and we are continuing our inquiries into this incident.
"Obviously we are delighted that the RSPB Scotland has opted to put up a reward in relation to this crime and we hope that someone with information will come forward."
Anyone with information can contact either Northern or Grampian, or Crimestoppers, or the Campaign Against Illegal Poisoning of Wildlife on 0800 321 600.

BBC NEWS REPORT.

EU BOOSTS CONGO FORCE AMID BATTLE!

Presidential guard troops have been trying to disarm Mr Bemba's forces. Some 400 extra European Union troops are being flown into the Democratic Republic of Congo capital, Kinshasa, in an attempt to quell gun battles.
The Dutch and German peacekeepers were on standby in nearby Gabon in case of violence during last month's elections.
Forces loyal to the two candidates in October's presidential run-off have now engaged in three days of clashes.
Both the UN and Roman Catholic Church have called for an immediate end to the fighting, and urged both sides to talk.
The archbishop of Kinshasa urged "political parties to stop sending out messages of hate that are poisoning the situation".
Kabila and Bemba should both understand that its time for the people to speak -Dan, Kinshasa.
Supporters of Jean-Pierre Bemba say President Joseph Kabila's guards are attacking Mr Bemba's house.
The streets of the city centre are virtually empty and shops are closed, as people are too afraid to venture outside, but the BBC's Said Penda says the city is now calm.
Spanish EU troops and members of the UN peacekeeping force - the world's largest - are already on the streets of Kinshasa trying to maintain order.
The BBC's Karen Allen says the EU troops' first task will be to secure the international airport, which has closed.

DR CONGO RESULTS BY PROVINCE

NATIONALLY:
Joseph Kabila: 45%
Jean-Pierre Bemba: 20%
Antoine Gizenga: 13%
Nzanga Mobutu: 5%
Oscar Kashala: 4%
Turnout: 70%
Source: CEI

Violence in pictures
Fighting mars peaceful poll

UN spokesman in DR Congo Kemal Saiki told BBC News it was too early to say whether the fighting called into question the second round of the elections.
"The fighting could be contained, or it could expand," he said.
Mr Bemba's spokesman Germain Kabinga told the BBC's Focus on Africa programme that the opposition leader was still committed to the run-off but that the UN should create a buffer zone between the two camps.
"We really want to go to the second round. We don't want to restart the war," he said.
On Monday, a group of 14 foreign ambassadors had to be rescued by UN and EU peacekeepers from Mr Bemba's residence on the bank of the River Congo, where they had gone to try to ease tensions and organise a meeting between the two election rivals.
UN officials say that on Monday, Mr Kabila's presidential guards tried to disarm Mr Bemba's forces following the clashes which began on Sunday, shortly before the election results were due to be announced.
Mr Bemba is a former rebel leader and retains his own personal security force but is now under UN protection.
Sunday's clashes left at least five people dead but there have been no details of subsequent casualties.
Fraud claims
Mr Kabila took 45% of the vote, just short of the 50% needed for outright victory, while Mr Bemba gained 20%.

Dead bodies still lay on the street on MondayAfter the election results were declared, Mr Kabila appeared on state TV, saying he had won a "great victory".
Some of his rivals, including those from Mr Bemba's party, say there was widespread fraud in the elections.
The 30 July election was the first democratic poll to be held in the country since it gained independence in 1960 and follows the official end of a five-year conflict, which dragged in several other African countries and led to the death of more than 3m people.
The results show a regional division in DR Congo, a country two-thirds the size of western Europe.
Mr Bemba won most votes in the west of the country, while Mr Kabila gained most support in the Swahili-speaking east.

BBC NEWS REPORT.

NIGERIA POLICE 'KILLED SUSPECTS' !

Amnesty is worried about accountability in the security forces. Amnesty International has accused the Nigerian police of summarily killing 12 suspected armed robbers captured in a police raid in Abia state.
The 12 had been paraded before the press the previous day, after the raid in the southern town of Umuahia. Four others were shot dead in the raid. Amnesty has called for a public inquiry into what happened.
In an unrelated incident, Niger Delta militants say 10 of their men were killed in a crackdown on kidnappers.
Police say they are investigating the deaths of the 12 in Umuahia and could not comment.
The men were arrested earlier in August and paraded before journalists.
The police said those who had sustained injuries during the raid would be treated, and others were to be taken for interrogation.
The next day the bodies of all 12 were found dumped outside the government hospital morgue.
Local press said there was little local sympathy for the suspects given the huge number of armed robberies which have plagued the state.

Amnesty International says the accountability of the security services is a key issue, particularly with elections approaching and with the government's recent pledge to meet force with force when dealing with armed groups in the Niger Delta.

Militants have cut Nigeria oil production by 25%On Monday, a militant group, the Movement for the Emancipation of the Niger Delta, said 10 of its fighters were killed in a firefight when their boats were ambushed by government forces on Sunday night.
Military sources confirmed the clash but gave no further details.
The group said it was trying to help hand over a Nigerian Shell oil worker, taken by gunmen almost two weeks ago, when they suddenly came under fire from ten patrol boats.
The clash was the most serious to take place since the president announced his new tough policy to tackle armed groups in the Delta.

The BBC's Alex Last in Lagos says the gun battle will only increase concerns, particularly among the oil companies, that a heavy-handed military approach could endanger the lives of the hostages still being held and escalate tensions in an already volatile region.
On Friday, about 100 people were arrested in a large military raid on a slum district of the city of Port Harcourt.
So far this year, the Movement for the Emancipation of the Niger Delta has carried out a string of attacks on the oil industry, cutting Nigerian oil production by more than a quarter.
Now attention will focus on what kind of response, if any, will come from the militants, our correspondent says.

BBC NEWS REPORT.

SOMALI ISLAMISTS BAN ANIMAL TRADE!

Birds of prey are among the wildlife exported. The Islamic courts that control large parts of Somalia have banned the export of charcoal and wild animals.
The courts warned businessmen involved in the trade that they will be dealt with firmly if arrested.
Charcoal exports have stripped areas of woodland, causing drought and soil erosion, while many wild animal species are becoming rarer.
Somali companies and individuals run the trade, with exports going mostly to the United Arab Emirates.
Birds of prey, trapped and exported live, form a significant part of the trade.

Q&A: Islamist advance

The exports have been going on since the collapse in 1991 of Somalia's last effective national government.
For the past 15 years, the country has been divided between warring militias.
Some of these factions have tried to control the export of wildlife and charcoal, but with little success.
The Islamic courts and their militia who have controlled the capital, Mogadishu, since earlier this year are taking the issue more seriously, the BBC's Hassan Barise reports from the city.
Their decision to halt the trade is more likely to have an impact, particularly in Mogadishu, our correspondent says.

BBC NEWS REPORT

PAKISTAN BACKS CRICKET TEAM IN BALL ROW!

Pakistan backs cricket team in ball row
By Dan Isaacs BBC News, Islamabad

Newspapers in Pakistan berated Australian umpire Darrell Hair.This is not just about a game, this is high politics. None other than President Pervez Musharraf himself has weighed in to the fray surrounding the ball-tampering allegations, according to Pakistani media.
Shortly after the match at The Oval in London was awarded to England, it is reported that he called Inzaman ul-Haq in order to discuss the situation with the Pakistani cricket captain.
And if the president has become sufficiently agitated to get involved, you can be sure he is not alone in this cricket-obsessed nation where everyone from the president to the local taxi driver watches ball-by-ball coverage.
The morning papers here in Pakistan are full of it, with Australian umpire Darrell Hair taking the full force of Pakistani anger. The headlines say it all. It is a "Bad Hair day" with Pakistan caught in the "Cross-Hairs", and "Hair comes trouble".

Press backs walkout
Musharraf's anger

Mr Hair is a highly experienced umpire, but this is not the first time he has made a decision on the playing field that has angered Pakistan and the nation has clearly taken it very personally.
On the streets of the capital, Islamabad, comments were forthright. "I wasn't surprised at all," one man says, "the umpire has a very bad reputation with the team. The protest by the Pakistani players, if anything, was not strong enough."
And there is also an undercurrent of anger at what is perceived to be a personal bias on the part of the match officials involved.
"It's a kind of discrimination against Asian teams", says another. "Whenever we start swinging the ball around, instantly they want to accuse us of tampering with it."
War of words
One former Pakistani player, Ramiz Raja, who was at the match, writes: "The pride of an entire people has been has been tarnished by his (Hair's) ludicrous and highly insensitive decision."
All these comments reflect widespread support for Inzaman and his team for standing up to what are perceived here to be unfair decisions - first, penalising Pakistan for cheating, and then calling off the match, even though Pakistan did finally return to the field of play.
And in his regular cricket column, the former Pakistani captain, Imran Khan, made perhaps the most ferocious comment: "Hair is one of those characters" he writes, "when he wears the white umpire's coat, he metamorphoses into a mini-Hitler."
But the Pakistani team and its captain do not entirely escape from criticism.
Some commentators are suggesting that the Pakistani team, while within their rights to protest, should have handled the situation differently.
"If I were in Inzaman's position," Imran says of the Pakistani captain, "while I would have made a strong protest against Hair's most unfair judgement... my prime objective would have been to squash England and win a handsome victory."
There is clearly more to come in this war of words over this not-so-gentlemanly game of cricket.

BBC NEWS REPORT.

TRAPPED D.R. CONGO ENVOYS RESCUED!

Smoke was seen rising from Mr Bemba's residence. UN peacekeepers in the Democratic Republic of Congo have rescued several foreign ambassadors trapped in a house in Kinshasa by heavy shooting.
The diplomats were meeting opposition leader Jean-Pierre Bemba in his house when a gunfight broke out.
The group included the UK envoy and the head of the UN mission, the UN said.
The incident follows clashes on Sunday between forces loyal to President Joseph Kabila and Jean-Pierre Bemba, who face a run-off election in October.
"They're out and they're coming to UN headquarters. Everyone's safe," a spokesman for the UN force said, after the diplomats were rescued.
In July's first-round of voting for a new president, Mr Kabila took 45% of the vote, just short of the 50% needed for victory, while Mr Bemba gained 20%.

Presidential guard troops have been patrolling Kinshasa's streetsWitnesses told Reuters news agency that in Monday's violence, President Kabila's presidential guards opened fire on the house using tanks and heavy machine guns, Reuters reported.
Mr Bemba's party said the violence was an attack on the presidential challenger's life, but a senior military official said Mr Bemba's guards had provoked the battle, the Associated Press reported.
Mr Bemba is a former rebel leader and retains his own personal security force.
A diplomatic source told AFP the fighting had lasted at least half-an-hour, and had destroyed Mr Bemba's helicopter.
The diplomats were rescued by a convoy of armoured vehicles in a joint operation by at least 250 European and UN peacekeepers.
Poll tensions
The centre of the capital, Kinshasa, was deserted all day following Sunday's clashes in which, according to the UN, five people died.

DR CONGO RESULTS BY REGION

NATIONALLY:
Joseph Kabila: 45%
Jean-Pierre Bemba: 20%
Antoine Gizenga: 13%
Nzanga Mobutu: 5%
Oscar Kashala: 4%
Turnout: 70%
Source: CEI

Run-off may calm tempers
War haunts the east

The BBC's Said Penda in the city says shops and offices were closed and there were few buses or taxis, as people were afraid to go to work.
A senior official from the Independent Electoral Commission told the BBC he had been unable to get to work because of sporadic shooting.
He said the same was true for his colleagues, which is why the CEI website had not been updated to show the nationwide results.
After the election results were declared, Mr Kabila appeared on state TV, saying he had won a "great victory".
On Sunday, UN Secretary General Kofi Annan urged all "candidates to abide by the electoral law in the resolution of any disputes related to the electoral process," and urged them to "accept and respect the final results of the elections, in a spirit of peace and reconciliation."
Transition process
The 30 July election was the first democratic poll to be held in the country since it gained independence in 1960 and follows the official end of a five-year conflict.
Turn-out was about 70% of the 25m registered voters.
The results show a regional division in DR Congo, a country two-thirds the size of western Europe.
Mr Bemba won most votes in the west of the country, while Mr Kabila gained most support in the Swahili-speaking east.
The polls are meant to put an end to a transition process established after five years of war that ended in 2003.

BBC NEWS REPORT.

FORMER TOP S. AFRICAN M.P. FACES JAIL!

Yengeni was sentenced in 2003. Former South African MP Tony Yengeni has lost his final appeal against a four-year jail sentence imposed for defrauding parliament. Mr Yengeni formerly headed parliament's defence committee and was chief whip of the governing ANC party.
He was convicted in 2003 after it was found he had received a large discount on the purchase of a luxury car, from a firm bidding for an arms contract.
He then initially lied to parliament about receiving this benefit.
Mr Yegeni's lawyer, Marius du Toit, said his client would have to present himself to Pollsmoor Prison in Cape Town within 72 hours to begin serving sentence, the South African Press Association reports.
The ANC expressed regret at the decision by the Supreme Court of Appeal, based in the central city of Bloemfontein.
"Given the contribution that Tony Yengeni has made towards the achievement of a united and democratic South Africa, and appreciating the sacrifices he has made over the years of his involvement in the struggle, this outcome is deeply saddening and regrettable," an ANC statement said.
The case has been seen as an important test of the South African government's willingness to fight corruption.
A former freedom fighter, Mr Yengeni was well known as a flamboyant and prominent ANC member and parliamentarian.
Corruption charges currently being investigated against former Deputy President Jacob Zuma arise from the same arms deal for which Mr Yengeni was convicted.
Mr Zuma denies the charges, and his case is due back in court next month.

BBC NEWS REPORT.

COUNTRY PROFILE: ZIMBABWE!

Country profile: Zimbabwe

The fortunes of Zimbabwe have for more than two decades been tied to President Robert Mugabe, who wrested control from a small white community and put the country on a stable course.
Now, he presides over a nation whose economy is in tatters, where poverty and unemployment are endemic and political strife and repression commonplace.

OVERVIEW
FACTS LEADERS MEDIA

Zimbabwe is home to the Victoria Falls, one of the natural wonders of the world, the stone enclosures of Great Zimbabwe - remnants of a past empire - and to herds of elephant and other game roaming vast stretches of wilderness.
AT-A-GLANCE
Politics: President Robert Mugabe, in office since 1980, has been accused of resorting to heavy-handed methods to remain in power.
Economy: Economy in crisis, with rampant inflation, "de-industrialisation" and shortages of food and fuel. Agricultural production is shrinking.
International: Faces increasing international isolation over human rights abuses and restrictions on freedom. For years it was a major tobacco producer and a potential bread basket for surrounding countries.
But the forced seizure of almost all white-owned commercial farms, with the stated aim of benefiting landless black Zimbabweans, led to sharp falls in production and precipitated the collapse of the agriculture-based economy. The country has endured rampant inflation and critical food and fuel shortages.
Many Zimbabweans survive on grain handouts. Others have voted with their feet; hundreds of thousands of Zimbabweans, including much-needed professionals, have emigrated.
Aid agencies and critics partly blame food shortages on the land reform programme. The government blames a long-running drought, and Mr Mugabe has accused Britain and its allies of sabotaging the economy in revenge for the redistribution programme.
The government's urban slum demolition drive in 2005 drew more international condemnation. The president said it was an effort to boost law and order and development; critics accused him of destroying slums housing opposition supporters.
Either way, the razing of "illegal structures" left some 700,000 people without jobs or homes, according to UN estimates.
The former Rhodesia has a history of conflict, with white settlers dispossessing the resident population, guerrilla armies forcing the white government to submit to elections, and the post-independence leadership committing atrocities in southern areas where it lacked the support of the Matabele people.
Zimbabwe has had a rocky relationship with the Commonwealth - it was suspended after President Mugabe's controversial re-election in 2002 and later announced that it was pulling out for good.

FACTS
OVERVIEW FACTS LEADERS MEDIA
Population: 12.9 million (UN, 2005)
Capital: Harare
Area: 390,759 sq km (150,873 sq miles)
Major language: English (official), Shona, Sindebele
Major religions: Christianity, indigenous beliefs
Life expectancy: 37 years (men), 37 years (women) (UN)
Monetary unit: 1 Zimbabwe dollar = 100 cents
Main exports: Tobacco, cotton, agricultural products, gold, minerals
GNI per capita: US $340 (World Bank, 2006)
Internet domain: .zw
International dialling code: +263

LEADERS
OVERVIEW FACTS LEADERS MEDIA
President: Robert Mugabe
Robert Mugabe played a key role in ending white rule in Rhodesia and he and his Zanu-PF party have dominated Zimbabwe's politics since independence in 1980.

President Mugabe has defended the seizures of white-owned farmsThe main challenge to the octogenarian leader's authority has come from the opposition Movement for Democratic Change (MDC). The MDC says its members have been killed, tortured and harassed by Zanu-PF supporters. The president has accused the party of being a tool of Western powers.
Mr Mugabe was declared the winner of the 2002 presidential elections, considered seriously flawed by the opposition and foreign observers. He received a boost in 2005 when Zanu-PF won more than two-thirds of the votes in parliamentary elections, said by the MDC to be fraudulent.
The size of the win enabled the president to change the constitution, paving the way for the creation of an upper house of parliament, the Senate.
Ideologically, Mr Mugabe belongs to the African liberationist tradition of the 1960s - strong and ruthless leadership, anti-Western, suspicious of capitalism and deeply intolerant of dissent and opposition.
His economic policies are widely seen as being geared to short-term political expediency and the maintenance of power for himself. Mr Mugabe has defended his land reform programme, saying the issue is the "core social question of our time".
Foreign minister: Simbarashe Mumbengegwi
Finance minister: Herbert Murerwa

MEDIA
OVERVIEW FACTS LEADERS MEDIA
All broadcasters transmitting from Zimbabwean soil and the main newspapers are state-controlled and toe the government line.
The private press, relatively vigorous in its criticism of the government, has come under severe pressure. A leading privately-owned daily, the Daily News, is subject to a publication ban. The paper and the government had waged war in the courts.
A weekly newspaper, The Zimbabwean, is produced in London and is distributed in Zimbabwe as an international publication, and among Zimbabweans living abroad.
Restrictive media laws, condemned by the EU, the US and media rights organisations, criminalise the publication of inaccurate information. Journalists who fail to register with a government body risk imprisonment.
State-run Zimbabwe Broadcasting Corporation (ZBC) operates the country's only TV and radio stations. ZBC formerly had two TV channels; its second network was leased to private station Joy TV which closed in 2002. Some of its programmes were said to have ruffled government feathers.
Radio is the main source of information for many Zimbabweans. Although there are no private stations, the country is targeted by overseas-based operations. The Voice of the People, set up by former ZBC staff with funding from the Soros Foundation and a Dutch NGO, operates using a leased shortwave transmitter in Madagascar.
Another station, the UK-based SW Radio Africa, aims to give listeners in Zimbabwe "unbiased information". The station's signal was jammed in March 2005, a period coinciding with the run-up to parliamentary elections.
From the US, the government-funded Voice of America (VOA) operates Studio 7, a twice-daily service for listeners in Zimbabwe which aims to be a source of "objective and balanced news".
The press
The Herald - government-owned daily
The Chronicle - Bulawayo-based, government-owned daily
The Financial Gazette - private, business weekly
The Standard - private, weekly
Zimbabwe Independent - private weekly
The Daily Mirror - private
Television
Zimbabwe Broadcasting Corporation (ZBC) - state-run
Radio
Zimbabwe Broadcasting Corporation (ZBC) - state-run, operates four networks
SW Radio Africa - studio in London, broadcasts via mediumwave (AM) transmitter based outside Zimbabwe
Voice of the People - studio in Harare, broadcasts to Zimbabwe from hired shortwave transmitter on Madagascar
Studio 7 - based in Washington DC, operated by VOA
News agency/internet
Zimbabwe Inter-Africa News Agency - state-owned
ZimOnline - private, online news

BBC NEWS REPORT.

TYCOON BACKS MULTI-FAITH CENTRE!

Buddhist monks are among those who will use the centre. Businessman Sir Tom Farmer is providing funds to help create a multi-faith centre in Edinburgh.
The millionaire Kwik-Fit owner is planning to contribute hundreds of thousands of pounds for the venture.
It will see Buddhist Monks and Mother Teresa nuns move into a disused church in Blackfriars Street, which is owned by the Italian government.
Sir Tom said that if the centre got the go-ahead it would be a "tremendous asset" to the city.
He told BBC Scotland's news website he had been approached by Edinburgh's Interfaith Association, adding that the United Presbyterian Church has been empty for some time.
We should do anything we can to help develop better relationships between people - Sir Tom Farmer"It is basically about trying to work together to bring together various faiths," he said.
"We know that the Buddhist monks and Mother Teresa nuns had been looking for a centre and thought this could be used by a number of different faiths. "So we have made an offer to buy it."
He added: "The whole of the country is living in a multi-cultural environment now. We should do anything we can to help develop better relationships between people."
Victor Spence, general secretary of the Edinburgh Interfaith Association, praised Sir Tom's involvement in the scheme.

Sir Tom said the centre would be a "tremendous asset"
"It's a phenomenal commitment to the inter-faith movement," he said.
"Of course, he's not just someone who has been talked into doing this, because he has been committed to inter-faith relations and co-operation for a number of years."
The building was bought in 1992 by the Italian Consulate, but has remained empty and fallen into disrepair. It went on the market last year.
It is hoped it will include a Tibetan Buddhist temple on the ground floor, with other areas run by the nuns to serve the poor and homeless.
Mr Spence co-ordinated the Dalai Lama's visit to the capital last year.
He also accompanied Sir Tom on a visit to Asia in 2004 where they met the Dalai Lama and Mother Teresa's successor Sister Nirmala.

BBC NEWS REPORT.

LOOTED PERU TREASURE FOUND IN U.K.

An ancient Peruvian headdress which was looted from an archaeological site almost 20 years ago has been found by police in London.
It is considered a national treasure and disappeared in 1988 after a tomb in northern Peru was raided and its contents sold on the black market.
It was handed to a firm of solicitors in central London by one of its clients who did not know it was stolen.
The headdress, depicting a sea god, dates back to 700AD.
It is an example of ancient Peruvian Mochica civilisation art and is regarded by experts as one of the most important artefacts in Peruvian cultural heritage.
an archaeological object [of] the utmost historical and aesthetic importance - Dr Walter Alva.
Dr Walter Alva, director of the Royal Tombs of Sipan Museum in Peru, described the seizure as "a very important moment in the worldwide war against illicit art and the looting of my country".
"We are speaking about an archaeological object [of] the utmost historical and aesthetic importance, which is one of the most important ornaments of the ancient Peruvian cultures," he added.
It was recovered by officers from Scotland Yard's Art and Antiquities Squad, who will now send it back to Peru.
No-one has been arrested and the investigation is now in the hands of the Peruvian authorities.
The investigation also drew on the expertise of Michel Van Rijn, an art dealer with extensive experience of hunting for illicit and stolen works of art.
He said: "It is impossible to put a price on a piece of history and world heritage such as this because they never come on the market, but should it do so, it could potentially reach in excess of £1m."

BBC NEWS REPORT.

DR CONGO TO REVEAL POLL RESULTS

Joseph Kabila has a clear lead over rival Jean-Pierre Bemba. The people of the Democratic Republic of Congo are awaiting the results of landmark presidential and parliamentary polls which were held on 30 July.
Partial results show President Joseph Kabila as having a clear lead over nearest rival Jean-Pierre Bemba.
But he seems to have failed to win the 50% majority needed to avoid a run-off.
One person died in Kinshasa in a gun battle reported to be between Mr Bemba's bodyguards and police. Local and UN forces are on alert.
The election is the first democratic poll to be held in the country since gaining independence in 1960.
The BBC's Africa correspondent Peter Greste says Congolese people have been crowding around television sets waiting for the electoral commission to release the presidential vote results.

DR CONGO POLLS

32 presidential candidates
9,709 parliamentary candidates
25.6m voters
50,000 polling stations
260,000 electoral staff

Long wait for results
War haunts the east
Reporters' log
Full results had been expected to be broadcast on state television at 2000 local time (1900 GMT).
The delay seems to be the result of the a gun battle that broke out barely an hour before the scheduled announcement, our correspondent says.
This was reported to have taken place between security forces loyal to Mr Kabila and bodyguards protecting his rival, the vice-president and former rebel commander, Mr Bemba.
Figures compiled by the AFP news agency, based on district results published by the Independent Electoral Commission (CEI) suggest Mr Kabila has 47% of the vote.
Mr Bemba - a former rebel leader and vice-president in the transitional government - appears to have 18% nationwide, but a larger share of the vote in the capital, Kinshasa, and other western areas.
"A second round seems certain," European Union election observer Jean-Michel Dumont told AFP.
Some observers believe a second round could help stave off violence that may have greeted an outright win by Mr Kabila, particularly in the capital Kinshasa given the strong support for Mr Bemba there.
"Tension would have been very high without a second round," a Western diplomat told AFP.
The first round of voting, involving 25m voters, was the most expensive poll the UN had ever run, and a second round is also expected to be a costly and difficult exercise.
Protection needed
Police were jeered in some neighbourhoods of Kinshasa, where many voters regard the police as the president's private militia, BBC French Service correspondent Said Penda reports from the capital.
CEI chairman Rev Appolinaire Malu-Malu has become one of the most heavily guarded men in the country, and never travels without armed bodyguards, our correspondent says.
There are also fears of violence in the central town of Mbuji-Mayi, a stronghold of veteran opposition leader Etienne Tshisekedi whose UDPS party boycotted the elections.
Many of the presidential candidates have complained of "massive irregularities" in the vote count.
Neighbouring Angola - Mr Kabila's strongest regional ally - has confirmed sending extra troops to the border but called it a routine security procedure.
Three TV stations have been suspended for 24 hours after broadcasting images that could incite violence.
One is a state channel and another is owned by Mr Bemba.
So far the elections have gone remarkably smoothly bearing in mind Congo has been in turmoil for decades, says BBC Africa analyst David Bamford.
The polls are meant to put an end to a transition process established after five years of war that ended in 2003.

BBC NEWS REPORT.

S.A.WOMEN PREFER SHOPPING TO SEX!

Many women admitted having a thing for shoes. South African women value shopping above sex, survey results suggest.
Of women who took part in a "Fantasy Survey" promoted by a drinks company, 45% said they valued shopping over sex. Only 26% voted the other way round.
Three quarters of the women who took part described themselves as having a shoe fetish while 70% said they did not have enough clothes in their wardrobes. Almost half (48%) of women surveyed said men had no real understanding of their needs and desires.

A smaller number (40%) said they were still misunderstood, although men made an effort to understand their wishes.
Fame also featured in women's fantasies, with 78% dreaming of a red-carpet welcome at the Oscars, while 72% dreamt of appearing in one of South Africa's local soap operas.
A clear majority of women in the survey (63%) thought the world would be a better and more peaceful place if women, rather than men, were in charge.
Perhaps not surprisingly, just under half of the women who responded to the survey felt that their fantasies would never come true.

BBC NEWS REPORT.

POET'S DEATH STILL TROUBLES SPAIN!

Poet's death still troubles Spain
By Rafael Estefania BBC Mundo, Granada, Spain

Lorca was murdered at the start of the Spanish civil war. The murder of the poet and playwright Federico Garcia Lorca by nationalists on 19 August 1936 remains one of Spain's open wounds.
A man ahead of his time, he lived in a Spain that was going backwards.
The most gitano (gypsy) of poets - a label which, by the way, he hated - he was also the most international. His evocation of the folklore of Spain should be understood as a distillation of the essence of Spain through the eyes and pen of a man who knew no frontiers.
"I sing to Spain and I feel her to the core of my being, but above all I am a man of the world and brother of everyone."
He was born on 5 June 1898, in the village of Fuente Vaqueros in the province of Granada. When he died, 38 years later, the legacy of his work and personality had already guaranteed him a place in the pantheon of the immortals.
When you go to Granada and the surrounding area it is still possible to see some of the elements which inspired Lorca's work: the light reflected on the white houses in the Albaicin, the clear air of the Sierra, old women dressed in black, sitting in doorways, or a group walking to Mass on Sundays, the religious silence of siesta time, the raucous sound of a group of gypsies singing flamenco on Sacromonte.
"Even today, Granada is a small village, we all know each other's families, and in this sense much of the Granada where Federico lived has not changed."
The speaker is Federico Jimenez, director of the Hotel Reina Cristina, the former house of the poet Luis Rosales. That is where Lorca took refuge and from where he was abducted by Falangists and taken to his death.
"Through this very door they took him out and put him in a lorry with other political suspects. The people who saw this do not want to talk about it even today. Old people prefer to forget and not open old wounds, because they still haven't completely healed," says Mr Jimenez.
Lorca's body has still not been found.

His birthplace, Fuente Vaqueros, is less than 40 minutes by car from Granada. His birthplace is now a museum which exhibits his personal effectsToday the house where he was born is a small museum, where some of the personal objects and fragments of Lorca's life are preserved. An old gramophone plays some of Lorca's musical compositions.
The museum displays the cradle, school photographs and a death certificate signed by his parents. "They had no choice but to sign," says Paco, the curator.
"Even though the body was never found, they had to sign, as this was the only possible way to make Federico's death official."
On the upper floor, posters, press clippings, letters, school qualifications and other personal objects give me an insight into the most influential poet and dramatist of the 20th Century.
Paco takes me to a television screen. He switches it on and we see Lorca in the only existing filmed recording of him. It is in black and white and Lorca appears always smiling, helping with the set or performing to the camera. He comes across as a man full of energy.
When the military took power, his execution was only a matter of time - a successful, liberal homosexual could not be tolerated in Franco's Spain - Ian GibsonLorca's biographer.

In pictures: Lorca's life

"Federico was radiant and he transmitted this energy to all who were around him," Paco tells me.
Another poet friend of Lorca, Jorge Guillen, used to say that when Lorca was nearby the weather was neither hot nor cold, rather it was "Federico" weather. "Such was the state of intoxication caused by his presence that it even made you forget the temperature."
At a time when in Spain hardly anybody travelled, Lorca lived in New York, where he wrote his acclaimed "Poet in New York". He went to Argentina and he spent time in Cuba, where he was inspired to write "In a coach of black water I will go to Santiago".
Free thinker
He was a man ahead of his time, a restless traveller, a homosexual and completely avant-garde.
"Catholic, communist, anarchist, libertarian, traditionalist, monarchist," this is how he once described himself. Federico never had any definite political affiliation, which is one of the reasons why some people believe that his assassination owed more to personal rather than political motives.
"Envy is a very important factor in Lorca's death," says Ian Gibson, Lorca's biographer and an expert on modern Spanish history.
"Lorca was envied for his talent, he had money and he was successful. When the military took power, his execution was only a matter of time. A successful, liberal homosexual could not be tolerated in Franco's Spain."

Some believe Lorca's remains are near these olive treesHe was killed a few kilometres from Fuente Vaqueros, between Viznar and Alfacar.
I asked a local villager aged about 80 if he remembered those times. "Many lorries arrived here with prisoners to be shot and they buried them over there, close to this ravine. A shot in the back of the head and into the ditch."
In one of these lorries, they took Garcia Lorca, along with a school teacher and two banderilleros, who participated in bullfighting. It is believed the four were shot and then thrown into a common grave.
In search of the past
Today, Francisco Galadi and Nieves Galindo, grandchildren of the executed banderilleros, are trying to identify the remains of their grandfathers and to clarify the mystery once and for all.
"They are buried some two and a half metres from the stone monument erected in the Federico Garcia Lorca Park just next to the olive tree," says Francisco Galadi.
Now they have appealed to the courts to get permission to exhume the bodies. However, Lorca's family is opposed to the exhumation and wants them to leave the bodies where they are.
"We are not going to find out anything new by exhuming the grave where Federico is buried," says Laura Lorca, the poet's niece and director of the Garcia Lorca Association.
"He was buried there, these were the terrible circumstances. Today for us this place is a cemetery where he rests alongside hundreds of others who, like him, were assassinated. We want the circumstances of his death to be respected and this place protected from commercial speculation and morbid curiosity."
Mystery continues
Meanwhile, the mystery surrounding Lorca's death continues. The refusal by Lorca's family to solve it by opening the grave increases speculation.
Some people say that Lorca's body is no longer there, that the family disinterred it during the war and buried it in the family estate in Granada. "Perhaps this explains the insistence on not opening the grave on the part of the family," Gibson says.
In some part of this park dedicated to his memory lie the poet's remains.
While the dispute over the exhumation of the grave continues in the courts, here, surrounded by trees and the mountains in the background, rests a man whose crime was to be free at a time in Spain's history when to call for freedom was to knock on the executioners' door.
Seventy years after his death, his voice is just as alive as on that 19 August night when bullets tried to silence it.

BBC NEWS REPORT.

BEIRUT FURY AT CEASEFIRE BREACH!

The commandos were airlifted from a cornfield, witnesses sayLebanese PM Fouad Siniora has accused Israel of a "naked violation" of the five-day-old ceasefire, after a raid by Israeli commandos deep inside Lebanon.
The raid, in the eastern Bekaa Valley, left one Israeli dead and two injured.
Israel said it was trying to disrupt the movement of weapons from Iran and Syria to Hezbollah, and insisted the ceasefire was still intact.
The operation came hours after UN Secretary General Kofi Annan warned of a "fragile" situation on the ground.
The Israeli raid centred on the village of Bodai, west of the city of Baalbek, some 100km (60 miles) north of the Israeli border.
It is the first incident of its kind since the ceasefire came into effect.

Apparent remnants of the raid were found at the scene
Israeli helicopters are believed to have dropped off the commandos and two vehicles during the night.
The Israelis seem to have met more resistance than they expected, with one local fighter describing a gun battle lasting more than two hours, says the BBC's Jon Leyne at the scene.
Two helicopters landed in a cornfield and took away the soldiers, while Israeli fighter jets circled overhead, witnesses say.
There is speculation locally is that the Israelis may have been trying to capture a senior Hezbollah figure who lives in the village, our correspondent adds.
Lebanese sources earlier told Reuters agency that three militants died in the incident.
Government responses
In Beirut, the raid prompted an angry response from Mr Siniora.
"It is a naked violation of the cessation of hostilities declared by the Security Council," he told reporters.

Mid-East crisis: Key maps
Lebanon: Key facts
He said a complaint had been made to visiting UN envoys about the operation.
But Israel insisted it had not breached the ceasefire.
"We had specific information of arms transfers taking place and we acted to prevent that violation, so that violation is not from the Israeli side - we were responding to a violation of the resolution by Hezbollah," said Israeli spokesman Mark Regev.
Israel has said it will continue to carry out such actions until an expanded international military force is in place to prevent Hezbollah's re-armament.
The resolution which stopped the conflict said Israel should end all offensive military action and Hezbollah should end all attacks.
Reinforcements
Meanwhile, 50 French troops arrived in the Lebanese port of Naqoura, the first soldiers to bolster the UN peacekeeping force.
View a 360-degree panorama taken in Beirut

They are among 200 extra troops promised by France, as the UN struggles to build its expanded force.
The UN wants 3,500 troops on the ground speedily, to be increased later to 15,000. It says it is disappointed with the French contribution and wants other European nations to offer more help too.
In a separate development, an Israeli soldier was shot dead by a Palestinian gunman in the West Bank, the army said.
The incident happened near the city of Nablus, when militants opened fire from a car, one report said.

BBC NEWS REPORT.

BRAZIL SEEKS NEW HOMES FOR LIONS

Brazil seeks new homes for lions
By Tim Hirsch BBC News, Sao Paulo.

Brazil is now considering a ban on importing lions. Environmental authorities in Brazil are struggling to find permanent homes for 68 lions abandoned by circuses across the country.
Some of the animals were found roaming the roadside, hungry and diseased.
The number of rescued lions surged after new laws banning wild animal displays in some regions.
In one of the most recent rescues, police found five bedraggled lions roaming by the side of the road in the south-eastern state of Minas Gerais.
Many Brazilian states and municipalities have recently passed laws banning the use of live animals such as lions in travelling circuses, leading some owners simply to abandon them.
In one raid on a circus in the northern city of Belem, lions were described by the Brazilian environment agency, Ibama, as being just skin and bone, suffering from rickets and infections which caused them to lose their fur.
According to newspaper reports, abandoned lions are being cared for across the country, some in makeshift cages or even in police stations.
One was kept in a town's football field until a zoo found space for it.
Ibama wants all lions in Brazil to be sterilised and is trying to prevent further imports from their native Africa.

BBC NEWS REPORT.

CATHY BUCKLE'S LETTTER FROM ZIMBABWE!

THANKS SISTER!

Dear Family and Friends,

In the dying days of Zimbabwe's old Bearer Cheques which have served as money, but are not really money, the change over has been messy, confusing and in many cases downright unfair. Regardless of the pronouncement by theReserve Bank Governor that the old money would remain valid until Monday the 21st August, many establishments stopped accepting it almost a week before the cut off date. Shops and companies that were still accepting the old notes, did not have any new notes and therefore either couldn't give you any change at all or gave you back old notes. As the cut off date drew closer there was less and less new money in circulation and everywhere people were desperately trying to get rid of old money.

There was a double page, high gloss, pull out advert printed in 3 languages in the press which said:"Zero To Hero, let the hero rise in all of us." Then followed all sorts of smart subheadings in shiny blue, pink,orange and green boxes which answered all the questions people may have about the new bearers cheques. It told us how to write cheques, how to pay bills and how to round up or down figures when converting to the new Bearer Cheques. (Yeah right, as if anything, of any description is ever rounded down in the country with the highest inflation in the world!) At the bottom of the page was a picture of a nifty little white pick uptruck. "Mobile Cash Swap Team" it said, "Coming to a town near you. Bearing good news." And written underneath the truck in purple print:"Money on the mooove!"

After reading the advert you sort of feel encouraged and think OK, this all looks smart, efficient and professional. For a moment you forget the body and vehicle searches for "illegal money" that are going on at the endless road blocks all over the country. You forget the queues out of the doors of the banks as people still try and deposit box loads of old money and you forget the fact that the electricity is off again and there's still no fuel to buy - even if you could afford it. Of course, the more you look for the nifty little Money On The Moove, mobile cash swap team truck, the more elusive it becomes and you are left wondering if in fact it ever existed at all.

Three days before the deadline I took myself off to the supermarket to spend the last of my old money. I had 1.8 million dollars. Just six years ago I could have bought a 4 year old Mercedes Benz 250D car with all the extras and in immaculate condition for 1.8 million dollars. I wandered around the supermarket doing mental maths in my head, and in the end settled on a packet of salt, a box of custard powder and 20 plastic clothes pegs. Standing in the line to pay, it was obvious everyone was doing the same as me - buying little things to get rid of the last of the money. The woman in front of me had a packet of soup, a bar of soap and a jar of peanut butter. Her bill came to 1 million and 70 thousand dollars - she only had a million. I gave her 70 thousand out of my purse, she clapped in thanks and the man in line behind me said: "Good, thanks sister, I'll help you if yours is short! " Then the man behind him said"and I'll help you!"

This is the real face of Zimbabwe and this is whatmakes our country so special.Please note that I write this letter for free, my mail server sends it outfor free and no one has my permission to sell it.

Until next week, thanksfor reading, love cathy.

Copyright cathy buckle 19 August 2006http://africantears.netfirms.comMy books on the Zimbabwean crisis, "African Tears" and "Beyond Tears"are available from: orders@africabookcentre.com ; www.africabookcentre.com ; www.amazon.co.uk ; in Australia and NewZealand: johnmreed@johnreedbooks.com.au ; Africa: www.exclusivebooks.com

GETTING BACK TO BUSISNESS IN SOMALIA!

Getting back to business in Somalia
By Karen Allen BBC News, Kenya.

Thousands of Somalis are streaming across the border into refugee camps in Kenya. They are fleeing the insecurity in their homeland since Islamist militants seized power earlier this year. At the same time, Somali businessmen living abroad are spotting new opportunities under the new regime and are flying home with potential deals in mind.

Nairobi's hotels are heaving with Somalis from the vast and wealthy diaspora.
You cannot get a hotel room for love nor money in Eastleigh.
They have been packed for the past three months and the owners say they have never seen anything like this before.
Eastleigh - a bustling neighbourhood in the east of Nairobi - is where many of the city's 25,000 Somalis live.
This is not a ghetto. It is a thriving business community with freshly painted buildings, gridlocked traffic and a turnover of around £30m ($56m) a month.
That is extremely high for this part of the world.
Walk the packed streets and you will find women wearing the hijab, or headscarf, and rows of men dipping into big sacks of khat or miraa - the leafy narcotic that is chewed by so many here. It gives them a buzz and smoothes conversation.
This is Somalia recreated on Kenyan soil. And the numbers arriving are swelling.
Eyeing opportunities
So back to the hotels, why is business so brisk?
Well, they are heaving, not with recent refugees but with Somalis from the vast and wealthy diaspora.
They are en route to Mogadishu with potential deals on their mind.
The Somali community worldwide is huge and many send their money home.
In fact it is estimated that the value of their remittances runs to £527m ($990m) a year.
Aid to Somalia is less than a third of that.
In Eastleigh, the Hotel Barakat is doing a roaring trade.
It prides itself on good coffee and boasts a curious water feature in reception: a rather garish mini waterfall. Nice.
Hassan, the manager, is wide-eyed and flabbergasted by the demand for rooms.
Part of the reason is that Mogadishu airport, closed for more than a decade, has re-opened.
Commercial flights will get you there, across the Kenyan border, in less than an hour and a half.

Mogadishu's commercial airport re-opened in July 2006.
So Eastleigh is a perfect stopover: a place to have a shower, catch the gossip and make some last minute contacts before the big trip.
And it is not just Somalis in Kenya who are taking a look.
As I loiter in the hotel lobby among a throng of Somali faces, an affable man in his 30s comes up to greet me.
Foot in the door
Abdi is from Wembley in West London. He seems a little out of his depth in this sea of seasoned businessmen, bristling with expectation.
He is about 30 and a bit of a charmer and, when I asked him what his business plans were, he went all quiet on me.
Abdi was a child when his family fled Somalia in the early 90s after the fall of the Siad Barre regime.
Now with recent developments - the end of warlord rule and the rise of an Islamist movement - Abdi wants to get his foot in the door.
He has never been to Mogadishu before and seems a little nervous.
Yet he is determined to return to Britain with a business deal.
Information through the Somali grapevine assures him the place is now safe - at least for nationals - and with no schools, barely any hospitals and no manufacturing to speak of, opportunities are there to be seized.
Security is relative in a country as troubled as Somalia.
But the older Somalis I meet are a little more cautious.
In searing heat I find myself trudging across a building site in Langata, about half an hour's drive from Eastleigh.
Jeylani Ali, a prominent businessman, tells me he is biding his time.
The 50 houses under construction here, are all his. But Jeylani is playing it safe and keeping most of his money in Kenya.
Scramble to leave
Yet as fast as businessmen are queuing up to take their cash into Somalia, poorer Somalis are scrambling across the border into Kenya to leave.

Somalis are fleeing from the insecurity of life in their homeland.
In the refugee camps sprawled across the country's north-eastern border, they are arriving at a rate of 2,000 to 3,000 a month.
Many of them have come by foot, and set up home in this city of rags.
Flimsy tents made of thin branches and colourful bits of cloth are their homes now.
You do hear horrific stories from people arriving at this camp and it is hard to imagine how they will ever forget some of the things they have seen.
But there are also Somalis you meet who are trying to go it alone, slipping across the border illegally and setting up in business.
Trade is something the Somalis have learnt to do well and they are famous for it across Africa - particularly mobile phones, transport and property.
New dawn?
Back in the capital in a bustling restaurant where they serve steaming plates of baby goat and spaghetti, I am introduced to Mohammed.
Fresh faced and just 21, he fled Mogadishu last month.
Bribing his way past border guards he headed south to the familiarity of Eastleigh. Now he wants to stay.
I asked him why he left. "The Islamic Courts," he answers bluntly, adding that, by the time he turned his back on Mogadishu, the Islamists were already beginning to clamp down on cinemas and football.
So what does Mohammed think of the clamour to make money in Mogadishu?
Well, he is not yet convinced. He fears the Islamists may turn out to be as ruthless as the warlords they replaced.
He says all this talk of a new dawn is fake.
It is impossible to tell if Mohammed is right. Security is relative in a country as troubled as Somalia.
Trust the wrong person and it could cost you your life.

From Our Own Correspondent was broadcast on Saturday 19 August, 2006 at 1130 BST on BBC Radio 4. Please check the programme schedules for World Service transmission times.

BBC NEWS REPORT.

SOUTH AFRICA AIDS POLICY ATTACKED!

South Africa's government refuses to fully endorse anti-retrovirals. The United Nations special envoy for Aids in Africa has closed a major conference on the disease with a sharp critique of South Africa's government.
Speaking at the end of the week-long gathering in Toronto, Canada, Stephen Lewis said South Africa promoted a "lunatic fringe" attitude to HIV/Aids.
Mr Lewis described the government as "obtuse, dilatory and negligent about rolling out treatment".
A South African delegate reportedly hit back over Mr Lewis' comments.
Health ministry official Sibani Mngadi told the AFP news agency that Mr Lewis had a "vendetta" against South Africa.
Earlier another keynote speaker said South Africa's health minister should resign because she had minimised the role of anti-retroviral drugs.
Manto Tshabalala-Msimang has strongly defended her approach to fighting HIV and Aids, saying that building up the immune system is of critical importance.
She said this week she wanted to give citizens choices, including traditional treatments like garlic, lemons and beetroots, instead of championing anti-retroviral drugs.
South Africa's governing ANC party has said the government approach to the disease was "responsible and integrated".
Harsh words
The International Aids Conference began in Toronto earlier this week with high hopes.

The government has a lot to atone for. I'm of the opinion that they can never achieve redemption
Stephen LewisUN special envoyMicrosoft founder and philanthropist Bill Gates made the opening remarks, and spoke optimistically of the potential of male circumcision and microbicides to reduce levels of HIV infection.
Hours before Mr Lewis spoke on Friday, 44 activists from South Africa's main Aids lobby group were arrested while protesting against Ms Tshabalala-Msimang's policies.
The lobby group, the Treatment Action Campaign (TAC), had said it would announce plans on Friday "to make sure the health minister is sacked tomorrow".
Mr Lewis, who says he is "persona non grata" in South Africa as a result of falling out with the health minister, criticised the arrest of the group's members.
"It really is distressing when the coercive apparatus of the state is brought against the most principled members of society," he said.
'Pavlovian betrayal'
The BBC's Peter Greste, in Johannesburg, says Aids activists in South Africa will applaud Mr Lewis' comments.
He pulled few punches in a speech that drew loud cheers from the Toronto audience.

Tshabalala-Msimang has provoked fierce opposition at homeSouth Africa's Aids policy is "more worthy of a lunatic fringe than of a concerned and compassionate state," he said.
He derided the government's policies as "wrong, immoral [and] indefensible".
Up to 800 people a day die of Aids in South Africa, Mr Lewis said.
"The government has a lot to atone for. I'm of the opinion that they can never achieve redemption."
Mr Lewis also reserved some scorn for the G8 group of leading industrialised nations, who he said were undermining their own promises made at Gleneagles in 2005 to fight Aids, TB and malaria in Africa.
Funds were running dangerously low, Mr Lewis said, accusing the G8 of a "Pavlovian betrayal" of poorer southern nations.

BBC NEWS REPORT.

ISRAEL ALARM AT UN FORCE MEMBERS!

Israel says it would be "difficult if not inconceivable" to accept nations which do not recognise its right to exist as part of a UN force in Lebanon.
Israeli UN envoy Dan Gillerman was speaking after Indonesia and Malaysia, which do not recognise Israel, pledged troops for the UN deployment.
Malaysia said Israel should have no say in the make-up of the force.
The UN has expressed cautious optimism that it can deploy an initial 3,500-strong force within two weeks.
UN deputy chief Mark Malloch Brown warned earlier that delay could threaten the ceasefire.
But building the force has proved problematical. Mr Malloch Brown said a lot of work was needed in the coming days to meet the two-week deadline.
There is concern that the offers do not necessarily provide the right mix of troops and capabilities needed for the deployment, the BBC's Bridget Kendall in New York says.
A number of countries are calling for clearer guidance on the exact nature of the mission.

UN TROOP PLEDGES
France - leadership and 200 troops
Bangladesh - two battalions (up to 2,000 troops)
Malaysia - one battalion (up to 1,000 troops)
Indonesia - one battalion, an engineering company
Nepal - one battalion
Denmark - at least two ships
Germany - maritime and border patrols
Sources: UN diplomats

France, which had agreed to lead the force, said it would send only 200 extra troops immediately, far fewer than expected.
The UN had hoped for a larger European contingent and was disappointed by France's offer.
But French Defence Minister Michele Alliot-Marie defended the decision. "You can't send in men telling them: Look what's going on but you don't have the right to defend yourself or to shoot," she told RTL radio.
Italy's government has approved the deployment of troops, saying it would decide how many in the coming days. Officials said as many as 3,000 troops could be sent.
Bangladesh and Nepal have also pledged troops, while Germany has offered a maritime task force. The UK and the US say they will provide logistical support.
Disappointment
As the UN's efforts to build the force continued, Mr Gillerman made clear Israel's unhappiness with some of the contributors.

Mid-East crisis: Key maps
Lebanon: Key facts

"It would be very difficult if not inconceivable for Israel to accept troops from countries who do not recognise Israel, who have no diplomatic relations with Israel," he told the BBC.
He said they would be "very happy" to accept troops from Muslim countries they have friendly relations with.
"But to expect countries who don't even recognise Israel to guard Israel's safety I think would be a bit naive," he said.
His comments were dismissed by Malaysia, which, along with Indonesia, has a Muslim majority population.
"We're going to be on Lebanese territory ... We're not going to be on Israeli territory," Foreign Minister Syed Hamid Albar said.
'Positive sign'
As Lebanese troops continue to move into the south of the country as part of the UN ceasefire, mass burials are being held for those killed during the past month.

Near the morgue in Tyre, 138 coffins were being dug up from a temporary mass grave to give to relatives for a proper burial.
In Qana village, where 28 people were killed in an Israeli air strike, relatives were gathering for a mass funeral.
Lebanese troops were welcomed as a "positive sign" by residents as they arrived in the devastated town of Khiam, close to the Israeli border.
"We hope that the two parties, Hezbollah and the Lebanese army, have an agreement on this [deployment]," resident Ahmed Zoghbi said.
Israel says it has now withdrawn from two-thirds of its positions in southern Lebanon, including the port city of Tyre and villages of Qana, Hadatha and Beit Yahoun.
Under the terms of the UN ceasefire resolution which ended the month-long conflict between Israel and Hezbollah, the expanded UN force should work alongside the Lebanese army in the south to keep the peace.
Each force should eventually number 15,000.

BBC NEWS REPORT.

UN CALL TO STOP SUDAN DEMOLITIONS!

Thousands of Sudanese have been displaced by war and drought. The UN has protested to the Sudanese authorities about the demolition of a camp that was home to 12,000 displaced people outside the capital, Khartoum.
Residents said bulldozers began destroying their houses on Thursday morning with little warning.
United Nations officials in the area were barred from entering the area, but heard gunshots. There are reports of deaths, including a child.
The camp has hosted people from the Darfur region for more than 20 years.
Heavily armed policemen and tanks had surrounded the squatter camp at Dar es Salaam, some 40km from the capital, before moving in at 0800 local time, the UN said in a statement on Thursday.
Th UN special rapporteur for human rights in Sudan, Sima Samar, said later there had been reports of deaths and injuries of residents in the operation.
"I call on the authorities to immediately halt the forced relocation and allow access to the area so services can be provided to the population," she told reporters.
Millions of Sudanese displaced by war and famine live in informal squatter settlements around the capital.
Correspondents say forced relocations have become increasingly common in and around Khartoum as land values have soared.
Those made homeless are often forced further away from the city to desert areas that lack basic services.
"The United Nations demands that the Sudanese authorities cease this operation immediately and return to the process of dialogue with residents," the UN statement said.
There has been no comment from the Sudanese authorities about the demolition.

BBC NEWS REPORT.

S.A. HIT BACK AT PULL-OUT CRITICISM!

South Africa's players union has hit back at criticism of the decision to quit the tour of Sri Lanka and insist it was not forced by senior players.
The Proteas left after a bomb blast near their hotel but Sri Lankan media and officials have rounded on them.
South African Cricketers' Association chief executive Tony Irish said: "It wasn't a decision of the players.
"It was made by Cricket South Africa after considering security reports. The whole team supported the decision."
He added: "Over the last day or two I've heard and read statements suggesting that our players are "chicken", that there was a split between players and that Mark Boucher and senior players somehow orchestrated the withdrawal.
"This is nonsense. Quite frankly Cricket South Africa had a duty to the country to do what it did given the information at hand."
India, the third team in the triangular one-day series, have decided to stay on and will play three one-day matches against Sri Lanka.

BBC SPORTS REPORT.

S.A. HEALTH MINISTER URGER TO QUIT!

Tshabalala-Msimang has endorsed controversial responses to Aids. A keynote speaker from South Africa at the International Aids Conference in Toronto, Canada, has called on South Africa's health minister to resign.
Mark Heywood, head of the Aids Law Project in South Africa, said Manto Tshabalala-Msimang had minimised the role of anti-retroviral drugs.
The minister has not responded directly to Mr Heywood's criticism.
She said this week her government wanted to give its citizens choices, including traditional treatments.
"A minister tells people about garlic and lemons, but doesn't tell people about anti-retroviral medicines," Mr Heywood told delegates - a reference to certain foodstuffs that the South African government has promoted as being useful for Aids patients.
"People who follow her advice in late-stage HIV infection and take garlic and lemons will die," Mr Heywood continued.
"People who take anti-retrovirals in late-stage HIV infection will return to health."
Lemons and garlic were among the items displayed alongside anti-retroviral drugs (ARVs) and condoms at South Africa's exhibition at the International Aids Conference in Toronto.
Prison death
The Treatment Action Campaign (TAC) - which works closely with the Aids Law Project - said in a statement it would announce plans on Friday "to ensure that the health minister is sacked tomorrow".

The vital ARV treatment came too late, say the TAC.
TAC said it was meeting officials from South Africa's Human Rights Commission, after learning that a prisoner identified as "MM" had died two weeks ago.
"MM" was one of 15 HIV-positive inmates at Westville Prison in Durban who won a court case ordering the prison authorities to supply them with ARV medication.
The government appealed against the ruling, and TAC says the delay in supplying ARV drugs led to the prisoner's death.
After pressure from activists, South Africa changed its policy and started distributing ARVs at government clinics in 2004.
The government currently gives ARVs to over 100,000 of the approximately 6m South Africans who are HIV-positive.

BBC NEWS REPORT.

PORTSMOUTH COMPLETE KANU SIGNING!

Kanu is a free agent after his contract at West Brom ended. Portsmouth have finalised the signing of Nigeria international striker Kanu. The 31-year-old forward, who was released by West Bromwich Albion at the end of last season, has agreed a one-year deal with Portsmouth.
Kanu is manager Harry Redknapp's fifth signing of the summer.

Former Arsenal and Ajax striker Kanu has also been interesting Hamburg, but he has snubbed Champions League football to stay in the Premiership. The Nigeria international first moved to England in 1999 when he joined Arsenal from Inter Milan for £4.5m. Kanu was part of Arsenal's double-winning side of 2001-02 and gained another Premier League medal in 2004. He scored 30 league goals in just 63 starts for the Gunners before securing a free transfer to West Brom in 2004. But he managed just nine goals for the Baggies in two seasons.

Chelsea right-back Glen Johnson, former Arsenal centre-half Sol Campbell, ex-Blackburn and Wigan midfielder David Thompson, and former Manchester City goalkeeper David James are Redknapp's other signings during the close season. And the Portsmouth manager expects to buy more players before the transfer deadline. "It is the smallest squad I've ever had at the start of a season," said Redknapp. "We are still at least four players short and a run of injuries would be very bad news for us. "We've tried for a long list of big signings and the owner has been ready to put up the money for them. "But other clubs just don't want to sell their good players and it has been a frustrating time. "But we still have two weeks before the transfer deadline to put that right and we are still looking to do that. "There is no way we can afford to wait until January the next deadline."

BBC SPORT NEWS REPORT.

BOLIVIA'S NATIONALISATION PLANS IN TROUBLE!

Bolivia's nationalisation plans in trouble.
By Jane Monahan La Paz, Bolivia.

Three months after Bolivia's president, Evo Morales, nationalised the country's oil and natural-gas industry - which has the second largest gas reserves in Latin America - the political motives for the nationalisation are unchanged.

President Morales wants Bolivia's poor to gain from gas riches.The government remains eager to make sure the country's poor benefit from the nation's natural resources. But the government has also admitted setbacks.
Bolivia's energy ministry has acknowledged that because of a lack of money, Yacimientos Petroliferos Fiscales Bolivianos, (YPBF) the state energy company, has been unable to increase its shareholdings to 51% of the industry's principal upstream (exploration/production) units.
In other words, the state energy company has failed to gain control of these crucial units, which remain in the hands of the Brazilian state oil company Petrobras, the biggest investor in the sector, and Spain's Repsol YPF.
YPBF has also failed to acquire control of facilities like the industry's refineries, distribution and pipelines.
Foreign investors, which include energy giants Total and BG Group, have continued to control these operations.
YPBF has also missed a 1 July deadline to restructure into an integrated company, as it had been supposed to do under to the nationalisation plan.
Moreover, following its failures, the state energy company has asked the central bank for $180m to help it accomplish the takeovers.
Still popular
YPBF, which was almost entirely privatised in 1996/1997, was re-nationalised in 2004.

The gap between rich and poor remains large in Bolivia
Many of the developments associated with the nationalisation have been beneficial for the government, notwithstanding the latest setbacks.
Gonzalo Chavez, a political analyst at Bolivia's Catholic University in La Paz, says the nationalisation move continues to be very popular, and insists it is seen as a unifying measure.
According to Professor Chavez, the government also went ahead with the nationalisation "to make a break" with the liberal economic measures and privatisation programmes of the 1980s and 1990s, "which failed to fulfil Bolivians' expectations at least in terms of reducing poverty and unemployment in the country".
"The country is very fragmented regionally, socially and even linguistically," he says.
"But independent surveys conducted after the nationalisation showed 80% to 85% of Bolivians supported it."
This is down from 2004, when 95% of Bolivians approved nationalisation in a referendum, yet the percentage remains high.
Chavez support
The principal political reason why the Morales government moved to take control of the hydrocarbons sector, which generates the country's largest revenues, became clear on 16 June, when Carlos Villegas, Bolivia's minister of planning and development, announced a five-year plan.

Mr Morales was elected in December last year on a campaign pledge to increase the state's share of the proceeds from Bolivia's lucrative natural gas industry.

Q&A: Bolivia's gas takeover

Mr Villegas said the plan would start "a process to eradicate poverty in Bolivia and in particular among the majority, which consists of farming communities and indigenous groups".
The process would be started , he said at the time in an interview with me, with several measures to generate 90,000 jobs a year; health, education, nutrition and literacy programmes; and with the creation of an environment that would encourage the development of national industries.
In Villegas view, a principal reason why Bolivia is still South America's poorest country and has only a very small middle class, is because Bolivia's private sector "has also been excluded during the last 22 years of de-regulation and liberal economic policies".
"With the exception of a very small group of businessmen that were in a condition to participate in a global economy, the majority of Bolivian businesses - large, medium-sized and small - were in a situation of complete stagnation.
"(But) what we're doing now is to invite Bolivian businesses to participate in services and processes related to the industrialisation of natural gas, to the business of installing natural gas in households and to the business of the installation of natural gas in economic centres, schools and hospitals.
"Bolivian businesses will also have ample guarantees and opportunities for widespread participation in mining, manufacturing, construction, agriculture and housing. Public investments in the entire plan will amount to $6.9bn over the next 5 years, and there will be a lot of foreign direct investments in oil and gas, mining, electricity, petrochemicals, gas-to-liquids, iron and steel."
So whereas Petrobras and Repsol have both cut their investments following the nationalisation, but other investors have been stepping up to the plate.
PDVSA, Venezuela's state oil company controlled by President Hugo Chavez - who is the Bolivian president's main South American ally - has pledged $1bn to develop petrochemical companies with YPBF.
PDVSA has also agreed to train up to 300 YPBF staff in petrochemical production and other hydrocarbon industry skills, according to Jorge Alvarado, YPBF's president.
Global partners
Franklin Mining, a US mining group, signed a memorandum of understanding with YPBF just weeks after the nationalisation.
It plans to set up a joint venture to construct and operate a 10,000 barrels per day gas-to-liquids processing plant that should help Bolivia industrialise its gas and reduce the need for imported diesel fuels.
The plant capacity might be expanded later.
And Russia's Gazprom announced in June that it was considering investing up to $2bn in Bolivia's gas sector and is looking at building gas separation plants and pipelines to export LNG, or liquified natural gas.
On top of that, Mr Villegas is confident that most existing oil and gas investors will accept new contracts after negotiations with YPBF.
"There's nothing that's a supposition about this. It's a reality. With the exception of Petrobras, all the other oil and gas companies have accepted the nationalisation and are negotiating new contracts.
All these companies will fulfil the 180 day deadline for the negotiations (October 31st) and I believe many of them will sign new contracts."
Eduardo Peinado, president of Bolivia's National Chamber of Industries, also thinks most companies will agree to comply with Bolivia's new production-splitting contracts.
Investment in new facilities might be scarce, though.
"The majority will stay," says Mr Peinado. "But the concern is they may only invest in installations that already exist and not put anymore money into exploration."
YPBF's boss rejects this assertion and says the government is insisting that companies seeking new contracts must invest more in exploration.
"Bolivia's reserves of natural gas are 26.5 trillion cubic feet and probable reserves are 22 trillion cubic feet, "says Mr Alvarado.
"Sixty to 70% of the hydrocarbon area in Bolivia hasn't been explored yet."

BBC NEWS REPORT.

JONBENET : THE CASE THAT GRIPPED AMERICA!

JonBenet's murder attracted massive TV coverage. Few crime stories in the past decade have gripped America as much as the murder of six-year-old JonBenet Ramsey, who was found beaten and strangled in her home the day after Christmas in 1996. That year more than 800 children were murdered in America but without attracting the same kind of intensive scrutiny. A decade on and the name conjures video images of the little blonde girl dressed in a pink cowgirl outfit and other elaborate beauty pageant costumes that were played and replayed on TV chat shows, feeding theories as to how she died.

The pictures went worldwide and even today, there is no shortage of websites examining the case. From the very beginning, the JonBenet case was an unusual one. She was discovered on 26 December 1996 in a little-used basement room at her cavernous home in Boulder, Colorado. She had been garrotted with a cord and her skull had been fractured. JonBenet's mother Patsy said that on the morning of her daughter's death, she had found a bizarre, two-and-a-half-page ransom note on the stairs demanding $118,000 for her daughter's return. Eight hours later, her father John, a successful business executive, discovered the body.

Many thought that the case would never be solved. The family said an intruder had broken into the house but the police claimed there was no evidence of forced entry or footsteps in the snow outside. From the beginning, police focused their investigation on John and Patsy. Boulder Police labelled them as being under an "umbrella of suspicion". The police investigation was led by Steve Thomas, who believed that Patsy had accidentally killed JonBenet after a bedwetting incident, and that John and Patsy had then staged it to look like a murder. The District Attorney's office employed legendary investigator, Lou Smit, who had solved more than 200 murder cases. He believed the Ramseys were innocent and that someone had broken into the house and waited in a nearby bedroom before attacking JonBenet.

The sensational nature of the crime was amplified by pictures of JonBenet cavorting in full-make up and glamorous costumes at beauty pageants. Patsy and John Ramsey fought long-running feuds with the nation's media. At a stroke, these unsettling pictures turned Patsy from public victim to villain. Many thought there was something pretentious about the way her name - pronounced zhawn-ben-AY - had been made up from a combination of her father's first and middle names. Then there were those who frowned on the way Patsy had pushed her daughter to succeed as a child beauty queen. In her last months, JonBenet was awarded numerous beauty pageant titles, including Little Miss Colorado and National Tiny Miss Beauty.

For Patsy, however, there was nothing wrong with this. She, herself, was a former beauty queen. For years, the couple carried on a running feud with newspapers, magazines and television shows and filed libel suits against some news outlets. But, while it appeared that they were being tried in the press, they were never charged. In 1999, a grand jury refused to indict either parent. And in 2003, a federal judge in Atlanta concluded that the evidence that she reviewed suggested that an intruder had killed JonBenet. A retired detective was hired to lead a refocused investigation.

The Ramsey home in Boulder, Colorado, where JonBenet was found strangledThe initial police investigation had become marred by shoddy detective work, with police being criticised for the way they handled the case, the Ramsey family and the evidence involved. For example, blood found on the girl's clothing was not properly submitted for DNA analysis until eight years after the murder. DNA from a white, Caucasian male was found mixed with JonBenet's blood in bloodspots on her clothing. This DNA did not come from her parents. Thursday's announcement of an arrest has come too late for Patsy Ramsey, who died of cancer in June. However, a family spokesman said she was aware that the police were going to arrest someone soon for the murder of her daughter.

On Thursday morning, a note on her grave read: "Dearest Patsy, Justice has come for you and Jon. Rest in peace." But for John Ramsey, the arrest may not be enough to bring complete closure. He once said in a TV interview that even if someone was charged with the murder of his daughter, there would always be people who would still think he and Patsy were responsible for JonBenet's death.

BBC NEWS REPORT.

DISPLACED IRAQIS.

Displaced Iraqis: Shia family's story

Jasim Adnan fled with his family after his brother was killedJasim Adnan, 36, and his family fled their home in the mixed Baghdad neighbourhood of Amiriya after his brother was killed and his shop blown up.
The family are now living in a tent in a government camp on the outskirts of Baghdad in Shoula, an area protected by the Mehdi Army, one of the two biggest Shia militias in Iraq.

See map of Baghdad

Shoula itself was previously mixed, but almost all the Sunnis have now left.
We had a shop, on the main road, for plumbing and sanitation work. They blew it up.
THE SECTARIAN CONFLICT

In a series on the spiralling sectarian violence in Iraq, we explore the increasing domination of the capital, Baghdad, by bombers, gunmen and militias.

Iraq's sectarian violence
Iraq violence: Figures

This isn't an isolated case. There were many incidents targeting Shia. They killed only Shias - Shia sheikhs [religious leaders] were killed, the Shia grocer was killed, even the baker. They left no Shia people in Amiriya - they targeted and killed them all.
We were threatened. First we found an IED [improvised explosive device] planted outside our shop. We went to the local police authority and told them about it.
Then we got another threat, saying they would blow up our shop and take the men who work for us.
Then suddenly they came after my brother. It was the Qadr Night [a special night during the Muslim holy month of Ramadan] and he was fasting that morning.

TOTAL DISPLACED IRAQIS
15 Aug 06: 137,862
28 June 06: 110,000
2 June 06: 98,000
13 April 06: 65,000
30 March 06: 30,000
Source: IOM estimates

Armed men came upon him and beat him up. There were seven men there - he was the only one that died.
Exactly eight days later, at 9pm, they blew up the shop. Then they wrote with paint on the walls: "Not for buying or for selling."
After that we came here and lived in this campsite. People have been good to us, but we have been suffering since that day - we have no work, we have nothing.
We used to work with everyone. There is no-one we didn't help out. We have been harmed, gravely harmed. And some people are much worse off than us - it's a tragedy.
Jasim Adnan's older sister Um Fadil, 49, fled with the family:

Um Fadil: "Even at home we sit in fear" We left everything for the sake of our children. We fear going to the market. We fear going to work. We fear stepping out onto the street. Even at home we sit in fear.
We sat there and watched all our friends leave. All we heard were stories of threats and killings in the streets - men being murdered as they left their work to go home. So we left, to protect our children.
We'll never go back. We left our homes and our lives. I'd rather live in this tent than go back there. For the sake of our children, we'll sacrifice our lives.

Displaced Iraqis: Sunni family's story
Interviews and images by Out There News


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BBC NEWS REPORT.

NO ZIMBABWE STYLE REFORM FOR S.A.

South Africa wants to accelerate the land transfer process. South Africa's land minister has moved to reassure the public that a tougher stance on land reform will not lead to "Zimbabwe style" expropriations.
Minister Lulu Xingwana said recently negotiations with white farmers over the price of land bought for reform must not go on longer than six months.
Commercial farmers' unions said the remarks were causing tensions.
On Wednesday, the minister defended her position, saying the process was within the law and could not go on "forever".
A ministry statement said Ms Xingwana "rejects as malicious recent media insinuations that the country's land reform will go the 'Zimbabwe route'."
"There are many farmers we have been negotiating land prices with for more than four to five years without success. Surely, we cannot keep on negotiating forever, especially genuine restitution cases," the statement quoted the minister as saying.
'Reasonable price'
It's in our interest to see the land reform programme finalised because a farmer can do very little with his land when it's under claim
Chris JordaanTransvaal Agricultural UnionBut landowners deny they are trying to stall the reform process.
"We never asked to be paid more than a reasonable commercial price for our properties," Hans van der Merwe of the farmers' union AgriSA said, responding to the minister's announcement on Friday that the government would expropriate land if it could not agree on a price with the seller within six months of starting negotiations.
Chris Jordaan of the Transvaal Agricultural Union expressed concern that uncertainty over land reform was causing farmers to stop farming.
"It's in our interest to see the land reform programme finalised because a farmer can do very little with his land when it's under claim," he told the South African Press Association.
Land purchases are part of a government programme to get 30% of farmland in black hands by 2014.
Previously they were conducted on a principle of "willing buyer, willing seller", but the government says this has led to white farmers charging unreasonably high prices for their land.
Land reform is one of the most emotive and politically charged issues in South Africa. And returning land seized from black farmers during apartheid was one of the key promises made by the African National Congress when it came to power in 1994.
Twelve years later, only 4% of white-owned land has been transferred and the government has come under fire for going too slowly.

BBC NEWS REPORT.

EGYPT LAUREATE IN INTENSIVE CARE!

Naguib Mahfouz is a much-loved writer in the Middle East. Egypt's Nobel Prize-winning writer Naguib Mahfouz is in intensive care at hospital in the capital, Cairo. Mahfouz, in his mid-90s, has been in hospital since a fall last month. He is said to be in an "unstable" condition. His vibrant, colourful portrayal of capital in his Cairo Trilogy won the 1988 Nobel Prize for literature.

He has suffered health problems since being stabbed in the neck in 1994 by an Islamist extremist, angry at his portrayal of God in one of his novels. After that incident, he was in hospital for seven weeks and suffered nerve damage in his neck, which limited his ability to write and caused his eyesight and hearing to deteriorate. During his current stay in hospital, he was transferred to the intensive care unit on Monday night after suffering a sudden drop in blood pressure and kidney dysfunction, a hospital official told the Associated Press.

"Despite improvement to some vital signs... his condition remains unstable," the official said, citing the latest medical report. The writer was taken to hospital in mid-July after he fell during a midnight stroll and sustained a deep head wound.

Naguib Mahfouz's Nobel Prize brought international recognition to a man already regarded in the Middle East as one of its best writers and premier intellectuals. He has published more than 50 novels, short stories, plays, newspaper columns, essays, travelogues, memoirs and political analyses.

BBC NEWS REPORT.

RIOTS FOLLOW KILLING IN NIGERIA!

Nigerian youths have been rioting in the south-western Ekiti state after the murder of a leading local politician. Nigeria's police chief has gone to the state capital Ado Ekiti to take personal charge of the investigation into Ayodeji Daramola's killing. He was found stabbed on Monday after addressing a rally the day before. Mr Daramola was a leading ruling party aspirant for governorship elections due next year and is the third high-profile figure to be murdered this year.

Three weeks ago, another leading People's Democratic Party (PDP) candidate for governor in neighbouring Lagos state, Funsho Williams, was also murdered. So far, nobody has been charged with the killing. The BBC's Sola Odunfa in Lagos says there's growing concern there could be a spate of assassinations in the run-up to the national elections.

Police Inspector General Sunday Ehindero has travelled to Ado Ekiti, some 300km from Lagos, to take charge of the case. According to reports from Ado Ekiti, Mr Daramola was stabbed to death last night less than 12 hours after addressing a mass rally. The killing took place in his country home in Ijan Ekiti which is only a few minutes drive from the state capital.
As news of the murder spread violence broke out in the state.

On Monday evening, young men took to the streets burning houses and cars in Ado Ekiti. Ekiti's state government has offered a 50m naira (about $390,000) reward to anyone with information that will lead to the arrest of the killers. Our correspondent says the states most vulnerable to pre-election violence are those where the incumbent governors are seeking re-election. In these states the governors are intolerant of any opposition from either within or outside their parties, he says.

In others, like Lagos, the violence so far has been among candidates of the same parties in a battle for nomination at the primaries.

BBC NEWS REPORT.

FRUIT & DRUGS ON S.A. HIV DISPLAY

The government says it wants to highlight nutrition as well as drugs. Lemons and garlic are displayed next to condoms and anti-retroviral drugs on the South African stand at Toronto's international Aids conference. Apples, nectarines and other tastier fruit were apparently included earlier, but were soon eaten, an official said.

South Africa's health minister has long promoted a diet including garlic and lemon as a way of treating Aids. In 2004 the government began providing Aids drugs but activists still question its commitment to fighting HIV. The exhibition represents "South Africa's response to Aids - the most comprehensive in the world," an official at the stand told the BBC's Lee Carter. "The theme is talking about issues around nutrition, and also prophylaxis and treatment," he added. But the approach attracted controversy, particularly since the bottles of anti-retroviral drugs were only added to the stand some time after the fruit and vegetables went on display.

One doctor from the paediatric Aids unit at Baragwanath Hospital in Soweto challenged the organisers of the exhibit to provide scientific evidence that any of the foodstuffs on display were clinically effective. "It's despicable that you bow to the minister's wishes and put the exhibit together in such a way," Dr Harry Moultrie said, quoted by Beeld newspaper. At the same time, a Southern African Development Community (SADC) report says the main reason for the spread of HIV/Aids is people who have multiple sexual partners and are not consistently using condoms.

The study says casual sex and intercourse with sex workers are no longer the main causes of new HIV infections. It says traditional high-risk groups, such as prostitutes, mineworkers and truck drivers, are, in fact, better protecting themselves against infection.

BBC NEWS REPORT.

CHINESE TYPHOON TOLL PASSES 250.

Chinese typhoon toll passes 250

Dozens of people were killed when houses collapsedTyphoon Saomai, the most powerful storm to hit China in 50 years, killed at least 255 people as it tore through the country's south-east, state media said. Another 160 people are still missing in the three provinces of Fujian, Zhejiang and Jiangxi, Xinhua news agency said. In Fujian's Fuding city 138 people were killed, mostly fishermen who stayed on their boats during last week's storm.
Saomai, which brought high winds and torrential rain, was the eighth typhoon to hit China this season. Many of the Fuding deaths occurred in Shacheng town, after some fishermen chose to remain on their boats during the storm, Xinhua news agency reported. "The wind was so strong that it overturned many ships and a large number of people were killed or went missing," Xinhua said.

Many fishermen chose to remain on their boats.By Sunday, 97 bodies had been found in the town, the agency said. A Shacheng resident told the AFP news agency that people were renting boats to search for their relatives. "They sail up to each body and turn it around in the water and see if they recognize the face," she said. Shacheng borders Zhejiang's Cangnan county, where Typhoon Saomai made landfall on Thursday evening. Forty-three people died there, including 41 who were killed when concrete structures they were sheltering in collapsed. One man said he had lost eight members of his family.

In pictures: Typhoon Saomai
Typhoons: Animated guide

"After some houses collapsed, we called the police and they told us to go to a newer concrete building," said the man, who gave only his surname, Yang. "When that building fell in, whole families died," he told Reuters news agency. The storm caused damage of at least $1.4bn (£760m), according to officials and destroyed more than 50,000 houses. Some 20,000 soldiers and paramilitary police have been mobilised to help with the clear up.
Saomai, which is the Vietnamese for morning star, is the eighth powerful storm to hit China this year.
Typhoon Prapiroon killed about 80 people. Tropical Storm Bilis killed more than 600 in July.
Typhoons and tropical storms are common in the region between July and October, but this year they have been unusually frequent.

BBC NEWS REPORT.

KEY ROLE IN TERROR ARRESTS

Key role in terror arrests.
By Zaffar Abbas BBC News, Islamabad.

Pakistan has stepped up security at its own airports.Within hours of Thursday's arrests in Britain of those involved in an alleged plot to hijack and blow-up passenger planes over the Atlantic, Pakistan's name had started to be linked to the events. Certainly, it is not the first time a link has been established between religious militancy in a foreign land and the extremist groups operating in Pakistan. But this time around, the way Pakistan's name has figured in the whole episode has been a matter of pride for many in the government.
The difference this time is that there has also been a high level of co-operation between the British and Pakistani security and intelligence services, leading to arrests in the two countries.
Senior Pakistani officials say that this co-operation has been in place since last year's suicide attacks in London. This has helped in identifying groups and people who could possibly be using young British Muslims of Pakistani descent to carry out suicide missions. Officials admit that, during the process, the Pakistani intelligence authorities have learnt to withhold information - only leaking details that in their view are necessary or are not going to jeopardise ongoing investigations.

Pakistan's role in the "war on terror" has drawn some criticism at home.Therefore, some observers say, there is a strong possibility that the specific information about the identities of those arrested in Pakistan may have first come out from London or Washington. Pakistan's role has been acknowledged by the British home secretary and other leaders. President Pervez Musharraf received praise from President George W Bush after senior al-Qaeda figures such as Khaled Sheikh Mohammed and Abu Zubaydah were arrested and handed over to the US on previous occasions.
But at home, there have been mixed feelings about how President Musharraf and his team have been handling the entire issue of the so-called war on terror. In the absence of specific information, many of the government's actions are seen as attempts to please the West rather than the people at home. The continuing military operation against suspected Taleban fighters and their local supporters in the tribal region near the Afghan border has also affected President Musharraf's popularity in the country.

Despite such criticism, President Musharraf seems determined to pursue the policy of curtailing or eliminating Islamic extremism from Pakistan. He says it is not being done at the behest of the US or Britain as, he says, it is in Pakistan's own interest. And in some ways this policy has also become part of his political battle for survival in the wake of growing opposition in the country. With the president's own election, and that of a new parliament, a little over one year away, the opposition parties have started to get their act together. There are strong indications that the liberal and Islamic groups may form a joint front to take on the Pakistani military ruler in the coming year.
Analysts say that, in such a situation, President Musharraf may have to look for further support from the West. But in order to do so, he may have to satisfy them that he is doing the best he can to eliminate the remnants of al-Qaeda from the country. Still, questions are being asked about the Pakistani Islamic groups that may be fanning trouble in Britain and elsewhere, and the Islamic seminaries or madrassas that have remained the source of extremism both within and outside Pakistan.
The latest episode may have earned President Musharraf some praise, but there are many in the West who still question his sincerity in combating the Taleban, if not al-Qaeda. And this may remain a contentious issue as long as links are found between the Pakistan-based groups and militants operating in other countries, or if the insurgency continues in neighbouring Afghanistan.

BBC NEWS REPORT.

CEASEFIRE, BUT CONFLICT NOT RESOLVED!

Ceasefire, but conflict not resolved
By Paul Reynolds - World affairs correspondent, BBC News website .

It is too early to say who "won" the war over southern Lebanon because, despite a ceasefire, the fighting might not be over. Despite the ceasefire, fighting might yet continue. And beyond that, the political and military structures that might prevent a future conflict have yet to be put in place. If these structures (removal of Hezbollah from south of the Litani River and removal of Israeli forces altogether, extension of Lebanese government authority and army in the south, insertion of major international force), are successful, then Israel might claim a victory of sorts. Hezbollah would not have been crushed but it might have been contained.
But the potential for a prolonged and messy guerrilla war is huge and if that happens, Israel would have lost.
In the Middle East it is unwise to judge events too quickly. In the long struggle between the Israelis and Palestinians for possession of the land, many so-called landmarks and signposts hinting at a final destination have been passed yet the road never seems to end.
We do not yet know how this round of fighting and the subsequent set-up in southern Lebanon will evolve. So whether this will turn out to be a turning point towards peace on Israel's border with Lebanon (adding to the peace it enjoys with Egypt and Jordan) remains to be seen.
These are some of the effects on the major players:

Israel
Already recriminations are beginning about the conduct of the campaign.
So on the military level, while there has been overwhelming Israeli support for the war, there have been doubts about the way it was carried out. One loser in the conflict has been the reputation of the Israel Defence Forces. This is not just a question of whether international law was broken by the intensive bombing of civilian areas, but of operational efficiency. What mystified many military observers was the mismatch between the extensive air campaign and the limited ground campaign.
The Israeli military commentator Zeev Schiff of the Haaretz newspaper said at one stage that the management of the war had been "incompetent".
Yet there must have been second thoughts. The general in charge of Northern Command was sent an 'adviser' from headquarters after it was apparently concluded that he had not been aggressive enough on the ground. There was a late movement of helicopter-born troops to the Litani, some 20km (12 miles) to the north, but these troops suffered quite heavily.
The political leadership, too, seemed to be in two minds. The new(ish) Prime Minister Ehud Olmert spoke in Churchillian tones but did not appear to want a massive invasion.
Yet without one Hezbollah could fire its rockets more easily as indeed they did, some 200 on the day before the ceasefire alone.
Israelis might feel that, as one minister feared, this ended in a "draw". But they will probably judge Mr Olmert according to the success of whatever arrangements are put in place in southern Lebanon.
He will have a lot of arguing to do.

Hezbollah
Hezbollah has not been beaten. However, its belief in the deterrent effect of its missiles was not fulfilled. Instead, these served as a casus belli for Israel. Some quarters in Israel have questioned its military strategy. It might have miscalculated when it captured the two Israeli soldiers, the event that triggered the Israeli attack. Wanting simply to use them as bargaining chips in a prisoner exchange, it found itself under major assault.
Perhaps the real test for Hezbollah is yet to come. How will it regroup in its strongholds of southern Lebanon, whose villages have been destroyed? Will it see in the presence of thousands of Israeli troops in southern Lebanon an opportunity to continue the war?
Or will it accept that its free hand in the south must end? In which case, the days of Hezbollah as a military force might be numbered.
Again, these events cannot be looked at over the short period Hezbollah has been around since the early Eighties and this could simply be one more round in a long contest.

Lebanon
The biggest losers were obviously the civilians. This war was another agony in a long list as Lebanon struggles to find stability and order. Almost 1,000 Lebanese civilians and 157 Israelis died in the conflictThat the government survived is a plus for those who want reform to continue in Lebanon. The Prime Minister Faoud Siniora made a significant intervention when he offered to send 15,000 Lebanese army soldiers into southern Lebanon.
This enabled Israel and the United States to accept a ceasefire earlier than they might otherwise have done. If Siniora can make his plan work, he could emerge the stronger.
But Lebanon will still have to resolve the issue of Hezbollah and how far it can form its own state within the state.

The United States
The US sided openly with Israel in the early stages but went through something of a change of tactics as the fighting went on. Instead of waiting until there was an agreement for post-war structures, it agreed that there could be a stop to the fighting first.
It got round this contradiction by semantics. The first stage would simply be a "cessation of hostilities" and the second stage would form the "permanent ceasefire".
Diplomatic language has never been so flexible.
The US strategic aim has been to weaken Hezbollah and through that to weaken Iran, which is Hezbollah's main supporter.
Again the jury is still out as to whether this will be achieved.

France
Using its traditional links to Lebanon and its philosophical differences with the Bush administration, France is one of the few clear winners from this war. It held its position against the US and forced the Americans to negotiate a Security Council resolution.
By contrast, with Britain supporting the US and Germany somewhere in the middle, the European Union was nowhere. The prospects for an EU "common foreign policy" have never been so distant.

Paul.Reynolds-INTERNET@bbc.co.uk

BBC NEWS REPORT.

REID TELLS OF FOUR TERROR PLOTS!

Reid on terror threat

Home Secretary John Reid has revealed that "at least four major plots" have been thwarted since the 7 July attacks in London last year. Mr Reid also said the government believes the first al-Qaeda plot in the UK was in 2000 in Birmingham, preceding the war in Iraq and the 9/11 attacks. Police are currently quizzing 23 people over an alleged plot to blow up planes. Detectives are conducting a major search for evidence at woods near High Wycombe in Buckinghamshire. The home secretary said he thought it was right to keep Britain at the highest possible level of terrorist alert.

But he acknowledged that the "terribly inconvenient regime" of restrictions imposed on carrying hand luggage was affecting airlines and the travelling public. He said those limits were being reviewed but any new regime would still need to ensure safety. "We think we have the main suspects in this particular plot. I have to be honest and say on the basis of what we know, there could be others out there ... so the threat of a terrorist attack in the UK is still very substantial," he told the BBC programme.

Travellers facing further delays

While the police and security forces were doing their job with 100% effort, he said: "We can never guarantee 100% success." "This has been an ongoing threat, it is a chronic one and it is a severe one," he added. Even if the threat level was reduced to "severe", Mr Reid said it was "highly likely there would be another terrorist attempt and that is one thing of which we can be sure." Asked whether the four major plots he revealed could have caused a major loss of life, Mr Reid said: "In my view yes, on the information I have received."

Suspects names released
Who are terror plot suspects?

The Home Secretary was also asked about a report in Sunday's Observer newspaper which said that "up to two dozen" terror investigations were operating across Britain.
Mr Reid said: "I'm not going to confirm an exact number but I wouldn't deny that that would indicate the number of major conspiracies that we are trying to look at. "There would be more which are not at the centre of our considerations and there may be more that we don't know about at all."
Responding to questions on whether the government would once again push for a 90-day detention of terror suspects, the home secretary said the current situation did not represent "a good time" to look at such measures.

NEW THREAT LEVELS
Low - an attack is unlikely
Moderate - an attack is possible but not likely
Substantial - strong possibility of an attack
Severe - an attack is highly likely
Critical - an attack is expected imminently.

But he said it was his own view that 90 days was what police required. He was also asked his opinion on a letter written by a group of British Muslim leaders who believed the UK's foreign policy could be linked to the terror threat. Mr Reid said such a belief was a "dreadful misjudgement that foreign policy of this country should be shaped in part, or in whole, under the threat of terrorism activity".
Shadow home secretary David Davis, speaking on Sky News, also criticised the letter.
"It (foreign policy) might be part of the catalyst, but to explain this is not to excuse it," he said.
"There are plenty of people with legitimate arguments with the government's foreign policy on Iraq, in Afghanistan in Lebanon and the Middle East but none of them take the stance of attempting to murder many thousands of their fellow citizens".

BBC NEWS REPORT.

PIRACY ON THE STREETS OF PERU!

Piracy on the streets of Peru.
By Daniel Schweimler BBC News, Lima.

Counterfeiting is a problem in many parts of the world, but in the Peruvian capital, Lima, the black market has become a normal part of everyday life. I had been told about the black market in Lima before I arrived, but it still somehow caught me by surprise.

A DVD of Cars 2 is already being sold on the black market in LimaI was on the edge of Lima's bustling Chinatown, and remembered that a friend had asked if I could pick up a copy of the Disney/Pixar production of Cars for her son.
"Have you got Cars?" I asked.
Cars 2 was thrust in my face.
"But that can't be," I pleaded. "It's not been made yet. Cars 1 is only being released in the cinema today."
"Not been released," said the vendor knowingly. "But it's been made."
And he tapped the box with his forefinger, before imploring me to follow him into a warren of market stalls covered with corrugated plastic sheets and each selling a huge array of DVDs - mostly recent Hollywood releases.
Those most prominently displayed were for the kids. Although if you looked deeper into the gloom, there was the usual array of sordid porn flicks.
Hard to resist
In the corner of this illegal black market den sat two uniformed security guards.

Each stall had a television set inserted among the boxes to show the customers that they were buying quality illegal DVDs.
I was given a showing - a short film before the main presentation telling me that I would not steal a car, I would not rob someone's house so I should not buy a pirate DVD, since that too was theft.
The irony I think was lost on the vendors. The images were a bit fuzzy around the edges and the sound a little distorted, but it was certainly watchable.
I know I should not have done it, but I did.
At three soles ($1) a time, who could resist buying?
The US-based International Intellectual Property Alliance, which fights to stop piracy worldwide, estimates that about half of all films sold in Peru are pirate copies.

Blockbusters such as Pirates of the Caribbean are being sold illegallyThe legal music market has collapsed, unable to compete with 98% of all music being sold on the black market.
Books are another problem.
As I walked through Lima's Chinatown, I had to run the gauntlet of enthusiastic vendors offering me the latest works by Peru's best known author, Mario Vargas Llosa.
Only something was not quite right. "Mario Vargas Llos" it said on the cover. I have never heard of him.
There is a story circulating in Peru, which could well be true, that another Peruvian writer, the popular Jaime Bayly, was waiting at traffic lights when black marketeers offered him a pirate copy of one of his own books.
Recognising the author from the photo on the back cover, the vendor, without even pausing to blush, offered him a discount.
Thriving trade
The pirated goods trade in Peru is estimated to be worth more than $2bn a year. And it is not limited to just books, DVDs and music.
There is an illegal market in alpacas, the animals sold to wool producers abroad for up to $50,000 each (£26,000).

Even alpacas, a type of llama, are sold on the black market
There is also a thriving trade in alcohol, cigarettes, computer software, toys and brand-name clothes.
More than half of Peru's economy is made up of unregulated businesses that do not pay tax. More than half the 28 million population lives below the poverty line and simply cannot afford the genuine goods.
A compact disc in the shops can cost $16 (£8.45) - and a pirated copy, a fraction of that price.
The International Intellectual Property Alliance has urged the Peruvian authorities to take action. It says the government should conduct regular raids on the black market centres, many of which operate quite openly just a block away from Lima's police stations and courthouses, and impose tougher sentences on the culprits.
It did, however, point out in one report that 150 police officers armed with tear gas and riot control equipment who raided one well-known pirate market in Lima were simply fought off by the well-organised black marketeers.
Corruption rife
There is no doubt that the government would like to do more. It loses millions of dollars in unpaid taxes each year, and foreigners are not investing.
The Anglo-Dutch oil giant Royal Dutch Shell sold its petrol stations in Peru, saying fuel smuggling from Ecuador was undercutting its operations.
Those who stay have to invest in measures that make counterfeiting more difficult.
Local business groups have demanded tougher action against the illegal markets.
But politicians say they have become an intrinsic part of Peruvian society, and closing them down could cause social unrest.
Also, millions of dollars of contraband enter Peru every year across its porous borders with Bolivia, Chile and Ecuador.
Corruption is rife among underpaid and poorly equipped officials at all the frontiers.
But perhaps the biggest hindrance to solving the problem is that it has just become too widespread, so much a part of normal life that I bought my copy of Cars and totally forgot that I was doing something wrong.
From Our Own Correspondent was broadcast on Saturday, 12 August, 2006 at 1130 BST on BBC Radio 4. Please check the programme schedules for World Service transmission times.

BBC NEWS REPORT.

EXPERTS TO SET PIPELINE GAS PRICE!

The pipeline would carry natural gas from Iran to India. India, Pakistan and Iran have agreed to appoint consultants in a bid to solve the issue of pricing over a proposed gas pipeline. The project would carry natural gas more than 2,500 kms (1,562 miles) from Iran to India. Work could begin as early as next year. But India and Pakistan cannot agree with Iran on the price of the gas.

Now the countries have agreed to appoint independent consultants who will advise on a pricing formula. Iran wants to the price of the gas to be fixed to international market prices while India and Pakistan want a fixed price. The dispute has held up the $7bn project, which was first mooted a decade ago.

The consultants, who have not yet been chosen, are expected to deliver a pricing formula within the next four or five weeks. The three countries will then resume talks, based on the formula.
But it is not clear if the consultants' report will be binding on all three parties and it may be that one or more of them may yet back out of the deal. The Indian Petroleum Secretary, M S Srinivasan, told the BBC there was still quite a gap between the two sides: "The difference could be about 60% or so over what we are considering reasonable. India, Iran and Pakistan - all three - need to be flexible. Resilience is what is required, not rigidity."

But all sides remain bullish, with Iran claiming it can sell its gas elsewhere and India and Pakistan both claiming they have alternative suppliers in Qatar and Turkmenistan. If the pipeline does go ahead India could buy up to 60 million cubic metres a day and Pakistan 30 million. Both countries' energy demands are expected to double within the next 15 years.
Benefits to Pakistan

The pipeline would also bring financial benefits to Pakistan, earning the country millions of dollars in transit fees. In May talks between the three nations failed due to disagreement on the price of the gas. If the pricing issue can be resolved work could begin by the end of next year and the pipeline could be up and running by 2011.

The US had earlier opposed the project because of the financial and strategic benefits it would bring to Iran. But during a visit to Pakistan in March this year, President George Bush indicated the US had dropped its staunch opposition to the pipeline. Mr Bush said he understood the need for natural gas in the region and the US argument with Iran was over nuclear weapons. Iran is believed to have the world's second largest reserves of natural gas after Russia.

BBC NEWS REPORT.

WHITE S.A. FARMERS IN SALES DEADLINE!

Robert Walker BBC News, South Africa.

The South African government has told white farmers that they risk losing their farms if they fail to agree a selling price within six months. South Africa wants to accelerate the land transfer process.The Agriculture and Land Affairs Minister, Lulu Xingwana, said the deadline was necessary to speed up the transfer of farms to black people who were forcibly removed from their land under apartheid. The transfers are part of a government programme to get 30% of farmland in black hands by 2014. Land reform is one of the most emotive and politically charged issues in South Africa. And returning land seized from black farmers during apartheid was of the key promises made by the African National Congress when it came to power in 1994.

More than 10 years on, only 4% of land has been transferred and the government is under fire for going too slowly. The problem, ministers say, is that it is taking too long to negotiate with white farmers over the price of land. Only a small percentage of land has been transferred.Now, for the first time, the government has set a time limit on talks - it will negotiate for six months and no more. After that, land could be expropriated. The challenge for the ruling ANC is to keep the promises it has made while avoiding the violence that has surrounded land reform in neighbouring Zimbabwe - where it helped bring about the collapse of the country's highly profitable agricultural sector.

But it is a hugely complex process. One problem is sorting out competing claims over the same piece of land. Families removed from farms generations ago often do not have documents. Family trees have to be constructed to see who is entitled to a share. And if black farmers are allocated land, but not given enough capital to develop it, then agricultural production could fall.
But whatever the short-term costs, advocates of land reform say the longer-term risks of political instability are much higher if the issue is not tackled faster.

Already, grievances over land have led to violence in some areas.

BBC NEWS REPORT.

UGANDA ARMY KILLS SENIOR REBEL!

Ugandan army 'kills senior rebel'

The LRA declared a unilateral ceasefire a week ago The Ugandan army says it has killed a senior commander of the rebel Lord's Resistance Army who was sought internationally for alleged war crimes. A military spokesman said troops shot Raska Lukwiya, whom he described as the LRA's third in command, on Saturday. Correspondents say his death casts further doubt on the resumption of talks to end the war, which has killed thousands and displaced two million. The talks had been adjourned until Monday amid disagreement on a truce. Raska Lukwiya was killed in a confrontation in the northern district of Kitgum, Ugandan officials said. Mr Lukwiya and his group of fighters had staged an ambush on Friday, killing a soldier and a civilian, they said. "So yesterday morning we deployed our units to pursue him and Lukwiya was killed in the process," army spokesman Chris Magezi told the French news agency, AFP. Mr Lukwiya was among five top members of the LRA, including the group's leader Joseph Kony, who are sought by the International Criminal Court to face charges including murder, rape and forcibly enlisting children. The LRA has abducted thousands of children and forced them to fight since the conflict in the north began two decades ago. Talks deadline Peace talks between government negotiators and LRA representatives in neighbouring Sudan were postponed at the weekend after the two sides failed to agree on an end to hostilities. The Ugandan President, Yoweri Museveni, has set a 12 September deadline for thrashing out a final peace deal. The LRA declared a unilateral truce last week but then refused to attend more talks until the government followed suit. The government has called for a comprehensive ceasefire, which includes a demand for the rebels to provide details of their forces and deployment. The government also wants a guarantee the LRA will not use the halt in fighting to reinforce its positions. Consulting The talks, brokered by the government of south Sudan, had been considered the best chance of ending the 20-year-war in northern Uganda. The LRA delegation at the talks in Juba said they were consulting with their leaders in the wake of the death of Mr Lukwiya, who they said was not the rebels' third in command. They would issue a statement later on Sunday, they said. The head of the Ugandan government delegation, Interior Minister Ruhakana Rugunda, said he still hoped for a quick end to the conflict. "We regret the loss of any Uganda at this critical time when we are making every effort to end the conflict," Mr Rugunda said. BBC NEWS REPORT.

ETHIOPIA WARNS OF SOMALI DANGERS!

The Islamists are continuing to make gains in Somalia. Ethiopia has warned that Somalia's transitional government is in danger of being sidelined by the growth in power of the country's Islamic Courts.
The country's foreign ministry said much of the power within the Islamic Courts has fallen into the hands of "terrorist" elements.
There are also reports of arms flooding into Somalia despite an embargo, and Ethiopian troops massed at the border.
There are fears that Ethiopia could intervene against the Islamic Courts.
In a statement issued on an Ethiopian government website, a senior information official, Solomon Abebe, complained that too much power in Somalia was being concentrated in the hands of Sheikh Hassan Dahir Aweys, who chairs the Union of Islamic Courts.
Mr Abebe described Mr Aweys' al-Ittihad organisation as a "terrorist group".
"Any move which would be detrimental to the national interests of the country [Ethiopia] would not be tolerated," Mr Abebe added.

The Islamic Courts, which took power in the Somali capital, Mogadishu, in June, have extended their control over the centre and south of the country. President Abdullahi Yusuf is a long-time ally of Ethiopia. Since then the Islamic Courts have strengthened their positions. Arms have flowed to them by air and by sea.
Diplomats say Eritrea is being used as a staging post for weapons supplies from Iran, Egypt and Libya - including sophisticated surface-to-air missiles.
These weapons have increased the confidence of the Islamic Courts, which are pushing northwards, and are reported to be 60km south of the town of Gaalkayo.
This is significant, since the town borders on Puntland, the rear base of President Abdullahi Yusuf.
Forces from Puntland have been mobilised to counter this threat.
But the BBC's Africa editor Martin Plaut says the president is in a weak position, in the central Somali town of Baidoa with his transitional government.
Many of his militia have defected to the Islamic Courts and his government is badly divided.

Meanwhile, Ethiopia is viewing the growing strength of the Islamists with apprehension.
It is reported to have six divisions - or close to 5,000 troops, including tanks, massed along the Somali border.
Diplomatic sources believe they could intervene if the Islamic Courts cross into Puntland, our correspondent says.
The US, which has forces in neighbouring Djibouti, is also seriously worried by these developments.
Analysts from the International Crisis Group also issued a warning in a report earlier this week. "Military and diplomatic observers in Nairobi believe Ethiopia is preparing to carry out a short, sharp strike deep into southern Somalia if it deems the Courts a sufficient threat," the ICG reports said.
That moment could now be approaching, our correspondent says.

BBC NEWS REPORT.

CATHY BUCKLE'S LETTTER FROM ZIMBABWE!

Dear Family and Friends,

Two weeks into the change of Zimbabwe's currency and there is no shortage of horror stories about some of the things that have gone on. Stories of people being dehumanized at road blocks - ordered to strip and then being subjected to indecent searches in the hunt for concealed currency. Stories of multiple billions of dollars being seized, of mourners being ordered to open coffins and of huge bribes being demanded and given, to bypass the regulations and get old currency back into the banking system. The banks are full to bursting with depositors, the lines endlessly long, the whirring and clacking of the note counting machines incessant. In the queues are men, women and even children with shopping bags, cardboard boxes, suitcases of all sizes and shapes, canvas kitbags, tin trunks and huge steel safes - all full with money. The tellers behind the counters are literally encased in money tombs - huge walls of bank notes rising around and above them, against the walls, under their feet, along side their elbows and slowly engulfing them almost completely from view. In the towns and suburbs there are stories of people going on massive spending sprees buying anything and everything they can in order to use up the old money that they cannot bank. All of these stories, however, fade into insignificance for the great majority of desperately poor ordinary people in Zimbabwe.

This week I talked to a man from a rural village and the whole hullabaloo about money hardly featured in his worries. There had been a late frost last week and the man and his wife had lost their entire vegetable garden of tomatoes and leaf vegetables. The tomatoes were just a few days away from picking but the frost burnt the tops of the fruits, turning firm flesh into brown mush. The rape leaves were almost big enough to start picking but the frost turned them crisp and yellow and worthless. When I asked why the man hadn't built grass frost shelters around the garden he said that as far as you could see in every direction there is no grass left - every blade has been burnt. There is no grass for the cattle to eat and bushes and shrubs have also been burnt. All unprotected maize stover has gone too in the uncontrolled fires that are sweeping across mile after mile of countryside. The man said that he hears on his radio the news that people starting fires would be arrested but every day great plumes of smoke rise up but the police never come.

I asked the man if he knew about the money being changed and he said that the villagers had been called to meetings and told they had to spend all their money as it was about to worthless. The man said many people did not believe the news, especially older people who hid their money in buckets and tins - buried it in the ground in the middle of their huts. The man said he had come to town to spend all his savings. He had five million dollars (equivalent of five pounds sterling) and wanted to buy one bag of fertilizer. His friend had found and priced the fertilizer for him at a big farm supply outlet - it was exactly five million dollars for a 50 kg bag. Just four days later the man went with his handful of money and found the price had gone up. The bag of fertilizer now cost six million four hundred thousand dollars. The man stood looking at his handful of purple paper and his hunched posture spoke volumes; in a few days it would be as worthless as his garden of burnt vegetables.

If the Zimbabwe government put anywhere near as much energy into growing food as they have into confiscating people's own money, we would be fat, fit and flourishing.

Until next week, thanks for reading,
love cathy

Copyright cathybuckle 12 August 2006 http://africantears.netfirms.comMy books "African Tears" and "Beyond Tears" are available from:orders@africabookcentre.com ; www.africabookcentre.com

EU TO HOLD TALKS ON U.K . JET PLOT!

Warsaw airport is one of many in the EU to see tighter security. The European Union will hold a meeting of aviation and security experts next week on the suspected plot to blow up planes that was uncovered in the UK.
Finland, which holds the rotating EU presidency, said the meeting was needed to discuss anti-terrorism measures.
The UK says 23 people are being held over the alleged plot to blow up several planes with liquid explosives.
France on Friday announced a temporary ban on liquids in hand luggage on flights to the US, UK and Israel.
Finnish State Secretary Kari Salmi said the meeting would be in Brussels although the exact date has not yet been set.
Mr Salmi said: "The aim is that experts will go through the situation in aviation security. Are the regulations in place? Are communications, both on EU and national level synchronised?"
A statement from the Finnish presidency said another "restricted" meeting was being considered of ministers responsible for internal security.

Readers describe disruptions
19 suspects' assets frozen
Police examine threat

The suspected UK-based plot caused many delays and cancellations of flights to the UK from European airports, many of which have seen heightened security.
The UK has said its security threat level is to stay at "critical" although it believes the main suspects are in custody.
Nineteen of 24 people arrested have had their UK assets frozen. The names have been published by the Bank of England.
One of the 24 was released without charge on Friday night.
On Friday the world's top money laundering watchdog, the Paris-based Financial Action Task Force, urged nations to increase measures to combat the financing of terrorism.
Alain Damais, its executive secretary, said: "This is again a kind of wake-up call for all the countries around the world."
It is thought that the suspects were planning to blow up several planes by using liquid explosives carried in soft-drink bottles, and detonators disguised as electronic equipment.

Searches are continuing at UK addresses.
On Friday, the French prime minister's press office said that France was implementing a temporary ban on liquids, creams and gels in hand luggage, in addition to measures already in place aimed at ensuring the safety of French citizens and transiting passengers.
UK police said the planned explosions could have caused "mass murder on an unimaginable scale".
Officials in Pakistan said security forces in the country had arrested two British men of Pakistani origin in connection with the alleged plot.
They were picked up from Lahore and Karachi last week.
On Thursday, Pakistan announced it had made a number of arrests in connection with the investigation.
The UK Home Office has refused to confirm reports that Thursday's anti-terror operation was triggered by the interception of a decoded message sent by a suspect in Pakistan, which gave the go-ahead for the attack to take place.
The suspects were rounded up in raids in London in Buckinghamshire and the West Midlands. All are being held in London.

BBC NEWS REPORT.

CAMEROON TRACKS GHOST WORKERS!

The authorities in Cameroon have discovered that they are paying civil service salaries to 45,000 employees who do not actually exist.
The "ghost workers" were uncovered by a census of public servants as part of a drive to stamp out corruption.
Finance Minister Polycarpe Abah Abah said the fake employees were costing nearly $10m (£5m) a month.
Earlier this year foreign donors made tackling corruption a condition for cancelling billions of dollars of debt.
"These people have been robbing the state," said Mr Abah Abah, adding that further cases could emerge as the census continued.
The government, he added, would take legal action against people making fraudulent claims for civil servants who had moved abroad or who were dead.
Other "ghost workers" include some of the 50,000 civil servants made redundant in the mid-1990s under pressure from the World Bank and International Monetary Fund.
Corrupt staff managed to get the names of some of these back on the payroll, officials were quoted by Reuters news agency as saying.
In 2005, the public service ministry found more than half of its 2,700-strong workforce did not exist.
Cameroon's progress as a state has been hampered by a level of corruption that is among the highest in the world.

BBC NEWS REPORT.

ZIMBAWEAN DRAG QUEEN REVEALS ALL!

Zimbabwean drag queen reveals all
By Lucy Fleming BBC News website.

Kudah was crowned Jacaranda Queen in 1997. Looming over the audience on high heels and batting enormous eyelashes, voluptuous Zimbabwean drag performer - the Queen of Africa - demands attention. "I'm gay; I'm a drag queen; I love sleeping with men; I love having fun and I was born gay," says Kudah Samuriwo, cooling himself with a fan after a performance in a hot and sticky London theatre.

During the 1990s, Kudah courted controversy in Zimbabwe, where homosexuality is illegal, when he became the first black drag queen to win the Jacaranda Queen beauty contest - a crown usually worn by coloured (mixed-race) transvestites. At more than 1.8m (six feet) tall, he models himself on African pop divas such as Brenda Fassie and Yvonne Chaka Chaka, whose name he used as his original stage name. "To me a drag queen is something outrageous, more than a woman. I'm proud to be a man. I'm a drag queen because I'm different."

This in-your-face attitude put him on a collision course with Zimbabwe's President Robert Mugabe, who regards homosexuality as un-African. Mr Mugabe infamously described gays as "worse than pigs and dogs" at the opening of the Zimbabwe's International Book Fair in 1995. "That changed the world, just those words," says Kudah, who after subsequent harassment fled into exile to the UK.

Nearly four years on, he is taking a qualification to become a care-worker and is writing his show, Queen of Africa. It is a work-in-progress - written in collaboration with Nigerian playwright Dipo Agboluaje - and is a funny, provocative and often moving account of his experiences. "I don't know what Mugabe has against pigs and dogs; he must have had the worst sex ever with them. "Maybe he's had gays as well that's why he makes comparisons. Experts can be so one-sided," he says during a workshop of the play.

Kudah's first stage name was Yvonne Chaka Chaka.Despite his outspoken performance, Kudah says he grew up a shy man "suppressing what I really wanted to do". As early as seven years old he was aware that he was different, but as the eldest son of a local chief, coming out in such a conservative society was out of the question. "I had to be an heir, a man who could go and hunt, so it was difficult hiding behind my mother's skirt," he says. Kudah lost his virginity at 14 to a distant uncle, the night he returned from the post-independence war against the Ndebele people in the south of the country.

But it was not until he went to live in the capital, Harare, after leaving boarding school that his parents found out that he was gay. To escape their anger he went to South Africa for several years, only reconciling with his family in his twenties after his father's death. The play not only charts Kudah's personal story, but the crackdown on the gay community since 1995 when homosexuals have been repeatedly bribed, detained, beaten and sometimes raped by the authorities. "My experience was very hard, because the policemen were clever. They would take us, arrest us and release us without charge, so we didn't have any proof," he explains.

Events organised by the Association of Gays and Lesbians of Zimbabwe (Galz), which he helped form, were often infiltrated by government spies. "I would end up sleeping with them and teaching them about oral sex." For Kudah, it has been HIV and Aids that has had the most devastating effect on the gay scene in Zimbabwe, where many cannot afford anti-retroviral drugs. "Organising and attending funerals took a fair share of my time as one by one friends and relatives answered the roll call of death," he says in the play. "We knew it wasn't a divine curse to punish us for what we are. Ignorance was killing more people than HIV."

In the end, it was the constant police intimidation - and petrol shortages that had crippled his minibus business - which prompted his departure. He says he will not return to Zimbabwe until President Mugabe "has left", but he yearns for his former life. "I had a nice car; I had money; I had friends to talk to in my language; I had a maid. "I never used to do any washing, I didn't even know how to iron," he says. Kudah now sees himself as a gay activist and "freedom fighter" and hopes his play will one day go into production so that he can continue "the struggle" and one day return home.

"A queen must protect her subjects even if the president refuses to do so," he says.

BBC NEWS REPORT.

NIGERIA TO 'NAME CORRUPT LEADERS'!

$400bn is said to have been stolen. Nigeria's anti-corruption agency says it will publish the names of all past and present political leaders who have stolen money from the treasury. The head of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, Mallam Nuhu Ribadu, said more than $400bn (£211) of oil revenue had been stolen. He also said the move would deter corrupt politicians from seeking office in elections due next year.

Nigeria has been regarded as one of the most corrupt countries in the world. "Over $400bn in oil money has been stolen by bad leaders," Mr Ribadu said at a lecture in Lagos, quoted by This Day newspaper. "We are going to trace the activities of past and present leaders and publish the names of those leaders who have laundered money, their accounts and the names of the banks where the money is being kept.

"We will also close the accounts of those politicians who have laundered money and converted it for their political ambitions. This will stop bad people from coming into power," he said. He promised the commission would monitor closely the use of revenue allocated to the three levels of government - federal, state and local - to ensure the money was not laundered.

President Olusegun Obasanjo created the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission in 2002 by to try to stamp out corruption.

BBC NEWS REPORT.

TANZANIAN PRIEST MOLESTED CHILD.

The church has paid millions in damages over child sex cases. A Roman Catholic priest in Tanzania, Fr Sixtus Kimaro has been jailed for 30 years after being convicted of sex offences against a 17-year-old boy.
In the first such case reported in Tanzania, Fr Kimaro was found guilty of having sex with the boy over two years.
He was also ordered to pay the boy 2m shillings ($1,554) in compensation.
The Roman Catholic Church has paid out millions of dollars in damages in other countries over dozens of cases of priests who sexually molested children.
The court rejected the defence argument that Fr Kimaro, 38, should be pardoned because he is a young man.
"That is not a valid excuse for something that is not accepted in society," magistrate Pellagia Khaday said as he passed sentence on Wednesday.
"The clergy must be held in high esteem and so he should have been responsible for his actions."
Homosexual sex, and sex with a minor, are criminal offences in Tanzania.

BBC NEWS REPORT.

UN ATTACKS LEBANON AID DISGRACE!

Agencies are looking for ways to get supplies into southern Lebanon. The UN's top humanitarian official has criticised Israel and Hezbollah for hindering access to southern Lebanon, calling the situation a "disgrace". Jan Egeland said both sides could give aid agencies access in a "heartbeat". Hospitals in south Lebanon are also said to be low on food and fuel.

The warning came amid more violence across the Israel-Lebanon border. Two Israeli Arabs were killed in Hezbollah rocket fire, while Israeli air strikes killed two Lebanese. An Israeli soldier was also killed in fighting in southern Lebanon. Israeli planes also dropped leaflets on southern Beirut, warning residents of three districts to leave immediately. More than 1,000 Lebanese, most of them civilians, have now been killed in the hostilities, the Lebanese government has said. Some 122 Israelis, most of them soldiers, have also been killed.

Speaking at UN offices in Geneva, Switzerland, Mr Egeland said Israel and Hezbollah were preventing relief workers from saving people's lives.

Mid-East crisis: Key maps
Nasrallah rallies support

"It is a disgrace really. We have not had any access for many days to the besieged population of southern Lebanon," he said. The UN's World Food Programme (WFP) also called on both sides to allow humanitarian aid through. "Our aid operation is like a patient starved of oxygen facing paralysis, verging on death " said Zlatan Milisic, WFP emergency co-ordinator in Lebanon. Mr Milisic said about 100,000 people were stranded south of the Litani River.

WFP spokeswoman Christiane Berthiaume said relief supplies reached the coastal city of Sidon on Wednesday but the Israeli Defence Forces had not granted permission for a convoy to go to Nabatiyeh, north of the river. Medical aid agency Medecins Sans Frontieres (MSF) has meanwhile warned that hospitals in south Lebanon are running out of food, fuel and medical supplies. As the humanitarian crisis deepened, violence between Hezbollah and Israel showed no sign of easing.

Among the main developments:
Israeli forces said they had taken control of the strategically placed town of Marjayoun - a mostly Christian town about 8km (five miles) from the border
Hezbollah reported destroying at least 13 tanks in south Lebanon
Israel fired about 1,000 artillery shells at the Hezbollah stronghold of Khiam, with ground battles also reported in the area
Israeli rocketed a disused lighthouse tower carrying a television mast in west Beirut
On Wednesday the Israeli cabinet approved a plan to thrust deeper into Lebanon, towards the Litani River, up to 30km (18 miles) from the Israeli border.

Press sceptical on diplomacy
Excerpts: Council speeches

Israeli officials however say the plan has been delayed. The BBC's Christian Fraser in Beirut says it seems the timing for that push depends to a large extent on what is happening in New York, where the UN Security Council is working on a ceasefire resolution. US ambassador John Bolton said there could be a vote on a resolution on Friday. The council's five permanent members are holding further talks to try to resolve the remaining obstacles to a final text. The dispute is over a timetable for Israel's withdrawal from south Lebanon - France thinks Israel should pull out as Lebanese troops take over, while the US supports Israel's contention that it must stay put until a new international force can be deployed.

BBC NEWS REPORT.

ISRAEL'S OFFENSIVE ONE MONTH ON!

Israel's offensive one month on.
By Martin Asser BBC News

Israel has launched air strikes throughout Lebanese territory. The ever-volatile Middle East has been in turmoil since Hezbollah guerrillas launched a cross border attack from Lebanon into Israel four weeks ago, killing eight Israeli soldiers and capturing two others. The conflict has marked a new escalation of the Arab-Israeli struggle - taking hundreds of lives, causing massive destruction and displacing hundreds of thousands of people.

It pits the region's most powerful and technologically advanced army against a small, lightly-armed guerrilla force galvanised by a taste for engagement with the enemy and martyrdom. Fighting has been fierce and bombs have continued to rain down on both civilian populations. Israel, despite its overwhelming military advantage, has been forced into a radical re-think tactically and strategically in the last month.

Meanwhile, international diplomacy has been powerless to halt the killing, as a humanitarian catastrophe looms in Lebanon. And the parallel Israeli-Palestinian conflict, the most important factor to deal with in any Middle East settlement, rages on unabated. It is probable that Hezbollah seriously underestimated Israel's response to its 12 July raid which triggered the crisis.

FOUR WEEKS' FIGHTING
Deaths: 998 Lebanese, 102 Israeli
Injuries: 3,493 Lebanese, 690 Israeli
Displaced: 915,762 Lebanese, 500,000 Israeli
Official sources and NGOs as of 8 Aug 2006

Conflict facts and figures

A similar foray several years ago led to a prisoner-swap deal that saw hundreds of Palestinian detainees released, as well as prominent Lebanese held for decades by Israel. This time, with a newly-elected Israeli government that had yet to win its spurs, the response was more likeI srael's bloody 1982 invasion of Lebanon. But if Israel's goal was to free its soldiers and scotch the shower of unguided missiles fired at it by Hezbollah, it has failed.

In fact, the Katyusha salvoes have hit more and more frequently and deeper into Israel, unchecked by the massive air power used to combat them. Israel has been criticised internationally for what many see as its disproportionate military response, just as Hezbollah has been criticised for its unguided rocket attacks against Israel.

The big question is whether Hezbollah will be goaded into firing its longest-range missile type, the 100km Zilzal, at Israel's largest city Tel Aviv. Israel has tried to undermine support for Hezbollah in LebanonSpeculation in the Lebanese capital Beirut is that that could trigger a much wider bombardment by Israel - beyond the mainly Shia southern suburbs that have been hit so far. While an attack on Tel Aviv remains very much up Hezbollah's sleeve, Israeli tactics have been steadily evolving.

At the beginning it was suggested, somewhat naively perhaps, that air power and artillery could achieve Israel's stated goal of removing Hezbollah as a hostile force in Lebanon. Israeli jets are unopposed in the skies over Lebanon, but they are mostly powerless to deal with the highly-mobile rocket crews. Thousands of ground forces have been steadily introduced, but they have had to fight for every inch of territory and pay for it in soldiers' blood. The plan now appears to be to carve out what Israel is calling a "security zone" in southern Lebanon, to put a buffer between it and the rocket crews.

On Wednesday the Israel security cabinet approved a risky new thrust north to the strategic Litani River, up to 30km (18 miles) into Lebanon. If prolonged, the deployment could expose Israeli forces to the kind of attritional armed resistance that forced their retreat from Lebanon in 2000. Hezbollah has taken the fight to civilians in northern IsraelThis time though they would not have a proxy militia from southern Lebanon to bear the brunt of attacks. It also seems inevitable that the punishment meted out across Lebanon, aside from the onslaught faced by Hezbollah, will continue and increase.

Key infrastructure items, such as roads, factories and bridges, have already been destroyed. An environmental disaster followed the Israeli bombing of a coastal power station and fuel storage depot. But the most acute situation could come if petrol and diesel ran out, preventing transport and electricity generation, which could happen within days. Israel's unstated intention could be to show the wider Lebanese population that they too have to pay for Shia Muslim resistance, and it is a price not worth paying.

However, in many quarters, Hezbollah's prestige has been enhanced, for its steadfast stance, compared with the ineffective governments across the Arab world. If small cracks are forming in Lebanon's fragile sectarian system of power-sharing, mostLebanese people still view Israel as the enemy, especially given the heavy civilian toll it has exacted. The consensus is that the cracks would open up only if Israeli forces remained in the south, especially if allowed to do so under an international resolution pushed through by Israel's allies at the UN.

BBC NEWS REPORT.

AIRPORT BATTLE NEW SECURITY THREATS!

Airports battle new security threats.
By Laura Smith-Spark BBC News.

Air travel has been transformed since al-Qaeda hijackers seized aeroplanes to use as weapons on 11 September 2001. Experts believe it is the first time hand baggage has been banned.
Across the world, airport operators and airlines have been forced to bring in increasingly stringent security measures to try to ensure safety in the air.
But nothing has been as draconian as the steps taken in the UK following the discovery of a suspected plot to blow up several planes in mid-air.
Passengers have been banned from taking any hand luggage bar the barest essentials on to flights leaving the UK.
The few items allowed - such as travel documents, wallets, baby food and nappies - must be carried in a transparent plastic bag.
The alert has raised the question of how far security measures have been tightened in the past five years - and what weaknesses remain.
New technology
Air security expert Chris Yates, of Jane's Airport Review, said banning hand baggage was a "measure of last resort" - and unprecedented in his experience.
AIRPORT SECURITY

Guide to UK airport security

Obliging passengers to check luggage into the hold means every item must pass through highly accurate machines which check for noxious substances, explosives and timing devices, he said.
In theory, it also prevents passengers taking on the constituent components of an explosive device to assemble on the plane.
Mr Yates said the UK had "the highest security procedures in the world" but that much new technology, such as machines to sniff out explosives in hand baggage or scan people's bodies, was still being trialled in airports.
"This is new technology. Things take time to filter into the system and therefore it will take some time before we start seeing this hardware being rolled out in all UK airports," he said.
The new ban on taking liquids and gels onto flights in the UK and US suggested security forces feared explosive liquids could be used, he added.
Parallels may be drawn with a 1995 plan by al-Qaeda-linked groups to blow up 11 aircraft using nitroglycerin-based bombs as they flew from Asia to the US.
One of the planners managed to smuggle batteries past airport security hidden in the heels of his shoes, while on a test run nitroglycerine was taken on board in a contact lens solution bottle.
Bags swabbed
Some of the changes in security procedures over the past five years have been very visible to travellers.

Passengers are frequently hand-searched by airport security staff.Many airlines have demanded longer check-in times and tighter restrictions on what passengers can carry on to planes.
Sharp objects such as penknives, scissors and even tweezers must be checked into the hold. In 2004, the EU extended the ban to cover potential weapons such as ice skates, fishing rods and skateboards, while the US last year decided to ban cigarette lighters from hand luggage.
At the same time, armed police have become a common sight in airports and searches of travellers and their belongings more extensive. Perimeter patrols have been stepped up, fences strengthened and concrete barriers put up to stop vehicles ramming terminal buildings.
Hand baggage is scanned and often swabbed for traces of explosives, while laptop computers are generally X-rayed separately. Passengers must pass through a metal-detecting scanner.
Following the attempt by "shoe bomber" Richard Reid to blow up a plane with explosives hidden in his footwear, travellers' shoes are often closely examined.
Sniffer dogs are also used to check hold baggage.
Privacy issues. Behind the scenes, passenger data now comes under greater scrutiny than ever before. Richard Reid hid explosives in his shoes in a bid to blow up a plane.
Since 2004, airlines based in the European Union have provided the US authorities with information on all passengers flying to the US.
The 34 pieces of data include the name, credit card details and phone numbers of travellers.
If a passenger's record matches a name on US 'no-fly' lists, flights can be turned back - as happened last week when an American Airlines flight bound for Boston had to return to London Heathrow.
Although the European Court of Justice ruled the transfer of data illegal in May, it will be allowed to continue until September. The European Commission is looking for ways to address concerns over US data protection and so continue the process.
Biometric passports - which contain a chip with data on the holder's physical characteristics - are another security measure favoured by the US and some other countries. Germany became the first EU country to start introducing them in 2005, with the UK following suit this year.
Steep dive
Once on the plane, additional security measures include strengthened cockpit doors and, in some countries such as Israel, the US and Australia, the presence of covert air marshals.

New screening methods are being introduced at some airports.
Israeli national airline El Al, which has used armed sky marshals for three decades, credits them with thwarting a number of hijack attempts.
US Homeland Security chief Michael Chertoff announced on Thursday that the US would send air marshals to the UK to offer extended security coverage on flights to the US.
El Al has also led the way in fitting anti-missile protection systems to passenger aircraft, announcing in 2004 they would be used on "high risk" routes in Asia and Africa.
The move followed a failed attempt to bring down an Israeli airliner in Kenya in 2002.
Most airlines also require passengers to switch off mobile phones before take-off, while use of laptops and electronic devices such as iPods is restricted.
While this is chiefly due to concerns that the electromagnetic radiation they emit could affect on-board control and communication systems, the ability to interfere with a plane's navigation could play into the hands of terrorists.
Possible new surveillance devices in the pipeline include 360-degree body scanners, thermal imaging to detect nervous, sweating passengers and automated technology to pick up erratic behaviour from CCTV footage.
'Expect queues'
So what can would-be travellers expect to find on their next trip to the airport?
"Passengers are going to have to get used to the new restrictions, at least for the foreseeable future," predicts Mr Yates.
"All of us, I suspect will be subjected to enhanced security measures - more physical searches, more searches by high-end technology such as sniffing devices."

He recommends air travellers:

Pack on the basis hand luggage may not be allowed.
Ensure hold suitcases have a strong lock to protect valuables like laptops and cameras.
Allow more time to check in, given likelihood of longer queues.
Expect more physical searches.
Are prepared for routine, rather than random, tests for explosive substances.
How soon the new technology is in place will depend on how much airports are willing to spend, Mr Yates said.
"Post 9/11, the US invested an awful lot... and other countries have stepped up their investment programmes.
"But it's still taking a long time for this new technological hardware to find its way into airports."

BBC NEWS REPORT.

CHINA TO PROMOTE WILD ANIMAL HUNT !!!

Foreigners could buy the right to shoot a yak. China is to auction licences for foreigners to hunt wild animals, including endangered species, according to local media.
The auction will offer the right to hunt yaks, wolves and other wild animals in five western provinces.
The price of a licence will depend on the type and number of animals to be hunted, the Beijing Youth Daily said.
The auctioneers told the BBC that the sale, the first of its kind in China, would go ahead on Sunday.
A licence to hunt a wolf could go for about $200 (£105), while permission to shoot a yak could be as much as $40,000 (£21,000), the daily said.
Shooting an argali, a large wild sheep, will cost about $10,000 (£5,000) while a blue sheep will cost $2,500 (£1,300), the paper said..
"Some animals are from the first and second category of national wildlife protection, but with the strict limitations in place, the hunting could not destroy wild animal populations," the daily said.
The wolf is the only carnivore on the list of animals that could be hunted.
The licences will cover five areas of western China - Qinghai, Shaanxi and Gansu provinces and the autonomous regions of Ningxia and Xinjiang.
Proceeds from the auction would be used to protect wild animals, the daily said.

BBC NEWS REPORT.

S.A. EXPLOITS ZIMBABWE MIGRANTS!

Most deported Zimbabweans cross the border again into South Africa. Zimbabwean migrant workers in South Africa suffer extortion by the police and are sometimes deported without due procedures, Human Rights Watch says.
A report by the international rights organisation says farmers who employ migrants in the border province of Limpopo often ignore labour laws.
An economic crisis in Zimbabwe in recent years has resulted in increased migration to South Africa.
At least one million Zimbabweans are estimated to be in South Africa.
The police could send us back at any moment, but it's a do or die situation.

Migrants' stories

"South African police often mistreat undocumented workers when they arrest them," said Georgette Gagnon, HRW's deputy Africa director said.
"While awaiting deportation at police stations, undocumented migrants are given inadequate shelter and food, and some are detained beyond the 30-day legal limit."
HRW argues that South African officials' treatment of migrants violates South African law as well as the country's obligations under the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights.
HRW's research found that Zimbabweans who seek work on the fruit farms close to the border are made vulnerable by their lack of legal status in South Africa.
"Farmers often simply ignore the minimum wage and openly admit that they pay even the documented workers lower wages than are legally required," Ms Gagnon said.
"Many farmers also make unlawful deductions from workers' wages, including for housing, which violate government regulations."

BBC NEWS REPORT.

WOMEN RE-ENACT S. A. MARCH

The march drew attention to violence against women. Thousands of women have recreated a historic march through South Africa's capital, Pretoria, 50 years after the landmark anti-apartheid event.
The demonstration is being held to protest at South Africa's rate of domestic violence, which is reckoned to be among the highest in the world.
Political leaders and some women who were on the 1956 march led the rally.
The original action was in protest at a law which forced black people to carry passbooks with them at all times.
Deputy President Phumzile Mlambo-Ngcuka and Foreign Affairs Minister Nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma were among several women cabinet members who headed Wednesday's re-enactment of the march.
Nelson Mandela's former wife, Winnie Madikizela-Mandela, and his current wife, Graca Machel, were also present.
The BBC's Peter Greste in Johannesburg says 50 years on, women are politically advanced but still struggling with terrible rates of domestic violence.
According to one study, a South African woman dies at the hands of her partner every six hours, while rape and physical and mental abuse are said to be rampant.
The One in Nine campaign - which campaigns against gender violence - used the occasion to argue that the justice system has failed rape victims, including a woman known as Buysizwe who was gang-raped last year.
"For Buyisiwe and countless other women whose rape cases are struck from court rolls due to 'missing or lost' evidence, National Women's Day is no cause for celebration," the campaign said in a statement.

Protesters are using the anniversary of one of the most influential demonstrations against the apartheid regime to highlight the problem.
[It] was a tremendously exciting, inspirational thing
Frene GinwalaFormer South African parliament speakerOn 9 August 1956 thousands of women assembled in Pretoria despite a ban on unauthorised gatherings, eventually coalescing in a 20,000-strong protest outside the Union Buildings, the seat of the South African government.
Many were arrested and prosecuted, but activists say it was the moment which brought women into the anti-apartheid struggle.
"Twenty-thousand women suddenly emerging in Pretoria - the heartland of what was then the National Party domain - was a tremendously exciting, inspirational thing," former speaker of the South African parliament Frene Ginwala, told the BBC.
Earlier this year, Mr Mbeki said a woman should succeed him when he retires in 2009.

BBC NEWS REPORT.

LANDIS BLAMES TESTING PROCEDURE!

Landis has not been stripped of his Tour de France title yet. Floyd Landis claims his doping test was "fatally flawed" and says officials behind the process have an agenda. The American tested positive for unusual levels of testosterone after winning stage 17 of this year's race and is set to lose his title. But Landis, 30, claims the leak of his test broke rules and questions the anonymity of the procedure. "There's extraneous circumstances that indicate there's some strange things going on with this test," said Landis.

Interview: Floyd Landis

The only explanation I can come up with is that there is some agenda here-Floyd Landis. Landis criticised officials from the International Cycling Union (UCI) and World Anti-Doping Agency (Wada) for announcing the results of his test without analysing his B sample. He also claimed the test was not conducted anonymously, saying he had evidence to prove laboratory staff had access to the names of the samples being tested. "You'll see that they clearly broke the rules and their excuse was pathetic. The only explanation I can come up with is that there is some agenda here," Landis told Radio Four's Today programme.

"The public display of humiliation they've brought upon me, breaking their own rules in the process, and the excuses they've used, have been unacceptable in the least. "I can prove to you, and will demonstrate to you, that the people at the laboratory are not objective about this.

I do have an agenda - my agenda is a clean sport and to retain the credibility of the sport. UCI boss Pat McQuaid"I have evidence to indicate they have the names of the riders connected to the numbers. "In order for them to be objective, without any kind of bias, it has to be completely anonymous. That has to be a fatal flaw in the system. "It's devastating and now I'm angry and disappointed in the system. I'm upset that some people with ethics like they have have been given the authority to do the things they're doing."

UCI boss Pat McQuaid, however, insisted there were no such rules regarding the naming of a rider who has failed a drugs test. "I make no excuses for the fact that we announced we had an adverse analytical finding on the Tour de France - it's important we're completely transparent - and that's all we announced. "It was his team that released his name, not the UCI," McQuaid told BBC Sport.

The Irishman also rejected the likelihood that the independent, Wada-accredited lab in Paris would compromise the anonymity of the test. "I have no evidence, or ever been aware of any evidence, to show the labs have the names at the same time as the numbers, so I would reject that completely," he said. "But I do have an agenda. My agenda is a clean sport and to retain the credibility of the sport." Landis has denied ever taking performance-enhancing drugs and a variety of reasons were offered for his failed test, including one that he drank whisky and beer the night before stage 17.

I have a new goal - to prove myself innocent - Floyd Landis. The ride to Morzine saw him record an epic victory after struggling on the final climb the day before. Other reasons given were dehydration, injections for pain in his hip and his natural metabolism. Since then the former mountain bike star has launched a vigorous defence of his reputation on American television. Landis told NBC's "Today" show that some of the explanations for the unusual levels of testosterone were given in haste.

"I've come out in the press and tried to explain these test results, but I think that was a mistake," said Landis. "I was forced into this situation because of leaks from the UCI." Speaking on ABC's "Good Morning America" show, Landis denied all of these explanations came from him.
"All of these reasons that have come up, some from me, some from other people, we need to forget about them and let the experts figure out what's going on," he said. "The whisky idea was not mine and the dehydration was a theory from the lawyers I hired in Spain to represent me at the opening of the B sample. "But I did not authorise them to say something like that so I'm disappointed with that."

Landis, who has already been sacked by his Phonak team, faces a two-year ban if the US Anti-Doping Agency decides he is guilty, though he will have the opportunity to appeal. UCI officials must then decide whether to award the Tour de France title to runner-up Oscar Pereiro of Spain.

BBC NEWS REPORT.

DURAN DURAN TO GIVE VIRTUAL GIGS!

British band Duran Duran are to create a virtual island within online game Second Life, on which they will perform actual live concerts. The band is the first major group to announce a virtual world presence in the game. Second Life is an online 3D digital world, which is imagined, created and owned by the residents. More than 370,000 people have Second Life characters, called Avatars, who exist in the world. Earlier this year, BBC Radio 1 rented a virtual island in Second Life where it held music festivals and BBC Two's Newsnight hosted an interview inside the game.

One Big Weekend In May, Radio 1 recreated the One Big Weekend event - which took place in Dundee in reality - inside the game so people could participate virtually. Duran Duran keyboardist Nick Rhodes told the BBC News website: "When I first discovered Second Life a few months ago, I was astounded by the possibilities that were there. "When I started looking at the figures running around, chatting and interacting, I thought this is somewhere between a bizarre virtual reality TV show, a surreal real-life experience and a video game. "Somehow the amalgamation was just irresistible - what became obvious was that Duran Duran should have a presence within there."

In Second Life your avatar can look how you like. Rhodes said he hoped the Duran Duran community would help develop the island into a "fully functional, futuristic utopia". He said the band was "thrilled to become citizens of Second Life". Duran Duran retains a large fan base more than 20 years after they became one of the biggest bands in the world, thanks to songs such as Wild Boys and Girls on Film.

Three-dimensional versions of the band members - called Avatars - have been commissioned and will be revealed in September. The band hopes to perform their first virtual concert in the coming months. Rhodes added: "We are hoping to give the crowd that come to the virtual concert a real immersive experience, so they can interact with us and react while we are stage." He said new technologies, such as Second Life, will become an enormous part of the music industry in the future.

The digital continent of Second Life covered an area equivalent to 64 acres three years ago but now is more than 20,000 acres in size and growing rapidly.

BBC NEWS REPORT.

MEDITERRANEAN ON JELLYFISH ALERT!

The chances of encountering a jellyfish are now much higher. Thousands of holidaymakers in the Mediterranean have been stung by jellyfish as huge swarms of the creatures invade coastal waters. Some Spanish beaches have been closed, but Sicily and North Africa are also reported to be badly affected.

Researchers say at least 30,000 people have been stung since summer began. Marine biologists blame hot dry weather for bringing jellyfish closer to the shore, and say overfishing may be increasing jellyfish numbers. A recent survey by the Oceana environmental group found concentrations of jellyfish of more than 10 per square metre in some areas off the Spanish coast.
Francesc Peters of the Institute of Marine Science in Barcelona told the BBC World Service's Europe Today programme that coastal waters were warmer than usual, because of the hot weather, and saltier than usual because of low river flows. He said this meant the offshore waters which jellyfish usually inhabit were being washed closer to the coast. He added that global warming could mean that these conditions occur more frequently.

The jellyfish is at least 95% water"Probably because of overfishing, populations of jellyfish offshore will increase and then these special environmental conditions... higher temperatures and higher salinity near the coast, may bring these swarms of jellyfish close to the beach," he said. Overfishing meant that the jellyfish's predators and its competitors were being removed from the sea, he said.

Jellyfish are themselves voracious eaters, and experts say that because they consume fish at a very high rate it may be hard for the fish they replace to re-establish themselves. Jellyfish numbers have grown as commercially important fish such as herring and sardines have reduced. At the same time, populations of jellyfish predators such as tuna and turtles are diminishing. Mr Francesc said Mediterranean jellyfish, which are at least 95% water, do not have lethal or powerful stings.

However, he added that some people could suffer a powerful allergic reaction. He advised people who have been stung to wash the wound with salty water, and to cool it with ice inside a plastic bag.

BBC NEWS REPORT.

REUTERS DROPS BEIRUT PHOTOGRAPHER!

The news agency Reuters has withdrawn from sale 920 pictures taken by a photographer after finding he had doctored two images taken in Lebanon. Bloggers first spotted that smoke on Adnan Hajj's image of the aftermath of an Israeli air strike in Beirut appeared to have been made darker. A Reuters investigation confirmed this and also found two flares had been added to an image of an Israeli jet. Mr Hajj told the BBC he denied doctoring the content of the images.

He said had tried to clean dust off the first image, a shot of buildings in a suburb of Beirut, on which Reuters found smoke plumes had been darkened and expanded using computer software. "It was so badly done - an amateur could have done better," Bob Bodman, picture editor at the Daily Telegraph newspaper, told the BBC. Mr Hajj, a freelance photographer working for Reuters, denied altering the second photograph, an image of an Israeli F-16 fighter over Nabatiyeh in southern Lebanon. "There's no problem with it, not at all," he said in a BBC interview.

Paul Holmes, editor of political and general news at Reuters, told the BBC that senior photographers at the agency "weren't convinced" that cleaning dust off the first image would result in the manipulation the image showed. He said there had been a "lapse in our editing process", but stressed that Reuters had moved swiftly to address the issue and tighten editing procedures.

THE EDITORS' BLOG
All of us need to know how these pictures are obtained and used -
Steve Herrmann,BBC News website editor.

Read the comments in full

Global picture editor Tom Szlukovenyi said all of Adnan Hajj's images had been removed from the company's database. He described it as a precautionary measure, but said the manipulation undermined trust in Mr Hajj's entire body of work. "There is no graver breach of Reuters standards for our photographers than the deliberate manipulation of an image," Mr Szlukovenyi said in a statement.

Questions were raised about the accuracy of the image on Sunday in several weblogs - personal online diaries by writers known as "bloggers" - including ones which scrutinise media coverage of the Middle East for bias. Mr Holmes said Reuters welcomed the growth of weblogs, which had made the media "much more accountable and more transparent".

BBC NEWS REPORT.

ZIMBABWEANS SUFFER CASH CHAOS

Zimbabweans are facing chaos and confusion as they try to deposit and spend their cash before it becomes worthless on 21 August.

People have been using boxes not wallets to carry their cash. The central bank decided to lop three zeros off Zimbabwean banknotes in an attempt to help people deal with spiralling inflation which stands at more than 1,000%. But last week's surprise devaluation has led to a bureaucratic nightmare for businesses and consumers. "There's not enough cash. You deposit your old money in the bank and then you go to an ATM (cash-machine) and it gives you old notes too. I've only seen two bills of new currency," an accountant in Harare told the BBC News website.

Supermarkets are labelling prices with the new values, but are accepting and mainly dealing with the old currency. "This is causing a great deal of confusion about the new values. The first day they knocked the three noughts off people went into the supermarket near where I work and were going crazy buying everything," she said. "Then of course they got to the till and they didn't have enough money."

The move is an attempt by central bank governor Gideon Gono to crack down on those believed to be profiteering on the black market. Only Z$100m ($400) in old money can be deposited in a bank each week without any questions being asked. Anyone attempting a larger transaction is subject to an investigation and is liable to have the money confiscated if it is found to be have been acquired illegally. There are also road blocks across the country as police try to catch those with large amounts of old notes.

"I was stopped at a road block just outside Harare near Norton over the weekend," a business manager told the BBC. "I was carrying Z$60m ($240) of the old currency for wages; I had to show the wage slips before the police would let me pass." Another Harare resident said her car was searched thoroughly by the same policeman when she passed through a roadblock twice on one day. "I even had to open the bonnet and he stuck his gloved hand through all the gaps in the engine to make sure there wasn't cash there," she said. A 27-year-old artist admitted that the move has forced her to open her first bank account this week.

NEW CURRENCY PRICES

The 13 new notes range from 1 cent to Z$100,000 ($400)
Family of four's weekly grocery bill: Z$35,000 ($140)
Monthly amount to stay above the poverty line: Z$69,000 ($275)
Bottle of Coke: Z$150 (60 US cents)
Pint of beer: Z$220 (88 US cents)

"I couldn't see the point of it [a bank account] before. I kept my money under my pillow because by the time you bank it you can't use it because it loses so much value." Although, unlike some, she said she is not worried about losing her savings. "I keep an excess in US dollars so that if anything happens I know at least I'll have some money," she said.

But other Zimbabweans with larger wallets have gone on massive spending sprees to dispose of their old banknotes. "There's a kitchen shop which has sold all its washing machines - all gone, all sold and I saw a woman going in to buy all the double-door fridges," said an office worker, who had just been shopping in a wealthy northern suburb of the capital.

The cash shortage is also leading to a fuel shortage - as petrol can only be purchased in cash, she said. But like most people she believes these are just teething problems. Lots of the big chefs are angry, really angry, because they're having their little apple carts turned upside down. "It's going to be better carrying less notes - you see people carrying money in boxes. So the idea is good, but there has not been enough time to plan the transfer," she said. At her office, statements are checked daily for mistakes as banks have different rules and regulations. Cheques accepted after 1 August are supposed to be made out in the new currency with "revalued" written on them; but bank staff often make errors as computer systems have yet to be transferred to the new values. But many Zimbabweans do not have the luxury of earning Z$69m ($275) a month - the amount of old currency needed to keep above the poverty line.

Many Zimbabweans live below the poverty line."People don't have much to spend any more not because of the new currency - just generally. It's terrible," a bottle store manager about 25km north of Harare told the BBC. The business manager, meanwhile, said many of his workers, although confused about the exact value of the new notes - there is even a one cent bill - have welcomed the devaluation as they feel it will tackle corruption. But he said as he drove past Mr Gono's farm near Norton (40km east of Harare) on Saturday, it was on fire.

"The whole place was burning. Lots of the big chefs are angry, really angry, because they're having their little apple carts turned upside down."

BBC NEWS REPORT.

VIOLENCE THREATENS DARFUL RELIEF!

Aid agencies have been assisting some of the 2m displaced. More aid workers have been killed in Sudan's Darfur region in the last two weeks than in the past two years, the United Nations and aid agencies say. The UN's Office for the Co-ordination of Humanitarian Affairs says access to people in need in Darfur is at its lowest level since the conflict began. Aid agencies say the situation has got worse since the May peace accord. More than 2m Sudanese have fled their homes and tens of thousands have been killed in the three-year conflict.

"The level of violence being faced by humanitarian workers in Darfur is unprecedented," Manuel da Silva, UN humanitarian co-ordinator in Sudan said in a statement released by the UN.

Who are Darfur's rebels?

"This is completely unacceptable."

Eight humanitarian workers died in the line of duty during July. Four international agencies working in Darfur - Care, International Rescue Committee, Oxfam International and World Vision - said the situation had worsened since an accord signed in May by the Sudanese government and one faction of the Sudanese Liberation Movement. On Monday, the leader of that faction, Minni Minnawi, started his work as a special advisor to President Omar al-Bashir.

"Since the signing of the agreement, Darfur has become increasingly tense and violent, which has led to the tragic deaths of far too many civilians and aid workers. "A full and comprehensive ceasefire must be implemented immediately," said Paul Smith-Lomas, Oxfam's regional director in Sudan.

A statement issued by the four agencies also warned that increasing insecurity was damaging their ability to reach people in need, with "potentially disastrous" consequences. In one incident in the Zalinge area in the west of Darfur, a mob beat three aid workers to death, after which international organisations suspended activities in displaced people's camps. The UN also reports an increase in the number of ambushes and hijackings of vehicles belonging to non-governmental organisations.

BBC NEWS REPORT.

ZIMBABWE JUSTICE MINISTER TRIED.

Chinamasa is accused of trying to put pressure on a witness. Zimbabwe Justice Minister Patrick Chinamasa has gone on trial for allegedly trying to pervert the course of justice. He denies the charge. He is accused of pressuring a witness in the trial of Intelligence Minister Didymus Mutasa's supporters, who were charged over political violence.

The trial was adjourned a week ago, when magistrates refused to try the case, complaining of intimidation. The violence charges date from the 2005 parliamentary election campaign. As the trial began in Rusape, 150km east of Harare, on Tuesday, state witness James Kaunye testified that Mr Chinamasa had tried to get him to withdraw charges against Mr Mutasa's supporters.

The minister's supporters were allegedly involved in clashes with supporters of Mr Kaunye, a liberation war veteran, before the 2005 elections. Correspondents say this is the second time in eight months that magistrates have expressed concern over government interference in the judiciary.

BBC NEWS REPORT.

CUBA DISSIDENT : FEAR IS EVERYWHERE!

Cuba's President Fidel Castro - the world's longest-serving leader - turns 80 on 13 August. The BBC News website looks at the impact the Revolution he led has had on the lives of two Cubans: one a supporter, the other a dissident.
Poet and journalist Raul Rivero was among 75 dissidents handed down long jail sentences in 2003. Accused of being in the pay of the US - a charge he denies - he was sentenced to 20 years in prison. But following international pressure, he was released and he went into exile in Spain with his family.
Here, he explains why he decided to speak out against the system he once supported.

Click here to read the views of Castro supporter Andres Gomez

Raul Rivero feared Cuba would become like communist Russia
Like most of the people from my generation, I was seduced by the Cuban Revolution when I was a teenager. We regarded Fidel Castro's project dearly - I'm referring to his struggle for independence, freedom and better living conditions for all Cubans.
I never met him in person, but I saw him closely at several rallies.
As time passed, I started to feel that the Revolution's initial ideas were progressively being replaced by Castro's obsession to remain in power.
I now believe that the worst legacy of Castro's government is the spiritual ruin of the Cuban nation: good values were lost without being replaced by new ones. We now have a theatrical society whose script is written every day by the official press.
Disappointment came to me gradually.
I started not liking some aspects of daily life. But I wasn't prepared to accept that the Revolution to which I had devoted my entire youth was a failure.
Moscow lesson
But when I worked as a correspondent for the official news agency, Prensa Latina, in Moscow, I saw what was to become Cuba's future, and I didn't like it at all.
Russia was a dogmatic, schematic and secretive society, with submissive people and no individual freedoms.
I wanted to express in my verses how suffocated and helpless I felt My first reaction was to quit Prensa Latina, because journalists working there couldn't contradict the Communist Party guidelines in any way.
I went on to work independently, writing book reviews. I tried to be discreet, working in the most professional and decent way possible.
As a poet, my main enemy was also censorship - not only that imposed by the state, but also the self-imposed one. In an authoritarian society you know exactly what you can say and what you can't.
I wanted to express in my verses how suffocated and helpless I felt. But I had to disguise these feelings - technically, poetry allows that.
Fear
And one day I started to feel afraid. I was concerned that if my position became public, my family would suffer the consequences.
Fear is everywhere in Cuba - on the streets and also on TV, radio and in the newspapers. You see soap operas featuring a constant police presence, and people make jokes about being under surveillance.
I was very careful about who I talked to. I went as far as to suspect some friends and relatives. In fact, everybody became suspect - that's what the government does to individuals.
I was right to be careful. When I went on trial in 2003, several people I knew, who turned out to be agents, testified against me.
I never thought I would have to leave Cuba, and I never wished to do so
As predicted, my family had a difficult time when it became known I was a dissenter.
I tried to get them out of the country immediately, because once you are identified as an opponent it's like a contagious disease - it affects the whole family. I didn't want them to lose their youth like I had.
My two eldest sons left Cuba for the United States. One of my daughters, the youngest, is now with me in Spain. My other daughter, who is an actress, remains in Cuba - she is happy there and doesn't want to leave.
My wife soon lost her job. The government cut off all our sources of income - it suffocated us financially.
We found ourselves cornered. It seemed they wanted to show us that the state was the owner of everything, from work to your children's school.
I kept on working as a poet, but I didn't mask my poetry anymore - I had started to publish my books abroad. This liberated me as a writer. I also wrote a couple of books on the Cuban situation.
But then I went on trial and they sentenced me to 20 years in prison. I was sent to a jail 400km (250 miles) from Havana, where I spent a year in a punishment cell. In there, poetry became my refuge and my salvation.
My wife was very brave during these difficult times. She stayed in Cuba and played a key role in the process that led to my release. She was the contact with the international press and the human rights groups which helped get me out of prison.
I never thought I would have to leave Cuba, and I never wished to do so. I believed I could be useful for my country working independently, professionally - I still believe that.
Painful exile
When I finally had to leave, in 2005, it was a great blow - I was 59 years old and at that age it's not easy to rebuild your entire life.
Fortunately, I received a warm welcome in Madrid. I began working for El Mundo newspaper and I made new friends. I feel better now.
Still, the separation from my country pains me, as does the division of my family. Divided families are yet another stain on Fidel Castro's legacy.
I dream of returning to Cuba and of working for an independent newspaper there. I would like to have my life back and see the places where I grew up, where I first fell in love.

BBC NEWS REPORT.

DAMAGE IS DONE TO LEBANON COAST!

'Damage is done' to Lebanon coast.
By Mark Kinver Science and nature reporter, BBC News.

Lebanon's coastline could take up to 10 years to recover from a massive oil spill, the nation's environment minister has said.
Yacoub Sarraf said it was impossible to tackle the problem while the conflict between Hezbollah and Israel continued.
The United Nations has warned the spill could pose a cancer risk to people living in the affected areas.
The oil slick caused by Israeli bombing of a power station now covers 120km (75 miles) of the region's coasts.
Mr Sarraf said the delay had already severely affected the Lebanese shores.
"The damage has been done. It goes without saying that the whole fishing community will be hit for at least two or three years before the ecosystem re-establishes itself," he told BBC News.
We cannot get equipment, companies, labour or know-how to handle the problem
Yacoub SarrafLebanese Environment Minister
"The tourism sector has also been hit for one or two seasons, and I am being very optimistic.
"But worse, if we do not intervene as soon as possible, the spill that is still floating off the coast of Lebanon could return and hit the shores again."
Mr Sarraf added that until there was a ceasefire, it would be impossible to begin any clean-up operation.
"We cannot get equipment, companies, labour or know-how to handle the problem," he said.
"If you compare this to any spill in history, intervention can help within the first 48-72 hours of the spill; we are already 20 days too late."
'Cancer risk'
The United Nations Environment Programme (Unep) issued a warning on Tuesday that the raid on the Jiyyeh Power plant in mid-July could pose a cancer risk to people living in the area.

The spill was caused by Israeli bombing of the Jiyyeh power station.
Simonetta Lombardo of Unep's Mediterranean Action Plan said the spill of fuel oil was a "high-risk toxic cocktail made up of substances which cause cancer and damage to the endocrine system".
UN experts warned that the first people at risk from the "toxic spray" were the two million inhabitants of Beirut.
They also said that large quantities of dead fish along Lebanon's shores had been killed by the oil pollution.
Basma Badran, a Beirut-based spokeswoman for Greenpeace, said no clean-up operation would get under way until workers' safety could be guaranteed.
"It is an extremely risky task to make the proper assessment while under fire," she told BBC News.
"Several countries are on stand-by to send technical and expert assistance if the safety of their supplies and teams can be guaranteed."
Ms Badran added that international help was essential because the Lebanese authorities lacked any capacity to deal with such a large spill.
The Lebanese environment minister said the latest satellite images showed the oil slick was continuing to spread across the eastern Mediterranean Sea, threatening the coastlines of Turkey and possibly Cyprus.
However, a spokesman for Turkey's prime minister said the risk to the country's shores was "fairly limited", but aircraft were carrying out regular monitoring flights and that naval vessels were ready to deploy floating barriers if needed.

BBC NEWS REPORT.

CHAD CHOOSES CHINA OVER TAIWAN!

China has confirmed that it has resumed diplomatic relations with the African nation of Chad.
Foreign Minister Li Zhaoxing and Chad counterpart Ahmad Alam-mi signed a communique restoring ties on Sunday.
Taiwan, which has had diplomatic ties with Chad since 1997, severed links earlier the same day.
Taiwanese officials said the Chad government's decision was prompted by Chinese promises to cut aid to rebel forces opposing it.
China sees Taiwan as part of its territory and insists that countries with whom it has diplomatic links do not recognise Taiwan.
The decision leaves Taiwan with only 24 diplomatic allies, mostly small states in the Pacific, Latin America and Africa.
Seven countries have changed allegiance since President Chen Shui-bian assumed office in May 2000.

BBC NEWS REPORT.

THE MIDDLE-EAST CONFLICT!

Mid-East conflict: Who stands where!

An Israeli tank moves off to go into battle in Lebanon. The fighting between Israel and Hezbollah is part of a wider conflict in the Middle East. The BBC News website's World Affairs correspondent Paul Reynolds examines who stands where and what is at stake for the main parties involved.

Israel
Lebanon
Hezbollah
Iran
Syria
Palestinians
United States
France and the UK

BBC NEWS REPORT.

SOMALIA'S LEASERS SACK GOVERNMENT!

Mr Ghedi will remain, but his ministers will quit. The leaders of Somalia's crisis-ridden interim government say they have resolved their differences and agreed to dissolve the cabinet. Some 40 ministers have quit the cabinet over the prime minister's opposition to peace talks with the Islamist militias who control the capital, Mogadishu. The crisis had caused a rift between President Abdullahi Yusuf and Prime Minister Ali Mohamed Ghedi Mr Ghedi's government controls little more than Baidoa, where it is based.

"The bloated cabinet of Ali Mohamed Ghedi's government did not do anything during its tenure," President Yusuf announced in parliament. "From today onwards, the government has been dissolved - only the prime minister will remain." In terms of the agreement, the prime minister is to appoint a new cabinet of 31 ministers within seven days.

Prime Minister Ghedi said that although his government had survived a democratic vote of no confidence, "the political differences which resulted from there have been thrashed out and we're now together to serve Somali interests". The announcement reportedly follows the intervention of Ethiopian Foreign Minister Seyoum Mesfin as mediator between the two factions in the Somali government.

Ethiopia is the main regional ally of the interim government. The Union of Islamic Courts, whose militia control Mogadishu, condemned Ethiopia's mediation. "The arrival of the Ethiopian delegation in Baidoa is just another proof that the government of Somalia is a puppet of Ethiopia," said Sheikh Yusuf Siad Indho Addeh, head of internal security of the UIC. Ethiopia and Eritrea have both denied accusations that they are fighting a proxy war in Somalia by backing, respectively, the interim government and the Islamists.

The interim cabinet originally had more than 100 members, not all of whom had been approved by parliament. In the past 10 days a succession of ministers left the government, and Mr Ghedi narrowly survived a parliamentary vote of no confidence on Saturday. Mr Ghedi's opponents within the government and parliament believe he should have done more to seek a settlement with the UIC, whose militia have taken control of Mogadishu in recent months.

Somalia has been without an effective central government since warlords toppled dictator Mohamed Siad Barre in 1991. Since then much of the country has been ruled by violence and clan law. The UIC has been credited with success in bringing stability to Mogadishu for the first time in 15 years.

BBC NEWS REPORT.

LATE BID TO STOP BAKASSI HANDOVER!

Late bid to stop Bakassi handover.

Most Bakassi residents are fishermen Hundreds of residents of the Bakassi peninsula say they have declared independence, days before Nigeria is to start transferring control to Cameroon. The Bakassi Movement for Self Determination would reject Cameroonian sovereignty, the residents said. They have also refused a Nigerian government offer to relocate them elsewhere in Nigeria. Nigerian forces are due to start leaving the region this week, after the government agreed to the handover. "The people have declared their own republic, known as the Democratic Republic of Bakassi. We will no longer have anything to do with Nigeria, since Nigeria does not want anything to do with us," said Tony Ene, the interim head of the movement. The AP news agency reports that supporters waved new blue and white Bakassi flags, while Nigerian soldiers watched. In June, Nigeria's President Olusegun Obasanjo said he would abide by a 2002 World Court ruling to transfer the potentially oil-rich Bakassi peninsula to Cameroon. Mr Obasanjo has tried to reassure Bakassi residents that their safety would be guaranteed even when Nigerian troops leave. The territorial dispute sparked military clashes between Nigeria and Cameroon during the 1990s. Most of those who live in Bakassi are Nigerians and are strongly opposed to coming under Cameroonian jurisdiction. A special transitional arrangement will be in place for five years. Cameroon has pledged to respect the culture, language, beliefs, property and fishing rights of the peninsula's people, and not to impose "discriminatory" taxes. Bakassi juts into the Gulf of Guinea, an area which may contain up to 10% of the world's oil and gas reserves. It is also rich in fish. The 2002 International Court of Justice ruling was based on a 1913 treaty between the former colonial powers, Britain and Germany. The agreement also settles the border between Nigeria and Cameroon for 1,690km (1,056 miles) up to Lake Chad. Some villages further north have already been exchanged. BBC NEWS REPORT.

IN SEARCH OF GOOGLE WI-FI.

In search of Google wi-fi.
By Katie Fehrenbacher in Mountain View, California

Google's home is in Mountain View. City-wide wi-fi networks are beginning to be rolled out across the United States. One of the most high-profile is a network operated by search giant Google. While poring over hidden charges on your cell phone bill, or writing hefty cheques to your internet service provider, it's hard not to think there should be a better way. Anything but high prices and no choices. Well, I'm starting to think there is, and I caught a glimpse of it in the city of Mountain View, California.

In the first week in August I drove down to Mountain View on a sweltering afternoon looking to test out the promise of free or cheap phone calls and ubiquitous internet access over a city-wide wi-fi network. Thanks to Google, the city has been blanketed by wi-fi, which will soon allow its residents to connect to the wireless internet all over the city for free. Using a technology called mesh, Google has placed hundreds of wi-fi nodes on lamp posts around the city that can connect your laptop or handheld device to the internet. For a town that gets the service, it's like living in a giant wi-fi hotspot.

And Mountain View isn't the first of its kind. In 59 other regions in the US, cities and companies have built similar networks, both fee and free-based, according to a research organization called Muni Wireless. Another 130 city and countywide projects are currently underway. Across the world there is also growing interest in countries from Paris to China to Macedonia and the UK.

Q&A: Wi-fi explained

Last year only start-up companies and early-adopters were willing to push the service, and major phone companies like Verizon saw the service as a competitive threat. This year large phone companies like AT&T are getting into the business. In Mountain View, the story is a bit different. There are no other city-wide wi-fi networks in the world yet which are run by the high-flying powerful search giant that calls Mountain View its home.

The network has been speculated over for months, and isn't even available to the public yet, though somehow I snagged a place as one of the several hundred "trusted testers". For that, I would spend several hours under a tree in a city park, with a laptop and a slew of cell phones, putting the network to task.

Important characteristics
One of the most important characteristics of a network is its speed. The faster the connection the better I can download those YouTube video clips or iTunes music files.
Particularly frustrating was the fact that the signal is very weak in people's homes
Google has said that the maximum speed of the network is 1Mbps - in comparison, a fast DSL connection at my home is 2.5Mbps.
So not blazingly fast, but pretty good.
After several tests from different locations, the results were mixed.
In many places the connection was as fast as predicted, but the speed depended entirely on how close I had positioned myself to the node on the closest pole.
Too far away from the node, or hampered by a tree, the speed degraded by at least half.
Drop into one of the network's few "dead zones," where Google could not gain access to the light poles, and you've got nothing.

Particularly frustrating was the fact that the signal is very weak in people's homes, without an extra piece of hardware to boost the signal inside. That's a shame given indoors internet could replace cable or DSL-connections. But outdoors I found with enough re-positioning it was easy enough to get a signal with a small amount of effort. The next step was to test out the phone call functions, perhaps the most disruptive out of all the applications for city-wide wi-fi networks. Phone calls over a wi-fi connection, have the ability to bypass the cellular network and cut expensive cell phone calls completely out of the loop.

This is one reason the traditional phone companies had been fighting tooth and nail to slow down or block the service. I opened up a piece of software called Skype, which was bought by eBay last year for billions of dollars, and enables its millions of users to call each other over laptops and handheld devices for free.

I put on my headset, connected to my laptop, and placed a call. For the first two attempts, I could hear my friend, but he couldn't hear me. I moved around a bit and found a better signal. On the third try I had success, and a free call over a free network. It just took some effort to get it going. The next test was placing calls over a handheld wi-fi device, which mimics the ease of use of a traditional cell phone and is better than lugging around your laptop and headset. I used the Nokia 770 internet tablet, running a piece of software called the Gizmo Project that can send a call over wi-fi and connect to anyone on the regular telephone system.

On my first try I connected easily, but discovered there was a noticeable lag time between when I spoke and the other person heard me. Not enough to abandon the call, but like I was calling halfway around the world.

After several hours grilling Google's Mountain View wi-fi network I realised both the power of the service, but also the present-day limitations and youth of the technology. While the service was ubiquitous throughout the city, it's not as reliable, as fast, or as easy to use, as my home internet connection or my cell phone. Not yet anyway. Start-up companies and major manufacturers are working on all these issues. They just take time. Then again, I still can't get a cell phone signal on major stretches of a Silicon Valley freeway. If I get tired enough of my cell phone bill, or my internet service provider's pricey broadband package, I know there's starting to be options out there.

With companies like Google, and the hundreds of companies working on products for wi-fi networks, I can already get an alternative today. I just might have to move to Mountain View.

Katie Fehrenbacher is a staff writer for the GigaOm website.

BBC NEWS REPORT.

HEZBOLLAH LAUNCHES ROCKET BARRAGE!

Israel has suffered its highest number of casualties in a single day. At least 15 people have been killed in a barrage of Hezbollah rocket strikes on northern Israel.
Twelve reservist soldiers died in an attack on the town of Kfar Giladi.
A number of rockets later landed on the Israeli port of Haifa, killing three people and injuring dozens. Reports said at least one building collapsed.
Meanwhile, the UN is debating a draft resolution on the crisis, demanding Hezbollah halt all attacks and Israel stop all offensive military operations.
However, Lebanon has formally asked the UN Security Council to revise its proposed resolution.
Israel has continued raids in Lebanon, killing at least 14 people. Rockets rain down The death toll in Kfar Giladi is the highest suffered by the Israelis in a single attack since the conflict began almost a month ago, after Hezbollah militants captured two Israeli soldiers.

Latest Mid-East crisis map
Full text: Draft UN resolution
Mid-East press eyes text

Eyewitnesses said the Hezbollah rocket barrage on northern Israel had lasted more than 15 minutes. Shortly after dark, several rockets landed in residential areas of Haifa, Israel's third largest city, killing at least three and injuring dozens. One rocket hit an apartment block which partly collapsed, trapping residents inside. Rescue teams were shifting rubble by hand to free them.

The BBC's Humphrey Hawksley in Haifa says the renewed rocket assault followed a lull and may have taken some residents by surprise. He describes people in the street throwing themselves to the ground as the rockets hit - following government advice on the best way to avoid the hail of ball-bearings packed into the warheads. Israel continued pounding targets around Lebanon on Sunday.Israeli army spokesman Jacob Dallal told Associated Press news agency that Israeli jets had attacked a site in Qana in southern Lebanon and destroyed the rocket launchers that were used in the attack on Haifa.

Other rocket launchers were destroyed in an attack north of Tyre, he said. Hezbollah has fired more than 3,000 rockets into northern Israel since the conflict began. Israel is continuing other operations in Lebanon with dozens of air strikes in the south and reports of fierce clashes on the ground. Five Lebanese civilians died early on Sunday in an air raid on the southern village of Ansar, according to Lebanese sources. Reports say three others were killed in an attack on the coastal town of Naquora. Israeli jets also carried out fresh bombing raids on Beirut's southern suburbs, in and around the port city of Tyre, and on the eastern Bekaa Valley.

The UN draft resolution, agreed after much debate between France and the US, calls for a "full cessation of hostilities". Senior Israeli officials said they were broadly happy with the text of the resolution. An Israeli spokesman told the BBC his government could be prepared to pull all its forces out of Lebanon once the resolution was passed and when Israel had cleared what he called "the last remaining Hezbollah strongholds". He said Israel would then monitor the south of Lebanon from behind its own border and reserve the right to use air strikes and occasional ground incursions.

The spokesman said that once a UN force had arrived Israel would in effect hand over the policing of southern Lebanon to the UN and Lebanese government. The Lebanese representative at the UN, Nouhad Mahmoud, said he had submitted an amendment to the truce text, calling for Israeli forces to withdraw from Lebanese territory. Syrian Foreign Minister Walid Muallem, in Beirut for talks with Lebanese leaders, said the draft resolution was a "recipe for the continuation of the war". Speaking before the amendment was submitted, US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice said a quick vote was important, and if passed, the resolution should end large-scale violence soon. But she warned ongoing "skirmishes" could not be ruled out, and the resolution was only the first step towards lasting peace.

BBC NEWS REPORT.

SCORES KILLED IN ETHIOPIA FLOODS!

Scores killed in Ethiopia floods.

The Dechatu river overflowed, sweeping water through the city Almost 200 people are reported to have died after a river burst its banks and floodwaters swept through the city of Dire Dawa in eastern Ethiopia. The local police commissioner said 39 of the dead were young children. Officials said hundreds of homes were destroyed when the Dechatu river overflowed on Saturday night. Over the past two years flooding has afflicted large areas of eastern and southern Ethiopia, killing hundreds and displacing hundreds of thousands. A heavy downpour hit Dire Dawa city, some 500km east of the Ethiopian capital Addis Ababa, in the early hours of Saturday, residents told news agency AFP. "My home is situated a bit far from the river, I was in bed when I heard people shouting," said 45-year-old Abaye Baheru. "I opened the door, and the water burst in, forcing me to escape to the rooftop from where police rescued me, but my house and property were destroyed. "While on the rooftop, I saw men, women and children being washed away, while crying for help," Mr Abaye said. The floods also swept away vehicles and livestock, and destroyed markets and shops, witnesses said. Thousands of Dire Dawa's estimated 250,000 residents have been displaced by the flooding. The flooding has caused mass destruction "The death toll from the flood caused by the overflow in Dire Dawa reached 191 y 8.30 pm (1730 GMT)," regional Dire Dawa Police Commissioner Getachew Asres said. He said 39 of the dead were children aged under seven years. Flooding often hits low-lying parts of Ethiopia during the June-to-September rainy season. Last year at least 200 people were killed - some by crocodiles in the floodwaters - when heavy rains pounded the same region. The flooding also caused millions of dollars worth of damage, particularly to small farmers. BBC NEWS REPORT.

US, FRANCE AGREE UN LEBANON TEXT!

As the violence goes on, the UN hopes diplomacy can end the crisis. The US and France have agreed the wording of a UN resolution to end the fighting between Israel and Hezbollah. It calls for a "full cessation of hostilities", demanding that Hezbollah halt all attacks and Israel stop all offensive military operations. A BBC correspondent at the UN says the wording would allow Israel some freedom if it argues it needs to defend itself.

The UN Security Council has held initial consultations on the draft. Israel has so far reacted cautiously. US Ambassador to the UN John Bolton said the Security Council meeting on Saturday was "very productive". "We received a lot of encouraging comments on the draft text," he said, adding that member states needed to send it back to their capitals to seek instruction.

Latest Mid-East crisis map
Full text: Draft UN resolution

Meanwhile the violence has continued, with Israeli commandos clashing with Hezbollah fighters in southern Lebanon. The Israeli army said eight soldiers had been wounded and several militants were killed in the raid on an apartment in Tyre suspected of housing Hezbollah fighters in the city. Hezbollah has continued to fire rockets into northern Israel - about 170 were fired on Saturday. Three women were killed in an attack in the mainly Arab village of Arab al-Aramshe.

The draft resolution follows weeks of disagreement over the precise wording of a call to end the violence in Lebanon. Israel said several militants were killed in its raid in Tyre.Mr Bolton said the text did not include a requirement for an immediate cessation of hostilities. But it does call for "the immediate cessation by Hezbollah of all attacks and the immediate cessation by Israel of all offensive military actions".

The draft - sent to all 15 member states in the Security Council - also calls for the current UN force in Lebanon to monitor any cessation in fighting. The mandate for a far stronger multinational force will follow, the BBC's James Robbins at the UN in New York says. Swift passage of the resolution now seems likely, he says, and a formal vote could come as soon as Monday. Foreign ministers are expected to come to New York for that vote, to give maximum weight to a call to all sides to stop fighting and work for a long-term political settlement, our correspondent adds.

Israeli cabinet minister Isaac Herzog called the text an "important development", but saidIsrael needed to know all the details before responding. Until the resolution came into force, the operation against Hezbollah would continue, he said. A Lebanese cabinet minister from Hezbollah, Mohammad Fneish, said the organisation would abide by the proposed resolution only if Israel withdrew all of its troops from Lebanon. UK Prime Minister Tony Blair welcomed news of the agreement, calling it "an absolutely vital first step in bringing this tragic crisis to an end". As the violence on the ground continues, the Israeli army has warned residents in the Lebanese city of Sidon to stay away from rocket launching sites.

In other developments:

Lebanese officials say a Lebanese soldier and at least four civilians were killed in the Israeli raid on Tyre
Hezbollah says it repelled the commando attack, and fires more missiles at the northern Israeli city of Haifa in retaliation, wounding five people
An Israeli soldier has died after coming under Hezbollah mortar fire in the eastern village of Taibeh
US envoy David Welch has held talks in Beirut with Lebanese Prime Minister Fouad Siniora and Lebanese parliament speaker Nabih Berri, the leader of the Shia Amal movement and a possible conduit to Hezbollah
Thousands march in London, UK, calling for an immediate ceasefire in Lebanon
Aid agencies have warned of difficulties in delivering supplies to hundreds of thousands of people displaced by the fighting, after four bridges on the main coastal highway north from Beirut were destroyed on Friday.
"Now the main highway is bombed we have a major, major setback... it's like a de facto blockade at the moment," Astrid van Genderen Stort, spokeswoman for the UN refugee agency told the BBC.

BBC NEWS REPORT.

LRA LEADERS DECLARE CEASEFIRE!

Otti said he spoke on behalf of the LRA leader. The Ugandan Lord's Resistance Army (LRA) has announced a unilateral ceasefire, with immediate effect. The rebel movement's deputy leader Vincent Otti told the BBC he had ordered all field commanders to cease all hostilities against Uganda's army.

Ugandan Interior Minister Ruhakana Rugunda said his government would wait to see what happened on the ground, in response to the announcement. The peace talks are due to resume in the Sudanese town of Juba next week. In a phone call to the BBC's Focus on Africa programme, Mr Otti announced: "I, Lt Gen Vincent Otti, second in command of the LRA, by the order of Gen Joseph Kony, chairman of the LRA High Command, do hereby declare a unilateral cessation of hostilities. "I order all our field commanders to, with immediate effect, cease all form of hostilities against the Ugandan People's Defence Forces (UDPF) positions and others.

Who are the LRA rebels?

"I do hope that the government of Uganda shall reciprocate this gesture of goodwill so that the warring parties may finally find a bilateral agreement to provide a peaceful atmosphere for our people," Mr Otti said.

The LRA rebel movement has refused to send its most senior leaders to peace talks with the government. Southern Sudanese vice-president and head mediator, Riek Machar had asked for the group's top leaders to take part after earlier peace talks failed. On Thursday Mr Otti told the BBC that Juba was not safe because an International Criminal Court (ICC) warrant for the LRA leaders' arrest was still in force and Ugandan government forces were present in the town.
On Tuesday, Mr Kony held his first formal meeting with Mr Machar and a Ugandan official in a forest clearing on the border between Sudan and the Democratic Republic of Congo.

This was hailed as a significant move, since the failure of earlier talks had been attributed in part to the negotiators not being sufficiently high-ranking to strike a deal. Ugandan President Yoweri Museveni has offered the rebels a full and guaranteed amnesty and protection as long as they renounce violence. Thousands of civilians have died in the 20-year conflict and more than one million have been forced to flee their homes.

BBC NEWS REPORT.

RELIEF AT PEACEFUL CONGO ELECTION!

Relief at peaceful Congo election
By Joseph Winter BBC News website, Kinshasa,

Voter turnout in Yolo North was said to be 70%. The morning after the Democratic Republic of Congo's historic elections, there is a mood of relief that the election - part of a peace process that ended a five-year war - happened without violence. One man told me he was just relieved that DR Congo's elections had passed off peacefully. Like many Congolese, he had feared serious unrest on election day after one of the main parties called for a boycott of the polls. These fears were heightened by clashes between the armed guards of some of the main presidential candidates and former military wings last week.

DR CONGO POLLS

32 presidential candidates
9,709 parliamentary candidates
25.6m voters
50,000 polling stations
260,000 electoral staff

Voting brings hope
Reporters' log
DR Congo: Quick guide

But despite some accusations of irregularities, so far there has been no widespread violence. And while journalists and political activists are deeply frustrated that official presidential results will not be published for several weeks, there is also a feeling that this may serve as a useful cooling off period. "The city was really tense," said Aime, a businessman. "This period will let people calm down."

By Sunday night, election officials had started counting the votes from DR Congo's landmark polls in the hot, sweaty, mosquito-infested schools of Yolo North, in western Kinshasa. The lucky ones had lights in the classrooms - others have to make do with battery-powered lamps. Some were counting on the floor, others on wooden tables. Some voters say they have little confidence in their politiciansThey first scrupulously tallied up the total numbers of voters and made sure that this was the same as the number of ballot papers used.

In one polling station, there was a discrepancy of just one out of 255, leading to a long delay but no-one made a fuss - they just carried on counting and recounting until they got it right. And these officials - mostly a mixture of teachers and students - had often had nothing to eat all day. Earlier, as voting drew to a sleepy close after a brisk start in the morning, they were complaining bitterly but then the adrenalin of counting took over. Some were also unhappy that they had not yet been paid. But despite the tough conditions they have endured, I do not think they would be popular if they went on strike.

Despite appearing apathetic until late in the campaign, most "Kinois" - as Kinshasa residents are known - seem enthusiastic on election day. Turn-out was about 70% in the polling stations I visited. From the afternoon and then into the night, many Kinois were relaxing in the "terraces" - open-air bars, where beer and grilled meet are served against a background of Congo's famous Ndombolo dance music. "I don't have much confidence in any of the candidates but I voted for the least bad," one man told me over his bottle of Congo's famous Primus beer.

BBC NEWS REPORT.

LANDIS RETURNS POSITIVE 'B' SAMPLE!

Landis returns positive B sample

Landis faces an uncertain futureFloyd Landis is set to lose his Tour de France title and faces a two-year ban after returning a positive B sample for excessive levels of testosterone.
The American's Phonak team dismissed Landis on Saturday when it was confirmed he produced levels more than twice the legal limit after stage 17.
Landis, 30, has said the high levels detected were a "natural occurrence".
Spaniard Oscar Pereiro will be declared the winner of the Tour de France if Landis is stripped of the title.
Pereiro was second overall behind Landis in the race, which finished in Paris on 23 July, and would become the first Spaniard to win the Tour since Miguel Indurain in 1995.

LOWDOWN ON LANDIS

1975, October: Born Lancaster County, Pennsylvania
1990: Buys first mountain bike
1992: Junior National Mountain Bike champion
1993: US National Mountain Bike champion
1995: Moves to California
1998: Switches to road racing
1999: Joins Mercury pro team
2000: Wins Tour du Poitou-Charentes
2002: Joins US Postal, races in first Tour de France
2003, Jan: Breaks hip in crash
2003, July: Helps Armstrong win fourth Tour de France
2004: Wins Tour d'Algarve
2005: Joins Phonak, finishes ninth in Tour de France
Mar 2006: Wins Paris-Nice
23 July: Wins Tour de France
27 July: Tests positive for testosterone

The official decision to strip Landis of the victory rests with the International Cycling Union (UCI), but Tour de France director Christian Prudhomme said: "It goes without saying that for us Floyd Landis is no longer the winner of the 2006 Tour de France."

Landis said in a statement: "I have never taken any banned substance, including testosterone.
"I was the strongest man at the Tour de France, and that is why I am the champion. "I will fight these charges with the same determination and intensity that I bring to my training and racing. "It is now