Talks aim to end Bangladesh row BBC News
The president of Bangladesh is to hold talks with rival parties on who should run a caretaker cabinet in an effort to end the country's political crisis.President Iajuddin Ahmed will meet the party leaders separately. Two days of violence began on Friday when the opposition objected to the nomination of ex-Chief Justice KM Hasan to head an interim administration. The new cabinet will be charged with organising elections. Mr Hasan later withdrew from his planned inauguration. The opposition Awami League accused him of being a stooge of the government, sent supporters on to the streets and threatened to paralyse the country. Police used teargas and rubber bullets to disperse the demonstrations. At least 14 people were killed and hundreds of others were wounded in the violence.

Calm returns
On Saturday Mr Hasan pulled out just before he was due to be sworn in, and Mr Ahmed urged parties to find a replacement by Sunday afternoon. The Awami League and the governing Bangladesh National Party agreed to hold talks. The BBC's Roland Buerk in Dhaka says the president's action has brought a degree of calm to the capital's streets. Outgoing PM Khaleda Zia, whose mandate expired on Friday, could stay in office as a caretaker for up to 15 days if the two sides fail to reach agreement on a new interim leader. Under Bangladesh's unique system, when an administration comes to the end of its term, it hands over to an unelected interim government which has 90 days to organise elections. The opposition has been demanding a say in choosing the "chief adviser", as the interim prime minister is known. Our correspondent says Bangladeshi politics is especially bitter because of the personal rivalry between Sheikh Hasina of the Awami League and Mrs Zia. They have led the country in alternate terms since 1991 but have not spoken for years. Parliament has been boycotted regularly by whichever party is in opposition, and a culture of street demonstrations has developed.

Woman burned in France bus attack BBC News
A woman has been seriously burned and three others are suffering from smoke inhalation after youths set fire to a bus in the French city of Marseille.A group of teenagers reportedly forced open the doors of the vehicle and threw flammable liquid inside before fleeing. There have been several attacks on buses over the past week, coinciding with the one year anniversary of riots in poor suburbs across the country. The riots were sparked by the deaths of two teenagers in the capital, Paris. Minor skirmishes were reported in Paris on Saturday. An additional 4,000 officers had been deployed - six were injured and 47 people were arrested, according to the interior ministry. At least six buses have been set on fire in suburbs around the capital this week in an upsurge of violence ahead of the anniversary of the riots.

'Calm and dignity'
Earlier, about 500 people marched in memory of two teenage boys, both from immigrant families, who died in 2005.Their deaths and the suggestion they had been running from police triggered three weeks of suburban clashes. During the violence last year - between youths of mainly North African origin and police - more than 10,000 cars were set ablaze and 300 buildings firebombed. The families of the two dead youths, Bouna Traore and Zyed Benna, laid wreaths at the electricity sub-station where they were electrocuted. A monument to the boys was unveiled and the local mayor appealed for calm. "Once again France, and even the world, is watching us and waiting to see what we do. So I appeal solemnly for calm and dignity to prevail here," said mayor Claude Dillain, quoted by the Associated Press. But others have warned that the factors which played a key part in the riots - high unemployment, discrimination and youth alienation from mainstream society - remain unchanged.

Plane crash near Nigeria capital BBC News
A passenger jet has crashed near the Nigerian capital, Abuja, police say. Doctors were urged to go to the airport after the plane, on an ADC airlines flight to Sokoto, went down. More than 100 people were on board. At least 200 people died in two air disasters last year, leading many to question the safety of Nigerian planes. After the disasters, several airlines were grounded while safety checks were carried out. ADC planes were not involved in last year's crashes. Last month 10 senior army commanders were killed when their military plane crashed.

UN envoy Pronk to return to Sudan BBC News
The UN envoy to Sudan is to return to Khartoum despite his recent expulsion from the country, the UN has announced.A UN spokesman said Jan Pronk will remain as envoy until his contract expires at the end of the year. Sudan demanded Mr Pronk leave the country after he wrote in his personal website that morale in the Sudanese army was low after defeats in Darfur. Khartoum has made it clear it will not work with Mr Pronk, so his deputy will take on his duties. Mr Pronk was given three days to leave Sudan on Sunday, and was recalled for consultations with his boss, Kofi Annan, in New York on Monday.

'Critical time' for Darfur
Mr Annan's spokesman told reporters on Friday that Mr Pronk had the UN chief's full backing. "The secretary general has made it clear that he alone can decide on the tenure of his special representatives," Stephane Dujarric said. But he made it clear that while Mr Pronk would be keeping his job as envoy until the end of the year, it would be his deputy who would actually be doing the work. "However," Mr Dujarric continued, Kofi Annan "also realises that at a critical time in the Darfur negotiations it is important that we preserve a good working relationship with the government of Sudan and he is certain that the officer in charge, Taye Zerihoun, will be able to provide this."The diplomatic solution was reached after intensive discussions between New York and Khartoum, says the BBC's UN correspondent Laura Trevelyan. Sudanese officials have repeatedly stated they will not work with Mr Pronk. "To us Jan Pronk is history now," Sudan's Minister of State for Foreign Affairs Ali Karti told the BBC. Sudan's ambassador to the UN was even more blunt: "He is not going back to Sudan as the special representative of the secretary general. This decision is over," Abdalmahmood Mohamed said. "He abused his authority, his mandate... He lost his impartiality and integrity and became part of the problem rather than part of the solution".

'Morale low'
Despite the strong words, it appears agreement was reached with the Sudanese for Mr Pronk to return briefly to Khartoum to wind up his affairs and hand over to his deputy, says our correspondent. Mr Pronk infuriated the Sudanese government when he wrote two weeks ago that "morale in the government army in north Darfur has gone down. Some generals have been sacked; soldiers have refused to fight."He said the Sudanese army had lost two major battles recently to rebel groups in the western region and that Arab militias - who have been accused of atrocities - were being mobilised in violation of UN resolutions. The army accused him of waging "psychological warfare" and he was declared persona non grata by the authorities. The BBC's UN correspondent says the row is a distraction from attempts to get a UN peacekeeping force into Darfur. Sudan is resisting strong international pressure to replace an under-equipped and under-funded African Union force with UN troops. Officials have called the effort a bid to restore colonial rule in Sudan. More than 200,000 people are thought to have died and two million have been displaced as a result of the three-year conflict in Darfur, in the west of Sudan.

Mexican police storm protesters in Oaxaca

OAXACA, Mexico - Thousands of federal riot police using tear gas
and water cannons battled demonstrators in this once-picturesque
state capital, prompting striking teachers and leftist groups to
abandon the central square they had held for five months. By Sam
Enriquez and Reed Johnson.
http://email.latimes.com/cgi-bin1/DM/y/eBB...Io30G2B0Hzxs0E3

Healthier respect for herbs

BOGOTA, Colombia - Colombia has come to realize it has one of the
world's great natural medicine cabinets. It's taking stock now,
before outsiders raid the riches. By Chris Kraul.
http://email.latimes.com/cgi-bin1/DM/y/eBB...Io30G2B0Hzxt0E4

A high-level call for Katsav to step aside

JERUSALEM - Israeli President Moshe Katsav, clinging defiantly to
his office two weeks after police recommended his indictment on
rape charges, came under pressure from the country's top law
enforcement official to step down. By Richard Boudreaux.
http://email.latimes.com/cgi-bin1/DM/y/eBB...Io30G2B0Hzxw0E7

Brazil's Lula captures a second term

SAO PAULO, Brazil - A chastened President Luiz Inacio Lula da
Silva won a landslide victory, gaining a second term as leader of
Latin America's largest nation. By Patrick J. McDonnell and
Marcelo Soares.
http://email.latimes.com/cgi-bin1/DM/y/eBB...Io30G2B0Hzxx0E8

Pakistan madrassa raid 'kills 80' BBC News
At least 80 militants have been killed in an air strike by Pakistani forces on a madrassa (religious school) used as a militant training camp, the army says.The army said the madrassa in the tribal area of Bajaur bordering Afghanistan was destroyed by helicopter gunships early on Monday. One eyewitness told the BBC that 70-80 students were inside. A leading local politician says the dead were innocent. Pakistan has deployed nearly 80,000 troops along the border.They are there to hunt militants who sought refuge in the rugged tribal terrain after the ousting of the Taleban in Afghanistan in late 2001. President Pervez Musharraf has pledged to reform madrassas after many were criticised for supporting Islamic militancy. Monday's attack took place near Khar, the main town in Bajaur.The leader of the madrassa, radical cleric Maulana Liaqat, was among the dead. He was a prominent member of a group of pro-Taleban tribal clerics, the BBC's Rahimullah Yusufzai in Peshawar says. "We received confirmed intelligence reports that 70-80 militants were hiding in a madrassa used as a terrorist training facility, which was destroyed by an army strike, led by helicopters," army spokesman Maj Gen Shaukat Sultan told the Associated Press news agency.

'Saddened'
However, an eyewitness told the BBC that the madrassa school was filled with about 80 local students who had resumed studies after the Muslim Eid holidays.People at the scene told reporters that body parts were scattered in the area after the attack. "We heard helicopters flying in and then heard bombs," villager Haji Youssef said. "We are all saddened by what we have seen." A cabinet minister from Pakistan's North West Frontier Province, Siraj ul-Haq, has resigned in protest over the attack. "This is a very wrong action. They [the victims] were not given any warning. This was an unprovoked attack on a madrassa. They were innocent people," Siraj ul-Haq told the Associated Press before resigning. Journalists trying to get to the scene were being turned back as they tried to enter the Bajaur region. The attack came two days after local militants attended a rally in the area where they declared the al-Qaeda leader Osama Bin Laden and Taleban chief Mullah Muhammad Omar as their heroes. The BBC's Barbara Plett in Islamabad says Monday morning's attack coincides with peace talks between tribal elders and pro-Taleban militants in Bajaur.The government had already released prisoners in anticipation of a deal, possibly along the lines of an agreement signed in the neighbouring tribal region of North Waziristan, our correspondent says. But the army says peace talks would not be allowed to serve as a cover for militant activity. Bajaur, which borders Afghanistan's insurgency-plagued eastern province of Kunar, was the scene of a controversial US air strike in January, believed to be aimed at al-Qaeda number two Ayman al-Zawahiri. The 13 January raid killed at least 18 people, mostly civilians. In May, Pakistani authorities said a senior al-Qaeda figure, Abu Marwan al-Suri, had been killed in Bajaur during a clash with local police.

Two accused over 'fake' HIV tests BBC News
Two men have appeared in court in West Bengal over the alleged mis-selling of kits which were used to test people for HIV/Aids and hepatitis.Police say Monozyme India sold hundreds of thousands of the kits, originally designed to test for pregnancy or other conditions, under false pretences. Doctors say this led to infected people being given the all-clear, and going on to give blood and infect others. The company's owners deny charges of malpractice and forgery. Calcutta-based Govind Sarda and his brother Ghanshyam say the kits were mistakenly distributed after a consignment of what were believed to be HIV/Aids testing kits were delivered to India from China. The pair were denied bail at their court appearance on Monday.

'Past expiry dates'
Calcutta police detective Gyanwant Singh said nearly 90,000 blood diagnostic and pregnancy testing kits, all in use well beyond their expiry dates, had been seized from various blood banks and hospitals in West Bengal during the past 20 days.He added that police inquiries had revealed that the faulty kits may have been supplied to at least eight other Indian states. One official said he knew of at least 117 people who were given the wrong diagnosis as a result of these kits - but added there could be very many more. The kits were supplied between April - when Monozyme won the government contract to distribute them - and August, when large-scale complaints against them were first reported. By then, Monozyme is believed by police to have supplied nearly 200,000 kits to hospitals and blood banks in West Bengal alone.

HIV stigma
The BBC's Jill McGivering says the case may damage public confidence in HIV testing. The stigma associated with HIV already deters many people from being tested in the first place, she reports, making it more difficult for the government and international organisations to work out how widespread HIV/Aids really is. Blood banks in West Bengal are now reported to be running short of supplies as a result of the case. People like 22-year-old Shampa Das have been devastated. She was suffering from thalassaemia and needed regular blood transfusions. Doctors say that she was probably infected with HIV during one such transfusion at the Central Blood Bank at Manicktala in northern Calcutta. Monozyme is based in the state of Andhra Pradesh, and has 256 distributors across India - including 12 in Calcutta.

House arrest for Chile's Pinochet BBC News
Chile's former military leader, Augusto Pinochet, has been placed under house arrest for crimes committed at a detention centre in the 1970s. Judge Alejandro Solis had on Friday charged the 90-year-old general with kidnap, homicide and torture. The Villa Grimaldi centre was run by his secret police, where thousands were tortured between 1974 and 1977. More than 3,000 people were killed or "disappeared" when Gen Pinochet was in power from 1973 to 1990.

Immunity
Judge Solis questioned the general in connection with the Villa Grimaldi case and declared him "lucid and aware of the consequences of his words". He is being processed over 36 kidnappings (or disappearances), one murder and 23 cases of torture committed at the detention centre used by the secret police. Gen Pinochet enjoys legal immunity as a former president, but the courts can strip him of this privilege on a case-by-case basis. This has happened in a number of human rights and financial cases. The former leader was under house arrest for seven weeks last year, over the disappearance of three dissidents during his rule. He has yet to be cleared or convicted in any cases, some of which have been dropped because of his ill health. His lawyers have argued he is too infirm to stand trial.

Siberia ravaged by bootleg vodka BBC News
ourteen towns in the Irkutsk region of Siberia have declared a state of emergency, amid a dramatic upsurge in mass poisonings caused by fake vodka.Almost 900 people in the region are in hospital with liver failure, apparently after drinking industrial solvent. Officials say there has been an alarming pattern of localised mass poisonings in recent weeks. Last week, police and local authorities were given three days to ensure no poisons were being sold as vodka. But this weekend dozens more poisonings were registered. In several of the worst-affected regions, Russian officials have seized large quantities of hazardous liquids that authorities suspected were to be sold as alcoholic drinks. They say the most common substances are de-icers, anti-rust treatments and window-cleaning solutions.

Poisoning hotspots
In one of the largest seizures, 600 tons of solvent was seized in the southern Russian city of Voronezh. It is an indication of the scale of Russia's drink problem that during an average month 3,500 people die after drinking such liquids. But what has caused most concern among officials is the dramatic upsurge in concentrated poisonings in small towns across the country. In one of the worst cases, almost 1,000 people were poisoned in just two small towns in the Belgorod region in central Russia. Critics say the government's decision earlier this year to introduce a new and expensive system of state excise stamps led to the market being flooded with potentially lethal vodka substitutes. Genuine, certified vodka is now beyond the means of many of Russia's legions of poor. And Russian doctors point out that most of those suffering liver failure in the spate of poisonings are from disadvantaged sections of society. President Vladimir Putin has ruled out restrictions on the accessibility of alcohol, but radical solutions are being discussed. They include the possible re-introduction of a state monopoly on the production of alcohol, or even providing a cheap, but safe, so-called "people's vodka" to avoid mass poisonings.
By Steven Eke

Crime-hit Naples may get troops BBC News
The Italian justice minister, Clemente Mastella, says he is considering sending the army into Naples to deal with an upsurge of violent crime. "Before this was a taboo for me, but now I am open to discussing it," said Mr Mastella. The governor of Naples' Campania region, Antonio Bassolino, urged tough action against the "deadly cancer of the Camorra" - the Naples Mafia. The officials were speaking after three murders in Naples at the weekend. Correspondents say the number of people killed or wounded in the city in recent weeks is higher than usual. Some Neapolitans have been taking the law into their own hands. Last week a tobacconist shot dead a robber. The authorities are also worried about the effect on tourism - last month a Canadian was hit by a stray bullet while strolling in one of the city's squares. Mr Mastella said an army deployment in Naples would not involve soldiers going on sensitive missions. Their presence would allow police to concentrate on fighting violent crime, La Repubblica newspaper quoted him as saying. "There is a need to tackle the sense of insecurity and fear among many sections of the population," he said.

In case you missed it:

Video: Israel Lobby and U.S. Foreign Policy.:

The Stephen Walt and John Mearsheimer report on Israel.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1ZxgykaYKNk&eurl=

===
Nuke secrets stolen:

THE secrets of Britain’s Trident nuclear deterrent are feared stolen, the Sunday Express can reveal. It is claimed they disappeared from a high-security base in the US.
http://express.lineone.net/news_detail.html?sku=630

===
Al-Qaeda warns Canada:

An al-Qaeda strategist has warned Canada to withdraw its troops from Afghanistan or face terrorist attacks similar to 9/11, Madrid and the London transit bombings.
http://tinyurl.com/ydwmn5

===
Algeria truck bombs kill three:

Three people were killed and 24 wounded in near-simultaneous truck bomb attacks on two Algerian police stations, police said on Monday, in what witnesses called the most elaborate assault by Islamist rebels in several years.
http://tinyurl.com/ynxv7z

===
Brazil's working class leader wins landslide second term victory:

Brazil's leftwing president, Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, won a landslide second term in power last night, a month after being forced into a run-off by allegations of corruption.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/brazil/story/0,,1934753,00.html

===
Pinochet 'arrested' in Chile:

Augusto Pinochet, former Chilean dictator, has been put under house arrest for crimes including torture, murder and kidnapping in the years that followed his 1973 coup, a judge has said.
http://tinyurl.com/yhk7jg

===
Sandinista comeback alarms US:

Daniel Ortega is a hair's breadth from regaining power in Nicaragua and staging one of Latin America's most remarkable political comebacks, according to new opinion polls.
http://observer.guardian.co.uk/world/story...1934221,00.html

===
In case you missed it:

John Pilger Video: Nicaragua - A Nations Right To Survive:

In 1979, the Sandinistas won a popular revolution in Nicaragua, putting an end to decades of the corrupt US-backed Somoza dictatorship. In this film, Pilger describes the achievements of the Sandinistas and their "threat of a good example".
http://informationclearinghouse.info/article15435.htm

===
African apocalypse: The continent burning into a desert :

Nowhere is the effect of global warming more dangerous than in Somalia, where the worst drought in 40 years is affecting the lives of 1.8 million people.
http://news.independent.co.uk/world/africa...icle1938393.ece

===
£3.68 trillion: The price of failing to act on climate change:

Landmark report reveals apocalyptic cost of global warming
http://observer.guardian.co.uk/uk_news/sto...1934381,00.html

===
Climate change fight 'can't wait' :

The UK prime minister urges swift action as a report warns climate change could shrink the global economy by 20%.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/business/6096084.stm

===
Top accountant says U.S. faces financial ruin:

"This is about the future of our country, our kids and grandkids," the comptroller general of the United States warns a packed hall at Austin's historic Driskill Hotel. "We the people have to rise up to make sure things get changed."
http://www.heraldnet.com/stories/06/10/29/...inancial001.cfm

North Korea talks set to resume BBC News
Six-party talks on North Korea's nuclear programme are to due resume soon after a diplomatic breakthrough.Agreement came at an informal meeting in Beijing between North Korea, China and the US. The talks stalled a year ago after Pyongyang pulled out in protest at US financial sanctions imposed upon it. North Korea alarmed the world by testing a nuclear weapon earlier this month, prompting the UN to impose financial and arms sanctions. China's foreign ministry said on its website that envoys from China, the US and North Korea had met on Tuesday and "had a candid and in-depth exchange of views on continuing efforts to advance the process of the six-party talks".All three agreed the talks "be held soon at a time convenient to the six parties". The US negotiator, Assistant Secretary of State Christopher Hill, later said the talks could resume as early as next month. He added that North Korea had set no conditions for its return to the talks. President George W Bush hailed the agreement. "I am pleased and I want to thank the Chinese," he told reporters at the White House. He added that the agreement would not halt US efforts to enforce a UN Security Council resolution passed in response to the North's atomic test. The announcement was welcomed by both South Korea and Russia, which along with the US, China and Japan make up the partners in the talks with North Korea. But Japan has reportedly said it cannot accept North Korea's return to the talks unless the regime first renounces its nuclear weapons. Foreign Minister Taro Aso was quoted as saying that while Japan welcomed the prospect of a new round of talks, it "does not intend to accept North Korea's return to the talks on the premise that it possess nuclear weapons". Public broadcaster NHK said he insisted that a resumption of talks "is conditional on North Korea not possessing nuclear weapons".

Ongoing crisis
The talks began in 2003 to find a way to resolve the crisis over Pyongyang's nuclear programme. They appeared to make an historic breakthrough in September 2005 when North Korea announced it would give up its nuclear activities and rejoin the nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty.But within months optimism crumbled as North Korea withdrew from the talks in protest at US financial sanctions, under which about $24m (£14m) of funds have been frozen. North Korea's decision to test seven missiles in July and then carry out a nuclear weapon test on 9 October drew international condemnation. China - Pyongyang's key ally - joined other UN Security Council members in agreeing to sanctions targeting North Korea's missile and weapons programmes as well as luxury goods and a travel ban. But Beijing has also been carrying out frantic behind-the-scenes negotiations to try to restart the talks, which appear now to have borne fruit, the BBC's Rupert Wingfield-Hayes in the Chinese capital says.

Gazprom to double Georgia charges BBC News
Russian energy giant Gazprom has said it will more than double prices of gas supplies to Georgia from 2007.Gazprom said it would charge Tbilisi $230 for 1,000 cubic metres of gas, compared with the $110 cost now. Russia has often been accused of using Gazprom, a state-controlled natural gas monopoly, as a political weapon to keep its neighbours in line. Georgia's foreign minister is in Moscow for talks in an effort to defuse tensions between the two nations. Gela Bezhuashvili will take part in the first high-level talks between Georgia and Russia since a diplomatic crisis soured bilateral relations in September.

Postal blockade
The crisis began when Georgia, which relies heavily on Russia for exports and imports, arrested four Russian officers for alleged spying. The Kremlin hit back with an air, sea and postal blockade on Georgia and a crackdown on Georgian migrants in Russia. A ban on key Georgian exports, such as wine and mineral water, has also been in place for months, with Russia citing health concerns. Last month, Georgia's biggest gas importer, Energy Invest, claimed that Gazprom was looking to raise 2007 prices to between $170 and $250. Georgia will buy 360 million cubic metres of gas from Gazprom next year, up from 250 million cubic metres this year.

'Political decision'
Gazprom has said it will stop subsidising economies in the former USSR and will look for payments closer to its European export prices, currently at around $230-$250 per 1,000 cubic metres. After the Gazprom announcement Georgia's state minister for economic reforms, Kakha Bendukidze, said the increase had been expected. "I don't know if this price is final but to me it is clear that this is not a market price, this is a political decision," Mr Bendukidze told the Reuters news agency. Mr Bendukidze said he would be observing what price Gazprom offered to Georgia's neighbours Azerbaijan and Armenia. Relations between Georgia and Russia have been rocky since the 2004 election of Georgian President Mikhail Saakashvili, who wants to boost ties with the West and join Nato in 2008. Last week, President Vladimir Putin accused the Georgian leadership of wanting to retake the breakaway territories of Abkhazia and South Ossetia by force.

France to declassify Rwanda files BBC News
France says it will release classified documents on the Rwandan genocide, after claims that French troops were complicit in the 1994 massacre.Some 105 documents will be given to a magistrate investigating the claims by four genocide survivors. Defence Minister Michele Alliot-Marie took the decision on the recommendation of France's defence secrets commission. The plaintiffs accuse soldiers of rape, murder and complicity "in genocide and/or crimes against humanity". The Rwandan Tutsis, aged between 25 and 39, have brought their case against the French military in the French courts. During the genocide some 800,000 Tutsis and moderate Hutus were killed by Hutu extremists. French troops were sent to Rwanda as part of a United Nations force. Rwanda has repeatedly accused Paris of complicity in the genocide. France has denied any role. The four survivors say French troops committed crimes themselves, and also let Hutu killers enter refugee camps under their protection. An inquiry began last month in Rwanda into alleged French complicity in training and arming the Hutu extremists. After hearing testimony from witnesses, the Rwandan panel will rule on whether to file a suit at the International Court of Justice.

German troops 'had Nazi symbol' BBC News, Berlin
A German magazine has published a photograph showing a Nazi-like symbol on a vehicle allegedly used by German troops bound for Afghanistan.The defence ministry is investigating the photograph, published on Thursday in the weekly magazine Stern. It follows the recent scandal of photographs of German soldiers posing with human skulls and skeletons. Six servicemen were suspended over the first case, and a total of 23 are being investigated in connection with it. At the end of last month, the German government announced a grand new role for the country's military. It decided that more troops would be sent abroad on peacekeeping missions and Germany would expand its efforts to maintain international security.

New scandal
But the army has been embarrassed and shamed by a stream of photographs in German newspapers. First were the images of German troops desecrating human remains, taken in Afghanistan. Now a new photograph in Stern shows a vehicle with a palm tree and an iron cross painted onto it. The symbol is reminiscent of that used by the Nazi commander General Erwin Rommel - the "Desert Fox" - in North Africa during World War II. The defence ministry has promised another investigation. The recent scandals have sparked a fierce debate in Germany about whether the army here is ready to take on a greater role abroad.
By Steve Rosenberg

Syria denies Lebanon plot claim BBC News
Syria has denied White House claims that, together with Iran and Hezbollah, it is planning to try to topple the Lebanese government.The "rumours" spread by the US were wrong, the foreign ministry said. A Syrian government newspaper described the comments as "pure vilification". The US believes Syria may be aiming to block a tribunal over the killing of Lebanese ex-PM Rafik Hariri, in which Syria has been implicated. On Wednesday, White House spokesman Tony Snow said the Bush administration was "increasingly concerned" by "mounting evidence" of a plan to bring the Lebanese government down. He did not give further information, saying it was classified. Damascus rejected the claims in a foreign ministry statement. "The rumours put about by the US administration according to which Syria, Iran and Hezbollah are seeking to destabilise the situation in Lebanon are wrong," the statement said. And an editorial in the government Baath newspaper said: "This pure vilification is meant to raise turmoil in Lebanon and cause fallout with Syria."

Veto fears
Hezbollah is backed by Syria and Iran, and has two ministers in Lebanon's government.The BBC News website's world affairs correspondent Paul Reynolds says the White House statement appears to result from the tense situation in Lebanon, where Hezbollah is demanding one third of cabinet seats, thereby giving it a veto over decisions. Such a veto would enable it to block approval of the international tribunal to try suspects in Mr Hariri's assassination, our correspondent says. The Hezbollah leader, Sheikh Hassan Nasrallah, has threatened street demonstrations in support of his demand. The US is concerned that this instability could result in the fall of the government of Prime Minister Fouad Siniora.

UK mission
The claim from the White House came as Britain held its highest level talks with Syria since the 2003 invasion of Iraq. Prime Minister Tony Blair's foreign policy adviser, Nigel Sheinwald, met Syrian President Bashar al-Assad and senior ministers. Few details were given of the discussions, but the Financial Times newspaper reported that the visit was aimed at pressing Syria to cease its support for radical groups. As well as its relationship with Hezbollah, Syria is thought to have influence on some of the insurgent groups operating in Iraq. "Syria had always faced a choice: it can play a constructive role in international affairs or it can continue to support terrorism," Mr Blair's official spokesman said. "The key question is what choice does it make?"

Hariri tribunal
A UN team has been investigating who was behind the death of Mr Hariri in a massive blast on Beirut's seafront in 2005. Popular protests in response to the death led to the withdrawal of Syrian forces from Lebanon after a 29-year presence. The UN Security Council has approved the formation of an international tribunal to try those accused of involvement in the murder of Mr Hariri. The UN sent a draft plan for the tribunal to Lebanese authorities on 21 October but it has yet to be approved by Lebanon's cabinet and parliament or by the UN Security Council. The assassination has been widely blamed on Syria, but Mr Assad has repeatedly denied that his country had anything to do with the killing.

Somali talks fail amid war fears BBC News
Peace talks between Somalia's transitional government and Islamists have been postponed, mediators in the Sudanese capital, Khartoum, say. The talks have been placed on indefinite hold after the two sides refused to meet face-to-face, a statement said. The mediators called for restraint but a government spokesman ruled out any early resumption of talks. Observers now fear a conflict which could engulf the entire region. Ethiopia backs the government while its rival Eritrea has been accused of arming the Union of Islamic Courts (UIC). Both countries deny reports they have troops in Somalia.

'Nonsense'
Somali Foreign Minister Ismael Mohamoud Hurreh told the BBC that his government hoped to avoid war but warned that conflict would become inevitable if Somalia's Union of Islamic Courts (UIC) continued on their current path. The minister said countries in the region were deeply concerned about the UIC's declaration of jihad, or holy war, on their neighbours. While the UIC has gained control of most of southern Somalia in recent months, Mr Hurreh said they were not as strong as many believed. "There is a lot of hyperbole and portrayal of the Islamic Courts being invincible, a strong military organisation. That is nonsense," he said. UIC delegate in Khartoum Ibrahim Hassan Adow told the BBC that the Islamists remained "committed to dialogue". "Our message is for the government not to invite enemies of the Somali people." Before arriving in Khartoum, the Islamist delegation said they would not take part in the talks unless Ethiopian troops left Somalia. Ethiopia admits having hundreds of military trainers with the government. These are the third round of talks the Arab League has organised in Khartoum.

Restraint
With neither side willing to accept the other's pre-conditions for talks, international mediators called on both parties to exercise restraint. "The parties are urged to commit themselves to previous agreements reached in Khartoum," their statement said. The two sides have previously agreed a ceasefire but the UIC has continued to gain ground. The UIC has rapidly taken control of most of southern Somalia since seizing the capital, Mogadishu, in June. The government only controls the territory around Baidoa, 250km (150 miles) north-west of Mogadishu. Somalia has been in the grip of warlords and militias for years and has not had a functioning national government since 1991.

Turkey gunman in 'Pope protest' BBC News
A man has been arrested in Turkey after firing shots outside the Italian consulate in Istanbul, reports say.No-one was injured in the incident, which reports said was believed to be in protest against a forthcoming visit to Turkey by Pope Benedict XVI. The Pope, due to arrive on 28 November, angered Muslims in September by quoting a medieval text which said the Prophet Muhammad had brought "evil" things. He has since expressed his regrets for offending Muslims. "We think that this is something that is an isolated incident and does not disturb the overall calm preparations for the trip," chief Vatican spokesman, Father Federico Lombardi, told Reuters news agency. The protester threw his gun into the garden of the consulate after firing the shots, the Dogan news agency said. The man shouted, "I am happy to be a Muslim," the agency reported. Pope Benedict XVI will visit Ankara, Izmir, Istanbul and ancient Ephesus during his trip to Turkey, which will be his first visit to a predominantly Muslim country. The Pope was officially invited to visit the country by the Turkish government and will be there until 1 December.

Britain is 'surveillance society' BBC News
Fears that the UK would "sleep-walk into a surveillance society" have become a reality, the government's information commissioner has said.Richard Thomas, who said he raised concerns two years ago, spoke after research found people's actions were increasingly being monitored. Researchers highlight "dataveillance", the use of credit card, mobile phone and loyalty card information, and CCTV. Monitoring of work rates, travel and telecommunications is also rising.There are up to 4.2m CCTV cameras in Britain - about one for every 14 people. But surveillance ranges from US security agencies monitoring telecommunications traffic passing through Britain, to key stroke information used to gauge work rates and GPS information tracking company vehicles, the Report on the Surveillance Society says. It predicts that by 2016 shoppers could be scanned as they enter stores, schools could bring in cards allowing parents to monitor what their children eat, and jobs may be refused to applicants who are seen as a health risk. Produced by a group of academics called the Surveillance Studies Network, the report was presented to the 28th International Data Protection and Privacy Commissioners' Conference in London, hosted by the Information Commissioner's Office. The office is an independent body established to promote access to official data and to protect personal details.The report's co-writer Dr David Murakami-Wood told BBC News that, compared to other industrialised Western states, the UK was "the most surveilled country". "We have more CCTV cameras and we have looser laws on privacy and data protection," he said. "We really do have a society which is premised both on state secrecy and the state not giving up its supposed right to keep information under control while, at the same time, wanting to know as much as it can about us." The report coincides with the publication by the human rights group Privacy International of figures that suggest Britain is the worst Western democracy at protecting individual privacy. The two worst countries in the 36-nation survey are Malaysia and China, and Britain is one of the bottom five with "endemic surveillance". Mr Thomas called for a debate about the risks if information gathered is wrong or falls into the wrong hands."We've got to say where do we want the lines to be drawn? How much do we want to have surveillance changing the nature of society in a democratic nation?" he told the BBC. "We're not luddites, we're not technophobes, but we are saying not least don't forget the fundamental importance of data protection, which I'm responsible for. "Sometimes it gets dismissed as something which is rather bureaucratic, it stops you sorting out your granny's electricity bills. People grumble about data protection, but boy is it important in this new age. "When data protection puts those fundamental safeguards in place, we must make sure that some of these lines are not crossed."

'Balance needed'
The Department for Constitutional Affairs (DCA) said there needed to be a balance between sharing information responsibly and respecting the citizen's rights. A spokesman said: "Massive social and technological advances have occurred in the last few decades and will continue in the years to come. "We must rise to the challenges and seize the opportunities it provides for individual citizens and society as a whole." Graham Gerrard from the Association of Chief Police Officers (Acpo) said there were safeguards against the abuse of surveillance by officers. "The police use of surveillance is probably the most regulated of any group in society," he told the BBC. "Richard Thomas was particularly concerned about unseen, uncontrolled or excessive surveillance. Well, any of the police surveillance that is unseen is in fact controlled and has to be proportionate otherwise it would never get authorised."

Nigeria gets new Islamic leader BBC News
A new Sultan of Sokoto, the spiritual leader of Nigeria's 70m Muslims, has been announced. Colonel Muhammadu Sada Abubakar, 53, is the younger brother of Sultan Mohammadu Maccido, who was killed in a plane crash on Sunday, along with 95 others. Col Abubakar had been serving as Nigeria's military attache to Pakistan. Like all sultans, Col Abubakar is descended from Uthman Dan Fodio, who led a 19th Century jihad to spread Islam across northern Nigeria. The BBC's Ardo Abdullah Hazzad in the northern city of Sokoto, says that thousands of people have gathered to celebrate the appointment outside the imposing sultan's palace.

Easy-going
Col Abubakar is to greet the crowds after earlier going to thank Sokoto State Governor Attahiru Bafarawa for naming him as the 20th sultan. Col Abubakar was chosen by a group of traditional rulers, known as kingmakers, who passed a shortlist of three to Mr Bafarawa for the final decision. "May he continue where the late sultan stopped," trader Muhammadu Bello told Reuters news agency. "I want to congratulate the state government for choosing a consensus sultan." Col Abubakar, who has also served with West Africa's peacekeeping force in Sierra Leone, was top of the list and so the governor was expected to select him. He is described as being relaxed and easy-going. The Sokoto Caliphate founded by Dan Fodio became one of the largest pre-colonial states in Africa. The sultan's role includes announcing the start and the end of the Muslim holy month of Ramadan in Nigeria. The BBC's Alex Last in Nigeria says the sultan is meant to be a symbol of good governance and Islamic unity.

Crash
The late sultan was widely respected for trying to ease tensions between Nigeria's Muslim and Christians communities, which occasionally spill over into sectarian violence. His son and grandson were also killed when a Boeing 737 flight operated by ADC airlines crashed just after take-off from the capital, Abuja, on its way to Sokoto. Nigeria held three days of national mourning and President Olusegun Obasanjo went to Sokoto to pay his respects. It was the third major Nigeria plane crash in just over a year. ADC's licence has been suspended.

Ivorian leader hails UN 'victory' BBC News
President Laurent Gbagbo has welcomed the latest UN move on Ivory Coast as "a glorious victory". The BBC's James Copnall says this is because the UN resolution recognises the supremacy of the constitution, which his critics want to suspend. The resolution take some powers from the president and gives them to the prime minister, in an attempt to end Ivory Coast's political deadlock. Many diplomats accuse Mr Gbagbo of trying to block peace efforts. Rebels have controlled the north since 2002 and elections, due in October 2004, have twice been postponed.

Watered down
UN Security Council resolution 1721 extended the mandate of both President Gbagbo and Prime Minister Charles Konan Banny for another year. Mr Banny was appointed last year as a neutral figure, tasked with organising elections, but some observers feel Mr Gbagbo has stopped him from doing his job, often by referring to the president's powers as defined by the constitution. Our correspondent says the final version was watered down from earlier drafts, which envisaged the prime minister making key military and civilian appointments. Mr Gbagbo's supporters had said the earlier draft would have meant the UN was imposing regime change on Ivory Coast. "The members of the security council rejected the possibility of making the constitution of any state subordinate to a decision made by an international organisation, even the UN," the president said in a televised address to the nation. "We rejoice for ourselves, but also for all countries in the world who hold freedom dear," Mr Gbagbo said. France, which sponsored the resolution, had insisted that the new resolution would be more important than the Ivorian constitution.

Warning
The president made almost no direct mention of the new powers granted to the prime minister. However these powers do not appear in the constitution. Our correspondent says President Gbagbo made reference to the constitution on numerous occasions, hinting that he would not turn over his powers lightly. But if the president does not accept losing some of his powers to the prime minister, he would be going against the majority of the resolution, our correspondent says. Mr Gbagbo also warned Ivorian against taking to the streets to protest at the resolution. President Gbagbo's opponents will take that as a threat to their supporters, should they attempt to demonstrate, our reporter says. In March 2004, more than 120 opposition supporters were killed by the Ivorian security forces as they attempted to take part in a banned march. The Ivorian armed forces have deployed in large numbers throughout the main city, Abidjan, to ward off any potential trouble. There are more than 10,000 French and UN troops in Ivory Coast, most patrolling the ceasefire line between the northern and southern parts of the country. But plans announced last October to disarm militias and carry out a population census to prepare for elections have failed to get off the ground.

Scores of bodies found in Baghdad BBC News
Baghdad police say they have found 83 bodies, some showing signs of torture, in various locations around the city in the past 36 hours.The fresh killings came as the US said seven more US soldiers had died, and that troops had killed 13 insurgents. The Iraqi army has cancelled all leave and put troops on alert ahead of the verdict expected on Sunday in the trial of former leader Saddam Hussein. Defence lawyers have warned of violence if he is sentenced to death. The discovery of 56 bodies between Thursday and Friday mornings is the biggest in 24 hours since the Muslim holy month of Ramadan ended. Another 27 were found during Friday. Correspondents say some were probably victims of sectarian attacks, while others could have been targeted by criminal gangs seeking ransoms. The 56 dead were all men, estimated to be aged between 20 and 45, police Lt Mohammed Khayon told the Associated Press. They were all dressed in civilian clothing and found with their hands and feet bound, Lt Khayon added, saying that none of the men had yet been identified. In other developments:

• In the US, a website set up to make public Iraqi documents from the Saddam Hussein era has been closed following suggestions that it included information on how to build a basic atom bomb
• It has emerged that a US audit office in Iraq, which has brought to light several cases of large scale fraud and waste in reconstruction efforts, is to be closed in October 2007
• US intelligence chief John Negroponte has held talks in Baghdad with Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri Maliki - issues discussed included building up the Iraqi security forces, the PM's office said.

US casualty figures have continued to rise in Iraq, following the deaths of more than 100 troops in October in one of the US's bloodiest months in Iraq. Three soldiers were killed on Thursday in Baghdad when their vehicle was hit by a roadside bomb. The same day, three soldiers were killed in the western Anbar province and another died "due to non-combat causes", the US military said. The US military said troops had killed 13 insurgents during a raid involving both air and ground forces in Mahmoudiya, 30km (20 miles) south of Baghdad. It was carried out after intelligence suggested an al-Qaeda-linked suspect was hiding in a house, the military said in a statement. Five people were killed inside the building, including a man wearing an explosive vest, and eight were killed as they fled the area, the statement said. Explosives and hand grenades were found in a search of the area, the military added.

Verdict due
The developments come as the Bush administration prepares for mid-term elections next week, in which correspondents say public frustration with US policy in Iraq is threatening to cause Republican losses. Two days before the election, the Iraqi High Tribunal, which has been trying Saddam for crimes against humanity, is expected to deliver its verdict. Saddam Hussein and co-defendants are accused of ordering the deaths of 148 Shias in 1982 in the village of Dujail, following an assassination attempt on the former president. With a surge in violence during Ramadan, October was the fourth deadliest month for US troops since the US-led invasion in 2003. Recent days have seen a number of public disagreements between US and Iraqi officials about attempts to improve security. Mr Maliki has faced pressure to deliver on security, and take tougher action against sectarian militias. He has blamed the Americans for the deteriorating situation, criticising the quality of equipment and training given to the Iraqi government forces.

Gaza women killed in mosque siege BBC News
Two women have been killed as Israeli troops opened fire on a crowd of women gathered to help besieged gunmen flee a mosque in Beit Hanoun in northern Gaza.One of the women told the BBC they had dressed the militants in women's clothes to help them escape. The Israeli military said the women were used as "human shields" and that there had been armed men in the crowd. Reports said at least 16 Palestinians were killed on Friday, the third day of a major Israeli raid on Beit Hanoun. Several of the dead were killed during a series of air strikes which took place after dark on sites across Gaza. At least one Palestinian died at a building used as a mosque in Beit Hanoun, another was killed close to nearby Beit Lahiya; two more were killed in the Jabaliya refugee camp, also in northern Gaza. In Rafah in southern Gaza, a member of a security force linked to Hamas was killed and three wounded when their vehicle was hit in an air strike. An Israeli military spokesman said five air strikes had taken place, targeting suspected militants who were planting explosives or involved in rocket attacks on Israel.

Hamas appeal
In the dramatic mosque rescue, Hamas radio issued an appeal to local women when a tense stand-off developed between Israeli forces surrounding the building and up to 15 militants who had taken refuge inside. One of the women, Nahed Abou Harbiya, described what happened to the BBC Arabic Service. "All the women headed to the mosque to get the Palestinian resistance men... But the Israeli occupation forces were firing heavily at us with their machine guns and also threw stun grenades at us. "We entered the mosque and indeed we got all the resistance men out and put female attire on them so that the Israeli occupation forces wouldn't arrest them," she said. Israeli troops had moved in and sealed the town off on Wednesday, in one of the biggest offensives in recent months, which Israel says is aimed at stopping militants firing rockets into Israel. Shots were fired as the women approached Israeli forces. As some of the women tried to pass the troops, further shots came and two women fell to the ground. At least 10 women and a Palestinian cameraman were injured. "We risked our lives to free our sons," Um Mohammed, a woman in her 40s, told the AFP news agency afterwards. Hamas radio reported that all of the militants in the mosque escaped and were uninjured.

Men 'disguised'
Israeli military spokeswoman Avital Leibovich said: "Unfortunately, maybe one woman was killed - I don't know if it's by IDF or not. But our purpose is definitely not to hit the innocent ones. "We saw crowds of women. Behind the women hid some of the militants. Some of them were even dressed up as women: we have footage," she said. "Unfortunately because the militants shot at our forces, sometimes we had to respond."The BBC's Matthew Price in Jerusalem says that in television footage of the incident, some men are visible in the crowd, but there is no evidence that they were carrying guns. Palestinian Prime Minister Ismail Haniya, of Hamas, said the event was part of a "planned annihilation" of the Palestinians. He called on UN Secretary General Kofi Annan to come to see what he described as "massacres" committed against them. In other developments:

• An Israeli air strike on Gaza City killed four Hamas militants, with a local commander of Hamas' military wing reportedly among the casualties
• The Palestinian housing minister was arrested by Israeli troops in the West Bank town of Ramallah
• An elderly Palestinian woman was killed in the West Bank town of Bethlehem during an Israeli army arrest raid
• At least one Palestinian youth died during an Israeli operation in the West bank town of Nablus

Major raid
About 30 Palestinians and an Israeli soldier have died in violence since the Israeli operation in Beit Hanoun began on Wednesday. Many of those killed were gunmen, but a four-year-old boy died from his wounds overnight. BBC Middle East analyst Roger Hardy says that Israel's most immediate aim is to prevent rocket attacks against its territory, but beyond that it wants to strike a decisive blow at Hamas. Israeli forces have made regular incursions into Gaza and the West Bank following the capture of an Israeli soldier, Cpl Gilad Shalit, in a cross-border raid by Palestinian militants on 25 June. More than 300 Palestinians have been killed in army operations since then, according to Israeli human rights group B'Tselem.

Sharon admitted to intensive care BBC News
Former Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon has been moved to intensive care after developing an infection, the hospital treating him has said. Mr Sharon, 78, has been in a coma since suffering a major stroke in January. "Sharon contracted an infection that is affecting his heart and will receive intensive treatment to combat the infection," the hospital said. "At this point, his condition is stable," added the statement from the Sheba Medical Center, near Tel Aviv. Mr Sharon has not regained consciousness since undergoing brain surgery. His condition has fluctuated throughout the year. For several months Mr Sharon was treated by the Hadassah Hospital in Jerusalem, where he was rushed for emergency treatment in January. After several operations on his brain, he was moved from Jerusalem's Hadassah hospital in May to a specialist centre for long-term care. He subsequently developed pneumonia, and has also undergone kidney dialysis.

Lengthy career
Mr Sharon was first elected to the Knesset in 1973 and held a number of cabinet positions before he became prime minister in 2001. A former army commander, as defence minister he masterminded Israel's disastrous invasion of Lebanon in 1982. He served as housing minister in the early 1990s, expanding Jewish settlements in the West Bank and Gaza Strip, but as prime minister he forced through the 2005 withdrawal of settlers and soldiers from the Gaza Strip. But while prime minister, he went on to push through Israel's 2005 withdrawal from the Gaza Strip and four settlements in the northern West Bank, despite opposition from within his right-wing Likud party. He also presided over the building of the controversial West Bank barrier. Amid growing dissent, Mr Sharon left Likud in November last year to found a new party, Kadima (Forward), which scored a narrow win in the March parliamentary election under Mr Olmert.

Turkish PM regrets EU 'obstacles' BBC News
Turkish PM Recep Tayyip Erdogan has accused the EU of placing new obstacles on Turkey's bid to enter the bloc. "Don't ask us for things that aren't part of the programme," he said, adding that the EU should be "honest and sincere" in its approach. He was responding to a draft European Commission report, due to be released next week, that raises fresh doubts about Turkey's bid to join the EU. The draft, seen by the BBC, says the pace of reform in Turkey has slowed. It urges Turkey to guarantee greater freedom of expression and human rights. The report also says Ankara has made no progress towards normalising relations with EU member Cyprus. Turkey has not yet opened its air and sea ports to Cyprus, the north of which remains under Turkish occupation. Finland, which holds the EU rotating presidency, is continuing last-ditch efforts to break the deadlock over Cyprus, which many see as the biggest obstacle on Turkey's road to Europe.

'Sincere approach'
Responding to the report, Mr Erdogan said the EU should end the economic isolation of the northern part of Cyprus before Turkey meets a treaty obligation to open its air and seaports to Greek Cypriot vessels. He also said Turkey had met past treaty obligations set out by the EU and was moving to meet the latest ones. "You wanted us to do everything that was required by the Copenhagen political criteria and we did it," he said. "Now all of the Maastricht criteria chapters are in the open and we're doing those too. Ask us for these things and, if we do them, show us an honest and sincere approach."

Sensitive issue
The draft report calls for Turkey to ensure freedom of expression by repealing or amending a controversial article of the penal code under which Orhan Pamuk, the winner of the Nobel prize for literature, and other Turkish intellectuals have been taken to court for their political views. The report also highlights serious concerns about allegations of torture and ill-treatment, public statements by senior military figures, the rights of Kurds, women, religious groups and trade unions. The European Commission says it will intensify the monitoring of all these key political criteria for membership. Any serious breach could lead to a suspension of membership talks. But, according to the BBC's Oana Lungescu in Brussels, a partial freeze of talks may become inevitable by the end of the year anyway, as Turkey shows no sign of keeping its promise over Cyprus. The draft report leaves blank the space for recommendations on this sensitive issue. Few European countries want to take the risk of a major crisis with their big Muslim neighbour, our correspondent says. But, she says, if things continue as they are, EU leaders will have little margin of manoeuvre when they discuss Turkey's membership bid at a summit in December.

Abu Ghraib man's Iraq tour halted BBC News
The US military has reversed plans to return a soldier to Iraq who had been convicted of abusing an inmate at the country's notorious Abu Ghraib prison. Santos Cardona, 32, had reached Kuwait with his unit when news of his planned redeployment to Iraq emerged. The US army dog handler was convicted in June of using his dog to abuse an inmate at the prison near Baghdad. He was sentenced to 90 days' hard labour, demoted one rank and had his pay docked by a military court. Specialist Cardona was ordered back to his unit's home base at Fort Bragg, North Carolina, "where he will be assigned duties commensurate with his military occupation speciality and rank," the army said in a statement. Abuse of prisoners at Abu Ghraib prison was brought to world attention after photographs of the incidents were released and published. The pictures showed US guards mistreating prisoners, some of them naked, and humiliating them. Spc Cardona is the 11th US soldier convicted in connection with abuse at Abu Ghraib.

Israel Gaza attack kills 43 :

Seven people, including a teenager and five resistance fighters, were killed in the Gaza Strip Saturday as Israel pressed an attack on anti occupation forces that has left 43 Palestinians and one soldier dead in four days.
http://www.jordantimes.com/sun/news/news1.htm

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Palestinians: Saturdays Death toll up to 11;

Palestinian sources reported that an additional Palestinian was killed and another wounded from Israeli occupation forces fire near Beit Hanoun in occupied northern Gaza.
http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-3323622,00.html

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Number of dead in occupied Gaza reaching historic levels: -

Malki Shahwan silently picks at the peach tissue she's using to dab at the tears in the corners of her opaque eyes, eyes that her family says have gone blind from grief.
http://www.realcities.com/mld/krwashington/15924320.htm

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Palestinian PM: Israeli operation is massacre:

Demands international intervention
http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-3323352,00.html

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Gaza's pain::

Muhammad Zakout’s 14- year-old son, Alaa, leaked blood on to a hospital pillow as his family gathered around the bed, incredulous that after repeated warnings to stay out of trouble he had been shot while throwing stones at Israeli tanks.
http://www.timesonline.co.uk/article/0,,3-2436922,00.html

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Palestinian Cabinet minister warns Israel's offensive in Gaza could kill Israeli soldier held there:

Israel's offensive in the Gaza Strip could endanger the life of an abducted Israeli soldier and is an impediment to his release, the Palestinian foreign minister told Egypt's state-run news agency on Saturday.
http://www.iht.com/articles/ap/2006/11/04/...alestinians.php

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Blast shuts down Kuwait refinery:

Kuwait has shut down its Shuaiba oil refinery after an explosion hit the 200,000 barrel-per-day plant, a Kuwaiti energy official said.
http://english.aljazeera.net/NR/exeres/4C0...CFA676B9A7D.htm

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Six Arab states join rush to go nuclear:

Algeria, Egypt, Morocco, Tunisia, UAE and Saudi Arabia seek atom technology
http://www.timesonline.co.uk/article/0,,3-2436948,00.html

7 Taliban "militants" killed in S. Afghanistan :

Afghan and NATO occupation forces killed seven Taliban "insurgents" and injured 30 others on Saturday in Helmand province of southern Afghanistan, the provincial police chief told Xinhua.
http://news.xinhuanet.com/english/2006-11/...ent_5290570.htm

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Taliban kill two in attack on US convoy in occupied Afghanistan:

Taliban fighters ambushed a convoy supplying logistics and goods to a US base in southeastern Afghanistan, killing two Pakistani drivers and wounding an Afghan, police said.
http://tinyurl.com/t6s6b

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Afghan politician flays U.S., Britain roles in Afghanistan :

"The continued illegal stay of foreign forces and the criminal behavior of the U.S. and the UK troops would cause more crises in Afghanistan,"
http://news.xinhuanet.com/english/2006-11/...ent_5289681.htm

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C.I.A. Review Highlights Afghan Leader’s Woes :

A recent Central Intelligence Agency assessment found that the Afghan president, Hamid Karzai, had been significantly weakened by rising popular frustration with his American-backed government, American officials say.
http://www.nytimes.com/2006/11/05/world/asia/05afghan.html

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Kabul: Mock execution of child:

Germany's army was hit by fresh allegations of misconduct on Saturday when a newspaper reported peacekeeping soldiers in Afghanistan staged the mock execution of a local child in 2002.
http://tvnz.co.nz/view/page/488120/880012

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German military challenges newspaper over terrorizing Afghan boy :

The German Defense Ministry challenged a newspaper Saturday to provide proof for a claim that German soldiers terrorized a little Afghan boy in 2002 by holding a gun to his head.
http://news.xinhuanet.com/english/2006-11/...ent_5290847.htm

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Time for Pakistan Army to Arrest its Chief:

Who should Pay for 83 Killed at Khar in Bajaur?
http://www.icssa.org/arrest_musharraf.html

International resonance of Iraq verdict BBC News website

Analysis
The trial of Saddam Hussein was supposed to mark an important moment in a process of turning Iraq from dictatorship to the rule of law. However, it might turn out to be just another event in the catalogue of chaos that has engulfed the country. Its long-term importance might lie more in its effect on a growing body of international law trying to deal with government repressions.

Effect in Iraq uncertain
It appears unlikely that the outcome of the trial will materially alter the differing levels of warfare going on in Iraq - the jihadist attacks, the nationalist insurgency, the communal conflicts and the militia rivalries. These are too engrained and have too many deep causes to be changed by one event, however dramatic. From the survivors' and the relatives' point of view however - and in this case, there were 148 victims from the village of Dujail who died in retributions following an ambush on Saddam Hussein there - there is at least the knowledge that justice has been done. Of the power of the evidence there is no doubt. Villagers were able to come face to face with Saddam Hussein and tell of the torture and retaliation employed by the interrogators who sought to establish the extent of the opposition in that region. The methods showed in detail how Saddam Hussein managed to maintain control over the country. The former president's reaction was revealing as well. He justified the actions by wondering why the state should not take measures against a rebellion and at one moment said he had other, more important things on his agenda than to worry about what his subordinates were doing. He also of course dismissed the right of the court to try him anyway. The trial established that there was a chain of command to the top and that sets an important precedent for any future ruler who tries to avoid responsibility. Another important aspect of this trial is that Iraqis themselves have run it. That was one of the principles at stake here. Many other trials of dictators have been international interventions - the Nuremberg trials, the Rwanda trials and the former Yugoslavia trials. This one has perhaps set a trend that people who overthrow dictators - or who have their dictators overthrown by others, as in this case - can organise justice themselves.

Criticism of court
The quality of justice in the case has however been questioned by some outside bodies. Malcolm Smart, Director of the Middle East and North Africa for Amnesty International said: "Amnesty opposes the death penalty in all circumstances and we deplore the death penalty in this case. "It is because we consider that the trial was flawed in serious ways that it is more concerning that the death penalty should be imposed." He listed his group's concerns about the trials. "The independence and impartiality of the court was impugned. There was political interference. The first judge resigned, the second was barred for being a former member of the Baath party, the only political entity at the time, and the third judge had relatives who were killed in Halabje [where Kurds were gassed by Saddam Hussein's forces]. "The security of the court was also impossible to keep. Three defence lawyers were murdered. Saddam himself had no access to legal advice for a year. There were also problems with the defence's ability to function."

International legal pattern
The trial takes its place on the growing list of tribunals that are slowly but surely establishing a new body of international law that can be used against repressive rulers. And looked at from this perspective, the trial perhaps assumes an international legal importance greater than its impact in Iraq itself. One of the principles of the legal trend is that justice if possible should remain within the country affected. However, this is not going to be possible in all cases. It was not possible in the former Yugoslavia or in Rwanda and this is why special courts were set up. But in any event, pinning responsibility on someone is the key element.

Role of ICC
Now the International Criminal Court has been established. The ICC was agreed in a treaty in 1998 signed by 100 countries (not including the United States). It is seeking to exert its authority in three cases. These involve the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Uganda and Sudan. The first case is that of Thomas Lubanga, leader of a militia known as the Union of Congolese Patriots. He was the first person to be arrested under an ICC warrant and faces charges in the first instance of using child soldiers. His would be the first ICC trial. In the second case, the main defendant Joseph Kony, leader of the Lord's Resistance Army in Uganda, is still at large. He is accused of crimes against humanity, including murder, rape and enslavement. The third case is at an earlier stage. It involves, following a referral from the UN Security Council, an investigation of Sudanese government officials and generals in Darfur. If the ICC can make a success of these cases, it will be on its way to showing that it will count. It already claims to be influential, with, for example, the Colombian army now having to take ICC concerns into account when planning operations against guerrillas. There is therefore much more of a legal thicket surrounding major crimes involving governments these days. The Saddam trial is part of that, whatever its successes or failures. Update: I have had an e-mail asking about the ICC and the invasion of Iraq. The court reported in February this year that it had received 240 complaints about the invasion and its conduct. Many related to the British involvement since Britain is a party to the court treaty. The US is not, so US citizens can only be prosecuted if the crime takes place on the territory of a treaty member or if the issue is referred to the ICC by the Security Council. The Chief Prosecutor Luis Moreno-Ocampo replied that the crime of "aggression" had not yet been defined. He said the court had a mandate to examine conduct but "not whether the decision to engage in armed conflict was legal". As for the conduct of the war, he said that evidence presented about the number of wilful killings did not meet the "gravity threshold".
By Paul Reynolds, World affairs correspondent

Saddam: Showman without a script BBC News
From the moment, a year ago, when Saddam Hussein's chains were taken off and he sat down in the dock for the first time, he has dominated the court.At first he was still regarded with contempt by many of his natural supporters in Iraq and elsewhere. This was the man who had urged them to shed their life's blood in his defence, and had then meekly surrendered to the Americans. Slowly, though, his self-possession grew. He looked good in the dock, in clothes that were made especially for him by his old tailor, and he learned how to make his points successfully and well, with an economy of effort.

Weak prosecution
He was helped by the fact that in both his first trial, for the killings of Shia Muslims at Dujail, and in the second one, for the Anfal campaign against the Kurds, the prosecution seemed weak and ill at ease.The evidence was often poorly assembled, and the arguments ineffectual. Both the defence and prosecution lawyers had grown up in a legal system which the former Iraqi president himself had controlled. Under him, justice was often the last consideration. Whether from religious conviction or calculation, Saddam Hussein took to bringing a finely-bound copy of the Koran into court, and would occasionally quote from it.He would sometimes shout out verses from it in order to rebuke his judges or accusers. Other tactics were less effective. He announced more than once that he was going on hunger strike, but we would rarely hear any more about it. In the early stages of the Dujail trial, he refused to acknowledge the right of the court to judge him, then meekly pleaded "not guilty" when the question was put to him. It was only later, as his self-confidence grew, that he would shout out that he was the rightful president of Iraq, that the judges and prosecution should treat him with greater respect, that the invasion which overthrew him had been illegal under international law.

Sniggers
Yet he never seemed to have a coherent defence strategy. If he had persisted in attacking the questionable legal basis of the US-led invasion he would probably have had much more impact. But there has always been a rambling, inconsequential element to his speeches, as though the experience of being overthrown had somehow affected his intellect. In the middle of the Dujail trial, he made a dignified speech about the way his captors were treating him, only to lapse into bathos as his complaints became more and more trivial. It would no doubt have been more humane if the Americans had allowed him to lock his lavatory door, but it just raised sniggers in court when he complained about it. His two trials have fallen well short of the standard they should have aimed at. But Saddam Hussein himself has never managed the kind of aloof dignity that might have won over the people in Iraq whom he once terrorised.
By John Simpson, World affairs editor

Excerpts: Saddam's courtroom clashes BBC News
Saddam Hussein frequently clashed with presiding judges during the Dujail trial. Some of the sharpest exchanges occurred with Judge Rauf Abdel Rahman, who replaced Judge Rizgar Amin in January 2006. Excerpts follow.

SADDAM AND JUDGE RAHMAN: 5 November 2006

[Chief Judge Rauf Abdel Rahman orders Saddam Hussein to stand to hear the verdict. Two bailiffs force the former Iraqi leader to stand, one twisting his arm.]

Chief Judge: The court has decided to sentence defendant Saddam Hussein al-Majid to death by hanging until he is dead...

Saddam Hussein, shouting over the judge: Long live the people. Long live the nation. Down with the traitors...

Chief Judge, hammering his gavel and raising his voice: ...crimes against humanity, and found guilty in accordance with articles... Iraq's High Tribunal...

Saddam Hussein, shouting over the judge's words: Down with the invaders. God is great. God is Great. God is great... To hell with your articles and clauses...

SADDAM AND JUDGE RAHMAN: 22 MAY 2006

Saddam Hussein, objecting to the expulsion of one of his lawyers: I'm Saddam Hussein, president of Iraq. I am above you and above your father.

Judge, angrily: You are a defendant now, not a president.

SADDAM AND JUDGE RAHMAN: 1 MARCH 2006

Judge, shutting off Saddam's microphone as he makes political speech: Respect yourself!

Saddam Hussein, shouting: You respect yourself!

Judge: You are a defendant in a major criminal case, concerning the killing of innocents. You have to respond to this charge.

Saddam Hussein: What about those who are dying in Baghdad? Are they not innocents? I am talking to the Iraqi people.

SADDAM AND JUDGE RAHMAN: 14 FEB 2006

Saddam Hussein, shouting as he enters court: Long live the mujahideen!.. I say to all Iraqis: Fight and liberate your country!... [later addressing the judge] Hit your own head with that gavel.

SADDAM AND JUDGE RAHMAN: 13 FEB 2006

Saddam Hussein, entering court: Down with Bush. Long live the nation... [addressing judge] Why have you brought us here by force? Your authority gives you the right to try a defendant in absentia. Are you trying to overcome your own smallness?

Judge: The law will be implemented.

Saddam Hussein, shouting: Degradation and shame upon you, Raouf.

SADDAM AND NEW PRESIDING JUDGE RAHMAN: 29 JAN 2006

Saddam Hussein, after being ordered to leave the court for speaking out of turn: I led you for 35 years and you order me out of the court?

Judge: I am the judge, you are the defendant. You have to obey me.

SADDAM AND JUDGE AMIN: TRIAL OPENS 19 OCT 2005

Judge Mr Saddam, we want your identity. Full name, please...

Saddam Hussein: First of all, who are you? What are you? I want to know who you are. Are you judges?.. I have been here in this building... from eight in the morning.

Judge: Please sit down, Mr Saddam. Later. We'll get down the identities of the others, and later we'll start with you.

Saddam Hussein: And from nine AM I've been dressed.

Judge: Well, now so you can sit down and relax, give your identity and make yourself comfortable.

Saddam Hussein: You know me... I do not tire.

Judge: These are official matters, we have to hear from you your identity. These are formalities, so please.

Saddam Hussein: I don't have anything against any of you. But adhering to the truth and respecting the will of the great Iraqi people in choosing me, I say: I do not respond to this so-called court, with all due respect to its people, and I retain my constitutional right as the president of Iraq.

Judge:These matters can be put off until later. This is not the place.

Saddam Hussein: Neither do I recognise the body that has designated and authorised you, nor the aggression. All that is built on a false basis is false.
[Saddam Hussein finally sits down and the judge reads out his name, calling him the "former president of Iraq"]

Saddam Hussein: I said I'm the president of Iraq... I did not say "deposed"...

Bid to overhaul Europe power grid BBC News
Italy's prime minister has said Europe needs a central power authority to prevent the kind of blackouts that left swathes of West Europe without energy. An overload in Germany's power network triggered outages leaving millions without electricity on Saturday night. Romano Prodi said there was a "contradiction" in having a unified power network but no central authority. Power failed first in Cologne, Germany, before shutting down across parts of France, Italy, Spain and Austria. Belgium, the Netherlands and Croatia were also affected. "My first impression is that there is a contradiction between having European networks but not having a central European authority. It is somewhat absurd," Mr Prodi said.

Transmission failure
German utility provider E.ON said early investigations suggested the supply failures were caused by overloads in the power network in northwest of the country, according to Reuters. The power outages were quickly restored in most cases but in some of the worst incidences:

• In Paris, firefighters responded to nearly 40 calls from people stuck in lifts as the city lost power
• Scores of trains were delayed in Germany's industrial Ruhr region for up to two hours
• The Italian regions of Piedmont, Liguria and Puglia lost energy overnight between 2100 and 2200 GMT
• In Spain, power was lost in the cities of Madrid, Barcelona, Zaragoza and parts of the Andalucia region.

European blackout risk
E.ON said the power failures may have been linked to a line across a river being switched off to allow a ship to pass through safely, Reuters reported. France was one of the worst affected, with five million losing power mainly in the east of the country and the capital, Paris, and its suburbs. "We weren't very far from a European blackout," a senior director with French power company RTE said. Most electricity supplies were restored within two hours of the outage, and so far no injuries or accidents have been reported. The worst recent power blackout struck Italy in 2003, plunging the country into darkness for 18 hours between 28 and 29 September.

Deaths mount in Gazan offensive BBC News
Three Palestinians have been killed in Gaza on the fifth day of Israel's offensive in the territory. Palestinian officials said the deaths came in separate incidents - bringing the toll since Wednesday to nearly 50. Earlier, Israeli PM Ehud Olmert declined to say when the operation would end, but insisted Israel had no intention of reoccupying the Strip. Israel says it is targeting militants but Palestinian officials accuse Israel of a "massacre". Israeli forces have made regular incursions into Gaza and the West Bank following the capture of an Israeli soldier in a cross-border raid by Palestinian militants on 25 June.

'Necessary steps'
Israeli forces shot dead three Palestinians, including two gunmen, on the fifth day of an operation which has killed nearly 50 people. Many are said to be militants. On Saturday at least seven people, including a 12-year-old girl, died in air raids and clashes. Israeli officials say the offensive in northern Gaza is aimed at destroying militant infrastructure and stopping Palestinian rocket attacks on Israel. "We will take the steps necessary to significantly decrease this fire and to halt the terror activities," Mr Olmert said. Despite the crackdown, a rocket hit the Israeli border town of Sderot, but no-one was hurt. Palestinian Authority (PA) President Mahmoud Abbas has called the operation a "massacre" and urged the UN Security Council to convene to discuss the issue. At least 17 people died on Friday, including two women shot during the siege of a mosque in Beit Hanoun. A PA employee told the BBC it was the worst Israeli incursion they had ever had into the town. Ibrahim al-Za'anin, 55, said they had been without electricity or water since Tuesday night, and no longer felt safe in their own homes. A senior UN official given Israeli permission to enter described the atmosphere as one of death, destruction and despair.

Nicaragua poll points to Ortega BBC News
Early election results in Nicaragua suggest former Marxist revolutionary Daniel Ortega could return to power as president after 16 years.Results from just over 7% of polling stations show Mr Ortega with 40.8% of the vote - enough to avoid a second round of voting if that support holds. The main Conservative candidate Eduardo Montealegre is trailing with 32%. Mr Ortega says he has changed from the leader who seized property from the wealthy during a 1979 revolution. The poll is being watched by the US, which is concerned that its former Cold War enemy could be returned to power. Chief Nicaraguan election official Roberto Rivas struck out at a US embassy statement suggesting "anomalies in the electoral process". "We have promised the Nicaraguan people transparent elections, and that's what we've done," he said. Mr Ortega's opponents say he would take the nation back to the days of the civil war with the Contra rebels.

'Savage capitalism'
Turnout was reported to be high with some people having to join long queues to vote but election observers reported no major problems. Mr Ortega, who is making his fourth attempt to become elected president, will be hoping to secure 35% of the vote and a five-point lead over his nearest challenger to avoid a run-off. There are five candidates in all. Mr Ortega has seen 16 years of conservative governments and says he wants an end to "savage capitalism". But he says his revolutionary days are behind him - and his main priority is to secure foreign investment to help to ease widespread poverty. Mr Ortega has been endorsed by left-wing Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez. He was also hoping for support from the 80% of Nicaraguans who live on $2 a day or less. "He is the only one who looks out for the poor. All the others are just for the rich," said William Medina at a Managua polling station. As a Marxist revolutionary in the 1980s, Mr Ortega led the country through a decade of civil war in which his Sandinista forces fought rebels known as the Contras, who were financed by the US. About 50,000 people died in the conflict. The election was overseen by 17,000 observers, among them ex-President Jimmy Carter of the US. The incumbent, President Enrique Bolanos, has served the single five-year term allowed by the constitution.

Rioting by India police hopefuls BBC News
Hundreds of people who were applying to join the police force in India have gone on the rampage through the northern city of Ghaziabad.They began rioting on Sunday evening because many thought a written test given them was too hard, officials say. It took Indian security forces over an hour to bring the riots under control. The unrest comes as the government is trying to reform the police services. Complaints of police corruption and heavy-handedness are commonplace. The BBC's Damien Grammaticus in Delhi says most Indians have little faith in their police, viewing them as lazy, corrupt and inefficient. The riots will do little to change that perception, our correspondent says.

Women assaulted
About 20,000 hopefuls had turned up to take a written test assessing their suitability to be constables in the northern state of Uttar Pradesh police.The state's home secretary, RM Srivastava, told the BBC that the candidates were upset because they found the question paper too difficult. As they left the police headquarters in Ghaziabad, several hundred angry applicants began stopping cars and buses on the highway, breaking windows and demanding lifts. Passengers were forced from their vehicles, including several women who were hauled out and sexually assaulted. The mob of would-be police officers then ran out of control along a 5km (three-mile) section of the main highway to Delhi, smashing fences, looting food from kiosks and beating up shopkeepers. Security forces baton-charged the rioters to restore order. Almost 30 people were arrested. Uttar Pradesh Police say they have now obtained still photographs and film of the riots and are busy identifying those responsible so their applications to join the police can be rejected.

Man 'planned massive explosions' BBC News
A Muslim convert planned to detonate a dirty bomb and launch an attack on London's Tube, a court has heard.Former Hindu Dhiren Barot, 34, from London, planned "massive explosions" in a synchronised attack in the US and UK. Barot, who admitted conspiracy to murder last month, planned to pack limousines with gas cylinders and also use a radioactive "dirty" bomb. Lawyers for Barot have insisted that he had neither funding nor bomb-making materials at the time he was caught. Barot, from Kingsbury in north-west London, is to be sentenced on Tuesday. The would-be bomber planned attacks on various unspecified targets in Britain, prosecution QC Edmund Lawson said."There were plans for the detonation of a radiation dispersal device, more commonly known as a dirty bomb, the use of a petrol tanker to cause an explosion, and an attack on London's rail or Underground network, including the Heathrow Express, of an explosion on a Tube train while in a tunnel under the River Thames." The prosecution said Barot had written: "Imagine the chaos that would be caused if a powerful explosion were to rip through here [London] and actually rupture the river itself. "That would cause pandemonium, what with the explosions, flooding, drowning etc that would occur." Barot also planned to target the IMF and the World Bank in Washington DC. The New York Stock Exchange building and the Citigroup headquarters, as well as the Prudential building in Newark, New Jersey, were also among his targets. Barot admired the Madrid train bombings and wrote he was bent on creating "another black day for the enemies of Islam and a victory for the Muslims", Mr Lawson said.At the heart of Barot's plot was a scheme entitled "gas limos project", uncovered in a document signed by him and found in Pakistan, Mr Lawson said. Barot had planned to fill limousines with gas cylinders and detonate them in underground car parks near financial institutions. Mr Lawson said Barot had dubbed the Madrid attacks "the definitive accident" which "deserves to be emulated more than any other". The plotter had travelled to Pakistan to brief his "terrorist masters", the court heard. Barot's plans for bombings in the US were initiated before the 11 September attacks, then shelved, but worked on as late as February 2004, Mr Lawson maintained.

'Murderous plans'
These US plans were used in the planning of synchronised attacks in the UK, he added. "The gas limos project might be seen as the culmination of Barot's murderous plans. "There were various possible methods of attack raised for consideration, including part of what was to be considered for the UK. "They included parking limousines packed with explosives next to or underneath the target buildings, arson, by means of hijacked petrol tankers, or igniting gas cylinders and even possibly the use of an aeroplane." The court heard how Barot had used false identities, and at least one false passport, and had only been caught because of a "meticulous and impressive" police operation with input from British, American and Pakistani intelligence.

German firm admits blackout fault BBC News
German electricity company E.ON has confirmed it was to blame for the blackout that left swathes of western Europe without power at the weekend.E.ON said its grid had overloaded after it switched off an electricity line over the river Ems to allow a cruise ship to safely pass through. The knock-on power cut left millions without electricity across Germany, France, Italy, Spain and Portugal. Despite politicians' anger, E.ON said Europe's power grid was in good shape.

'Knock-on effect'
"I am grateful that the situation was not worse than it turned out because E.ON caused it," said E.ON board member Klaus-Dieter Maubach."The trigger of the breakdown in supply was that we had to take a line out of operation and that the knock-on effect from that loss spread to other lines which later cut out." Mr Maubach added that European grid operators enjoyed good co-operation, meaning Saturday night's power cuts only lasted for about an hour. Yet politicians from the affected countries have called for the electricity companies to invest more in their networks. "We have known for a while that there are bottlenecks on the power grids and that the utilities have not ensured that the grids are being expanded," said German Environment Minister Sigmar Gabriel. Italy's prime minister has called for Europe to have a central power authority. Romano Prodi said there was a "contradiction" in having a unified power network but no central authority.

Past examples
Saturday's power cut started in the German city of Cologne before quickly spreading. Belgium, the Netherlands, Austria and Croatia were also affected, with the cuts even reaching as far as Morocco. The worst recent power blackout struck Italy in 2003, plunging the country into darkness for 18 hours between 28 and 29 September. The previous month, a similar power cut had struck the north-eastern US and Canada.

Top Ethiopian judge flees threats BBC News
Ethiopia's most senior judge, Teshale Aberra, has left the country following threats and "continued harassment" from the government, he has told the BBC. The Supreme Court president accused the government of Prime Minister Meles Zenawi of killing its critics but managing to avoid international blame. He also said the government was planning to appoint new, loyalist judges throughout the system. Mr Meles had been seen as being part of a new generation of African leaders. Mr Teshale is the latest in a series of senior officials - judges, diplomats and military commanders - to flee the country. He says he plans to seek asylum in the UK.

Massacres
He told the BBC's Focus on Africa programme that Mr Meles' government was just as bad as that of its predecessor, led by Mengistu Haile Mariam, who is accused of crimes against humanity. "The difference is these guys are wise... These people kill whoever they feel like and then ask: 'Who killed them?'" Another judge, Wolde-Michael Meshesha, recently fled the country after carrying out an investigation into the suppression of protests against alleged fraud in last year's elections. In his report, he said the police had massacred 193 people. His report said that the government had concealed the true extent of deaths at the hands of the police. He claimed he had been put under pressure to alter his findings and fled into hiding in Europe when he received anonymous death threats. The government has denied rigging the polls and blames the opposition for the violence which followed. More than 100 opposition leaders, journalists and aid workers were rounded up during the protests and are currently on trial, accused of treason and attempted genocide.

Trial
In Ethiopia, the trial of 111 opposition leaders, journalists and human rights activists accused of treason and attempted genocide, who were rounded up during the protests, has been adjourned for three days after two defendants complained of mistreatment in custody. Daniel Bekele and Netsannet Demissie, who work for the NGO Action Aid, said they were neither "physically nor psychologically" able to go on with the trial because of the conditions they were being held in. Daniel Bekele told the court in Kaliti, just outside the capital, that he had been taken out of his prison cell on Friday night and forced to sleep in a container. He said the next day he was moved to a room with 250 inmates. Netsannet Demissie told the court he had been forced to sleep under one of the guards watch towers on Friday before being moved to a room shared by 300 defendants. Police records showed 20,000 people were arrested during the anti-government protests, the judge said. In January, Britain withheld $87m in aid because of concerns over the unrest. Last year, Mr Meles was invited onto the panel of the UK's Commission for Africa to find ways of relieving poverty in the world poorest continent.

Madrid train bombs suspect jailed BBC News
A leading suspect in the 2004 Madrid train bombings has been sentenced to 10 years in prison by an Italian court on terrorism charges. Prosecutors in Milan had argued that Rabei Osman Sayed Ahmed, 35, had ties to a terror cell whose reach extended throughout Europe and to Iraq. He is also suspected of involvement in the Madrid attacks, in which 191 people were killed. The court was told he had contacts with the group said to be behind the blasts. A second co-defendant, Yahia Ragheh, who had lived with Ahmed and who police believe was being groomed to become a suicide bomber, was sentenced to five years.

'It's my work'
Ahmed, also known as "Mohammed the Egyptian", arrived in Madrid just before the 11 September attacks in the US, prosecutors said. They said he then established close contact with a Madrid cell suspected of blowing up trains in Madrid. Ahmed is alleged to have spent 18 months in Spain, sharing his expert knowledge of explosives. When police raided an apartment of one of the key suspects in the Madrid, it was Ahmed's mobile phone number they found. In April 2004, Italian police bugged Ahmed's apartment and he was arrested soon afterwards. In transcripts of recorded conversation, Ahmed reacts with joy while watching a video of the beheading of the American hostage Nick Berg in Iraq. In later conversations, he told Ragheh that he was the thread to the Madrid bombings. "It's my work. The project took a lot of studying and a lot of patience. It took me two-and-a-half years," he said. Ahmed was arrested as police in Italy grew worried that he was planning another Madrid-style attack in Belgium. Spanish police, who tipped off Italian investigators, have never identified Ahmed as one of the masterminds of the Madrid bombings, but he is due go on trial in February along with 21 others.

Female bomber strikes Gaza town BBC News
A female Palestinian suicide bomber has blown herself up in a Gaza Strip town, injuring an Israeli soldier, the Israeli army says. She died after detonating her bomb near Israeli soldiers in Beit Hanoun, focus of a six-day military offensive. Earlier, a 17-year-old Palestinian boy was killed in an air strike on the northern town of Jabaliya. Israel says it is targeting rocket-firing Palestinian militants operating from northern Gaza. But Palestinian officials have accused Israel of carrying out a "massacre". About 50 Palestinians have died in the country's latest military incursion into the area.

Curfew imposed
The Islamic Jihad militant group said the female suicide bomber was one of its members, the BBC's Alan Johnston in Gaza says. A radio station linked to Hamas reported that many civilians were injured when the woman blew herself up, AP reports. During the Jabaliya air strike, at least four people were hurt in the attack near a school, Palestinian officials told Reuters news agency. The Israeli military said its aircraft had attacked a group of militants retrieving a device used to fire a missile, in Monday's attack. But the Palestinians said the plane missed its target and, instead, struck close to a school. The entire town of Beit Hanoun remains under Israeli control and troops have ordered residents to stay indoors. Our correspondent says there are severe shortages of water and power, and the arrival of a small United Nations aid convoy on Monday sparked frantic scenes. Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert has declined to say when the operation centred on Beit Hanoun will end, but insists Israel has no intention of reoccupying the Gaza Strip. Israeli forces have made regular incursions into Gaza and the West Bank since the capture of an Israeli soldier in a cross-border raid by Palestinian militants on 25 June. Despite the crackdown, a rocket hit the Israeli border town of Sderot on Sunday, but no-one was hurt. Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas and Prime Minister Ismail Haniya have called the operation a "massacre" and urged the UN Security Council to convene to discuss the issue.

International criticism
On Sunday, Pope Benedict XVI said he was very worried about the situation in Gaza, and called on all sides to work to stop the bloodshed and to immediately resume direct and concrete negotiations. The European Union presidency, currently held by Finland, has issued a statement deploring "the growing number of civilian casualties the Israeli military operation has caused". The International Red Cross also criticised Israel for the killing of two medical workers, saying that the paramedics and their vehicle were clearly marked.

Uganda rebel chief wants UN talks BBC News
Lord's Resistance Army leader Joseph Kony wants to meet United Nations aid chief Jan Egeland when he visits Sudan next Sunday, say his officials. Mr Egeland is due in southern Sudan's capital, Juba, to meet officials mediating in peace talks between the Ugandan government and northern rebels. Mr Kony is facing war crimes charges at the International Criminal Court in the Hague and has refused to attend talks. He is said to be hiding in jungles in eastern Democratic Republic of Congo. Last week the government and LRA signed a new truce to try to revive the stalled talks.

'Blockade'
LRA spokesman Godfrey Ayoo said the venue for any proposed meeting had not yet been set but the LRA were keen to explain the problems posed by the ICC charges. "Because they are a blockade to the talks, the primary agenda is to request Egeland to use his offices to talk to the UN Security Council and the ICC to drop the warrants in the interests of peace in the region," Mr Ayoo told AFP news agency. Four of the LRA's top commanders are wanted by the International Criminal Court (ICC) for atrocities committed during the 20-year civil war. Tens of thousands of people have died and more than one-and-a-half million displaced as the LRA attacked civilians and abducted children in northern Uganda and southern Sudan. Last week, the ICC said it was waiting for the outcome of peace talks before deciding on how to proceed with cases against the rebel leaders. The Ugandan government says it will not consider an amnesty for the men until a peace deal is reached. Under the August agreement, Lord's Resistance Army rebels were supposed to gather at two points by mid-September. The new truce creates buffer zones around these assembly points.

Haiti tops world corruption table BBC News
Haiti has been ranked as the most corrupt country in the World by Transparency International (TI), followed by Burma and Iraq. The Berlin-based anti-corruption watchdog said that for the first time, Haiti topped the table. The survey relates to perceptions of the degree of corruption in different countries, as seen by business people, academics and risk analysts. Bangladesh had headed the rankings for the previous five years. The chair of TI, Hugette Labelle, said that there was a strong correlation between corruption and poverty. "Corruption traps millions in poverty," she said. "Despite a decade of progress in establishing anti-corruption laws and regulations, today's results indicate that much remains to be done before we see meaningful improvements in the lives of the world's poorest citizens."

'Scandals'
Corruption was perceived as being "rampant" in 71 of the countries studied. Among those whose corruption had worsened in the past year were Brazil, Tunisia and the US, TI said. It added that the Czech Republic, Latvia and Uruguay were among those whose perception had improved. "While the industrialised countries score relatively high, we continue to see major corruption scandals in many of these countries," TI said. "Although corruption in this context may have less impact on poverty and development than in developing countries, these scandals demonstrate that there is no room for complacency." Haiti was the world's first black-led republic and the first Caribbean state to achieve independence. But it has suffered from decades of poverty, environmental degradation, violence, instability and dictatorship which have left it as the poorest nation in the Americas. A mostly mountainous country with a tropical climate, Haiti's location, history and culture once made it a potential tourist hot spot. However, instability and violence, especially since the 1980s, have all but destroyed this prospect. Another TI study published last month, found that firms from China and India were most willing to pay bribes abroad to do business. French and Italian firms were named as the worst culprits for paying bribes in low-income countries.

Early returns show Ortega clinching vote

MANAGUA, Nicaragua - Daniel Ortega, the rebel leader driven from
power 16 years ago by a U.S.-backed war and the missteps of his
own Sandinista movement, was cruising toward victory and an
unlikely political resurrection in Nicaragua's presidential vote.
By Héctor Tobar.
http://email.latimes.com/cgi-bin1/DM/y/eBC...Io30G2B0H2Rx0Ei

Three Mexico City buildings bombed

MEXICO CITY - At least four homemade bombs exploded shortly after
midnight Monday at the nation's electoral tribunal building, a
political party headquarters and a bank. A fifth bomb at another
bank was disabled by police, and a sixth failed to explode. By Sam
Enriquez.
http://email.latimes.com/cgi-bin1/DM/y/eBC...Io30G2B0H2R20EY

Deadly tornado hits town in Japan BBC News
At least nine people have been killed and more than 15 injured when a tornado swept through a town in northern Japan.Officials said two other people were still missing in the town of Saroma, on the island of Hokkaido. Most of the deaths were caused by the collapse of temporary accommodation at a tunnel construction site. Fire and ambulance crews are at the site, but a spokesman for the local fire department said rescue efforts were being hampered by heavy rain. Police said workers were buried under prefabricated buildings that had collapsed at the site, after the tornado hit around lunchtime.The BBC's Chris Hogg, in Tokyo, says the temporary homes and offices used by construction workers were just torn apart. Television pictures showed rescuers sifting through the debris, crawling through the remains of the shelters and rolling cars away from the scene as they searched for survivors. Local government officials said 10 buildings collapsed elsewhere in the town. Small tornadoes happen from time to time in Japan - there are about 20 each year - but this one appears to have resulted in an unexpectedly high death toll. Previously, the most deadly tornado recorded in Japan was in September 2006, when three people were killed on the southern island of Kyushu.

Israeli army leaves Beit Hanoun BBC News
Israel's army says it has pulled out of the town of Beit Hanoun in the northern Gaza Strip, after a six-day operation targeting rocket-firing militants.Witnesses confirmed Israeli troops had left. The army says it has taken up positions in surrounding areas. Eyewitnesses said burned cars and broken sewage pipes littered streets where the fierce clashes had occurred. Some 50 Palestinians, including about 16 civilians, were killed. The army says it found large quantities of arms. Elsewhere in the Gaza Strip, Israeli forces have killed at least four gunmen and two civilians, militant groups and medics said. At least two women died when an Israeli shell struck the home of Jamila Shanti, an MP from the ruling Palestinian party Hamas. The army said it was returning fire from the area. Ms Shanti has been identified as the organiser of a women's protest on Friday to free militants sheltering in a mosque, that was fired on by Israeli troops killing two unarmed protesters.

Scarred buildings
Many of Beit Hanoun's residents poured into the streets to inspect the damage inflicted on their town by Israeli forces. One resident described it as "the worst raid we have ever witnessed... This is the tsunami of Beit Hanoun". Numerous buildings bore the scars of tank shells and one mosque was left with only its minaret standing, AFP reported. Tens of thousands of residents had been ordered to stay indoors, leading to shortages of electricity and water. Despite the crackdown, rockets have continued to be fired towards Israel, one hitting the border town of Sderot at the weekend, though no-one was hurt. Israeli forces have made regular incursions into Gaza and the West Bank since the capture of an Israeli soldier in a cross-border raid by Palestinian militants on 25 June. The Israeli pull-out came as Palestinian leader Mahmoud Abbas and Prime Minister Ismail Haniya prepared to hold more discussions on the formation of a unity government. The talks are designed to ease the international embargo against the Hamas-led Palestinian Authority. The two men met late on Monday. Foreign donors, including the US and the European Union, have boycotted the Palestinian government over Hamas' refusal to recognise Israel or to renounce violence. The latest raids come 14 months after Israel withdrew its settlers and the troops who protected them from the Gaza Strip, which it occupied in 1967.

EU in showdown over working time BBC News
EU employment ministers are holding crunch talks on an EU working hours law that may weaken a UK opt-out from the 48-hour maximum working week.Amendments tabled by the Finnish government would cut the absolute maximum working week - for people using the opt-out - from 78 hours to 60. They would also schedule a review of the opt-out, with a view to its "gradual ending" at a later date. States wanting to end the opt-out right have never yet had a majority.

On-call time
European Employment Commissioner Vladimir Spidla began the meeting by threatening to withdraw the amended bill if there was no agreement - and to start prosecuting countries in breach of the original directive. It is reported that only two of the 25 member states are currently fully complying with the directive. The UK, as the country which has fought hardest against the amended directive, would be in the front line for legal action. The European working time directive guarantees workers at least four weeks' paid annual leave, a minimum period of 11 hours' rest every 24 hours, at least one day's rest per week, and a rest break if the working day is longer than six hours. It also says night workers should work a maximum of eight hours, on average, in every 24, and entitles them to health assessments. The UK has fought moves to end the opt-out, on the grounds that labour market flexibility promotes economic growth and lowers unemployment. Other countries, including France and Spain, argue that the opt-out is bad for workers' health, and gives the UK a competitive advantage. However, most countries face difficulties complying with a recent European court ruling, which says that time spent at work on call counts as working time, even when the worker is asleep. The amended law, both in the original form proposed by the European Commission and the form now proposed by Finland, the current holder of the EU presidency, states clearly that inactive time on call does not count as working time.

Workers' consent
There have been reports that the UK may be prepared to accept the Finnish proposal if the absolute maximum working week is set at 65 or 70 hours, and if there are legal safeguards to prevent courts overturning the opt-out. Some professions, such as company executives and emergency workers, would still be exempt. Under the Finnish proposal, a workers' 48-hour working week could be averaged out over a reference period of up to 12 months, the precise period being set by national governments. This would enable most employers operating in markets where there are seasonal peaks to avoid violations. The maximum working week of 60 hours, for those making use of the opt-out, would be averaged over three months. Workers would have to agree to opt out, and would be able to withdraw their agreement at any point in the next three months without suffering any penalty. The UK Federation of Small Businesses (FSB) says the Finnish proposal would impose a huge bureaucratic burden on companies, which would be forced to submit exhaustive records of hours worked by staff.

UK debate
"Surrendering the opt-out would be equivalent to abandoning British businesses but so would allowing it to be watered down with tons more red tape," said FSB national employment chairman Alan Tyrrell. An FSB spokesman said the fact that Secretary of State for Trade and Industry Alistair Darling was due to attend the meeting himself, rather than sending a junior minister, was a signal that a deal could be about to be struck. The Trade Union Council said the UK no longer needed the opt-out, because:

• Fewer workers are now working more than 48 hours - roughly 3.3m instead of 4m eight years ago
• Some 1.5m workers would cease working more than 48 hours per week if their working hours were averaged over 12 months
• Up to one million "autonomous workers" such as senior managers are exempt from the restriction anyway

"This means that only 800,000 to 1m UK employees would have to make a serious change to their working patterns," the TUC said.