Congolese vote in landmark polls BBC News
Voters in the Democratic Republic of Congo are voting on Sunday in national elections - the first multi-party vote in 40 years. The poll is aimed at ending a long civil war, with 32 candidates, including incumbent Joseph Kabila, contesting the presidency. The capital, where several people died this week, was calm as voting began. More than 25m people are entitled to vote, protected by the biggest UN peacekeeping operation in the world. Over 9,000 candidates are running for parliament.

'Historic moment'
Voting was scheduled to start at 0600 local time (0500 GMT in the west of the country and 0400 in the east), though correspondents say polling stations opened up to an hour late in some places. Polls due to close at 1700, and results are not expected for several weeks. Many people have walked miles to get to the polling stations, and some have queued overnight, waiting for them to open. The BBC News website's correspondent in Kinshasa, Joseph Winter, said people began arriving while it was still dark and about 100 people were at the station by the time it opened. "We are hungry - we want a leader who knows our suffering," voter Christine Tumba told our correspondent as she came out of Notre Dame Cathedral to go to the polling station next door. "People are dying every day but where is the government?" she said. Donatien Kalinga said his heart was "full of joy" at the prospect of voting for the first time. "Under (former dictator) Mobutu, there were not real elections, so I did not bother," he said. "I hope the Congolese people will now benefit from the riches that the good Lord blessed us with - diamonds, gold, copper." Police are driving around the streets of the capital and UN peacekeepers are stationed at strategic points. Overnight there were reports of a polling station being burnt down in the Kasai region, the political stronghold of opposition leader Etienne Tshisekedi, whose UDPS party is boycotting the vote. In Bunia, in the north-east of the country, one of the main polling stations is crowded with people waiting to vote. BBC correspondent Karen Allen says UN peacekeepers in armoured vehicles and trucks are stationed outside polling stations in riot gear in case violence breaks out.

Security purposes
Diplomats have told the BBC that a large shipment of heavy weapons apparently ordered by the government had been sent to the country. The diplomats said that Russian-made T-72 tanks were delivered to the port of Matadi, and were transported by night towards the capital, Kinshasa. The mission of the United Nations officials in Congo (Monuc) had apparently been advised by the authorities of a delivery of heavy weapons for security purposes. In the east of the country, people are already flocking to polling stations from miles around. In the central town of Mbuji-Mayi, anti-election protestors have burned a lorry carrying voting equipment. On Friday, a soldier loyal to presidential candidate Azarias Ruberwa was killed and two others wounded in a clash with security forces protecting the incumbent, Joseph Kabila, as the two groups met on the way to their respective rallies. The killing echoed an incident on Thursday, when two policemen were killed when troops loyal to candidate Jean-Pierre Bemba opened fire during a pro-Bemba rally. Correspondents say the incidents highlight the problem of former rebel leaders-turned-presidential candidates, who are still able to muster their own troops.

Conflict
The most serious concerns about the polling process have been in the east, which saw the worst of the conflict in the 1997-2002 civil war and where militia groups remained active until recently. At least four people were killed and 13 others injured last week during electoral campaigning in North Kivu province, international watchdog group Human Rights Watch reports. "The violence and intimidation raise questions about how free and fair the elections will be in hotly contested areas of Congo," said Alison Des Forges, senior advisor to HRW's Africa division. "The police and UN peacekeepers must keep order or people will be afraid to vote." It was only on Wednesday this week that the three main militia groups in the troubled eastern province of Ituri agreed to lay down arms. The presidential candidates include the four vice-presidents who took office in 2003 in terms of a transitional power-sharing deal. Three of the four vice-presidents are the leaders of former armed factions.

Fire wrecks James Bond film stage BBC News
The large James Bond stage at Pinewood Studios in Buckinghamshire has been destroyed by fire. At least eight fire engines tackled the blaze at the set, where filming for the new movie Casino Royale has finished. Eyewitness Jen McVean, who owns a firm at the studios in Iver Heath, said the stage was "completely on fire". Ms McVean said she saw smoke from her garden and went to the site of the studios and found out her special effects firm was not affected by fire. However, she said as far as she could see that the Bond stage, which she understood was being dismantled, was destroyed. "Nothing is salvageable and there are many, many fire engines there," she added. Ms McVean saw the black smoke billowing above the studios from her garden which is around a mile from the site.

Caved in
A spokeswoman for the Buckinghamshire Fire Brigade said they were alerted at 11.18am on Sunday. "We were called to a fire at the 007 stage at Pinewood Studios," he said. The film, which reportedly has a budget of £39m ($72m), is partly based in Venice. The large sound stage had been transformed into a replica of the Italian city. The roof of the large building covering the stage has caved in due to fire damage and firefighters are using specialist equipment to damp it down. Pinewood has a long association with the Bond films, beginning with the first movie Dr No. Pinewood which merged with Shepperton Studios in 2001 attracts a range of films of varying budgets. Together with Ealing, the three studios have formed the backbone of the British film industry for 70 years.

Several hurt in Gaza air strikes BBC News
Palestinian doctors in Gaza say several people have been hurt in fresh Israeli air strikes there, that took place as Israel's Lebanon offensive continues. Israel says it attacked buildings used by militants from Hamas and the Popular Resistance Committees in Gaza City and the northern town of Beit Hanoun. Palestinian militants fired a rocket on Sderot in Israel, hurting one person. Meanwhile, the Palestinian president is heading to Kuwait as part of efforts to negotiate an end to the violence. More than 100 Palestinians have been killed, many of them civilians, in Israeli air strikes and incursions since Palestinian militants kidnapped a young Israeli soldier more than a month ago. Yet the intense attacks on Lebanon have overshadowed the continuing violence in the Gaza Strip, our correspondents say. Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas has been having talks with Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak, who has been playing a key role in mediating between Israel and the Palestinians. Mr Abbas's visit to Egypt was the start of a regional tour that will take him to Saudi Arabia and other Gulf states. The BBC's Lucy Williamson, in Gaza, says Mr Abbas has been sounding very upbeat about the possibility of a negotiated ceasefire in Gaza.

'Timing tricky'
The sticking point all along has been how and when Palestinian militants will hand over captured Israeli soldier, Gilad Shalit, our correspondent says. Militant groups, including Hamas, have said any handover will need to be accompanied by the simultaneous release of Palestinian prisoners currently being held in Israeli jails. Israel has stuck to its demand that the soldier be released first. According to a key negotiator, who has been acting as a mediator between Mr Abbas and the militant leaders, the idea being floated now is that a third party - probably Egypt - will take charge of the soldier, while Israel keeps its side of the bargain. Even if this is accepted by militant groups, though, there is also a worry that the timing might prove tricky, our correspondent says. The violence is increasing on Israel's northern border. And many Palestinians are very supportive of Hezbollah's actions. Our correspondent says that while Hamas has stuck to its formal position that there is no linkage between the two conflicts, privately many in Gaza's political elite believe it could be difficult for them to agree to a deal with Israel while Hezbollah continues its fight in the north. On Sunday, Mr Abbas reportedly condemned the deadly Israeli raid on the Lebanese village of Qana as a "crime" and asked the UN to oversee an immediate ceasefire. Top Palestinian negotiator Saeb Erekat was quoted by AFP as saying: "Abu Mazen has called the Lebanese president and prime minister and offered his deepest condolences [for] the victims of the crime that was committed by Israel in Qana which he condemned in the strongest possible terms and that he had asked the permanent members of the [UN] security council to provide for an immediate ceasefire in Lebanon."

Drink-driving Gibson says sorry BBC News
Hollywood actor and director Mel Gibson has said he is "ashamed" of the actions that led to his arrest for drink-driving early on Friday morning. The Oscar-winner, 50, was stopped after driving at 87mph in a 45mph zone in Malibu, California. He failed a breath test, was charged with drink-driving and freed on bail. Gibson also said sorry for "despicable" statements he made during the arrest and for his "horrific relapse", after battling alcoholism all his adult life. "The arresting officer was just doing his job and I feel fortunate that I was apprehended before I caused injury to any other person," he said. Gibson said he "acted like a person completely out of control" when he was arrested and said things "that I do not believe to be true and which are despicable". "I take this opportunity to apologise to the deputies involved for my belligerent behaviour," he said. "They have always been there for me in my community and indeed probably saved me from myself."

'Cover-up'
Gibson did not explain the offensive comments and a detective from the Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department also declined to comment on the actor's behaviour. However Sergeant John Hocking told the AP news agency detectives would begin investigating the incident on Monday. Sheriff Lee Baca denied that his department were trying to cover up Gibson's alleged behaviour. "There is no cover-up. Our job is not to (focus) on what he said. It's to establish his blood-alcohol level when he was driving and proceed with the case," Sheriff Baca told the Los Angeles Times. Steve Whitmore, a spokesman for the department, also would not comment on what Gibson said but he added that the department would eventually release details of the arrest, the New York Times reported. "Nothing will be sanitised," Mr Whitmore said in a statement. Gibson's bail has been set at $5,000 (£2,680).

Devout Catholic
Gibson won a best director Oscar for his 1995 film Braveheart, in which he also starred. His 2004 biblical epic, The Passion of the Christ, was recently named the most controversial movie to date by US magazine Entertainment Weekly. A devout Catholic, Gibson shot the film depicting the last 12 hours in the life of Jesus Christ in Aramaic and Latin. It took more than $600m (£337.5m) worldwide His new film Apocalypto is set 3,000 years ago in central America and features dialogue spoken in an obscure Mayan dialect. Gibson is also known for several other works, including the Lethal Weapon and Mad Max series of films in which he starred.

Israel to continue action in Lebanon despite Qana tragedy-Olmert ITAR-TASS
Israel will continue active offensive combat in Lebanon, despite the tragedy in the Lebanese Qana town where some 60 Lebanese citizens fell victim to Israeli missile attacks, Prime Minister of the Jewish State Ehud Olmert said at a meeting of the country’ s government held in Jerusalem. He said the Israeli side will not back out of its tasks, will not stop the offensive despite the emerged difficulties. Hezbollah, the same as other terrorist organisations, is threatening the entire Western civilisation, said Olmert. “We knew what we were doing when decided to respond to their challenge. We shall overcome all the difficulties and win,” the Israeli prime minister stressed.
Leaders speak out over the raid on Qana NEWS.com.au
Israel air strike kills 54 civilians Reuters
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Africa migrants missing off Malta BBC News
Up to 17 illegal immigrants, believed to be from Africa, are missing off the coast of Malta after their boat sank. Maltese armed forces said they were searching for the missing migrants after an Italian fishing boat rescued 13 others who were found swimming. The survivors have been taken ashore, local authorities said. It comes a day after 13 illegal immigrants died off the coast of Italy in the crossing from Libya and amid a spate of sea rescues. The survivors were found approximately 40km (25 miles) east of Malta. Crew aboard an Italian fishing vessel pulled eight men and five women from the sinking boat, Maltese army Capt Michael Cardona said. Survivors told their rescuers that another 17 migrants were lost at sea, including one infant and eight other children.

Immigration crisis
Vincenzo Nardulli, captain of the boat which carried some of the survivors to shore, said he had seen the immigrants swimming in the sea. "We also saw bodies floating in the water," he said. Authorities said none of the survivors required hospital treatment. The nationalities of the survivors are still being determined, although one report suggests the migrants are from Somalia and Ghana. Since January, almost 1,000 immigrants have landed on Malta, which has a total population of 400,000. The Maltese authorities have struggled to cope with the influx and have appealed for help from across the rest of Europe. On Saturday, 14 migrants travelling from Libya were picked up by the Italian navy off the island of Lampedusa, near Sicily, after 13 of their companions died. At least seven of the survivors were taken to hospital in Palermo, Sicily's capital. Two were reported to be in a serious condition. Thousands of illegal migrants try to enter Italy each year via Lampedusa, many in rickety boats.

Somali PM survives ousting vote BBC News
Ali Mohamed Ghedi, prime minister in Somalia's transitional government, has survived a no-confidence vote. He faced the vote after 19 ministers resigned, apparently dissatisfied at his government's reluctance to forge an agreement with Islamist courts. The courts recently took control of the capital, Mogadishu, and much of the south, while the government controls little beyond its base in Baidoa. The motion to remove Mr Ghedi needed 138 votes to pass, but received 126. "I respect those who voted against me and I respect those who voted for me," Mr Ghedi said. Some MPs threw punches and wrestled on the floor after Mr Gedi survived the vote in Baidoa town. Some analysts said the vote against Mr Ghedi was an attempt to create a power-sharing agreement with the Islamists.

Talks
However, after the vote, Islamists indicated they were not interested in the outcome of the vote but reiterated they would boycott peace talks in Khartoum this week unless Ethiopian troops pulled out of Somalia. "As long as they are in our country we will not attend the talks," Islamist leader Sheikh Hassan Dahir Aweys told Reuters. A BBC correspondent in Baidoa says a growing number of MPs support opening political talks with the Union of Islamic Courts (UIC) - a move opposed by the interim prime minister. This rift prompted both the proposed motion of no confidence, and the resignation on Thursday of at least 19 members of the transitional government. President Abdullahi Yusuf's government has little influence outside its base in Baidoa, but has the diplomatic support of the United Nations and the African Union (AU) and the strong backing of neighbouring Ethiopia. Tensions have been heightened by the presence of Ethiopian troops in and around Baidoa, supporting Mr Ghedi's government. Many Somalis, including the UIC, are opposed to the presence of Ethiopian troops on Somali soil. Somalia has been without an effective government ever since the toppling of dictator Mohamed Siad Barre in 1991. Mr Ghedi's government was formed in Kenya in late 2004 to try and end anarchy in the lawless country.

Doubts over 'new Middle East' BBC News
Somewhere in the archives of the BBC's Jerusalem bureau there is a videotaped news report from five years ago, marked "Lebanon Border Flashpoint".On the tape a 30-something reporter strides purposefully over the thistle-strewn hills of northern Galilee and waves a theatrical arm towards Lebanon to the north, and Syria to the east. "This contested region," he declares portentously, "is where some in the Israeli military believe the next Middle East war will begin." The reporter was me. I was up on that border to report on the latest clashes between Israeli troops and their implacable foe, Hezbollah. Plus ca change, you might think. But today, say America and Israel, it's different. Things just cannot be allowed to go back to the way they were, with a heavily-armed Arab militia lurking just across Israel's border.

'New Middle East'
There's talk in Washington of "a new Middle East", a place where the moderate Arab majority refuse to allow the region to be plunged into conflict by troublemakers like Hezbollah and its allies, Syria and Iran. So is that realistic, or is it wishful thinking? America's critics have certainly been quick to dismiss the idea of a new Middle East which they say is drawn up along lines that suit the US and Israel.This week the Palestinian foreign ministry, itself reeling from Israeli air strikes, said the new plan was based on the illusion that the existing political forces in the region could be removed. "What new Middle East?" snorted Lebanon's information minister. He said US proposals for a reformed Middle East had only led to death and destruction in Iraq. And in Iran, the hardline press has even turned the idea on its head. "Hezbollah has disturbed all the West's equations in the region," trumpeted the conservative newspaper Resalat, adding: "Hezbollah is talking about a new Middle East - in which there is no room for Israel!" The close relationship between Iran, Syria and the Shia Lebanese militia Hezbollah has prompted some to question whether Tehran was perhaps behind the latest flare-up of violence.

Repeated conflict
Just before it began, Iran was coming under heavy international pressure to suspend its uranium enrichment programme, suspected of leading to a nuclear bomb. But Western intelligence sources say they have no hard evidence - either from informants or from intercepted communications - that Iran instructed Hezbollah to seize the two Israeli soldiers this month, and thence trigger the conflict in Lebanon. But Iran, which would like to see Israel eliminated as a state, is clearly delighted that an Arab-Israeli conflict is once more back at the centre of world attention. Iran helped establish Hezbollah back in 1982 in an effort to export its Islamic Revolution into the Arab world. Since then Hezbollah has achieved some notoriety in pioneering the suicide truck bomb, blowing up US targets in Beirut and kidnapping Western hostages.Iranian Revolutionary Guardsmen have trained Hezbollah's Lebanese fighters and Iranian missiles are supplied to them through Syria. Although Hezbollah is a Shia organisation, it has won huge respect amongst many Arabs at street level, as the only fighting force prepared to take on the might of the Israeli military. They widely credit it with driving Israeli forces out of south Lebanon six years ago.

Political chessboard
This week, the yellow flags of Hezbollah have been fluttering in the streets of Gaza, while portraits of its bearded, turbaned and bespectacled leader, Sheikh Hassan Nasrallah, are on public display in Damascus souk. All this is very annoying for the moderate, pro-Western governments in Saudi Arabia, Jordan and Egypt. They don't like violent change and they don't like Hezbollah, they don't like Iran's current regime and they are wary of a new axis of Shia power stretching across the region, from Iran, through Iraq, to Lebanon. The last thing those pro-Western governments wanted to see was a resurgent guerrilla force upsetting the political chessboard in the region. Their rulers are all too aware of Hezbollah's appeal to their own populations, who grumble privately that this Lebanese militia has done more than their own timid governments have to confront what they call "Israeli aggression".So a recent editorial in the pro-government Saudi newspaper al-Riyadh insisted that Hezbollah's "adventurous stance" had been confronted by the "reasonable stance" of a number of Arab countries. "What is needed urgently now," said the editorial, "is an Arab strategic plan to confront the Iranian strategic plan." It was, it said, a matter of life and death. So behind every conflict in this troubled region there lurk so many layers of conflicting interests, national, religious, and ethnic, sometimes working in concert, mostly not. Navigating one's way through this labyrinth is always a challenge for any journalist in the Middle East. If you don't take someone's side then they invariably think you're against them. But it's a challenge I've always relished, and one I'm just about to experience again as I fly back to the Middle East this afternoon to report once more for the BBC.
By Frank Gardner, BBC security correspondent

Day-by-day: Lebanon crisis - week three BBC News
A day-by-day look at how the conflict involving Israel and Lebanon is unfolding in its third week.

• Day-by-day: Week one
• Day-by-day: Week two

SUNDAY 30 JULY
Dozens of people are reported to have been killed or injured in an Israeli air strike on a building housing civilians in the southern Lebanese town of Qana. In Beirut, hundreds of protesters stage a violent demonstration, attacking the UN building and chanting slogans against the US and in support of Hezbollah. Hezbollah guerrillas meanwhile battle Israeli ground forces that have made a fresh incursion into southern Lebanon. Israeli naval vessels fire shells into the hills to support ground forces. Hezbollah's TV station says the group has fired more rockets into Israel. US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice is scheduled to meet Israel's defence and foreign ministers in an apparent effort to rally support for the deployment of a large UN-backed peacekeeping force in the region.

SATURDAY 29 JULY
US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice returns to the region. She is expected to lobby for a UN Security Council resolution that would lead to an international force being deployed in southern Lebanon. Without specifying, Ms Rice said that she was about to enter intensive difficult negotiations that would require hard and emotional decisions for both Lebanon and Israel. Israeli officials tell the BBC that Israel may be willing to stop fighting as soon as a UN resolution is passed next week - before the arrival of any new peace force - and that they will not insist on Hezbollah disarming first. In more raids, a Lebanese mother and her five children are killed in a new wave of Israeli air raids in southern Lebanon, Lebanese medics said. Israeli forces withdraw from the southern Lebanese village of Bint Jbeil - a Hezbollah stronghold - which they had been trying to take for some days and where they sustained their heaviest one-day losses since the campaign began. An Israeli air strike closes the main border crossing from Lebanon into Syria, witnesses and officials say. Missiles hit the road between the two states' immigration posts, but apparently on the Lebanese side. A separate Israeli strike wounds two UN monitors in their observation post, the UN says, days after four were killed. This follows a warning by the UN that the killing of its observers on Tuesday may deter countries from contributing to a future peacekeeping force. The UN says children, the elderly and disabled people have been left stranded and supplies are "running out very, very fast" in southern Lebanon and calls for a three-day truce to let aid in. But an Israeli government spokesman says there is no need for a temporary ceasefire because Israel has opened a humanitarian corridor to and from Lebanon. In a new television message, Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah says more central Israeli cities would be targeted if the Israeli offensive continues.

• Israeli army relatives speak
• Mercy mission into Beirut
• Bush-Blair axis solid

Annan calls for action

FRIDAY 28 JULY
US President George W Bush says an international force must be quickly despatched to Lebanon, to bolster the Lebanese army and help distribute humanitarian aid. After talks in Washington with UK Prime Minister Tony Blair, Mr Bush says the US and UK want to achieve a "lasting peace" in the region, but neither leader calls for an immediate ceasefire. US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice will return to the region on Saturday, Mr Bush says, ahead of a UN Security Council meeting on the crisis next week. A US state department spokesman dismisses an Israeli suggestion that it has the world's authorisation to continue bombing Lebanon as "outrageous", insisting the US is doing all it can to bring an end to the conflict. The UN calls for a 72-hour truce in the conflict zone to allow humanitarian aid in and to get casualties out. Israel carries out dozens of fresh strikes on Lebanon. Lebanese officials say at least 12 people are killed. Hezbollah fires a barrage of more than 100 rockets into northern Israel. It says it has made its deepest strike into the country so far with a new long-range rocket called the Khaibar-1. Israeli police confirm an attack by a previously unknown rocket near the town of Afula. Two mortar rounds strike a convoy of vehicles carrying civilians escaping the violence in southern Lebanon, wounding two people travelling in a German TV car. The Israeli Defence Forces say they do not believe the mortars were theirs. The UN announces plans to relocate unarmed observers from their post along the Israeli border to positions manned by Unifil, the UN peacekeeping force.

• Bush aims for rapid Lebanon force
• UN calls for humanitarian truce
• US 'outrage' over Israeli claims

Video - Blair and Bush news conference in full

THURSDAY 27 JULY
Israel says the decision in Rome not to call for an immediate ceasefire indicates backing from world powers for the offensive to continue. The Israeli security cabinet decides to call up more military reserves to refresh troops fighting in southern Lebanon but rules out widening the military offensive. Israel launches further air and artillery attacks on suspected Hezbollah targets, while fighting continues around the Hezbollah stronghold of Bint Jbeil in southern Lebanon. More rockets are fired into northern Israel by Hezbollah militants despite warnings from the Israeli army that any village from which rockets are launched will be totally destroyed. Al-Qaeda deputy Ayman al-Zawahiri warns al-Qaeda will respond to attacks on Muslims in Lebanon and Gaza.

• Israel says world backs offensive
• Al-Qaeda 'to avenge Israel deeds'
• Israeli press says fight must go on

Video - Al-Qaeda video

WEDNESDAY 26 JULY
EU and Arab states, together with the US and Russia, agree at talks in Rome to work towards a ceasefire with "utmost urgency", but stop short of calling for an immediate truce. A joint statement backs the idea of an international force with a UN mandate. It says a ceasefire must be "lasting and sustainable", reflecting the US position. An initial UN report into the deaths of four UN observers says the UN repeatedly urged Israel to stop firing in the area around its post before a rocket landed on the site. Israel describes the event as a "tragic mistake". Nine Israeli soldiers are killed and 22 injured in fierce fighting around the town of Bint Jbeil, a strategically located Hezbollah stronghold in southern Lebanon. It is the biggest Israeli loss of life since the conflict began. Another dies in the nearby village of Maroun al-Ras. In Gaza, at least 23 people are killed in Israeli air strikes, medical sources say, and Israeli tanks move back into the north of the Gaza Strip.

• Agencies struggle to provide aid[list]
• High death toll in Gaza clashes

Video - The UN post

Ill Castro Steps Down Temporarily, Says Cuba CBS 4
In an unprecedented announcement, the Cuban government announced Monday night that Fidel Castro was temporarily giving up power to his brother and Vice President Raul, due to surgery for an illness he developed while traveling to Argentina. This is the first time Castro has turned over power to anyone since taking control of Cuba in 1959. The announcement was made at 9:15 Monday night on Cuban Television, monitored in Miami. A spokesperson for the Cuban government made the announcement, which came in the middle of a newscast. There was little advance notice of the special announcement. The announcement ended with a screen showing Castro’s signature, making the order official. Little information was given about the details of Castro’s illness. The statement, read by Carlos Balanciaga, said Castro requires several weeks of rest. Balanciaga also announced that Castro was turning over his functions in the area of health care and education and as head of the national energy program to other Communist party and government figures. The announcement said that the operation was filmed and that all the medical records including endoscopy, x-rays, and others exist but did not specify if they would be released. Balanciaga said the Communist Party has to stand firm to defend the revolution threatened by Washington. Balanciaga said Castro would be out of public life for two months, during which time Raul Castro, designated as his brother’s successor, would have complete control of the country. The announcement was met with shock and surprise in Miami, home of the largest Cuban exile population in the world. Joe Garcia, a director of the Cuban American National Foundation, said he believed the Cuban government is not revealing all it knows about Castro’s illness. Garcia says he believes this may be Cuba’s first attempt at a transition of power to Raul Castro, the official plan for Fidel Castro’s departure from power. Castro, the longest serving leader in the longest in the world, is just 14 days from celebrating his 80th birthday August 13th. The nation had been getting ready for the event, preparing for parties and celebrations to celebrate the day. The announcement Monday asks that the celebrations planned for his 80th birthday August 13 be postponed until December 2, which is the anniversary of the Cuban Armed Forces. Castro has been rumored for years to be ill. In 2001, he fainted after a 7 hour speech in the hot sun. In 2004, he tripped and fell in public, and was out of public view for a week. In 2005, the CIA reported it believed Castro suffered from Parkinson’s Disease, a claim Castro himself denied, but then said he wouldn’t care if he had it; he pointed out Pope John Paul II suffered from Parkinson’s, and he still managed to travel around the world.
By Maggie Rodriguez
Fidel Castro Places Brother In Charge During Surgery All Headline News
Castro undergoes surgery Reuters
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Life after Qana Salon
Human Rights Watch will issue a formal accusation of war crimes against Israel later this week, but the bombing will resume Wednesday. The Israeli bombardments were so intense that it took rescue teams eight hours to reach the southern Lebanese village of Qana yesterday. They found a three-story building collapsed sideways by missiles fired by Israeli planes and 54 people, including 27 children, crushed to death. The hours that followed were the stuff of nightmares: hardened Red Cross workers in tears, fighting for breath; body after body pulled, with bare hands, from the rubble of the reinforced basement; little corpses wrapped in plastic, tied at head and foot and laid side by side.Not one of the dead was a fighter, and no arms were found in the building. Locals denied Israeli claims that Hezbollah fighters had been firing from Qana. It just wasn’t true, they said. "America is responsible for this!" The Israelis, meanwhile, claim more than 150 rockets have been fired from Qana. On Sunday night the Israel Air Force chief of staff showed reporters video footage of what he said was Hezbollah fighters driving rocket launchers into Qana after use.
By Julie Flint
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Israel has lost the war on every front Kazinform, Kazakhstan
At this stage in the war with Hezbollah, Israel cannot achieve anything except further international condemnation together with visceral hatred from Arabs and Muslims everywhere. There are few in the Arab world today who are in the mood for forgiveness and reconciliation after they have gazed in disbelief at tens of tiny corpses being unceremoniously thrown into mass graves, including a one-day-old baby whose parents didn’t even have time to give her a name; KAZINFORM quotes Linda Heard, sierra12th@yahoo.co.uk During an emergency summit held in Rome, Lebanese Prime Minister Fouad Siniora was driven to ask delegates “Are we children of a lesser God? Is an Israeli teardrop worth more than a drop of Lebanese blood?” Israel’s Defense Minister Amir Peretz wants America’s blessing to continue hostilities for a further ten to fourteen days. He might have got it except for the Israeli bombing of Qana that took the lives of 60 civilians, including 37 children. He may still. Qana had already entered the Lebanese lexicon as a euphemism for “massacre” following a devastating Israeli strike on that southern Lebanese village in 1996. The resulting carnage was thought to have triggered a close to Israel’s Operation Grapes of Wrath. It is understandable, therefore, that incensed Lebanese demonstrators sought to trash the United Nations headquarters in Beirut, although such behavior cannot, of course, be condoned. After all, their government had been begging that body for a cease-fire for weeks to no avail. This is because the US has staunchly refused any condemnation of Israel, leaving the world body open to criticism of being ineffectual, America of extreme pro-Israel bias and Britain of being led by the nose. As messages of condolences and outrage flooded in from nations around the world on Sunday, Lebanese officials told US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice to cancel a scheduled visit to Beirut unless she came armed with an immediate unconditional cease-fire. The time for toothy smiles, kisses and crocodile tears is over. The strongly (or perhaps formerly) pro-American Lebanese prime minister told CBS, “The Israelis are committing state-sponsored terrorism”. In a total departure from the Bush party line, Siniora heaped praise on Hezbollah’s fighters and its leader Hassan Nasrallah “who are sacrificing their lives for the sake of Lebanon.” It is in the Bush administration’s interests to see Hezbollah pummeled and rendered impotent. Rather than perceive the conflict in the context of feuding neighbors, the US has deliberately subsumed it into its “war on terror”. To this end, Bush and his British sidekick have branded Hezbollah a terrorist organization that must be stamped out in order to birth “a new Middle East” — one in which feuding states live contentedly under the American/Israeli boot. Now that Siniora has given Hezbollah legitimacy by publicly patting on the back, Bush will increasingly find this argument a hard sell. Although I should add Fox News viewers and their ilk have already bought into it hook, line and sinker. A new “terrorist” foe was thought to be just what the doctor ordered for George W. Bush’s dwindling popularity rating. Bin Laden has disappeared into the ether. Saddam Hussein awaits the outcome of his kangaroo trial in an American jail. Abu Musab Al-Zarqawi was duly assassinated and his so-called successor spotted in an Egyptian prison where he’s been languishing for the past six years. The new foe had to be destroyed and humiliated so that the policies of the self-acclaimed leader of the free world could be seen to be working. Unfortunately for Bush, Hassan Nasrallah doesn’t exactly fit the bill. He’s too softly spoken for one, doesn’t engage in outlandish rhetoric or speak longingly of Islamic caliphates from Spain to goodness knows where. Instead, he represents over 40 percent of all Lebanese, so if he’s a terrorist they must be too. Moreover his people haven’t been producing snuff videos when corpses are divorced from their heads. Those pesky Europeans haven’t been much help either. They’ve refused to add Hezbollah to their list of terrorist groups, and so has Russia. Israel’s inability to crush what its spokesmen inevitably refer to as “Khizbollah” has further ruined Bush’s plan. The Israelis were meant to pull a quick, decisive victory out of their hat. After all, they have had years of experience fighting militant groups in occupied Palestine. And, most importantly, they are the ones with the big American bombs, the deadly American F16s and Apache helicopters and the impervious American tanks. Yet almost three weeks into the conflict, Hezbollah is still firing an average of 100 rockets into northern Israel each day and has driven a succession of elite Israeli units out of its southern strongholds. The resistance has further downed an Israeli drone and several helicopters, not to mention achieving a direct hit on an Israeli warship. The result has opened a can of worms. Israelis commentators are turning on their military, accusing it of being ill prepared and ill trained. Defense officials fret over Israel’s diminished deterrent capability. The Bush brigade is said to be disappointed at Israel’s military ineptitude and embarrassed by its attacks on civilians. The international community is up in arms over Israel’s brutality and America’s intransigent stance in the face of calls for an immediate cease-fire. Syria, once considered an irrelevance or even “a low-hanging fruit” has re-established its importance in the region with all roads once again leading to Damascus. The Palestinians have been reinvigorated by Hezbollah’s military successes and progress toward their state has adopted a renewed sense of urgency. As for Hezbollah fighters, they have achieved an almost mythical quality throughout the Muslim world due to their stealth, stoicism, self-discipline and courage under fire. Most importantly, Israel has unwittingly opened up a discussion that was verging on taboo in mainstream Western media. In yesterday’s Guardian, David Clark writes: “How can ‘terrorism’ be condemned while war crimes go without rebuke?” How indeed!However, the outcome of this conflict isn’t ready to be written in stone. With its back against the wall there is a danger that Israel will embark on a scorched earth policy in southern Lebanon. Alternatively, Syria and Iran could get dragged in when Bush’s evangelical support base will merrily prepare themselves for “end times” rapture. The most favorable outcome for Lebanon would be an unconditional cease-fire followed by a prisoner exchange, a return of Sheba Farms to Lebanon and a non-NATO international force with a UN mandate swiftly brought in to police a cordon sanitaire. For Israel, there isn’t one. It arrogantly overplayed its hand and lost the game. Unless, of course, it equates winning with how many children’s coffins it can notch up in the shortest time.
Israel must be stopped Daily News & Analysis
The Qana Massacre Blogcritics.org
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50,000 problematic Canadian smacleans.ca
The scandal isn't a tardy evacuation; it's that we've fostered so many indifferent citizens. Here's one of my favourite numbers: 50,000 -- as in "50,000 Canadians," as in "As many as 50,000 Canadians are believed to be in Lebanon" (CBC News), and "There were an estimated 50,000 Canadians in Lebanon when fighting broke out" (Canadian Press), and "There were some 50,000 Canadians in harm's way, trapped in a country that Israel was relentlessly bombing" (the Toronto Star). The question is: Why are they "in harm's way"? How did "50,000 Canadians" come to be in Lebanon? Is it one of our major trading partners? Has Bombardier opened up a Ski-Doo plant there? Is Beirut where the Quebec Nordiques wound up? 50,000 Canucks out of a total Lebanese population of 3.8 million works out to about 1.3 per cent of the population. Hezbollah claims 400,000 supporters in Lebanon after 20 years of diligent recruiting and investment by Iran, but Canada has managed to amass an eighth of that figure with nary a thought. Despite significantly smaller populations than our G7 colleagues, we have more citizens in Lebanon than the Americans, British and Germans Combined. France is the former colonial power in Lebanon and the Western country with which it maintains the closest ties, yet even the French can muster only 30,000 citizens in the country. Formerly known as "the Paris of the Middle East," these days Beirut would appear to be the Saskatoon of the Middle East. Another decade or two and Lebanon will boast more Canadians than most of the Maritimes. If Canadians were represented within the global population as generously as they are among the Lebanese, there would be over 81 million Canadian citizens living outside Canada. And yet none of the CBC reporters repeating the "50,000 Canadians" line every hour on the hour, day in, day out, apparently had sufficient curiosity to ponder what that bland statistic signified. The Calgary Herald gamely attempted an explanation: "Booming Country Drew Many Lebanese Back Home: Why So Many Canadians Are Trapped By Crisis." But that doesn't explain why it only drew them home from Canada, and not France, America, Australia or anywhere else. Broadway producers, accustomed to going to parties and hearing doctors, bond traders and orthodontists tell them what's wrong with their plays, like to say that show business is everybody's second business. Canada would seem to be everybody's second nationality. The question is whether it's still anybody's first. Not long before 9/11, I picked up a book called Citizenship and National Identity by David Miller. He's a liberal nationalist and in the long-ago summer of 2001 it all seemed very theoretical. "The historic national community is a community of obligation," he writes. "Because our forebears have toiled and spilt their blood to build and defend the nation, we who are born into it inherit an obligation to continue their work, which we discharge partly towards our contemporaries and partly towards our descendants." Well, so much for that. Mr. Miller is a British academic and, rereading his book five years on, I'm struck by how often he mentions Muslims. In doing so, he seems at least to imply that this particular identity group is not quite as others -- Welsh, Jews, Nigerians -- and yet every time he brings up the subject it's to reassure us that there's nothing to worry about. "Consider a Christian facing an Islamic group who declare that their goal is to make Britain into an Islamic state," he posits airily at one point, presenting it as a kind of abstract exercise in the limits of mutually respectful multiculturalism. "Valuing the identity espoused by the group facing you commits you to denying values you already hold: if you are a Christian, then you must believe that the Christian life is a valuable life, and therefore you cannot value the project of eradicating Christianity in the name of Islam." I'd clean forgotten I'd read anything that specific about the Islamification of the West before Sept. 11th. But, as the author notes, the Muslim group Hizb ut-Tahrir were stating plainly and openly in the early nineties their goal of an Islamic Britain. Miller's book is frustrating, in that he managed to identify all the critical questions of the day without appreciating quite how pressing they are. But where he and others go awry is in misidentifying the internal contradictions of multiculturalism. In Multiculturalism and "The Politics Of Recognition," a very early entry into the field, Charles Taylor writes: "It makes sense to demand as a matter of right that we approach the study of certain cultures with a presumption of their value . . . But it can't make sense to demand as a matter of right that we come up with a final concluding judgment that their value is great, or equal to others . . . I have stated this rather flatly," he adds, somewhat superfluously. But, given that multiculturalism is principally an exercise in Western self-abasement, the presumption of greater value is the entire point. The problem, pace Taylor, is not that Group A holds values that are incompatible with Group B, but rather that Group A holds no values at all. In the modern multicultural state, we accord all values equal value: in effect, our values are that we have no values -- and so the best way we can demonstrate our lack of values is by deferring to those values most antipathetic to us. One thinks of Nada Farooq, Mississauga-raised wife of one of the alleged terrorists and moderator of an Internet forum for Muslim teens. In David Miller terms, her "citizenship" may be Canadian but her "identity" isn't: she planned to name her son Khattab, after the Chechen mujahedeen commander killed in 2002. Growing up in a Toronto suburb, she found recent Chechen history more inspiring than Canadian history, assuming she was taught any. That's an extreme manifestation of the problem, of course. I'd wager those "50,000 Canadians" in Lebanon are more typical: the majority aren't Hezbollah terrorists, they're merely indifferent to Canada. It's a fallback position, something in the back pocket for when the powder keg goes up. A year or two or five ago, they stood before the Maple Leaf and pledged allegiance to Her Majesty The Queen and sang O Canada and listened to the citizenship judge blather about all the many races and nationalities in the room that were now joined within the bosom of the Canadian family. And it all meant . . . nothing. Which, in the long run, may be a bigger problem than Nada Farooq. In The Power of Identity, Manuel Castells writes about what he calls "resistance identities" and the challenge they pose to traditional nation-states. I would prefer the term "resistant identities," in the sense that pan-Islamism is resistant to the usual assimilationist pull of Western societies. Yet hard-core jihad is always going to be a minority interest. And, as those "50,000 Canadians" suggests, indifference could be far more contagious. In the thirties, there were chaps who found themselves in tricky situations in Italy or Romania, Poland or France, and so for a small consideration acquired a passport from some potential Latin American bolthole. But Immigration Canada is the first to practise the racket on an industrial scale -- and to give it away. The scandal is not that the government has been tardy in its evacuation plans for these "50,000 Canadians." The scandal is not even that so many Lebanese have gamed Canada's immigration system. The scandal is that there's no system to game and, with the exception of the Toronto Sun's Peter Worthington, no Canadian media bigwigs seem to mind. Indeed, the obvious fact that the bulk of these passports are flags of convenience only intensified the outrage at the sloth and incompetence of Ottawa in standing on guard for these paragons of Canada's post-nationalist national identity. The Toronto Star's lefty lovely, Linda McQuaig, morphed into a postmodern Lord Palmerston, all but demanding Harper dispatch HMCS Rustbucket to blast Tel Aviv. "The first duty of a Canadian prime minister is the safety of Canadians," she huffed. "So, faced with a choice of expressing support for Israel or doing everything he possibly could to protect tens of thousands of vulnerable Canadians, Harper should have opted for protecting the Canadians." To Miss McQuaig, the Zionist Entity's assault on Hezbollah was an unprovoked assault on an outlying Canadian province. And, if Paul Martin's Canada Steamship fleet ever gets impounded in Antwerp, no doubt she'll be demanding the Liberian Air Force bomb Belgium.
By MARK STEYN, < letters@macleans.ca > Columnist

Israel expands fight deeper into Lebanon Chicago Tribune
Racing against time before a cease-fire is arranged, Israel expanded its offensive in Lebanon on Tuesday, landing troops by helicopter deep in the country as ground forces battled Hezbollah guerrillas in border villages in the south. Lebanese security officials said a major Israeli operation against guerrillas was under way near Baalbek in the Hezbollah heartland in the eastern Bekaa Valley, some 80 miles north of the border. Troops landed by helicopter after aircraft carried out several strikes in the area, according to the officials. The Israeli army would not comment on the raid, and initial accounts were sketchy. A spokesman for Hezbollah said guerrillas were fighting Israeli commandos trapped in a hospital they had entered west of Baalbek, and witnesses said the building had been hit by an Israeli air strike. The spokesman dismissed reports that the commandos had seized some patients and taken them in helicopters. Hezbollah's capture of two Israeli soldiers in a raid across the border on July 12 triggered the ongoing Israeli offensive. Bolstering thousands of troops in southern Lebanon, Israel prepared to send thousands more into the area after calling up reserves, readying forces for an even wider ground push with the aim of clearing out Hezbollah fighters and controlling the border area until an international force can arrive and take over. Prime Minister Ehud Olmert indicated that the stepped-up military action was aimed at inflicting as much damage as possible on Hezbollah before moves to arrange a cease-fire gain momentum. "Every additional day is a day that saps the strength of this cruel enemy," he said. "Every extra day is a day in which [the army] reduces their stamina and restricts their ability to fire and hit in the future." There were suggestions that the army might drive as far as the Litani River, about 18 miles north of the border, but Meir Shetreet, a member of Israel's security cabinet, said that line had not been set in a meeting early Tuesday to approve the expanded ground offensive. Israeli paratroopers and armored forces backed by air and artillery strikes fought fierce battles with Hezbollah guerrillas in the Lebanese border village of Aita al-Shaab, one of several in which Israeli forces are operating. Television images from the area showed huge explosions and towering plumes of smoke over the village with buildings damaged and collapsed. The army said three soldiers were killed when anti-tank rockets hit two houses they were in, and that 25 more troops were injured. The military said it had inflicted dozens of casualties on Hezbollah. Israeli Justice Minister Haim Ramon said that about 300 of Hezbollah's main force of 2,000 fighters had been killed in the Israeli offensive so far, though the group has said 46 of its fighters were killed. Israeli forces were also operating in the villages of Taibe, al-Adeisseh and Kafr Kila near the border with Israel, the army said, and the area was hit repeatedly by artillery and air strikes. Israeli officials say the ground operations are meant to destroy the forward line of Hezbollah positions, as well as bunkers and arms stocks in villages facing Israel. Olmert has said Israel wants to create a 1.2-mile wide buffer zone that would be free of Hezbollah guerrillas. In other military action, Israel carried out sporadic air strikes across Lebanon after it declared a curtailment of aerial activity for 48 hours following an attack on the village of Qana on Sunday that killed more than 50 civilians. The army said Israeli aircraft struck southern Lebanese villages in dozens of missions, attacking rocket launching sites and supporting troops on the ground. Three civilians were killed when warplanes hit a house in the southern Lebanese town of Lweizeh, Lebanese security officials said. Warplanes struck deep in Lebanon at Hermel, in the Bekaa Valley, targeting a road linking eastern Lebanon to western areas. Another strike in Hermel hit a pickup truck loaded with cooking gas canisters, setting off an explosion, Lebanese security officials said. The Israeli army said it had hit two trucks carrying arms. Another strike nearby targeted the Qaa-Homs road, linking Lebanon and Syria. Two of the four border crossings between the two countries are now closed because of damage, and repeated air strikes have cut the Beirut-Damascus highway. Even as Israel stepped up its attacks, Hezbollah drastically reduced its rocket fire at Israeli towns and villages for the second straight day in an apparent effort to draw Israel into a cease-fire, which the group has demanded. The army reported that about 10 mortar rounds and rockets landed in northern Israel on Tuesday, a sharp drop from the daily firings of more than 100 rockets before the announcement of the curtailment of Israeli air strikes. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice said Monday that the United States would seek action by the UN Security Council this week to arrange a cease-fire bolstered by the deployment of an international force. Defense Minister Amir Peretz said that Israel was aware that there could be "a short diplomatic window" of opportunity for military action. He said that ground operations had been expanded "with the intention of creating new conditions so that when an international force arrives ... it will be able to enforce the new situation" in which Hezbollah guerrillas would not be active in southern Lebanon. Olmert said that while the Israeli offensive would not remove all rocket and missile threats against Israel, it would deter the guerrillas from firing them in the future. The campaign "has created a completely new equation in the balance of power between the State of Israel and its enemies," he said. "We are at the start of a political process that I believe will ultimately lead to a cease-fire under conditions that are completely different than those that prevailed on our northern border," Olmert said. "We will cease fire when we know for sure that the conditions on the ground will be different than those that caused this war to break out."
By Joel Greenberg. JERUSALEM < jogreenberg@tribune.com >
Up to 7,000 Israeli troops push into Lebanon International Herald Tribune
Raging battles follow deep push by Israelis Online Athens (subscription)
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Cuba: New Power and New Uncertainty OhmyNews International
Raul Castro, the brother of Fidel, takes the reigns as president. Cuba, the only communist country of Latin America has been governed for more than 40 years by only one president: Fidel Castro. Today Fidel Castro, 80 years old and in delicate health, has transferred the powers to his brother Raul Castro, which has created a great questioning about the new political power in Cuba. The Cuban revolution began in the year 1959, and since 1962 the U.S. organized a commercial blockade, while the government of the island sought the support of the USSR. Since the USSR has disappeared, the government of Castro has intensified its actions against its political adversaries, and even also against some collaborators who are viewed as too moderate, such as former Foreign Minister Roberto Robaina. The government condemned the opposition and arrested 74 dissidents, which was criticized by the European Union (E.U.). The governments of Brazil and Venezuela financially support the Cuban government, as has China since the visit of the President Hu Jintao in the year of 2004. An analysis of the actions of the Cuban government turns up the following keywords: revolution, repression, prison sentence, sanctions, embargoes, and dissident. Now the key question is, with Raul Castro will these intolerant words continue appearing, or will there be changes? The future of Cuba is uncertain, because first one must evaluate the new functions of Raul Castro (the brother). Nevertheless, Fidel's illness is big news, and almost all the newspapers and TV channels are closely following this political drama.
By Alfredo Ascanio
Alabama pilot who aided Cuban invasion leery of Castro's demise WTVM
The other Castro Newsday
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Senate OKs offshore drilling in gulf, but not other areas Daily Press
The Senate easily passed a bill Tuesday that would restrict offshore drilling for gas and oil to the Gulf of Mexico, dealing a blow to those seeking to open Virginia's coast to energy production. By a lopsided margin of 71 to 25, the Senate approved a measure that would open vast new areas of the Gulf of Mexico to oil and gas drilling in an attempt to boost domestic production and wean the nation off foreign oil. But the bill stops far short of a competing House measure pushed by Virginians that would open the nation's entire coastlines to drilling under certain conditions with state approvals. A federal ban has prevented drilling in virtually all coastal waters of the country except parts of the gulf for the past 25 years. The Senate vote sets the stage for contentious negotiations this fall with the House over the scope of any new offshore drilling measure. Failure to reach a compromise would kill the legislation for the year. Virginia senators had sought to amend the Senate bill to broaden it beyond the Gulf of Mexico. Sen. George Allen, R-Va., and Sen. John W. Warner, R-Va., had offered amendments giving Virginia and other coastal states the option to drill off their coasts. But neither amendment was given consideration under Senate procedural rules that cleared the way for a swift up-or-down vote on the bill. Both Virginia Republicans vowed to continue working to give their state the ability to drill if it wishes. After offering his amendment Monday, Warner told his colleagues: "I will return to this floor time and time again, as long as I can draw breath, to fight for the rights of the individual coastal states to decide for themselves - not to be mandated by the federal government - but to decide for themselves whether they want to step up and help America reach its energy needs." Environmentalists have decried the drilling measure, saying it would do little to meet the nation's energy needs while posing needless risks to marine life. But drilling advocates say improved technology has minimized the environmental risk. Boosting domestic production, they say, will be a critical part of any comprehensive energy program. "We are far too dependent on foreign sources of energy, and this common-sense legislation will help spur a long stride forward in America's energy independence," Allen said. The House measure, passed in June, would open most U.S. waters to drilling 100 miles from shore and give coastal states the option to drill closer to their beaches. Authors of the House measure said Tuesday they hope to broaden the Senate bill beyond just the Gulf of Mexico. But some Democratic senators, who joined Republicans in supporting the Gulf measure, made clear they would oppose the more sweeping House plan. "Let there be a warning to people in the House not to take advantage of our good faith here," said Sen. Charles Schumer, D-N.Y., who voted for the Senate bill. Virginia lawmakers have estimated the state could reap more than $3 billion in drilling royalties over 20 years if the federal drilling ban is lifted.
Senate Approves More Offshore Drilling Washington Post
Senate Approves More Offshore Drilling ABC News
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Israel takes 'Hezbollah fighters' BBC News
The Israeli army says it has seized a number of Hezbollah fighters in a raid on Baalbek, a town deep inside Lebanon.After air strikes on the town, 100km into Lebanon, in which 11 people died, Israeli commandos landed by helicopter and fought a lengthy gun battle. In a statement on al-Manar television, Hezbollah said those captured in Baalbek, one of its strongholds, are "ordinary citizens" not militants. Israeli troops have also pushed further into south Lebanon overnight. The incursion into Baalbek began before midnight with several air strikes. At least 11 civilians, including five members of the same family, were killed in the bombing.After the bombardment, military helicopters then landed an Israeli commando unit near a hospital on the outskirts of the town, which led to fierce clashes with Hezbollah guerrillas lasting several hours. Local residents told AP the hospital was run by people close to Hezbollah and funded by an Iranian charity. The Israeli military says that it seized at least three Hezbollah members in the raid and a spokeswoman told Reuters news agency that the captured militants had been taken to Israel. Hezbollah say they inflicted casualties on the commando unit but a spokeswoman for the Israeli military says all their troops returned safely to base.

'Fading optimism'
Baalbek, which is a Hezbollah stronghold and home to several senior members of the group, has been repeatedly bombed by Israel since the conflict began. However, this is the first time Israel has sent ground troops so far into Lebanon since its offensive began over three weeks ago.The BBC's Michael Buchanan in Beirut says that there had been a slight mood of optimism in Lebanon that diplomatic efforts to bring about a ceasefire following the deadly air strike on the Lebanese village of Qana, in which 54 civilians died, were gathering momentum. Following this raid, that mood has disappeared, our correspondent says. Meanwhile, Israeli planes attacked a Lebanese army base south-east of Sidon early on Wednesday, killing three Lebanese soldiers. A 48-hour partial suspension of Israeli air strikes, triggered by the raid on Qana, ended overnight. In other developments

• Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert said Israel was "winning the battle" against Hezbollah, but also said a political process that will lead to a ceasefire is now under way.
• US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice said an agreement on ending the fighting was possible within "days, not weeks" - in apparent contrast to Israeli Deputy Prime Minister Shimon Peres, who said he thought the fighting would end within "weeks, not months".
• French officials said that France would boycott a meeting on Thursday of potential contributors to an international stabilisation force - the official said France considered the meeting "premature".

'Fighting to intensify'
Tuesday saw fierce fighting across southern Lebanon, with casualties on both sides. Israel said an anti-tank missile killed three of its soldiers in the border town of Ait al-Shaab, while Hezbollah said four of its fighters died in clashes further north. More Israeli troops crossed into Lebanon, entering at four different points the border, Israeli officials told the Associated Press. The BBC's Bethany Bell in Jerusalem says many in Israel expect the fighting to intensify over the next few days. The Israeli security cabinet on Tuesday unanimously approved widening Israel's ground offensive. Some reports said troops would move into Lebanon as far as the Litani River - up to 30km (18 miles) from the border. Israel warned civilians north-east of the river to leave their homes. Israel launched the current offensive after Hezbollah militants seized two of its soldiers in a cross-border raid. After nearly three weeks of fighting, about 750 people - mainly civilians - have been killed by Israeli action in Lebanon, according to Lebanon's health minister. A total of 54 Israelis, including at least 18 civilians, are known to have been killed by Hezbollah.

Mexico election protesters dig in BBC News
Mexico City has suffered a second day of traffic chaos as supporters of the left-wing candidate in the country's disputed election block a key street. Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador toured protest camps on Tuesday, after sleeping out with supporters who want votes in the 2 July poll recounted. His rival, Felipe Calderon, accused him of taking the city hostage as commuters battled through congested streets. Mr Lopez Obrador alleges vote counts in the poll were rigged. Official results gave victory to the conservative Mr Calderon by half a percentage point. EU monitors have said they found no irregularities. Protesters have been camped out for two days on the Mexican capital's main boulevard, Reforma, causing massive traffic jams and transforming some of the usually busy streets into pedestrian zones. Mr Lopez Obrador was surrounded by enthusiastic supporters as he walked among the protesters telling them to stay put and not give in to critics. His top campaign aide, Jesus Ortega, told the Associated Press news agency that there would be "more acts of civil disobedience". Mr Lopez Obrador on Sunday called on his adherents to paralyse the capital until every vote was recounted. On Monday, the presidential candidate slept alongside thousands of supporters camping out on the streets. "We are not going to turn to violence," he told the crowd. "Neither surrender, nor violence". The country's electoral court has until the end of August to rule on a recount. On Monday, Mr Lopez Obrador received a boost when the Mexican Electoral Tribunal agreed to consider his request for a recount - which is not provided for under the election rules. The blockade was set up after Mr Lopez Obrador led a mass march to Mexico City's Zocalo square. Estimates of the attendance ranged from 500,000 to two million people. As Mr Lopez Obrador rallied his supporters, ruling party candidate Felipe Calderon appeared before the electoral tribunal to argue that a full recount was unnecessary. "I had powerful, very charismatic adversaries - but I won clearly," he told the panel of seven judges.

Ukraine president faces PM choice BBC News, Kiev
Ukrainian President Viktor Yushchenko is facing one of his most difficult challenges since he was brought to power by mass protests in 2004. By the end of Wednesday he must decide whether to endorse the nomination of his arch rival for prime minister. Talks are also due to continue about drawing together the president's party and its opponents in a coalition. If the deadlock is not resolved, the president has the power to dissolve parliament and call fresh elections. Ukraine has been in political turmoil since a parliamentary ballot in March in which no party won a majority.

Humiliation
A coalition of the pro-western parties which backed the Orange Revolution - the protests that brought Mr Yushchenko to power - collapsed before it could form a government. It was replaced by a coalition which favours closer ties with Russia. Its leader is Viktor Yanukovych, the disgraced loser of the presidential election in which claims of mass vote rigging sparked the popular uprising. Mr Yanukovych has been chosen to be prime minister by his coalition. The president has until the end of Wednesday to approve this, but to do so would be a humiliation. It is not clear whether the president has the right to reject the nomination. Over the last few days there have been intense talks about the possibility of the president's party joining the coalition. President Yushchenko has also been holding discussions with Ukraine's political leaders to try to negotiate an agreement of national unity. He wants his rivals to commit to a pro-Western agenda. If a compromise cannot be reached, then the president has threatened to order new elections, but this option is considered to be a last resort.
By Helen Fawkes

Israel resumes Beirut air strikes BBC News
Israeli aircraft have resumed attacks on the Lebanese capital, Beirut, after a lull of several days, with early morning strikes on a southern suburb. About 70 Hezbollah rockets also hit northern Israel, killing five, while two Israeli troops died fighting Hezbollah militants along the border. More than 900 Lebanese people have been killed in the three-week conflict, Lebanese PM Fouad Siniora has said. A United Nations resolution calling for a truce appears near to completion. Diplomats at the United Nations say the UK, France and the US are close to agreeing on a UN resolution calling for an immediate end to the fighting. The three countries are hoping to present the first part of a two-stage peace plan to the other 12 members of the UN Security Council later on Thursday. The BBC's James Robbins, at UN headquarters in New York, says a second resolution would be proposed at a later stage, focusing on a long-term settlement, including authorisation for an international peacekeeping force in southern Lebanon. The BBC's world affairs correspondent Frank Gardner says that since such a force could take weeks, or even months to arrive, there are reports that a smaller, more rapidly deployed force of French soldiers may be sent in first. In other developments:

• An Israeli military report into the deaths of at least 41 civilians in Qana concluded the attack was a mistake
• Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, at the Organisation of the Islamic Conference meeting, said the answer to the crisis was the elimination of Israel
• Aid agencies said the severity of bomb damage to roads and bridges was having a drastic effect on efforts to distribute much-needed aid, forcing them to rely on small vehicles using slow and perilous mountain routes

'Million displaced'
In a video message to Muslim leaders meeting in Malaysia, Lebanon's prime minister said more than 3,000 people had been wounded, and that one million people - a quarter of the country's population - had been displaced. The latest Israeli casualties bring its death toll to 62, including 24 civilians. The Israeli air force said it carried out 70 raids on Lebanon overnight. Four large explosions hit the southern Beirut suburb of Dahieh, a Hezbollah stronghold, early in the morning as Israeli war planes attacked the area for the first time in more than a week. Dahieh was heavily bombed earlier in the Israeli campaign. Three members of the same family were killed when an Israeli missile hit their home in a southern village of Taibe, Lebanese security officials said. There were also air strikes in the southern town of Nabatiyeh, on a bridge in the northern region of Akkar and roads near the border with Syria, and in the Bekaa Valley. In southern Lebanon the fighting rages on in at least five areas along the border where Israel has launched ground incursions with more than 10,000 ground troops.

UN force plan
Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert has said there will be no ceasefire until an international force is deployed in southern Lebanon. Mr Olmert has said that about 15,000 foreign troops would be needed for such a UN peacekeeping force and that their arrival in the area must overlap with Israel's withdrawal from Lebanese territory. In interviews with UK newspapers The Times and Financial Times, Mr Olmert said the force must have proper combat units, able to implement UN resolutions. He also said that Israel would reserve the right to respond to any aggression by Hezbollah - even after the international force was deployed. "I can tell you only one thing - if our soldiers or our cities are attacked by Hezbollah, we will respond," Mr Olmert told the Times. "Israel will never, ever allow anyone any more to attack Israel without response." The Israeli campaign began three weeks ago after Hezbollah militants captured two Israeli soldiers.

'Many killed' by Afghan car bomb BBC News
At least 21 people have been killed in a car bomb attack on a market in southern Afghanistan, officials say. At least 13 people were injured in the attack, which took place in the southern province of Kandahar. Earlier this week, UK and Canadian-led Nato forces took control of military operations in southern Afghanistan from US-led coalition troops. The area is a stronghold of the Taleban and hundreds of people have been killed there in fighting in recent months. "There was a suicide attack in Panjwayi bazaar. Twenty-one civilians, including children, were killed and 13 others were injured," interior ministry spokesman Yousuf Stanizai is quoted as saying by AFP. A Nato spokesman said a convoy of Nato troops was moving through the area when the attack took place, but was unaffected. "They were close enough to hear the blast," the spokesman, Maj Scott Lundy, told the Associated Press news agency. It is not clear if they were the target.

Nato soldiers
Earlier on Thursday, a Canadian soldier with Nato died in Kandahar when a bomb hit his vehicle. Another Nato soldier was wounded, the alliance said. And local officials said 10 Taleban fighters were killed by Afghan and Nato forces in the neighbouring Helmand province, during a raid on a Taleban hideout. Four Nato soldiers, three of them British, have been killed since the alliance assumed control of operations in the south on Monday - the first land deployment outside Europe for Nato forces. The 8,000 soldiers are under the umbrella of Nato's International Security Assistance Force (Isaf) in six provinces in the south: Day Kundi, Helmand, Kandahar, Nimroz, Uruzgan and Zabul.

Somali MPs ready to go to talks BBC News
Members of Somalia's interim parliament are ready to travel to Sudan for more peace talks with Islamic courts that control the capital, Mogadishu. Parliament's speaker is discussing the trip with the president, who supports the trip. It is not clear whether the Islamists are ready for talks now. The prime minister's rejection of talks has caused a crisis in the vernment. Eritrea meanwhile denies it is waging a proxy war with Ethiopia on Somali soil. Ethiopia earlier made a similar denial. The MPs could leave for Khartoum as early as Thursday, depending on the outcome of the discussions between Speaker Sharif Hassan Sheikh Aden and President Abdullahi Yusuf, the BBC's Mohammed Olad Hassan reports. The trip could however be postponed if representatives of the Union of Islamic Courts (UIC), or the Arab League mediators, are not yet ready, our correspondent says. Prime Minister Ali Mohamed Ghedi's stance against the talks has left him increasingly isolated over the past week. Four more ministers resigned on Thursday, bringing the total number of resignations to 37. Mr Ghedi's government is already weak, controlling little more than the town of Baidoa where it is based, while militia loyal to the UIC have brought stability to Mogadishu.

'No proxy battlefield'
Eritrea on Wednesday rejected reports that it has been sending arms to Islamist militia groups in Somalia. "Eritrea firmly rejects all groundless accusations peddled against it in the past few months," a statement on the Eritrean government's Shabait website said. "As underlined before, Eritrea has never seen Somalia as a proxy battlefield to settle scores with Ethiopia." Earlier, Ethiopian Prime Minister Meles Zenawi - whose country supports the Somali interim government - denied Ethiopia has sent troops to Somalia. Ethiopian troops were seen around Baidoa two weeks ago, and their presence has been cited by the Islamic courts as a reason for refusing talks with the government. "I have heard of these reports but I reaffirm categorically that we do not have troops in Somalia," Mr Meles said in a BBC interview. Mr Meles also accused Eritrea of secretly arming the Islamists, but denied that Ethiopia and Eritrea were fighting a proxy war in Somalia. Diplomats have also said that Mr Meles had privately acknowledged the presence of Ethiopian troops on Somali soil.

Calls for dialogue
The leader of the Supreme Council of the Islamic Courts in Mogadishu, Sheikh Hassan Dahir Aweis, said his militia would welcome the resigned ministers to join what he described as the Islamic courts' common endeavour for peace and a better future for the country. "I appreciate the steps taken by the cabinet members," he said in an interview broadcast by the local Shabelle radio station. "They felt how badly the prime minister is behaving and that is what caused the ministers to resign" he added. The prime minister met ministers and loyalist MPs on Wednesday, and Information Minister Mohamed Abdi Hayir Mareye said a committee had been set up to try to resolve differences within the government and parliament through dialogue. Since late last week about 40 ministers have left a government that once had more than 100 members, and Prime Minister Ghedi narrowly survived a parliamentary vote of no confidence on Saturday. Somalia has been without an effective central government since warlords toppled dictator Mohamed Siad Barre in 1991. Since then much of the country has been ruled by violence and clan law.

Iraq civil war warning for Blair BBC News
Civil war is a more likely outcome in Iraq than democracy, Britain's outgoing ambassador in Baghdad has warned Tony Blair in a confidential memo. William Patey, who left the Iraqi capital last week, also predicted the break-up of Iraq along ethnic lines. He did also say that "the position is not hopeless" - but said it would be "messy" for five to 10 years. Mr Blair said the violence was designed to put extremists in charge rather than leaders committed to democracy. "What should our response be? However difficult it is, stay the course, stand up for those people who want democracy, stand up for those people who are fighting sectarianism, stand up for a different vision of the Middle East based on democracy, liberty, the rule of law," he told reporters. The Foreign Office said it did not comment on leaked documents but added that Iraqi security forces were getting more capable every day. BBC correspondent Paul Wood said although the document does not contradict government denials that civil war is imminent, "it is a devastating official assessment of the prospects for a peaceful Iraq, and stands in stark contrast to the public rhetoric". The bleak assessment of the country's future was contained in Mr Patey's final e-cable, or diplomatic telegram, from Baghdad. The distribution list included the UK's prime minister, foreign secretary, defence secretary and House of Commons leader, as well as senior military commanders in both Iraq and the UK. Mr Patey wrote: "The prospect of a low intensity civil war and a de facto division of Iraq is probably more likely at this stage than a successful and substantial transition to a stable democracy. "Even the lowered expectation of President Bush for Iraq - a government that can sustain itself, defend itself and govern itself and is an ally in the war on terror - must remain in doubt." Talking about the Shia militias blamed for many killings, Mr Patey added: "If we are to avoid a descent into civil war and anarchy then preventing the Jaish al-Mahdi (the Mahdi Army) from developing into a state within a state, as Hezbollah has done in Lebanon, will be a priority." The cable says that "the next six months are crucial" - an assessment which is shared by the coalition's military commanders. Senior military sources told the BBC it was "make or break" time in Iraq. The Americans are sending thousands of extra troops to Baghdad, starting next week. The Conservative Party's head of policy, Oliver Letwin, called on ministers to be more honest about the situation. "It's very difficult to offer the constructive support which we want to offer and for the public to understand what's going on if the government doesn't give a very clear and frank account of the assessment," he said.

'Radical rethink'
Liberal Democrat foreign affairs spokesman Michael Moore said there needed to be a clear strategy for Iraq, including the engagement of neighbouring countries such as Iran, Syria and Turkey. "Unless we seriously and radically rethink our approach, as the ambassador warns, we will run the serious risk of a descent into civil war," he said. The BBC has also learned, from military sources, that British troops in Basra are planning to dramatically step up operations against Shia gunmen. Mr Patey urges the government to ensure that Iraqi troops are brought into this effort as the British forces "can't confront the militias alone". On Wednesday, President Jalal Talabani said Iraqi police and troops would be taking the security lead throughout the whole country by the end of the year.

Civilians die in Sri Lanka clash BBC News
The Sri Lankan army and Tamil Tiger rebels have blamed each other for the deaths of 10 civilians in shelling in the Muslim-majority town of Muttur. The victims were taking shelter in a school when it was hit. Muttur has become the centre of fierce clashes between the two sides in a battle over control of a canal. The Red Cross says it has been told that 22,000 people are displaced after heavy fighting in Muttur.

Cut-off
"At least 10 Muslim civilians were killed and 20 others injured as Tamil Tiger terrorists bombarded the Arabic College in Muttur town with heavy Artillery fire, " a statement from the Sri Lankan Ministry of Defence said. But a statement form the Pro-rebel TamilNet website gave a starkly contrasting account. "At least 10 Muslim civilians who sought refuge in Arabic College in Muttur town were killed when a Sri Lankan army-fired artillery shell hit the college on Thursday around noon," it said. Witnesses have described the north-eastern town as being shelled by both sides as each advances and then retreats. Correspondents say that telephone communication with Muttur has been almost entirely cut-off. Earlier the rebels said they have taken control of Muttur, but the government denied this was the case. The fighting comes amid an army offensive in Trincomalee district to regain control of the Maavilaru waterway, which it says supplies water to 15,000 families. Despite the upsurge in fighting both sides still say they are acting defensively and therefore within the conditions of a 2002 ceasefire. Privately both also say they do not consider the recent violence to be the beginning of a full scale war. But the ferocity of the fighting has meant that international agencies are unable to enter Muttur, and are now trying to negotiate a temporary ceasefire to evacuate the injured. The Red Cross says it has been told by the government that displaced people have fled to schools and churches. The BBC's Dumeetha Luthra in Colombo says there is still hope that Sri Lanka can avoid all out conflict and neither side wants to be seen as instigating the final meltdown.

Camps attacked
The military is still battling to reopen the blockaded canal which sparked off the current round of clashes. The government has offered to hold talks with the rebels over the water dispute, but say they will only stop only fighting if the canal was reopened. So far the Tigers have not responded to the proposal. A Muttur resident of the town, Mrs Karunawathi, told Reuters on telephone that people were "very scared". "We cannot go out. We have no food and just one bottle of water." Both sides have given widely differing accounts of casualties from Wednesday's fighting. The government says 40 rebels had been killed in the fighting around the army camps - there is no independent verification of the claims. The fighting in Trincomalee district started nine days ago when the air force began bombing Tamil Tiger positions. At least 23 soldiers have been killed since the army launched the offensive to the south of Trincomalee port. The Tigers say they have lost 25 fighters before Wednesday's fighting. Up to 3,000 troops are involved in the efforts to gain control of the Maavilaru waterway, reports say.

Ukraine head accepts rival as PM BBC News
Ukrainian President Viktor Yushchenko has backed his arch-rival Viktor Yanukovych for prime minister, ending a four-month political stand-off. Mr Yushchenko said he acted after Mr Yanukovych had agreed to sign a pact that preserves key areas of the pro-Western president's policies. He announced the move after a deadline for the PM's nomination passed. It is a dramatic comeback for Mr Yanukovych, who was ousted in Mr Yushchenko's 2004 "Orange Revolution". The president formally submitted the candidacy of Mr Yanukovych to parliament, which is expected to vote on the issue on Friday. Some Orange Revolution supporters - including former Prime Minister Yulia Tymoshenko - see Mr Yushchenko's move as a betrayal, and they have accused the president of weakness, correspondents say. Mr Yushchenko's aides say the president had little choice. They say the other option - of dissolving parliament and calling new elections - would merely have sharpened the stand-off. Ukraine has been in political turmoil since a parliamentary ballot in March in which no party won a majority, although Mr Yanukovych's Party of Regions polled the most votes. Mr Yanukovych draws his support from the mainly Russian-speaking industrial southeast of Ukraine, where many voters are suspicious of the pro-Western, liberal Orange Revolution agenda.

Unity message
"We have another chance to unite Ukraine today," Mr Yushchenko said in a televised address early on Thursday. It followed late-night talks as the two leaders negotiated the pact - a universal of national unity - which preserved policies championed by Mr Yushchenko. "The pact... will determine the main lines of Ukraine's domestic and foreign policy, in which the Western course is guaranteed," he said. The document was signed by the leaders of Ukraine's main parties later on Thursday, with the notable exception of Ms Tymoshenko. Earlier in the day, Mr Yushchenko's Our Ukraine party and Mr Yanukovych's Party of Regions signed another deal - to form a coalition in parliament. They also urged other parties to join in. The president had to decide by midnight Wednesday (2100 GMT Tuesday) whether to back the nomination of his rival for premier or dissolve parliament and call new elections.

Months of wrangling
"Whatever decision the president made, it would not have been accepted by part of the population," said Mr Yushchenko in his speech - several hours after the deadline passed. Mr Yushchenko was brought to power by popular street protests in late 2004, which were sparked by outrage over Mr Yanukovych's presidential election win. Mr Yanukovych - the then prime minister - was initially declared the victor, but the result was later annulled by the Supreme Court, which ruled that the vote was fraudulent. Parliamentary elections on 26 March were followed by months of political wrangling. The three parties which supported the Orange Revolution failed to form a government, and Mr Yanukovych created "an anti-crisis" coalition of parties which back closer ties with Russia. The alliance then nominated him for prime minister, and Mr Yushchenko had to decide whether to forward the nomination to parliament. The president has pushed for press freedom, tackling corruption, market reforms, Ukraine's membership in the EU and Nato. He has also been urging for an immediate approval of all legislation required to join the World Trade Organisation.

Southern China hit by new typhoon BBC News
Typhoon Prapiroon has hit southern China, bringing with it heavy winds and rain that have forced the evacuation of tens of thousands of people. The storm hit the coast of Guangdong province at 1920 local time (1120 GMT), Chinese media said. Severe flooding and landslides are expected as Typhoon Prapiroon, which has already killed six people in the Philippines, passes over. The region has been hard hit by typhoons this season. More than 600 people died when Typhoon Bilis hit six southern provinces last month. Prapiroon - meaning "God of Rain" in Thai - made landfall near Yangjiang city in Guangdong province, China Central Television said. The storm is expected to pound the region overnight as it moves north-west towards Guangxi and Guizhou provinces.

Stranded passengers
Provincial authorities have warned of widespread flooding, high waves, landslides and possible house collapses as up to 7.2in (18cm) of rain could fall in coming days. Some 65,000 people have been evacuated from parts of Guangdong as well as Hainan island province, directly to the south, and Guanxi. More than 53,000 fishing vessels have been recalled to harbour, and ferry and railway links between Hainan and the mainland suspended. Typhoon Prapiroon earlier skirted Hong Kong and Macau, hitting the islands with strong winds and heavy rains. More than 3,000 airline passengers were stranded in Hong Kong as hundreds of flights were cancelled or delayed. Empty cargo containers toppled over at a Hong Kong shipping terminal, reportedly injuring one person. A Chinese official said on Wednesday that Prapiroon was "as strong, if not stronger" than Typhoon Bilis, Xinhua news agency reported. Guangdong's neighbouring province, Hunan, was worst hit by Typhoon Bilis, with hundreds killed in flash floods and landslides. Typhoon Bilis was followed by Typhoon Kaemi, which caused further destruction in the area.

Baghdad bomb hits shopping area BBC News
A bombing in the centre of the Iraqi capital, Baghdad, has killed at least 10 people and injured 29, police say. An official said the bomb was strapped to a motorbike parked near the near the busy al-Rashid shopping area. Shops were set ablaze by the blast. The attack came as the UK's outgoing ambassador in Iraq, William Patey, warned that civil war was a more likely outcome in Iraq than stable democracy. Iraq is facing a surge of violence with about 100 people being killed daily. Thursday's attack apparently targeted fruit and vegetable vendors and commercial stalls, the news agency AP quoted police Lt Ahmed Mohammed Ali as saying. The agency also quoted a taxi driver as saying he saw the motorcycle explode and hit a vegetable vendor and two stalls run by two brothers. "One sold tea and the other sold cigarettes. I saw a woman burning," said the man, who did not identify himself.

Israeli border strike 'kills 23' BBC News
An Israeli air strike near Lebanon's north-eastern border with Syria has killed at least 23 people and injured 30, Lebanese officials have said. The casualties, believed to be farm workers, were taken to hospitals in Syria, Lebanese security sources said. There has also been no let-up in Hezbollah rocket attacks, with more than 40 fired in half an hour. Two Israeli civilians died in the attacks, in the village of Mughar and in Kiryat Shmona, Israeli police said. Two Israeli soldiers were killed in clashes in southern Lebanon where there is heavy fighting as Israeli forces try to push Hezbollah back from the border.

Army push
The continuing violence comes as the Israeli army has been told to prepare for a possible advance in what could be its deepest incursion into Lebanon for more than 20 years. This could see the army push up to the Litani river, 30km (19 miles) north of the border, in pursuit of Hezbollah. Israel's campaign began three weeks ago after Hezbollah militants captured two Israeli soldiers. Lebanon says more than 900 people have died since then, most of them civilians. Israel has lost 28 civilians and 40 soldiers. In other developments:

• At least five people have been killed in Israeli air raids on bridges north of the Lebanese capital
• British Prime Minister Tony Blair has delayed his holiday to continue work on a UN ceasefire resolution
• Malaysia is ready to send 1,000 soldiers to Lebanon to join an international peacekeeping force, the country's defence chief has said

Lebanese civil defence officials said those killed on the Syrian border were farm workers, who were loading a container with fruit and vegetables when it was struck. The attack happened near the village of Qaa, about 10km (six miles) from Hermel which has previously been hit by Israeli warplanes. The raid came as Israeli jets on Friday pounded targets north and south of the Lebanese capital, Beirut. Local media reported strikes on the Ouzai neighbourhood of southern Beirut, and warship shelling of the suburbs of Haret Hreik and Roweiss. The Israeli military told Reuters news agency it had targeted Hezbollah offices and the home of a top Hezbollah official, along with a building operated by Palestinian group Hamas. The Lebanese social affairs minister told the BBC parts of the capital previously untouched by bombing had been struck. Friday's action came after a threat from Hezbollah leader Sheikh Hassan Nasrallah to target the Israeli city of Tel Aviv if Israel attacked central Beirut. Security sources in Israel told a BBC correspondent that "if Tel Aviv was hit by Hezbollah rockets, Israel would target infrastructure in Lebanon". In his televised speech Sheikh Nasrallah also said that Hezbollah would end its rocket attacks if Israel stopped attacking what he called civilian areas in Lebanon. Israeli ambassador to the United Nations Dan Gillerman said that suggestion was "a sign of weakness" and that Hezbollah might be "looking for a way out".

Ceasefire?
UN delegates remained optimistic of agreement on a ceasefire resolution soon, but differences remained on the wording. "We're certainly getting close [to a resolution] within days," said US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice. Lebanese Prime Minister Fouad Siniora on Thursday called for a lasting solution to the conflict. He told the BBC he wanted international leaders to pressure Israel to return detainees, provide maps of landmines and withdraw from "occupied territory". Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert has said there will be no ceasefire until an international force is deployed in southern Lebanon. A second UN resolution would probably be needed to authorise the international peacekeeping force. Since such a force could take weeks or months to arrive, a smaller force of French soldiers may be sent in first, BBC security correspondent Frank Gardner notes.

LRA leaders declare ceasefire BBC News
The Ugandan Lord's Resistance Army (LRA) has announced a unilateral ceasefire, with immediate effect. The rebel movement's deputy leader Vincent Otti told the BBC he had ordered all field commanders to cease all hostilities against Uganda's army. Ugandan Interior Minister Ruhakana Rugunda said his government would wait to see what happened on the ground, in response to the announcement. The peace talks are due to resume in the Sudanese town of Juba next week. In a phone call to the BBC's Focus on Africa programme, Mr Otti announced: "I, Lt Gen Vincent Otti, second in command of the LRA, by the order of Gen Joseph Kony, chairman of the LRA High Command, do hereby declare a unilateral cessation of hostilities. "I order all our field commanders to, with immediate effect, cease all form of hostilities against the Ugandan People's Defence Forces (UDPF) positions and others. "I do hope that the government of Uganda shall reciprocate this gesture of goodwill so that the warring parties may finally find a bilateral agreement to provide a peaceful atmosphere for our people," Mr Otti said.

Refusing talks
The LRA rebel movement has refused to send its most senior leaders to peace talks with the government. Southern Sudanese vice-president and head mediator, Riek Machar had asked for the group's top leaders to take part after earlier peace talks failed. On Thursday Mr Otti told the BBC that Juba was not safe because an International Criminal Court (ICC) warrant for the LRA leaders' arrest was still in force and Ugandan government forces were present in the town. On Tuesday, Mr Kony held his first formal meeting with Mr Machar and a Ugandan official in a forest clearing on the border between Sudan and the Democratic Republic of Congo. This was hailed as a significant move, since the failure of earlier talks had been attributed in part to the negotiators not being sufficiently high-ranking to strike a deal. Ugandan President Yoweri Museveni has offered the rebels a full and guaranteed amnesty and protection as long as they renounce violence. Thousands of civilians have died in the 20-year conflict and more than one million have been forced to flee their homes.

Yanukovych approved as Ukraine PM BBC News
Ukraine's parliament has approved Viktor Yanukovych as prime minister, ending a four-month political crisis. The vote was held a day after pro-Western President Viktor Yushchenko backed the candidacy of his arch-rival. In return, Mr Yanukovych - who favours closer ties with Russia - signed a pact aimed at preserving key areas of the president's policies. It is a dramatic comeback for Mr Yanukovych, who was ousted in Mr Yushchenko's 2004 "Orange Revolution". Mr Yanukovych, 56, was backed by 271 lawmakers in the 450-member parliament, easily passing the required majority of 226 votes. Nine MPs voted against him. "I am itching to get down to work," he was quoted as saying by Reuters news agency before the vote. Political reforms mean the new prime minister will have increased powers. The president formally submitted the candidacy of Mr Yanukovych to parliament on Thursday, hours after a constitutional deadline. Some Orange Revolution supporters see Mr Yushchenko's move as a betrayal, and they have accused the president of weakness. But Mr Yushchenko's aides say the other option - of dissolving parliament and calling new elections - would merely have sharpened the stand-off. Ukraine has been in political turmoil since a parliamentary ballot in March in which no party won a majority, although Mr Yanukovych's Party of Regions polled the most votes.

Prolonged deadlock
Mr Yanukovych draws his support from the mainly Russian-speaking industrial south-east of Ukraine, where many voters are suspicious of the pro-Western, liberal Orange Revolution agenda. He was a prime minister in 2002-04, before deciding to run for presidency in late 2004. He was initially declared the victor, but the result was then annulled by the Supreme Court, which ruled that the vote was fraudulent. Mr Yushchenko was elected president in the re-run of the second round ordered by the court. Parliamentary elections on 26 March were followed by months of political wrangling. The three parties which supported the Orange Revolution failed to form a government, and Mr Yanukovych created "an anti-crisis" coalition of parties which back closer ties with Russia. The alliance then nominated him for prime minister, and Mr Yushchenko had to decide whether to forward the nomination to parliament. The president has pushed for press freedom, tackling corruption, market reforms, and Ukraine's membership in the EU and Nato.

Civilians flee Sri Lanka fighting BBC News
Thousands of people have been fleeing heavy fighting in the north-eastern town of Muttur in Sri Lanka. Fighting between the army and Tamil Tiger rebels that began in a dispute over water has been spreading. Both sides claim to be in control of Muttur, a mainly Muslim town in Trincomalee district. Muttur has been cut off for several days. The Red Cross said it had been unable to reach the civilians after failing to obtain security guarantees. Meanwhile a Norwegian envoy, Jon Hanssen-Bauer, has arrived in Sri Lanka and is expected to meet government officials and rebel leaders. Casualties are hard to verify but the army says at least 23 soldiers have been killed since the military launched its latest offensive and the Tigers say they lost 25 fighters up until Wednesday. Seventeen civilians who had taken shelter in a school died on Thursday after it was hit by shells. The army and the Tigers have blamed each other for the incident. The Red Cross said 22,000 people had been displaced by the fighting in Muttur. Most of the town's inhabitants are Muslims caught in the crossfire. The Red Cross's head in Trincomalee, Yvonne Dunton, said around 7,000 families were believed to be on the move. She told the Associated Press: "We know that they have left their homes and are trying to come out." Muttur has been cut off from humanitarian assistance for several days and thousands of people are trying to walk to safety in the nearby town of Kantale. The BBC's Dumeetha Luthra, who is in Kantale, said civilians were walking through the jungle as far as Palathoppur, where they were being picked up by lorries and ferried away from the fighting.

'Chaotic'
She said: "The scene at Palathoppur was absolutely chaotic - women and children packing into the backs of tractor trailers, their plastic bags and battered suitcases clutched closely to them. They all looked tired, desperate and uncertain. "As we stood there talking to them, suddenly the shelling got progressively closer. It was still some distance away, but it made the ground shake and the dull thud turned the chaos into panic." Our correspondent said the dispute began when the Tigers closed the Maavilaru sluice gate to highlight Tamil grievances. The government said it launched the offensive to save thousands of farmers who relied on the Maavilaru canal for vital water supplies. Mr Hanssen-Bauer, Norway's special envoy to Sri Lanka, is thought to be planning to meet government and rebels leaders over the weekend in a bid to narrow the differences between the two sides. UN Secretary General Kofi Annan has expressed concern about the escalating violence. The army says Tamil Tiger rebels attacked their camps and fired mortars at army positions on Friday. "They are attacking our camps in the east. There is artillery and mortar fire. There are some civilians being injured," military spokesman Major Upali Rajapakse told Reuters news agency. Despite the upsurge in fighting both sides still say they are acting defensively and therefore within the conditions of a 2002 ceasefire. The government has offered to hold talks with the rebels over the water dispute, but say they will only stop fighting if the canal is reopened. So far the Tigers have not responded to the proposal.

US troops face 'war crimes' claim BBC News
A military prosecutor branded four US soldiers "war criminals" as he pressed for them to face a court martial. The men are accused of murdering three Iraqi detainees in cold blood close to the central city of Samarra in May. The defence say the men were killed as they tried to escape, and argue there is insufficient evidence to proceed. A senior US commander will now decide whether the case should be prosecuted. It is one of a series of murder allegations against US troops. US investigators are currently also looking at the deaths of 24 Iraqis in Haditha last November, while four soldiers and an ex-serviceman have been charged with rape and murder over an incident in Mahmudiya, south of Baghdad. Seven US marines and a navy sailor have also been charged over the death of a disabled Iraqi man on 26 April in Hamdaniya. On Friday, three of the marines charged in the Hamdaniya case were additionally charged - along with three fellow marines - with assaulting civilians on 10 April. The 10 April incidents are said to have come to light during the investigation of the 26 April case. The nature of the alleged assaults was not disclosed.

Samarra allegations
Friday was the last day of a pre-trial hearing in Tikrit required under US military law to decide whether the charges against the four men warrant a court martial. Sergeant Raymond Girouard, Private First Class Corey Clagett and Specialists William Hunsaker and Juston Graber - all of the 101st Airborne Division - have been charged with premeditated murder and other offences. The 101st Airborne Division was at the time involved in Operation Iron Triangle, targeting insurgents active in Salahuddin province and detaining hundreds of people. The deaths occurred during a search operation of a house near the Thar Thar canal outside Samarra on 9 May. Prosecuting lawyer Capt Joseph Mackey claimed the defendants were cut free of plastic handcuffs and then killed without provocation. "US soldiers must follow the laws of war... These soldiers did just the opposite," Capt Mackey said. "They cut them loose and murdered them in cold blood. For this, they are not war heroes, they are war criminals. And justice states that they face trial."

'What they deserved'
All of the accused are refusing to testify on the grounds they may incriminate themselves, relying instead on statements made to investigators. But the lawyer for Private First Class Clagett, Paul Bergrin, told the tribunal the defendants' claim was plausible. "These detainees were able to break the flexcuffs, they had a knife and they were able to break free," he said. "They attacked, they spun around, and they got exactly what they deserved," Mr Bergrin said about the detainees. He claimed the prosecution witnesses had given inconsistent statements. The decision on whether to proceed with the court martial now falls to the commanding general 101st Airborne Division, who is expected to rule in the next few days.

Cuba dismisses US democracy call BBC News
Calls by US President George W Bush for Cubans to work for democratic change have been dismissed as "the epitome of delirium" by Cuban state-run TV. Commentators were reacting to Mr Bush's first public statements on the issue since Monday's announcement that Fidel Castro had undergone stomach surgery. President Castro, 79, has temporarily ceded power to his brother, Raul. Despite official statements that Fidel Castro is recovering, rumours about his health abound, both in Cuba and the US. While life goes on as normal on the island, correspondents say Raul Castro's failure to appear in public and a lack of information about his brother's whereabouts are fuelling speculation about the future. In Miami - where there is a large Cuban exile community - many have been celebrating what they believe to be Fidel Castro's demise. Those celebrating were described as "vampires" by Cuban TV commentators.

'US support'
On the nightly news discussion programme, commentators also dismissed any US plan for change in Cuba. "The only way to apply the Bush plan for regime change in Cuba is by force, and force will not work," Communist Youth newspaper editor Rogelio Polanco said. "Raul is firmly at the helm of the nation and leading the armed forces that have a proven combat record and international experience. Make no mistake," he said. Mr Bush has pledged Washington's support for Cubans who seek to "build a transitional government in Cuba committed to democracy". A US imposed an embargo on the Caribbean island in 1962 - three years after Mr Castro took power - which remains in place. Fidel Castro - who turns 80 this month - is one of the world's longest-ruling leaders, and has outlasted nine US presidents.

Polish exodus shrinks job queue BBC News
Polish unemployment has reached its lowest level in five years, spurred in part by the rush of people seeking work abroad, government figures show. But although July's jobless rate fell to 15.7% from 16% in June, it is still the highest in the European Union. The government has worried about Poles leaving to work in other EU countries since Poland became a member in 2004. The news comes amid plans by Polish officials to persuade UK-based Poles of job opportunities back home.

Brain drain
Earlier this week, officials from the south western city of Wroclaw said they would travel to Britain to convince Polish migrants that more job opportunities exist in Wroclaw than when Poland entered the European Union. The officials - who are worried about the brain drain seen in recent years - are planning on visiting the bars and pubs frequented by Poles in London to try and lure them back. They are concerned that a shrinking labour pool will mean Wroclaw will attracts less investment. Since reaching a high of 20.7% in 2003, Polish unemployment has fallen steadily. "Some people have found work in social jobs subsidised by the state Labour Fund. Many have also left the register of unemployed because they have left for work abroad," said the Labour Ministry on Friday. A final version of July's jobless figure will be posted later in August.

US, France agree UN Lebanon text BBC News
The US and France have agreed the wording of a UN resolution to end the fighting between Israel and Hezbollah. It calls for a "full cessation of hostilities", demanding that Hezbollah halt all attacks and Israel stop all offensive military operations. A BBC correspondent at the UN says the wording would allow Israel some freedom if it argues it needs to defend itself. The US envoy to the UN said it was likely to be adopted within days. Israel has so far reacted cautiously. The UN Security Council began consultations on the draft resolution shortly after 1945 GMT on Saturday. Meanwhile the violence has continued, with Israeli commandos clashing with Hezbollah fighters in southern Lebanon. The Israeli army said eight soldiers were wounded and several militants were killed in the raid on an apartment in Tyre suspected of housing Hezbollah fighters in the city. Hezbollah has continued to fire rockets into northern Israel - more than 150 were fired on Saturday. Three women were killed in an attack on the northern Israeli Arab village of Arab al-Aramshe.

'Immediate cessation'
The draft resolution follows weeks of disagreement over the precise wording of a call to end the violence in Lebanon. US ambassador to the UN, John Bolton, said he was keen to get the resolution adopted as quickly as possible. He said the text did not include a requirement for an immediate cessation of hostilities. But it does call for "the immediate cessation by Hezbollah of all attacks and the immediate cessation by Israel of all offensive military actions". The draft text - sent to all 15 member states in the security council - also calls for the current UN force in Lebanon to monitor any cessation in fighting. The mandate for a far stronger multinational force will follow, the BBC's James Robbins at the UN in New York says. Swift passage of the resolution now seems likely, he says, and a formal vote could come as soon as Monday. Foreign ministers are expected to come to New York for that vote, to give the maximum political weight to a global call to all sides to stop fighting, and work for a long-term political settlement, our correspondent adds. Israeli cabinet minister Isaac Herzog called the text an "important development", but said Israel needed to know all the details before responding. Until the resolution came into force, the operation against Hezbollah would continue, he said. A Lebanese cabinet minister from Hezbollah, Mohammad Fneish, said the organisation would abide by the proposed resolution only if Israel withdrew all of its troops from Lebanon. UK Prime Minister Tony Blair welcomed news of the agreement, calling it "an absolutely vital first step in bringing this tragic crisis to an end".

Aid warning
Meanwhile, US envoy David Welch held talks in Beirut with Lebanese Prime Minister Fouad Siniora and Lebanese parliament speaker Nabih Berri, the leader of the Shia Amal movement and a possible conduit to Hezbollah. Mr Welch said he appreciated hearing the two men's concerns as they discussed ways forward, and he reaffirmed US support for Lebanon. But the BBC's Nick Childs in Beirut said Mr Welch's statement was careful and cautious, with no hint of a breakthrough. As the violence on the ground continues, the Israeli army has warned residents in the Lebanese city of Sidon to stay away from rocket launching sites. In other developments:

• Lebanese officials say a Lebanese soldier and at least four civilians were killed in the Israeli raid on Tyre
• Hezbollah says it repelled the commando attack, and fires more missiles at the northern Israeli city of Haifa in retaliation, wounding five people
• An Israeli soldier has died after coming under Hezbollah mortar fire in the eastern village of Taibeh
• Thousands march in London, UK, calling for an immediate ceasefire in Lebanon

Aid agencies have warned of difficulties in delivering supplies to hundreds of thousands of people displaced by the fighting, after four bridges on the main coastal highway north from Beirut were destroyed on Friday. "Now the main highway is bombed we have a major, major setback... it's like a de facto blockade at the moment," Astrid van Genderen Stort, spokeswoman for the UN refugee agency told the BBC.

Mexico full poll recount rejected BBC News
Mexico's electoral body has rejected a request by left-wing candidate Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador for a full recount of votes from July's disputed election. Instead, the electoral tribunal's seven judges ordered a partial recount. Mr Lopez Obrador has repeatedly said a ballot-by-ballot recount is the only way to restore faith in Mexico's electoral system. The 2 July vote gave victory to the conservative candidate, Felipe Calderon, by less than 1%. The electoral tribunal ordered the recount of votes at 11,839 of the country's almost 130,500 polling stations. In Mexico City's central Zocalo square, thousands of Mr Lopez Obrador's supporters chanted "Vote-by-vote!" as they watched the tribunal's session on a huge screen. Protesters blocked the entrance to the tribunal, after the decision was announced. "If there is no solution, there'll be revolution," they shouted. Representatives of Mr Lopez Obrador walked out of the tribunal's session in protest. Mr Lopez Obrador has challenged the election result, saying the vote was rigged. He has said he will not accept a partial recount, raising fears of prolonged public unrest. Hundreds of thousands of people in Mexico have been holding rallies to support Mr Obrador. Mr Calderon says his victory was irreversible, and his conservative National Action Party has described Mr Lopez Obrador's claims as "schizophrenic". The dispute has paralysed Mexican politics, correspondents say. A president-elect must be declared by 6 September to replace Vicente Fox on 1 December.

Congo poll count raises concerns BBC News
Serious concerns are being raised about the counting of votes in the Democratic Republic of Congo's first multi-party elections in 40 years. International observers, who praised Sunday's relatively peaceful vote, say they have seen votes dumped and voting tallies that do not add up. Human Rights Watch said foreign observers' work in the eastern region of Ituri was being severely restricted. More than 25 million people were eligible to vote in the election. Polling day saw a high-turnout of voters and very little violence. Both the US-based Carter Center and the UN mission in the Congo (Monuc) hailed the process as generally peaceful and orderly. But in recent days, concerns have grown over the counting of the ballots.

Dumped votes
Anneke van Woudenberg, of Human Rights Watch (HRW), said she had seen for herself the dumping of large numbers of ballots outside counting offices. There were also concerns over voting numbers that do not add up, a lack of verification of original ballot papers and an increasing number of null votes, she said. She said international observers, including HRW, in Ituri "have been asked not to partake very much in the observation, not to ask questions, not to look at ballot papers... basically severely limiting the possibility of being able to observe the count." Such concerns were echoed by observers in the capital, Kinshasa, where voting material has also been seen dumped and even burnt. Colin Stewart of the Carter Centre - an independent body set up by former US President Jimmy Carter- said some officials had to wait three days for the ballots to be collected, and in the end had little option but to throw them into the back of trucks. But he said that while things had fallen apart since polling day, there was nothing to suggest it was as a result of any widespread conspiracy. "Certainly, the mess in the collection of data appears to be just a logistical mess," he told the BBC. "The plan to collect materials appears not to have been thought through properly, and certainly wasn't implemented, and then attempts to rectify the situation actually made things worse." Because of the large size of the country, a final tally is unlikely to be available for several weeks. Thirty-two candidates, including incumbent Joseph Kabila, contested the presidency, while more than 9,000 candidates stood for parliament. The voters were protected by 17,000 UN peacekeepers, most of them stationed in the east.

Two arrested over Hermitage theft BBC News
Russian police have held two suspects over the theft of more than 200 items from the famous Hermitage art museum, Russian news agencies report.The arrests are said to have come after police pursued a lead from an antique dealer who on Friday returned one of the stolen items. The theft - with an estimated value of $5m - was discovered in July. The Hermitage in St Petersburg is home to a massive collection of sculpture, paintings and historic artefacts. The two men held are suspected of stealing pieces of jewellery, silverware and icons over the past six years. Investigators found about 100 pawn tickets for jewellery in the possession of one of the suspects, according to the Itar-Tass news agency. The men have been also linked to one of the museum's curator who died suddenly at work when the inventory was being checked in July. "We cannot comment on details of this investigation but we can say that there has been significant progress," Boris Boyarksov, head of the state heritage watchdog, told Russia's Channel One TV.

'Strange aspects'
The Hermitage, one of the world's most famous art museums, has more than two-and-a-half million works of art, housed in more than 1,000 rooms. The museum said staff had been involved after the theft was discovered earlier this week. "There are many strange aspects of this affair, but unfortunately, there is no doubt that it did not happen without the participation of museum staff," a museum statement said. It said the affair had exposed "serious moral problems" among staff, who had "neglected their duties and responsibilities". The items had not been on show in the public galleries, but had been kept in storage. Many of the rooms in the museum have poor ventilation and security, with staff often opening windows to let in fresh air, the AP news agency said. The Hermitage collection includes world-famous masterpieces of Impressionist and Flemish art, and was started by Russian empress Catherine the Great in 1764. The museum statement said the affair showed the acute need for fundamental reform of the management and culture in Russia's museums, which were struggling to survive.

Tiger rebels pull back fighters BBC News
Tamil Tiger rebels in Sri Lanka have pulled back from the north-east town of Muttur after more than a week of heavy fighting with government troops. The rebel group said it had achieved its objective. The military says the town, in Trincomalee district, is now back in government hands. At least 20 people have been killed and thousands have fled the worst violence between the two sides in four years. But the reason for the dispute is not yet resolved, a BBC correspondent says. The Maavilaru sluice gate, which the Tigers are accused of closing to highlight Tamil grievances, has not yet been opened. The government said it launched the offensive to save thousands of farmers who rely on the Maavilaru canal for vital water supplies. Muttur has been cut off for several days as both sides traded mortar and artillery fire. Aid agencies complained of being unable to reach civilians because they had failed to get security guarantees. More than 20,000 people are believed to have left the mainly Muslim town on Friday seeking safety in neighbouring towns. The military has accused the Tigers of killing 100 civilians during the exodus. There was no immediate reaction to the claim from the rebel group.

Crisis talks
A Tamil Tiger military spokesman, Irasaiah Ilanthiayan, told the pro-rebel TamilNet website that the fighters had returned to their own territory. "Our objective of the mission, with a defensive character, was accomplished and our forces returned to their positions," he said. A Tigers source told Reuters news agency: "It was a limited operation, and we are doing this on humanitarian grounds." He added that the Tigers wanted people to return home. The call for residents to return was echoed by the Sri Lankan army. "We have the town totally under our control. We tell the people to come back and resume their normal lives," Major Nalin Jayatillaka, commanding officer for Muttur, said. Norwegian envoy Jon Hanssen-Bauer is expected to meet rebel leaders on Sunday to discuss the crisis. He has already met senior government officials. Casualties are hard to verify but the army says at least 23 soldiers have been killed since the military launched its latest offensive. The rebels have lost 32 fighters, according to the statement on the TamilNet website. The International Committee of the Red Cross told the AFP news agency it was unable to verify claims of civilian casualties or massacres because it had not had access to the area.

Turkey begins controversial dam BBC News
Turkey has begun building a major dam, despite criticism that the project will ruin an ancient archaeological site and displace thousands of people. Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan led a ceremony to begin work on the Ilisu dam in the south-eastern Turkey. Turkey says the $1.55bn project will help irrigate vast areas of farmland and provide vital energy. Critics argue that it will destroy ruins and artefacts at the Hasankeyf site dating back thousands of years. Some 4,000 protesters held an overnight vigil near the dam site on the River Tigris, about 45km (28 miles) north of the Syrian border.

Controversial project
"The step that we are taking today demonstrates that the south-east is no longer neglected," Mr Erdogan said during the ground-breaking ceremony. "This dam will bring big gains to the local people," he said. Ankara hopes that the dam - part of a long-term plan to develop the poor, mainly Kurdish region - will create up to 10,000 jobs, irrigate farmlands and attract tourists. The government has promised to compensate local people who will lose their homes and that all the valuable artefacts will be relocated before the dam's completion in 2013. But opponents say the most important items - including a 12th century palace in the city of Hasankeyf, mosques and cave dwellings - will be destroyed. They are now taking their case to the European Court of Human Rights. In 2001, Britain's engineering company Balfour Beatty pulled out of the project, citing "environmental, commercial and social complexities". Italian building firm Impregilo and Switzerland's largest bank, UBS, have also withdrawn from the project. The area where the dam is being built has seen more than a decade of fighting between the Turkish army and Kurdish rebels that left some 37,000 people dead.

Dozens die in South China storm BBC News
The death toll from Tropical Storm Prapiroon in southern China has risen to at least 48, with 15 people still missing, state media report. The storm made landfall on Thursday in Guangdong and has also affected the provinces of Hunan, Guangxi and Hainan. It has forced the evacuation of some 530,000 people and caused an estimated 2.4bn yuan ($300m) worth of damage. Prapiroon was downgraded from a typhoon on Friday but continues to pound the region with winds and rain. It has caused transport chaos in recent days, with thousands of passengers stranded at Hong Kong airport. More than six million people were affected by the typhoon, officials said.

Rescue
The latest fatalities include six migrant farm workers whose shelter was swept away by a flash flood in the city of Laibin in Guangxi province, Xinhua news agency said. Earlier, Xinhua reported that one person was killed in a landslide in the same province, where hundreds of houses and hundreds of acres of farmland have been destroyed. Three people died in a landslide in Guangdong, while two more deaths were caused by lightning. Three more were killed when walls or billboards fell down, Xinhua said. A 25-year-old policeman trying to rescue survivors was killed by a mudslide in Sihui city, Guangdong, the Guangzhou Daily newspaper reported. State television showed pictures of police and soldiers carrying children through chest-deep, fast flowing water. At Hong Kong airport, the cancellation of more than 800 flights on Thursday left thousands of passengers stranded. More flights were delayed on Friday, as were flights from Nanning in Guangxi.

Typhoon Bilis
Ferries between Hainan island, south of Guangdong, and the mainland were suspended before the typhoon arrived, while rail services were also disrupted. More than 53,000 fishing vessels were recalled to harbour, but 68 people had to be rescued from a barge off the Guangdong coast, Xinhua said. Eleven million mobile phone text messages were sent warning the public ahead of the typhoon's arrival, Guangdong's provincial government said on its website. Prapiroon, which means "God of Rain" in Thai, also killed six people in the Philippines. Southern China has been hit hard by typhoons this season. More than 600 people died when Typhoon Bilis struck six southern provinces last month. Hunan was worst affected, with hundreds killed in flash floods and landslides. Bilis was followed by Typhoon Kaemi, which caused further destruction in the area.

LRA leaders declare ceasefire BBC News
The Ugandan Lord's Resistance Army (LRA) has announced a unilateral ceasefire, with immediate effect. The rebel movement's deputy leader Vincent Otti told the BBC he had ordered all field commanders to cease all hostilities against Uganda's army. Ugandan Interior Minister Ruhakana Rugunda said his government would wait to see what happened on the ground, in response to the announcement. The peace talks are due to resume in the Sudanese town of Juba next week. In a phone call to the BBC's Focus on Africa programme, Mr Otti announced: "I, Lt Gen Vincent Otti, second in command of the LRA, by the order of Gen Joseph Kony, chairman of the LRA High Command, do hereby declare a unilateral cessation of hostilities. "I order all our field commanders to, with immediate effect, cease all form of hostilities against the Ugandan People's Defence Forces (UDPF) positions and others. "I do hope that the government of Uganda shall reciprocate this gesture of goodwill so that the warring parties may finally find a bilateral agreement to provide a peaceful atmosphere for our people," Mr Otti said.

Refusing talks
The LRA rebel movement has refused to send its most senior leaders to peace talks with the government. Southern Sudanese vice-president and head mediator, Riek Machar had asked for the group's top leaders to take part after earlier peace talks failed. On Thursday Mr Otti told the BBC that Juba was not safe because an International Criminal Court (ICC) warrant for the LRA leaders' arrest was still in force and Ugandan government forces were present in the town. On Tuesday, Mr Kony held his first formal meeting with Mr Machar and a Ugandan official in a forest clearing on the border between Sudan and the Democratic Republic of Congo. This was hailed as a significant move, since the failure of earlier talks had been attributed in part to the negotiators not being sufficiently high-ranking to strike a deal. Ugandan President Yoweri Museveni has offered the rebels a full and guaranteed amnesty and protection as long as they renounce violence. Thousands of civilians have died in the 20-year conflict and more than one million have been forced to flee their homes.

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Israeli strike 'kills 40 people' BBC News
An Israeli air strike has killed more than 40 people in the southern Lebanese border village of Houla, Lebanon's prime minister has said.Fouad Siniora told an Arab foreign ministers meeting in Beirut that there had been "a horrific massacre". At least 20 people died in earlier Israeli raids across Lebanon, as troops fought Hezbollah in the south. The violence comes after at least 15 people were killed in Israel on Sunday - the country's deadliest day so far. Diplomats are battling to find a workable truce amid the escalating violence, and Arab ministers are discussing a strategy on a ceasefire in Beirut. "An hour ago, there was a horrific massacre in the village of Houla in which more than 40 martyrs were victims of deliberate bombing," Mr Siniora told the meeting. He broke down during the address, in which he appealed to Arab states for support against Israel's "horrific actions". The Israeli Defence Minister Amir Peretz has said Israel will step-up its offensive against Hezbollah rocket launching sites if the diplomatic process does not reach a successful conclusion. More than 900 Lebanese, most of them civilians, have been killed in the conflict, the Lebanese government says. More than 90 Israelis, most of them soldiers, have also been killed. Humanitarian groups say Israeli military action is hampering efforts to help many of the hundreds of thousands who have fled the fighting - sparked by the capture of two Israeli soldiers by Hezbollah on 12 July.

Tyre isolated
Details on the Houla strike are still sketchy, but local sources said the bombing destroyed several houses in the village. The attack came as Israeli jets also hit southern Beirut and parts of the east and south, cutting off the city of Tyre. The BBC's John Simpson in Tyre says a crater now blocks the farm track used to transport food and medicine to the city. The air attacks came amid further clashes on the ground, while Hezbollah fired more rockets at Israel. United Nations sources say Israeli commandos have been on the border hilltops since Sunday, trying to destroy Hezbollah positions. The Israeli army said one of its soldiers and five Hezbollah militants died in combat in the village of Bint Jbeil. The Shia militia said it killed four Israeli soldiers near Houla, but Israel said a number of its troops were slightly wounded. The clashes follow exchanges on Sunday, when Hezbollah rocket-fire killed 12 Israeli reservist soldiers in the town of Kfar Giladi and three people in the port of Haifa.

Ceasefire talks
As fighting continues, UN Security Council members are expected to renew talks on the resolution aimed at stopping the conflict.They are expected to discuss possible changes to a draft document to take account of Lebanese objections: Beirut is seeking a specific reference to a timetable for Israeli withdrawal from Lebanon. Correspondents say no vote is likely until Tuesday at the earliest. The text calls for an immediate cessation of hostilities and lays the groundwork for a second that would install an international peacekeeping force in southern Lebanon. Senior Israeli officials have said they are broadly happy with the text. Arab foreign ministers meeting in Beirut are widely expected to endorse Lebanon's position.

Nepal talks 'stall on monarchy' BBC News
The deputy chief of Nepal's Maoist rebels says peace talks with the government could break down if it insisted on retaining monarchy. Baburam Bhattarai said Nepalese people favoured abolishing the monarchy. The rebels have extended a ceasefire but urged the government to advance talks. Mr Bhattarai said they would continue their "fight" if talks failed. The rebels called a truce after King Gyanendra ended direct rule and restored parliament in April. The Maoists and a seven-party alliance clinched a landmark power-sharing deal in June. The government and rebels have differed recently over a government plan for the United Nations to be involved in the decommissioning of the rebels' weapons. The two sides have also differed on the future of monarchy in the country.

Peaceful movement
The number two in the Maoist communist party told a meeting of businessmen in the capital, Kathmandu, that the peace talks with the government were stalled. "The talks are very close to collapse. The dialogue process is stuck at a very sensitive stage," Mr Bhattarai was quoted as saying by the Reuters news agency. He said his party would not return to the jungle and would launch a peaceful movement in order to make the country a democratic republic. Mr Bhattarai accused the government of "dragging its feet" away from "all the agreements reached between us and also trying to protect the king". The rebel leader also accused Prime Minister Girija Prasad Koirala of trying to protect King Gyanendra, who gave up direct power in April following weeks of pro-democracy demonstrations. He said that if it was trying to protect the monarchy, the Maoists would launch a new struggle; but this would, he stressed, remain peaceful. The BBC's Charles Haviland in Kathmandu says that talks between the government and the rebel party are deadlocked, mainly over whether or not the Maoists should be fully disarmed before joining an interim government. Our correspondent says that some analysts believe Dr Bhattarai, known for his hardline rhetoric, may be trying to shift attention away from the weapons issue to the question of the monarchy. Mr Koirala has been advocating a ceremonial role for the monarchy since it was stripped of its powers and privileges in May. "We want to caution and warn him [Mr Koirala] that we will be compelled to leave if the government continues to protect the monarchy," Mr Bhattarai said. He said his party was not ready to lay down arms unless the outcome of the Constituent Assembly elections became public. The political landscape has been shaken-up since the king restored representative rule. Opposition parties have since joined the government. The new government has released rebels from jail, dropped terrorism charges against them and agreed to the ceasefire. But differences remain between the two sides, particularly over the future of the monarchy. The rebels hope elections will clear the way towards abolition of the monarchy. More than 13,000 people have died in violence in Nepal since the rebels began their fight for a republic 10 years ago. During the insurgency, there have been two other sets of peace talks, three years ago and five years ago.

Somalia's leaders sack government BBC News
The leaders of Somalia's crisis-ridden interim government say they have resolved their differences and agreed to dissolve the cabinet. Some 40 ministers have quit the cabinet over the prime minister's opposition to peace talks with the Islamist militias who control the capital, Mogadishu. The crisis had caused a rift between President Abdullahi Yusuf and Prime Minister Ali Mohamed Ghedi. Mr Ghedi's government controls little more than Baidoa, where it is based. "The bloated cabinet of Ali Mohamed Ghedi's government did not do anything during its tenure," President Yusuf announced in parliament. "From today onwards, the government has been dissolved - only the prime minister will remain." In terms of the agreement, the prime minister is to appoint a new cabinet of 31 ministers within seven days.

Mediator
Prime Minister Ghedi said that although his government had survived a democratic vote of no confidence, "the political differences which resulted from there have been thrashed out and we're now together to serve Somali interests". The announcement reportedly follows the intervention of Ethiopian Foreign Minister Seyoum Mesfin as mediator between the two factions in the Somali government. Ethiopia is the main regional ally of the interim government. The Union of Islamic Courts, whose militia control Mogadishu, condemned Ethiopia's mediation. "The arrival of the Ethiopian delegation in Baidoa is just another proof that the government of Somalia is a puppet of Ethiopia," said Sheikh Yusuf Siad Indho Addeh, head of internal security of the UIC. Ethiopia and Eritrea have both denied accusations that they are fighting a proxy war in Somalia by backing, respectively, the interim government and the Islamists.

Resignations
The interim cabinet originally had more than 100 members, not all of whom had been approved by parliament. In the past 10 days a succession of ministers left the government, and Mr Ghedi narrowly survived a parliamentary vote of no confidence on Saturday. Mr Ghedi's opponents within the government and parliament believe he should have done more to seek a settlement with the UIC, whose militia have taken control of Mogadishu in recent months. Somalia has been without an effective central government since warlords toppled dictator Mohamed Siad Barre in 1991. Since then much of the country has been ruled by violence and clan law. The UIC has been credited with success in bringing stability to Mogadishu for the first time in 15 years.

Hundreds lost in Ethiopia flood BBC News
Rescuers have been digging through mud and debris, looking for some 300 people still missing after floods in Ethiopia. They are reportedly digging with hands, garden tools and heavy equipment. Almost 200 people are thought to have died after a river burst its banks and floodwaters swept through the city of Dire Dawa in the east of the country. Hundreds of homes were destroyed when the Dechatu river flooded on Saturday. The local police commissioner said 39 of the dead were young children. "Family members have started burying the dead," regional police Inspector Beniam Fikru told AFP news agency from Dire Dawa, about 500 km from the capital, Addis Ababa. "In some cases, it is very difficult to identify them. "Relatives are reporting that around 300 people are missing, but the search goes on," he said.

Damage
Floodwaters damaged telephone and electricity lines and cut off the main road to Addis Ababa, further complicating the rescue efforts. The floods also swept away vehicles and livestock, and destroyed markets and shops, witnesses said. Over the past two years flooding has afflicted several areas of eastern and southern Ethiopia, killing hundreds and displacing hundreds of thousands. Thousands of Dire Dawa's estimated 250,000 residents have been displaced by the flooding. Flooding often hits low-lying parts of Ethiopia between June and September, when heavy showers fall on regions that are dry for most of the year. Last year at least 200 people were killed - some by crocodiles in the floodwaters - when heavy rains pounded the same region. The flooding also caused millions of dollars worth of damage, particularly to small farmers.

Sri Lanka deaths stun aid agency BBC News
The head of a French aid agency says they are "stunned" by the murder of 15 of their workers in north-eastern Sri Lanka over the weekend. Benoit Miribel said that members of Action Against Hunger had so far been unable to recover the bodies. The Sri Lankan government has promised an independent investigation into the killings of the 11 men and four women. In a separate development, military officials say that a senior policeman has been killed by a bomb near Kandy. A government spokesman told the Associated Press news agency that Upul Seneviratne, was killed by a "suspected rebel bomb" near the famous Buddhist holy city in the centre of the country. "By all accounts we have, he was killed by the terrorists," the spokesman said. Mr Seneviratne was in charge of the Special Task Force, a counter-terrorism commando unit.

Renewed shelling
The Paris-based Action Against Hunger group (AAH) said that the 15 employees were shot over the weekend in Muttur, where they helped survivors of the December 2004 tsunami and people affected by violence in the country. Mr Miribel, the Director-General of AAH, said that the charity had not suffered such a loss in its 25 years of existence. The organisation says that it is now reviewing its presence in the country. Mr Miribel said the group wanted to send a team to the area but was prevented from doing so by soldiers. The government has said that it will order a "clean and independent" probe into the killings of the 11 men and four women who worked for AAH. "We can't come to conclusions right now but if the story is correct, it will be a very high priority investigation," Human Rights Minister Mahinda Samarasinghe told the French news agency, AFP. Fighting between the army and Tamil Tiger rebels erupted in the Muttur area more than two weeks ago, after the rebels cut the water supply to mostly Sinhalese villages. The army on Monday is reported to have resumed shelling of rebel positions in the north-eastern district of Trincomalee. The attacks came despite a Tamil Tiger agreement to allow the reservoir to be reopened and a warning by the rebels that they would regard renewed shelling as a declaration of war.

Retaliation
A pro-Tamil Tiger website blamed the government for the killings but the military rejected the claim. "We did not have people in the area at the time they were supposed to have been killed," military spokesman Upali Rajapakse told the AFP news agency. The Tigers on Monday offered unconditionally to re-open a sluice gate to let water through to farmers in government-controlled lands. The head of the rebel movement's political wing, SP Thamilselvan, said the government's decision to resume shelling on Sunday was "a declaration of war". The Muttur fighting has been some of the island's fiercest since the signing of a ceasefire agreement four years ago. The government says it is committed to the truce but the political situation with the rebels, who want a separate homeland in the north and east, remains deadlocked. About 60,000 people have died since the rebel insurgency started three decades ago.

Google forges ties with MySpace, MTV Yahoo! News
Google announced deals to handle Internet search and advertising at the popular social networking website MySpace and to distribute ad-laced MTV videos. The alliances fortified Google's reputation as an online juggernaut that has masterfully turned content, search queries and free services into advertising revenue fortunes. Google will exclusively handle Internet search and keyword targeted advertising at MySpace.com and most of the rest of the online properties owned by News Corporation's Fox Interactive Media, according to the companies. The MySpace website, a virtual clubhouse where teenagers bare details of their lives through journals, photos, and videos, has star status on the Internet. The contract with Google also answers industry analysts' questions about when and how someone would cash in on the advertising potential of the popular social networking website consisting purely of content provided by users. Google guaranteed Fox that its share of ad revenue would be at least 900 million dollars from 2007 through the second quarter of 2010, under the terms of the contract. Google's services would be integrated into websites of Los Angeles-based Interactive Media beginning later this year, the companies said. "This agreement demonstrates our commitment to bring the same innovation to monetizing user-generated content that we brought to search advertising," said Omid Kordestani, senior vice president of global sales and business development at Google. "This is just the first of many steps we plan to take with Google," News Corporation president Peter Chernin said in a release. "We look forward to expanding our relationship into many new areas over years to come." Google's deal with Viacom's MTV Networks was a landmark alliance to distribute ad-supported videos to website publishers, Google and Viacom said in a joint release. Among the programs that will be offered were Nickelodeon's Spongebob Squarepants and the MTV show Laguna Beach, according to Viacom, which is based in New York City. "Collaborating with Google gives us a terrific opportunity to take our content and distribute it even more widely on the web in a seamless and targeted way," said Viacom chief executive officer Tom Freston. "We're very happy to be working with Google, a true innovator in content distribution." A test version of the service should be running by the end of this month, the companies said. "We're excited to work with MTV Networks on new ways of distributing its content to consumers via the Internet and on Google Video," Google chief executive officer Eric Schmidt said in a release. "With the combination of our video technology, and extensive advertiser and publisher network, Google is in a leading position to help content owners, web publishers and advertisers generate interest and increase revenue opportunities."
by Glenn Chapman