Evolutionwatcher

Higgs boson-like particle discovery claimed at LHC

2012-07-04T07:18:00.002-07:00

Cern scientists reporting from the Large Hadron Collider (LHC) have claimed the discovery of a new particle consistent with the Higgs boson.

The particle has been the subject of a 45-year hunt to explain how matter attains its mass.
Both of the Higgs boson-hunting experiments at the LHC see a level of certainty in their data worthy of a "discovery".
More work will be needed to be certain that what they see is a Higgs, however.

The BBC's George Alagiah explains the Higgs Boson

The results announced at Cern (European Organization for Nuclear Research), home of the LHC in Geneva, were met with loud applause and cheering.
Prof Peter Higgs, after whom the particle is named, wiped a tear from his eye as the teams finished their presentations in the Cern auditorium.
"I would like to add my congratulations to everyone involved in this achievement," he added later.
"It's really an incredible thing that it's happened in my lifetime."

“Start Quote

We're reaching into the fabric of the Universe at a level we've never done before”

Prof Joe Incandela CMS spokesman

The CMS team claimed they had seen a "bump" in their data corresponding to a particle weighing in at 125.3 gigaelectronvolts (GeV) - about 133 times heavier than the protons that lie at the heart of every atom.

They claimed that by combining two data sets, they had attained a confidence level just at the "five-sigma" point - about a one-in-3.5 million chance that the signal they see would appear if there were no Higgs particle.
However, a full combination of the CMS data brings that number just back to 4.9 sigma - a one-in-two million chance.
Prof Joe Incandela, spokesman for the CMS, was unequivocal: "The results are preliminary but the five-sigma signal at around 125 GeV we're seeing is dramatic. This is indeed a new particle," he told the Geneva meeting.

Peter Higgs joined three of the six theoreticians who first predicted the Higgs at the conference

Atlas results were even more promising, at a slightly higher mass: "We observe in our data clear signs of a new particle, at the level of five sigma, in the mass region around 126 GeV," said Dr Fabiola Gianotti, spokeswoman for the Atlas experiment at the LHC.
Prof Rolf Heuer, director-general of Cern, commented: "As a layman I would now say I think we have it."
"We have a discovery - we have observed a new particle consistent with a Higgs boson. But which one? That remains open.
"It is a historic milestone but it is only the beginning."
Commenting on the emotions of the scientists involved in the discovery, Prof Incandela said: "It didn't really hit me emotionally until today because we have to be so focussed… but I'm super-proud."

Statistics of a 'discovery'

Particle physics has an accepted definition for a discovery: a "five-sigma" (or five standard-deviation) level of certainty
The number of sigmas measures how unlikely it is to get a certain experimental result as a matter of chance rather than due to a real effect
Similarly, tossing a coin and getting a number of heads in a row may just be chance, rather than a sign of a "loaded" coin
A "three-sigma" level represents about the same likelihood as tossing eight heads in a row
Five sigma, on the other hand, would correspond to tossing more than 20 in a row
Independent confirmation by other experiments turns five-sigma findings into accepted discoveries

BBC: Higgs boson collection

Dr Gianotti echoed his thoughts, adding: "The last few days have been extremely intense, full of work, lots of emotions."

A confirmation that this is the Higgs boson would be one of the biggest scientific discoveries of the century; the hunt for the Higgs has been compared by some physicists to the Apollo programme that reached the Moon in the 1960s.
Scientists would then have to assess whether the particle they see behaves like the version of the Higgs particle predicted by the Standard Model, the current best theory to explain how the Universe works. However, it might also be something more exotic.
All the matter we can see appears to comprise just 4% of the Universe, the rest being made up by mysterious dark matter and dark energy.

Prof Stephen Hawking tells the BBC's Pallab Ghosh the discovery has cost him $100

A more exotic version of the Higgs could be a bridge to understanding the 96% of the Universe that remains obscure.
Scientists will have to look at how the Higgs decays - or transforms - into other, more stable particles after being produced in collisions at the LHC.
Dr Pippa Wells, a member of the Atlas experiment, said that several of the decay paths already showed deviations from what one would expect of the Standard Model Higgs.
For example, a decay path where the Higgs transforms into two photon particles was "a bit on the high side", she explained.
These could get back into line as more statistics are added, but on the other hand, they may not.
"We're reaching into the fabric of the Universe at a level we've never done before," said Prof Incandela.
"We're on the frontier now, on the edge of a new exploration. This could be the only part of the story that's left, or we could open a whole new realm of discovery."

The Standard Model and the Higgs boson

• The Standard Model is the simplest set of ingredients - elementary particles - needed to make up the world we see in the heavens and in the laboratory
• Quarks combine together to make, for example, the proton and neutron - which make up the nuclei of atoms today - though more exotic combinations were around in the Universe's early days
• Leptons come in charged and uncharged versions; electrons - the most familiar charged lepton - together with quarks make up all the matter we can see; the uncharged leptons are neutrinos, which rarely interact with matter
• The "force carriers" are particles whose movements are observed as familiar forces such as those behind electricity and light (electromagnetism) and radioactive decay (the weak nuclear force)
• The Higgs boson came about because although the Standard Model holds together neatly, nothing requires the particles to have mass; for a fuller theory, the Higgs - or something else - must fill in that gap

Obama unveils US food security plan for Africa

2012-05-22T12:39:00.000-07:00

US President Barack Obama has announced a $3bn (£1.9bn) plan to boost food security and farm productivity in Africa, US officials say.

They say the initiative is aimed at alleviating shortages as world food supplies are being stretched by rising demand in Asia's emerging markets.
Food security is also on the agenda of this weekend's G-8 meeting.
The summit near Washington is being dominated by Europe's debt crisis and a possible Greek exit from the eurozone.

You cannot have stability and security as long as regions and countries and communities are deeply food-insecure”

Rajiv Shah USAID head

Mr Obama unveiled the Africa plan ahead of his first meeting with new French President Francois Hollande.

He said investments in African agriculture by private US companies, for a total of more than $3bn, would address "unacceptable" starvation.
"It's a moral imperative, it's an economic imperative and it's a security imperative," Mr Obama said.
"'There is no reason why Africa cannot feed itself."
The president also said that while the summit would address Europe's fiscal situation, it was "also important, also critical, to focus on the urgent challenge that confronts some one billion men, women and children around the world: the injustice of chronic hunger."
The leaders of Benin, Ethiopia, Ghana and Tanzania have been invited to attend the G-8 meeting on food security.
Pull out of poverty The head of the US Agency for International Development (USAID), Rajiv Shah, said earlier the move showed the administration's commitment to boosting world food production as rising wealth in Asia drives consumption.
"By taking this new approach, we believe that it's possible to move 50 million people out of the condition of poverty and hunger," he told reporters.

The US plan is aimed at increasing farming productivity in Africa

"You cannot have stability and security as long as regions and countries and communities are deeply food-insecure."
The UK and other G-8 nations as well as African countries, aid agencies and multinational companies will also take part in what will be known as the New Alliance for Food and Nutrition Security.
The UK's department for international development said 45 leading firms, including Diageo, Unilever and Vodafone, will invest $4bn (£2.5bn) in developing African agriculture and sign up to a new code of responsible investment.
"Governments cannot tackle this challenge alone. The skills, resources and financial expertise of leading private businesses will help transform African agriculture, giving poor farmers the chance to pull themselves out of poverty, hunger and malnutrition," said the UK's Secretary of State for International Development, Andrew Mitchell.
Bank fears In recent years, food shortages have led to price rises and unrest in many import-dependent countries, including many in Africa.
In the 2009 G-8 summit in Italy, major industrial countries promised more than $20bn over three years to improve food access to Africans and others hit by high prices.
This latest summit, will also publish an accountability report over the weekend, which is expected to show how much of the food funding has yet to be delivered.
However its main focus will be continuing concerns that the eurozone debt crisis could trigger a global slump.
On Thursday, confidence in European banks was undermined by ratings agency Moody's, which cut the credit ratings of 16 Spanish banks.
Mr Obama has urged European leaders to do more to stimulate growth, fearing the euro crisis could spread to the US.
Correspondents say he will seek to cement a bond with France's new president, Francois Hollande, at the White House before heading to Camp David for the summit.
Mr Hollande, who took office on Thursday, has also said a German-led plan to enforce fiscal discipline across the eurozone should be complemented by moves aimed at boosting growth.

Iraq warns Turkey over Kurdistan pipeline deal

2012-05-22T12:38:00.001-07:00

Iraq's government has warned Turkey it needs Baghdad's permission to build new pipelines carrying oil and gas from the Kurdish autonomous region in the north.

Turkey made the deal directly with the Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) on Sunday, without Baghdad's approval.
Relations between Baghdad and Ankara have deteriorated sharply recently.

Instead, Turkey is focusing on closer ties with the KRG, which is locked in a dispute with Iraq's central government over who can sell the country's oil.
'Provocative' The BBC's Jonathan Head in Istanbul says Turkey's decade-long strategy of building friendly, trade-based relations with all its neighbours is unravelling fast.
It is heavily embroiled in efforts to overthrow Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, a leader it once courted. Its ties with Iran have also cooled, over that country's nuclear ambitions, Syria, and Turkey's decision to host part of Nato's missile defence shield, our correspondent says.
Now its problems with Iraq are multiplying, he adds.
Turkey is sheltering the fugitive Vice-President, Tariq al-Hashemi, the most senior Sunni Arab politician in Iraq, who has been charged with financing death squads.
Ankara has also accused the Iraqi government, which is dominated by Shia parties, of stirring up sectarian tension.
On Sunday, the Turkish government signed a controversial deal to pipe oil and gas directly from Kurdistan in the next 12 months, without the approval of the central government in Baghdad. The KRG also said it planned to barter crude oil with refined petroleum products.
Ali al-Moussawi, a spokesman for Prime Minister Nouri Maliki, criticised the agreement.
"We have no problem with any deals, but they have to be according to the Iraqi constitution and laws that govern relations between Baghdad and the Kurdish region," Mr Moussawi said.
Our correspondent says Turkey certainly needs to diversify its energy supplies away from Iran, which is subject to increasingly strict sanctions.
But, he adds, the pipeline deal is provocative given the KRG is locked in a bitter dispute with Baghdad over who has the authority to sell its oil, and over where pipelines should be built.

EU plans for possible Greek exit from euro

2012-05-19T05:25:00.003-07:00

The European Commission and European Central Bank are making contingency plans for a possible Greek exit from the euro, an EU commissioner says.

Trade Commissioner Karel De Gucht said such plans would minimise any "domino effect" from Greece.
He was speaking in an interview with Belgium's De Standaard newspaper.
But his views were challenged by Ollie Rehn, EU Commissioner for the Euro, who said: "We are not working on the scenario of a Greek exit.
"We are working on the basis of a scenario of Greece staying in. We do not comment on speculative issues," he said in a statement.
'Emergency scenarios' A new opinion poll suggests Greek voters are turning back to parties which supported the recent bailout and the austerity measures it required.
Believed to be the first survey taken since the date of the new election - 17 June - was announced, the Marc poll for Greek TV channel Alpha indicates that the conservative New Democracy (ND) party has overtaken the far-left Syriza.
Fitch Ratings Agency has downgraded five Greek banks to CCC from B-minus.
It similarly lowered Greece's credit rating on Thursday, citing the heightened risk that the country might have to leave the eurozone.
During the eurozone crisis Brussels has insisted that it wants to keep Greece in the euro, while demanding that Athens fulfil pledges to cut spending.
"Today, whether within the European Central Bank or the European Commission, services are studying emergency scenarios where Greece cannot manage," Mr De Gucht told De Standaard.
He added that "a Greek exit does not mean the end of the euro, as some claim".
He did not give details of the plans being made in Brussels and Frankfurt - the headquarters of the Commission and ECB.
One ECB executive board member said the bank was strongly in favour of Greece remaining part of the eurozone.
"It is our strong preference that Greece remains in the euro," Jose Manuel Gonzalez-Paramo, who is due to leave the ECB at the end of May, told Reuters news agency.
Mr Rehn implied that Mr De Gucht had spoken out of turn.
"Karel De Gucht is responsible for trade. I am responsible for financial and economic affairs and relations with the ECB," Mr Rehn's statement said.
Voters 'scared' Opinion polls just after the election on 6 May put Syriza, which had come second behind ND, in the lead.
According to the Marc poll, ND is back in front with 23.1% to 21% for Syriza, while the socialist Pasok, which also backed the bailout conditions, is put on 13.2%.
Speaking to Reuters, political analyst John Loulis commented: "It seems people vented their anger in the election and then they got scared.
"They disliked that there was no government and they got worried about a possible exit from the euro."
He added that voters were still "far from enthusiastic with New Democracy".
"The outcome of the elections will depend on who will make the fewest mistakes," he said.

Repsol cancels Argentina gas exports

2012-05-19T05:25:00.000-07:00

Spanish firm Repsol has cancelled a contract to provide liquefied natural gas (LNG) to Argentina.

The move comes weeks after the Argentine government seized control of Repsol subsidiary YPF.
Repsol told news agency AFP that state-run Argentine energy firm Enarsa "has made a series of violations" and "is not respecting its terms".
Currently Argentina relies on LNG imports to meet 20-30% of domestic natural gas consumption.
Repsol was due to provide 10 of the 80 cargo shipments planned to meet peak demand between June and September.
Argentina's planning ministry said those cargoes had already been replaced by other providers "because we knew they would fail to comply, in the same way they did during all the years they controlled YPF," Reuters reports.
Supply concerns The South American country took over Repsol's majority stake in oil firm YPF in April, nationalising the firm which provides about a third of Argentina's oil and a quarter of its gas.
It said Repsol was not investing enough to increase output from YPF's oilfields, which would lessen Argentina's need for imports.
Argentina's President Cristina Fernandez said: "If such a situation continued, we would have had big energy problems in the country because of the drop in production and the increasing reliance on fuel imports."
The company denies the charge, and both the Spanish government and European Union condemned the move to nationalise YPF.
Last year, Repsol-YPF discovered large quantities of gas in a remote area called Vaca Muerta, meaning Dead Cow.
Analysts suggest that Argentina's decision to takeover YPF may be down to its desire to become more energy independent and harness the resources at Vaca Muerta to reduce its reliance on costly LNG imports.
On 10 May, Repsol published figures showing how the Argentine government's takeover of its majority stake in YPF had shaved $149m off its profits for the year.
The company's lawyers said it was studying the legality of the takeover.

Bomb explosion at school in Brindisi

2012-05-19T05:24:00.003-07:00

A bomb has exploded in front of a school in the southern Italian city of Brindisi killing at least one girl and injuring six others.

The blast went off as students were arriving at the Francesca Morvillo Falcone vocational school at around 07:45 (05:45 GMT).
Although no-one has said they planted the device, the city's mayor has blamed local mafia.
Police are at the scene investigating the blast scene.
Reports say the explosive device had been placed in a rubbish container outside the school. It is unclear if one or two devices exploded, but one account suggests that the explosives had been in bags.
"Given the effect of the explosion, it appears that this was something quite powerful," an official from Italy's Civil Protection Authority said.
Reports that a second student had also died have been denied.
The BBC's Alan Johnston in Rome says there is currently no concrete information as to who might be behind the attack and what the motive might be.
But the mayor of Brindisi, Mimmo Consales, has blamed the local mafia network for what he calls "an unprecedented attack"

Quebec passes 'emergency bill' on student protests

2012-05-19T05:22:00.002-07:00

The provincial government of Quebec has passed emergency legislation to curtail the most sustained student protests in Canadian history.

The law will shut some universities early and impose fines on protesters blocking students from classes.
Thousands of people protested in the streets of Montreal on Friday after the 68-48 vote.
Demonstrations against rising tuition fees began 14 weeks ago, escalating into a standoff with the government.
The bill will remain in effect until 1 July 2013.
As the bill was debated by lawmakers, masked demonstrators blew horns and shouted the name of Quebec Premier Jean Charest.
At one point, people went on to a motorway, moving between stopped cars. There was a heavy police presence accompanying the activists.
'Democracy's darkest days'
The law does not back away from rising tuition fees. But it closes universities for the summer before the end of the current semester, allowing them to re-open earlier in August.
The bill bans demonstrations within 50m (164ft) of university buildings. Student leaders blocking access to university buildings could be fined as much as $35,000 (£22,000), while student groups face penalties of up to $125,000.
Under the law, student groups are liable to pay for damage to property during protests and could find their funding cut.
The law also regulates protests more tightly, requiring itineraries to be submitted eight hours ahead of time.
Opposition leader Pauline Marois from the Parti Quebecois called for Mr Charest to hold elections because of the law's unpopularity. Ms Marois said Friday was "one of the darkest days of Quebec democracy".
Mr Charest must call an election before 2013.
Gabriel Nadeau-Dubois, spokesman for Clase, a student group, called the law the "murder of the right to demonstrate", and said Clase would challenge it in court.
The city of Montreal has meanwhile approved a by-law banning the wearing of masks during protests.
"It's time to reclaim our streets, our neighbourhoods, our cities," Montreal Mayor Gerald Tremblay said.
On Wednesday, protesters marched through a Montreal university, breaking up classes that had resumed that day.
The government has proposed raising tuition rates by 80% over seven years, or a hike of $254 per year. Quebec has the lowest tuition rates in Canada.

Greek president set to appoint caretaker government

2012-05-16T00:42:00.003-07:00

Greek President Karolos Papoulias is due to meet party leaders to set up a caretaker government ahead of fresh elections expected next month.

A final round of talks to secure a coalition failed on Tuesday raising new concerns over Greece's eurozone future.
There has been deadlock since the 6 May election over whether to continue with the austerity measures required by an international bailout agreement.
The uncertainty pushed the euro to a new four-month low against the dollar.
EU officials fear the country will elect an anti-bailout government, which Brussels says could hasten Greece's exit from the euro.
That possibility is now discussed openly among Europe's leaders, and could threaten the very survival of the single currency, the BBC's Mark Lowen in Athens says.
Euro exit? President Papoulias will meet all political leaders at 13:00 (10:00 GMT) on Wednesday and is expected to select a senior judge to take over the running of the country.
New elections are expected to take place on 10 or 17 June.
On Wednesday the eurozone crisis pushed Asian stocks lower and knocked oil prices.

Nobody I speak to outside Greece can come up with any route for Greece that is painless for its people. Stay in the euro: belt-tightening, more impoverishment; more reduction in living standards. Go out: the same kind of impact on living standards.
Maybe - and this is what some people believe - if they dropped the euro for a new drachma, and were able to retain some access to credit, perhaps from the IMF, the transition for Greece wouldn't be quite as painful.
There are quite a lot of serious people who take the view that a managed exit of Greece from the euro might be the way to go. The difficulty is that there's no obvious sign Germany, France and other countries will help Greece make that transition.

Tokyo's Nikkei index dropped 1%, while Hong Kong's Hang Seng and South Korea's Kospi lost about 3%.

The euro fell more than half a cent to $1.27.
The uncertainty over the euro has also sparked concern over a run on the banks in Greece.
Greek newspapers report that around 700m euros have been withdrawn from high street banks over the past few days, the BBC's Richard Galpin in Athens says.
People are concerned that an exit from the eurozone and a reversion to the drachma would wipe out much of people's savings, he says.
European leaders say they will cut off funding for Greece if it rejects the bailout agreed in March.
This would mean effective bankruptcy for Greece and its all but certain exit from the European single currency, analysts say.
German Finance Minister Wolfgang Schaeuble stressed again on Wednesday that there would be no new discussions on Greece's bailout.
"This is an aid programme that was prepared down to the last detail, we cannot renegotiate it," he said.
The head of the International Monetary Fund Christine Lagarde has raised the possibility of orchestrating an "orderly exit" for Greece from the eurozone.
"It is something that would be extremely expensive and would pose great risks but it is part of options that we must technically consider," she said on Tuesday.
After talks in Berlin with German Chancellor Angela Merkel following his inauguration as French president, Francois Hollande said he wanted Greece to remain in the euro.
"I'm in favour of us saying to Greece that Europe is ready to support growth so that Greece, which is in recession, can go back to growth", he said at a joint press conference.
'Timely payment' Opinion polls suggest Greece's leftist Syriza bloc, which came second in the 6 May vote and rejects all further cutbacks, could become the largest party after a new election.
Syriza wants to renegotiate the bailout package but also wants to keep Greece in the euro.
Pasok and New Democracy, which signed up to the bailouts and had previously dominated Greek politics for decades, saw their combined share of the vote drop from about 77% to about 33% on 6 May.
On Tuesday, Greece said it would make a "timely payment" on 435m euros' worth of debt due on 15 May.

Colombia-US free trade agreement comes into force

2012-05-16T00:40:00.003-07:00

At the stroke of midnight, a planeload of flowers - an important export for Colombia - left Bogota to become the first shipment under the deal.
The pact was held up in the US Congress amid concern over Colombia's record of violence against trade union leaders.
It finally passed last October, after pressure from the Obama White House.
Later on Tuesday, a Harley-Davidson motorcycle was set to be unveiled as one the first US exports to Colombia as part of the agreement.
Both countries hope the deal will boost mutual exports and investments, as well as underpin the two countries' close political ties.
Colombia has long been seen as one of the United States' staunchest allies in the region.
The pact means a wide variety of goods, including machinery, raw materials and agricultural products, can be traded without import tariffs needing to be paid.
The US International Trade Commission estimates that the value of US exports to Colombia could rise by $1.1bn (£680m), while Colombian exports the other way could grow by $487m.
The accord, signed during President George W Bush's administration, was opposed by US labour groups, who feared job losses.
Many Democratic members of Congress argued that it should not be approved until they were satisfied Colombia had done enough to stop violence against union organisers.
There was also opposition from Colombian trade unions, who expressed concern about whether the country was developed enough to compete.
Urging Congress to ratify the deal, the Obama administration warned that further delay would cost the US jobs and the chance to boost exports.

Bomb targeting Colombia politician kills at least two

2012-05-16T00:39:00.003-07:00

Police said an unidentified assailant attached an explosive device to the car of former Interior Minister Fernando Londono.
The blast killed his driver and a bodyguard, but Mr Londono, 68, was not seriously injured.
Earlier reports had spoken of five dead, but a Bogota police commander said he could only confirm two deaths.
Around 40 people are reported to have been injured in the blast.
Mr Londono was hit by shrapnel and is having surgery to remove a piece of metal lodged near his clavicle.
Hospital sources said he was in a stable condition.
Rebel connection?
Bogota Police Commander Gen Luis Eduardo Martinez blamed Colombia's largest rebel group, the Farc, for the attack.
The explosion in the north of the city came just hours after police defused a car bomb near the headquarters of the city's police.
Gen Martinez said he could not say whether the two incidents were linked, but insisted that he was certain Farc rebels were behind both.
"What I can confirm with bluntness, with vehemence, and with a lot of sorrow for our fatherland is that behind this are the Farc terrorists, the mad, the unhinged rebels," Gen Martinez said.
Mr Londono, who served as Justice and Interior Minister under the right-wing former President, Alvaro Uribe, has been highly critical of the rebels.
He has repeatedly attacked them during his daily radio programme The Hour of Truth.
Andres Villamizar of Colombia's Interior Ministry said the rebels had made threats against Mr Londono.
The explosive device went off on a corner of 74 Street and Caracas Avenue, in the north of Bogota, just after 11:00 local time (16:00 GMT).
Explosive and forensic experts are examining the scene for clues.
'Immense harm'
Bogota Mayor Gustavo Petro has condemned the attack.
On his Twitter account, he asked all residents of the city to be vigilant and to "mobilise against hate".
Colombian President Juan Manuel Santos asked all Colombians to come together in their rejection of terrorism.
"Terrorism has caused us immense harm," he said after visiting Mr Londono in hospital.
"We're eliminating it, we haven't eliminated it altogether yet, and this attack is proof of that, but we'll continue making progress until we've eradicated it from our country", he said.
Bomb attacks used to be common in Bogota and other Colombian cities more than a decade ago, when Farc rebels were at their strongest.
But such attacks decreased markedly after the president at the time, Alvaro Uribe, made the war against the guerrilla his priority.
The last bomb attack attributed to the Farc in Bogota was in August 2010, shortly after President Santos took office.
There have been several small bombings since then, but it is not clear whether the Farc were behind those.

Georgian capital Tbilisi hit by floods - five dead

2012-05-13T06:33:00.002-07:00

At least five people have been killed and dozens hurt after a river burst its banks in the Georgian capital Tbilisi, flooding parts of the city centre.

Floodwaters from the Mtkvari river submerged roads and bridges, cutting power supplies and depositing huge quantities of mud.
There have also been landslides in surrounding areas, with reports of farm animals being swept away.
The authorities declared a state of emergency and sent troops to the city.
The floods were caused by a heavy rainstorm on Saturday evening. The rain has now stopped but more is forecast for the coming days.
Some people climbed on top of cars and had to be rescued by boat.
A mother, her two young children and an elderly woman were among the dead.
The head of the city's emergencies department, Temur Giorgadze, said they had died after becoming trapped in their home.
"Huge floods gushed into the street, unfortunately causing death. Four people died in a small house where they were living which became the epicentre of the disaster," he said.
"The water was carrying trees and debris which made things even more difficult."

Polish MPs approve plans to raise retirement age to 67

2012-05-12T02:20:00.003-07:00

Poland's parliament has approved plans by the centre-right government to raise the age at which most Poles can retire to 67 years.

Under the new law, the retirement age will be gradually moved upwards, from the current age of 65 for men and 60 for women.
The government says the move will help Poles build up larger pensions and reduce state spending.
The plans have prompted protests from trade unions and the centre-left.
The 460-member lower house of parliament, the Sejm, passed the measure by 268 to 185 votes, with two abstentions.

Observers say it is almost certain to be endorsed by the upper chamber, the Senate.
The reform envisages that the retirement age will reach 67 for men by 2020, and for women by 2040.
But women will be able to take partial retirement at 62 if they have worked for 35 years, and men will be able to do so at 65 if they have worked for 40 years.
This exception was agreed to win support for the bill from the junior partner in the governing coalition, the Polish Peasant's Party,
Trade unions bitterly oppose the change and have threatened to organise strikes during the European football championships being held in Poland in June.
The lifting of the retirement age is part of a series of tough reforms announced by the government of Prime Minister Donald Tusk after its re-election last year.
Along with raising the pension age, they include phasing out special pension arrangements for farmers, miners, policemen, firemen and priests.
The government also hopes to reduce the budget deficit to just 1% by the end of the current parliament in 2015.

Anarchists 'shot nuclear boss Roberto Adinolfi'

2012-05-12T02:19:00.002-07:00

An Italian anarchist group has said it carried out an attack last Monday on a senior executive of nuclear engineering group Ansaldo Nucleare.

Roberto Adinolfi, 53, was shot in the leg by a gunman on a motorbike in the northern Italian city of Genoa.
He has undergone surgery and colleagues have said his condition is not serious.
The "Olga Cell" of the FAI (Informal Anarchist Federation), made the claim by a letter sent to the Italian daily Corriere della Sera.
The letter says that the attack "was carried out to punish one of the many sorcerers of the atomic industry".
Strong presence The Ansaldo group is part of aerospace and defence giant Finmeccanica.
Four of its managers were targets of attacks in the 1970s and '80s by the far-left Red Brigades movement.
The shooting of Mr Adinolfi has prompted investigators to draw similarities with the previous attacks.
Investigative sources have pointed at anarchists involved in extremist activity as possible suspects.
The incident has sparked fears that the shooting could be a signal for sleeper cells to carry out more attacks or spark copycat shootings.
The anarchist movement has a strong presence in Genoa.
According to Italian news agency Ansa, police were examining recent pronouncements by some anarchist groups which have called for "a shift to a new phase that could lead to armed action".
The FAI has carried out a string of attacks on European institutions, including parcel bombs that exploded at the Swiss and Chilean embassies in the Italian capital Rome in 2010, badly wounding the two people who opened them.
A third bomb sent to the Greek Embassy four days later was defused.
In December last year, a parcel bomb exploded at a tax collection office in Rome, injuring the director. Police said the package also contained a leaflet signed by the anarchist group FAI.

Syria unrest: Deadly Damascus blasts kill dozens

2012-05-10T04:21:00.001-07:00

Two explosions have hit the Syrian capital, Damascus, killing at least 40 people and wounding 170, officials say.

State TV footage of the blasts showed massive destruction in the al-Qazzaz suburb to the south of Damascus said to house a military intelligence complex.
The TV report said they were "terrorist bombings". Damascus has been the target of several bombs in past months amid continuing anti-government unrest.
The two sides are supposed to observe a ceasefire monitored by UN observers.
But violence has continued unabated, with the restive city of Homs shelled again overnight.
Body parts

The motorway is littered with the twisted metal of about a dozen wrecked vehicles. The area is strewn with debris.
At one of the main Damascus hospitals, a doctor says it is the worst emergency he has seen, the injuries are severe. We see 30-plus body bags at the morgue - the corpses are charred sticks, with limbs torn off.
Whoever did this wanted to cause the most damage possible because the blast took place during early morning rush hour.
Every time something happens in Syria, there are two narratives.
We have spoken to angry people who blame Saudi Arabia, Qatar and Turkey - countries which have come out in support of the Syrian opposition. The opposition alleges as always that this was the cynical work of the government itself to try to discredit the opposition.

A first explosion occurred shortly before 08:00 (05:00 GMT) as people headed into work.

The blast was apparently to attract people to the scene and was quickly followed by a second, much bigger explosion, a local journalist who spoke to eyewitnesses told the BBC.
Television footage showed dozens of mangled and burnt vehicles, some containing bodies.
Two large craters could be seen in the road.
The district targeted is said to house a military intelligence complex, including the headquarters, 10 floors high, of the counter-terrorism operation for the military security in Syria, involved in President Bashar al-Assad's crackdown on the ongoing pro-democracy protests.
Next to it was another military security intelligence building which was also destroyed in the attack.
The building is part of a broader military compound the Palestine Branch, one of the most feared among the more than 20 secret police organisations in the country, correspondents say.
It was originally set up in the 1950s to interrogate suspected Israeli spies, and then to deal with the 500,000 Palestinian refugees in the country, which it still does. But over the past decade, it has evolved into the country's counter-terrorism unit, and is infamous for interrogations and torture, they say.

It was previously attacked in 2008 by Lebanese group Fatah al-Islam with a 200kg (440lb) bomb that killed a senior officer.
Large crowds gathered despite the security cordon, shouting slogans and chants in support of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, says the BBC's Lyse Doucet at the scene in Damascus.
All the while, the emergency teams looked for body parts and bulldozers are at work clearing away some of the debris. The whole area looks like a wasteland, our correspondent adds.
One Damascus resident, who gave his name as Ahmad, told the BBC the blasts were the biggest explosions he had ever heard.
"I heard the two explosions clearly from my house. The whole of Damascus heard them. They were very, very strong - the biggest explosions I have ever heard. At first, I thought they were air strikes.
The head of the UN observer mission in Syria, Maj Gen Robert Mood, visited the site of the Damascus explosions.

Recent blasts in Damascus

5 May: Two blasts cause damage, but no-one is hurt.
27 April: An explosion in the centre of Damascus near a mosque kills at least 10 people and wounds 20 others.
2 April: A bomb explodes near a police station and hotel in the central Marja district of Damascus, injuring at least four people.
17 March: At least 27 people are killed and nearly 100 wounded in two explosions said to be targeting buildings housing the criminal police and aviation intelligence.

Meanwhile, the Syrian army bombarded the city of Homs overnight.

Opposition activists described it as some of the heaviest shelling in Homs for weeks.
Eleven United Nations monitors are now stationed there to try to implement a ceasefire.
The observers are in the country as part of the joint UN-Arab League peace plan and began deploying last month.
There are now about 70 monitors in Syria as a whole, but their presence has had no effect in quelling the violence.
The UN says at least 9,000 people have died since pro-democracy protests began in March 2011. In February, Syria's government put the death toll at 3,838 - 2,493 civilians and 1,345 security forces personnel.

Share 0 inShare AFP Thursday, May 10, 2012 YEOSU, South Korea - After four years of work and US$10 billion (S$12.5 billion) in investment, an international expo will open Saturday at a glittering hi-tech venue on the site of a former dusty cement terminal in South Korea. A total of 104 nations and 10 international organisations will stage exhibitions over the next three months in the city of Yeosu under the theme of "The Living Ocean and Coast". Organisers hope for about 10 million visitors, including up to 500,000 foreigners mainly from China and Japan, to the small south coast city. They predict the event will create some 80,000 jobs and bring economic benefits worth 19 trillion won ($17 billion) - outweighing more than 11 trillion won spent on the site and new hotels and upgrading roads and railways. Yeosu, with a scenic coastline and hundreds of nearby islands, is showcasing marine conservation and green technology with its expo. "Have you ever thought that the roar of the waves may be the sound of the sea groaning?" it asks visitors, citing overfishing, pollution and reckless development. "We want to join with you to find the solutions," reads a message at the US pavilion. A screen with video images of the US coastline stresses that oceans are the Earth's life support systems. At its entrance an image projected on a water screen shows President Barack Obama expressing commitment to protecting marine ecosystems and resources. France focuses on the importance of fresh water resources, displaying the transformation of its mascot "Sogeumi" from a salt water drop into fresh water to suggest that desalination is one of the solutions. Australia, the world's largest island continent, emphasises harmony between humankind and oceans through a huge multimedia sculpture depicting the swell of the ocean and a variety of other images. Monaco, one of the world's smallest nations, has a digital image of an endangered Mediterranean monk seal. During a press tour Wednesday, work was continuing frantically to complete some exhibition halls. Chief organiser Kang Dong-Suk said at least three countries could not open their pavilions until Saturday. The "Big-O", a 48-metre-tall (158-foot-tall) round steel structure, greets visitors to the 25-hectare (60 acre) site. "This is our symbolic structure where various cultural performances will be held," said Kang Hyun-Joo, the organising committee spokeswoman. It features cannon shooting jets of water and flame generators. Colourful hologram images and light shows will be projected on a giant water curtain and dancers will perform on a stage floating in front of the Big-O. Abandoned cement silos have been converted into a 67-metre-high observation tower including a giant pipe organ. The Aqua Planet aquarium has a massive tank displaying 280 species of fish and other marine life including beluga whales and South American sea lions as well as an Amazon eco-terrarium. Pavilions built by the Korean government and its big firms present a vision of the country as a dominant player in marine development and showcase digital and robot technology. Small robots play soccer and dance at the pavilion of Daewoo Shipbuilding and Marine Engineering. A humanoid robot greets visitors with smiles, and robots shaped like crabs, snakes and starfish are on display. The ceiling of the international pavilion features a 218-metre-long LED screen displaying marine life and giving visitors the sensation of walking under the sea. Expo 2012 Yeosu is being held between the headline World Expos, which are staged every five years. The last was in Shanghai in 2010. To solve the shortage of hotel rooms, a chartered cruise ship will be anchored in the port by the end of this month to accommodate foreign visitors, said chairman Kang. A ferry terminal capable of handling six cruise ships has been built next to the site to accommodate tourists from China and Japan.

2012-05-10T04:16:00.003-07:00

Polls have opened in Algeria for parliamentary elections which the authorities have billed as more free and transparent than ever before.

Last year's revolts in the region left the country largely untouched, but it is now under pressure to reform and renew its ageing establishment.
However, apathy is said to be widespread among the 21.6 million voters - especially the young.
Algerian authorities have allowed in 500 foreign observers.
But, after initially welcoming in the observers - from the European Union, African Union and other groups - the Algerian government has blocked their access to national election lists.
The foreign ministry has also warned them to act with "discernment, impartiality and objectivity and with discretion, far from polemics or escalation that could prejudice the credibility of its mission".
Under pressure to reform after last year's "Arab Spring" revolts in neighbouring countries, President Abdelaziz Bouteflika approved the establishment of 23 new political parties and an increase in the number of seats in parliament to 462.
'No lessons'
The official slogan of the election, repeated in commercials running on state television, is: "Algeria is our spring".
But Prime Minister Ahmed Ouyahia said on Saturday that the Arab Spring had been a "disaster".
"We don't need lessons from outside, our spring is Algerian, our revolution of 1 November 1954," he said during a rally.
According to the interior ministry, some 25,800 candidates will be competing - more than double the number who stood in the previous polls, held in 2007 with, on average, more than 62 candidates for each available seat.
But the BBC's Chloe Arnold, in Algiers, says that this has been an election characterised by Algerians actively avoiding the polling stations.
Many, she explains, feel that even if the composition of parliament changes, it will continue to rubber-stamp any laws that the president wants to pass.

The two parties in the ruling coalition - the National Liberation Front (FLN) and the National Democratic Rally (RND) - and a new coalition of three Islamist parties are expected to take the lion's share of the vote.
The Islamist grouping, the new Green Algeria Coalition, consists of the Movement of Society for Peace (MSP), which recently quit the tripartite ruling alliance, the Islamic Renaissance Movement (Ennahda) and the National Reform Movement.
There are no exit polls, and first results are not expected until they are unveiled by the interior ministry on Friday.

South Korea set to launch multi-billion-dollar expo

2012-05-10T04:14:00.003-07:00

YEOSU, South Korea - After four years of work and US$10 billion (S$12.5 billion) in investment, an international expo will open Saturday at a glittering hi-tech venue on the site of a former dusty cement terminal in South Korea.
A total of 104 nations and 10 international organisations will stage exhibitions over the next three months in the city of Yeosu under the theme of "The Living Ocean and Coast".
Organisers hope for about 10 million visitors, including up to 500,000 foreigners mainly from China and Japan, to the small south coast city.
They predict the event will create some 80,000 jobs and bring economic benefits worth 19 trillion won ($17 billion) - outweighing more than 11 trillion won spent on the site and new hotels and upgrading roads and railways.
Yeosu, with a scenic coastline and hundreds of nearby islands, is showcasing marine conservation and green technology with its expo.
"Have you ever thought that the roar of the waves may be the sound of the sea groaning?" it asks visitors, citing overfishing, pollution and reckless development.
"We want to join with you to find the solutions," reads a message at the US pavilion.
A screen with video images of the US coastline stresses that oceans are the Earth's life support systems.
At its entrance an image projected on a water screen shows President Barack Obama expressing commitment to protecting marine ecosystems and resources.
France focuses on the importance of fresh water resources, displaying the transformation of its mascot "Sogeumi" from a salt water drop into fresh water to suggest that desalination is one of the solutions.
Australia, the world's largest island continent, emphasises harmony between humankind and oceans through a huge multimedia sculpture depicting the swell of the ocean and a variety of other images.
Monaco, one of the world's smallest nations, has a digital image of an endangered Mediterranean monk seal.
During a press tour Wednesday, work was continuing frantically to complete some exhibition halls. Chief organiser Kang Dong-Suk said at least three countries could not open their pavilions until Saturday.
The "Big-O", a 48-metre-tall (158-foot-tall) round steel structure, greets visitors to the 25-hectare (60 acre) site.
"This is our symbolic structure where various cultural performances will be held," said Kang Hyun-Joo, the organising committee spokeswoman.
It features cannon shooting jets of water and flame generators.
Colourful hologram images and light shows will be projected on a giant water curtain and dancers will perform on a stage floating in front of the Big-O.
Abandoned cement silos have been converted into a 67-metre-high observation tower including a giant pipe organ.
The Aqua Planet aquarium has a massive tank displaying 280 species of fish and other marine life including beluga whales and South American sea lions as well as an Amazon eco-terrarium.
Pavilions built by the Korean government and its big firms present a vision of the country as a dominant player in marine development and showcase digital and robot technology.
Small robots play soccer and dance at the pavilion of Daewoo Shipbuilding and Marine Engineering. A humanoid robot greets visitors with smiles, and robots shaped like crabs, snakes and starfish are on display.
The ceiling of the international pavilion features a 218-metre-long LED screen displaying marine life and giving visitors the sensation of walking under the sea.
Expo 2012 Yeosu is being held between the headline World Expos, which are staged every five years.
The last was in Shanghai in 2010.
To solve the shortage of hotel rooms, a chartered cruise ship will be anchored in the port by the end of this month to accommodate foreign visitors, said chairman Kang.
A ferry terminal capable of handling six cruise ships has been built next to the site to accommodate tourists from China and Japan.

Bedouins release Fiji peacekeepers

2012-05-08T12:09:00.001-07:00

Cairo - Bedouins in Egypt's Sinai Peninsula briefly held 10 Fijian members of a multinational peacekeeping force on Monday and demanded Egypt free fellow tribesmen from prison, Egyptian security sources said.

The peacekeepers - from the Multinational Force and Observers (MFO) - were briefly detained in Egypt's Sinai region where the security situation has deteriorated since a popular uprising ousted the country's president more than a year ago, throwing the security apparatus into disarray.

“Bedouins told the MFO members who were driving by that the main road was closed. They led them to an unknown area and refused to let them leave,” said one security source in North Sinai's Security Directorate. Other security sources confirmed that account.

It was unclear precisely how long the peacekeepers had been held, however, and why the tribesmen had released them.

The MFO could not be immediately reached for comment, while state TV and the state news agency MENA denied that the incident had taken place.

MENA cited its own security source as saying that the troops had in fact got lost but had later found their way home without any problems.

In March, armed Bedouin surrounded a camp belonging to the MFO mission for eight days before lifting the siege. That incident was also a bid to pressure Egyptian authorities into releasing tribesmen from jail.

The MFO mission was set up as part of the 1979 peace treaty between Egypt and Israel which returned the Sinai to Egyptian control. The force includes military staff from 12 countries including the United States, Colombia, France and Uruguay, the MFO website said.

Earlier on Monday, MENA said that Egypt's Foreign Minister Mohamed Kamel Amr had met with MFO Director-General David Satterfield to discuss the role of the organisation in overseeing implementation of the peace treaty.

“The Foreign Minister assured Egypt's support for the multinational peacekeeping force and its provision of a secure environment for it, (and of) Egypt's appreciation for the big role that the force's members are performing,” MENA cited a ministry spokesman as saying earlier in the day. - Reuters

Half of Americans support legalizing gay marriage

2012-05-08T12:06:00.001-07:00

Half of Americans believe same-sex couples should have the same right to wed as heterosexuals do, slightly down from a year ago but marking the second year that a majority of Americans have supported same-sex marriage, according to a Gallup Poll survey released on Tuesday.
The poll comes as North Carolina voters go to the polls on Tuesday to vote on a constitutional amendment that would define marriage as a union between a man and a woman, and effectively ban same-sex marriage and civil unions.
President Barack Obama, who has stopped short of supporting same-sex marriage but has described his position on the issue as evolving, faces mounting pressure to change his stance, especially as his top aides come out in favor of legalization.
Over the weekend, Vice President Joe Biden said he is"absolutely comfortable" with same-sex marriage, and Education Secretary Arne Duncan later said publicly that gay marriage should be legal.
Six states, plus the District of Columbia, have extended marriage rights to gay couples. Twenty-eight states ban such marriages.
Gallup's survey a year ago marked the first time in the poll's history that a majority of Americans - 53 percent - said they favored legalization of same-sex marriage. Gallup first asked the question in 1996, when only 27 percent of respondents supported it.
This year's poll found Americans divided along political and religious lines.
Nearly two-thirds of Democrats support allowing same-sex marriage, along with more than half of independents, while fewer than a quarter of Republicans believe it should be allowed.
Among Americans with "no religious identify," the overwhelming majority backs allowing same-sex marriage, along with just over half of Catholics. Nearly six in ten Protestants oppose legalization.
Other recent surveys have also found the country is split over whether to extend marriage rights, with younger and less religious people tending to be more supportive of marriage equality.
In a survey released last month, the Pew Research Center found 47 percent of people favored same-sex marriage while 43 percent opposed legal marriages by gay and lesbian couples. In 2008, 39 percent favored gay marriage and 51 percent opposed it.

China buying oil from Iran with yuan

2012-05-08T12:03:00.002-07:00

China is buying crude oil from Iran using its currency the yuan, an Iranian diplomat has said.

Oil transactions are usually settled in dollars but US sanctions make it difficult for Iran to accept payments in the US currency.
Iran is using the revenue to buy goods and services from China, Mohammed Reza Fayyad, Iran's ambassador to the United Arab Emirates, confirmed.
China is the biggest buyer of Iranian crude oil exports.
The country buys some $20bn-30bn of oil from Iran each year, but the US has been pressuring Beijing to join an international boycott of Iran over Tehran's nuclear programme.

The Iranian ambassador's comments, reported by the Reuters news agency, confirmed a report in the Financial Times that claimed that Unipec - a subsidiary of the Chinese state-owned oil firm Sinopec - was buying the oil, as was another company called Zhuhai Zhenrong.
Meanwhile, China has been trying to promote usage of yuan as an international currency as a rival to the dollar, including the establishment of a new offshore trading centre in London alongside the existing centre in Hong Kong.
According to the FT report, China has been providing the currency to Iran via Russian banks rather than its own domestic banks.
Lobbying efforts The US plans to implement a round of sanctions, starting on 28 June, against banks based in countries that do not cut their oil imports from Iran.
The US and its western partners suspect Iran of using its nuclear programme to develop the capacity to make atomic weapons.
Tehran says the programme is solely for civilian purposes.
The US has already said it will not apply sanctions to banks in Japan and 10 EU countries, after they all agreed to cut their imports from Iran.
China, India and South Korea, now find themselves at the centre of current US lobbying efforts.
China has already cut its imports from Iran by half in the first three months of this year, although this was mainly in order to negotiate better trading terms with Tehran.
It is unclear whether the cuts will be continued into the rest of the year.
China is highly dependent on crude oil imports, and petrol prices in China have been rising sharply this year.

Malawi devalues kwacha by 33%, leading to panic-buying

2012-05-08T11:15:00.000-07:00

Shoppers in Malawi have been scrambling to buy basic goods, fearing huge price rises after the currency was devalued by 33%.

The BBC's Raphael Tenthani in Blantyre says that many shops had run out of staple foods such as sugar, cooking oil and bread by the end of Monday.
The kwacha was devalued as part of moves by the new government to restore donor funding.
The former government had rejected IMF calls to devalue the currency.
Our reporter says that other goods such as rice, maize flour and orange squash were running short in Blantyre's Chichiri shopping centre - the main retail area in Malawi's biggest city.
He has been told that the same panic-buying is also happening in Malawi's main towns.
The scramble comes despite economists saying they did not expect the devaluation to immediately lead to higher prices, as many businesses were expecting the move and were already using the new exchange rate.
The central bank announced that one dollar would now be worth 250 kwacha, up from 168, while the peg to the US currency would be scrapped.
"The devaluation of the kwacha and the liberalisation of the foreign exchange market are expected to continue the government's efforts to reach agreement with the IMF," said Reserve Bank of Malawi Governor Charles Chuka, adding that this would hopefully lead to more donor funding in the next few months.
The International Monetary Fund has long urged Malawi to cut the value of its currency, saying this would boost exports and reduce demand for imports.
However, former President Bingu wa Mutharika, who died in April, had rejected the calls, fearing it would increase inflation.
New President Joyce Banda is trying to improve relations with donors and get aid restored.
About-turns In recent years, Malawi has run short of foreign currency after donors cut aid and demand fell for its main export, tobacco.
This led to a lack of fuel in the country.
In the four weeks she has been in power, President Banda has reversed several government policies.
Last week, she said she did not want Sudan's President Omar al-Bashir, accused of war crimes, to attend a summit in July.
She says she feared the "economic implications" if Mr Bashir attended the African Union meeting in the country.
She has also fired Mutharika's widow, Callista, from her job as coordinator for safe motherhood, the AFP news agency reports.

Libya PM office attacked by gunmen in Tripoli

2012-05-08T11:13:00.002-07:00

At least two security officials have been killed after ex-rebels attacked the office of the Libyan prime minister in the capital, Tripoli.

A witness said pick-up trucks mounted with anti-aircraft guns surrounded the building and a gun battle ensued.
A government official later said the fighting had ceased.
The attackers are said to be former rebels who fought to topple Col Gaddafi last year, who are demanding pay-outs promised under a reward scheme.
Most people inside the building fled, including the finance minister and the deputy prime minister.
'Fired from inside' Ashur Shamis, a media adviser to Prime Minister Abdurrahim al-Keib, told the BBC that the prime minister and other officials were safe and that the fighting - which lasted several hours - had ended.
Witnesses said the attack was being carried out by militia from Yafran, a town populated by members of the Berber ethnic minority located about 100km (60 miles) south-west of Tripoli.

The whereabouts of Prime Minister Abdurrahim al-Keib are unknown

"Many men encircled the building and opened fire against it with weapons including anti-aircraft cannons," a government employee told AFP news agency.
"Some men entered the premises and fired from inside," he added.
An interior ministry official said at least two security guards had been killed, and others were injured, in the ensuing battle.
The BBC's Rana Jawad in Tripoli says that as well as the cash hand-outs, the rebels are demanding that those wounded in the uprising last year are given medical treatment abroad.
The reward scheme was suspended last month amid allegations of fraud.
Our correspondent says that the building is no stranger to attacks - it is the second of its kind in the last two months - but that the latest one seemed more forceful.
The Libyan government has been trying to encourage thousands of militia members who took up arms against Col Gaddafi to disarm, amid concerns about stability.

Greek election: Syriza 'to tear up EU austerity deal'

2012-05-08T11:12:00.004-07:00

The leader of Greece's left-wing Syriza bloc has said he will try to form a coalition based on tearing up the terms of the EU/IMF bailout deal.

Alexis Tsipras, whose bloc came second in Sunday's vote, said Greek voters had "clearly nullified the loan agreement".
He has three days to reach a coalition deal and has told the two major parties to end their support for the austerity terms if they want to take part.
The European Commission and Germany say countries must stick to budget cuts.
European Commission President Jose Manuel Barroso said on Tuesday: "What member states have to do is be consistent, implementing the policies that they have agreed."
But, after French voters chose a new president on Sunday in Francois Hollande who has advocated greater focus on growth, EU leaders are to gather on 23 May for an informal meeting at which his proposals will be discussed.

Greek voters worried about their political future

German Chancellor Angela Merkel has written to Mr Hollande, saying that it is "up to us... to prepare our societies for the future and protect and advance prosperity in a sustainable way".
Dramatic slide The financial chaos has sparked huge social unrest in Greece and led to a deep mistrust of the parties considered to be the architects of austerity.

On Monday the leader of the centre-right New Democracy (ND) party, Antonis Samaras, abandoned attempts to form a coalition.
ND came first in the polls but, in common with the centre-left Pasok - the other traditional party of power - saw its share of the vote dramatically reduced.
In March, both parties backed the terms of the second EU/IMF deal agreed by technocrat Prime Minister Lucas Papademos.
In return for its two bailouts - worth a total of 240bn euros (£190bn; $310) - Greece agreed to make deep cuts to pensions and pay, raise taxes and slash thousands of public sector jobs.

Mr Samaras's party backed the bailout deal in February

Their votes drained away in Sunday's elections in favour of smaller parties on the left and right, with Syriza picking up almost 17% of the vote. But because ND came first, it was awarded a 50-seat bonus in parliament according to Greek rules, and was initially asked to form a government.
Twenty-four hours later it was Mr Tsipras who was given a mandate to form a coalition during a meeting with President Karolos Papoulias and immediately he began talks with prospective partners.
Greek media said he had enlisted the support of a smaller left-wing party, Democratic Left, but had failed to persuade the communist KKE to back him. He is likely to talk to all the party leaders, except the ultra-nationalist Golden Dawn.
If the 38-year-old Syriza leader hopes to obtain the 151 seats needed for a majority in parliament, it is already clear he will need the backing of at least one of the two major parties.
He told reporters "the pro-bailout parties no longer have a majority in parliament to vote in destructive measures for the Greek people" and urged them to write to the EU and IMF saying they were taking back earlier promises of co-operation made as a condition of the bailouts.
Mr Tsipras made his position clear to reporters in a five-point plan:

Cancelling the bailout terms, notably laws that further cut wages and pensions
Scrapping laws that abolish workers rights, particularly a law abolishing collective labour agreements due to come into effect on 15 May
Promoting changes to deepen democracy and social justice
Investigating Greece's banking system which received almost 200bn euros of public money
Setting up an international committee to find out the causes of Greece's public deficit and putting on hold all debt servicing

Under Greece's current bailout plan, billions of euros in further austerity cuts will have to be found in June - and the country is also counting on a 30bn euro (£24bn; $39bn) instalment in EU/IMF funds.

Gay' man's deportation from UK to Cameroon halted

2012-05-06T10:51:00.004-07:00

The deportation of a man to Cameroon has been temporarily halted after he refused to board a flight from London to Paris, the BBC has been told.

Campaigners say Ediage Valerie Ekwedde's life is at risk, because he is gay, and should not be removed.
Mr Ekwedde fears persecution in Cameroon but the UK Border Agency found "no credible evidence" he was gay.
It is understood the 26-year-old is being held at Harmondsworth detention centre near Heathrow.
He was to be flown to Paris to catch a connecting flight.
Air France said its 07:10 BST flight from Heathrow to Paris Charles de Gaulle was delayed on Saturday morning due to "operational difficulties".
Campaigners said he managed to get a message to the Air France pilot saying that he would "make a fuss" because his life was in danger.
According to the campaigners, the pilot is said to have decided not to fly with him out of consideration to the other passengers.
Mr Ekwedde, arrived in Britain last November claiming he had been persecuted in Cameroon because of his sexuality.
In July 2010, the UK Supreme Court ruled that two gay men from Cameroon and Iran were entitled to refugee status in a landmark ruling.
The Supreme Court heard that in Cameroon jail sentences for homosexuality ranged from six months to five years.
A UK Border Agency spokesperson said: "We and the courts found that this individual is in no need of asylum. When someone is found not to have a right to be here, we expect them to leave voluntarily. If they fail to do so, we will seek to remove them.
"We have already changed our guidance to ensure that we do not remove individuals who have demonstrated a proven risk of persecution on grounds of sexual orientation. When someone needs our protection, they will be given it."

Mali Islamist militants 'destroy' Timbuktu saint's tomb

2012-05-06T10:50:00.000-07:00

Islamist fighters said to be linked to al-Qaeda have destroyed the tomb of a local Muslim saint in the Malian town of Timbuktu, officials and locals say.

The gunmen attacked the shrine and set it on fire, saying it was contrary to Islam, according to the official.
Tuareg rebels and Islamist fighters took control of Timbuktu, a UN heritage site, after a military coup in March.
Unesco said the town's capture could endanger its "outstanding architectural wonders" .
Residents said armed men from the Islamist group Ansar Dine threatened locals going to worship at the grave of Sidi Mahmoud Ben Amar.
"What you are doing is haram! (forbidden). Seek help from God directly rather than the dead," one of the gunmen said, according to a resident quoted by the Reuters news agency.

Mali coup: The story so far

22 March: Junta seizes power, accusing President Amadou Toumani Toure of not enough to tackle rebels
28 March: Mali suspended by regional bloc, Ecowas
1 April: Rebels seize whole of north, including historic city of Timbuktu
6 April: Tuareg rebels declare independence for the north - not recognised internationally
12 April: Speaker of parliament Dioncounda Traore sworn in as Mali's interim leader
17 April: Junta arrests several allies of former President Toure
19 April: Mr Toure and his family flee to Senegal
30 April: Fighting breaks out in Bamako
1 May: Junta forces say they have defeated a 'counter-coup'

A local politician, El Hadj Baba Haidara, told Reuters about the atttack:

"They attacked the grave, broke doors, windows and wooden gates that protect it. They brought it outside and burn it," he said. "This tomb is sacred, it is too difficult to bear."
A local official said the fighters had threatened to destroy other saints' tombs, according to the AFP news agency.
Strict Islamists regard shines as idolatrous, while some Muslims, especially Sufis, regard them as an accepted part of Muslim worship.
On its website, Unesco, the UN's cultural agency, says Timbuktu is the location of three great mosques dating back to the 14th century, as well 16 cemeteries and mausoleums.
Founded in the 12th Century, Timbuktu became wealthy at the nexus of important trading routes for salt and gold, reaching its apogee in the 15th and 16th centuries.
It became a major intellectual and religious centre, and still houses tens of thousands of manuscripts, some dating back centuries.
Rebels demanding independence for a Tuareg homeland and fighters of Ansar Dine, which is said to be linked to al-Qaeda, took advantage of the chaos that followed the March coup to overrun the northern half of Mali.
The coup leaders in Bamako said they had toppled President Amadou Toumani Toure because he failed to give sufficient support to troops battling Tuareg rebels in the north.
Under international pressure, they later handed back power to a civilian government, but remain influential.

33 killed in Afghan clashes

2012-05-06T00:12:00.004-07:00

Five policemen were killed by a roadside bomb in eastern Afghanistan, and 28 Taliban fighters were killed in separate military operations, officials said on Saturday.

The bomb struck a border police vehicle in Durbaba district of Nangarhar province near Pakistan, killing all five policemen, Ahmad Zia Abdulzai, the provincial governor's spokesman, said.

No group claimed responsibility.

The military claimed to have killed 27 rebel fighters in the southern province of Helmand in the last two days.

Local government spokesman Daud Ahmadi said 17 insurgents were killed by Afghan troops in Nad Ali, Nahr-e-Saraj and Greshk districts.

“Eleven other insurgents were killed during an operation of NATO-led forces in another area of Greshk district as they were preparing to attack police checkpoint,” he said