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Senate ends judge's questioning

Thu, 16 Jul 2009 16:16:36 -0500

President Barack Obama's choice for US Supreme Court justice, Sonia Sotomayor, is facing a final day of questioning at her confirmation hearing.

The Senate Judiciary Committee is also calling witnesses to question them about her record as a judge.

Ms Sotomayor has so far avoided having the "meltdown" one of her critics said was needed to derail her confirmation.

A full Senate vote is expected in early August. Ms Sotomayor would be the first Hispanic Supreme Court justice.

During the questioning this week, Ms Sotomayor vigorously defended her impartiality as a judge.

On Wednesday, she was asked again to explain her comment that "a wise Latina woman with the richness of her experiences would more often than not reach a better conclusion than a white male who hasn't lived that life".

And again Ms Sotomayor insisted that it was a rhetorical flourish gone awry.

She has also been careful in responses to questions about any major issue that could come before her as a justice, such as abortion and gun law.

Thursday's hearing sees a variety of witnesses called, including Frank Ricci, a white firefighter from New Haven, Connecticut.

His case has figured prominently in discussion about Ms Sotomayor's suitability to serve as a Supreme Court justice.

Mr Ricci was among a group of firefighters who took a promotion exam, only to see the results dismissed by city authorities after no African-Americans and only two Hispanics did well enough to win promotion.

Ms Sotomayor and fellow appeals court judges ruled that Mr Ricci and his colleagues had not been unfairly denied promotions, a ruling subsequently overruled by the Supreme Court.

After the hearings by the judiciary committee, a full vote in the Senate is expected in early August.

The Democrats have enough votes to block any Republican attempts to stop her confirmation.

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India puts Pakistan talks on hold

Thu, 16 Jul 2009 16:05:25 -0500

India will not start peace talks with Pakistan until the Mumbai attacks suspects are brought to justice, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh has said.

Mr Singh was speaking after meeting his Pakistani counterpart in Egypt.

A joint statement said the two countries would co-operate to fight terrorism - and this should not be linked to wider peace talks.

The talks were suspended after the Mumbai (Bombay) attacks in which militants killed more than 160 people.

India has accused Pakistan-based fighters from the banned militant group Lashkar-e-Taiba of carrying out the attacks.

Pakistan has admitted they were partly planned on its soil - and vowed to do all it can to bring the suspects to justice.

Pakistan 'happy'

Pakistani Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani and Mr Singh met in Egypt, on the sidelines of a summit of the Non-Aligned Movement.

It was third high-level meeting between the two nuclear-armed neighbours since the Mumbai attacks last November, which brought an abrupt halt to peace talks.

"Both leaders agreed that terrorism is the main threat to both countries"

Joint statement

Full text: India-Pakistan statement

Breaking the ice

"Both leaders affirmed their resolve to fight terrorism and co-operate with each other to this end," the joint statement from the talks said.

"Pakistan has provided an updated status dossier on the investigations of the Mumbai attacks," the statement said.

The two leaders also agreed to "share real-time, credible and actionable information on any future terrorist threat".

Last week Pakistan said the trial of five men suspected of involvement in the attack on Mumbai's Taj Hotel was likely to start this week.

The prime ministers' joint statement said action on terrorism "should not be linked to the composite dialogue process" - which includes talks on the disputed territory of Kashmir.

The BBC's Sanjoy Majumder in Delhi says many in India were likely to see this as a major climb-down in Delhi's stance.

But later, Mr Singh told a news conference: "Composite dialogue cannot begin unless and until terrorist heads which shook Mumbai are properly accounted for, [and] perpetrators of these heinous crimes are brought to book."

Mr Gilani told the BBC he was confident things were moving in the right direction - and he was happy that the Pakistanis had supplied new intelligence of interest to the Indians.

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Google sees quarterly profit up

Thu, 16 Jul 2009 15:57:04 -0500

Internet search engine Google has seen better-than-expected quarterly results even as revenue growth slowed following the economic downturn.

The firm saw net income reach $1.48bn (£900m) in the three months to 30 June, compared to $1.25bn a year before.

Revenue rose 3% for the period at $5.52bn and just over half - 53% - came from outside the US.

Analysts reacted broadly positively to the results, noting that the firm had performed well in containing costs.

The firm was upbeat about the results "especially given the continued macro-economic downturn".

Chief executive Eric Schmidt said: "These results highlight the enduring strength of our business model and our responsible efforts to manage expenses."

Google earned $5.36 a share, excluding certain items, better than the $5.08 per share forecast by analysts.

Sameet Sinha, an analyst with JMP Securities said: "The numbers are good. Revenue was in line with expectations, and strong operating efficiencies were brought about by the new chief executive."

"It definitely shows that Google is a best-of-breed company for online advertising, and it's a must buy."

But Ross Sandler, an analyst at RBC Capital, described the results as mixed.

"Overall, the focus is on what's going to happen in the second half."

Shares in the firm Google gained 1% to $442.60 on but later dropped 2.4% in after-hours trade.

Paid clicks - which include clicks related to ads served on Google sites and the sites of AdSense partners - were 15% higher year-on-year, but 2% less than in the first quarter.

This article is from the BBC News website. © British Broadcasting Corporation, The BBC is not responsible for the content of external internet sites.

Spy gave shuttle secrets to China

Thu, 16 Jul 2009 15:53:08 -0500

A Chinese-born engineer in the United States has been found guilty of passing space shuttle technology secrets to China, for more than 30 years.

Dongfan "Greg" Chung, 73, is the first person to be found guilty under a federal law, introduced in 1996, to counter economic espionage.

Mr Chung worked for Rockwell International, and then Boeing, until the FBI investigation began in 2006.

He will be sentenced in November, and could spend decades in prison.

A court statement said the judge in California had found Chung guilty of economic espionage, acting as a foreign agent and making false statements to the FBI.

The trial began on 2 June.

Public domain

Chung, a naturalised American citizen, worked at Rockwell International from 1973. Rockwell's defence and space unit was taken over by Boeing in 1996.

Chung's defence team admitted that he took Boeing papers home, but said he had wanted the information so he could write a book.

All the information he had given to China, they said, was already in the public domain.

His lawyer Thomas H Bienert told the court: "Mr Chung walked an interesting line, and a risky line, but not a line that was criminal."

The defence team says it will appeal against the verdict.

Chung is to remain in custody until his sentencing on 9 November. He could face up to 90 years in jail.

This article is from the BBC News website. © British Broadcasting Corporation, The BBC is not responsible for the content of external internet sites.

Chaos besets 9/11 court hearing

Thu, 16 Jul 2009 15:03:29 -0500

Five men accused of planning the 9/11 attacks on America have boycotted a hearing at a US military court in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba.

Alleged mastermind Khalid Sheikh Mohammed and four others did not appear in the high security courtroom when the hearing started.

The judge had ruled that three of the five - including Mr Sheikh Mohammed - would not be able to speak in court.

The hearing was meant to focus on medical reports on two of the five.

A US prosecutor said those two would be brought to court by "all necessary means".

Lawyers are currently discussing whether all five should be allowed to speak.

Trial confusion

Khalid Sheikh Mohammed - described by US intelligence as "one of history's most infamous terrorists" - earlier admitted being responsible "from A to Z" for 9/11.

Believed to be the number three al-Qaeda leader before his capture in Pakistan in March 2003, he told a pre-trial hearing at Guantanamo in December 2008 that he wanted to plead guilty to all charges against him.

The Obama administration has yet to announce how the five defendants will be tried or where they will be held if the camp at Guantanamo Bay is closed by January 2010, as promised.

US President Barack Obama has ordered a halt to military commissions at Guantanamo Bay but preparations continue for military trials and prosecutors say they are ready to begin proceedings against 66 detainees.

Mr Obama has conceded that some will be tried in military courts once Congress passes legislation which puts in place a number of legal safeguards.

This article is from the BBC News website. © British Broadcasting Corporation, The BBC is not responsible for the content of external internet sites.

Turkmenistan to create desert sea

Thu, 16 Jul 2009 14:27:36 -0500

Turkmenistan has launched the latest stage of a plan to channel water across thousands of kilometres of desert to create a vast inland sea.

The lake will be filled with drainage water from the country's cotton fields.

President Kurbanguly Berdymukhamedov said the "Golden Age Lake" plan showed his country was preserving nature and improving the environment.

But critics say the water will be full of fertiliser and insecticides, and will evaporate quickly.

The project is one of the biggest and most ambitious in the world, and could cost up to $20bn (£12bn).

President Berdymukhamedov, wielding a spade, opened up the first tributary to bring water to a natural depression in the Karakum Desert. The desert covers more than 80% of Turkmenistan.

He told the crowd that the lake would make the desert bloom.

"Our initiatives to provide water and environmental security... demonstrate that Turkmenistan is making huge efforts to contribute to common work on preserving the nature and improving the environment," he said.

The water from the canals, he said, would attract wildlife and open up new land for agriculture.

Village elders in traditional clothing helped the water flow into the new channel.

After the opening ceremony, Mr Berdymukhamedov mounted a bejewelled horse to ride back to the helicopter which brought him in from the capital, Ashkhabad.

'Dead sea' fears

The Turkmen government, on its website, said the project "would go down in history of the epoch of New Revival as one of its brightest pages".

Work on the project began in 2000, with the construction of two canals which bisect the country.

Thousands of smaller feeder channels will funnel the water from Turkmenistan's irrigated cotton fields to the new lake. Treatment plants are planned to clean the water.

It could take many years to fill the lake - in the Karashor depression - but it will eventually cover 2,000 sq km (770 sq miles).

Environmentalists say a lot of the water will simply disappear into the desert's permeable soil. Large amounts, they say, will also evaporate in the high temperatures, leaving the soil extremely salty.

They predict that the Golden Age Lake will simply become a new "Dead Sea".

Analysts also fear that Turkmenistan might be tempted to help fill the new lake with fresh water from the Amu Darya, a river on the Uzbek border, which Uzbekistan relies on for irrigation. This, they say, could start a war.

Water is a precious resource in Central Asia. Drought and overuse have caused ecological disasters like that of the Aral Sea to the north, which has shrunk by 90% in recent decades.

Under the rule of former President Saparmurat Niyazov, Turkmenistan was renowned for its huge, Soviet-style construction projects. Mr Niyazov, who died in 2006, initiated the Golden Age Lake project.

Mr Berdymukhamedov came to power vowing to break with the past. But he has already approved $1bn projects for Ashkhabad, including a new five-star hotel, government buildings, a new stadium and a "Palace of Happiness" for weddings.

This article is from the BBC News website. © British Broadcasting Corporation, The BBC is not responsible for the content of external internet sites.

Madonna stage collapses in France

Thu, 16 Jul 2009 14:21:53 -0500

A stage being constructed for a concert by pop star Madonna in France has collapsed, killing one person and injuring six, police say.

Technicians were setting up the stage at the Velodrome stadium in Marseille when the accident occurred at around 1715 (1515 GMT).

The concert, planned for Sunday, 19 July, has now been cancelled, officials announced.

It was part of the European leg of the Madonna's Sticky and Sweet tour.

The cause of the accident was not clear.

The frame "started shaking and collapsing", said Marseille city councillor Maurice Di Nocera.

"Fortunately, it didn't collapse too quickly, as there would have been quite a few victims," he said, according to AFP news agency.

Two of the injuries were serious, Interior Minister Brice Hortefeux said.

This article is from the BBC News website. © British Broadcasting Corporation, The BBC is not responsible for the content of external internet sites.

Superb Jimenez holds lead at Open

Thu, 16 Jul 2009 14:17:06 -0500

The 138th Open, Turnberry
Date: 16-19 July
Coverage: Live TV coverage on BBC Two, Online and the Red Button, live on Radio 5 Live and text commentary online on all four days

By Mark Orlovac
BBC Sport at Turnberry

Spaniard Miguel Angel Jimenez sunk a 65ft birdie putt at the last to take a one-shot lead after the first round of the 138th Open at Turnberry.

The 45-year-old carded six birdies in a superb 64 to lead five-time champion Tom Watson and 2003 winner Ben Curtis.

Lee Westwood, Paul Casey, Anthony Wall, Graeme McDowell and David Howell lead the British challenge on two under.

Padraig Harrington, chasing a hat-trick of Open titles, is one under, with world number one Tiger Woods one over.

England's Ian Poulter, tipped by many as one of the home favourites, had a day he would rather forget as he carded a five over 75.

"The sea looked like a pond, so nice, so calm. You can't ask for a better day"

Miguel Angel Jimenez

Paul Broadhurst got the Open under way in benign conditions at 0630 BST and that is how it stayed for the rest of the day - contrasting starkly with the dreadful weather that accompanied last year's opening round at Royal Birkdale.

The day was set up for low scoring and it was Jimenez who took advantage, striking from the edge of the green at the last in the early evening.

"I feel very well," said Jimenez, who missed the cut last year. "Since I woke up this morning, the sea looked like a pond, so nice, so calm. You can't ask for a better day to play.

"I was very good from tee to green and with the putter. That's what you need to make a score."

Jimenez's monster putt denied the 59-year-old Watson from becoming the oldest player to lead the Open after the opening round.

606: DEBATE

"Tom Watson = Pure Class"

Rabster

Watson showed the kind of links knowledge that guided him to his second Open title at Turnberry back in 1977 as he moved to the top of the leaderboard, rekindling memories of his 'Duel In The Sun' victory 32 years ago.

"Obviously the golf course played with no wind, and it was an easy test," said the eight-time major winner, who carded his best Open round since 1994.

"I feel inspired playing here. A lot of it has to do with being here at Turnberry, just a culmination of a lot of things that have gone on already. Again I feel that I'm playing well enough to win the golf tournament."

More to follow.

This article is from the BBC News website. © British Broadcasting Corporation, The BBC is not responsible for the content of external internet sites.

UN sets new North Korea sanctions

Thu, 16 Jul 2009 13:30:02 -0500

A United Nations committee has added a number of North Korean individuals and firms to a sanctions blacklist.

Five individuals, five firms and two weapons-related items are subject to the new sanctions regime.

A UN resolution in June toughened sanctions against North Korea after it conducted nuclear and missile tests.

The last time the UN imposed sanctions on Pyongyang, it responded by carrying out a nuclear test, says the BBC's Laura Trevelyan in New York.

According to the UN Security Council sanctions committee, nations are now banned from doing business with five firms involved in North Korea's nuclear programme, and five individuals are to have their financial assets frozen and face a travel ban.

They include:

three North Korean trading corporations - Namchongang, Korea Hykosin and Korea Tangun, as well as North Korea's bureau of atomic energy
an Iranian-based company, Hong Kong Electronics, is also sanctioned, accused of moving millions of dollars used for North Korea's nuclear programme
Yun Ho-jin, Ri Je-son, Hwang Sok-hwa, Ri Hong-sop and Han Yu-ro now face sanctions because of their involvement in the development of North Korea's banned activities
countries cannot sell North Korea certain types of graphite or para-aramid fiber because they could be used to make parts for ballistic missiles

The UN resolution in June called for inspections of ships to or from North Korea believed to be carrying goods connected to weapons of mass destruction.

It also broadened the arms embargo and further cut the North's access to the international financial system, but did not authorise the use of force.

Ties between North Korea and the outside world have grown extremely tense since it walked away from six-nation talks aimed at ending its nuclear programme.

It subsequently said it would "weaponise" its plutonium stocks and start enriching uranium, prompting fears that it is working to produce nuclear warheads small enough to put on missiles - though analysts say it could take a long time to do so.

This article is from the BBC News website. © British Broadcasting Corporation, The BBC is not responsible for the content of external internet sites.

Kremlin tribute to dead activist

Thu, 16 Jul 2009 12:56:23 -0500

Russian President Dmitry Medvedev has paid tribute to human rights activist Natalia Estemirova, whose murder has caused international concern.

Speaking in Germany, as her funeral was being held in Chechnya, he promised a thorough investigation and pledged those responsible would be caught.

Ms Estemirova was abducted in the Chechen capital Grozny and shot dead.

Russia's leader said it was "obvious" to him that her murder was linked to her professional work.

"She gave a very open and sometimes very tough evaluation of what's happening in the country"

Dmitry Medvedev
Russian president

Obituary: Natalia Estemirova

Remembering Natalia

The UN has urged a transparent investigation into the killing on Wednesday, while the White House says it is "disturbed and saddened" by the crime.

Memorial, the Russian human rights group which employed Ms Estemirova, has accused Chechnya's Kremlin-backed President, Ramzan Kadyrov, or his close associates of responsibility for the murder.

Mr Kadyrov denied any involvement and promised to investigate the killing personally.

'She spoke the truth'

"It is obvious to me that this murder is linked to her professional work and this work is necessary for any normal state," Mr Medvedev said after talks outside Munich with German Chancellor Angela Merkel.

"She did something very useful. She spoke the truth, she gave a very open and sometimes very tough evaluation of what's happening in the country.

"And that is the value of human rights campaigners, even if they make those in power feel uncomfortable."

Unlike his predecessor Vladmir Putin, President Medvedev has moved fast to publicly and explicitly condemn the murder of another prominent Russian human rights worker, the BBC's Rupert Wingfield Hayes reports from Moscow.

He is perhaps aware of the wave of international outrage generated by her killing, our correspondent says.

Ms Estemirova was abducted from her home in Chechnya and her bullet-riddled body was found dumped in a forest a few hours later.

For years she had documented appalling human rights abuses carried out by the Moscow-backed regime in Chechnya, our correspondent says.

Mourning in Grozny

About 100 mourners gathered outside Memorial's Grozny office on Thursday, some of them weeping.

The dead woman's daughter Lana, 15, said she was stunned by her mother's killing.

"I can't imagine [she] won't be around any more and that I won't be making a morning coffee for her any more," she was quoted as saying by the Associated Press news agency.

Taus Dzhankhotova, 50, said she had been unaware of the killing when she showed up at the office carrying a pizza and melon she wanted to give to Ms Estemirova in thanks for legal help she had provided.

"What for What for" she said, crying. "They kill only the good people here. If she was bad, they wouldn't have touched her."

Later, about 50 men and women walked in a slow procession along Prospekt Putin, a central Grozny street, to accompany the dead woman's body, which was being carried in a yellow minivan to a cemetery in western Chechnya.

While Mr Kadyrov denies he had anything to do with her killing, many of her colleagues in Russia's human rights community are unconvinced, our correspondent says.

Oleg Orlov, Memorial's chairman, blamed the Chechen president personally in a statement on the group's website.

Mr Kadyrov had, he said, "already threatened Natalia, insulted her, considered her a personal enemy".

The Chechen leader condemned Ms Estemirova's killers on Thursday saying they "must be punished as the cruellest of criminals".

This article is from the BBC News website. © British Broadcasting Corporation, The BBC is not responsible for the content of external internet sites.

Wanted Bashir 'drops Uganda trip'

Thu, 16 Jul 2009 12:30:56 -0500

Sudan's President Omar al-Bashir has cancelled plans to travel to Uganda, a Ugandan official says, following speculation he could be arrested.

Mr Bashir, wanted on an international arrest warrant for war crimes, had been invited to a development summit.

But a Ugandan minister's suggestion he could be arrested, followed by a retraction, made the trip less likely.

Mr Bashir has managed to visit several African countries despite the warrant for his arrest, issued in March.

But unlike those countries, Uganda is a signatory to the International Criminal Court (ICC), which issued the warrant for Mr Bashir's arrest.

Prosecutors accuse him of organising attacks on civilians in the Darfur region of Sudan.

'Avoiding embarrassment'

But the African Union, of which Uganda is a member, has decided not to honour the warrant.

Ugandan foreign affairs official James Mugume told Reuters that Uganda was committed to the ICC, but wanted to avoid an incident.

He said the invitation for Mr Bashir to attend the Smart Partnership International Dialogue meeting still stood.

"We will handle it through diplomatic channels to avoid embarrassment and inconvenience to anybody," he said.

On Monday Uganda's state Minister for International Affairs Henry Oryem Okello told the press that Mr Bashir faced arrest in Uganda.

But on Wednesday Sudan's state-owned Suna news agency reported that Ugandan President Yoweri Museveni had telephoned Mr Bashir to apologise and distance his government from Mr Okello's claims.

President Museveni said Mr Okello was not mandated to speak on behalf of the government on the issue.

This article is from the BBC News website. © British Broadcasting Corporation, The BBC is not responsible for the content of external internet sites.

Strauss century defies Australia

Thu, 16 Jul 2009 12:30:15 -0500

Second Ashes Test, Lord's: England v Australia
Date: 16-20 July
Coverage: Test Match Special commentary on BBC Radio 5 Live sports extra, BBC Radio 4 Long Wave, Red Button and BBC Sport website, plus live text commentary on BBC Sport website and mobiles. Live on Sky Sports

England captain Andrew Strauss believes Andrew Flintoff will play in the second Test at Lord's starting on Thursday.

Flintoff, who is to retire from Tests after the Ashes, has knee trouble after last week's drawn Test at Cardiff.

Asked whether Flintoff would be fit Strauss said: "The indications are that he will be. We're hopeful."

Kevin Pietersen has overcome Achilles problems, while Australia are again without the injured Brett Lee and will delay naming their side until the toss.

Pietersen had an injection in his back before the Cardiff Test and has had another jab in his troublesome Achilles.

England called in Ian Bell as cover but are convinced Pietersen will be fit so have released the Warwickshire batsman.

Australia captain Ricky Ponting admitted Lee had not been in contention for Lord's. "Brett didn't train with us and that means he won't be available for selection," he said.

Lee will step up his rehabilitation from a sore left side in the next few days and could return to the side for the third Test at Edgbaston on 30 July.

Paceman Steve Harmison will deputise for England if Flintoff misses out but may play anyway depending on the state of the pitch.

There were calls for 30-year-old Harmison to be recalled to the side after he impressed with six wickets against the Australians for the England Lions earlier this month, dismissing opener Phillip Hughes in both innings.

However, his Durham colleague Graham Onions, who took seven wickets on his debut against the West Indies at Lord's in May, is also in the squad.

The 26-year-old would be sure to come into serious consideration if England decide as expected to dispense with either Graham Swann or Monty Panesar.

606: DEBATE
How important is Flintoff to England's chances

Flintoff insists he will not be swayed by sentiment for his inclusion in the second Test and said: "Andrew Strauss is very supportive but I will make my decision on whether I will be fit enough to play and not because I want to play one last Test for England at Lord's."

Strauss believes Flintoff can still play a key role for England this summer and said: "He is very much part of our strongest XI as long as he is fit.

"We've got every confidence he can put in some big performances with bat and ball."

Looking ahead to the Lord's Test, the England skipper feels the team can benefit from the hard-fought draw in the tension-filled Cardiff Test.

"A lot of our individuals probably didn't play as well as they should have done but we hope the momentum and impetus we got from getting out of jail in Cardiff will put us in good shape for Thursday."

Meanwhile, former captain Michael Vaughan expects the England bowling attack to change regardless of whether Flintoff is fit to play.

"Steve Harmison has been picked as a like-for-like replacement for Flintoff if he is not fit and Graham Onions will play for one of the spinners," Vaughan told BBC Sport.

"Monty Panesar has the best record but Graeme Swann has been great and I expect the selectors to stick with him but I wouldn't rule out Monty at Lord's."

England squad: AJ Strauss (capt), AN Cook (Essex), RS Bopara (Essex), KP Pietersen (Hampshire), PD Collingwood (Durham), MJ Prior (Sussex, wkt), A Flintoff (Lancashire), SCJ Broad (Nottinghamshire), GP Swann (Nottinghamshire), JM Anderson (Lancashire), MS Panesar (Northamptonshire), IR Bell (Warwickshire), G Onions (Durham), SJ Harmison (Durham)

This article is from the BBC News website. © British Broadcasting Corporation, The BBC is not responsible for the content of external internet sites.

Plane fault 'caused Iran crash'

Thu, 16 Jul 2009 12:26:03 -0500

Caspian Airlines crash, 16 July 2009" border="0" vspace="4" hspace="4">

The crash of a Caspian Airlines flight that left 168 people dead was probably caused by technical problems, an Iranian official has said.

Deputy Transport Minister Ahmad Majidi was quoted as saying that the plane's pilot was probably not to blame.

The Russian-built Tupolev plane crashed on Wednesday in farmland in Qazvin province, 120km (75 miles) north-west of Tehran, killing everyone on board.

Flight data recorders have been recovered but are badly damaged.

The plane, which was flying from the Iranian capital to Yerevan in Armenia, crashed 16 minutes after take-off from Tehran's Imam Khomeini International Airport.

Witnesses said the 22-year-old Tu-154, which had 153 passengers and 15 crew, nose-dived from the sky with its tail on fire.

In pictures: Iran plane crash

Wreckage was scattered over a large area.

On Thursday, state television said the cause of the crash was still unknown.

But Mr Majidi was quoted by the semi-official Mehr news agency as saying that the pilot was experienced and the crash was "likely due to technical problems".

He added that the flight data recorders, or "black boxes", might be sent to Russia for analysis.

"Because of the severity of the crash, the two black box recorders found are badly damaged, even though they are made of steel," Mr Majidi said.

"The tapes were out on the ground. We might send the black box to the country where it was manufactured [Russia] to chase the issue with their help."

Most of those on board the flight were Iranian, though there were also some Armenian and Georgian citizens.

IRANIAN PLANE CRASHES

Feb 2006: Tupolev crashes in Tehran, kills 29 people
Dec 2005: C-130 military plane crashes near Tehran, kills 110
Feb 2003: Iranian military plane crashes, kills all 276 on board
Feb 2002: Tupolev crashes in west Iran, kills all 199 on board

Air disasters timeline

Mr Majidi said DNA testing would be needed to identify the remains.

Friends and relatives of the victims gathered at the crash site for a religious ceremony on Thursday, throwing flowers into the crater created when the plane hit the ground.

Archbishop Sebo Sarkissian of Iran's Armenian community was among those to take part.

It was the third deadly crash of a Tupolev Tu-154 in Iran since 2002.

Correspondents say Iran's civil and military air fleets are made up of elderly aircraft, in poor condition due to their age and lack of maintenance.

Since the Islamic revolution of 1979, trade embargoes by Western nations have forced Iran to buy mainly Russian-built planes to supplement an existing fleet of Boeings and other American and European models.

This article is from the BBC News website. © British Broadcasting Corporation, The BBC is not responsible for the content of external internet sites.

UK swine flu deaths jump to 29

Thu, 16 Jul 2009 12:17:51 -0500

Twenty-nine people have now died in the UK after contracting swine flu, the government has announced.

There have been 26 deaths in England and three in Scotland, said a Department of Health spokeswoman.

On Monday the number of reported deaths stood at 17. Officials estimated there were 55,000 new cases last week.

A Wiltshire patient who tested positive for swine flu has died in Swindon. The third victim in Scotland, a female tourist, died on Wednesday.

The woman - who suffered underlying health problems - died after being admitted to hospital in Inverness three weeks ago, said Health Secretary Nicola Sturgeon.

The BBC's medical correspondent, Fergus Walsh, says the jump in the number of deaths is to be expected, given the huge leap in the number of cases.

Given the sheer number of cases, it is certain there will be more deaths, he says.

But for most flu patients the symptoms remain mild.

This article is from the BBC News website. © British Broadcasting Corporation, The BBC is not responsible for the content of external internet sites.

Orthodox strife grips Jerusalem

Thu, 16 Jul 2009 11:35:01 -0500

Israeli police have closed off areas of Jerusalem where ultra-Orthodox Jews have been staging violent protests.

Haredi demonstrators set fire to rubbish bins and threw stones at police in protest at perceived interference by the authorities in their community.

The latest incidents followed the arrest of an ultra-orthodox woman for alleged abuse of her young son.

At least 15 protesters have been arrested and Mayor Nir Barkat ordered some municipal services be cut off.

The protests are taking place in two ultra-Orthodox neighbourhoods, Mea Shearim and Bar-Ilan.

There were reports of renewed violence between black-garbed Haredim and police using horses and water cannon.

Anger is high at what has been seen as the "unjust" arrest of the mother, who is said to be suffering from a mental disorder and who is alleged to have deliberately starved her three-year-old son.

Another current Haredi grievance has been the Sabbath opening of a private car park near the religiously sensitive Old City area, when Orthodox Jews abstain from work.

Jerusalem is home to large Orthodox communities whose strict adherence to Jewish law sometimes puts them at odds with more secular Jews.

This article is from the BBC News website. © British Broadcasting Corporation, The BBC is not responsible for the content of external internet sites.

No more Sears Tower - the Chicago landmark is renamed

Thu, 16 Jul 2009 11:33:09 -0500

The Sears Tower in Chicago - one of the most famous skyscrapers in the world - is being renamed.

The 110-storey structure, which opened in 1973, is being rechristened the Willis Tower on Thursday.

London-based insurance brokerage Willis Group Holdings has secured the naming rights as part of an agreement to lease space.

But the name change has angered some protesters, who have launched a website called www.itsthesearstower.com.

"The Sears Tower is not just a Chicago landmark, it's a national landmark that's known around the world"

Aaron Perlut
PR agency Elasticity

Tourists from around the world have visited the tower's gallery to see views of Chicago.

Chicago teacher Marianne Turk, 46, told the Associated Press news agency that she was firmly against the change, as she waited to go up.

"It's always going to be the Sears Tower. It's part of Chicago and I won't call it Willis Tower. In Chicago we hold fast," she said.

Chicago landmark

The Willis Tower will be introduced to Chicago by the city's mayor, Richard Daley, during a public renaming ceremony hosted by Willis Group Holdings.

The company is hopeful that the name change will catch on.

"Everybody knows that tower," chief executive Joe Plumeri said ahead of the ceremony.

"If we're good corporate citizens and do what we should, hopefully Willis and the tower and Chicago will all become synonymous."

Other well-known buildings have undergone name changes - New York City's Pan Am Building became the MetLife Building, and Chicago's Standard Oil Building is now the Aon Center.

But people have not always taken to them.

Public relations experts said it could take decades for the new name of the Chicago skyscraper to take its place in the public consciousness.

"The Sears Tower is not just a Chicago landmark, it's a national landmark that's known around the world," Aaron Perlut, a managing partner at St Louis-based PR agency Elasticity, told Reuters news agency.

"We see it on our TVs, in movies and magazines, so it is part of pop culture."

"Gaining public acceptance of renaming the Sears Tower will be extremely challenging. Even with a very long, integrated marketing campaign we could be looking at a 20-to-30-year period," he said.

The building's original tenant, Sears Roebuck and Co, moved out in 1992 but its sign stayed on.

A real estate investment group, American Landmark Properties of Skokie, Illinois, now owns the building.

This article is from the BBC News website. © British Broadcasting Corporation, The BBC is not responsible for the content of external internet sites.

Islamists 'share French hostages'

Thu, 16 Jul 2009 11:18:41 -0500

Two French security advisers seized in Somalia this week have been split up and are now being held by two different hardline groups, reports say.

The pair were snatched by gunmen from a Mogadishu hotel on Tuesday and were being held by the Hizbul-Islam group.

But officials say the al-Shabab group wanted them and after a row, Hizbul-Islam handed one of the men over.

Al-Shabab has recently carried out several beheadings, amputations and stonings in areas it controls.

They are allied with Hizbul-Islam against the UN-backed interim government and together control much of southern Somalia.

Both groups are said to have links to al-Qaeda and have been reinforced by foreign fighters.

A BBC East Africa correspondent, Peter Greste, says kidnappings in Somalia are normally about the negotiation of ransom payments rather than making violent points about foreign interference.

But he says this abduction has diplomats worried because making a point about foreign support for the government might be more valuable than demanding a cash payout.

'Good health'

A group of gunmen dressed in military uniform seized the men on Tuesday morning and handed them over to the Hizbul-Islam group.

The move apparently sparked a row with the al-Shabab militants, who managed to persuade the other group to hand over one of the hostages.

Meeting al-Shabab

Somali justice - Islamist-style

An unnamed al-Shabab militant told Reuters the two men had been shared "to avoid clashes between Islamists".

Somali Social Affairs Minister Mohammed Ali Ibrahim told French media the government was trying to free the men.

"The Shabab party took one of the two hostages and the other is in the hands of the Hizbul-Islam, but we're in negotiations with them and we're hoping for a positive result," he said.

Mr Ibrahim said that Somalia's prime minister had spoken to one of the hostages who was being held in Mogadishu and said they are apparently in good health.

Moderate Islamist Sheikh Sharif Sheikh Ahmed was sworn in as president in January after UN-brokered peace talks.

He promised to introduce Sharia law but the hardliners accuse him of being a western stooge.

The French advisors were reportedly helping to train the forces of government, which has recently appealed for foreign help to tackle the Islamists.

The US last month confirmed that it has sent weapons to the government, which is also being protected by some 4,000 African Union troops in Mogadishu.

Somalia has not had a functioning national government since 1991.

This article is from the BBC News website. © British Broadcasting Corporation, The BBC is not responsible for the content of external internet sites.

Iceland moves towards joining EU

Thu, 16 Jul 2009 11:00:35 -0500

Parliament in Iceland is preparing to vote on whether the Nordic country should seek to join the 27-member European Union.

The Prime Minister, Johanna Sigurdardottir, predicted that the result of the vote would be very close.

Her Social Democrat party has advocated closer ties to the EU and adoption of the currency, the Euro.

But critics fear Iceland's vital fishing industry could suffer if it is forced to abide by EU quotas.

The vote is taking place after five days of exhaustive debate, and the governing coalition is divided on the issue.

Prime Minister Sigurdardottir told state television: "I think the vote will be a very close one, but I am optimistic. It is natural that we take the time to debate the issue."

'Everything to lose'

If parliament supports membership, the Icelandic government will then have to present its application to the EU and - if successful - put the issue to the Icelandic people in a referendum.

Opponents have staged demonstrations outside the parliament in Reykjavik, some carrying banners reading: "EU - No Thanks".

One demonstrators said: "We have everything to lose, and nothing to win. This about fisheries and our farmers."

Correspondents say Iceland, with a population of just 320,000, has traditionally been sceptical about joining the European Union.

But, they say, many people there have warmed to the idea of membership following the devastating economic meltdown which saw the top Icelandic banks collapse in a matter of days last year.

This article is from the BBC News website. © British Broadcasting Corporation, The BBC is not responsible for the content of external internet sites.

Iranian nuclear chief steps down

Thu, 16 Jul 2009 10:49:59 -0500

The head of Iran's nuclear organisation, Gholam Reza Aghazadeh, has resigned, according to the Isna news agency.

The report said the nuclear chief had submitted a letter of resignation to President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad nearly three weeks ago.

It was not immediately clear what triggered the resignation.

Iran says its nuclear programme is for peaceful purposes, denying Western claims that it wants a nuclear bomb.

Mr Aghazadeh also stepped down as the country's vice-president, Isna reported.

Correspondents say Mr Aghazadeh is a veteran official who served as oil minister before taking up his post at the atomic organisation under former President Mohammad Khatami.

This article is from the BBC News website. © British Broadcasting Corporation, The BBC is not responsible for the content of external internet sites.

Message to Iran

Thu, 16 Jul 2009 10:30:28 -0500

By Jonathan Marcus
BBC Diplomatic Correspondent

Earlier this week, two Israeli Sa'ar Five class warships - the corvettes Hanit and the Eilat, two of the most sophisticated vessels in Israel's small navy - passed through the Suez Canal into the Red Sea.

Late last month, an Israeli Dolphin class submarine, possibly also accompanied by other vessels, passed through the canal for a brief deployment in the Red Sea before returning the way it had come.

These are all very public deployments and for good reason.

These Israeli naval movements are intended as a clear warning to Iran that Israel retains military options should Tehran fail to halt its uranium enrichment programme.

Future attack

An Israeli official is quoted in The Times newspaper as saying that the movement of the two missile boats should be seen as being linked to a future attack on Iran.

"Israel is investing time in preparing itself for the complexity of an attack on Iran," says the official. "These manoeuvres are a message to Iran that Israel will follow up on its threats."

Clearly any attack on Iran would in large part be carried out by the Israeli air force.

But the navy could play a part too. Israel's Dolphin-class submarines were designed to fire relatively short-range Harpoon missiles.

But they also have a number of larger-diameter torpedo tubes from which a much longer-range weapon might be fired.

There has been considerable speculation that Israel has designed a long-range cruise missile capable of being fired from the Dolphin boats, and that this might even have the option of being equipped with a nuclear warhead.

Tactical options

Israel's growing interest in Red Sea operations is not solely linked to the perceived threat from Iran's nuclear programme.

Israel is also increasingly concerned about arms smuggling into the Gaza Strip.

Analysts believe that much of the weaponry travels by sea from Iran to Sudan and then on to Egypt.

Last March there were unconfirmed reports that Israeli warplanes had attacked an arms convoy in Sudan.

All in all the Red Sea is fast becoming a more important area of operations for Israel's armed forces.

Nonetheless, Tehran remains Israel's central strategic concern.

A huge variety of preparations are underway for a potential attack against Iran's nuclear infrastructure.

There have been long-range large-scale air exercises over the Mediterranean. There are the recent naval deployments.

And the revelations concerning Syria's alleged nuclear reactor - with pictures of the installation taken on site - gave a tantalising hint of Israel's intelligence capabilities.

Academic and military experts have produced a torrent of reports about just how such an operation might be carried out.

But it is clear that Israel may have some surprises up its sleeve, and that its commanders intend to maximise their tactical options whether an attack comes from the air or from the sea.

This article is from the BBC News website. © British Broadcasting Corporation, The BBC is not responsible for the content of external internet sites.

Bongo son set for Gabon candidacy

Thu, 16 Jul 2009 10:10:46 -0500

The son of Gabon's late president, Omar Bongo, has been chosen by the ruling party to stand in the presidential election expected in late August.

The decision was announced on national TV by Gabonese Democratic Party's deputy general secretary Angel Ondo.

Rights groups had argued that no member of the former government should stand again, and expressed particular concern over Mr Bongo's son, Ali-Ben Bongo.

They accuse the ruling party of funding election campaigns with state money.

Election officials have recommended 30 August as the date for the next election.

The death of 73-year-old Omar Bongo, who ran Gabon for more than 40 years, was announced in June.

His son, who is the current defence minister, has been heavily tipped to replace him.

The 50-year-old's nomination is due to be formally ratified by a party congress later this week.

This article is from the BBC News website. © British Broadcasting Corporation, The BBC is not responsible for the content of external internet sites.

Senate scandals

Thu, 16 Jul 2009 09:46:36 -0500

By Gary Duffy
BBC News, Sao Paulo

Politicians as a class are hardly the most admired group of people in Brazilian society, but even using a fairly low benchmark the last few months have done little to enhance their standing.

The focus of recent attention and scandals has been the upper house of the Brazilian Congress, the Senate, home to just 81 politicians representing all parts of this vast country.

At the heart of what is only the latest of many controversies has been the revelation of more than 600 "secret acts" which were signed over recent years and which were not officially approved by the Senate.

These previously undisclosed measures included providing jobs for family members and friends of senators, as well as paying extra hours and giving pay rises to members of staff.

Some of those hired never turned up to do the work for which they were employed. The federal police have now been asked to carry out an investigation, and the "secret acts" have been annulled.

Election impact

There has also been an outcry over some senators using their foreign travel allowance to let relatives make trips overseas, and the improper use of housing allowances.

"It lowers the image that the Brazilian population has of the Congress, even lower than it already was," said David Fleischer, political science professor at the University of Brasilia.

"So the people have lost faith in their legislative institutions."

The scandal also has a wider significance because of its implications for next year's presidential election when President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, despite his personal popularity, is not eligible to run for a third consecutive term.

One of the best known names in Brazilian politics has been at the heart of this political storm - the current president of the Senate, Jose Sarney, who despite his position, claimed to know nothing of the "secret acts".

Among a range of allegations he has faced is failing to report to the tax authorities a bank account he held abroad. He says he was not aware of the account and has authorised the relevant authorities to investigate.

He has also admitted that he did not declare a large home he owns in Brasilia to the federal electoral authorities, but says it was on his tax statement. He has also been accused of nepotism in relation to unpublished or "secret" appointments.

Mr Sarney become Brazil's first president after democracy was restored in 1985 following 21 years of military dictatorship - a role he acquired when the politician elected to the post died unexpectedly.

Key ally

Critics would say he is the epitome of the old style "coronels" or regional political chiefs who used to rule Brazil through patronage and favours, and after 50 years in public life he certainly could be regarded as a tenacious politician.

It is unusual, by any standards, for a head of state to return as a president of one of the houses of Congress, but he has done this three times.

He is a key ally of President Lula and is a member of the broadly based Brazilian Democratic Movement Party (PMDB), the biggest party in the country, and an important part of the governing coalition.

When pressure was growing on Mr Sarney to resign, President Lula was quick to offer support, pointing to his years of public service and saying it was not right to treat him as a "common person".

It was a defence that prompted much scorn and disbelief. News magazine Veja declared that "we the common people should remind the feudal masters in Brasilia that all are equal under the law".

But Mr Sarney has held on, also complaining of a lack of respect. He said the crisis related to the Senate and not to him. "The crisis is the Senate's and it is this institution that we must preserve," he said.

Mr Sarney's survival also stems from his importance for next year's presidential race, when the president would like to see his chief of staff and chosen successor, Dilma Rousseff, elected.

"Sarney is PMDB - and the PMDB has made it very, very clear that if Sarney goes, let's say under pressure from Lula, or let's say neutrality of Lula, that they will think twice about an alliance in 2010," said Professor Fleischer.

"He needs the PMDB to maintain his coalition majority in Congress for the next year and a half. He desperately needs the PMDB to be able to govern."

Unexpected partners

Offering support for Jose Sarney was tricky for President Lula to sell to some in his Workers Party (PT), says Joao Pedro Ribeiro of Tendencias Consultancy in Sao Paulo.

"Many members of the PT in the Senate...were not pleased and did not publicly defend Sarney, as Lula requested," Mr Ribeiro said.

But for Mr Ribeiro, it seems Lula is willing to alienate his own party if that ensures electoral success.

It is certainly apparent President Lula sees "governability" and next year's election as the overriding priority and it has also led him to take sides with some unexpected partners.

This week he was praising the former President Fernando Collor de Mello, for his efforts to help the government in the Senate. Mr Collor resigned from the presidency ahead of his impeachment in 1992 amid allegations of corruption.

The politicians in Brasilia are surely not the only elected representatives around the world to face this kind of controversy - as they have been quick to point out.

However, with the election of a new president due in 2010, the stakes are high, and it seems the key figures in this drama are keen to ride out the storm, irrespective of any consequences it may have for the reputation of the Brazilian Congress.

This article is from the BBC News website. © British Broadcasting Corporation, The BBC is not responsible for the content of external internet sites.

Quest for justice

Thu, 16 Jul 2009 06:57:37 -0500

By Lucy Ash
BBC Radio 4, Crossing Continents

Natalia Estemirova, murdered this week, was Chechnya's foremost defender of human rights and an exceptionally brave woman, as I discovered on a recent visit to the capital Grozny, where I had come to investigate a string of abductions, unexplained disappearances and murders of women.

The desolate field was on the edge of town next to a disused factory. I heard crows and distant traffic as we walked along in the dusk, marshland on either side.

"One of the women was wearing red boots," said Natalia. "There was very little grass in winter so you could spot her a mile off."

My companion was a tall, determined-looking woman, who took big strides and talked at a rate of knots. Unlike most women in Grozny these days she wore no headscarf.

Natalia was head of the Grozny branch of Memorial, the organisation that campaigns for human rights across Russia.

She had brought me to this dreary suburb to see the place where three women's bodies were found one day last November.

The morning after that gruesome discovery, four more dead women were discovered around the Chechen capital.

All seven had been shot in the head with an automatic weapon.

As we stood shivering in the dying light, I never dreamt that three weeks later Natalia, herself, would suffer a similar fate.

On Wednesday she was bundled into a van as she left her home. Her body was found later the same day in the neighbouring republic of Ingushetia, with multiple bullet wounds.

There is little doubt in Chechnya that her killing was connected to her investigative and campaigning work - including the case of the seven murdered women.

Warning

Back in November, the chief investigator in Grozny suggested they were victims of so-called honour killings.

"Unfortunately, some of our young women have forgotten the mountain woman's code of behaviour," he said. "Their male relatives feel they have been insulted and sometimes take the law into their own hands."

Natalia dismissed that theory. So did the brother of one of the victims.

"Somebody clearly wanted to make a point. So this was meant as a warning"

Natalia Estemirova

He told me that two of the women had last been seen being driven off in a van by men in paramilitary uniforms. Masked men with guns were also spotted several times outside the home of another of the dead women.

Natalia told me she thought that at least one of the victims had links to brothels frequented by paramilitary groups.

She said one of the women was friendly with men who worked for a commander of Chechen President Ramzan Kadyrov's security apparatus. The commander was later assassinated in Moscow.

Whether criminals, rogue policemen or soldiers killed the seven women is unclear. But Natalia was adamant that the deaths could not be blamed on the women's families.

"Usually these murders inside the family are hushed up. That's not just to avoid problems with the law, it is a crime after all, but also to protect the reputation of other sisters, nieces and cousins," she said.

The bodies of women killed by relatives, she explained, would usually be buried deep inside the forest, not put on display near busy main roads.

"Somebody clearly wanted to make a point. So this was meant as a warning."

'So much work'

Natalia was unusually outspoken by the standards of Grozny. Few people were willing to go on the record about the crimes I was investigating - even anonymously.

Much of Natalia's work concerned unexplained disappearances. According to officials there are currently 5,000 people missing in Chechnya - but the real number could be much higher.

On the couple of occasions that I visited Natalia's Memorial office, it was filled with people patiently waiting their turn, all clutching tattered documents - all with the same desperate look in their eyes.

"I'll be lucky if I get out of here before 10 o'clock," said Natalia, her face grey with exhaustion.

"I've been away in Moscow for a while and there is so much work to do."

When I asked the Russian Federation's representative in Grozny, Suleiman Vagapov, whether he was concerned about the number of armed people in the streets and the apparent climate of impunity, he looked exasperated.

He spoke of the "colossal changes" in the republic and the remarkably swift reconstruction of the bomb-shattered capital. He suggested that I had come looking for negative stories because the West is "always seeking to sow instability in the Caucasus."

He assured me that Chechnya was now just a normal part of the Russian Federation.

Like many journalists, I have reported on the risks taken by human rights activists. But to write about Natalia's death, so soon after getting to know her is a baleful task indeed.

Crossing Continents: Chechnya is broadcast on BBC Radio 4 on Thursday, 16 July 2009 at 1100 BST and repeated on Monday, 20 July at 2030 BST.

You can also listen to Crossing Continents on the BBC iPlayeror subscribe to the podcast.

This article is from the BBC News website. © British Broadcasting Corporation, The BBC is not responsible for the content of external internet sites.

India leader held over comments

Thu, 16 Jul 2009 06:53:26 -0500

A senior leader of India's ruling Congress party has been held for allegedly making provocative speeches against a state chief minister.

Rita Bahuguna Joshi, who heads the party in northern Uttar Pradesh state, was arrested for her comments against chief minister Mayawati.

Supporters of Ms Mayawati's party have burned down Ms Joshi's house after the news of her comments spread.

Ms Joshi, who has apologised, is being held in custody for 14 days.

A senior Uttar Pradesh police official, Brij Lal, said that a criminal case had been registered against Ms Joshi for allegedly "casteist" and derogatory remarks made against chief minister Ms Mayawati chief minister - an icon to many Dalits or "untouchables".

It is against the law to make derogatory comments about lower castes under state laws.

Violence

Ms Joshi is said to have made the comments during a public meeting.

Her comments allegedly included criticisms of Ms Mayawati for handing out financial compensation to victims of rape and murder who are "untouchables" and belong to lower castes.

Some television channels also showed Ms Joshi reportedly saying that such compensation money "should be thrown back on Ms Mayawati's face".

As the news of the speech spread, the authorities registered a case against Ms Joshi and police arrested her on her way back to the Indian capital, Delhi.

Furious supporters of Ms Mayawati's ruling Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) then marched to Ms Joshi's house in the state capital, Lucknow, and set it on fire, says the BBC's Ram Dutt Tripathi in Lucknow.

The incident is likely to escalate into a major political controversy given the rising tensions between the Congress party and the ruling BSP in Uttar Pradesh, our correspondent says.

Relations between the two parties have been tense ever since the Congress made major inroads in this politically crucial state - Uttar Pradesh has 85 MPs in the Indian parliament - during the recent general elections.

This article is from the BBC News website. © British Broadcasting Corporation, The BBC is not responsible for the content of external internet sites.

China grows faster amid worries

Thu, 16 Jul 2009 06:28:50 -0500

China's annual gross domestic product has recorded an year-on-year increase of 7.9% in the second quarter of 2009, up from 6.1% in the first quarter.

The National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) announced the figure and but warned that economic recovery was not yet assured.

Economists had forecast a second-quarter growth rate of 7.5%.

The government has claimed it would achieve 8% growth over the year, well ahead of much of the world.

China's growth figures, which peaked at 10.6% in the second quarter of 2008, are widely watched for indications of recovery in world trade.

But officials said the numbers could not obscure continuing problems.

"The difficulties and challenges in the current economic development are still numerous," said spokesman Li Xiaochao at a news conference.

"The basis of the rebound of the people's economy is not stable," he said.

"The base for recovery is still weak. Growth momentum is unstable. The recovery pattern is unbalanced and thus there are still uncertain and volatile factors in the recovery process," the NBS said in a statement distributed ahead of a news conference.

It said that urban per capita incomes were up 11.2% from a year earlier and that real rural per capita incomes were up 8.1%.

Meanwhile, China's consumer price index fell 1.7% in June compared with the same month a year earlier, the fifth consecutive monthly decline.

Public private progress

The BBC's correspondent in Shanghai. Chris Hogg, says the new GDP growth is largely due to the government's massive economic stimulus package unveiled last November.

But the private sector is doing its part too, he explained.

China's state controlled banks have lent huge amounts of money to the country's state owned and private sector businesses.

Companies have used the cash to try to avoid shedding jobs and to invest in new equipment, he adds.

The many new government infrastructure projects have provided employment for many of the migrant workers who have been laid off - mainly in the export sector, our correspondent says.

Industrial output - a measure of activity in the nation's factories and workshops - grew by more than 10% year on year in June.

Urban fixed asset investment - a measure of government spending on infrastructure - rose by more than 35% over the same period.

China's GDP growth in the first quarter of 6.1%, had been the weakest growth since quarterly records began in 1992.

China experienced double-digit growth from 2003 to 2007, and recorded 9% growth in 2008.

China is implementing a 4 trillion yuan ($585bn, £390bn) stimulus package to counter the impact of the global slowdown.

This article is from the BBC News website. © British Broadcasting Corporation, The BBC is not responsible for the content of external internet sites.

Green deserts

Thu, 16 Jul 2009 05:45:21 -0500

By Ayisha Yahya
BBC, World Service

It has been assumed that global warming would cause an expansion of the world's deserts, but now some scientists are predicting a contrary scenario in which water and life slowly reclaim these arid places.

They think vast, dry regions like the Sahara might soon begin shrinking.

The evidence is limited and definitive conclusions are impossible to reach but recent satellite pictures of North Africa seem to show areas of the Sahara in retreat.

It could be that an increase in rainfall has caused this effect.

Farouk el-Baz, director of the Centre for Remote Sensing at Boston University, believes the Sahara is experiencing a shift from dryer to wetter conditions.

"It's not greening yet. But the desert expands and shrinks in relation to the amount of energy that is received by the Earth from the Sun, and this over many thousands of years," Mr el-Baz told the BBC World Service.

"The heating of the Earth would result in more evaporation of the oceans, in turn resulting in more rainfall."

But it might be hard to reconcile the view from satellites with the view from the ground.

While experts debate how global warming will affect the poorest continent, people are reacting in their own ways.

Droughts over the preceding decades have had the effect of driving nomadic people and rural farmers into the towns and cities. Such movement of people suggests weather patterns are becoming dryer and harsher.

The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change warned recently that rising global temperatures could cut West African agricultural production by up to 50% by the year 2020.

But satellite images from the last 15 years do seem to show a recovery of vegetation in the Southern Sahara, although the Sahel Belt, the semi-arid tropical savannah to the south of the desert, remains fragile.

The fragility of the Sahel may have been exacerbated by the cutting of trees, poor land management and subsequent erosion of soil.

Namibia

The broader picture is reinforced by studies carried out in the Namib Desert in Namibia.

"For the last few years there has been higher than average rainfall"

Mary Seely
Gobabeb research centre

This is a region with an average rainfall of just 12 millimetres per year - what scientists call "hyper-arid". Scientists have been measuring rainfall here for the last 60 years.

Last year the local research centre, called Gobabeb, measured 80mm of rain.

In the last decade they have seen the local river, a dry bed for most of the year, experience record-high floods. All this has coincided with record-high temperatures.

"Whether this is due to global change or is a trend anyway, it's hard to distil actually out of the [data] but certainly we've had record highs of temperature," said Joh Henschel, director of Gobabeb.

"Three years ago we had the hottest day on record, 47 degrees Celsius."

The mean annual evaporation is several hundred times higher than the actual rainfall. This is an intense environment.

Fluctuation

His colleague Mary Seely agrees.

"Deserts and arid areas always have extremely varied rainfall," she said.

"You would have to look at a record of several hundred years to maybe say that things are getting greener or dryer. For the last few years there has been higher than average rainfall.

"That said, there is even greater variability in the rainfall and the weather patterns than there has been in the past."

Though positioned on the Atlantic coast, the rain that falls on the Namib desert actually comes from the Indian Ocean, having travelled across Africa.

It is therefore hard to explain an increase in rainfall without accepting that higher temperatures globally are causing shifts in established patterns.

The thing these scientists are most keen to work out is what is man-made change and what is natural fluctuation.

Since 1998 the centre has observed a steady but unmistakable trend of rising levels of C02.

They are sure this increase has not been caused locally, since Gobabeb is in a pristine, isolated part of the world with no local sources of pollution.

This is a change that comes about on a global level.

Manufacturing green

Meanwhile, elsewhere on the continent, things are moving at a faster pace.

Global warming may be greening the desert in small, barely measurable ways but, in parts of Egypt, the greening is being advanced in an artificial way, and on an industrial scale.

Egypt has an expanding population and water is becoming an ever more a precious resource.

Waiting to find out if the deserts are greening is not a realistic option.

Remote sensing, radar imagining from space, began in 1981 and showed scientists what was going on under the Saharan sand.

The aquifer, a collection of reservoirs trapped underground between layers of permeable rock, was studied and mapped for the first time.

Tapping into this supply has meant deserts areas can, with skill and judgement, be transformed into farmable land.

Thank to the work of people like Mr el-Baz, the greening of the desert is happening in Egypt in a controlled way.

Out of the newly irrigated desert we now see the commercial growing of oranges, limes and mangoes.

Further, the Egyptian government is actually sponsoring people to settle in the desert to farm, using the water supply they can now tap into and pump out from under the sand.

The programme is part of an ambitious and controversial plan to reclaim 3.4 million acres of desert.

The trend in other parts of the continent may be a migration of people into the cities and away from arid and semi-arid places, but in Egypt, where the desert is undeniably getting greener, the reverse is true.

This article is from the BBC News website. © British Broadcasting Corporation, The BBC is not responsible for the content of external internet sites.

US film studio gets Indian cash boost

Thu, 16 Jul 2009 05:42:49 -0500

The film studio Dreamworks, co-founded by Steven Spielberg, is to receive $825m for film production, the studio's Indian partner says.

Reliance ADA Group, run by Anil Ambani, is one of India's biggest entertainment groups and a key player in Bollywood, India's Hindi film industry.

Dreamworks agreed a joint venture with Mr Ambani in October last year.

The new studio will make films in the US, injecting large amounts of Indian cash into America's film industry.

Hollywood director Steven Spielberg has made some of the biggest box office hits including ET, Schindler's List and Jaws.

Mr Ambani is the world's sixth richest man.

'Visionary step'

The deal was announced in New York on Wednesday by Mr Ambani along with Mr Spielberg and Stacey Snider of Dreamworks.

"This venture with Reliance opens a new door to our future," Mr Spielberg said in a statement.

"Their visionary step has given us a new set of dreams to work towards. Stacey and I thank them for their faith in us and their faith in the movie business," he said.

"We are delighted to partner with such uniquely talented individuals as Steven Spielberg and Stacey Snider," Mr Ambani responded.

"Ever since we looked at their business plan, I have never doubted that we would succeed in providing them with the financial muscle required to realise their dreams," he said.

Of the $825m funding announced by Reliance, the Indian company is expected to put in $325m while $325m is be raised from banks and $175m is to come from Disney.

Under the agreement, Dreamworks will make five to six films every year for global audiences.

Officials said production would commence this year for first release in 2010.

This article is from the BBC News website. © British Broadcasting Corporation, The BBC is not responsible for the content of external internet sites.

Mousavi to make public appearance

Thu, 16 Jul 2009 05:14:29 -0500

Iran's defeated opposition presidential candidate, Mir Hossein Mousavi, says he will make his first public appearance for several weeks at Friday prayers.

In a message to supporters on his web site, Mr Mousavi said he would attend congregational prayers at Tehran University as a show of solidarity.

The sermon is due to be delivered by former president and critic of the re-elected president, Hashemi Rafsanjani.

Mr Mousavi's supporters bitterly dispute the result of the 12 June poll.

"I will join the lines on Friday as I feel obliged to respond to the call of companions on the path to protecting rights to a noble and free life," Mr Mousavi said on Ghalamnews website.

Another defeated candidate Mehdi Karroubi said he would join the congregation at what will be Mr Rafsanjani's first sermon in more than two months, reports say.

'Landslide victory'

Massive street protests followed the presidential election in which at least 20 people were killed in violence and hundreds were arrested, according to official figures.

Mr Mousavi vowed on Wednesday not to let the blood of protesters killed by security forces and pro-government militias be spilt in vain, a reformist website reported.

He was speaking during a visit to the family of Sohrab Arabi, a teenager killed in protests.

The country's most senior political figure, Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, upheld Mahmoud Ahmadinejad's landslide victory and demanded an end to protest.

Correspondents say it is not clear whether Mr Mousavi's supporters will manage to gather in large numbers around the university in Enghelab Square on Friday, where some of the largest post-election demonstrations took place.

Pro-government media have been warning about the possibility of "provocation" at Friday prayers.

One newspaper called on worshippers "not to be deceived and reject those who shout divisive slogans".

This article is from the BBC News website. © British Broadcasting Corporation, The BBC is not responsible for the content of external internet sites.

Living on less

Thu, 16 Jul 2009 04:20:41 -0500

By Marijana Zivkovic
BBC News, Belgrade

Until recently the economic crisis which has swept across the world did not concern the citizens of Serbia - they believed that was something happening to others far away.

Since the beginning of the year however, the crisis has spread across all aspects of the Serbian economy and society.

The value of Serbia's currency, the dinar has fallen, salaries have been frozen, prices have soared and banks loans have become expensive.

Although they acknowledge the serious nature of the downturn, Serbians - who faced economic sanctions during the 1990s - do not consider the current crisis to be tragic.

Lean times

Nikola Rajkovic in Belgrade was particularly hit by the government's decision to freeze salaries in the public sector and state enterprises.

He has been working for almost 30 years in one of those formerly 'fat gooses' but nevertheless, he doubts that anything happening now might resemble to the misery that Serbia suffered during the last decade of the 20th Century.

"We are used to this up-and-down movement," he says.

"My parents had a very poor childhood but through the years they increased they standard of living."

Nikola's wife Liliana lost her job at the beginning of the 1990s and since then they have been living on the husband's salary of 350 euros a month - which is twice the average salary in Serbia.

Official statistics show that the average family spends about 6 euros per day on food, but Liliana says that cannot be true.

"I spend a minimum is 30 euros per day for food. I go to the market after 11 o'clock because it is then easier to find cheaper food."

TAKING THE PULSE OF THE GLOBAL ECONOMY

The BBC is Taking the Pulse of the Global Economy, looking at a range of subjects this summer
Food prices - which remain a concern particularly in many developing economies
Highly volatile energy prices - which have been a major issue in the past year
The plight of migrant workers - as the global recession takes hold in many economies
Housing markets - which have turned from boom to bust in many countries
Rising unemployment levels - as firms cut back because of falling orders

BBC World Food Price Index

Taking the pulse explained

"I buy vegetables, fruit, and milk products. This is a minimum for a healthy meal."

The citizens of Serbia have found some solace through bank loans.

It is estimated that every Serbian owes the equivalent of two average salaries to his or her bank.

Many of then have been worried by the measures taken by banks since the beginning of the crisis.

"The National bank of Serbia introduced some new rules limiting the amount of loans one can have."

"I wanted to renew the loan for my car, but they said I could not have it," Mr Rajkovic laments.

The family now only buy clothes for their children and they have had to curtail their visits to a restaurant with friends.

The only perk Nikola permits himself is driving to work. He drives a cheap diesel car.

"The reason I use the car is my quality time," he explains.

"A day has only 24 hours," he says, "If I spend one our more in public transport that is one hour less for my family and my friends".

For the first time in three years, the Rajkovic family will spend the summer on the seaside.

The cheap package deal will be paid off during the next two years.

Click here for more from BBC World Service on Taking the Pulse of the Global Economy

This article is from the BBC News website. © British Broadcasting Corporation, The BBC is not responsible for the content of external internet sites.

Snipers sent to protect fairy penguins from mystery predator

Thu, 16 Jul 2009 02:30:41 -0500

By Phil Mercer
BBC News, Sydney

Professional snipers have been brought in to guard a vulnerable colony of penguins in Australia.

The deployment follows the mysterious deaths of nine of the furry, flightless birds over the last two weeks.

The mutilated bodies of the animals, known as fairy penguins, were found in a national park near Sydney harbour.

The main suspects are dogs and foxes. At 40cm tall, the world's smallest penguin species is clearly no match for such aggressive enemies.

To even up the fight, two snipers have been deployed as bodyguards.

They have started night patrols and have instructions to do what it takes to protect these tiny creatures.

They have joined a legion of volunteers, who have also been guarding the birds during the hours of darkness when they are most vulnerable to attack.

Traps have been also been set in a concerted attempt to catch Sydney's penguin killers.

This article is from the BBC News website. © British Broadcasting Corporation, The BBC is not responsible for the content of external internet sites.

Weaving the way

Wed, 15 Jul 2009 13:36:23 -0500

By Jonathan Fildes
Science and technology reporter, BBC News

As Apollo 11 sped silently on its way to landing the first men on the Moon, its safe arrival depended on the work of a long-haired maths student fresh out of college and a computer knitted together by a team of "little old ladies".

Now, 40 years after Apollo 11 landed Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin on the Moon, the work of these unsung heroes who designed and built the Apollo Guidance Computer (AGC) is back in the spotlight.

"I wasn't so aware of the responsibility at the time - it sort of sunk in later," said Don Eyles, a 23-year-old self-described "beatnik" who had just graduated from Boston University and was set the task of programming the software for the Moon landing.

"I don't recall the risk and the responsibility and the fact that other people's lives were to some extent in our hands."

But if Mr Eyles embodied the young, can-do attitude of many of the 400,000 people who are estimated to have worked on the Apollo programme, the "little old ladies" epitomised a more cautious approach.

"Why was onboard navigation a basic requirement for Apollo Well, because the Russians might not play fair"

Richard Battin
Director of the AGC project

The team of ex-textile workers and watch-makers were employed by defence firm Raytheon to "weave" the software into the memory of the computer.

"The astronauts toured the production facilities and got people to realise that it was real and they were real," explained Eldon Hall, designer of the AGC.

"The little old ladies said: 'that could be my son so I am going to do my job as well as I can'."

Computer Jam

The AGC was a first-of-its-kind device that would become the forerunner of all "fly-by-wire" aircraft systems and the computer that would land man on the Moon.

"The computer was tiny compared to the one in your cell phone," said Mr Eyles. "Tiny in every dimension except size."

The one cubic-foot-sized machine had the equivalent of 160 kilobytes of memory and could do a very simple addition in 24 microseconds.

"That may sound very fast, but compared to modern computers that's extremely slow," said Mr Eyles. "You have to understand that anything the computer did was made up of thousands if not millions of instructions."

Although relatively lethargic and cumbersome, Nasa realised early on that an onboard digital computer was the only way to guarantee success.

"Why was onboard navigation a basic requirement for Apollo Well, because the Russians might not play fair. They might jam communications," Dr Richard Battin, director of the AGC project, recently told a conference.

In addition, the missions were so complex that the fledgling space agency could see no other way for the astronauts to reach the Moon.

"The pilots could not fly the thing… even though they kept thinking they would," explained Mr Hall.

In fact, some engineers thought that any intervention from the astronauts was completely unnecessary.

"From our point of view the guidance system could be completely without the pilot," Mr Hall told BBC News.

The contract to build the system - between the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and Nasa - was the first of the Apollo programme and was signed just 76 days after JFK outlined his plans, highlighting the importance placed on the machine.

But Mr Hall remembers that many remained sceptical that it would work.

"One you get it wired it's not going to change without breaking those wires"

Eldon Hall

"The biggest problem was convincing people that a computer could be reliable," he said. "That was harder than designing it."

In the 1960s most computers were still housed in their own building and required huge amounts of power and frequent repairs.

In contrast, the AGC had to be small, lightweight, never fail and consume less power than a 60 watt light bulb. It also had to be designed and built in eight years or less by a team that were themselves grappling with new ideas.

"I only heard the word 'digital' once through my entire time at university," admitted Mr Hall.

But the MIT lab had a long history of designing instrumentation for weapons and aircraft and it was felt that the team of engineers were up to the task.

Early on, the constraints of the size and the requirements of the computer forced the team to make some bold decisions.

One of these was to use a fledgling technology known as integrated circuits - today, more commonly known as silicon chips. The first working circuit had only been shown off in 1958.

"It was an extremely courageous decision that was probably vital to the success of the mission," said Mr Eyles.

To simplify the design and manufacture - and, crucially, minimise the risk of failure - the computer used just one type of circuit.

The decision also ensured that the fast-changing silicon industry had an incentive to continue to produce the chips for the whole of the Apollo programme.

"The whole field was changing so rapidly that it was almost a suicide risk to choose one and use that thing to fly to the Moon 10 years later but that's what we had to do," said Mr Hall.

However, the entire computer was not so hi-tech. In order to make sure that the software was robust it was "woven" into so-called "rope core memories".

These used copper wires threaded through or around tiny magnetic cores to produce the ones and zeroes of binary code at the heart of the software.

Pass the copper wire through the core and the computer read it as a one. Pass it around and it was read as a zero.

"Once you get it wired it's not going to change without breaking those wires," said Mr Hall.

The rope core memories would become know as "LOL memory" after the "little old ladies" who knitted together the software at a factory just outside Boston.

These ladies would sit in pairs with a memory unit between them, threading metres and metres of slender copper wires through and around the cores.

"It's an extremely time-consuming process and it meant that the programs had to be finished and fully tested months in advance," said Mr Eyles.

"It's only now with the perspective of 40 years that Apollo stands out as a unique event, probably never to be repeated in my lifetime"

Don Eyles

"But it is extremely robust - that information probably still exists despite being left on the Moon."

To ensure reliability and the highest possible standards from the ladies, Nasa also chose to go on a PR mission to the factories.

"We used to go to the cafeteria and the astronauts would come in," said Mary Lou Rogers, one of the ladies who worked on the Apollo line.

"They'd explain the Moon shot and thank us for what a good job we were doing.

"Everybody got all excited when they came in - we were a bunch of married women with children."

However, Nasa did not just leave quality control to good will and chance, said Mrs Rogers, who also worked on Intercontinental Ballistic Missile programmes.

"[Each component] had to be looked at by three of four people before it was stamped off. We had a group of inspectors come in for the Federal Government to check our work all the time."

"It was bad when we worked on Poseidon and Trident. But nothing as bad as when we were on Apollo."

'Spring loaded'

In the end, the attention to detail seemed to have paid off. On 20 July 1969, Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin separated from the command module containing Michael Collins and began their descent to the lunar surface.

But just minutes before Neil Armstrong confirmed to Houston that the "Eagle had landed", the normally cool-headed astronaut was having a slightly more urgent exchange with mission control.

"Program alarm," the ex-fighter pilot called out over the radio.

Armstrong was confronted with a yellow warning light on the AGC, indicating a problem.

"When I heard that the computer was restarting I was very nervous because I thought something serious was going on, really serious," said Mr Hall, who - like 600 million other people - was watching the Moon landing on television.

"I was shaking in my boots. I was very concerned that they would have to abort."

Over the course of the next seven-and-a-half minutes the alarms sounded five more times; the last one went off just 2,000ft above the dusty lunar surface.

Each time Mission Control gave the command to press on with the landing.

Armstrong later explained: "In simulations we have a large number of failures and we are usually spring-loaded to the abort position.

"In the real flight, we are spring-loaded to the land position."

Seven-and-a-half-minutes after the first program alarm, Armstrong uttered the immortal words: "Houston, Tranquility Base here. The Eagle has landed."

But Mission Control had not been reckless. The Apollo Guidance Computer had worked perfectly.

Frantic analysis at MIT and in Houston determined that the alarms stemmed from a mistake in the astronauts' training.

Although not needed for the landing, the rendezvous radar - used when the astronauts returned to the Command Module - was switched on in case the descent had to be aborted at short notice.

The data had overloaded the computer, which dealt with the problem by shedding "low priority tasks" and keeping life-critical functions running.

"The operating system was designed to handle that kind of problem," said Mr Hall.

"The computer was still functioning even though people still say it was failing," he added. "It was saving the mission."

In the end, the AGC and the sometimes-unlikely list of characters who designed and built the machine had succeeded: they had helped land the first men on the Moon and return them safely to Earth.

"It's only now with the perspective of 40 years that Apollo stands out as a unique event, probably never to be repeated in my lifetime," said Mr Eyles.

This article is from the BBC News website. © British Broadcasting Corporation, The BBC is not responsible for the content of external internet sites.

Having tea with Russia's Deripaska

Wed, 15 Jul 2009 04:08:58 -0500

Russian billonaire, Oleg Deripaska, normally tries to avoid the media spotlight. But Tim Whewell was able to spend some time with him and gain an insight into his life.

Having spent a couple of days in the company of the 164th (until recently ninth) richest person in the world, I can report that he knows an awful lot about the properties of silver foil, plans to make Russia into a nation of white-van lovers, and is partial, late of an evening, to a cup of special Siberian herbal tea.

I can report nothing about the view from his spectacular yacht, the Queen K, where he famously entertained Lord Mandelson, the speed of his private jet, or the furnishings in any of his many homes - because that was not the "vulgar" subject matter the Aluminium King of Russia, Oleg Deripaska, had in mind when he invited me on a private tour of his empire.

No. We were going to roll up our sleeves, put on our safety glasses and hard hats - and talk production.

We were interested in the source of wealth, not its trappings.

In the 85% automation level on the assembly line at GAZ, his car plant at Nizhny Novgorod on the Volga - the 3,200 welding spots on his latest model, the Volga Siber - the accuracy on his quality control apparatus of one micron - a thousandth of a millimetre, the 415,000 amp current that electrolyses the alumina at his smelter in Sayanogorsk in southern Siberia - do not stand too close - and the scorching 730 degrees Celsius inside the furnace.

These are statistics to conjure with, not those you may have heard before about Mr Deripaska - how he was worth $28bn (£17.5bn) last year and only $3.5bn (£2.1bn) now.

In any case, he disputes those figures.

He never had anything like as much as they say, and anyway, he parries jovially as we sit back in his company's Swiss-style chalet high in the Sayan Mountains, do I know how much money I have got

Touche! I am stuck.

On the one hand, I feel a certain moral obligation to stand up for that portion of the world's population that does need to keep abreast of its financial affairs.

On the other hand, do I really want my new friend to think I am some kind of Fagin, sitting up half the night over piles of pennies

Mineral exploration

From this you will probably have gathered that Mr Deripaska and I quickly established an easy, bantering relationship.

He not only looks much younger than his 41 years, he is positively boyish in his energy and enthusiasms.

And so we bound down the assembly line at GAZ discussing axles and suspension, touching on the benefits of the Toyota Management System, debating why Britain lets its engineering talent go to waste.

Later in the week, four time-zones to the east, he diverts his helicopter to take me low over the breath-taking Sayano-Shushenskaya dam, once the highest in the world, the source of all those amps in the smelter.

All the time he is pointing down excitedly at the spruce-covered hillsides, telling me what geologists might find next under Siberia.

He has cornered the market in aluminium, but that is not enough. Down there is copper. Further on, molybdenum.

The helicopter's nice, furnished with cream leather sofas. But we are asked not to film it. For security reasons and also, you will remember, because that is not the kind of thing we are interested in on this trip.

He tells me about all the extra trees he is going to plant around his factory, down where the mountains meet the bare steppe. He tells me about the computers he is giving to schools.

Becoming friends

Only late at night in the chalet - and Mr Deripaska likes late nights - do we turn briefly to darker, more emotional matters.

"Why," he asks suddenly and insistently, "do the British press hate Peter Mandelson so much"

And again I am stuck. Because while I can think of many possible answers to this question - all intriguing enough to occupy a happy hour over a pint down at my local - I am talking now to Peter's friend, a guy I am trying to bond with.

And so we return to the subject of whether his light commercial vehicle, the Gazelle, could have been improved by technology from the British firm he once owned, LDV.

I will be honest. I am not very interested in vans.

But I liked Oleg Deripaska.

I liked his teasing grin. I liked his ready laughter. And I appreciated his delicacy in not wining and dining me.

Our trip to Siberia was good for both our reputations - because, in these stern days of expense-related scandals, I have almost nothing to declare - only his herbal tea, the master-class in foil making, the unforgettable swoop in the helicopter - oh, and a tiny souvenir ingot of the first aluminium from his smelter.

As for a journey on a gigantic yacht - as Frank Sinatra almost sang in "Who Wants to be a Millionaire" - I am so glad I did not.

How to listen to: From our own Correspondent

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This article is from the BBC News website. © British Broadcasting Corporation, The BBC is not responsible for the content of external internet sites.

Can Britain succeed in Afghanistan?

Sun, 12 Jul 2009 13:50:41 -0500

A lack of helicopters is undermining UK forces' operations and troop protection in Afghanistan, says a group of MPs. Do you agree?

Italy's minimalist G8 summit

Sat, 11 Jul 2009 07:05:19 -0500

By Bridget Kendall
BBC diplomatic correspondent, L'Aquila

Switching the venue of this year's G8 summit to an active earthquake zone sounded like a hostage to fortune.

Why invite the world's most powerful leaders to perch on the same precarious spot of the Earth's crust which in April killed 300 people and left 60,000 others homeless

Just think what global chaos would ensue if - mid session - the ground opened up and swallowed them all.

When the town of L'Aquila was rocked by a new - though less powerful - set of tremors last Friday, the summit's prospects began to look decidedly dicey.

'A good idea'

In the town centre many buildings were already cracked and cordoned off. On every corner caved-in roofs and ripped-out walls hinted at the prospect of new collapses to come. It felt as though at any minute it could all start to shake again.

I had visions of us journalists stuck, incommunicado and cowering under tables in the so-called media village. Reporters turned refugees, caught in a new disaster zone, while summit leaders were airlifted out to Rome.

But in the event, nothing happened. Not a tremble.

To my surprise earthquake survivors living in local tent camps thought the summit an excellent idea.

What better way to draw attention to the fact their lives had been reduced to rubble, than to pull in the likes of George Clooney and other celebrity hangers-on who tend to pitch up at major summits.

"At one formal function, the eyes of a weary Barack Obama glazed over and his shoulders slumped. Not just us hacks, it seems, were getting by on hard mattresses with very little sleep"

"My home won't get repaired for another three or four years. The entire tower block fell on top of it. Any publicity is welcome," said one woman, Anna, sitting with her neighbours under a sun parasol outside her blue canvas home.

The pathway between the tents was lined with drying washing and children's bicycles. A hand-painted notice, decorated in big childish crayon, announced it was Butterfly Row.

There was also Cat Alley, and Moon Street, all clearly marked. An air of semi-permanence had set in.

Roughing it

In keeping with the earthquake tragedy, the summit itself had an air of austerity. So different from the usual lavish attempts to promote a country at its best.

President Putin revamped an entire 18th Century palace in St Petersburg. Tony Blair took over one of Scotland's grandest hotels.

But Italy's Silvio Berlusconi commandeered the local barracks of the Finance Police and required world leaders and their delegations to sleep in dormitories on site.

"How is the accommodation for VIPs" I asked one UN official.

He sighed and replied wearily: "It's not quite what we're used to."

He was lucky. Some of the journalists unable to find places to stay locally were reduced to begging space among the tents of the earthquake refugees. Our BBC team drove back nightly over the mountains to a village two hours away.

Also minimalist and unpredictable were the communications facilities. It was almost impossible to find out schedules or contact numbers for delegations. The only truly reliable information was the time of the prime minister's late afternoon press conference.

That you could not avoid. On large screens, beaming down at you would be the unmistakable jovial grin of Mr Berlusconi.

And if you did miss it, never mind. It was played over and over again.

Press conferences by those with critical views, like the so-called G5 group of emerging countries (India, Brazil, China, South Africa and Mexico)seemed to occur with almost no prior warning or publicity.

It was almost as though these Asian and Latin American giants were G8 dissidents, deliberately kept to the fringe.

The same world

One morning we arrived at the media centre to find the broadband connection we were using had been cut off. Local Italian technicians claimed it was on the orders of the Italian authorities.

A few hours later it was restored. But in situations like this, you soon start to get paranoid. Was this an attempt to control our output to what could be monitored

Probably not, but - instead of the usual eagerness for media coverage - it felt distinctly odd to be prevented from telling the world what was going on.

In some ways this new "bare bones" G8 style suits the mood of the moment.

For a change the journalists were not kept 50 miles away from the leaders, or worse - as has happened - sequestered on a separate island.

The summiteers were a short walk away. It felt as though we could keep them under our gaze.

At one formal function, the eyes of a weary Barack Obama glazed over and his shoulders slumped. Not just us hacks, it seems, were getting by on hard mattresses with very little sleep.

This year, in L'Aquila, we were all part of the same world.

This article is from the BBC News website. © British Broadcasting Corporation, The BBC is not responsible for the content of external internet sites.