Children in Afghanistan bus explosion

27 September 2011 14: 58 GMT state the bomb in Helmand extensive damage in the area around the police station was to have at least 16 people, including 11 children, killed as a bus a bomb on the roadside in Western Afghanistan taken, local officials say.

They say that the bomb was, as the bus was a group of an engagement party in Herat province.

Four women and the driver also were killed, a spokesman said the Governor of told of Reuters.

A separate development handle a suicide bomber car a bakery, which is popular with police in southern of Afghanistan.

At least five people were killed and injured 22 officials say.

The attack took the main city in addition to the police headquarters in Lashkar Gah, volatile Helmand province.

According to witnesses were police to buy bread when the attack took place. Two civilians were among the dead.

Residents and shop owners in Lashkar Gah, said after the explosion of the BBC's Bilal Sarwary in Kabul, the chaos and panic ausgebrochen.

Correspondents say that victims among the civilian population at record levels in the Afghan war, which started in 2001 with the US-led invasion of the country.

The UN has in the past month that 1,462 civilians were killed in the first half of this year, 15% over the same period of last year.

Insurgents were responsible for about 80% of the murders, the UN said.

Figures show that while foreign troops are deaths down, compared to this time last year, the rising power in the once relatively quiet North and West.

Lashkar Gah is one of the seven initial areas that was passed to NATO for security to Afghan forces.

Foreign combat troops are to withdraw from Afghanistan until 2014.

Our correspondent says that rebels trying to undermine the authority and to reduce the morale of the Afghan security forces, how is the transition going.

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Gaza press restrictions imposed

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27 September 2011 Last updated at 11:12 GMT Hamas have governed Gaza alone since the group drove Fatah out of the territory in 2007 New restrictions on foreign journalists working in the Gaza Strip have been introduced by the Hamas authorities.

The Islamist movement which governs the Palestinian territory says journalists must now apply five days in advance in order to work there.

A senior Hamas official told the BBC that there appeared to have been a misunderstanding.

The new rules are not being strictly implemented yet but a BBC correspondent had trouble entering Gaza.

Arriving at Hamas-run passport control just inside Gaza on Tuesday morning, the BBC's Jon Donnison was told he needed permission from the interior ministry to be allowed in.

Permission needed to be applied for five days in advance, he was told.

He managed to get into the enclave after some delay.

Some other foreign reporters said they had also been asked to sign forms saying that if any news items critical of Hamas were published, local Palestinian journalists they work with would be held responsible.

Hamas's Deputy Foreign Minister Ghazi Hamed said the move was a misunderstanding and he would work to resolve it.

The region's Foreign Press Association has said it is seeking clarification from Hamas.

In the past it has been Israel which has sometimes made it difficult for reporters to get into the blockaded Palestinian territory, our correspondent says.

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World famous bear believed killed

27 September 2011 booth 15: 32 by Ella Davies reporter, BBC nature biologists fear the worst for the hope the bear "born on the Internet" is assumed, that were shot and killed by a Hunter in Minnesota, us.

Hope was recognized internationally, after her birth was filmed and broadcast live on a webcam in the past year.

The black bear and her mother Lily were the subject of a study by U.S. biologist Dr. Lynn Rogers and in the BBC documentary the bear family and me.

Leisure always still allows hunting license in the State, but hunters are asked to shoot not collar bears.

Dr. Rogers and his colleagues at the Wildlife Institute were research 13 bears, each carry identification collar track.

Although hope's mother Lily was wearing a collar, the hope was not so their exact whereabouts remain unclear.

Biologists try to piece together, what happened with the bear and work with the Minnesota Department of natural resources, hunting in the State license.

Born in hope, in 2010, and as part of their behavioral science team placed a camera in Lily's den, shooting a 22 hours work, leading to a single young.

Wildlife cameraman, the Gordon Buchanan hope and Lily of filmed up close for a documentary this year.

During the filming, hope was separated from her mother, but the two were finally reunited.

Mother Lily was the subject of a groundbreaking film

Dr. Rogers spent the last 45 years black bear, and is considered a leading authority on their behaviour and ecology.

As Tranquilising has the bears, he used them to his presence, a technique that Lily's den allowed him and set up the webcam, which filmed the birth of hope.

Lily and her young, including hope, there is a Facebook group that "like has been of more than 130,000 people".

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"Dr. Death" faces South Africa fees

26 September 2011 booth 17: 08 GMT Wouter Basson was in 2002 67 charges, including murder, the head of South Africa's germ warfare program during the apartheid era fights continue his licence continue to practice medicine, acquitted.

Wouter Basson pays with manufacturing illegal drugs in the 1980s and early 1990s, of which some allegedly on State prisoners have been used.

The man, or Dr. death escaped a criminal conviction in 2002, argue that he acted on behalf of the South African Defence Force (SADF).

He is now a cardiologist in Cape Town.

"I this chapter 20 years ago closed," he told reporters outside the hearing in the health professional Council South Africa (HPCSA) bureaus in Pretoria. "I want the country as a doctor continues to serve."

Potato blight

Mr Basson is accused Division of the SADF from 1981 to 1993, as head of chemical and biological warfare, the creation of viruses that would attack black people.

He is allegedly provided have, that security forces with cyanide capsules help them commit suicide, "clear" thousands of 120 mm mortar bombs with tear gas, and the drugs that would disorient SADF prisoners.

The charges were brought in 2007, but Mr Basson tried the hearing declared illegal, unreasonable, and an application have unfair - that last year was dismissed by the High Court in Pretoria.

Some of the fees have fallen down again but if guilty unethical as a doctor of HPCSA, Mr Basson faces his licence as a cardiologist practicing behavior to lose.

In 2002 Mr Basson was 67 charges, including murder, by a court in Pretoria acquitted conspiracy, fraud and drug possession.

He said, during the test, he was only following orders, and stood as a scientist, rot and a hepatitis epidemic had sought ways to fight the potato.

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India's call centre growth stalls

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27 September 2011 Last updated at 00:08 GMT By Rajini Vaidyanathan BBC News, Mumbai India's call centre industry has grown rapidly in the past decade, but recent research suggests it's no longer the world's biggest. Some British and American companies are moving operations back home, so what's the future for Indian phone bashers?

In a classroom above a bus station in Mumbai, a group of students is being given a language lesson.

"B-U-T is pronounced as 'but', however P-U-T is pronounced 'poot', [like foot] not 'putt'," explains teacher Stephen Rosario, as he coaches the class in how to enunciate English words.

The students, who are mostly college graduates in their 20s, are doing vocal exercises: "Cake, Lake, Take," they chant in unison, trying to perfect their accents, as Mr Rosario waves his hand in encouragement.

The lessons here at the Let's Talk academy are designed to teach young Indians to speak with a "neutral-sounding accent" to train them for work at a call centre.

The sound of an Indian accent at the end of the customer service line has been frustrating for many consumers in English-speaking countries who have had difficulties understanding or being understood.

And some customers evidently just don't like accented speech even when they can understand it.

It can often lead to irate and heated conversations, which workers at the Indian end are also trained to deal with.

"First and foremost, I tell the students when the customer is angry do not interrupt... just listen.

"I teach them to maintain a soft demeanour - because when a customer is aggressive you mustn't retaliate," says Mr Rosario.

Continue reading the main story "We give them mouth and jaw exercises which correspond to vowels and consonants," says Aakash Kadim, owner of Let's Talk academiesMr Kadim says in order for workers to get rid of their regional Indian accents, they use sounds to build words"For instance, an Indian might pronounce water, 'Vatter' so we teach them how to say 'awe' sounds so they pronounce the word w 'awe' ter"They also teach various idioms, like "eye-opener" "bear the brunt" and "pull your socks up" to familiarise them with British EnglishIn the past decade, the Indian call centre industry has boomed, and along with it complaints from customers. Now dissatisfaction with accents has prompted some British and American companies to move operations out of India.

Spanish-owned bank Santander recently moved all its English-language call centre work back to the UK. Earlier in the year, insurance group Aviva moved some operations back to Norwich, while New Call Telecom recently relocated its customer service work from Mumbai to Burnley.

"Customers often find it difficult to communicate to someone sat out in India," says New Call Telecom's managing director Nigel Eastwood, who hopes to improve efficiency and call handling times as a result of the move.

New Call Telecom, and other companies that have made a similar decision, hope it will improve service, and be more cost-efficient. But some Indians are hurt by what they interpret as disdain for their accents.

'Abusive words'

At his desk in a busy call centre in Mumbai, Valerian (whose call centre name is "Andy") is talking to a customer back in England. Valerian has spent the past 18 months wearing a headset and a microphone to talk to people in their kitchens and living rooms in the UK.

"Sometimes we're just calling to help people but... they abuse us and that's really upsetting because we're just here to do our job," he says.

Some firms have moved operations back home

"I've had some abusive words thrown at me, but it's fine," says Michael, another worker at the centre. "I'm used to it now."

But the call centres are facing other pressures too. A job in a call centre in India is no longer as prized as it used to be, says Aakash Kadim, the owner of the Let's Talk academies.

"A call centre today is no longer a prestigious career here in India. Initially you wanted to get into the call centre industry to make quick money," he says. Over time, young graduates have become more aware of the downsides, such as night shifts and lack of career progression.

Mr Kadim says the number of people hired into jobs through his academy has fallen drastically in recent years - he now recruits hundreds of students annually rather than tens of thousands.

The rising cost of living is also pushing up the price of running a call centre in Indian cities, including Mumbai and Delhi, where rising interest rates and inflation are having an impact on property prices, which is giving South East Asian countries an edge.

India now faces stiff competition from the Philippines, according to recent research from IBM. The study for the Contact Center Association of the Philippines estimates that 350,000 Filipinos work in call centres, compared with 330,000 Indians.

But India's growing economy could provide other opportunities, says Akil Nabilwala, who owns Altuis services, a call centre operation in Mumbai. With more Indians now owning cars, credit cards and mobile phones there is a growing domestic market that has a need for call centres.

"Indian companies have taken up a lot of the slack from companies that stopped outsourcing working from the US and the UK.

"They have now started doing a lot of domestic work. Customer service has become a lot more important to companies over here and they don't mind paying for it," he says.

Falling property prices and the recession were other reasons New Call Telecom decided to pack up operations from India to England.

But the Indian economy is still growing fast, and is likely to keep its call centres in work for years to come.

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Pakistan mine collapse kills six

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27 September 2011 Last updated at 11:32 GMT At least six miners have been killed in a marble mine collapse in the Pakistani province of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, police have told the BBC.

About 34 miners were rescued following the collapse, they said.

Some reports said that the collapse in the Buner area happened on Monday night following a large explosion.

Correspondents say marble mines in Pakistan have a good safety record. Buner is a mountainous district lying some 110km (68 miles) from Islamabad.

President Asif Ali Zardari has expressed his condolences over the loss of lives and an inquiry into the incident has been ordered.

Three miners who were injured in Monday's incident are now receiving hospital treatment.

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Italy 27-10 United States

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By Ben Dirs
BBC Sport, Nelson Tries: Parisse, Orquera, Castrogiovanni, penalty Cons: BergamascoPen: Bergamasco 2Tries: WylesCons: WylesPen: Wyles Sergio Parisse helped Italy on their way in Nelson Italy kept alive their hopes of qualifying for the quarter-finals of the World Cup with a bonus-point victory over the United States in Nelson.

The Azzurri scored four tries to one in a scrappy encounter, but while their set-piece looked formidable, they made hard work of the win.

Italy are now level with Australia in Pool C with 10 points, three points behind Ireland.

And if Italy beat Ireland on Sunday in Dunedin and the Wallabies beat Russia, Ireland will be eliminated.

Both sides had strong support in New Zealand's Italian heartland of Nelson but it was the Azzurri who made the stronger start at a blustery Trafalgar Park.

Italy skipper Sergio Parisse went over for a try after only three minutes, the Stade Francais number eight lurking on the shoulder of Quintin Geldenhuys and touching down under the posts.

Italy very nearly scored a second try five minutes later, but despite a fabulous one-handed effort, right wing Tommaso Benvenuti was unable to get downward pressure on the ball after a cute through-kick by full-back Luke McLean.

With Leicester prop Martin Castrogiovanni getting the better of the vastly experienced Mike MacDonald in the early scrums and Saracens full-back Chris Wyles struggling under the high ball in a swirling wind, the United States failed to make an impression in the first 15 minutes.

However, the Eagles, eschewing a kicking game, levelled the scores after 18 minutes when outside-centre Paul Emerick straightened an attack, went blasting through Italy's midfield and put Wyles in next to the posts with a deft pass out of the back of the hand.

Italy regained the lead shortly after courtesy of a Mirco Bergamasco penalty - the result of another collapsed scrum - but the United States came surging back, with MacDonald going on a barrelling run through the heart of the Italian defence and Wyles knocking over a simple penalty after Italy went off-side at the scrum.

However, the pendulum soon swung back in Italy's direction again, fly-half Luciano Orquera ghosting through a gaping hole in the American defence after Parisse, who was his usual classy self, spurned a very makeable penalty and opted for a kick to the corner instead.

With Italy hunting for that valuable bonus point, Parisse again opted for a kick to the corner and this time Castrogiovanni very nearly took advantage, but under pressure from the Eagles' irrepressible captain Todd Clever, he grounded the ball short of the line.

However, despite some fevered defence from the United States, man-of-the-match Castrogiovanni did manage to score just before the break, smashing over from five metres out to make it 20-10 to the Azzurri at half-time.

The United States began the second half in determined fashion but were hamstrung by repeated infringements at the breakdown. Meanwhile, while Italy continued to savage the opposition scrum, they were guilty of too many unforced errors.

But when United States blind-side Louis Stanfill was sin-binned for going off-side at the scrum a sustained period of pressure followed and Italy were eventually awarded a penalty try for collapsing, a score that secured the bonus point.

While his side remain alive in the tournament, Italy head coach Nick Mallett will know they can ill afford to make so many mistakes against a firing Irish outfit.

Eddie O'Sullivan's United States team will finish Pool C in fourth place on four points if the Wallabies, as expected, beat Russia in Nelson.

Italy: Masi, Benvenuti, Canale, Garcia, M. Bergamasco, Orquera, Semenzato, Perugini, Ghiraldini, Castrogiovanni, Geldenhuys, Van Zyl, Zanni, M. Bergamasco, Parisse.

Replacements: Derbyshire for M. Bergamasco (70), Bocchino for Orquera (67), Gori for Semenzato (67), Lo Cicero for Perugini (51), Ongaro for Ghiraldini (73). Not used: Bortolami, McLean.

USA: Wyles, Ngwenya, Emerick, A. Suniula, Paterson, R. Suniula, Petri, MacDonald, Biller, Moeakiola, van der Giessen, Smith, Stanfill, Clever, Johnson.

Replacements: Scully for A. Suniula (46), Malifa for R. Suniula (72), Usasz for Petri (63), Thiel for Biller (29), Pittman for Moeakiola (56), LaValla for Johnson (68). Not used: Danahy.

Sin Bin: Stanfill (59).

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Fidel: Obama talk ' Kauderwelsch

27 September 2011 08: 22 GMT state Fidel Castro has interviewed Venezuelan television in early September Cuba's ex-leader Fidel Castro says US President Barack Obama of the last address to the United Nations was "Gibberish" and an attempt to justify the "unjustified".

In his first published article since July, Fidel Castro condemned also the bombing by the United States and their NATO allies to Libya as a "flagrant crime".

Fidel, 85, who in the year 2006 passed the Presidency to his brother Raul had a low profile in recent months.

That has fueled new speculation about his health, say correspondents.

Fidel States targeting Castro's latest two-part article the United in his long-standing ideological enemy.

Extensively cited by Mr Obama speaking at the UN General Assembly last week said Fidel Castro, the leader of U.S. tried "to explain the unexplainable and unjustifiable that not to justify".

"Who is this gibberish of the President of the United States before the General Assembly?" Fidel Castro wrote.

The U.S. leaders the situation in several countries, including Syria, Iran, Afghanistan and Libya, had distorted, Fidel said Castro.

"Has any nation from the bloody threats that famous defender of international peace and security excluded?" Mr. Castro said.

The articles are part of the "Reflections" writes former Cuban leaders and released by State media.

He had not one his columns recently written by Fidel Castro said: due to the other work, which occupied all his time.

Fidel Castro, Cuba was his younger brother, Raul, who has been officially confirmed in the post in February 2008 for almost 50 years before taking over the Presidency.

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Pakistan bus crash kills children

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27 September 2011 Last updated at 11:49 GMT The wreckage of the bus crash

At least 26 people, mostly children, have been killed after a bus went off the road and plunged into a ravine in Pakistan, police say.

The bus was carrying students returning from an excursion when the incident happened on a motorway south-east of the capital Islamabad late on Monday.

The police said mechanical failure caused the crash.

Pakistan has one of the world's worst records for traffic accidents, blamed on poor roads and faulty vehicles.

The police said that the bus fell into the ravine after its brakes failed.

The accident happened in Kalar Kahar, Punjab province, about 160km (100 miles) south-east of Islamabad.

Correspondents say that it is one of the steepest parts of Pakistan's only motorway.

Twenty-two of the 26 people killed where students from a private school.

The driver, his assistant and the deputy-headteacher from the school were among the dead, police officer Chaudhry Salim told the AFP news agency.

In June, at least 12 children died after their school bus plunged into a canal in the Pakistan-administered Kashmir.

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Of the Lord drug woman has twins in us

September 27, 2011 10: 54 GMT state Joaquín Guzmán is the head of the Sinaloa cartel drug in Mexico, the wife of Mexico most drug Baron, Joaquín Guzmán of wanted's, gave birth to twin girls in a hospital in the United States.

Emma Coronel reported her daughters in the Antelope Valley in Northern Los Angeles hospital on 15 August, the Los Angeles Times.

Joaquín "El Chapo" Guzmán is the head of Mexico's most powerful drug trafficking gang, the Sinaloa cartel.

MS Coronel, a former beauty queen, who holds US citizenship, returned to Mexico, after the twins were born.

Born in California, the children will have also US citizenship.

Birth certificates of listed 22-year-old Ms. Coronel as the mother of the girls, but the spaces for the name of the father were empty, said the LA Times.

American law enforcement officials who pursued their movements, yet before she traveled to the hospital in Lancaster in the mid-July, said that she was not arrested because there were no charges against them.

"Shorty"

MS Coronel is probably the third or fourth wife of Guzmán, the 54-year-old multi-billionaire.

The couple married on the eighteenth birthday at a lavish wedding in the Highlands of Mexico in 2007.

The US authorities are a $5 m (£ 3.25 m) bounty on the head Guzman, claimed that he and his cartel over the majority of trafficked cocaine and marijuana in the United States of Mexico and Colombia.

Guzmán the nickname means El Chapo Shorty - he is about 5 ft 6 in (1.67 m) high.

Guzmán made magazine Forbes list of the most powerful people 67 worldwide two years ago. At number 41, he was just under Iran's Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.

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Buffett to launch share buyback

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27 September 2011 Last updated at 06:12 GMT Warren Buffett had been against the share buyback plan till recently Berkshire Hathaway, the firm owned by Warren Buffett, has said it is to launch its first share buyback programme.

The company said it may purchase shares in the open market or through privately negotiated transactions.

Berkshire said it would pay a maximum of a 10% premium on the current book value of the shares.

The move comes after repeated complaints from investors that the company's stock was undervalued.

"If we are correct in our opinion, repurchases will enhance the per-share intrinsic value of Berkshire shares, benefiting shareholders who retain their interest," the company said in a statement.

Deep pockets

The company said that it would use "cash on hand" to fund the repurchases.

"The repurchase program is expected to continue indefinitely and the amount of purchases will depend entirely upon the levels of cash available," it said.

However, it said that buybacks would be stopped if the company's cash reserves fell below $20bn (£12.9bn).

Berkshire had $47.9bn in cash reserves as of 30 June, but has used almost $15bn on acquiring new business or making investments.

The latest of those came earlier last month, when it announced a $5bn investment in Bank of America.

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Putin names new finance minister

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27 September 2011 Last updated at 14:38 GMT Mr Siluanov served as deputy finance minister under Mr Kudrin Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin has named Anton Siluanov as acting finance minister after Alexei Kudrin's dramatic departure from government.

Announcing the appointment to his cabinet, Mr Putin said it had been agreed with President Dmitry Medvedev.

Mr Kudrin resigned after publicly declaring he would not sit in a cabinet led by Mr Medvedev, set to swap roles with Mr Putin next year.

His fiscal skills were seen as crucial to recent Russian financial stability.

Separately, his responsibility for financial oversight as first deputy prime minister have been passed to another minister of the same rank, Igor Shuvalov.

On Tuesday, Mr Kudrin was quoted by Reuters news agency as saying he had quit the government because of fiscal risks the government was taking, and had offered to resign months before.

In a resignation statement quoted by the agency, he also said he had declined a proposal to lead Right Cause, a liberal party backed by the Kremlin.

He reportedly called it "an artificial project that in fact discredits the idea of liberal democracy".

Mr Siluanov, 48, was deputy finance minister under Mr Kudrin from 2005.

According to his biography on the finance ministry's website, he graduated from the Moscow Finance Institute in the 1980s, specialising in finance and credit.

He has occupied various positions at the ministry over the past two decades.

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Shakira deserves honor Latin Grammy

27 September 2011 09: 27 GMT state Shakira's 2002 single at any time and anywhere, where helped her Shakira achieve world fame Colombian singer received the Recording Academy person of the year at the Latin GRAMMYs in November.

The hips don't lie singer is honored for her philanthropic contributions as well as their successful career.

Recording Academy President Gabriel Abaroa Jr said that the Organization was honored to pay tribute to a "dynamic, socially conscious woman".

The tribute Gala takes a day before the annual awards show.

Shakira, is also for three Grammys, including album of the year.

The 34-year old star is the youngest person to receive the recognition. Previous recipients include Plácido Domingo, Ricky Martin, Julio Iglesias, Carlos Santana, and Gloria Estefan.

In a statement, the singer said the award "really an honor".

Shakira rose to fame in the early 1990s, but it was not until the release of their single 2002, where, that she achieved worldwide successfully.

Their 2009 has sold more than two million copies worldwide album she Wolf, and she took official song for the World Cup FIFA 2010.

Their philanthropic efforts began in the age of 18, she founded a charity to support the academic needs of disadvantaged children. It is also a global Ambassador for UNICEF.

The Latin GRAMMYs take place on 10 November in at the Mandalay Bay Events Center in Las Vegas.

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Dad's Army co-writer Croft dies

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27 September 2011 Last updated at 14:27 GMT Torin Douglas takes a look back at David Croft's career

David Croft, co-writer and producer of classic comedies including 'Allo 'Allo and Hi-de-Hi has died at the age of 89, his family has announced.

He died peacefully in his sleep at his home in Portugal. His family called him a "truly great man" in a statement.

Croft's military sitcoms It Ain't Half Hot Mum and Dad's Army, written with Jimmy Perry, were hits in the 1970s.

He is also credited with Are You Being Served and its 1990s spin-off Grace and Favour.

Actor Melvyn Hayes, one of the stars of It Ain't Half Hot Mum, called Croft a "genius" and "a privilege to work with".

"There were no swear words in his shows. His programmes were the kind of thing you could sit in front of the TV and watch with your grandmother and grandchildren," he told the BBC.

Croft, who was awarded an OBE in 1978 for services to television, worked alongside Jeremy Lloyd on both the department store sitcom and wartime farce 'Allo 'Allo, which was set in Nazi-occupied France.

Fruitful partnership

All of his hits were produced for the BBC, the last being Oh, Doctor Beeching in 1993 - after which he retired from the corporation.

A decade later, Croft was honoured with a lifetime achievement award at the British Comedy Awards.

Croft was born as David John Sharland to stage actress Annie Croft and Reginald Sharland, a successful Hollywood radio actor.

He enlisted in the army during World War II, which was to provide some of his later comic inspiration for Dad's Army and It Ain't Half Hot Mum.

Wartime sitcom Dad's Army was one of Croft's most enduring creations

Dad's Army was the first of his series to come to TV screens, in 1968, and marked the start of his fruitful and long-lived comic partnership with Jimmy Perry.

The BBC initially had misgivings about the concept - which followed the fortunes of a Home Guard platoon, the last line of defence should the Germans have invaded Britain during World War II.

But the affection with which the characters were treated soon endeared the show to audiences and corporate bosses alike.

The series went on to gain the creative partnership a trio of awards from the Writers' Guild of Great Britain in 1969-71.

More than 40 years after it was first screened, the sitcom is still being shown.

Among Croft's other achievements was writing the scripts for numerous well-loved pantomimes and producing television shows in Hollywood and Australia.

The statement posted on his official website by his family added: "He was a truly great man, who will be missed by all who had the great fortune of knowing and loving him.

"We know that he would of been proud that you had all been watching," a nod to the tagline that appeared at the end of Croft's TV sitcoms.

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Australia lifts woman fighting prohibition

27 September 2011 09: 10 GMT state merit, but as gender, determined the military roles Australia has lifted all restrictions on the reels, the women in the armed forces can carry out.

According to qualified female soldiers, combat units can be used in the special forces and front line.

Defence Minister Stephen Smith said the ban would be lifted immediately but can be up to five years to implement. Critics described the move as premature and a gimmick.

Canada, New Zealand and Israel can already women in all military roles.

Australia's military has about 59,000 full-time members, including 1,500, which are used in Afghanistan.

Women are for about 93% of roles, including artillery tasks.

"All the same"

With the lifting of the ban, they are capable of filling the remaining 7%, as long as they are physically and psychologically qualified.

As well as roles are combat serve in special units entities, if they can meet the entry standards.

Mr Smith said that the movement "a logical extension of the strongly held view that we are all equal, regardless of our origin and regardless of our gender in Australian society,".

He added: "from this day forward... no combat roles, no front line role is an Australian from his family be excluded, it will apply openly for all on the basis of the services."

"This is a significant and extensive cultural change."

Sex scandal

Critics have described as a "political gimmick" movement.

The head of the Australian Defence Association lobby group, Neil James, said the Government "the gun on research that currently performed was jumping skills in the military context of officials of the defense of women".

"It actually much confidence that this is little more than a further political gimmick and a distraction not give us," Mr James told ABC Radio.

The Australian defence establishment checks currently also sexual abuse in the military after a sex scandal at the Australian Defence Force Academy.

The review given a large number of complaints - more than 1,000 of abuse accusations that it was extended for a month, and is due to report on the 30.

Investigations began after two cadets of the Academy have been secretly filming of a female Cadet, sex and broadcasting over the Internet.

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Yemeni Minister survives ' attack

27 September 2011 booth 11: 21 GMT Mohamed presented in a session was Nasser Ali, in June, while a trip to South has escaped an attack Yemen's Defense Minister on his convoy in the southern city of Aden, security officials say.

One said that a suicide bomber convoy drove a car full of explosives in Mohamed Nasser Ali and other attackers on motorcycles threw hand grenades.

At least three soldiers were killed and nine others injured, he told the BBC.

Yemen challenges is more than one security, including the fighting between political groups and an al Qaeda militancy in the South.

In connection with al-Qaeda fighters have advantage of political instability of the country as a supporter and opponent of President Ali Abdullah Saleh fight with each other in the capital, Sanaa.

There were also mass protests against Mr Saleh rule in several cities.

Mr Saleh, survivors an attack in June, back to Yemen Friday.

It was attack immediately unclear, which on Tuesday.

An official told AFP said that the Defense Minister convoy was hit as it a tunnel on the way back to his hotel links.

Some officials have been quoted, that less than 10 security officials in the convoy violated had.

Maj Gen Ali lived in Aden during visit to the South, where the three communes in the province of Abyan have taken militant recently.

The army has to try an offensive, again held control over the area.

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BAE confirms loss of 3,000 posts

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27 September 2011 Last updated at 11:07 GMT MPs Alan Johnson and David Davis react to BAE job losses

Defence giant BAE Systems has confirmed that it is cutting almost 3,000 jobs at sites across the country, mainly in its military aircraft division.

The firm ended days of speculation by giving details of a huge redundancy programme, saying it needed to maintain competitiveness.

Ian King, BAE chief executive, said in a statement that the company must "ensure its long-term future".

Union leaders said staff were "distraught and tearful" at the news.

BAE employs 40,000 people in the UK, and 100,000 worldwide, and the biggest job cuts will be at sites in Lancashire and Yorkshire.

The Brough factory, in East Yorkshire, will lose 900 jobs from its 1,300-strong workforce.

At Samlesbury, Lancashire, 565 jobs will go from the 3,970-strong workforce.

At Warton, Lancashire, 843 posts will be lost among 6,537 staff.

Continue reading the main story Jorn Madslien Business reporter, BBC News

Defence spending cuts have been blamed for the job cuts at BAE Systems.

Indeed, there was a dramatic slowdown in global defence spending growth last year to just 1.3%, with European nations actually cutting spending by 2.8%.

But overall, global military spending remains strong, having hit a record $1.63 trillion (£1tn) in 2010, about double the global spend seen in 2000.

So there are still big contracts out there and BAE is still gunning for them. For instance, India and Japan are both looking to sign major new fighter jet contracts and the Eurofighter Typhoon is seen as a strong contender.

The challenge for BAE is thus not necessarily just an overall reduction in spending, but rather the tough competition in the fighter jet market, where the Typhoon is up against some competent rivals.

Among other plants affected are operations in Dorset, Hampshire, Surrey, and Essex.

Most of the cuts will be made in BAE's military aircraft division, which is being affected by a slowdown in orders for the Eurofighter Typhoon fighter aircraft.

'Pressure'

Mr King said: "Some of our major programmes have seen significant changes. The four partner nations in the Typhoon programme have agreed to slow production rates to help ease their budget pressures.

"Whilst this will help extend our production schedule and ensure the production line stays open until we receive anticipated export contracts, it does reduce the workload at a number of our sites."

He said changes in the US defence budget would also affect BAE's workload.

Unite, the biggest union at BAE, said it would meet management on Tuesday "and we will be doing everything we can to mitigate the impact of these cuts."

The union said in a statement: "The government cannot sit on its hands and allow these highly skilled jobs to disappear."

'Ashamed'

Business Secretary Vince Cable said his department would do everything it could to ensure that valuable skills were not lost the the UK economy.

Continue reading the main story Judith Moritz North of England correspondent

Flying through crystal clear skies above Warton, BAE's Hawk jets have been airborne this morning, their sound ripping through the air every few minutes.

On the ground and behind closed doors, the staff who test them and build Eurofighter Typhoon jets were being told of their fate.

An announcement revealed that 822 jobs are going here and the talk locally is of the huge impact that will have on the local economy.

Mark Menzies, Conservative MP for the area, wants an enterprise zone to be created here to ease the way for future investment.

He points out that the workers affected are highly skilled and, in some cases, world class. For them, it won't be as simple as just going to the local job centre to find work.

"This news from BAE Systems will be a serious knock to the individuals and communities affected," he said.

TUC general secretary Brendan Barber told the Labour Party conference in Liverpool that the job losses were "yet another devastating body blow to our manufacturing base".

Senior Labour and Conservative MPs Alan Johnson and David Davis, who have BAE plants in their constituencies, criticised the company for the way it handled the news.

Mr Johnson said that after days of media speculation, it had been a case of "terrible news delivered in the worst possible way".

Mr Davis said BAE management "should be ashamed of itself".

Some workers said they were told of the cuts via email.

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Finished Russia Buy Kalashnikovs

September 27 2011-13: 53 GMT state the Kalashnikov is one of the world of the most recognizable weapons that Russian army says it is stop orders from the famous Kalashnikov assault rifle, until a newer model of the manufacturer is developed.

The General staff Nikolai Makarov Chief said the army had already too many of the weapons Russian media in their business.

A new model is expected to be until the end of the year.

News of the army decision is allegedly the gun designer Mikhail Kalashnikov, now 91 held.

"We don't want to us, to tell him," said an unnamed member of his family of Russian Izvestia newspaper.

"It could kill him."

"Too many"

The Kalashnikov, instantly recognizable, known for its robustness and was considered a design classic that is supposed to be around the world on the strongest produced rifle.

In the service in Russia since the 1940s, it was copied by the producers all over the world.

It has gone through several versions of the original AK-47 - the AK stands for "Kalashnikov automatic"-the AKM and later, the AK-74.

Gen Makarov said that the shares of the weapon of the army exceeded needs "several times over".

A spokesman for the gun developers, the Izhmash plant in Central Russia, told Izvestia newspaper that a new model, would be ready by the end of the year for demonstration purposes.

Exports increase the plant and hunting production in the meantime try rifle would, added the representative.

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Why Netflix Is Smarter Than Its Customers

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Is it New Coke? Or the iPod?

Video-rental service Netflix has provoked a consumer firestorm—and probably a few business-school case studies—with its recent plan to split its operations in two. Its traditional business of delivering DVDs by mail will henceforth be known as Qwikster, while "Netflix" will be reserved for the service that streams video over the Internet. Customers used to getting both services bundled together will now have to choose one or both—and deal with separate bills and websites.

[See why big companies are axing jobs.]

Netflix CEO Reed Hastings has butchered a sacred cow by changing something most customers like just the way it is—his DVD-by-mail service. Once they've chosen a new Netflix plan (or bolted for another service), most customers will settle into their new routine and stop complaining. Still, consumers are notoriously fickle about things that corporate executives often overlook, which is why Netflix's subscriber base has fallen for the first time in its 14-year history. The sudden smackdown of an Internet darling suggests that Qwikster could become the New Coke of the 21st century: a change that customers didn't ask for, which ends up a total flop.

But my bet is that the new Netflix strategy turns out more like the iPod, which reinvigorated Apple and began a long shift away from a declining business toward a more promising and futuristic one. Hastings is famously fixated on obsolescence and the speed with which companies can sink in the digital era. "You hear about companies getting long in the tooth," Hastings said at an industry conference earlier this year. "All of these innovations are going on every day, all around you. One day, someone could overtake you."

In a blog post explaining the latest change, Hastings mentioned AOL's dial-up service and the now-defunct Border's bookstore chain as examples of how companies cling far too long to past strategies that quickly become outdated. Netflix itself helped push the Blockbuster video-rental chain into bankruptcy, helped along by Blockbuster's own embrace of an antiquated brick-and-mortar strategy that dragged the company down like an anchor, while more nimble competitors soared.

[See how Netflix helped kill Blockbuster.]

Hastings is shrewd to focus so intently on the future. For the last 15 years, the rapid pace of innovation and the deadly sin of waiting too long to change have been the dominant story in the global economy. Companies like Apple, Google, Facebook, IBM, and Amazon have become market leaders—and stayed there—because they innovate relentlessly and abandon old ideas when they're no longer useful. Laggards like Sears, Eastman Kodak, Hewlett-Packard, General Motors, and many companies that no longer exist tend to milk past successes too long, while stutter-stepping nervously into the future.

The same dynamic applies to individuals in the workplace. There's plenty of opportunity for people who keep their skills up to date and find fresh ways to enhance their value in the marketplace for talent. But millions more expect a prosperous future while relying on the skills of the past. Inevitably, they're the ones who fall behind, earn less, get passed up for promotions, and all too often end up in the unemployment line.

Hastings is so focused on the future, in fact, that he anticipated the obsolescence of Netflix's basic offering from the moment he helped start the company in 1997. Even then, Hastings foresaw that high-speed broadband would replace the dial-up service popular at the time, and that streaming over the Internet would eventually become the most common way people watched video. He has said repeatedly that the firm is called Netflix--rather than Mailflix or DVDs By Mail—because of its mission to deliver video over the Internet. Establishing the mail service was merely a bridge strategy meant to establish a brand name and customer base until video streaming took hold.

[See 4 lessons from the demise of Borders.]

There have been several developments Hastings failed to anticipate. At least twice, for instance, Netflix developed and then killed video-player devices, because the advent of YouTube and other types of technology made them obsolete. Even now, there's a mad scramble for pole position in the market for home entertainment among traditional TV networks, cable companies, the Redbox kiosk service, and Web providers including Netflix, Hulu, Apple, Amazon, and Facebook. Nobody's sure what the prevailing platform will be. Even though Netflix dethroned Blockbuster, there's no guarantee it will end up one of the ultimate winners.

But Hastings has clearly been right about the advent of video streaming, which is just getting started. The problem may be that he's too far ahead of his customers. Some people obviously stream video today, especially young viewers. But many still don't, and people don't like to be forced to change. They'd rather do it at their own pace. Apple is a phenomenal success because it has mastered the art of guiding people toward delightful new experiences while allowing them to feel the discoveries are their own. Netflix has proven to be clumsier. It got impatient while trying to guide its own customers toward video streaming. It's trying to force viewers to adopt the technology of the future, instead of deftly helping them migrate to it on their own.

Hastings' vision, however, isn't just for Netflix in 2011 or 2012. It's for Netflix in 2020 and 2030. That's why the Qwikster episode is most likely a stumble, not a face-plant. Sooner or later, Qwikster will be a quaint throwback to the past, like eight-track tapes and Kodachrome. Many Netflix customers may not know that yet, but Reed Hastings does. He just needs to wait until his customers catch up.

Twitter: @rickjnewman

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Should killers on death row get a last meal choice?

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26 September 2011 Last updated at 12:05 GMT By Daniel Nasaw BBC News Magazine, Washington The state of Texas has ended the practice of offering death row inmates their choice of last meal before their deaths. What does a killer's choice of food say about his state of mind?

Lawrence Brewer's last request was so extravagant it seemed a mockery.

Just before the acknowledged white supremacist was put to death by lethal injection on Wednesday, he ordered two steaks, a triple-meat cheeseburger, a cheese omelette, a large bowl of fried okra, three fajitas, a pint of ice cream and a pound (0.45kg) of barbecue meat.

It's not clear how much of that he was actually served, or whether his nerves affected his appetite, but he ate none of it.

The following day, the Texas Department of Criminal Justice heeded the request from an outraged Texas state senator to end the tradition of the generous last meal.

Continue reading the main story Carroll Pickett Texas "death house" chaplain, 1982 -1995

I was there for 95 who ate their last meal and died. I was with them when they got there in the morning, I stayed with them all day.

We provided for them whatever they asked for, if it was on the unit. We didn't go out and buy Whataburgers, we didn't go out and buy Mexican food, but if it was on the unit and it could be fixed by the stewards, we gave it to them. If they wanted Dr Pepper I could go next door and get them one.

A lot of them would decline.

They would just say, 'I just don't feel like it', or they would say, 'I'm getting nervous, I'm getting scared'. Very few - I'd say less then 10% - ate all that we brought to them.

Those who had spiritual reasons, they would say 'Jesus didn't get a last meal on the day he was executed'.

When the sun went down after 17:00, they know this is their last sunset, then their whole attitude changes.

From then on, from after the shower and after the meal time, it's a whole different person.

From now on, condemned men in Texas will be offered the same cafeteria chow as other prisoners.

What men and women request for their last meal reflects how they lived their lives and how they choose to face their deaths, and offers Americans a poignant human connection to the people they have decided should die for their crimes, scholars and legal analysts say.

And as a ritual, the last meal is intended not to comfort the condemned but to soften for society the harsh fact that a human is about to be killed with the law's full sanction, says Jon Sheldon, a Virginia death penalty lawyer.

He has sat with three condemned men in the hours before their executions, including infamous Washington sniper John Allen Muhammad.

"I don't know anybody who has eaten the last meal," Mr Sheldon says.

"In my experience, it is unlikely that someone is going to be hungry and is going to want a meal. It's either not ordered, or it's ordered and it's not eaten."

Florida, which has executed 69 convicts since 1976, budgets $40 (£26) per inmate, and the last meal must be purchased locally.

Take-away meals

Oklahoma - 176 men and three women executed since 1915 - is more miserly, giving prisoners only $15 to spend on a last meal, subject to the warden's approval.

Brewer was executed for the murder of an African-American man dragged to death behind a truck

The meal has to be purchased from a restaurant within the town of McAlester, home to the death chamber, says Jerry Massie, a spokesman for the Oklahoma Department of Corrections.

"The staff doesn't prepare it," he said.

The last man executed there ordered a deep dish meat lover's pizza from Pizza Hut, and deep fried shrimp with cocktail sauce and hushpuppies - fried cornmeal balls - from fast food outlet Long John Silver's, Mr Massie says.

The man before him had a large pepperoni and Italian sausage pizza and a large Dr Pepper soda.

Continue reading the main story John Wheat, 13 June 2001: Liver and onions, mashed potatoes and gravy, whole milkJack Clark, 9 January, 2001: Jar of Polish pickles, wedge of cheese, tossed salad with Italian dressing, cheeseburger, French fries with ketchup, grape juiceOliver Cruz, 9 August 2000: Spicy beef fajitas, beans, rice, flour tortillas, onions, tomatoes, avocado, banana split, orange juiceGlen McGinnis, 25 January 2000: Cheeseburger with lettuce, tomato, bacon, onion rings, and ketchupClydell Coleman, 5 May 1999: Salmon croquettes, scrambled eggs, French fries and biscuitsJonathan Nobles, 7 October 1998: "Eucharist - sacrament"Danny Harris, 30 July 1993: "God's saving grace, love, truth, peace and freedom"

Source: Texas Department of Criminal Justice

A review of last meal requests in Texas between 1982 and 2003 shows the most popular requests were grilled or fried foods like burgers, fried chicken or steaks.

This suggests the condemned had sought a last sensual reminder of home before they died, says Phoebe Ellsworth, a professor of law and psychology at the University of Michigan.

"Most of the offenders come from fairly poor backgrounds," says Prof Ellsworth, who has researched capital punishment extensively.

"It's a memory of something about life on the outside. 'When we went out to have a good time, what did we have?'"

A significant number of inmates forgo the last meal, whether in defiance of the ritual or for lack of appetite. Or for spiritual reasons: David Clark, executed in Texas in 1992 at age 32 for a double murder, told prison officials he wanted to fast.

"They have other things on their minds," Mr Sheldon says. "Inmates have gotten tired of co-operating with these rituals of death."

Alcohol is prohibited, and requests for cigarettes and bubble gum have been turned down.

'Christian connotation'

The ritual of the last meal captures the public imagination because the activity of sitting down for dinner is one Americans with no experience of prison life can relate to, says Deborah Denno, a professor at Fordham University School of Law in New York and an expert on capital punishment law.

Troy Davis, executed on Wednesday in Georgia, declined a last meal

"It brings us back to the fact that this is a human being who will not be having any more dinners like we do," she says.

"There's a drama associated with it. This is the Last Supper. Maybe it has that Christian connotation."

In Texas, the state that has executed the most people in the country since modern capital punishment resumed in 1976, with 475, State Senator John Whitmire says his push to end the last meal tradition was made of moral concerns, not financial ones.

And he vehemently disagrees with critics who say it is petty and mean-spirited to withhold from the condemned one last creature comfort.

"If you're fixing to execute someone under the laws of the state because of the hideous crime that someone has committed, I'm not looking to comfort him," he says.

"He didn't give his victim any comfort or a choice of last meal," he says of Brewer.

Rather than reform the last meal, Texas officials should worry about the justice, efficacy and constitutionality of capital punishment there, says Richard Dieter, executive director of research organisation Death Penalty Information Center.

"They take it away, hopefully they're looking to what they should be providing. A last lawyer rather than a last meal is much more important."

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Sheen settles over sitcom sacking

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27 September 2011 Last updated at 08:10 GMT Charlie Sheen has recently distanced himself from his behaviour Actor Charlie Sheen has settled a legal dispute with the makers of US sitcom Two and a Half Men over his dismissal from the TV show.

Sheen's $100m (£64m) legal action was dropped following out of court arbitration "to the parties' mutual satisfaction", Warner Bros said.

The terms of the settlement will remain confidential, the statement added.

Sheen was fired from the show in March and claimed producer Chuck Lorre had been "harassing and disparaging" him.

The actor's lawyer has yet to comment on the settlement.

Court papers at the time stated that Sheen was seeking compensation for loss of earnings for both himself and Two and a Half Men's "entire crew".

Before his dismissal over substance abuse and public criticism of the show's makers, Sheen was earning more than $1 million (£642,000) per episode.

His entry to a rehabilitation facility caused the show's production to be suspended.

Sheen was replaced by Ashton Kutcher on the popular comedy show, while his character Charlie Harper has been killed off.

His exit - which was not seen on-screen - attracted an audience of 28.7 million viewers, the show's highest ratings since it started in 2003.

Following months of acrimony, Sheen has recently made TV appearances apologising for his behaviour.

At the recent Emmys, where he presented the award for best lead actor in a comedy series, the star wished the cast and production team of Two and a Half Men good luck for their new series.

"I wish you nothing but the best for this upcoming season," said the actor.

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Cooley named interim Aussie coach

Cooley (left) has intensively with Australia's seam bowlers Australia have former England bowling coach Troy Cooley as caretaker head for their upcoming tour in South Africa - but he is not to apply to fill the role permanently.

Tim Nielsen resigned last week after four years in the role of the coach.

Cooley, 45, began his work with England's Pacemen 2003 and helped them a year later returned 2005 to win ashes in the year in his home.

He is currently a coach in the cricket of Australia centre of excellence.

"Cooley, said:" I feel excited and comfortable in this "Caretaker of role".

"My immediate task will be, come quickly with its plans and work with the players and support team, to ensure that the preparation for a successful tour on the spot."

As well as coaching, is he an acting national selection for the South Africa tour, which starts on 13 October with the first of two Twenty20 internationals, followed by three a-day internationals and two test matches.

Cooley began his coaching career with Tasmania, but was widely attributed to bowlers such as Andrew Flintoff and Simon England quickly Jones master reverse swing in the run-up to the 2005 ashes.

He has since then a number of roles for the national team of Australia, filled, as coach bowling, but he also as an assistant coach in available for Nielsen for part of the a day series in England in 2009 and start coach of Australia A in Zimbabwe this year.

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Wangari Maathai: Death of a visionary

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26 September 2011 Last updated at 10:23 GMT Wangari Maathai receives the Nobel Peace Prize in Oslo - the first black African woman to do so Wangari Maathai's compelling life story is inextricably linked with the social and political changes that so much of Africa has been through since the idea of throwing off European colonialism began to gain traction shortly after World War II.

Her unique insight was that the lives of Kenyans - and, by extension, of people in many other developing countries - would be made better if economic and social progress went hand in hand with environmental protection.

The Green Belt Movement, which she founded in 1977, has planted an estimated 45 million trees around Kenya.

The straightforward environmental benefits of that would have been important enough on their own in a country whose population has grown more than 10-fold over the last century, creating huge pressure on land and water.

But what made the movement more remarkable was that it was also conceived as a source of employment in rural areas, and a way to give new skills to women who regularly came second to men in terms of power, education, nutrition and much else.

Now, she has succumbed to a battle with cancer. But if cancer was new to her, battle was definitely not; it was a way of life.

Opposing a major government-backed development in Nairobi, she was labelled a "crazy woman"; it was suggested that she should behave like a good African woman and do as she was told.

Her former husband made similar comments when suing for divorce: she was strong-willed, and could not be controlled.

This alone gives some idea of the battles Dr Maathai fought in the politically active phase of her life, which encompassed and indeed wove together the ideals of helping Kenya develop sustainably and helping Kenyan women achieve equality.

But without the progress of post-colonial reforms, it's doubtful that she would have been able to achieve a fraction of what she did; the times she lived in generated the tides she fought against, but they also provided the means with which to fight.

Dr Maathai highlighted the damage that illegal logging was doing to forests and livelihoods

Post-colonial links with the West offered Africans of great intellect but poor background the chance to study abroad, in the US and Germany.

This brought her the knowledge of biology and the PhD that both opened doors in corridors of influence and gave scientific underpinning to the environmental restoration work on which she embarked.

Another vital strand in her life was the creation of global environmental organisations, in particular the United Nations Environment Programme (Unep) in 1972.

These organisations desperately needed to tap into expertise in the developing world, especially because it was in these countries that the vicious circle of environmental degradation, unsustainable population growth and poverty was at its most grinding.

With its headquarters situated in the Kenyan capital Nairobi, Wangari Maathai was one of the first people from the developing world adopted into the Unep "family", which meant global exposure and, relatively, a huge influence.

Among other things, that meant the capacity to spread the Green Belt philosophy to other countries where the ecological and economic need is even more pressing than in Kenya - notably the Congo Basin, where warring factions and deep poverty have put huge pressure on forests and the wildlife they maintain.

Eventually, this would all lead to the award in 2004 of the Nobel Peace Prize - the first time it had gone to an African woman, and arguably the first "green Nobel".

Tourists flock to Lake Nakuru's flamingos - an example of environmental protection bringing revenue

I say "arguably" partly because previous prize-winning work had contained an environmental component, such as that of Paul Crutzen, Sherwood Rowland and Mario Molina who deciphered the chemistry of ozone depletion.

And partly because the citation itself does not explicitly mention the word "environment", reading: "for her contribution to sustainable development, democracy and peace".

In other words, it's not just planting trees - it's the reasons why trees are planted, it's the social side of how the tree-planting works, it's the political work that goes alongside tree-planting, and it's the vision that sees loss of forest as translating into loss of prospects for people down the track.

There is, in some parts of the world, a backlash now against these ideas.

Every couple of days an email comes into my inbox asserting that the way to help poorer countries develop is to get them to exploit their natural resources as quickly and deeply as possible with no regard for problems that may cause.

Organisations promoting this viewpoint are not, to my knowledge, based in the developing world but in the Western capitals that might make use of the fruits of such exploitation - cheaper wood, cheaper oil, cheaper metals.

It is the opposite of sustainable.

But the existence of these lobby groups can be seen as a testament to the influence that Wangari Maathai and others like her have had on global debate.

The UN initiative on Reducing Emissions from Deforestation and forest Degradation (Redd), the linking of biodiversity to livelihoods, moves to strengthen the rule of law as a pre-requisite for environmental health, and the notion that communities should gain when the natural resources they maintain are exploited - all these in part trace their roots back to Wangari Maathai and the Green Belt Movement.

A Facebook page for tributes is laden with short but moving comments that in a way sum up everything she was and achieved.

"If all us who loved her will plant a tree on her hon: she will smile from the windows of heaven seeing green world. I will plant one today".

"You have been a true inspiration to those who love and care for nature".

And perhaps the most moving of all: "You made a difference".

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Bolivia stops work on Amazon road

27 September 2011 booth 07: 31 GMT allegations of police violence against demonstrators triggered further protests in the Bolivian cities of Bolivian President Evo Morales work on a motorway has suspended built in the Amazon, in national furore about the way against the street was treated.

On Sunday police fired, tear gas and hundreds of activists, staging a demonstration against the road rounded up.

Stop a Minister in protest and Mr Morales condemned the action, when he announced the project suspension.

Now he says that he decide on the future of local regions will allow for the road.

"It must... decide so the two provinces [Cochabamba and Beni] involved in a national debate" In the meantime the project is exposed to, "Mr Morales said, according to Reuters news agency."

He has not specified, as the two provinces would decide on Sunday but he said that a referendum could be held — although Government sources say this could be at least six months to organize.

The problem raised anti-Government protests in Cochabamba, Beni, and La Paz - where thousands of demonstrators, mostly college students, to the Government Palace Quemado gathered.

Barricades

The proposed 300 km would one link (190) Street, funded by Brazil, Brazil to Pacific ports in Chile and Peru.

Mr Morales says, the way is for Bolivia's development, but it runs through a rainforest preserve and its construction is bitter against indigenous inhabitants.

Witnesses said that about 500 police surrounded the demonstrators

About 1,000 demonstrators were 500 km March to the capital La Paz provide, when they were stopped by police on Sunday in the Yucumo region.

Police forced protesters on buses, but hundreds of native lit fires on the streets, to force the authorities to the airport in Amazon town Rurrenabaque detour.

But residents blocked it the start and runway with burning tires and barricades and police were forced to free the prisoners.

Protesters complain that "extreme violence" was used as the police in the demonstrators got Commons.

You say a child killed was and some protesters remain claims by Interior Minister Sacha Llorenti missing, who claimed that the police measures to prevent clashes with pro-government groups that try to stop the March approached was denied.

But this Declaration of demonstrators re-painted been.

"We do not understand why the Government in this brutal way acted", Rafael Quispe, one of the leading protest, told AFP.

"This is a Government which says that the indigenous population, but it has attacked them."

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Amnesty condemns rebel Thailand

27 September 2011 booth 04: 40 GMT by Rachel Harvey BBC News, Bangkok Amnesty says the southern insurgents target often teachers, civil servants and farmers Amnesty International has the insurgency in southern of Thailand intentionally on civilians accused.

The human rights group says the insurgents have always sought soft targets and that some of the attacks may constitute war crimes.

But it is also important to Bangkok's efforts to end the ongoing crisis.

More than 4,500 people have died since mainly Muslim ethnic Malay fighters in 2004 sparked their war against the Buddhist Thai State.

Questioning of witnesses and survivors of attacks Amnesty spent nine months as well as members of the Thai security forces.

His conclusion is that it mistakes on both sides.

But the report underlines the willingness of the insurgents in Thailand's four southernmost provinces to seek civilian targets - teachers, civil servants and farmers.

Amnesty demands the militant publicly commit to calls to stop such unlawful killings.

The rebels exist as a shadowy, distributed network with equally unclear goals, although many complaints are rooted minority status in their ethnic Malays.

Amnesty is also strongly criticised the Thai authorities, in particular the security forces, are, the serious human rights violations, including torture accused.

These violations were never properly investigated, is used the fuel pump you add impulse sense of injustice and the armed conflict.

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Israel allows settler expansion

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27 September 2011 Last updated at 14:56 GMT Gilo is built on land captured by Israel in 1967 Israel has approved the construction of 1,100 homes in the Jewish settlement of Gilo on the outskirts of Jerusalem.

The move comes days after Palestinian leader Mahmoud Abbas called for full UN membership for a Palestinian state.

The US has repeatedly urged Israel to stop building settlements on occupied Palestinian land.

Almost 500,000 Jews live in settlements on occupied territory. The settlements are illegal under international law, though Israel disputes this.

US-brokered peace talks between Israel and the Palestinians are deadlocked over the issue of Jewish settlements in the occupied West Bank and East Jerusalem.

Also on Tuesday, three UN special rapporteurs called for an immediate end to the demolition of Palestinian-owned homes and other structures in the West Bank, including East Jerusalem.

There had been a dramatic increase in the demolitions this year, they said.

"The impact and discriminatory nature of these demolitions and evictions is completely unacceptable," the rapporteurs on housing, water, sanitation and food rights said in a treatment.

"These actions by the Israeli authorities violate human rights and humanitarian law and must end immediately."

'Nice gift'

The latest plan includes the construction of small housing units, public buildings, a school and an industrial zone, according to the Ynet news website.

"It's a nice gift for Rosh Hashanah [Jewish New Year]," Yair Gabay, a member of the Jerusalem planning committee, told Ynet.

The authorities have now approved the building of almost 3,000 homes in Gilo over the past two years.

The US and United Nations criticised earlier announcements of building projects.

Israel built the settlement at Gilo on land it captured in 1967. It later annexed the area to the Jerusalem municipality in a move not recognised by the international community.

Israel says it does not consider areas within the Jerusalem municipality to be settlements.

Gilo lies across a narrow valley from the Palestinian village of Beit Jala. It became a target for militants during the second Palestinian uprising against Israeli occupation in 2000.

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Libya conflict: Smoke and explosions mark Sirte battle

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26 September 2011 Last updated at 22:05 GMT By Alastair Leithead BBC News, Sirte It was the thick black smoke which signalled an assault on Sirte city centre - the green Gaddafi flags clearly still flying high over the outskirts.

They said a Nato bomb had struck pro-Gaddafi positions, but we did not see or hear it as the first battle got under way to take a well-defended gate.

We arrived as troops loyal to the National Transitional Council had taken control of it and rushed forward, trying to pull a string of green flags from a lamp post.

They fired at the rope in an effort to break it as bullets ricocheted off the metal, but then all pulled at the rope together as the flags fluttered onto the road to be ripped and torn.

A hail of celebratory gunfire marked the moment they had reached Col Gaddafi's birthplace - they have fought every mile of Libya's long coast road from Benghazi to reach here.

For weeks they have advanced west, steadily breaking through defensive line after defensive line across the road in the desert, next to the sea.

Street fighting

But there was not long for them to enjoy the moment - as the pro-Gaddafi troops reorganised themselves and bullets started flying.

We raced back up the road to behind a concrete water tower where we watched the battle for the city proper to begin.

The roar and flash of rockets crashed across town as the fighting moved onto the streets.

The staccato tear of machine gun fire was broken by the crunch of incoming rockets and mortar bombs.

Bullets whistled overhead as a group of NTC fighters edged along a wall before firing grenades and machine guns in the general direction of the city centre - into its impressive buildings and new construction sites.

Lucky escape

We had met many civilians escaping Sirte earlier in the day - the city centre is now incredibly dangerous for those unable to get away from the fighting.

Their faces told a story of fear - they had been short of food, water and electricity they told us - scared of what might happen if they stayed, or if they left.

Many residents of Sirte have been fleeing as the fighting moves into the city

A woman looked out at the soldiers from the back seat of a saloon car, clearly terrified.

They said they were told the rebels would kill them, slit their throats; but instead they were welcomed with water and fuel for their cars.

Hundreds have made it out over the past few days as the NTC troops advanced.

One had a lucky escape - his car had a twisted metal scar after being hit by a bullet.

"People in Sirte are waiting for you, they have been waiting since February 17th," he said.

"Sirte will welcome you. It's open, take it."

As the sun set the firing continued - artillery shells from the south, more troops entering in the west, constant fighting in the east.

Armed pick-up trucks gathered behind walls and behind piles of earth, continuing to fire as the wind from the sea whipped up the sand and the rocket smoke to create an eerie, hazy orange light.

Snipers will move around at night, positions will be dug in ready for daybreak as the once rag-tag rebels battle for one of the few remaining Gaddafi strongholds.

It is a hugely symbolic prize in their bid to control the whole country.

How long the battle lasts depends on the determination of those defending Sirte, and their appetite to fight for it street-by-street.

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Meaker gets first England call-up

AppId is over the quota
AppId is over the quota
Meaker was born in South Africa in January 1989 Surrey fast bowler Stuart Meaker is a surprise selection for England's limited-overs tour of India.

The Natal-born paceman, 22, took 44 County Championship wickets in 2011, while James Anderson has been rested.

Skipper Alastair Cook and Kevin Pietersen return after being rested for the recent home ODI series against India.

The party will fly out on 3 October to play five one-day internationals and a single Twenty20 match.

Yorkshire's Jonny Bairstow, Scott Borthwick (Durham) and all-rounder Chris Woakes (Warwickshire) have been called up, while Jos Buttler (Somerset) and Alex Hales (Nottinghamshire) will join the squad ahead of the Twenty20 match in Kolkata.

Durham's Ben Stokes, 20, has not been selected in order to undergo rehabilitation on a finger injury.

Continue reading the main story

Scott Borthwick, 21, Durham: The spinner's first-class debut came in 2009. Made his England bow in Sunday's Twenty20 defeat against West Indies at the Oval

Chris Woakes, 22, Warwicks: The all-rounder made his one-day debut in January 2011 against Australia

Jonny Bairstow, 21, Yorkshire: Wicketkeeper-batsmen is son of former England player David Bairstow. Made his one-day debut against India on September 16, hitting 41 off just 21 balls

Stuart Meaker, 22, Surrey: Natal-born fast bowler, 22, made his first-class debut for Surrey in 2008

Alex Hales, 22, Notts: Right-hander made his England T20 debut in August against India

Jos Buttler, 21, Somerset: Wicketkeeper-batsman made his T20 debut against India in August

On his call-up Meaker said: "I wasn't expecting it so soon. It was definitely in my sights in the near future, it just happened to come sooner than I thought.

"I've been given a chance to show what I have got. I'll work very hard when I'm out there and hopefully they will see that hard work and it will give them confidence to potentially give me a game.

"It's a very proud day for me. This has been something I've been looking forward to since playing for Surrey as a young man."

On what he can bring to the squad, the Surrey man added: "I'm lucky because I've got a great deal of natural pace, just in the way I bowl and my action. In one-day cricket, I've worked hard at my variations.

"I've got a couple of slower balls which will hopefully come into play on the sub-continent."

Eoin Morgan has been ruled out of the tour after having shoulder surgery but Jonathan Trott and Ian Bell return after missing last week's Twenty20 internationals against West Indies.

National selector Geoff Miller said: "This squad contains an exciting balance of experienced international cricketers along with some very talented youngsters who can play the high-quality limited-overs cricket needed to challenge India."

England squad: Alastair Cook (capt, Essex), Jonny Bairstow (Yorkshire), Ian Bell (Warwickshire), Ravi Bopara (Essex), Scott Borthwick (Durham), Tim Bresnan (Yorkshire), Jade Dernbach (Surrey), Steven Finn (Middlesex), Craig Kieswetter (Somerset), Stuart Meaker (Surrey), Samit Patel (Notts), Kevin Pietersen (Surrey), Graeme Swann (Notts), Chris Woakes (Warwickshire). For T20 fixture only: Jos Buttler (Somerset), Alex Hales (Notts)

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Shanghai 200 injured in train crash

27 September 2011 last updated at 10: 50 GMT went to save fire crews in the underground tunnels, the InjuredA of Shanghai, the back end of an other train, met u-Bahn, injured at least 200 passengers who says train company.

Most injuries were light, Shanghai Shentong Metro Group company said after the incident on the line 10.

It happened after signal failure in a station, China's official Xinhua News Agency reported.

The city has expanded rapidly in recent years the u-Bahn system, and some lines have seen recurring problems.

Tuesday the incident took place close to Yu Yuan Central Shanghai to 14: 51 - about 40 minutes to Shanghai Metro failure at once.

At the time of the crash staff trains manual, Director news agency Reuters reported.

A passenger said, there was a lot of blood in the first car of the train.

Streets around the train station have been cordoned off to allow ambulances through.

A collision between two overground trains in Wenzhou, Eastern China, in July killed 40 people and provoked public outrage over safety standards.

The country's security chief said Ernst design flaws were guilt in this case.

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Senate business prevents that U.S. shutdown

"27 September 2011 last updated at 00: 36 GMT Senate majority leader Harry Reid:" we fight when something to fight. "The Senate has a decision-making, the money to fund the U.S. Government and end fears a shutdown provides.

Democrats have was against Republican demands for help for the victims of U.S. natural disasters with cuts energy programmes to clean.

The deal has been reached, according to the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) said that it had enough money to last until the end of the fiscal year on Friday.

The new funding lasts up to 18 November, passed by the House.

A short-term provision in the resolution allows the Government, their work, to the House of representatives, currently on a break, can vote on the Bill.

However report says that the House can lead it with pro-forma-vote, with only a few of the present before the end of the week.

The agreement is the latest in a series of bipartisan differences to finish, which paralyzed Congress and made sharp distinctions between Republicans and Democrats.

"We have prevented a disaster to the next," said Democratic Senator Ben Nelson told of Reuters.

'Unprecedented'

Business originated FEMA revealed that it the ability continue to relief operations for the rest of the week in areas, which had hit by floods, tornadoes, and hurricanes.

In the agreement the democratically controlled Senate agreed output measure, a Republican supported $1 billion (£ 1) budget cut to an electric car program would remove.

As a compromise, Democrats, a figure of 3 billion offered $ for funding for disaster relief - lower than last week, asked for and to support reflection Republican proposals.

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more and more to argue that is not just individuals behavior bad but on a quiet crisis of governance in America "

end quote Mark Mardell BBC North America editor last Friday the House passed the Republican version of the law, but it was rejected by Democrats in the Senate later in the day."

The deal ends, the possibility of a Government shutdown on 30.

But with most Americans say, that they are unhappy with the mission that legislators do the dispute, as just another sign of how partisan character inhibits the ability of Congress to pass the basic legislation.

Democrats, said that it was unprecedented, to insist that spending cuts accompany much-needed relief.

Formerly, it was feared that the financing of the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) would run on Tuesday, when the Bill is not passed.

FEMA has was fighting for the money this summer by Hurricane Irene, tropical storm Lee, as well as forest fires and tornadoes to help areas affected to find.

The deadlock came as a 12-member of Congress "Super committee" to find $1. 5tn savings in federal spending over the next 10 years.

The Committee will present its recommendations before the end of November, and Congress must vote on the proposals a month later.

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The system has failed - Miliband

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AppId is over the quota
27 September 2011 Last updated at 14:33 GMT By Brian Wheeler Political reporter, BBC News, in Liverpool Ed Miliband: 'We will manage your money properly'

David Cameron represents the "last gasp" of an old system that does not work anymore, Ed Miliband has told the Labour Party conference in Liverpool.

The Labour leader claimed Britain was crying out for a new kind of society in which the right people - responsible "grafters" - are properly rewarded.

He attacked "predatory asset-stripping" firms and anti-social housing tenants.

And he vowed to fight for a new bargain in our economy so reward is linked with effort".

The Labour leader was speaking against a backdrop of falling poll ratings and attacks from union leaders leaders angry at his decision not back a TUC day of action over pension changes.

'Wrong values'

But he opted to eschew big policy announcements in favour of setting out his personal philosophy and why he feels the country needs to change.

He admitted that Labour had "lost trust" on the economy but he said he was determined to regain it - and he vowed that the "next Labour government will only spend what it can afford".

But he said shadow chancellor Ed Balls had been "right" to call for a slowdown in spending cuts - and he pleaded with David Cameron to change course on the economy.

"Recognise what is staring you in the face - and understand that protecting our economy matters more than protecting your failed plan," he advised the prime minister.

He told delegates the phone hacking scandal, the banking crisis and the summer riots "point to something deep in our country - the failure of a system, a way of doing things, an old set of rules.

"An economy and a society too often rewarding not the right people with the right values, but the wrong people with the wrong values."

He said moral decline was due to the way successive governments - including New Labour - had chosen to run the country.

'Down the river'

Some of what Margaret Thatcher did - such as council house sales, punitive tax rates and ending the union closed shop and strikes without ballots - had been "right".

And New Labour also achieved much, he argued, but "we did not do enough to change the values of our economy," said the Labour leader.

And the result was a society in which vested interests such as the energy companies and banks prospered and the wrong people - such as Royal Bank of Scotland boss Sir Fred Goodwin - got the most rewards, argued Mr Miliband.

He earned loud cheers from delegates for attacking what he called Britain's "fast buck" culture - saying the country had to learn the lesson that "growth is built on sand if it comes from our predators and not our producers".

He praised companies that contribute to society and accused the government of selling BAE Systems and train maker Bombardier "down the river".

He ended with a sustained attack on David Cameron accusing of betraying public trust on the NHS - and gained a standing ovation with his message: "You can't trust the Tories with the NHS".

He said: "If you want someone who will rip the old rules so that the country works for you, don't expect it from this prime minister.

"On the 50p tax rate, on the banks, on the closed circles of Britain, on welfare, on the NHS, he's not about a new set of rules. He's the last gasp of the old rules."

CBI director general John Cridland said: "With growth weak, Ed Miliband is looking for a new business model, but he must be careful not to characterise some businesses as asset strippers."

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Text-message limit, India

27 September 2011 booth 04: 53 GMT the use of mobile phones has grown rapidly, in India of the Telecom regulator in India has an upper limit on the number of SMS messages that can be sent from a mobile phone.

Under the new rules, no one will be can to more than 100 texts a day, officials say.

The verdict is expected to be a big relief for millions of mobile phone users, the deal with dozens of unwanted SMS messages every day.

India has made several attempts, in the past of tele-marketing company, to bombard the mobile phone users.

A BBC correspondent in Delhi says the previous attempts of dealing with unwanted commercial e-Mails and phone calls were not successful.

Subscribers can at present their number with a "national do not call" list register, by you a message until 1909.

India of heavy fines against Tele-marketing company announced in December, called or sent text messages, "national do not call" registered on a list.

The telecom regulatory authority of India (Trai) excluded commercial call or messages between 21 and 09.

But receive messages continue to late at night, sometimes even on 03, our correspondent.

Many people have complained that they try of calls and text messages of tele-marketing to sell everything from credit cards, real estate in "slim sauna belt for weight loss" feel.

Trai officials say the number of unwanted commercial calls have fall drastically since the "do not call" registry was launched 2007, but exponentially increased the number of text messages.

The daily cap of 100 messages per phone is expected to deal with the problem, they say.

India has the fastest growing mobile phone market in the world, with more than 700 million subscribers.

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Japan may help Greek debt bailout

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AppId is over the quota
27 September 2011 Last updated at 03:53 GMT Japanese shares have been hit hard by the debt crisis in European economies Japan has said that it would consider being part of a global plan to help bailout Greece.

Finance Minister Jun Azumi said eurozone countries needed to come up with a rational plan to ease global concerns.

Mr Azumi's comments come a day after the Nikkei 225 index fell to a two-and-a-half year low amid fears that the debt crisis may slow global growth.

However, on Tuesday, the Nikkei rose, giving further proof of volatility.

"If there is a scheme that is based on a firm process, involves a reasonable amount of money and could provide the world and markets with a sense of security regarding a Greek bailout, I would not rule out the possibility of Japan sharing some of the burden," Mr Azumi was quoted as saying by the Reuters news agency.

The finance ministry confirmed those comments to the BBC.

Multiple factors Continue reading the main story

Japanese banks and insurance companies are big investors in stock markets and if the Nikkei continues to plunge, it will send the domestic financial system in turmoil”

End Quote Masaaki Kanno JP Morgan Analysts said Japan's willingness to consider sharing some of Greece's bailout burden stemmed from the fact that it wanted to ensure stability in the region.

Europe is a key market for Japanese exports and there are concerns that if a solution to the debt crisis is not found soon, it may hurt growth and dent demand for Japanese goods.

"If the financial turmoil spread from Europe to the rest of the world, Japan will not be immune," Masaaki Kanno of JP Morgan told the BBC.

Growing uncertainty in Europe may also see investors flock to traditional safe havens such as the yen.

That may result in the Japanese currency strengthening even further against the US dollar and the euro.

A strong currency not only makes Japanese goods more expensive, but also hurts the profits of companies when they repatriate their foreign earnings back home.

At the same time, the crisis has resulted in sharp falls at the Tokyo Stock Exchange.

Mr Kanno added that if the falls continued, it could be detrimental for the Japan's economy.

"Japanese banks and insurance companies are big investors in stock markets and if the Nikkei continues to plunge, it will send the domestic financial system in turmoil."

Eurozone governments are in talks to discuss how best to stop the crisis spreading from Greece to the rest of the continent.

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