Spacecraft go to film Sun in 3D BBC News
US space agency Nasa has launched two spacecraft that are expected to make the first 3D movies of the Sun.The Stereo mission will study violent eruptions from our parent star known as coronal mass ejections (CMEs). The eruptions create huge clouds of energetic particles that can trigger magnetic storms, disrupting power grids and air and satellite communications. The mission is expected to help researchers forecast magnetic storms - the worst aspects of "space weather". "Coronal mass ejections are a main thrust of solar physics today," said Mike Kaiser, the Stereo project scientist at the US space agency's (Nasa) Goddard Space Flight Center. "With Stereo, we want to understand how CMEs get started and how they move through the Solar System." The mission comprises two spacecraft, lofted on a Delta-2 rocket from Cape Canaveral, Florida. The two near-identical satellites will orbit the Sun, but one of them will move slightly ahead of the other, to provide stereo vision. Technical hitches have delayed previous attempts at launching.

Wide concern
Coronal mass ejections erupt when "loops" of solar material lifting off the Sun suddenly snap, hurling a high-temperature (hundreds of thousands of degrees) plasma into space. The plasma is formed of electrons and ions of hydrogen and helium. A CME will contain typically a billion tonnes of matter and move away from the Sun at about 400km/s. Much of the time, these outbursts are directed away from the Earth, but some inevitably come our way.When they do, the particles, and the magnetic fields they carry, can have highly undesirable effects. "When a big storm hits and the conditions are just right, you can get disturbances on power grids and on spacecraft - they are susceptible to high-energy electrons and protons hitting them," Dr Kaiser told BBC News. "These particles are hazardous to astronauts; and even airline companies that fly polar routes are concerned about this because CMEs can black out plane communications, and you can get increased radiation doses on the crew and passengers. "If we know when these storms are going to hit, we can take preventive action."

Different view
At the moment, solar observatories, because they look at the Sun straight on, have great difficulty in determining the precise direction of a CME. By placing two spacecraft in orbit to look at the Sun-Earth system from two widely spaced locations, scientists will be able look at the storms from the side - to work out very rapidly if a cloud of plasma is going to hit our planet. "In solar physics, we make a remarkable leap in understanding either by producing new instruments that have better resolution, so you can probe deeper into the Sun or see structures you've never seen before; or by going to a different vantage point," said Stereo program scientist Dr Lika Guhathakurta."This is where Stereo comes in; it is not that its instrumentation is a breakthrough in terms of resolution, but it will see the Sun in all its 3D glory for the first time - all the way from the surface of our star out to the Earth. It's going to be spectacular." The Stereo spacecraft each carry 16 instruments. These include telescopes, to image the Sun at different wavelengths, and technologies that will sample particles in CMEs.The UK has a significant role on the mission, having provided all the camera systems on board the spacecraft. It has also delivered a Heliospheric Imager (HI) for each platform. This instrument will follow the progress through space of a bubble of plasma by tracing its reflected light. The engineering demands on the British team have been exacting. "The reflected light from these coronal mass ejections is extremely faint," explained Dr Chris Eyles of the University of Birmingham. "It is typically a [100 trillion] times fainter than the direct light from the Sun's disc, so we have to use a sophisticated system of baffles to reject that direct light. "Critical to the HI's operation has been cleanliness of assembly. If we get dust particles, fibres of even hairs on critical surfaces inside the instrument, they would scatter sunlight and destroy the performance of the instrument."

Astronaut futures
The Stereo spacecraft will send their data straight to the US National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (Noaa), the agency which makes the space weather forecasts used worldwide by satellite and airline operators. The new information is expected to lengthen the advance warning forecasters are able to give - from the current few hours to a couple of days. With our ever increasing dependence on spacecraft in orbit - for communications and navigation - the Stereo mission comes not a moment to soon.Earth's magnetic field gives the planet and its inhabitants a good measure of protection, but with space agencies seemingly intent on sending astronauts to the Moon and even to Mars in the next few decades, there is a pressing need for a fuller understanding of the Sun's activity. Moon or Mars bases will have to be carefully designed shelters, and astronauts will need very good advice before deciding to venture too far from such protection. August 1972 saw a solar storm that is legendary at Nasa. It occurred between two Apollo missions, with one crew just returned from the Moon and another preparing for launch. If an astronaut had been on the Moon at the time, they might have received a 400 rem (Roentgen Equivalent Man) radiation dose. Not only would this have caused radiation sickness, but without rapid medical treatment such a sudden dose could have been fatal. Dr Chris Davis from the UK's Rutherford Appleton Laboratory underlined the power of CMEs. "The energy in a CME is typically about 10-to-the-power-of-24 joules. That is the same as a bus hitting a wall at 25mph a billion, billion times. It's 100 times the energy stored in the world's nuclear arsenal," he said.

Father now backs Madonna adoption BBC News
The father of a Malawian baby adopted by American singer Madonna has urged human rights groups challenging the adoption to leave the child alone.Yohane Banda told the BBC he feared the controversy stirred by the groups could prompt Madonna to return the child. Malawian rights groups have begun a legal challenge, accusing Madonna of bending the law to adopt the baby. David Banda is now at Madonna's London home after a Malawi judge granted her a temporary custody order. The Malawian activists say Madonna has used her wealth and prestige to sidestep a law requiring foreign adoptive parents to live in the country for 18 months.

Return fears
Yohane Banda had earlier told the AP news agency he would not have consented to the adoption if he had known it meant giving up his son. He initially thought Madonna would just "educate and take care of our son"."I was never told that adoption means that David will no longer be my son - if I was told this, I would not have allowed the adoption." However, he later told Time magazine he did not want to challenge the adoption. "I don't want my child, who is already gone, to come back. I will be killing his future," he was quoted as saying. He has now told the BBC he wants rights groups to leave the child alone, for fear that they may anger Madonna and prompt her to return the child. He said he was unable to look after David.

First interview
Madonna has meanwhile said she is "disappointed" by media coverage of her bid to adopt the baby, saying it will discourage others from doing the same."The media is doing a great disservice to all the orphans of Africa by turning it into such a negative thing," she said on Oprah Winfrey's chat show. The pop star said her children had "embraced" the one-year-old's arrival. The singer was giving her first public interview on the planned adoption that has created headlines around the world. Interviewed via satellite from the UK, she said that she first spotted David in a documentary she is financing about Malawian orphans. "I became transfixed by him," she said. "But I didn't yet know I was going to adopt him. I was just drawn to him." When she subsequently met the child at a Malawi orphanage, she was told he had survived malaria and tuberculosis but still had severe pneumonia. "I was in a state of panic, because I didn't want to leave him in the orphanage because I knew they didn't have medication to take care of him," Madonna said. She told Winfrey that she gained permission to take the baby to a clinic, where he was given antibiotics. She said she witnessed conditions in Malawi that were the equivalent of a "state of emergency". "I think if everybody went there, they'd want to bring one of those children home with them and give them a better life." The pop star funds six orphanages through her Raising Malawi charity and is setting up an orphanage for 4,000 children in a village outside the capital, Lilongwe.

Youths torch bus in Paris suburb BBC News
Youths have set a bus alight in a Paris suburb, as France prepares to mark the anniversary of a wave of rioting that swept its cities last year.Passengers were forced off the bus in Nanterre by hooded youths, who then set the vehicle on fire, police said. Bus services in another area near Paris were suspended over security fears. Clashes between youths and police have risen sharply recently, amid warnings that the underlying causes of last year's unrest have not been addressed. Hundreds of young people of largely African and North African descent marched to the parliament building in Paris on Wednesday, demanding better treatment from the government. They presented a petition calling for more action to tackle discrimination and more jobs and training for the young. "Lots of people don't believe what we're doing. They don't understand the potential," Abdel Zahiri, one of the marchers, told the Associated Press news agency. "The risk of violence exists, but hope exists, too," he said.

'Ripe for riots'
A police official in Nanterre said the bus was attacked by a gang of youths armed with a flammable liquid. "There were at least 10 passengers on board, who only just had enough time to get out. Thankfully there was nobody with any handicaps onboard, or it could have ended badly," he told the AFP news agency. Separately, bus routes in the Esone area, south of Paris, were suspended because of fears of attack. The latest unrest comes two days before the anniversary of the start of a wave of rioting that swept France last year. Law and order have become major issues with presidential elections due next year. Candidates from the two biggest parties have promised a tough approach to crime. But according to the BBC's James Read, there has been less discussion of youth unemployment, social alienation and racial discrimination in impoverished suburban estates. A French intelligence report warned this week that the estates hit by riots a year ago could once again descend into violence. The conditions that led to the 2005 unrest are still in place, the report said. About 9,000 cars were torched in the three weeks of unrest last year, which spread through the country's housing estates - dominated by immigrants and their French-born children.

Prize offered to Africa's leaders BBC News
A $5m prize for Africa's most effective head of state is being launched by one of the continent's top businessmen.UK-based mobile phone entrepreneur Mo Ibrahim - who was born in Egypt - is behind the plan to rate governance in 53 African countries each year. The contest, launched in London, will award winning leaders $5m over 10 years when they leave office, plus $200,000 a year for life. "We need to remove corruption and improve governance," Mr Ibrahim said.

'No life after office'
Then the continent would not need any aid, said Mr Ibrahim, who sold Cel Tel, his pan-African mobile phone company, to MTC in Kuwait for $3.4bn last year. "The day we do not need any aid will be the most wonderful day in my life." The Mo Ibrahim Prize for Achievement in African Leadership is being launched on Thursday. The award will go to African heads of state who deliver security, health, education and economic development to their constituents. In an interview with the Financial Times newspaper, Mr Ibrahim, 60, said leaders had no life after office. "Suddenly all the mansions, cars, food, wine is withdrawn. Some find it difficult to rent a house in the capital. That incites corruption; it incites people to cling to power."The prize will offer essentially good people, who may be wavering, the chance to opt for the good life after office," said Mr Ibrahim. BBC Africa editor Martin Plaut said it would be the world's richest prize - exceeding the $1.3m awarded by the Nobel Peace Prize. It will be available only to a president who democratically transfers power to his successor. Harvard University will assess how well the president has served his or her people while in office. Nelson Mandela, former US President Bill Clinton and UN Secretary General Kofi Annan are among those who have welcomed the initiative. Mr Mandela described it as an example to the world. Mr Clinton said he wished Mr Ibrahim and his foundation "much success in its important work".

Differing opinion
And Mr Annan thanked the businessman for "establishing such a generous prize as an incentive". But not everyone agrees. Patrick Smith, of specialist publication Africa Confidential, said: "The people who know what to do and have done well are already doing it. "And the people who are doing badly and are killing their own people or stealing state resources are going to carry on doing that." Africa has one of the world's richest concentrations of minerals precious metals, yet 300 million of its residents live on less than a dollar a day.

Bush 'dissatisfied' with Iraq war BBC News
US President George W Bush says he is unhappy with the progress of the war in Iraq, admitting that a recent upsurge in violence is a "serious concern"."I know many Americans are not satisfied with the situation in Iraq," he said. "I'm not satisfied either." But Mr Bush ruled out a fixed timetable for withdrawing US troops, adding that victory there was vital to US security. His comments come two weeks ahead of crucial US mid-term elections, and amid public unease over US policy in Iraq. In what the BBC's Justin Webb in Washington says is an unusual departure from normal practice, the US president began the press conference at the White House by outlining recent setbacks in Iraq. He said the deaths of 93 US troops and 300 Iraqi security personnel in the last month were of "serious concern" to him.Civilians had suffered "unspeakable violence at the hands of the terrorists, insurgents, illegal militias, armed groups and criminals," he said. He warned that if Iraq became a failed state, extremists could gain access to oil wealth and launch fresh attacks. If the US was not successful in Iraq, he said, extremists could use it as a base from which to try to establish a "radical empire from Spain to Indonesia".

'Tough job'
Mr Bush defended the role of Defence Secretary Donald Rumsfeld, who has faced a barrage of criticism for the way the Iraq war has been fought. "I'm satisfied with how he's done all his jobs," Mr Bush said, calling Mr Rumsfeld "a smart, tough, capable administrator". With opinion polls showing growing doubt over the US role in Iraq, Mr Bush said: "We cannot allow our dissatisfaction to turn into disillusionment about our purpose in this war." "We're winning and we will win, unless we leave before the job is done," he said. He said the administration's Iraq goals there had not changed, and that setting a fixed timetable for withdrawal "means defeat", but added that the US was constantly adapting its tactics.

Iraqi role
In recent days senior Bush administration figures have increased pressure on the Iraqi government to rein in militias and death squads. Mr Bush said that he was "making it clear that America's patience is not unlimited".But he said that at the same time, the US authorities would not "put more pressure on the Iraqi government than it can bear". He also said the US would continue to support Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri Maliki as long as he continued to make "tough decisions". Earlier, Mr Maliki pledged to "strike hard" at illegal militias, widely blamed for the growing sectarian violence, but insisted he was working to his own, not a US, timetable. He was also critical of what he described as a lack of co-ordination with US-led forces over a raid in Baghdad's Sadr City that resulted in four deaths.

Controversial raid
US aircraft were called in for back-up after Iraqi special forces came under fire in Sadr City, a stronghold of the Mehdi Army militia. They were trying to capture the commander of an armed group who directed death squads, a US military statement said.The military said "precision gunfire" was used "only to eliminate the enemy threat". But Iraqi police said US troops shot at them while they were trying to take injured people to hospital. At least four people were killed and about 15 injured, provoking anger in Sadr City. Sectarian killings and tit-for-tat reprisals have becoming increasingly common in Baghdad and some other areas. The Mehdi Army, a militia linked to radical Shia cleric Moqtada Sadr, has repeatedly been accused of involvement in death squads carrying out attacks on Sunnis. Mr Maliki's fragile coalition government includes Shia parties - including Mr Sadr's - that have links to powerful militias. BBC Middle East analyst Roger Hardy says the Iraqi prime minister is caught between his American ally and Shia public opinion, and has extremely limited room for manoeuvre. He says it is now obvious to most people in the region that the relationship between the US and Mr Maliki's government is under strain. Correspondents say the Bush administration is aware that public support for the war in Iraq is threatening painful election losses in mid-term elections due on 7 November, when Democrats will seek to wrest control of both houses of Congress from the Republican party.

Airbus sells 150 A320s to China BBC News
Commercial planemaker Airbus has won a multi-billion dollar Chinese order for 150 of its A320 planes, some of which will be assembled in China.The factory in the north-eastern city of Tianjin will build its first A320 in 2009 and then manufacture four a month. The deal also includes an option for China to buy 20 of the planemaker's new wide-body A350. Economic expansion is driving demand for air travel in China, a key growth market for Airbus and rival Boeing. Chinese airlines have ordered 150 Boeing 737s in recent years. The 737 is the US aerospace giant's nearest competitor to the A320. "It is a means for us to develop a long-term vision with the Chinese," said Airbus chief executive Louis Gallois. "It is clear that building the planes in China will give the Chinese an incentive to buy more of our aircraft." The deal was signed during French President Jacques Chirac's visit to Beijing, and adds to last year's order for 150 Airbus planes signed during Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao's visit to France.

New Jersey court backs gay rights BBC News
The US state of New Jersey's Supreme Court has ruled that gay couples are entitled to the same rights as heterosexual couples. But the court says it is for the legislature to decide whether the state will honour gay marriage or some other form of civil union. Lawmakers have been given six months to decide whether to change marriage laws. It follows a case brought by seven gay couples, who claimed that the state's constitution entitled them to marry. "Times and attitudes have changed," the New Jersey State Supreme Court said in its 90-page ruling. But it concluded that it "cannot find that the right to same-sex marriage is a fundamental right under our constitution".

Domestic partnerships
New Jersey is one of only five US states without either a law or a state constitutional amendment blocking same-sex marriage. Advocates on both sides had believed it was more likely than other states to allow gay people to wed, as it has a tradition of expanding civil rights. The state authorised domestic partnerships two years ago. Currently, only Massachusetts allows same-sex marriages. The court's decision was welcomed as a partial victory by both advocates and critics of gay marriage. "It may not be a complete win, but it is a very substantial win," said Matt Coles of the American Civil Liberties Union. But Michael Behrens, a lawyer for the Coalition to Preserve and Protect Marriage, said the court had stopped short of granting homosexual couples the rights to the benefits of marriage. In July, the top court in Washington state upheld a gay marriage ban. The decision followed a string of setbacks for same-sex marriage advocates in other parts of the US, including in several states where votes were held on amending bans on same-sex unions. Cases similar to that in New Jersey are pending in California, Connecticut, Iowa and Maryland. Lawyers for the seven couples had asked the court to overturn an appeals court ruling that the New Jersey legislature must decide whether gay marriage should be allowed, rather than the state's Supreme Court. The ruling means that the appeals court decision was upheld and it remains the responsibility of the legislature to take the decision on sanctioning gay marriage.

Starbucks in Ethiopia coffee row BBC News
US coffee chain Starbucks is denying Ethiopia earnings of up to £47m ($88m) a year, the charity Oxfam has claimed.The charity says the firm asked the National Coffee Association (NCA) to block Ethiopia's bid to trademark two types of coffee bean in the US. The move would have given farmers a greater share of profits, it claims. But Starbucks denies approaching the NCA, and the association says Ethiopia is being badly advised and there is no economic case to back Oxfam's views.

'Backwards step'
The Ethiopian government filed applications to trademark the coffee bean names Sidamo and Harar in US courts.The charity claims that Starbucks flagged up the application to the NCA - of which the firm is a leading member. The NCA then filed its opposition at the US Patent and Trademark Office. Oxfam's Phil Bloomer said the charity had worked with Starbucks in the past and appealed to the firm to "act responsibly". "Their behaviour on this occasion is a huge backwards step and raises serious questions about the depth of their commitment to the welfare of their suppliers," he said.

'Reduce demand'
But Starbucks senior vice-president of coffee procurement, Dub Hay, denied approaching the NCA to oppose the Ethiopian move. "We did not get the NCA involved - in fact it was the other way around, they contacted us." Robert Nelson, head of the NCA, backed Mr Hay's claim, adding that his organisation opposed the Ethiopian move for economic reasons. "For the US industry to exist, we must have an economically stable coffee industry in the producing world," he said. "This particular scheme is going to hurt the Ethiopian coffee farmers economically." He claimed that the Ethiopian government was being advised to price itself out of the market and that the trademark move would reduce demand for its coffee. Oxfam said the NCA and Starbucks should not dictate to Ethiopia how best to sell its products.

Journal criticises Libya HIV case BBC News, Libya
A prestigious British science journal has spoken out about a trial in Libya involving six foreign medical workers.Five Bulgarian nurses and a Palestinian doctor are accused of deliberately injecting more than 400 children with HIV-infected blood in 1998. Two years ago they were found guilty and sentenced to death, but that was overturned on appeal. Now they are facing the death penalty once more. But experts say the evidence against them is hopelessly flawed. The six foreign medics, who have been in Libyan jails for the past seven years, say they are innocent. They say poor hygiene at the Benghazi hospital where they worked was to blame for the children's infections. That is supported by evidence prepared for the defence by the man credited with discovering the HIV virus, Luc Montagnier.

Solid evidence
He found many of the children were infected with a different strain of HIV to the one suggested by the prosecution, and also had hepatitis, suggesting poor hygiene was common at the hospital. In both the first and current trials, the court refused to accept those findings. Now the science journal Nature has taken the unusual step of obtaining documents key to the prosecution's case. Nature had the documents translated into English, and had them assessed by Aids experts from six countries. Researcher after researcher said the Libyan evidence was hopelessly flawed. Professor Janine Jagger, an epidemiologist who specialises in workplace exposure to HIV, said there was nothing in the prosecution's case to suggest the children had been deliberately infected. In addition, Professor Jagger says there is solid evidence, which the court has refused to hear - that some of the children were HIV-positive long before the foreign staff joined the hospital. When a retrial of the case was ordered last year, medical experts outside Libya expected it to be dismissed immediately as soon as it began, as part of Tripoli's growing rapprochment with the West. But that has not happened. In August, the chief prosecutor again demanded the death penalty if the six are convicted. The hearings are due to resume next week.
By Corinne Podger

Sudan 'is arming rebels' in Chad BBC News
Sudan's government is arming rebels in Chad, the government has alleged after security was tightened in N'Djamena following rebel attacks. Chad's foreign minister said the proof was the firing of a missile at a French reconnaissance plane in the east. The rebels began their offensive in the east at the weekend but were then said to be near the central town of Mongo. A BBC correspondent in N'Djamena says tanks are stationed in key areas, such as outside the presidential palace. Troops have been recalled to base despite the Muslim holiday of Eid - the biggest festival of the year in Chad. The BBC's Stephanie Hancock in Chad says the outskirts of the capital are said to have been heavily fortified with government troops. But she says the latest reports of the rebels' location suggest they may have pulled back.

Rapid advance
"These rebels entered Chad from Sudan and they could only have procured this type of military equipment within the sight of and with the knowledge of the Sudanese authorities. Sudan cannot deny it," Chadian Foreign Minister Ahmar Allami told AFP news agency. Khartoum denies backing the rebels, and in turn accuses Chad of backing rebels in the war-torn Darfur region. Eastern Chad has a similar ethnic make-up to Darfur, where Arab militias are accused of carrying out a genocide against black Africans. On Monday night, the rebels claimed to have seized the town of Am Timan, some 600km from N'Djamena but the government denied it had fallen and urged the capital's residents to stay calm. "The government appeals to the population to remain calm and to go normally about one's business," said spokesman Hourmadji Moussa Doumgor. On Sunday, the Union of Forces for Democracy and Development (UFDD) rebel seized the small town of Gos Beida. Our correspondent says there was also fierce fighting in the border town of Ade.

France
Our reporter says the role of the French army here will also be key to how the struggle for power plays out. Back in April, when rebels managed to reach the heart of the capital in a four-day advance before being overpowered, the French received widespread criticism from Chadians for the way they staunchly supported President Idriss Deby. The French army has also admitted that two days ago one of their surveillance planes narrowly avoided being shot down by a surface-to-air missile fired by rebels. While the French do still openly support the Chadian government, there are some questions over exactly how far they will go to prop up President Deby's regime - and how much they are willing to risk, our reporter says.

Iran charged over Argentina bomb BBC News
The Iranian government and Lebanese militia group Hezbollah have been formally charged over the 1994 bombing of a Jewish centre in Buenos Aires.Argentine prosecutors are calling for the arrest of former Iranian President Hashemi Rafsanjani and seven others. Chief prosecutor Alberto Nisman accused the Iranian authorities of directing Hezbollah to carry out the attack. Hezbollah and Iran both deny that they were involved in the blast, which killed 85 and wounded 300. The blast, on 18 July 1994, reduced the seven-storey Jewish-Argentine Mutual Association (AMIA) community centre in Buenos Aires to rubble. Nobody has ever been convicted of the attack, but the current government has said it is determined to secure justice.

'Hallmarks'
Over the years, the case has been marked by rumours of cover-ups and accusations of incompetence, but little in the way of hard evidence. Minor figures, including a policeman who sold the van used in the attack, have been named, but no-one has been convicted. Local Jewish groups have long said the bombing bore the hallmarks of Iranian-backed Islamic militants. Iran has repeatedly and vehemently denied any involvement in the attack. Last November, an Argentine prosecutor said a member of Hezbollah was behind the attack and had been identified in a joint operation by Argentine intelligence and the FBI. But Hezbollah said that the man, Ibrahim Hussein Berro, had died in southern Lebanon while fighting Israel. The 1992 bombing of the Israeli embassy in Buenos Aires, which killed 29 people, also remains unsolved.

HSBC probes Pinochet gold claims BBC News
HSBC say they are investigating Chilean reports of a multimillion gold deposit allegedly belonging to Augusto Pinochet and held in a Hong Kong bank account.Two newspapers allege that gold bars belonging to the former military leader worth $160m (£85.5m) have been found. HSBC says that, although initial checks show it does not hold the gold, it is awaiting information from the Chilean authorities to pursue the inquiry. Gen Pinochet, 90, is being investigated for tax evasion and embezzlement. "We've had no formal approach either from the Chilean government or the authorities in Hong Kong but, in light of the current media reports, we have started an investigation," HSBC spokesman Richard Lindsay told the BBC news website. "However, at present, we do not believe we hold gold or any other funds for Gen Pinochet, in Hong Kong or elsewhere."

'Not yet official'
Chile's government says it has been informed of the reports but has not received any official notification. The two newspapers, El Mercurio and La Nacion, quote unnamed officials linked with the financial investigation as their source for the reports. Chilean Foreign Minister Alejandro Foxley says the authorities in Santiago received information several days ago which was relayed to the courts which are investigating Gen Pinochet's financial affairs abroad. But Mr Foxley said the information was not yet official. A spokesman for Gen Pinochet said he had no information about the alleged deposit but had no doubt that the reports had no real basis. The Chilean courts have stripped Gen Pinochet of the legal immunity he enjoyed as a former president in several cases, including for alleged human rights abuses, but he has yet to face trial.

S Korea lists steps against North BBC News
South Korea has revealed for the first time what sanctions it will take against the North following its nuclear test earlier this month. Unification Minister Lee Jong-seok said some Northern officials would be banned from the South under new travel rules. He also said that Seoul would tightly control inter-Korean trade. The announcement came despite a warning from North Korea that sanctions imposed by Seoul would be seen as an act of confrontation. South Korea has been hesitant to take strong measures against the North because of its proximity, as well as close cultural ties.

'Complicated issues'
The UN Security Council approved new arms and financial sanctions against North Korea following its nuclear test on 9 October. Member countries are currently debating how to enforce these restrictions, with the US and Japan urging other nations to fully comply with the agreed terms. The Security Council has called on all members to state how they plan to implement sanctions by mid-November. US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice acknowledged on Wednesday that applying restrictions on Pyongyang involved "a complicated set of issues for South Korea", but again urged Seoul to show a strong commitment to the sanctions. The US is likely to welcome Mr Lee's announcement of action against the North. Mr Lee said Seoul would enforce UN travel restrictions on North Korean officials, and added that the government would vet all financial transactions related to inter-Korean trade. In addition, he said North Korean ships arriving in South Korean ports would be subject to a more rigorous customs check. But he added that existing inter-Korean economic projects, involving a joint industrial complex and a tourism zone in North Korea, would continue. The government in Seoul has argued that these projects do not fall under the UN Security Council's resolution forbidding the transfer of material, equipment, and financial resources that may benefit North Korea's nuclear programme.

Act of 'confrontation'
Seoul's announcement came just a day after the North gave its first warning specifically directed at the South. "If the South Korean authorities end up joining US-led moves to sanction and stifle, we will regard it as a declaration of confrontation against its own people ... and take corresponding measures," the North said in a statement. US President George W Bush recently accused North Korea of trying to "test the will" of the five nations negotiating with it over its nuclear programme - the US, South Korea, Japan, China and Russia. "The leader of North Korea likes to threaten," Mr Bush said.

HK budget airline gets off ground BBC News
The inaugural flight of Hong Kong's first budget airline Oasis has finally taken off, a day later than planned. The flight to London Gatwick was meant to leave on Wednesday afternoon, but was delayed after Moscow held back its right to fly over Russian territory. After hours of delay, passengers on the fully-booked flight disembarked and spent the night at home or in hotels. Oasis has made headlines by promising low-cost long-haul flights while still offering in-flight services. Chairman Raymond Lee said the firm had been "shocked and stunned" by Russia's withdrawal of its overfly permission, after a year of negotiations. "We already paid all the money, had the receipts and the confirmation number, and this sudden cancellation... was there a misunderstanding?" he told reporters at the airport.

Compensation
He said news of the decision came an hour before the Boeing 747's maiden flight was due to take off, but the airline did not immediately inform passengers as it thought the situation would be resolved. Oasis was given clearance late on Wednesday evening, he added. "We've been approved from a very responsible and reliable source that we can definitely fly through the Moscow airspace today," he said, before the plane left. The plane left for London's Gatwick airport at 1320 local time (0520GMT) carrying 300 passengers. The passengers had spent some six hours on board the grounded plane on Wednesday before being told the flight was being rescheduled for the following day. They were offered cash coupons and a free air ticket as compensation, Oasis said. Oasis has promised to shake up the airline industry in Hong Kong and beyond as the first budget carrier to focus only on the long haul. Seats in economy class cost from US$200 including tax. The airline also offers a business class, which it says is cheaper than economy on established airlines. However, environmental groups have expressed concern about the trend of budget long-haul flights, and say that low-price fares do not reflect the true cost of the environmental damage they cause.

Putin attacks Georgia 'war plans' BBC News
Russian President Vladimir Putin has accused Georgian leaders of seeking to resolve their country's territorial disputes by force.Mr Putin told Russian TV viewers that in Georgia's breakaway Abkhazia region "people are very concerned about the militarisation of Georgia". Russia was also "alarmed by the current leadership's policy of resolving these problems by force", he said. Russia has deported hundreds of Georgians amid a bitter diplomatic row. Mr Putin was speaking in a live TV phone-in with Russians nationwide.

Separatist pressure
The pro-Russian separatist authorities in Abkhazia and South Ossetia want independence from Georgia, but Tbilisi has vowed to reimpose its rule in the rebel regions.Mr Putin warned that it would be a big mistake for Georgia to resort to force. "We cannot allow bloodshed in this region," he said. He insisted that Russia did not have territorial ambitions in the Caucasus. "We're not trying to increase our territory. We have enough territory," he said. He stressed the need for peaceful compromise, saying "we respect the Georgian people... Georgians made a huge contribution to Russian statehood". He said Russia would be closely watching developments in Kosovo, the mainly ethnic Albanian province which broke away from Serbia.Kosovo - still officially part of Serbia - is run by a UN administration, but a final settlement is being negotiated. Many observers expect Kosovo to get some form of independence, which might be an imposed solution. Georgian and Abkhaz separatists accused each other of opening fire while Georgian Interior Minister Vano Merabishvili was visiting the flashpoint Kodori Gorge area of Abkhazia on Wednesday. Russian-Georgian relations worsened last month after Tbilisi detained four Russians whom it said were spies. Russia responded by cutting transport and postal links with Georgia and expelled hundreds of Georgians alleged to be living in Russia illegally. Police also cracked down on Georgian businesses in Moscow.

'Civilians killed' in Nato raids BBC News
Scores of civilians have been killed during Nato operations against Taleban fighters in southern Afghanistan, local officials and civilians say.Nato says it will help Afghan officials investigate what happened after raids in two districts of Kandahar province. The alliance had "credible reports" of some civilian casualties, but could not confirm reports of 60 dead civilians. It said 48 militants had been killed. Funerals have already been held for a number of those killed, relatives say. In September Nato said it had routed the Taleban in one of their strongholds in Kandahar province after a two-week-long operation in which 500 militants were killed.

'Sorry not good enough'
Locals in Panjwayi and Pashmul districts of Kandahar province say the Nato raids began on Tuesday, during the Eid al-Fitr festival marking the end of Ramadan, and continued into the night.Afghan Interior Ministry spokesman Zmarai Bashiry told the BBC that local police and officials had confirmed more than 40 villagers killed in the Nato raids. Other local officials put the death toll at between 60 and 85. A statement from President Hamid Karzai said an eight-member team of tribal and community elders would investigate the reported civilian casualties during the Nato air raids. "The team has been tasked to prepare a full and complete account of the incident and identify its causes and victims," it said. The elders would also make suggestions on how to prevent such "unfortunate" incidents in future and ensure better co-ordination with foreign forces. Kandahar provincial council member Bismallah Afghanmal said announcing an investigation was not enough. "These kinds of things have happened several times, and they only say 'sorry'," he told the Associated Press news agency. "How can you compensate people who have lost their sons and daughters?"

'Human shields'
A spokesman for the Nato-led International Security Assistance Force (Isaf), Maj Luke Knittig, was unable to confirm the high death tolls.But he told reporters in Kabul: "Very sadly, civilians continue to get caught up in these engagements with tragic results. "We are helping Afghan leaders there fly over the area to make an assessment." Nato spokesman Mark Laity told the same news briefing that Taleban fighters often used locals as "human shields", and the alliance made every effort to minimise civilian casualties. A Taleban statement sent to the BBC said none of the movement's fighters had been killed in the Panjwayi clashes, and that any deaths were civilian. President Hamid Karzai has been under mounting pressure over civilian deaths and has urged foreign forces to exercise more caution. Last week, up to 21 civilians were killed in two Nato operations in Kandahar and neighbouring Helmand province. In July 2002, a US air strike in Uruzgan province left 46 civilians dead and wounded more than 100, many of whom had been at a wedding party. Hundreds of people have been killed in Afghanistan this year, the bloodiest since the Taleban were removed from power by US-led forces in 2001.

Bush signs Mexico fence into law BBC News
US President George W Bush has signed into law a plan for 700 miles (1,125km) of new fencing along the US-Mexico border, to curb illegal immigration.Mr Bush said the US had not been in control of the border for decades. Illegal immigration is expected to be a major question in next month's US mid-term elections. Mexican officials have opposed the fence, with outgoing President Vicente Fox calling it "shameful" and likening it to the Berlin Wall. About 10 million Mexicans are thought to live in the US, some four million of them illegally. An estimated 1.2 million illegal immigrants were arrested last year trying to cross into the US via the border states of Texas, New Mexico, Arizona and California.

'Nation of immigrants'
In signing the Secure Fence Act 2006 into law, Mr Bush said that his government would tackle illegal immigration by means of increased funding and numbers of immigration officials.He said that remote cameras, satellites and unmanned aerial vehicles would also be used to create a "21st-century" border with Mexico. "We're modernising the southern border of the United States so we can assure the American people we are doing our job of securing our border," he said. "Ours is a nation of immigrants. We're also a nation of law. "Unfortunately the United States has not been in complete control of its borders for decades. Therefore illegal immigration has been on the rise." But Mr Bush promised to balance the tightening of the border with a temporary guest worker programme and moves to grant eventual citizenship to some of the illegal immigrants already in the US. Those moves are opposed by many within his own Republican party.

'Not impenetrable'
The BBC's Nick Miles in Washington says that, though few US congressmen have questioned the need for some action to reduce illegal migration, many have queried how effective the fence will be.TJ Bonner, president of the National Border Patrol Council, a union representing patrol agents, told Associated Press that it would not be enough on its own. "A fence will slow people down by a minute or two, but if you don't have the agents to stop them it does no good. We're not talking about some impenetrable barrier," he said. Mexico has pledged to challenge the fence at the United Nations and on Wednesday presented a declaration against the policy to the Organisation of American States, supported by 27 other Latin American and Caribbean nations but opposed by the US.

'Unnecessary and offensive'
The BBC's Duncan Kennedy in Mexico City says the fence has united Mexican politicians in opposition. Across the political divide, politicians have come together to condemn what they see as an unnecessary and offensive barrier, he says. And they accuse the United States of hypocrisy for enjoying the benefits of cheap Mexican labour but not being prepared to offer Mexican people a chance to cross the border legally, our correspondent said. Part of the funding for the fence is likely to come from the $1.2bn (£0.6bn) set aside for it in a recent homeland security bill, but the full cost may be greater and the source of the funding is still unclear, our correspondent says.

ISS supply ship fails to lock on BBC News
A Russian cargo spacecraft has failed to dock properly with the orbiting International Space Station.Mission controllers said the problem was caused by an antenna on the cargo vehicle, which failed to fold away. The Progress craft was taking water, food and other supplies to the crew, who are said to be in no danger. A Progress rocket sent up last year had to be docked manually by a crewman after communications failed a few minutes before docking. A Russian mission control spokesman said that such problems had occurred before. "There was some problem with achieving a perfect seal," he said. "We have had such incidents before and it is not something extraordinary." He added that mission control was not currently able to speak to the space station's crew and was waiting for the next communications window to do so. The supply ship was launched from Russia's Baikonur space station in Kazakhstan on Monday. The current ISS crew - Russian Mikhail Tyurin, American Michael Lopez-Alegria and German Thomas Reiter - have been on board the space station since September.

Australia fury at cleric comments BBC News
Australia's most senior Muslim cleric has prompted an uproar by saying that some women are attracting sexual assault by the way they dress. Sheikh Taj el-Din al-Hilali said women who did not wear a hijab (head dress) were like "uncovered meat". But he has now apologised for any offence caused by his comments, The Australian newspaper reports. Leading Muslim women condemned the comments and PM John Howard said the remarks were "appalling". "The idea that women are to blame for rapes is preposterous," Mr Howard told reporters. In a statement released on Thursday, Sheikh Hilali said he had been quoting another, unnamed, source and did not mean his words to condone rape. "I unreservedly apologise to any woman who is offended by my comments. I had only intended to protect women's honour," the statement published in The Australian said. "Women in our Australian society have the freedom and the right to dress as they choose. "Whether a man endorses or not a particular form of dress, any form of harassment of women is unacceptable." A spokesman for Sheikh Hilali earlier said the quote had been taken out of context and referred not to sexual assault, but to sexual infidelity. The sermon was targeted against men and women who engaged in extra-marital sex and did so through alluring types of clothes, he said.

Ban threat
The leader of Australia's largest Islamic organisation has threatened to ban the cleric from teaching at Lakemba Mosque in Western Sydney. Tom Zreika, president of the Lebanese Muslim Association, which owns the mosque, said he condemned Sheikh Hilali's words. "The board [of the LMA] has unlimited powers in respect of his teachings in the mosque. We can do anything that's required to prevent him from teaching in our mosque. If you haven't got the backing of Australia's largest and most established Islamic organisation then you are out on a limb," he is quoted as saying in The Australian. But Mr Zreika said the LMA had yet to fully review the contents of the sermon and Sheik Hilali should be offered the benefit of the doubt until any offence had been proved. A copy of the cleric's comments delivered in a sermon to some 500 worshippers in Sydney last month during the Muslim holy month of Ramadan was initially published in The Australian. "If you take out uncovered meat and place it outside... and the cats come and eat it... whose fault is it, the cats' or the uncovered meat?" he asked. The uncovered meat is the problem, he went on to say. "If she was in her room, in her home, in her hijab, no problem would have occurred," he added. Sheikh Hilali also condemned women who swayed suggestively and wore make-up, implying they attracted sexual assault. "Then you get a judge without mercy... and gives you 65 years," he added. Sheikh Hilali's critics have previously accused him of praising suicide bombers and claiming the attacks in the United States on 11 September 2001 were "God's work against oppressors".

High-profile case
The BBC's Nick Bryant in Sydney says the cleric's latest comments are seen as particularly insensitive because Sydney was the scene six years ago of a series of gang rapes committed by a group of Lebanese Australians, who received long prison sentences. Finance Minister Peter Costello called on Muslims to condemn the speech. "If you have a significant religious leader like this preaching to a flock in a situation where we've had gang rapes, in a way that seems to make it justifiable, then people that listen to that kind of comment can get the wrong idea," he said. "They can actually think that it's not as bad as it is." A number of leading Muslim women have already spoken out against the sermon, describing it as repulsive and offensive. Federal Sex Discrimination Commissioner Pru Goward said the comments could be an incitement to crime. "Young Muslim men who now rape women can cite this in court, can quote this man... their leader in court," she told Australian media. She added that the cleric should be deported for inciting rape.

Iran 'steps up nuclear programme' BBC News
Iran has reportedly taken another step in its uranium enrichment programme, in defiance of international pressure.It has activated a second set of centrifuges - the machines used to enrich uranium - the semi-official Isna agency has said. A BBC correspondent says Iran would need tens of thousands of centrifuges to make industrial-scale nuclear fuel. The UN Security Council is to debate sanctions after Iran failed to meet an August deadline to stop enrichment. Iran has not convinced the US and other Western states that its enrichment work is only aimed at generating electricity, and not acquiring nuclear weapons. There is no doubt that the use of the second cascade of centrifuges will be seen as an act of defiance by the international community at what is a sensitive time, the BBC's Frances Harrison reports from Tehran.

'No secret'
The Iranian report suggested that scientists had injected gas into the second cascade. Isna quoted its unnamed source as saying the second cascade's "product" had been obtained. The source said the second cascade had been installed two weeks ago with the knowledge of UN nuclear inspectors. "The International Atomic Energy Agency has been fully aware of the issue and the inspectors are present in Iran," the source said. Iran's first cascade, consisting of 168 centrifuges, produced a small quantity of enriched uranium in February. Iran has said it plans to install 3,000 centrifuges at its nuclear site in Natanz by the end of this year.

UN initiates arms trade agreement BBC News
A United Nations committee has voted overwhelmingly to begin work on drawing up an international arms trade treaty.The measure would close loopholes in existing laws which mean guns still end up in conflict zones despite arms embargoes and export controls. It could also stop the supply of weapons to countries whose development is being hampered by arms spending. Only the US - a major arms manufacturer - voted against the treaty, saying it wanted to rely on existing agreements. A total of 139 states voted for the motion. There were 24 abstentions. Major weapons manufacturers such as Britain, France and Germany voted to begin work on the treaty, as did major emerging arms exporters Bulgaria and Ukraine. Russia and China, also major arms manufacturers, were among the countries to abstain. UK Minister for International Development Gareth Thomas said an international treaty was the best way to curb the supply of weapons. "All countries should support such a treaty as it offers the hope of a safer world where children are not scared to go to school," he said.

'Suppliers club'
The UN secretary general has one year to produce a report on how to introduce common international standards for the import, export and transfer of conventional arms.The BBC's Laura Trevelyan at the UN says it could be years before an international arms trade treaty is actually agreed - but this vote is an important first step. Globalisation has made existing export controls inadequate, our correspondent says - often, a weapons company with its headquarters in a country with strict export controls will manufacture components in nations with lax laws. Some developing countries fear a treaty will just create a cartel or a suppliers' club for the major weapons exporters, our correspondent adds. Human rights organisations have welcomed the move.Amnesty International described the vote as "an historic opportunity", saying "any credible treaty must outlaw those transfers, which fuel the systematic murder, rape, torture and expulsion of thousands of people". One of those campaigning for the treaty was Richard Wilson, whose sister was taken from a bus and shot dead in 2000, while working in Burundi as a school teacher. He told the BBC's World Today that the major arms exporting countries had to acknowledge their role in providing weapons to the poorest parts of the world. "The attackers fired off nearly 1,000 rounds of ammunition. This is in the poorest country in the world. "That says something about the easy availability of weapons, and anything that can be done to reduce that can help to prevent at least some of these tragedies in the future," he said. Nobel peace prize winners, including Archbishop Desmond Tutu, have also backed the idea of such a treaty. BBC defence and security correspondent Rob Watson says any eventual treaty faces many hurdles, including the question of how to stop those shady international arms dealers who are not in the habit of obtaining export licences? Assurances will also need to be provided to arms exporters like Russia and China and emerging manufacturers that any treaty is not aimed at damaging their arms industries, our correspondent adds.

Australia Muslim cleric suspended BBC News
Australia's top Muslim cleric has been barred from preaching for up to three months, after comparing immodestly dressed women to "uncovered meat". Sheikh Taj el-Din al-Hilali's comments, suggesting that women who did not wear a headscarf attracted sexual assault, have caused a storm of protest. Sydney's mosque association said the suspension would give the cleric time to consider the impact of his words. But Australian Premier John Howard said the action was insufficient. Many people - including some Muslim leaders - have called for the cleric to be dismissed from office. Sheikh Hilali sparked more controversy on Friday when, asked by reporters if he would resign, he responded: "After we clean the world of the White House first." His comments, made outside his mosque in Sydney after Friday prayers, prompted a round of applause from supporters.

Apology
Sheikh Hilali's comments about women's dress were delivered in a sermon to some 500 worshippers in Sydney last month, during the Muslim holy month of Ramadan. But it was not until they were published in The Australian newspaper on Thursday that a wave of anger was unleashed. "If you take out uncovered meat and place it outside... and the cats come and eat it... whose fault is it, the cats' or the uncovered meat?" Sheikh Hilali is quoted as asking during the sermon. The uncovered meat is the problem, he went on to say. "If she was in her room, in her home, in her hijab [headscarf], no problem would have occurred," he added. Sheikh Hilali has since apologised for his comments, which he said had been misinterpreted and taken out of context. "I unreservedly apologise to any woman who is offended by my comments. I had only intended to protect women's honour," he said in a statement published in The Australian. "Women in our Australian society have the freedom and the right to dress as they choose," he added. Muslim leaders decided to accept his apology and said that no action would be taken against the cleric. Mosque Association president Tom Zreika said the board was "basically satisfied with the notion that certain statements made by the mufti [were] misrepresented". "We felt the three months away would give him time to mull over what's been said," Mr Zreika told reporters. But many other Australians feel more action should be taken against Sheikh Hilali. "I believe that unless this matter is satisfactorily resolved by the Islamic community, there is a real worry that some lasting damage will be done," Prime Minister John Howard told Australian radio. "I think what he's done is so unacceptable and so out of line with not only mainstream Australian opinion but... mainstream Muslim opinion." "I know how strongly many Islamic community people felt about those comments yesterday, how damaging they saw them in terms of Australian-Islamic relations," added Federal Sex Discrimination Commissioner Pru Goward. "I think the pressure should not be taken off just because he has agreed to be silent for three months." Sheikh Hilali has courted controversy in the past, claiming in a 2004 sermon that the September 2001 attacks in the US had been "God's work against oppressors".

Nato confirms Afghan raid deaths BBC News
Nato has confirmed that at least 12 civilians were killed in an air strike targeting Taleban militants in southern Afghanistan on Tuesday. Reports suggest at least 40 civilians died when a nomad camp was hit in Kandahar province's Panjwayi district. A team of tribal and community elders will hold an inquiry, Afghan President Hamid Karzai's office said. On Friday, at least 14 people died in Uruzgan province when their bus struck a roadside bomb, officials said. It was not immediately clear what kind of the bomb caused the blast, or who planted it.

'Things go wrong'
Nato has said 48 Taleban fighters were killed in three raids in Kandahar province, but the Taleban have denied losing any men. Local police and officials confirmed more than 40 people were killed in one of the Nato raids, Afghan interior ministry spokesman Zmarai Bashiry told the BBC. Other local officials put the death toll at between 60 and 85. One Afghan survivor told the BBC that those attacked were nomads who had been living outside a village in tents. Nato forces are the main component in Isaf, the international force deployed in Afghanistan. A spokesman, Capt Andre Salloum, told AFP news agency: "As soon as the battle ended, troops on the ground were able to identify 12 civilians." Nato forces were working with the Afghan defence ministry to conduct further investigations, he added. Another Nato spokesman, Mark Laity, said the troops sought to take maximum care to avoid civilian casualties. "We've got tight rules of engagement but sometimes things go wrong..." he said. "President Karzai quite understandably and correctly wants us to show maximum care - that's what we do."

Deadly 'mistakes'
Residents in Panjwayi say the bombing began on Tuesday and continued into the night. Local people as well as district officials have described buildings destroyed by aerial bombings during the Eid al-Fitr festival marking the end of Ramadan. "The planes came and were bombing 3am," one man said. "And, in the morning, they started hitting our village with mortars and rockets. They didn't allow anybody to come to our help." People told the BBC that the bodies of many locals had been pulled from the rubble of their homes and buried. One local man who did not want to reveal his name said 20 members of his family had been killed and 10 injured. He said that a nomad camp with no connection to the Taleban had been attacked: "There are no Taleban here. We live outside the village in an open area in tents. "Anyone can come here to see our homes and area. There are no Taleban here. We all are nomads living in tents. "Each time they say that it was a mistake. They have destroyed us all in such mistakes. For God's sake, come and see our situation."

Karzai under pressure
President Karzai's office said his investigators would make suggestions on how to prevent such "unfortunate" incidents in future and ensure better co-ordination with foreign forces. Mr Karzai has been under mounting pressure over civilian deaths and has urged foreign forces to exercise more caution. Last week, up to 21 civilians were killed in two Nato operations in Kandahar and neighbouring Helmand province. Hundreds of people have been killed in Afghanistan this year, the bloodiest since the Taleban were removed from power by US-led forces in 2001. The UN mission in Afghanistan has voiced serious concern about the Panjwayi deaths.

Israeli minister to visit Qatar BBC News
Israeli Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni has accepted an invitation to a conference in the Gulf state of Qatar. The visit will be the highest level visit to Qatar by an Israeli official in 10 years. On Sunday, Qatar hosts the sixth International Conference on New or Restored Democracies in Doha. Qatar and Israel maintain low-level diplomatic and commercial ties, but there has been no high-profile visit to Qatar since Shimon Peres in 1996. Qatari Foreign Minister Sheikh Hamad bin Jassem bin Jabr al-Thani met Ms Livni at the UN General Assembly in September. He also recently visited Gaza in an effort to advance negotiations on the release of captured Israeli soldier Gilad Shalit, and has attempted to move on talks between the main Palestinian factions on a unity government. Sunday's conference, which hopes to bring together top representatives from at least 27 states, is expected to focus on reform in the Arab world. Freedom of speech and the participation of women in political life are also to be key issues.

California fire claims four lives BBC News
Four US firefighters have died in a forest fire near Palm Springs, California, which authorities say was the work of arsonists.Thousands of acres have burned around the town of Cabazon, some 125 miles (200km) east of Los Angeles. Hundreds of families have been forced to leave their homes. Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger paid tribute to the dead firefighters saying Californians were "heartbroken". A murder inquiry has been launched. More than 700 firefighters were sent to the scene on Thursday. The flames spread rapidly, fuelled by strong winds, high temperatures and dry conditions.

Reward
By late Thursday the fire was 5% contained, officials said. The authorities believe it was started deliberately to cause maximum damage."A deliberate arson fire that kills someone constitutes murder," Californian firefighters chief John Hawkins told reporters. He offered a $100,000 reward for any information leading to the arrest of those responsible. Mr Hawkins said between 400 and 1,000 people were trapped in a recreational vehicle park in the hills. "They are going to encounter heat and smoke but they are probably going to be okay," he said. Many others in the area have been forced to flee their homes. "The flames were 30m (100ft) tall, burning on both sides of the road. I didn't think I would make it," local resident Charles Miner told Reuters news agency. Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger said: "All Californians are heartbroken... Anyone that is risking their own lives to save others is a true hero." The weather service has issued a red flag warning for extreme fire danger in the next few days. Officials say the battle will continue to be fought overnight but it may be next week before the blaze is under control.

Bush condemns Iran nuclear move BBC News
US President George W Bush says the international community must "redouble" efforts to prevent Iran obtaining nuclear weapons. He spoke after reports Iran had stepped up work to enrich uranium by activating a second cascade of centrifuges at its Natanz plant. Feeding gas into centrifuges can produce fuel for nuclear power plants or, ultimately, atomic weapons. Mr Bush said he was aware of the "speculation" and condemned the move. "Whether they doubled it or not, the idea of Iran having a nuclear weapon is unacceptable," Mr Bush said. "We must double our effort to work with the international community to persuade the Iranians that there is only isolation from the world if they continue working forward on such a programme." Iran says its enrichment work is aimed at generating electricity, but the US and other Western nations fear Iran is trying to acquire nuclear weapons. The move is being seen as an act of international defiance by Teheran, given demands by the UN Security Council that it suspend uranium enrichment, says the BBC's Pam O'Toole. The permanent members of the Security Council are meeting in New York to discuss sanctions over Iran's failure to meet an August deadline to stop enrichment.

'Product obtained'
The report that a second cascade of centrifuges had been activated at Tehran's enrichment plant at Natanz came from the semi-official Isna agency. The report suggested that scientists had injected gas into the second cascade, and quoted its unnamed source as saying the second cascade's "product" had been obtained. The second cascade had been installed two weeks ago with the knowledge of UN nuclear inspectors, the source said. "The International Atomic Energy Agency has been fully aware of the issue and the inspectors are present in Iran," the source said. Installation of the second cascade in itself is not a major technological breakthrough, our correspondent says. Experts admit that it would take years for it to install the many thousands of centrifuges required and master the specialised technology required to do so. Even so, some Western diplomats have expressed unease at Iran's progress. They fear that even operating a few cascades of centrifuges helps Tehran to develop knowledge of the fuel cycle, making it easier for Iran to go underground with a covert weapons programme in the future, our correspondent adds. Iran's first cascade, consisting of 168 centrifuges, produced a small quantity of enriched uranium in February. Tehran has said it plans to install 3,000 centrifuges in Natanz by March, something scientists say appears optimistic, our correspondent adds.

Bangladesh pledge on power shift BBC News
Bangladeshi Prime Minister Khaleda Zia has promised to hand over power at midnight as a tense standoff with the opposition reaches its climax.Mrs Zia pledged to respect the constitution in a televised speech to the nation hours before the transfer. Two people died in clashes on Friday as thousands took to the streets. Tension is high and police are out in force. The opposition opposes the man chosen to lead an interim government which will organise elections due in January.

Peace call
Mrs Zia appealed for calm across the country as fresh violence broke out in a number of towns and cities.She promised the poll would be free and fair, and said the constitution would "safeguard a peace-loving and responsible nation". "I urge everyone, including opposition parties, to maintain peace during the tenure of the caretaker government to ensure that a peaceful and credible election is held," she told the nation. It was a matter of "great regret" that talks with the opposition aimed at defusing the current crisis had not produced results, she added. There have already been sporadic outbreaks of violence, but the BBC's Roland Buerk in Dhaka says many people fear this is the calm before the storm. He says the transfer of power threatens to spark a major confrontation between the government and opposition. On Friday, one person was killed in the eastern town of Brahmanbaria during clashes between supporters of the outgoing Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) and opposition Awami League. Another died in violence near Dhaka between followers of the BNP and newly-formed Liberal Democratic Party, which contains high-profile defectors from the ruling party. More than 100 other people were hurt in clashes in the capital and elsewhere. Large numbers of police officers - many brought in from outlying districts - have been deployed in Dhaka ahead of the power transfer. Our correspondent says everyone is waiting for Saturday when the caretaker government is expected to be sworn in.

'Stooge'
The Awami League object strongly to the man tipped to head the supposedly-neutral interim administration - retired chief justice KM Hasan.They say he is a ruling party stooge and will rig the polls. They are threatening to paralyse the country if he takes office, with demonstrations and blockades of roads, railways and the country's main port. The BNP about to leave power is calling for its supporters to be ready to take on opposition activists in the streets. KM Hasan himself is remaining shut away behind his heavily-guarded gates. It is not yet clear if he will even accept the daunting task of leading this bitterly-divided country, our correspondent says. The elections are not expected to take place until January, so months of disruption lie ahead, he adds. The man killed on Friday died in clashes between the newly formed Liberal Democratic Party and the ruling BNP near Dhaka. Twelve former BNP members of parliament have joined the new party, deepening the current political crisis.

Housing slump batters US economy BBC News
US economic growth slowed to an annual rate of 1.6% in the third quarter of 2006, its lowest level for three years.Commerce Department figures showed that the slump in the US housing market was largely responsible for the loss of economic momentum. The data showed a 17.4% annual fall in spending on new housing. During the previous three months the economy had grown by 2.6%. Now the rate is at its lowest since the first quarter of 2003, when it was 1.2%. However, some analysts said that consumer spending, buoyed by a fall in fuel prices, would provide a boost to the economy with some forecasting a growth rate of 3% in October to December. Lower costs at the petrol pump, combined with strong employment figures led to improving consumer sentiment during October, a survey said. The index, compiled by the University of Michigan, was at 93.6 in October, up from September's figure of 85.4.

Voter influences
However, the slump in gross domestic product (GDP), well below Wall Street expectations, comes as a blow to President George W Bush ahead of the US midterm elections next month. The economy, alongside immigration and the war in Iraq, is expected to be a major influence on voters when they go to the polls. Political reaction to the figures was swift. Republicans pointed to the sustained rally in key stocks on the Dow Jones index as proof of the US economy's resilience. White House spokesman Tony Snow told reporters that economic growth would "continue to rebound". Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson said the housing boom had been "clearly unsustainable" and the market had "needed to have a correction". However Nancy Pelosi, a leading Democrat politician, said that "just because the president looks through his rose-coloured glasses and sees a strong economy doesn't make it so". Another Democrat, Senator Jack Reed, said the growth figures contradicted "the President's claim that his tax cuts are working". Rates relief? Analysts said the news meant an interest rate rise from the US Federal Reserve was now unlikely to be imminent - with some predicting a rate reduction as being more probable. The UK-based Centre for Economics and Business Research (CEBR) said it expected US growth would be revised up slightly but that the picture remained "one of a controlled economic slowdown". "Weak GDP figures will likely give the markets something to worry about, although on the other hand, they will raise expectations that the next move in interest rates will be down," said CEBR senior economist Jonathan Said. In the US, the data also caused a surprise. "Below 2% is certainly a negative surprise and suggests that the economy is cooling off faster than anticipated," said Bank of New York strategist Michael Woolfolk. "But it is certainly in line with the Federal Reserve's story that a moderation in growth will help core inflation come back down into its comfort zone in the mid term." Latest figures show that annualised economic growth in the UK is 2.8%, while it is 3.4% in the eurozone.

Judge 'orders arrest of Pinochet' BBC News
A judge has ordered the arrest of Chile's former military leader, Augusto Pinochet, over crimes committed at a detention centre, sources say.Judge Alejandro Solis requested the arrest of Gen Pinochet, 90, for 36 cases of kidnap, one of homicide and for 23 cases of torture. The crimes allegedly took place in the years following his 1973 coup. The Villa Grimaldi centre was run by his secret police, where thousands were tortured between 1974 and 1977. Gen Pinochet will be placed under house arrest at his home on Monday, the Reuters news agency reported. The former leader was under house arrest for seven weeks last year, over the disappearance of three leftists during his rule. More than 3,000 people were killed when Gen Pinochet was in power from 1973 to 1990.

US forces enter Shia stronghold BBC News
US forces hunting a kidnapped American soldier entered the Sadr City area of Baghdad on Friday.The raid triggered brief clashes with the Mehdi Army, a militia loyal to the local Shia cleric Moqtada al-Sadr. The soldier was seized on Monday after leaving he left base inside Baghdad's fortified "Green Zone" to visit Iraqi relatives in the city. Elsewhere, police in the northern city of Mosul have reinforced security after insurgents threatened fresh attacks. Police introduced a vehicle ban in the city and extended an overnight curfew until 1500 local time on Friday, security officials say. On Thursday insurgents distributed leaflets in Mosul threatening to attack the police and army. Suicide bombers using vehicles killed about 20 people in one day in a series of attacks in the city last week.

Bodies dumped
The threat against the police and army in Mosul was made by an insurgent umbrella group called the Mujahideen Shura Council. The group had declared parts of the city an Islamic state.Mosul is Iraq's third biggest city and home to a mix of Sunni Arabs and ethnic Kurds. Violence between the groups is common. On Thursday at least five bodies, including those of two police officers, were found dumped around the city. October has been particularly violent in Iraq with around 1,000 Iraqis and nearly 100 US troops killed.

Recruits killed
At least 24 Iraqi police and 18 Sunni insurgents were killed on Thursday in a firelight in Baquba, north of Baghdad, the US military has said. One civilian was reported killed. American troops and aircraft were diverted from a nearby mission to aid an Iraqi police unit which had been ambushed by "anti-Iraqi forces". Baquba is the capital of Diyala province, an area which has become notorious for sectarian violence and anti-coalition insurgency. At least 13 police recruits were killed and several abducted on Sunday when insurgents attacked buses carrying the volunteers near the town of Muradiya, in Diyala province.

Police deployed in Paris suburbs BBC News
Extra police have been ordered into suburbs in the French capital, Paris, on the first anniversary of two deaths which sparked riots across the country.An additional 4,000 officers were deployed amid reports two more buses had been attacked and set ablaze. Earlier, at least 500 people marched in memory of the two teenage boys, both from immigrant families, who died. Their deaths and the suggestion they had been running from police triggered three weeks of suburban clashes. During the violence - between youths of mainly North African origin and police - more than 10,000 cars were set ablaze and 300 buildings firebombed. Ahead of the anniversary police had reported an upsurge in violence. On Thursday, two buses were set ablaze.

Buses attacked
In the latest incidents, at least two more buses were set on fire. Two armed men forced passengers from a bus in the northern Parisian suburb of Blanc Mesnil, before burning it. A second similar attack took place in the same suburb shortly afterwards, police said. "What happened is four guys attacked Bus 346," witness Thierry Ange told the Associated Press news agency. "They made everyone get off, then they hit a woman and dragged out the bus driver by his tie," he said. Both vehicles were destroyed, but there were no reported injuries.

Appeal for calm
Earlier, several hundred people marched through the suburb of Clichy-sous-Bois, where the riots started.The families of the two dead youths, Bouna Traore and Zyed Benna, laid wreaths at the electricity sub-station where they were electrocuted. A monument to the boys was unveiled and the local mayor appealed for calm. "Last year we crossed Clichy by weaving between the burnt-out wrecks of cars, creating an image of our city that we didn't want to see," said mayor Claude Dillain, quoted by the Associated Press. "Once again France, and even the world, is watching us and waiting to see what we do. So I appeal solemnly for calm and dignity to prevail here." But others have warned that factors which played a key part in the riots - high unemployment, discrimination and youth alienation from mainstream society - remain unchanged. "What is being done in order to ensure Clichy does not have three times as many unemployed as the rest of France?" Mr Dillain's deputy, Olivier Klein, asked.

Karzai 'sadness' at raid deaths BBC News
Afghan President Hamid Karzai has said the Afghan people are "hurt and saddened" by the deaths of a number of civilians in a Nato air raid. Nato has confirmed that at least 12 civilians were killed in an air strike targeting Taleban militants on Tuesday. But the government said initial investigations suggested 25 civilians died in the raid in south Afghanistan. Mr Karzai has called for a meeting on Monday with foreign force commanders to discuss the incident. Also on Friday, 14 people died in Uruzgan province when their bus struck a mine, officials said. The dead were mainly children and old people travelling to a picnic in celebration of the Muslim holiday of Eid al-Fitr, a local official said. A Nato spokesman said it was not clear if the mine was old or had been planted recently by insurgents.

'Hurt and saddened'
Mr Karzai responded to Tuesday's deaths during a news conference at the presidential palace. "We share solidarity with the families of the victims and the people of Afghanistan are hurt and saddened by this incident," he said. He called on the international community to help strengthen Afghanistan's forces - particularly to help develop an air force - in order to "prevent these sorts of incidents from happening again". Nato has said 48 Taleban fighters were killed in three raids in Kandahar province on Tuesday, but the Taleban have denied losing any men. Local police and officials said more than 40 people were killed in one of the raids, Afghan interior ministry spokesman Zmarai Bashiry told the BBC. Other local officials put the death toll at between 60 and 85.

'Things go wrong'
Nato forces are the main component in Isaf, the international force deployed in Afghanistan. A spokesman, Capt Andre Salloum, told AFP news agency: "As soon as the battle ended, troops on the ground were able to identify 12 civilians." Nato forces were working with the Afghan defence ministry to conduct further investigations, he added. Another Nato spokesman, Mark Laity, said the troops sought to take maximum care to avoid civilian casualties. "We've got tight rules of engagement but sometimes things go wrong..." he said. "President Karzai quite understandably and correctly wants us to show maximum care - that's what we do." Residents in Panjwayi say the bombing began on Tuesday and continued into the night, during the Eid al-Fitr festival marking the end of Ramadan. One local man who did not want to reveal his name said 20 members of his family had been killed and 10 injured. "Anyone can come here to see our homes and area. There are no Taleban here. We all are nomads living in tents," he said.