Bananas could be future staple

30 October 2012 Last updated at 20:35 ET By Matt McGrath Science reporter, BBC World Service

Climate change could lead to crops from the banana family becoming a critical food source for millions of people, a new report says.

Researchers from the CGIAR agricultural partnership say the fruit might replace potatoes in some developing countries.

Cassava and the little-known cowpea plant could be much more important food crops as temperatures rise.

People will have to adapt to new and varied menus as traditional crops struggle, say the authors.

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"Start Quote

When the farmers see the problems they are having with production, they really are willing to shift"

End Quote Bruce Campbell CCAFS

Responding to a request from the United Nations' committee on world food security, a group of experts in the field looked at the projected effects of climate change on 22 of the world's most important agricultural commodities.

Blooming bananas

They predict that the world's three biggest crops in terms of calories provided - maize, rice and wheat - will decrease in many developing countries.

They suggest that the potato, which grows best in cooler climates, could also suffer as temperatures increase and weather becomes more volatile.

The authors argue that these changes "could provide an opening for cultivating certain varieties of bananas" at higher altitudes, even in those places that currently grow potatoes.

Dr Philip Thornton is one of those behind the report. He told BBC News that while bananas and plantains also have limiting factors, they may be a good substitute for potatoes in certain locations.

"It's not necessarily a silver bullet, but there may be places where as temperatures increase, bananas might be one option that small-holders could start to look at."

The report describes wheat as the world's most important plant-derived protein and calorie source.

But according to this research, wheat will face a difficult future in the developing world, where higher prices for cotton, maize and soybeans have pushed wheat to marginal land, making it more vulnerable to stresses induced by climate change.

One substitute, especially in South Asia, could be cassava - which is known to be tolerant to a range of climate stresses.

But how easy will it be to get people to adjust to new crops and new diets?

Bruce Campbell is programme director of the Climate Change, Agriculture and Food Security research group (CCAFS) which co-ordinates work among leading institutions around the world. He told BBC News that the types of changes that will happen in the future have already happened in the past.

Protein under pressure

"Two decades ago there was almost no rice consumption in certain areas of Africa, now there is. People have changed because of the pricing: it's easier to get, it's easier to cook. I think those sort of shifts do occur and I think they will in future."

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About bananas

• There are hundreds of types of banana plants but not all actually produce fruit
• They grow on plants that are giant herbs and are part of the Musaceae family
• Plantains are starchy like a potato, not sweet like a regular banana
• Organised banana plantations have been traced back to China in 200 AD
• Alexander the Great brought them back from India after his conquest in 327 BC
• Over the centuries they have been called banna, ghana and funana

Source: Dole

One of the big concerns among researchers is how to tackle the need for protein in the diet. Soybeans are one of the most common sources but are very susceptible to temperature changes.

The scientists say that the cowpea, which is known in sub-Saharan Africa as the "poor man's meat" is drought-tolerant and prefers warmer weather and could be a reasonable alternative to soya. The vines of the cowpea can also be used as a feed for livestock.

In some countries, including Nigeria and Niger, farmers have already moved away from cotton production to growing cowpeas.

There are also likely to be developments animal protein sources says the report, including a shift to smaller livestock.

"This is an example of something that's happening already," said Dr Campbell. "There's been quite a shift from cattle keeping to goat keeping in southern Africa in face of droughts - when the farmers see the problems they are having with production, they really are willing to shift.

"Change is really possible. It's not just a crazy notion."

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UN: Burma opium cultivation rises

31 October 2012 Last updated at 03:18 ET

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Gary Lewis, UNODC representative in South East Asia: "There is indeed no quick fix"

Opium growing has increased in Burma for a sixth year running despite eradication efforts, a UN report says.

The UN Office on Drugs and Crime said land used for opium had risen by 17% this year, from nearly 40,000 hectares (100,000 acres) to 51,000 hectares.

Burma is the second largest opium grower in the world after Afghanistan.

Almost all of the opium it produces is grown in Shan and Kachin states, which have seen longstanding conflict between the military and ethnic rebel groups.

'Toxic combination'

Citing figures from the Burmese government, the report said almost 24,000 hectares of poppy fields had been eradicated in 2012 - about four times the figure in 2011.

Gary Lewis, UNODC representative in South East Asia, said the situation on the ground was "very complex". In areas where opium was grown, there was ''a toxic combination of guns, money and drugs'', he said.

The army and rebel fighters often profit from allowing the trade to continue. Farmers, meanwhile, say the instability means they have little choice but to continue growing the lucrative poppy plant - which is used to make heroin.

Burma accounts for 25% of opium grown in the world, while Laos accounts for 3%, said the report, entitled the South East Asia Opium Survey 2012.

In Laos, land used to grow opium increased almost four-fold between 2007 and 2012 to 6,300 hectares.

The recent rise contrasts with the situation from 1998 to 2006, when both Burma and Laos saw big drops - with an 83% reduction in the case of Burma.

Most of Burma's opium is refined into heroin - about half goes to meet the growing market in China, with the rest being sold across South East Asia.

Part of the reason for the sustained growth in the cultivation of this crop is the demand for heroin in Asia, said the report.

But the good news, in the case of Burma, was that there was now ''momentum to find the solution'', Mr Lewis said.

There is support from President Thein Sein's government, which has embarked on a series of reforms.

Ceasefires and political opening up also meant that international organisations such as the UN now have better access to the areas.

The Golden Triangle - where Burma, Thailand and Laos meet - has been notorious for opium and drug smuggling for decades.

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Cyclone Nilam heading for India

31 October 2012 Last updated at 03:37 ET

At least 4,000 people are in displacement camps after being affected by floods in Sri Lanka linked to a tropical cyclone which is heading for southern India.

But the worst of the storm failed to hit Sri Lankan territory directly.

Cyclone Nilam is expected to hit India on Wednesday night.

With wind speeds reaching 100 km/h (60 mph), Cyclone Nilam could make landfall on Tamil Nadu state and also hit the state of Andhra Pradesh.

Schools, colleges and cargo operations at the port in Tamil Nadu's state capital, Chennai, have been shut.

Fishermen in both states have also been warned not to venture out to sea.

India's weather department has warned that "damage is expected" when the cyclone makes landfall anywhere between Nagapattinam in northern Tamil Nadu and the Nellore district in southern Andhra Pradesh on Wednesday evening.

It said in a statement that the storm could damage huts, trees and power and communication lines.

The storm is also likely to damage crops like rice, groundnut and maize in coastal districts of Tamil Nadu and rice and groundnut in coastal Andhra Pradesh, the statement said.

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Tropical Cyclone Nilam

Authorities in the two states have been put on alert ahead of the storm.

Reports say over 300 schools and community centres in Chennai have been kept ready to receive people evacuated from the path of the storm. Control rooms have been opened in the vulnerable coastal districts of Andhra Pradesh.

Meanwhile in Sri Lanka disruption is at its greatest in Mullaitivu in the north-east and Gampaha on the west coast. In the north, the Red Cross has been distributing tarpaulins, mats and mosquito nets. Strong winds and showers are still prevalent in the north and east.

The BBC's Charles Haviland in Colombo says that people in areas hit by heavy fighting at the conclusion of the war in 2009 have been badly affected.

They include Tamil families who left the huge Menik Farm refugee camp when it was closed a month ago and who have been living in makeshift accommodation since then.

In December 2011, more than 30 people died and many homes were damaged after a cyclone struck near the southern Indian town of Pondicherry.

And in May 2010 at least 23 people died as a powerful cyclone caused widespread havoc across Andhra Pradesh.

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Japan tsunami money 'misspent'

31 October 2012 Last updated at 04:44 ET

Japan has spent funds intended for reconstruction after the 2011 earthquake and tsunami on unrelated projects, a government audit has found.

Projects financed by the $150bn (£93bn) fund include roads in Okinawa, an ad campaign for Japan's tallest building and support for whaling research.

Some 325,000 people remain displaced 18 months on from the disaster.

In some areas little reconstruction work has been carried out, reports say.

Some 19,000 people were killed or remain missing following the tsunami and earthquake that struck north-east Japan in March 2011.

The government has passed a number of supplementary budgets to fund reconstruction efforts in affected areas.

But a government audit showed money had been used for unrelated projects reportedly included on the basis that they could boost national economic revival.

The findings come at a time when questions are being asked about the speed of Japan's reconstruction effort.

Takashi Kubota, deputy mayor of Rikuzentakata, a fishing port where nearly half of the houses were destroyed, told the Associated Press news agency that "not one single new building yet" had been built in the destroyed downtown area.

"In 19 months, there have basically been no major changes," he said.

Speaking in parliament on Monday, Japanese Prime Minister Yoshihiko Noda promised that problems would be addressed.

"There have been various criticisms made regarding how the budget for reconstruction has been spent," he said.

"We must listen sincerely to the voices calling for the utmost priority to be accorded to disaster area reconstruction. We will properly provide allowances for budget items that are truly needed by the disaster-affected areas and strictly narrow down other items."

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Fire at Saudi wedding kills 25

31 October 2012 Last updated at 06:24 ET

At least 25 people have died and 30 others were hurt in a fire at a wedding in eastern Saudi Arabia, officials say.

Hundreds were inside the courtyard of a home in the village of Ain Badr, in the Abqaiq region, when the blaze began.

A high-voltage power line reportedly fell down and sent sparks flying after it was hit by celebratory gunfire.

The power line is also believed to have touched a metal door at the only exit from the courtyard, causing the electrocution of many of the victims.

Most of those killed and injured are reported to have been women.

The local newspaper al-Youm cited Civil Defence chief Gen Abdullah Khsheiman as saying a women-only marquee was set on fire.

Women are separated from men at weddings in Saudi Arabia in line with the kingdom's strict rules on gender segregation.

A photograph of the aftermath posted online showed a large courtyard strewn with chairs and a pole in the middle supporting strings of lights.

Survivors have been taken to the Aramco and Central Abqaiq hospitals.

Civil Defence spokesman Col Mohammed al-Ajami said the governor of Eastern Province, Prince Mohammed bin Fahd bin Abdul Aziz, had ordered the authorities to investigate the incident.

The Saudi authorities last month banned the shooting of firearms at weddings - a popular tradition in tribal areas of the kingdom - according to the Reuters news agency.

In July 1999, 76 people died in a similar incident in Eastern Province.

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Haiti food fears grow after Sandy

31 October 2012 Last updated at 06:39 ET

Fears are growing of food shortages in Haiti, after the strong winds and heavy rain of Hurricane Sandy caused extensive crop damage.

Aid workers and officials are also warning that flooding could lead to a sharp rise in cholera cases.

Sandy is blamed for some 70 deaths in the Caribbean. Of these more than 50 were in Haiti.

In Jamaica and Cuba, which took direct hits from the hurricane, the clean-up is also continuing.

Sandy, which was a category one hurricane when it clipped Haiti last week, brought heavy rain and flooding.

At least 54 people died in what Prime Minister Laurent Lamothe called a "disaster of major proportions".

There is concern that floods and unsanitary conditions could led to an increase in cholera cases.

More than 7,500 people have died in the cholera epidemic in Haiti since late 2010. Hundreds of new cases are still being registered every week.

Another big worry is the damage to the agriculture sector.

More than 70% of crops, including bananas, plantains and maize, was destroyed in the south of the country, officials said.

Food insecurity, particularly in this part of Haiti, was already a major concern.

Rising food prices have in the past triggered at times violent demonstrations in Haiti.

Long road

In Jamaica, Sandy caused extensive damage to crops, including coffee and bananas.

Dozens of houses were destroyed and many more damaged.

"Even before the hurricane we faced serious economic challenges. This has been made worse by the passage of Hurricane Sandy," Prime Minister Portia Simpson Miller said.

Eleven people died in Cuba, making Sandy one of the deadliest storms there in recent years.

The eastern province of Santiago was the worst-hit, with flooding and landslides destroying crops, knocking out power and damaging buildings.

President Raul Castro, who toured the area on Sunday, warned that recovery would take a long time.

"It's been hard. But Santiago is Santiago. It's resisted gales and wars of every type. It will overcome this," he was quoted as saying by the Communist Party newspaper, Granma.

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Eastern US gets back on its feet

31 October 2012 Last updated at 07:15 ET

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Jody Herrington, New Jersey charity worker: "There are rollercoasters in the water"

Businesses and services in the north-eastern US are expected to start re-opening on Wednesday after two days of closure forced by storm Sandy.

Some airports, government buildings, schools and the New York Stock Exchange are due to return to business.

But many homes still have no power and the New York subway will remain shut. More than 40 people are dead.

President Barack Obama, who has suspended his election campaign, is due to visit affected areas in New Jersey.

The cost of clearing up after storm Sandy has been estimated at $30-40bn (£18-24bn).

New York Governor Andrew Cuomo said: "We have not seen damage like this in a generation."

Flight backlog

Continue reading the main story

At the Scene

Having removed himself from the election campaign to concentrate on the storm, President Obama will now see at first hand just how destructive Hurricane Sandy has been. He'll travel to Atlantic City where the Republican governor, Chris Christie - normally a fierce critic - will show him scenes of widespread destruction along the Jersey Shore. They'll meet some of those who have lost homes, as well as the emergency teams who have been working around the clock since the weekend.

Across several states, tens of thousands of people spent a second night in school gymnasiums, community centres and hotel rooms, with or without electricity. In a converted detention centre in Teterboro, across the Hudson River from upper Manhattan, I found evacuees receiving food and a bed for the night, but anxious about their flooded homes. In the nearby communities of Little Ferry and Moonachie, the streets were dark, deserted and, in some places, still under water.

The storm is still causing severe disruption after moving inland from the coast. It is forecast to weaken as it turns north into Canada, but to continue dumping heavy snow and rainfall.

At least 22 people were killed in New York City alone.

JFK and Newark Liberty - two of the New York area's three main airports - were scheduled to open for a limited service on Wednesday, but severe delays were expected after the cancellation of more than 18,000 flights across the affected area.

The New York Stock Exchange says it will also re-open after two days' closure, as will the Nasdaq exchange. The last time the stock exchange shut down for two days because of the weather was in 1888.

New York's subway system sustained the worst damage in its 108-year history, said Joseph Lhota, head of the Metropolitan Transit Authority (MTA).

Subway tunnels were flooded and electrical equipment will have to be cleaned before the network can re-open.

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Impact on US, in figures

• 40+ people killed
• 8 million left without power
• 139 mph - highest gust of wind - Mt Washington, New Hampshire
• 12.55 in (31.88cm) rainfall, Easton, Maryland
• 13.88 feet (4.23m) storm surge, Lower Manhattan
• 7,000 reports of trees down in NY City
• 29 hospitals lost power in New Jersey

Sources: New York Times, AP

New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg said there was "no timeline" for when the subway would restart, but he hoped buses could begin running again on Wednesday.

Trams and ferries were resuming services, but most of New York's bridges remain closed.

Across the north-east, at least eight million homes and businesses are without power because of the storm, says the US Department of Energy.

Hospital blackout

Sandy brought a record storm surge of almost 14ft (4.2m) to central Manhattan, well above the previous record of 10ft during Hurricane Donna in 1960, the National Weather Service said.

Maryland appeared to have the worst of the rain and snow - with falls of 12.5 in (32cm) and 28 in respectively.

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The greatest storms on Earth

• A tropical storm is classified as a hurricane when wind speeds reach 74 mph (115km/h)
• A hurricane can expend as much energy as 10,000 nuclear bombs over its lifecycle
• The hurricane's spiral is due to the Coriolis Effect, which is generated by the Earth's rotation

President Obama was due to tour disaster areas in New Jersey on Wednesday with New Jersey Governor Chris Christie.

Mr Christie, a Republican and staunch supporter of Mr Romney, went out of his way to praise the Democratic president for his handling of the storm.

"I spoke to the president three times yesterday," Mr Christie told CNN. "He's been incredibly supportive and helpful to our state and not once did he bring up the election... If he's not bringing it up, I'm certainly not going to bring it up."

Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney resumed low-key campaigning on Tuesday, converting a rally into a storm relief event in the swing state of Ohio.

In other developments:

• US federal agencies in Washington DC will re-open on Wednesday
• Fire destroyed about 50 homes in the New York City borough of Queens
• More than 200 patients were evacuated from New York University's Tisch Hospital after power went out and a backup generator failed
• Three nuclear reactors have been closed due to electrical supply and cooling system problems; a fourth was put on alert because of rising water.

In all, storm Sandy has claimed well over 100 lives, after killing nearly 70 people as it hit the Caribbean.

Impoverished Haiti is facing severe food shortages after 70% of crops were destroyed by the storm, officials said.

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Disney buys firm behind Star Wars

31 October 2012 Last updated at 07:22 ET

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George Lucas signs away his Star Wars empire to Disney's Robert Iger

Disney is buying Lucasfilm, the company behind the Star Wars films, from its chairman and founder George Lucas for $4.05bn (£2.5bn).

Mr Lucas said: "It's now time for me to pass Star Wars on to a new generation of film-makers."

In a statement announcing the purchase, Disney said it planned to release a new Star Wars film, episode seven, in 2015.

That will be followed by episodes eight and nine and then one new movie every two or three years, the company said.

The last Star Wars film was 2005's Revenge of the Sith, and Disney said it believed there was "substantial pent-up demand".

James Burns, founder of Jedi News fansite in the UK said: "It is fantastic that we are doing to be seeing more Star Wars films as George Lucas has said many times that there wouldn't be any more."

Disney will pay about half in cash and half in stock, issuing 40 million Disney shares in the transaction.

The deal follows Disney's acquisitions of Pixar studios for $7.4bn in 2006 and Marvel comics for $4.2bn in 2009.

"Our valuation of Lucasfilm is roughly comparable to the value we placed on Marvel when we announced that acquisition in 2009," Disney said, adding that the valuation was almost entirely driven by the Star Wars franchise.

Transition

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George Lucas launched Lucasfilm in 1971 and the first Star Wars film was released in 1977.

"For the past 35 years, one of my greatest pleasures has been to see Star Wars passed from one generation to the next," Mr Lucas said.

"I've always believed that Star Wars could live beyond me, and I thought it was important to set up the transition during my lifetime."

Mr Lucas will continue as a creative consultant.

Kathleen Kennedy, currently co-chairman of Lucasfilm, will become president of the firm and will be the executive producer on the new Star Wars films.

She worked on the Jurassic Park and Back to the Future franchises and co-founded Amblin Entertainment with Steven Spielberg.

When the later Star Wars films were released in the 1990s and 2000s, although they did well at the box office, they were generally not well-received by fans.

But Josh Dickey, film editor at Variety magazine in LA, said that Disney was a "great fit" to update Star Wars.

"They're so good at branding and brands. They're so good at working with existing intellectual property and making it resonate with fans and marketing it very well," he told BBC World Service radio.

"They're not as good at creating original content, except for their Pixar division.

"I think if you bring together the minds from Pixar [and] the minds from Disney, the news that Disney is going to reboot Star Wars was a lot more exciting to fans than just 'there's gonna be another Star Wars'."

Surprise

Lucasfilm is also the production company behind the Indiana Jones franchise, and fantasy films Willow and Labyrinth.

Michael Corty, analyst at Morning Star, said Disney's deal was clearly part of a pattern in buying new franchises.

"Pixar was the first big one, then Marvel, and now this one here," he said.

"Because Lucas is private, I would assume most investors would be surprised."

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Bolivian radio man set on fire

30 October 2012 Last updated at 03:19 ET

A Bolivian radio journalist has been attacked while he was conducting a radio show in the southern city of Yacuiba.

Staff at Radio Popular said four masked men broke into the studio, poured petrol over presenter Fernando Vidal and set him alight.

Mr Vidal, 78, and another staff member are being treated for burns.

Relatives said Mr Vidal had been reporting on smuggling in the border area when the attack happened.

Mr Vidal suffered burns on his face, arms and chest, according to his son-in-law, Esteban Farfan.

A studio technician, Karen Anza, was also injured in the attack.

Some eyewitnesses said the attackers had also thrown Molotov cocktails.

Mr Farfan said his father-in-law had been a harsh critic of the provincial government and had voiced his criticism on air.

He said he believed there were political reasons for the attack, but police have not yet commented on possible motives.

Three people have been arrested on suspicion of taking part in the attack.

Yacuiba is only three kilometres (less than two miles) from the Argentine border.

And while there is a high-volume of cross-border commerce, journalists such as Mr Vidal had been denouncing a rise in smuggling, particularly of liquid petroleum gas.

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Songwriters jailed in Vietnam

30 October 2012 Last updated at 05:32 ET

Vietnam has jailed two musicians for spreading anti-state propaganda, after they wrote songs critical of government policy.

Tran Vu Anh Binh and Vo Minh Tri were both convicted by a court in Ho Chi Minh City and sentenced to six and four years in prison respectively.

Detained in late 2011, the two were sentenced after a five-hour trial.

Ahead of the trial, rights group Amnesty International described their treatment as "ludicrous".

As well as social issues, their work included songs that criticised China over its territorial claims in the South China Sea and the Vietnamese government's handling of the row.

Beijing and Hanoi have overlapping territorial claims in the South China Sea and tensions between the two nations have been rumbling for months.

'Disturbing trend'

In a statement on Monday Amnesty International called for the songwriters' release.

"This is a ludicrous way to treat people just for writing songs,'' said Rupert Abbott, the group's researcher on Vietnam.

''These men are prisoners of conscience, detained solely for the peaceful exercise of their right to freedom of expression through their songs and non-violent activities, and should be freed."

The sentencing comes weeks after three bloggers accused of spreading anti-government propaganda were jailed for between four and 12 years.

''There is a very disturbing trend of repression against those who peacefully voice opinions the Vietnamese authorities do not like," said Mr Abbott.

The Communist Party is currently riven by factional splits over corruption and mismanagement of a now shaky economy, and so is very sensitive to criticism, says the BBC's South East Asia correspondent Jonathan Head.

Earlier this month, the party was forced to issue a public apology for the behaviour of some officials who have become very wealthy during the recent boom years.

But the jailing of songwriters shows it will not tolerate ordinary citizens drawing attention to its failings, our correspondent adds.

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Apple ousts two key executives

30 October 2012 Last updated at 05:42 ET

Apple has announced a major shake-up of its management, with two senior executives to leave the company.

The announcement follows embarrassing problems with its new mapping software and disappointing quarterly results.

Scott Forstall, head of its iOS software, will leave next year. He will serve as an adviser to chief executive Tim Cook in the interim.

Head of retail John Browett, the former Dixons boss, is also leaving after just six months in the job.

Apple said the moves were a way to increase collaboration across its hardware, software and services businesses. No specific reasons were given for either man's departure.

As part of the changes, Sir Jonathan Ive, who runs the team designing Apple's hardware, will also oversee the user experience on its software.

Mapping problems

The company faced a barrage of criticism after its new mapping software, introduced last month, showed inaccuracies and misplaced towns and cities.

The maps debacle led to Mr Cook issuing an apology to customers, while some critics called for Mr Forstall's head as he was the executive behind the panned app.

Continue reading the main story

Leo Kelion Technology reporter

---

He had been described as Apple's CEO-in-waiting and "mini-Steve". Now Scott Forstall faces becoming a footnote in Apple's history. The iOS software chief had worked alongside the firm's late founder Steve Jobs at Next before Apple bought the firm.

His app-based system has been credited as a major factor in turning round the company's fortunes to the point where the iPhone and iPad now account for most of the firm's profits.

However, he has also been described as a polarising figure within the company, and his "skeuomorphic" design ethic - which involved software resembling real-world items such as calendars with torn paper and stitching - was at odds with Jony Ive's more Spartan visions.

The balance of power appears to have shifted after the fiasco over iOS 6's mapping software which led to a front page apology from Tim Cook on Apple's website.

Steve Jobs only secured his legacy after a period in the tech industry's wilderness. Mr Forstall's own legacy will depend on whether he can repeat the trick.

Mr Forstall joined Apple in 1997 when the technology giant purchased Steve Jobs' start-up Next, and he is credited as one of the original architects of Mac OS X.

A profile in Businessweek called him the "best remaining proxy for the voice of Steve Jobs", the iconic co-founder of Apple, for his strong views on how consumer technology should function and was responsible for the development of iOS, the operating system on iPhones and iPads that bring in most of Apple's money.

But he was reportedly unpopular with the rest of senior management.

There are several reports that he refused to sign the apology that Mr Cook eventually issued for the maps disaster.

Mr Forstall made almost $39m this year from selling shares, and is likely to be in high demand from rival firms in Silicon Valley.

Craig Federighi will lead both iOS and OS X now, while Sir Jonathan will take on responsibility for the design of "human interface" in its software.

One analyst said Sir Jonathan - responsible for much of the look of the iPod, iPhone and other devices - could now help reinvigorate the look of Apple's software, which has been slower to evolve than Google's Android.

"If you have two different heads, you have two different fiefdoms," said BGC Partners analyst Colin Gillis.

'Relentless focus'

Mr Browett left British electronics chain Dixons to take up his post with Apple in April this year. His efforts to cut back staffing at the firm's stores provoked a backlash and U-turn, all of which was leaked to the press.

The search for his successor is already underway, with stores reporting directly to chief executive Tim Cook in the meantime.

The management changes come a little over a year into Mr Cook's reign as chief executive.

"We are in one of the most prolific periods of innovation and new products in Apple's history," Mr Cook said.

"The amazing products that we've introduced in September and October... could only have been created at Apple and are the direct result of our relentless focus on tightly integrating world-class hardware, software and services."

Mr Browett was seen as one of Mr Cook's key recruitments. The fact he has moved him out after such a short period of time may be seen as the Apple boss demonstrating a ruthless, but perhaps efficient streak.

"These changes show that Tim Cook is stamping his authority on the business," Ben Wood, analyst with CCS Insight, said.

"Perhaps disappointed with the maps issues, Forstall became the scapegoat."

Apple's fourth quarter profits of $8.2bn (£5bn) reported last week, also missed Wall Street forecasts, while the 14 million iPads it sold in the quarter fell short of analysts' expectations.

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Yugoslav general makes appeal

30 October 2012 Last updated at 06:05 ET

The Hague tribunal is hearing an appeal by Momcilo Perisic, the most senior officer of the former Yugoslav Army to be convicted of war crimes.

Perisic, who commanded the Yugoslav Army during the wars in Bosnia and Croatia, was jailed for 27 years by the UN war crimes tribunal last year.

He was convicted of aiding and abetting crimes but acquitted of a direct role in the Srebrenica massacre.

Perisic insists he was not aware of or responsible for atrocities.

The tribunal convicted him of aiding and abetting murders, inhumane acts, persecutions on political, racial or religious grounds, and attacks on civilians in Sarajevo and Srebrenica.

He was also found guilty of failing to punish his subordinates for their crimes of murder, attacks on civilians and injuring and wounding civilians during rocket attacks on Zagreb in Croatia.

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Police fire tear gas at SA mine

30 October 2012 Last updated at 06:45 ET

Police have fired rubber bullets and tear gas to disperse about 1,000 striking miners at a leading platinum mine in South Africa.

The workers had earlier torched an electricity sub-station and had set up barricades, police said.

The strikers have rejected a deal to return to work on Tuesday, saying their demand for higher pay should be met.

South Africa's mines have been hit by a series of wildcat strikes, which have cost millions of dollars.

More than 40 people died in August in clashes between police and striking workers at the Lonmin-owned Marikana platinum mine near Rustenburg, 120km (70 miles) north-west of Johannesburg.

The latest clashes took place at a mine owned in the same area by the world's biggest platinum producer, Anglo American Platinum (Amplats).

Over the weekend, Amplats had agreed to reinstate 12,000 miners sacked for taking part in a six-week-long unofficial strike.

'Running battles'

Police spokesman Capt Dennis Adriao said the Khuseleka power substation, which is on Amplats property, was set alight.

Continue reading the main story

We earn peanuts"

End Quote MacDonald Motsaathebe Striking worker

"Since then we have been having running clashes with groups of about 1,000 people who formed a barricade to prevent police from entering," he said.

In its strike deal Amplats said it would give the workers a one-off "hardship allowance" of $230 (£140) , as part of a deal struck with trade unions, including the National Union of Mineworkers (NUM).

But striking worker MacDonald Motsaathebe told Reuters news agency that workers would not resume work until their wage demands are met.

"We earn peanuts," he is quoted as saying.

Analysts say workers across the industry are disaffected with the NUM and other mainstream unions, regarding them as too close to the employers and government.

The workers have been demanding $1,840 in monthly pay, more than three times their current average salary.

Income levels between South Africa's workers and employers are among the most unequal in the world.

Earlier this month, President Jacob Zuma called on company bosses to take a salary freeze.

South Africa is one of the world's biggest producers of precious metals.

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Swiss bank UBS cuts 10,000 jobs

30 October 2012 Last updated at 07:22 ET

Swiss bank UBS has announced it is cutting 10,000 jobs worldwide as it slims down its investment banking activities.

The jobs will go over the next three years, and amount to 16% of its current workforce of 64,000.

UBS lost 39bn Swiss francs (£26bn; $42bn) during the financial crisis and had to be bailed out by the Swiss authorities.

The cuts are aimed at saving 3.4bn Swiss francs.

UBS chief executive Sergio Ermotti said: "This decision has been a difficult one, particularly in a business such as ours that is all about its people.

"Some reductions will result from natural attrition and we will take whatever measures we can to mitigate the overall effect."

The bank did not say where the cuts would be made. It currently employs just over 6,600 staff in the UK.

Risk averse

Zurich-based UBS will focus on its private bank and a smaller investment bank, ditching much of the riskier trading business which was responsible for the bulk of its losses.

In a joint letter to shareholders, chairman Axel Weber and chief executive Mr Ermotti said: "We will no longer operate to any significant extent in businesses where risk-adjusted returns cannot meet their cost of capital."

UBS announced its restructuring plans as it reported its results for the third quarter of the year.

The bank reported a net loss of 2.17bn Swiss francs for the July to September period, compared with a profit of 1.02bn Swiss francs a year earlier. The loss was mainly due to an impairment charge of 3.1bn Swiss francs that UBS is taking to cover the cost of the changes to its investment bank.

UBS was one of the banks hardest hit during the global financial crisis.

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Bahrain government bans protests

30 October 2012 Last updated at 07:34 ET

Bahrain has banned all protests and gatherings amid clashes between police and anti-government demonstrators.

Interior Minister Sheikh Rashid Al Khalifah said "repeated abuse" of the rights to freedom of speech and expression could no longer be accepted.

Protests would be permitted only once security and stability were sufficient to maintain national unity, he added.

Demonstrations were last banned during the three-month state of emergency King Hamad declared in March 2011.

The previous month protesters had occupied a prominent landmark in Manama, the now-demolished Pearl Roundabout, demanding more democracy and an end to what they said was discrimination against the majority Shia Muslim community by the Sunni royal family.

At least 35 people, including five police officers, were killed, hundreds were injured and thousands jailed in February and March 2011.

Since then, opposition and human rights activists say another 45 people have been killed, a figure which the government disputes.

In the past two weeks, officials say two policemen have died of injuries sustained during clashes with protesters in villages outside Manama.

'Against human rights'

In a statement announcing the ban on rallies and public gatherings, Sheikh Rashid said the government had strived to protect freedom of expression but the privilege had been "abused repeatedly" by organisers, with participants showing a lack of commitment to the law.

The protests, which the interior minister said had called for the overthrow of the state and leading national figures, were "devoid of respect and intended to humiliate", and therefore "jeopardised civil peace and disturbed security and general order". This, he said, could not be accepted.

These events, he added, had been organised by political societies, led by the al-Wifaq National Islamic Society - the largest Shia opposition group.

Sheikh Rashid said that many members of Bahraini society were "fed up" with "such violations that risk civil peace", and that there was "a need to put an end to them".

"The interior ministry has strived to tackle those violations through co-ordination with the organisers in many occasions, but they failed to control those events despite their promises," he added.

They would remain banned until security was sufficient to preserve civil peace and protect national unity, the minister said.

He warned that any "illegal rally or gathering would be tackled through legal actions against those calling for and participating in it".

An al-Wifaq official, Hadi al-Musawi, told the Associated Press that the interior ministry's declaration went "against international human rights".

In September, the UN's Human Rights Commissioner, Navi Pillay, said criticising the government and calling for reforms were "not crimes".

"The government must engage in an open, genuine and meaningful dialogue with the opposition, across the political spectrum. This is the only constructive way to defuse an increasingly tense situation," she said.

In a separate development on Monday, Bahrain's prosecutor-general announced that it had appealed against the acquittals of a policewoman accused of torturing a journalist and two policemen who were charged with the manslaughter of two Shia protesters last year.

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New York major disaster declared

30 October 2012 Last updated at 07:53 ET

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BBC's Ben Thompson, in New York: ''All night there were sparks and flashes of light as the power systems went down''

US President Barack Obama has declared a "major disaster" in New York state after storm Sandy smashed into the US East Coast, causing flooding and cutting power to millions.

A record 4m (13ft) tidal surge sent seawater cascading into large parts of New York City's subway system.

Across the city, a power sub-station exploded, a hospital was evacuated and fire destroyed 50 homes.

At least 15 people are reported dead across several US states.

In northern New Jersey, a rescue operation is reported to be under way after a levee broke and flooded the town of Moonachie.

Bergen County chief of staff Jeanne Baratta told CNN: "Moonachie has been devastated. Every street has got four or five feet of water on it."

An estimated 50 million people could be affected by the storm, with up to a million ordered to evacuate homes.

Sandy, now downgraded from a hurricane but described as a "super-storm", is churning north heading for Canada.

Over the past week Sandy has killed more than 80 people as it carved a path of destruction through the Caribbean.

'Devastating'

Continue reading the main story

"Start Quote

The New York City subway system is 108 years old, but it has never faced a disaster as devastating as what we experienced last night"

End Quote New York City transport director Joseph Lhota

The storm made landfall close to Atlantic City in New Jersey at about 20:00 local time (midnight GMT), with winds of more than 80mph (129km/h).

It collided with cold weather fronts from the west and north to create what some forecasters have dubbed a "Frankenstorm".

Much of Atlantic City was under water and 30,000 residents were evacuated.

In New York City, parts of Lower Manhattan were quickly inundated as the Hudson and East rivers overflowed. Seawater poured into road tunnels and the subway system. Images showed cars being swept along streets by the torrent.

"The New York City subway system is 108 years old, but it has never faced a disaster as devastating as what we experienced last night," city transport director Joseph Lhota said early on Tuesday.

City officials had earlier ordered some 375,000 residents out of Lower Manhattan and other areas under threat.

"Lower Manhattan is being covered by seawater," Howard Glaser, director of operations for the New York state government, was quoted as saying. "I am not exaggerating. Seawater is rushing into the Battery Tunnel."

Battery Tunnel links Manhattan with Long Island.

The city's Consolidated Edison utility provider said an explosion at a sub-station, probably caused by flooding or flying debris, blacked out much of Lower Manhattan.

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Matthew Trowbridge and Susan Burke Mangano filmed flooding in Ocean City, New Jersey

The company said about 500,000 homes in Manhattan were without power.

As dawn broke, residents emerged to see the havoc wreaked by the storm.

In other developments:

• Fire has destroyed about 50 homes in the New York City borough of Queens.
• More than 200 patients were evacuated from New York University's Tisch Hospital after power went out and a backup generator failed.
• America's oldest nuclear power plant, Oyster Creek in New Jersey, was put on alert due to rising water, the Nuclear Regulatory Commission said.
• The New York Stock Exchange will stay shut on Tuesday - the first time it has closed for two consecutive days due to weather since 1888.
• A crew member from a replica of HMS Bounty has died and the captain is missing after the ship sank in mountainous seas off North Carolina on Monday.

New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg said the storm surge was higher than the highest forecast, but he expected waters to start receding.

Continue reading the main story

SANDY HITS EAST COAST

• At least 13 people dead, including one in Canada
• 1m ordered to leave their homes
• 50m people estimated to be affected, with 5m left without power
• 800-mile (1,290 km) stretch of the US affected
• 10,000 flights reported grounded globally on Monday and Tuesday
• Manhattan hit by record storm surge of 13.7ft (4.15m) on Tuesday morning

Elsewhere in the city, the storm left a construction crane bent double next to a skyscraper and caused the facade of a four-storey building to collapse.

At 05:00 EDT (09:00 GMT) the National Hurricane Center placed the centre of Sandy about 90 miles (145km) west of Philadelphia with maximum sustained winds of 65mph (105km/h) with higher gusts.

Officials reported at least 15 deaths in New Jersey, New York, Maryland, West Virginia, Pennsylvania and Connecticut - several caused by falling trees. A Canadian woman was also reported killed by flying debris in Toronto.

Forecasters have said Sandy could linger over as many as 12 states for 24-36 hours.

Earlier, President Obama declared emergencies in Massachusetts, Connecticut, Rhode Island, New York, New Jersey and Pennsylvania.

Early on Tuesday he declared a major disaster in New York and Long Island, making federal funding available to those areas.

In Washington DC, federal government offices are closed until Wednesday.

Public transport was suspended in the US capital, New York, Baltimore, Philadelphia and Boston.

Amtrak has suspended passenger train services across the north-east, while nearly 14,000 flights were cancelled, according to Flightaware.com.

Up to 3ft (91cm) of snow is expected to fall on the Appalachian mountains in West Virginia, Virginia and Kentucky.

The disaster estimating firm Eqecat has forecast that Sandy could cause economic losses to the US of between $10bn and $20bn (£6.2bn-£12.4bn).

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French Euromillions site hacked

28 October 2012 Last updated at 17:32 ET

The French site of the Euromillions lottery has been hacked, with the homepage replaced by a passage from the Koran condemning gambling.

The hackers, calling themselves "Moroccanghosts", posted the message in Arabic and French.

The Koranic verses call games of chance and alcohol "works of the devil" intended to turn people away from God.

The Francaise des Jeux (FDJ) company, which runs Euromillions in France, said its other games were not affected.

The message appeared on the site late on Sunday morning, according to French media reports.

The site was still unavailable on Sunday evening, although the religious message no longer appeared.

FDJ said in a statement that the pages concerned were in "the process of being put back up".

It added that none of its games had been compromised by the attack, and neither had any data.

However, FDJ's corporate pages were also inaccessible on Sunday evening, with users told it was "unavailable due to service requests", the same message as now appears on the euromillions.fr site.

The Euromillions lottery is played in nine European countries.

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Ex-Philippine president in court

29 October 2012 Last updated at 00:27 ET

Former Philippine President Gloria Arroyo has appeared in court on charges of misusing millions in state lottery charity funds while in office.

The court recorded a ''not guilty'' plea on her behalf after she refused to enter a plea.

Earlier this month, an arrest warrant was issued for Mrs Arroyo, who is accused of diverting $8.8m (£5.5m).

She arrived in court in a neck brace and wheelchair from a military hospital where she has been confined.

Mrs Arroyo, who suffers from a spine-related ailment, was admitted to the hospital for dehydration days before the arrest warrant was served.

She is currently a lawmaker in the House of Representatives.

Corruption charges

Mrs Arroyo was detained earlier this year on a separate election fraud charge but released on bail in July.

Her lawyer, Ferdinand Topacio, said he was optimistic that the current charges could be dropped.

He told reporters that there was a "pattern of persecution" against his client.

This is the third corruption case against Mrs Arroyo. She faces a maximum penalty of life in prison if found guilty.

Aside from plunder, she also faces charges over electoral fraud in connection with polls in 2007, as well as corruption over an aborted broadband deal with a Chinese company. She has denied these charges.

President Benigno Aquino has said that bringing her to justice is a key part of his anti-corruption campaign, says the BBC's Kate McGeown in Manila.

But Mrs Arroyo, who was president of the Philippines from 2001 until 2010, accuses her successor of waging a vendetta against her, says our correspondent.

She was first arrested in November 2011 when she tried to leave the country to seek medical treatment for her neck ailment.

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Egypt's Copts to vote for Pope

29 October 2012 Last updated at 00:45 ET

A council of Coptic Christians in Egypt is set to vote for a successor to Pope Shenouda III, who died in March.

Two bishops and three monks are short-listed to become the 118th head of the region's largest Christian minority.

The council will pick three, writing their names on separate pieces of paper that will be placed in a box on the altar of St Mark's Cathedral in Cairo.

A blindfolded child will be asked to draw out one of the names on 4 November, thereby picking the new Pope.

The individual chosen will become the new Coptic Pope who will be enthroned in a ceremony on 18 November.

The five candidates are:

• Fr Pachomios al-Syriani - a monk from the Paromeos Monastery in Wadi al-Natrun; currently lives in Italy; aged around 49
• Bishop Raphael - an auxiliary bishop in Cairo; a former aide to the late Pope; a member of the Church's Holy Synod, the Coptic Church's highest authority; aged around 58
• Fr Raphael Ava Mina: A monk at St Mina Monastery near Alexandria; aged around 60
• Fr Seraphim al-Syriani: A monk from the Paromeos Monastery; currently lives in the US; aged around 53
• Bishop Tawadros - an auxiliary bishop to acting head of the Coptic Church, Bishop Pachomios; member of the Holy Synod; aged around 60

The Coptic Church has about 16 million members worldwide, and Copts make up 10% of Egypt's population of 80 million.

Pope Shenouda III died at the age of 88 on 17 March, reportedly after suffering cancer.

He had urged officials to do more to address Coptic concerns after numerous attacks on churches in recent years.

He had led the Church, one of the oldest Christian communities in the world, for four decades.

His successor faces the task of reassuring the Coptic community during the Islamist resurgence of the Muslim Brotherhood in Egypt, correspondents say.

Many younger Copts will be looking for a leader who can help redefine their community's role in a rapidly changing post-Mubarak Egypt, they add.

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Activists send N Korea leaflets

29 October 2012 Last updated at 03:50 ET

Activists in South Korea have sent propaganda leaflets to the North, a week after Pyongyang threatened military action over a similar launch.

The group floated 50,000 leaflets in several balloons from a park near the border town of Paju, watched by a heavy police presence.

Local residents trying to stop the move got into minor scuffles with activists.

Authorities prevented a similar launch last week after North Korea said it would respond with a "military strike".

Residents in the area concerned that Pyongyang would carry out its threat gathered to protest against the release of the balloons.

"Paju residents can't live properly due to worries. They come here way too frequently,'' a local shop owner, Kim Bok-nam, told Reuters news agency.

''Last time the North warned to directly strike here, so we came to protest since we can't tolerate it anymore.''

One of the activists, Choi Woo-won, dismissed the North's warning as "empty threats".

Specific threat

Activists - some of whom are defectors from North Korea - have sent leaflets on many past occasions. North Korea condemns the move but specific threats are rare.

Last week, however, Pyongyang threatened to fire on South Korean territory if activists went ahead with a launch.

South Korean authorities prevented the launch from taking place, as the military went into a state of alert and hundreds of residents were evacuated.

Tensions have been high on the Korean peninsula since the sinking of a South Korean navy ship in March 2010 which Seoul blamed on Pyongyang, and the shelling of a border island eight months later.

North and South Korea remain technically at war following the 1950-53 Korean War, which ended in an armistice. But North Korea has not fired on the Southern mainland since the end of the war.

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Leader's party claims Ukraine win

29 October 2012 Last updated at 06:03 ET

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Supporters of the Party of Regions have been celebrating their anticipated win in Kiev

The party of Ukraine's President Viktor Yanukovych has claimed victory in the country's parliamentary election.

The Party of Regions has more than 36%, and the opposition party of Yulia Tymoshenko, who is in jail, has just over 21%, with one-third of party list votes counted.

It appears Mr Yanukovych's party is also ahead in single mandate districts, which form half of all the seats.

Western governments have condemned the jailing of Mrs Tymoshenko.

She leads a coalition of opposition groups - the United Opposition Fatherland bloc. She was given a seven-year jail sentence last year for abuse of power, and voted from her prison cell.

Her bloc says its own parallel vote count confirms that Mr Yanukovych's party is in the lead, but with a smaller percentage of votes than the party claims.

The complicated electoral system means a final result is some way off.

Intense rivalry

Thousands of observers were in Ukraine for the vote, which Mr Yanukovych hopes will boost his democratic credentials.

Continue reading the main story

David Stern BBC News, Kiev

---

The country's opposition is claiming widespread voting irregularities.

Nevertheless, it seems very likely that President Yanukovych's Party of Regions, teamed up with the Communist Party, will hold onto its parliamentary majority.

But the new parliament will also differ from its predecessors in key areas.

The emergence of the world heavyweight boxing champion Vitali Klitschko as a major opposition figure changes the political calculus. As the elections show, he has succeeded in convincing voters that he is a possible third way between the government and main opposition parties.

The meteoric rise of Svoboda also introduces a new and possibly disruptive element.

Svoboda's policies in the past have been openly racist and anti-Semitic, and though they have softened their rhetoric somewhat for this campaign, they have promised to shake up the country's political status quo.

His bitter rivalry with Mrs Tymoshenko dates back to the 2004 Orange Revolution, in which Mrs Tymoshenko and her allies established a pro-Western government, overturning Mr Yanukovych's victory in an election widely condemned as rigged.

Since his dramatic political comeback Mr Yanukovych has forged closer relations with Moscow, Ukraine's former master in the Soviet era.

The regional security organisation OSCE is expected to give its verdict on Sunday's election at a news conference at 14:30 local time (12:30 GMT).

Correspondents say the signs are that the Party of Regions will get a simple majority in the 450-member parliament.

Officials said the election had passed off smoothly, with a turnout of some 45%, about average for Ukraine.

Early results indicated the Communists - traditional allies of Mr Yanukovych - were in third place with about 15%.

The new party of world heavyweight boxing champion Vitali Klitschko, called Udar (Punch), was on about 13%.

The ultra-nationalist Svoboda (Freedom) party was also poised to surpass the 5% threshold necessary to get seats in parliament. It was polling 8%, according to the early results.

'Five key punches'

Party of Regions MP Borys Kolesnikov, a deputy prime minister, said his party was likely to dominate the single-seat constituencies.

"There are 225 single-seat constituencies and we see our candidates winning two-thirds of them," he said.

And Prime Minister Mykola Azarov said "we are expecting that the Party of Regions will take a majority in the new parliament".

After casting his vote in the capital, Kiev, Mr Klitschko said he was "going to parliament to fight".

He listed his "five key punches" as corruption, indifference of the authorities, lack of local governance, inequality and poverty.

There were 3,500 accredited foreign observers, including more than 600 from the Organisation for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE).

Campaigning concerns

Earlier, Western officials expressed concerns over campaigning.

In a New York Times editorial, US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and EU foreign policy chief Catherine Ashton cited "worrying trends" in the interim election report from the OSCE (of which Ukraine is due to take over the rotating chair in January).

These included government resources being used to favour ruling-party candidates, media restrictions, vote-buying and lack of transparency on the electoral commissions.

Opposition supporters say Mrs Tymoshenko was prosecuted and imprisoned last year in order to prevent her running in the election.

The EU indefinitely postponed its association agreement, including a free trade pact, after the jailing.

Mr Yanukovych, who has been president for three years and faces re-election in 2015, has rejected calls to free his rival. He says she was sentenced by an independent court.

Ukraine, with a population of 46 million, has been hit by the global economic downturn and unpopular pension and tax policies.

The Party of Regions recently attempted to assuage public opinion by boosting public-sector salaries and pensions.

But the reforms exacerbated a $2bn (£1.25bn) budget deficit and called into question the likelihood of securing IMF lending, correspondents say.

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Mali focus for Clinton in Algeria

29 October 2012 Last updated at 06:39 ET

US Secretary of State Hilary Clinton is visiting Algeria to discuss the growing threat posed by militant Islamists in neighbouring Mali, US officials say.

Earlier this month, the UN Security Council adopted a resolution paving the way for an African force to end Islamist control in northern Mali.

Algeria is an important military power in the Sahel region and its backing is seen as crucial in any intervention.

Algerian Islamists are reported to have joined the Malian rebellion.

The Malian Islamists, who took advantage of the chaos caused by a coup in March to take control of northern Mali, are allied to al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb (Aqim), which has its roots in Algeria and is active across the Sahel region.

Their ranks have also been swelled by fighters loyal to killed Libyan leader Col Muammar Gaddafi.

'Warming to idea'

A US diplomat travelling with Mrs Clinton said the Malian conflict would be high on the agenda of talks between Ms Clinton and Algeria's President Abdelaziz Bouteflika and Foreign Minister Mourad Medelci.

Continue reading the main story

• Ansar Dine - Islamists based in Timbuktu
• Movement for Unity and Jihad in West Africa (Mujao) - Islamists based in Gao
• National Movement for the Liberation of Azawad (MNLA) - Tuareg fighters ousted by Islamists from former northern strongholds

"There is a strong recognition that Algeria has to be a central part of the solution," a US diplomat travelling with Ms Clinton said, AFP reports.

Algeria had initially expressed strong reservations about plans by the Economic Community of West African States (Ecowas) to send a 3,000-strong force to northern Mali, fearing it could cause more instability in the region.

But Algeria - which has the biggest army in the Sahel region - has since been "warming to the idea" of intervention, another US State Department official is quoted by AFP as saying.

"One of the things that we'll be talking about is... the role that Algeria could play if Ecowas provides the boots on the ground," the official said.

"Then the rest of us have to support that and create the means for it to succeed."

Last week, there were reports of groups of lightly foreign fighters from Algeria and Western Sahara arriving in the northern strongholds of Timbuktu and Gao.

On 12 October, the UN Security Council gave Ecowas and the African Union (AU) a 45-day deadline to submit a detailed and costed plan for intervention in Mali.

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Deadly car bombing rocks Damascus

29 October 2012 Last updated at 07:46 ET

At least 10 people have been killed in a car bombing in the Syrian capital Damascus, state media report, on the fourth day of a supposed ceasefire.

State TV said women and children were among the victims of the attack in the south-eastern district of Jaramana.

Earlier, activists said government jets had bombed Harasta, in the north-east.

UN envoy Lakhdar Brahimi, who brokered the truce over the Islamic holiday of Eid al-Adha, said he regretted that both sides were not complying with it.

"The situation is bad and getting worse," he told reporters in Moscow after talks with Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov.

Continue reading the main story

It will not discourage us because Syria is very important and the people of Syria deserve our support and interest"

End Quote Lakhdar Brahimi UN envoy to Syria

But Mr Brahimi nevertheless insisted that he would not be discouraged by the apparent failure of his initiative, which he had hoped would allow a political process to develop and lead to a permanent end to hostilities.

"It will not discourage us because Syria is very important and the people of Syria deserve our support and interest," he added. "We think this civil war must end... and the new Syria has to be built by all its sons."

At least 110 people - including 39 civilians, 34 rebel fighters and 35 security forces personnel - were killed on Sunday, according to the UK-based activist group the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights (SOHR).

'Cross-border shelling'

The BBC's Jim Muir in Beirut says there has been no real pause in hostilities in Syria since the four-day ceasefire supposedly came into force on Friday morning.

On Monday morning, videos were posted online by activists purportedly showing government aircraft bombing Harasta. The footage also showed people being dug out of the rubble and fleeing the area.

Later, state media reported that a "terrorist group" had detonated a car bomb outside a bakery in Jaramana, a predominantly Christian and Druze area of the capital.

A government official told the Associated Press that the explosion had also wounded 41 people and caused heavy damage.

The Local Co-ordination Committees, an opposition activist network, said the car bomb appeared to have targeted a police station.

Overnight, troops attacked rebel positions in the southern suburb of al-Hajar al-Aswad and explosions were heard in nearby Qadam, according to the Syrian Revolution General Council, an opposition activist group.

There were also clashes in the northern city of Aleppo, and the nearby towns of Hayan, Kfar Hamra and Anadan, the Syrian Observatory said.

The SOHR is one of the most prominent organisations documenting and reporting incidents and casualties in the Syrian conflict. The group says its reports are impartial, though its information cannot be verified.

In a separate development on Monday, the Turkish military fired back after a shell fired from Syria landed near the village of Besaslan in the southern province of Hatay, state media said, amid clashes between Syrian soldiers and rebels in the nearby border town of Harim.

Turkish forces have responded to every cross-border shelling since five Turks were killed on 3 October. No injuries were reported on Monday.

According to opposition and human rights activists, more than 35,000 people have been killed since protests against President Bashar al-Assad erupted in March 2011, while the UN estimates at least 20,000 have died.

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Sandy closes in on US East Coast

29 October 2012 Last updated at 08:00 ET

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US implements hurricane shutdown

Hurricane Sandy is closing in on highly populated areas of the US east coast threatening storm surges and devastating flooding.

In New York City, thousands of people have been ordered to leave their homes and evacuation shelters have been set up in 76 schools.

Public transport has been halted and the New York Stock Exchange closed.

Forecasters fear Sandy will become a super-storm when it collides with cold weather fronts from the west and north.

Sandy has already killed 60 people after sweeping through the Caribbean in the past week.

Campaigning for the US presidential election has also been disrupted, eight days ahead of election day.

Continue reading the main story

"Start Quote

This gives Barack Obama a chance to appear above politics and to look presidential - but any failure would be magnified, and problems tend to get blamed on the president"

End Quote

At 08:00 EDT (12:00 GMT), Sandy was churning about 310 miles (505km) south-east of New York City, the National Hurricane Center (NHC) said.

Forecasters said its maximum sustained winds were 85mph (140km/h) with higher gusts.

Hurricane force winds extended for 175 miles (280km) and tropical storm force winds for 485 miles (780km), the NHC added.

The vast hurricane, about 520 miles (835km) across, is moving slowly north-west and could linger over as many as 12 states for 24-36 hours, bringing up to 25cm of rain, 60cm of snow, extreme storm surges and power cuts.

The US Coast Guard said more than a dozen people on board a replica of HMS Bounty - built for the 1962 film Mutiny on the Bounty - had abandoned ship off North Carolina in the face of the hurricane.

They had taken to two life-rafts and rescue aircraft were on their way to them, officials said.

The eye of the storm is expected to barrel across the coast of mid-Atlantic states by Monday night, the NHC said.

As it will hit the US East Coast just before Halloween, it is being dubbed a "Frankenstorm".

With emergencies declared in several east-coast states, many workers were staying at home on Monday.

New York City's subway, bus and train services were suspended from Sunday evening, and schools are shut.

Taxi driver Peter Franklin told the BBC that the city was "shut down".

"I feel like I am living in a science fiction movie," he said.

Hundreds of thousands of people from Maryland to Connecticut were ordered to leave low-lying coastal areas.

They included about 375,000 in lower Manhattan and other areas of New York City and another 30,000 in Atlantic City, New Jersey.

President Barack Obama declared emergencies in Massachusetts, Connecticut, Rhode Island, New York, New Jersey and Pennsylvania.

He pulled out of a planned event with former President Bill Clinton on Monday and headed back to the White House to monitor emergency operations.

Visiting the Federal Emergency Management Agency (Fema) in Washington on Sunday, he vowed the government would "respond big and respond fast" after Sandy had passed.

Authorities warned that high tides triggered by a full moon could create storm surges of up 11ft (3m), sending seawater surging through parts of lower Manhattan.

The United Nations headquarters in New York also shut down.

New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg described it as "a serious and dangerous storm."

Addressing those who had been advised to leave, he said: "If you don't evacuate, you are not only endangering your life, you are also endangering the lives of the first responders who are going in to rescue you."

New Jersey Governor Chris Christie echoed his words, saying: "Don't be stupid. Get out."

Amtrak has suspended passenger train services across the north-east and air travel has been badly hit, with some 6,800 flights cancelled.

The Statue of Liberty was reopened on Sunday after a year of renovation, but only a group of army cadets got a tour before it was shut again until at least Wednesday.

Some 200 National Guardsmen will patrol Manhattan and 300 more will be deployed in Long Island.

Path of Hurricane Sandy

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Australia unveils Asia manifesto

28 October 2012 Last updated at 01:50 ET

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Julia Gillard: "This century will bring Asia's return to global leadership"

Australian PM Julia Gillard has outlined a major foreign policy plan aimed at improving Asian ties.

A government white paper sets out 25 national objectives to be met by 2025, with targets ranging from improving trade links to teaching more Mandarin.

Mrs Gillard said she wanted to refocus Australia away from Europe's "old countries" towards its near neighbours - particularly China and India.

The plan is detailed in a 312-page paper, Australia in the Asian Century.

With Asia on track to become home to most of the world's middle class in the next 20 years, this was a moment in history to grasp, said Mrs Gillard during the release of the white paper at Sydney's Lowy Institute.

"The scale and pace of Asia's rise is staggering, and there are significant opportunities and challenges for all Australians," she said.

"It is not enough to rely on luck - our future will be determined by the choices we make and how we engage with the region we live in."

No containing China

While Mrs Gillard underlined continued strategic ties with the US, her speech formalised trends built up during the past three decades in which China has become Australia's top trading partner, ahead of Japan, the US and South Korea, says the BBC's Duncan Kennedy in Sydney.

Previous prime ministers such as Bob Hawke and Paul Keating established the first ties with Asia, but the new policy would be deeper and more organised, adds our correspondent.

Some of the goals outlined are specific, others more aspirational. They include:

• Boosting Australia's average national income from $62,000 (£41,000) per person now to $73,000 in 2025
• Improving the school system so it is ranked in the world's top five, with 10 of its universities in the world's top 100
• Making studies of Asia a core part of the Australian school curriculum
• Giving all students the opportunity to learn a priority Asian language - Chinese (Mandarin), Hindi, Indonesian or Japanese
• Making sure more business leaders are "Asia-literate"

A member of the 21-member Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (Apec) group, Australia is one of the 11 nations involved in negotiations for a Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP), both of which aim to liberalise regional trade.

On security issues, Australia in the Asian Century says any policy aimed at containing China's military growth would not work.

Rather, it says Australia can balance its defence ties to the US while backing China's emerging military strength.

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Storm threat to key US poll week

28 October 2012 Last updated at 02:11 ET

Hurricane Sandy is swirling towards the US, forcing presidential candidates to adjust schedules and cancel events.

President Barack Obama has held a conference call with emergency chiefs to discuss preparations for the storm, which could hit as early as Monday.

Its sustained winds of 75mph (120km/h) are set to intensify as it merges with a wintry storm from the western US.

A number of states key to the election could be hit by a storm that may affect up to 60 million Americans.

At 20:00 EDT (00:00 GMT on Sunday), the eye of the storm was about 330 miles south of Cape Hatteras in North Carolina, according to the National Hurricane Center.

Craig Fugate, director of the Federal Emergency Management Agency, said: "This is not a coastal threat alone. This is a very large area."

Sandy has already killed 60 people in the Caribbean during the past week.

Political storm

Republican candidate Mitt Romney cancelled an event scheduled for Sunday in Virginia, a key election state, because of the weather, and was instead heading to Ohio.

Continue reading the main story

This might turn out to be nothing. But it could be a defining moment"

End Quote

President Obama will head to Florida on Sunday rather than Monday, and has cancelled a campaign stop with former President Bill Clinton in Virginia on Monday and a rally in Colorado on Tuesday to monitor the storm from the White House, said White House spokesman Jay Carney.

Vice-President Joe Biden also cancelled a rally in coastal Virginia to allow for disaster preparations.

Early balloting in Maryland saw lines of voters stretching for a number of blocks at some polling stations on Saturday.

But despite concerns about Sandy's impact, with some polls suggesting the contest is a virtual dead heat, both Mr Romney and Mr Obama pressed ahead with campaigning in key swing states on Saturday.

Nine states are thought to be too close to call.

In New Hampshire, Mr Obama urged his supporters to encourage people to vote early and allow him to finish the job he started.

"We've still got a lot of work to do, but New Hampshire and the country has come too far to go back to the policies that got us into this mess," he said.

"All he's offering is a big rerun of the same policies," Mr Obama said of his opponent.

In Florida, Mr Romney said he stood for "big ideas" that would get America going again, compared to what he called Mr Obama's "shrinking agenda".

"The president doesn't have a plan, he's out of ideas, he's out of excuses and this November, Florida is going to make sure we put him out of office," Mr Romney said to cheers from the conservative crowd in Pensacola.

How Mr Obama handles the weather emergency and how far Mr Romney tries to make political capital out of it could enhance or harm their chances, says the BBC's Bridget Kendall, on the election trail.

'Prepare for the worst'

While the East Coast is used to extreme weather, Sandy is concerning meteorologists who fear it could mutate into a "Frankenstorm" as it merges with a winter storm in the run-up to Halloween.

It is only moving north-east at 13mph, meaning it could hover for 36 hours over as many as 12 states, bringing up to 10in (25cm) of rain, 2ft of snow, extreme storm surges and power cuts.

States of emergency have been declared in Maryland, New York, Pennsylvania, Virginia, Washington DC and a coastal county in North Carolina.

Tropical storm warnings are in effect in both South and North Carolina, as well as Pamlico and Albemarle Sounds.

The NHC said further strengthening was possible on Sunday, before Sandy touched down anywhere between Virginia and southern New England late on Monday.

In New Jersey, Governor Chris Christie pleaded with residents not to be complacent.

"I know everyone's saying this isn't going to happen… that the weathermen always get it wrong," he said.

He urged people to stock up on essentials in case they were trapped at home for a few days.

"We have to be prepared for the worst here. I can be as cynical as any of you but when the storm comes, if it's as bad as they're predicting it will be, you're gonna wish you weren't as cynical as you might otherwise have been."

Delaware has ordered a mandatory evacuation of 50,000 people from coastal areas.

New York has not yet ordered evacuations.

Mayor Michael Bloomberg said: "This is a dangerous storm. But I think we're going to be OK."

Earlier in the week, Sandy caused havoc as it ploughed across the Caribbean, killing at least 44 people in Haiti, 11 in Cuba and four more in the Dominican Republic, Jamaica and the Bahamas.

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Burma violence: 20,000 displaced

28 October 2012 Last updated at 04:12 ET

More than 22,000 people have been displaced by violence in Burma's Rakhine state, mostly from the Muslim Rohingya minority, the government says.

UN officials who joined a government tour said many of the displaced, who are in squalid camps, boats, or on islands or hilltops, needed urgent aid.

More than 4,600 houses have been burnt.

Earlier Burma acknowledged more than 80 people had been killed and whole villages destroyed in violence between ethnic Rakhine Buddhists and Rohingyas.

The total number displaced since clashes broke out between the two groups in June is now 100,000.

There is long-standing tension between ethnic Rakhine people, who make up the majority of the state's population, and Muslims, many of whom are Rohingya and are stateless.

The Burmese authorities regard the Rohingya as illegal immigrants and correspondents say there is widespread public hostility to them.

'Major challenge'

A UN team was allowed to accompany government officials on a tour of the affected areas of Rakhine state on Saturday.

The UN's Burma humanitarian chief, Ashok Nigam, said government had given estimates of 22,587 people displaced in the latest wave of violence, but he added there could be "additional numbers".

Groups campaigning for the rights of Rohingyas say some of those who fled by boat have died at sea.

Getting aid to the displaced would be a major challenge, Mr Nigam said, adding that 21,700 of them were Muslims.

"The situation is certainly very grave and we are working with the government to provide urgent aid to these people," he said.

Burmese President Thein Sein on Saturday acknowledged mass destruction in the region, with whole villages and parts of towns burnt down, and announced tighter security.

Continue reading the main story

What sparked the violence in June?

The rape and murder of a young Buddhist woman in Rakhine in May set off a chain of deadly religious clashes.

Why was a state of emergency declared?

A state of emergency allows the introduction of martial law, which means the military can take over administrative control of the region.

Who are the Rohingyas?

The United Nations describes Rohingya as a persecuted religious and linguistic minority from western Burma. The Burmese government, on the other hand, says they are relatively recent migrants from the Indian sub-continent. Neighbouring Bangladesh already hosts several hundred thousand refugees from Burma and says it cannot take any more.

Satellite pictures by Human Rights Watch show hundreds of buildings destroyed in the coastal town of Kyaukpyu alone.

A local reporter who visited the site told the BBC's Burmese service the area had been completely destroyed, with some buildings still smouldering.

In one district, with a population of some 3,000, only burnt out poles from the houses and charred stubs of trees were to be seen.

The government has declared a curfew in the affected areas, but its response since the violence first broke out is being widely criticised as inadequate, says the BBC's Jonathan Head in Bangkok.

On Friday six towns were hit by clashes and a night-time curfew is in place in several locations including Min Bya and Mrauk Oo where the latest spate of violence began.

It is unclear what prompted the latest clashes. The Rakhine Buddhists and Muslims, believed to be mainly Rohingya, blame each other for the violence.

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Wen family rejects NY Times claim

28 October 2012 Last updated at 05:48 ET

Lawyers for Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao's family have rejected New York Times claims that they have amassed "hidden riches" of billions of dollars.

In a statement carried by Hong Kong media, they said that while some of the family were involved in business activities none of it was illegal.

The US newspaper reported on Friday that Mr Wen's family controlled assets worth at least $2.7bn (£1.7bn).

It responded to the statement on Sunday, saying it stood by the story.

China has condemned the report as a smear, and NYT sites are blocked in the country, as are references to the report on micro-blogging sites.

Legal threat

Bai Tao of the Junhe Law Office and Wang Weidong of the Grandall Law Firm released the statement late on Saturday evening responding to the "untrue" New York Times report.

"The so-called 'hidden riches' of Wen Jiabao's family members in The New York Times' report does not exist," the statement said.

The lawyers also denied that Mr Wen had any role in his family's business activities, nor allowed them to influence policy.

Continue reading the main story

• Became premier in March 2003, charged with overseeing the economy
• Portrayed in state media as a man who cares for the public
• Began career in provincial geology bureau but was quickly promoted
• Seen as a economic reformist critical of Bo Xilai's "Chongqing model" and "Red" policies

It specifically referred to Mr Wen's 90-year-old mother, who it said had no property nor any income apart from her salary and pension.

One of the central claims of the report was that Yang Zhiyun had a $120m investment in Ping An Insurance.

The statement ended with an apparent threat of legal action.

"We will continue to make clarifications regarding other untrue reports by the New York Times, and reserve the right to hold it legally responsible," it said.

But Times spokeswoman Eileen Murphy expressed confidence in the report.

"We are standing by our story, which we are incredibly proud of and which is an example of the quality investigative journalism The Times is known for," she wrote in an email quoted by the newspaper.

Power transition

In its report, the New York Times said Mr Wen's relatives' holdings included property, insurance and construction firms.

"In many cases, the names of the relatives have been hidden behind layers of partnerships and investment vehicles involving friends, work colleagues and business partners," it said.

The newspaper said both the Chinese government and Mr Wen's relatives declined to comment on the investigation, which was based on corporate records from 1992-2012.

China is sensitive about reports on its leaders, particularly when it comes to their wealth.

A growing wealth gap is causing public discontent, as are the frequent corruption scandals involving government officials.

When, in June 2012, a Bloomberg investigative report examined the finances of the relatives of president-in-waiting Xi Jinping, the company's website was blocked in China - even though the report said there was no indication of wrongdoing by him or his family.

Mr Wen has been the Chinese premier for almost 10 years. He is due to step down in a power transition that begins on 8 November.

He is seen as a popular figure with the common touch, and is portrayed in state media as a leader with great concern for the lives of ordinary people.

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India reshuffle sees new faces

28 October 2012 Last updated at 06:57 ET

Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh has brought 22 new ministers into the government in a major reshuffle.

The move is being seen as an attempt to get younger politicians into the Congress Party-led government ahead of national elections in 2014.

Rahul Gandhi, of the influential Nehru-Gandhi dynasty and tipped as a future leader, refused to join the cabinet.

Over the past few years, the Indian government has been hit by a number of corruption scandals.

Along with seven new ministers, 15 junior ministers were sworn in.

Key portfolios affected by the reshuffle include oil, foreign affairs and justice.

Foreign Minister SM Krishna, 80, resigned on Friday to "make way for younger people."

He has been replaced by Salman Khurshid, 59, previously law minister.

Congress has been the dominant force in Indian politics for almost all of the past 65 years.

But since its re-election in 2009, it has been tainted by allegations of corruption and the mis-selling of national assets.

A spokesman for the main opposition BJP party, Rajiv Pratap Rudi, told AFP the reshuffle was a "vain exercise by the government to refurbish its image in the face

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Ukraine in key parliament polls

28 October 2012 Last updated at 07:55 ET

Ukrainians are voting in a parliamentary election Western officials are billing as a litmus test of its democratic credentials.

Polls opened at 08:00 (06:00 GMT) and pit a main opposition grouping against President Viktor Yanukovych's Party of Regions.

Mr Yanukovych has been criticised in the West for the jailing of his main rival, former PM Yulia Tymoshenko.

A number of smaller parties are aiming to capitalise on disillusionment.

These include the liberal Udar party of boxing champion Vitali Klitschko - known as Dr Ironfist - and the far-right Svoboda (Freedom) party.

Continue reading the main story

I believe that this election will move Ukraine towards unity"

End Quote Viktor Yanukovych Ukraine's President

After casting his vote in the capital, Kiev, Mr Klitschko said he was in a combative mood and "going to parliament to fight".

And he listed "five key punches that we need to land in the Ukrainian parliament" - corruption, indifference of the authorities, lack of local governance, inequality and poverty.

President Yanukovych said he had voted for "stability and the country's economic development, for our people to live better".

"I believe that this election will move Ukraine towards unity," Mr Yanukovych said.

Polls are to stay open for 12 hours and while some counts will come in very quickly, a final result is expected on Monday.

Half of the seats in the 450-member parliament will be filled by elected parties on a candidate list basis.

The other half will be filled by individual candidates voted in on a first-past-the-post system.

Some 5,000 candidates are standing for election.

The BBC's David Stern in Kiev says these are some of the most closely watched elections in Ukraine's history, with 3,500 accredited foreign observers, including more than 600 from the Organisation for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE).

Campaigning concerns

Western officials have voiced concerns over campaigning.

In a New York Times editorial this week, US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and EU foreign policy chief Catherine Ashton cited "worrying trends" in the interim election report from the OSCE (of which Ukraine is due to take over the rotating chair in January).

These included government resources being used to favour ruling party candidates, media restrictions, vote-buying and lack of transparency on the electoral commissions.

Critics claim Ms Tymoshenko was prosecuted and imprisoned last year in order to prevent her running in the election.

She is serving a seven-year prison sentence after being charged with overstepping her powers as prime minister four years ago when she signed a gas deal with Russia.

The EU indefinitely postponed its association agreement, including a free trade pact, after the jailing.

Ms Tymoshenko's Fatherland party has joined with other opposition parties to form a united front.

Mr Yanukovych - who has been president for three years and faces re-election in 2015 - has rejected calls to free his rival, maintaining that she was sentenced by an independent court.

He insists European integration is one of his government's main goals and will hope his pro-business party can hold on to the parliamentary majority it enjoys.

Ukraine's 46m-strong population has been hit by the global economic downturn and unpopular pension and tax policies.

My Yanukovych's Party of Regions recently attempted to assuage public opinion by boosting public sector salaries and pensions - although this also exacerbated a $2bn (£1.25bn) budget deficit and called into question the likelihood of securing IMF lending, correspondents say.

Ukrainian authorities hope a good assessment by 3,500 international election observers will reopen the door to the association agreement.

Mr Klitschko's popularity has grown because of his opposition to Mr Yanukovych and because, as a newcomer, he is so far untainted by Ukraine's corrosive politics which, correspondents say, are blighted by corruption and cronyism.

Svoboda's strong anti-government stance and its passionate defence of Ukraine's culture and language has also gained support, although the party is also known for racist and anti-Semitic statements.

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