Immigration deal in 'six months'

30 January 2013 Last updated at 20:22 ET

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President Obama: ''The issue here is not so much technical, as it is political''

President Barack Obama has said US immigration reform could be achieved within six months, in an interview with Spanish-language TV channel Telemundo.

The president said reform should pass in 2013 and he would put "everything" into securing a deal even sooner.

Obstacles to a deal were political rather than technical, Mr Obama added.

The comments come the day after Mr Obama backed comprehensive immigration reform, and after a group of senators unveiled a similar plan on Monday.

Correspondents say the focus on immigration reflects the growing influence of Hispanic voters.

'Clear pathway'

"I can guarantee that I will put everything I have behind it," Mr Obama told Telemundo, one of two Spanish-language networks he spoke to on Wednesday.

The president also said he would work with all politicians to achieve reform, including Florida Senator Marco Rubio, a Republican.

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By declaring that 'the time is now' for change, the president has picked the one cause where there is some possible room for agreement with Republicans"

End Quote

Mr Obama's plan, unveiled at a secondary school in Las Vegas, Nevada on Tuesday, reflects a blueprint he rolled out in 2011.

But while he applauded the Senate effort - put together by a group of four Democrats and four Republicans - the president also warned that if Congress fails to take action on immigration, the White House would write legislation of its own and insist that lawmakers vote on it.

Like the bipartisan plan, the president backed an overhaul of the existing legal immigration system, securing US borders, and offering a pathway to earned citizenship.

But the senators' proposals would allow undocumented immigrants to start the process of becoming citizens only after US borders are deemed secure, a link that did not feature in the president's plan.

In a second interview on Wednesday with Spanish-language channel Univision, Mr Obama appeared to diverge from the senators' plan on that point.

"What we don't want is to create some vague prospect in the future that somehow comprehensive immigration reform that includes a pathway to citizenship will happen, you know, manana," Mr Obama said, using the Spanish word for "tomorrow".

The so-called gang of eight have said they hope their blueprint could pass the Senate by summer.

Politicians in the Republican-controlled House of Representatives are reportedly working on their own immigration framework.

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Guilty pleas over China protest

30 January 2013 Last updated at 23:50 ET

Fourteen people have pleaded guilty to charges of "encouraging mass violence" during a protest in the city of Qidong, Chinese state media say.

Government offices were stormed as thousands of people demonstrated against a proposed waste water pipeline project in July 2012.

The project, which local people said would pollute coastal waters, was subsequently scrapped.

Defendants would be sentenced at a later date, Xinhua news agency said.

The protest was one of a series of high-profile incidents in which local people have objected to development or industrial projects on environmental grounds.

In Qidong, the pipeline was proposed by a paper-making company.

As thousands of people turned out, the local Communist Party chief and the mayor were stripped of their shirts by angry protesters who wanted them to wear T-shirts bearing an anti-pollution slogan.

The 14 defendants were tried on Wednesday. Prosecutors said their "violent behaviour caused property losses, injured police officers and severely disrupted public order", Xinhua reported.

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French forces take key Mali town

31 January 2013 Last updated at 03:57 ET

French forces have secured the northern Malian town of Kidal, the last main stronghold of Islamist rebels in the region, military officials say.

Militant Islamist fighters had already left the town, near the Algerian border, and are believed to be hiding in the surrounding mountains.

The capture of Kidal came days after French and Malian forces retook the provincial capitals Gao and Timbuktu.

Kidal official Haminy Maiga said the French troops had met no resistance.

"The French arrived aboard four planes," said, Mr Maiga, who heads the regional assembly.

"They took the airport and then entered the town, and there was no combat. The French are patrolling the town and two helicopters are patrolling overhead."

Earlier, French Defence Minister Jean-Yves Le Drian said a sandstorm had delayed the troops from leaving the airport and entering the town.

Islamist militants extended their control of the vast north of Mali in April 2012, taking advantage of a military coup.

France - the former colonial power in Mali - launched a military operation this month after the militants appeared to be threatening the south.

The BBC's Thomas Fessy in Timbuktu says the capture of Kidal marks the end of the first phase of the military operation to oust militants from northern Mali.

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Mali crisis timeline

• October 2011: Ethnic Tuaregs launch new rebellion after returning with weapons from Libya, where they had fought for Gaddafi
• March 2012: Military officers depose President Amadou Toumani Toure over handling of rebellion
• April 2012: Tuareg and Islamist fighters seize control of northern Mali, declare independence
• June 2012: Islamist groups capture Timbuktu, Kidal and Gao from Tuaregs, start to destroy Muslim shrines that offend their puritan views
• September 2012: Islamist rebels seize town of Douentza, crossing into central Mali and threatening government-held south
• January 2013: Islamist fighters capture central town of Konna, raising fears they could march on capital. President Dioncounda Traore asks France for help. French intervention begins.

France is now expecting the deployment of thousands of African forces to support the second phase - driving the al-Qaeda-linked fighters from their desert hideouts.

Foreign Minister Laurent Fabius said on Wednesday that France intended to leave Mali "quickly", and it was up to African countries to take over.

Several hundred soldiers from West African countries - including Niger and Chad - are already in Mali.

Our correspondent says French forces who entered Kidal found members of the secular National Movement for the Liberation of Azawad (MNLA) there.

The Tuareg rebels launched the insurgency last year before breaking away from the militants.

Their presence in Kidal explains why government troops have not yet been sent to the town, our correspondent adds.

The MNLA says it will support the French but will not allow the return of the Malian army, which it accused of "crimes against the civilian population".

Human rights groups have accused the Malian army of targeting ethnic Tuareg and Arab civilians.

An MNLA spokesman told the BBC its fighters had entered Kidal on Saturday and found no Islamist militants there.

Kidal was until recently under the control of the Ansar Dine Islamist group, which has strong ties to al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb (AQIM).

The Islamic Movement of Azawad (IMA), which recently split from Ansar Dine, recently said that it was in control of Kidal.

The IMA has also said it rejects "extremism and terrorism" and wants a peaceful solution.

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Enigmatic leader

The radical Islamist group Ansar Dine was founded by Tuareg rebel Iyad Ag Ghaly

Some reports say Ansar Dine leader Iyad Ag Ghaly and Abou Zeid of AQIM have now moved to the mountainous region north of Kidal.

Meanwhile, EU foreign ministers meeting in Brussels on Thursday are expected to reaffirm support for the French intervention in Mali and discuss practical details of an EU military training mission which is due to begin there next month.

On Tuesday, international donors meeting in Ethiopia pledged $455.53m (£289m) for the African Union-backed force (Afisma) and for other projects.

African leaders say the overall budget could be around $950m.

French Foreign Minister Laurent Fabius has also said credible elections in Mali would be vital to achieving peace in the country.

Mali's interim President Dioncounda Traore said on Tuesday he wanted to hold "transparent and credible" elections by 31 July.

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Iran 'plans enrichment upgrade'

31 January 2013 Last updated at 05:14 ET

Iran has told the UN nuclear agency it plans to upgrade uranium enrichment centrifuges at its Natanz plant, reports citing diplomats say.

The move would allow the country to refine uranium at a faster rate, increasing fears among western states about Iran's intentions.

Iran insists its nuclear programme is peaceful in purpose. The US and its allies fear it seeks nuclear weapons.

The plan was set out in a letter to the IAEA dated 23 January, reports said.

The letter is said to mention a model of centrifuge, called IR2m, which can enrich two or three times faster than the present equipment being used by Tehran, according to the Associated Press.

The International Atomic Energy Agency sent a letter to member states saying Iran had informed the agency of its plans to use the improved machines at its fuel enrichment plant in Natanz, according to a document seen by Reuters.

"The Secretariat of the Agency received a letter from the Atomic Energy Organization of Iran (AEOI) dated 23 January 2013 informing the Agency that 'centrifuge machines type IR2m will be used in Unit A-22' at the Fuel Enrichment Plant (FEP) at Natanz," the IAEA communication is reported to say.

The Natanz facility, in central Iran, is at the heart of the country's dispute with the United Nations Security Council.

Meanwhile, on Thursday, the European Union's top foreign policy official said she believed that negotiations on the country's nuclear programme would resume shortly.

Catherine Ashton said she was "confident" that there would be a meeting soon.

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Bangladesh strike sparks clashes

31 January 2013 Last updated at 05:37 ET

Police in Bangladesh have fired tear gas and rubber bullets to disperse protesters during a strike called by the country's largest Islamist party.

Clashes took place in the capital Dhaka - where demonstrators torched vehicles - and other towns and cities.

The strike has been called by the Jamaat-e-Islami (J-e-I), in protest at war crimes trials in which a number of its leaders are charged.

Correspondents say much of the country has been brought to a standstill.

Many schools and businesses are shut and roads deserted.

The BBC's Anbarasan Ethirajan reports in Dhaka says there are concerns about the country's political stability as the Jamaat-e-Islami has threatened to intensify its protests if the war crimes trial is not stopped.

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• Ghulam Azam, 90, former J-e-I leader
• Motiur Rahman Nizami, current J-e-I leader
• Delwar Hossain Sayedee, Senior J-e-I member
• Ali Ahsan Mohammad Mujahid J-e-I secretary-general
• Salahuddin Quader Chowdhury senior member of BNP

The party's supporters are outraged that some of their leaders have been put on trial for crimes allegedly committed during the 1971 independence war. They say the trials are politically motivated.

Senior Jamaat leader Shafiqul Islam called on the government "to stop harassing our party leaders".

"We also want all our leaders in prison to be released. The illegal war crimes tribunal should be scrapped," he told the BBC.

Local media reported several home-made bombs exploding in Dhaka on Thursday.

At Sanarpar, outside Dhaka, police fired rubber bullets and tear gas at strikers who set light to a lorry, police chief Abdul Matin told AFP news agency.

Four protesters were arrested, he added.

The strike follows violent protests in Dhaka on Monday.

Bangladesh says more than three million people died when troops were sent to stop East Pakistan becoming independent in 1971.

Last week, a special tribunal sentenced a former member of Jamaat-e-Islami to death in absentia.

Eleven others, nine of them Jamaat leaders, are facing trial.

Our correspondent says verdicts in the other cases are expected imminently.

All the defendants deny the charges and opposition leaders accuse the government of carrying out a political vendetta. Human rights groups say the International Crimes Tribunal falls short of international standards.

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'China hackers' attack NY Times

31 January 2013 Last updated at 05:47 ET

Hackers from China have "persistently" infiltrated the New York Times for the last four months, the US paper says.

It said the attacks coincided with its report into claims that the family of Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao had amassed a multi-billion dollar fortune.

The hackers used methods which have been "associated with the Chinese military" to target the emails of the report's writer, the paper said.

China's foreign ministry dismissed the accusations as "groundless".

"To arbitrarily assert and to conclude without hard evidence that China participated in such hacking attacks is totally irresponsible," said spokesman Hong Lei.

"China is also a victim of hacking attacks. Chinese laws clearly forbid hacking attacks, and we hope relevant parties takes a responsible attitude on this issue."

Beijing has been accused by several governments, foreign companies and organisations of carrying out extensive cyber espionage for many years, seeking to gather information and to control China's image.

'China-based subterfuge'

According to the Times, the hackers first broke into their computer system in September, as the report on Mr Wen was nearing completion.

The report, which was dismissed as a "smear" by the Chinese government, said Mr Wen's relatives had amassed assets worth at least $2.7bn (£1.7bn) through business dealings. It did not accuse the Chinese premier of wrongdoing.

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

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• China was widely believed to be the source of major cyber attacks between 2006 and 2011 targeting 72 organisations including the International Olympic Committee, the UN and security firms
• In 2011, Google said hackers based in Jinan province had compromised personal email accounts of hundreds of top US officials, military personnel and journalists
• South Korea blamed Chinese hackers for stealing data from 35 million accounts on a popular social network in July last year
• Chinese-based computers seized "full functional control" of computers at Nasa in 2011, the US body said
• In 2011 US media reported that Chinese-based hackers were suspected of a "significant" cyber attack on defence firm Lockheed Martin.
• Coca-cola says its systems were breached in 2009 by Beijing-backed hackers, while it was trying to buy China's Huiyuan Juice Group
• The US Pentagon said it was hacked by the Chinese military in 2007
• China says hacking is illegal under its laws and that it is a victim of such attacks itself

The New York Times said the hacking initially focussed on the computers of David Barboza, the paper's bureau chief in Shanghai who wrote the report, and one of his predecessors, Jim Yardley.

Internet security firm Mandiant, which was hired by the Times to trace the attack, followed the hackers' movements for four months, to try to establish a pattern and block them.

The hackers installed malware which enabled them to access any computer using the New York Times network, steal the password of every employee, and access 53 personal computers, mostly outside the Times offices.

They found the hackers began working for the most part at 08:00 Beijing time. They have not been able to establish how exactly the hackers broke into the system, but believe it may have been through a so-called spear-phishing attack, where an employee clicked on an email or link containing malicious code.

The security firm found that in an attempt to hide the origin of the attack, it had been routed through computers in US universities which, the paper said, "matches the subterfuge used in many other attacks that Mandiant has tracked to China".

The Times said experts had found that the attacks "started from the same university computers used by the Chinese military to attack United States military contractors in the past".

Mandiant's chief security officer, Richard Bejtlich, said that "if you look at each attack in isolation, you can't say, 'This is the Chinese military'," but that the similar patterns and targets of the attacks indicated a connection.

"When you see the same group steal data on Chinese dissidents and Tibetan activists, then attack an aerospace company, it starts to push you in the right direction," he said.

The paper said no personal data of staff or customers was stolen and that no attempt was made to shut down its website.

"They could have wreaked havoc on our systems," said chief information officer Marc Frons. But he said what they appeared to be looking for were "the names of people who might have provided information to Mr Barboza".

There was also no evidence that sensitive emails or files on the Wen family had been accessed, or that the intruders had sought information unrelated to the Wen family, the paper said.

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Israel settlers 'violate rights'

31 January 2013 Last updated at 06:33 ET

Israeli settlements in the occupied territories violate Palestinians' human rights in ways designed to drive them off the land, a UN report states.

The report says settlements displace Palestinians, destroy their crops and property, and subject them to violence.

Israel refused to co-operate with the inquiry by three UN researchers.

The Israeli foreign ministry said the report from the UN Human Rights Council was "counterproductive" and would hamper the peace process.

"The only way to resolve all pending issues between Israel and the Palestinians, including the settlements issue, is through direct negotiations without pre-conditions," the ministry said in a statement.

"The Human Rights Council has sadly distinguished itself by its systematically one-sided and biased approach towards Israel. This latest report is yet another unfortunate reminder of that."

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The transfer of Israeli citizens into the Occupied Palestinian Territories... is a central feature of Israel's practices and policies"

End Quote

The report is likely further to strain relations between Israel and the UN, the BBC's Imogen Foulkes in Geneva says.

On Thursday, the French, Pakistani and Botswanan UN report authors demanded Israel cease all settlement activities, saying Israel was "committing serious breaches" of humanitarian law.

"The magnitude of violations relating to Israel's policies of dispossessions, evictions, demolitions and displacements from land shows the widespread nature of these breaches of human rights," Unity Dow, member of the fact-finding mission from Botswana, said in a statement.

"The motivation behind violence and intimidation against the Palestinians and their properties is to drive the local populations away from their lands, allowing the settlements to expand."

'Prohibited'

The report comes two days after Israel failed to turn up at a UN review of its human rights record.

About 520,000 Israeli settlers reside in about 250 separate settlements in East Jerusalem and the rest of the West Bank, the report states. Some of the settlements were built without government authorisation.

The growth in the settler population has hastened over the past decade compared to growth in Israel. The government in place since April 2009, led by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, has "contributed to the consolidation and expansion" of settlements, the report states.

The settlements violate the Fourth Geneva Convention, which prevents an occupying power from transferring its own population into occupied territory, the report states.

"The transfer of Israeli citizens into the Occupied Palestinian Territories, prohibited under international humanitarian law and international criminal law, is a central feature of Israel's practices and policies," it adds.

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Russia concern at Israeli 'strike'

31 January 2013 Last updated at 07:00 ET

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Israel has not commented on reports of an attack on Wednesday

Russia has expressed concern at an alleged Israeli attack on Syria, saying such a strike would be an unacceptable violation of the UN Charter.

Syria's army said Israeli jets had targeted a military research centre north-west of Damascus on Wednesday.

It denied reports that lorries carrying weapons bound for Lebanon were hit.

Russia has steadfastly refused to denounce Syrian President Bashar al-Assad during the 22-month conflict that has killed more than 60,000 people.

The Syrian army statement, carried on state media, said Israeli fighter jets had carried out a direct strike on a scientific research centre in Jamraya, killing two people and injuring five.

The Russian Foreign Ministry said: "If this information is confirmed, then we are dealing with unprovoked attacks on targets on the territory of a sovereign country, which blatantly violates the UN Charter and is unacceptable, no matter the motives to justify it."

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Possible targets

• Jamraya Centre: Reported scientific research centre responsible for developing chemical weapons
• Weapons convoy: Lorries carrying Russian-made SA-17 anti-aircraft missiles to Hezbollah bases in Lebanon

Relations between Russia and Israel have been improving in recent years as trade and economic ties have grown stronger, says the BBC's Steve Rosenberg in Moscow.

But Moscow is a close ally of President Assad, which would explain its concern at the reports, our correspondent adds.

Missiles heading for border?

The attack came as Israel voiced fears that Syrian missiles and chemical weapons could fall into the hands of militants such as the Lebanese Shia militant group Hezbollah.

Israel and the US have declined to comment on the reported incident.

Any Israeli attack on Syria side could cause a major diplomatic incident, analysts say, as Iran has said it will treat any Israeli attack on its ally Syria as an attack on itself.

Iran's foreign minister condemned the alleged air strike as an "overt assault based on the West's policy" to undermine stability in Syria, adding that it would have "serious consequences".

"The Zionists got ahead of themselves in trying to cover up the successes of the Syrian government and nation in maintaining the existing government and restoring stability and security," Ali Akbar Salehi was quoted as saying by the semi-official ISNA news agency.

Lebanese security sources, Western diplomats and Syrian rebels say the target was an arms convoy near Lebanon's border. The Associated Press quoted a US official as saying the lorries were carrying Russian-made SA-17 anti-aircraft missiles.

The Lebanese military and internal security forces have not confirmed the reports, but say there has been increased activity by Israeli warplanes over Lebanon in the past week, and particularly on Tuesday and the early hours of Wednesday morning.

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Analysis

While a good share of Israel's and indeed Washington's attention is taken up by fears about Syria's chemical arsenal falling into the wrong hands, this latest air strike or strikes underscores Israel's equal worry about sophisticated conventional weapons being passed to Hezbollah.

Some four years ago the then Israeli government of Prime Minister Ehud Olmert warned it would not tolerate what it called "game-changing" weapons being transferred to Hezbollah.

This Israeli operation can thus be seen as in one sense pre-emptive, but also as a warning to the Syrian authorities and to Hezbollah.

Quite how Hezbollah may respond is unclear. Last July's attack on an airport bus carrying Israeli tourists in Bulgaria suggests that if there is to be a response it might be indirect - against Israeli or Jewish targets abroad, rather than across Lebanon's own frontier with Israel.

Correspondents say Israel fears Hezbollah could obtain anti-tank and anti-aircraft missiles, thus strengthening its ability to respond to Israeli air strikes.

Israel believes Syria received a battery of SA-17s from Russia after an alleged Israeli air strike in 2007 that destroyed a Syrian nuclear reactor near Deir Ezzor in eastern Syria, analysts say.

The US government said in 2008 that the reactor was "not intended for peaceful purposes".

Hezbollah said Wednesday's target was the Jamraya centre, condemning it as "an attempt to thwart Arab military capabilities" and pledging to stand by its ally Mr Assad.

Iron Dome move

BBC Middle East correspondent Wyre Davies says that while none of the reports can be verified, some well-placed diplomats and military sources say they would not be surprised if Israel had acted, given the recent instability in Syria.

The Syrian army statement said the Jamraya centre - which was focused on "raising our level of resistance and self-defence" - was damaged in the attack, and specifically denied reports that an arms convoy had been hit.

It said "armed terrorist gangs", a term the government uses to describe rebel groups, had tried and failed repeatedly to capture the same facility in recent months.

Some reports suggest the facility could be Syria's Scientific Studies and Research Centre, believed to be the state organisation responsible for developing biological and chemical weapons.

The reported attack came days after Israel moved its Iron Dome defence system to the north of the country.

Israel has also joined the US in expressing concern that Syria's presumed chemical weapons stockpile could be taken over by militant groups.

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Colombia to decriminalise ecstasy

29 January 2013 Last updated at 20:00 ET

Colombia's Justice Minister, Ruth Stella Correa, has said a new drugs bill would decriminalise personal use of synthetic drugs, such as ecstasy.

The proposal would replace current laws, which ban cocaine and marijuana, although people are not prosecuted for possessing small amounts.

Colombia's legislation is being re-assessed in an attempt to tackle drug use, trafficking and related issues.

Critics say the inclusion of synthetic drugs will only confuse the debate.

The justice minister spoke after a meeting with the commission set up to assess the government's drug policies over the last 10 years.

Former President Cesar Gaviria is part of the group along a number of experts and academics expected to produce a document with recommendations within eight months.

Ruth Stella Correa pointed out that the Constitutional Court had already spoken against the criminalisation of people carrying small amounts of marijuana and cocaine.

"The new statute to be presented to the Congress during this mandate intends to make this authorisation concrete, but broadening it to include synthetic drugs into what is defined as the personal dose", the minister told Colombia's National Radio.

'End of business'

A spokesman for the country's Green Party has expressed support for the government's plan.

"The problem in Colombia is a problem with soft drugs: marijuana and cocaine. The curse of drug trafficking depends fundamentally on cocaine and the decriminalisation in the world will end this business," senator Roy Barreras told Caracol Radio station.

However, critics say that decriminalising the personal use of synthetic drugs will only make the debate more difficult.

Experts agree that synthetic drugs include ecstasy and methamphetamines, but some argue the definition could be applied to heroin.

The justice minister's announcement reopened the discussion about drug use in Colombia.

Until recently, the country adopted a more repressive approach to drug use, with laws that penalised the possession and consumption of drugs.

However, a string of decisions by the High Court in the last two years is said to be reversing the trend.

The new drug bill is expected to be put forward to the Colombian Congress in the next few months.

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Brazil fire 'caused by flares'

29 January 2013 Last updated at 21:47 ET

The chief investigator in the southern Brazilian city of Santa Maria has said that cheap fireworks meant for outdoor use caused a deadly nightclub fire.

The death toll in Sunday's blaze reached 235 people after a 21-year-old man died of his injuries in hospital.

Police chief Marcelo Arigony said the band had chosen not to buy more expensive indoor flares.

Earlier, a court froze the assets of the owners of the Kiss nightclub.

Four people have been arrested in connection with the blaze, Brazil's deadliest in five decades.

One of those detained is the co-owner of the nightclub.

A member of the band Gurizada Fandangueira, blamed by Mr Arigony for the start of the flames, has also been arrested.

"The pyrotechnics were part of their show. The guys even wore gloves on stage so they wouldn't burn their hands," the policeman – who lost a cousin in the fire – told reporters.

He added that the band chose a $1.25 (£0.80) outdoor flare at a local shop over the $35 (£22) indoor variety.

National mourning

Authorities say that more than 120 people are being treated in hospitals, and around 70 are said to be in critical condition.

Brazil is marking three days of national mourning, while politicians discuss what measures can be taken to prevent such a tragedy happening again.

President Dilma Rousseff, who had an emotional meeting with bereaved relatives, called for a stricter stance on safety rules across the country.

The fire has also prompted widespread domestic concern about Brazil's ability to host major sporting tournaments in the next four years.

The 2014 World Cup is set to be hosted in 12 Brazilian cities, while the 2016 Olympics are to take place in Rio de Janeiro.

The disaster led Congress to set up a working group on Tuesday.

It aims to write up a new federal bill in an attempt to strengthen safety regulations ahead of the World Cup.

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Gillard sets Australia poll date

30 January 2013 Last updated at 00:23 ET

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Ms Gillard said the move allowed for a "reasoned" campaign

Australian Prime Minister Julia Gillard has called a general election for 14 September.

Ms Gillard said that she would ask Governor-General Quentin Bryce to order that parliament be dissolved on 12 August.

She said the announcement, eight months in advance, was "not to start the nation's longest election campaign" but to give "shape and order" to the year.

Ms Gillard leads a minority government that relies on independents.

In a lunchtime speech before the National Press Club in Canberra, the prime minister said the rare long run-up to the election would allow individuals, businesses and investors to plan ahead.

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In making this unexpected announcement, Julia Gillard has relinquished one of the advantages of incumbency: the prerogative to select the election day but not reveal it until much closer to the time. Still, most expected the poll to come at the back end of the year, although no Australian prime minister has ever declared their intentions so early - 226 days beforehand.

Rather than embarking on the longest election campaign in history, Ms Gillard said that her intention was to allow businesses and consumers to better plan their year.

But no doubt she will be hoping that her announcement wrong-foots her main opponents: the conservative opposition leader Tony Abbott, and, to a lesser extent, the Labor prime minister she ousted, Kevin Rudd, who still harbours leadership ambitions.

Polls suggest repeatedly that her Labor minority government will be removed from office, even though Mr Abbott has struggled to win the affection of voters. As for a long, drawn-out election battle, Canberra has been in campaign mode pretty much since 2010's inconclusive federal election.

"It gives shape and order to the year, and enables it to be one not of fevered campaigning, but of cool and reasoned deliberation," she said.

"I can create an environment in which the nation's eyes are more easily focused on the policies, not the petty politics. I can act so Australia's parliament and government serves their full three-year-term."

The deadline for the election to be held was 30 November.

In determining which Saturday to choose in September, Ms Gillard also admitted that avoiding a clash with the Aussie rules grand final in Melbourne, one of the biggest sporting events of the year, was a major consideration, reports the BBC's Nick Bryant in Sydney.

The date clashes, though, with Yom Kippur, the holiest day in the Jewish calendar.

Poll gloom

The previous election was held in August 2010, two months after Ms Gillard ousted Prime Minister Kevin Rudd in a leadership challenge, becoming Australia's first female leader.

The election left both main parties short of a parliamentary majority. Ms Gillard, who leads the Labor Party, formed a coalition government with the support of the Greens and independent legislators.

But she has struggled to win public support from an electorate with whom Kevin Rudd remains popular. When he launched a leadership challenge early in 2012, however, she secured a convincing win.

Opinion polls suggest that the opposition, led by Liberal Party leader Tony Abbott, would win an election if the polls were held now.

Ms Gillard said that with the poll date fixed, the opposition would be able to release full costings of its campaign pledges.

Mr Abbott, meanwhile, said the election "will be about trust".

"Who do you trust to reduce cost-of-living pressures? Who do you trust to boost small businesses and to boost job security? And who do you trust to secure our borders?" he said

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South Korea launches space rocket

30 January 2013 Last updated at 04:50 ET

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The BBC's Lucy Williamson says the launch will be met with relief in Seoul

South Korea says its third attempt at launching a rocket to put a satellite in space has been a success.

The Korea Space Launch Vehicle-1 (KSLV-1) blasted off from the Naro Space Center at 16:00 (07:00 GMT).

Science Minister Lee Ju-ho said the satellite, which will collect climate data, was in its correct orbit.

The launch comes weeks after North Korea used its own three-stage rocket to place a satellite into orbit, sparking international criticism.

South Korea's 140-tonne rocket, known as Naro, was built in partnership with Russia, which had agreed to work with Seoul for three launch attempts.

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If the North is determined to test, there is at best a slim possibility that it can be deterred"

End Quote Dr John Swenson-Wright Chatham House

Previous launches in 2009 and 2010 failed, and this attempt had been postponed twice for technical reasons.

But officials said Wednesday's launch from the site 480km (298 miles) south of Seoul had gone as planned and that the rocket had reached its target altitude and deployed its satellite.

"After analysing various data, the Naro rocket successfully put the science satellite into designated orbit," Mr Lee told reporters. He said the satellite had detached 540 seconds after launch.

"We now have leapt up a step to become a space-power nation," he said, adding that South Korea would use this "overwhelming moment as a strong, dynamic force" to help drive an independent space programme.

North fears

The satellite, called Science and Technology Satellite-2C, is designed to collect climate data. The Yonhap news said it was expected to make contact with its ground station at 05:00 on Thursday, at which point its operators will be able to make the final judgement on whether the launch achieved its goals.

South Korea does already have satellites in space, but they were launched from other countries.

On its first attempt to carry out a launch on its own soil, in 2009, the satellite failed to detach from the rocket in orbit. In 2010, the rocket exploded seconds after take-off.

Pressure for success has increased since North Korea launched a rocket that placed a satellite in orbit on 12 December. It followed the launch by announcing plans for a "high-level nuclear test" and more long-range rocket launches.

The UN said the North Korean launch constituted a banned test of missile technology and voted to extend sanctions against Pyongyang. There have been international calls for Pyongyang not to carry out the nuclear test.

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French 'enter Mali rebel town'

30 January 2013 Last updated at 07:10 ET

French forces say they have entered Kidal in the north of Mali, the last major town they have yet to secure in their drive against Islamist militants.

French forces now control Kidal airport after a number of aircraft, including helicopters, landed there overnight.

Islamist militants were reported to have already left the town and it was unclear who was in charge.

French and Malian forces have been sweeping north, earlier taking Gao and Timbuktu with almost no resistance.

France - the former colonial power in Mali - launched a military operation this month after Islamist militants appeared to be threatening the south.

French army spokesman Col Thierry Burkhard confirmed that "French elements were deployed overnight in Kidal".

Haminy Maiga, the interim president of the Kidal regional assembly, told the Associated Press news agency: "The French arrived at 9:30pm [Tuesday] aboard four planes. Afterwards they took the airport and then entered the town and there was no combat.

"The French are patrolling the town and two helicopters are patrolling overhead," he said.

'Eradicate terrorism'

Kidal, 1,500km (930 miles) north-east of the capital Bamako, was until recently under the control of the Ansar Dine Islamist group, which has strong ties to al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb (AQIM).

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The Islamist militants fled Timbuktu in haste, but they took the time to commit one last act of vengeance"

End Quote

The Islamist militants had taken advantage of a military coup in March last year to impose Sharia in a number of cities in the north.

However, the Islamic Movement of Azawad (IMA), which recently split from Ansar Dine, says it is now in charge in Kidal.

The IMA has said it rejects "extremism and terrorism" and wants a peaceful solution.

An IMA spokesman confirmed the French arrival in Kidal and said that its leader was in talks with them.

However, another rebel group, the secular National Movement for the Liberation of Azawad (MNLA), is also influential in the area. It is ethnically driven, fighting mostly for the rights of Mali's minority Tuareg community.

An MNLA spokesman told the BBC its fighters had entered Kidal on Saturday and found no Islamist militants there.

The MNLA has also said it is prepared to work with the French "to eradicate terrorist groups" in the north but that it would not allow the return of the Malian army, which it accused of "crimes against the civilian population".

Some reports say Ansar Dine leader, Iyad Ag Ghaly, and Abou Zeid of AQIM have now moved to the mountainous region north of Kidal.

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French Foreign Minister Laurent Fabius says rebel groups could still strike in Mali or elsewhere

The BBC's Thomas Fessy, in Timbuktu, says that taking Kidal will mark the end of the first phase of the French military intervention, but that there will remain the difficult task of chasing the fighters down across the vast desert.

The French arrival at Kidal came only 24 hours after securing Timbuktu with Malian forces.

The troops had to secure the streets after hundreds of people looted shops they said had belonged to militant sympathisers.

The retreating Islamist militants were also accused of destroying ancient manuscripts held in the city.

However on Wednesday, Shamil Jeppie, the Timbuktu Manuscripts Project director at the University of Cape Town, said that more than 90% of the 300,000 manuscripts said to be in the region were safe.

Donor pledges

France has been pushing for the swift deployment of an African Union-backed force, the International Support Mission to Mali (Afisma), to take control of Malian towns.

On Tuesday, international donors meeting in Ethiopia pledged $455.53m (£289m) for Afisma and for other projects.

African leaders say the overall budget could be around $950m.

France's Foreign Minister Laurent Fabius told the meeting impressive progress had been made but that this did not mean the danger was over.

Mr Fabius also said credible elections in Mali would be vital to achieving sustainable peace in the country.

Mali's interim President Dioncounda Traore said on Tuesday that he wanted to hold "transparent and credible" elections by 31 July.

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Cameron visiting Algeria for talks

30 January 2013 Last updated at 05:51 ET

David Cameron is to visit Algeria later in the wake of the hostage crisis that left up to six Britons dead.

The UK prime minister will hold talks with his counterpart and the president.

Mr Cameron will stress the strategic importance of Algeria in what he has called "the generational struggle" against al-Qaeda in North Africa.

The UK is to send 330 military personnel to Algeria's neighbour Mali and West Africa to support French forces battling Islamist militants.

The deployment will include as many as 40 military advisers in Mali and 200 British soldiers in neighbouring African countries, to help train the Malian army.

French-led forces are continuing their offensive against militants who seized northern Mali last year.

Mr Cameron will be the first UK prime minister to visit Algeria since its independence in 1962. He will also be attending an international development conference in the Liberian capital, Monrovia.

'Temporary operation'

He is expected to hold talks with Algerian Prime Minister Abdelmalek Sellal and President Abdelaziz Bouteflika, with discussions likely to focus on the hostage crisis and the military campaign in Mali.

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David Cameron insists he is not contemplating another conflict like that in Libya, let alone another Afghanistan"

End Quote

BBC political editor Nick Robinson says Mr Cameron's aides are stressing that the troops being sent to the region are to be used for training, logistics and intelligence, and not combat. They talk of a temporary operation.

But this trip is bound to heighten the demands on the prime minister to say not simply what he is not planning in North Africa, but to explain more about what exactly he is, our correspondent adds.

Some 37 foreigners and at least 10 Algerians died after militants seized workers at Algeria's In Amenas gas plant earlier this month.

Inquests were opened on Monday into the deaths of four UK nationals and a British resident killed in the hostage crisis.

The bodies of Britons Sebastian John, 26, from Nottingham, Garry Barlow, 50, from Liverpool, Paul Morgan, 46, from Liverpool and Kenneth Whiteside, 59, who lived in Johannesburg, South Africa, but had family in Scotland, were flown back to the UK last week. Also flown back was the body of Carlos Estrada Valencia, 44, who was a Colombian national who lived in London.

West Sussex Coroner Penelope Schofield adjourned the inquests until 1 July.

The Algerian government took the controversial decision to storm the site in the Sahara desert, which is jointly operated by BP.

Algerian officials said the hostage-takers had been from six different nationalities and belonged to a new Islamist group that recently broke away from al-Qaeda.

During the siege, one statement purporting to be from the captors called for an end to the French military intervention in Mali.

'Mending damage'

The BBC's Richard Galpin, in Algiers, said radical groups, some with links to al-Qaeda, had grown in strength in the region in recent years.

He said Mr Cameron's visit may be partly an attempt to mend any damage to relations after the prime minister expressed disappointment that he had had no advance warning about the Algerian hostage rescue operation.

Mr Cameron has said the hostage crisis highlights the need for a "strong security response" matched by an "intelligent political response".

At the World Economic Forum in Davos last week, Mr Cameron said: "I believe we are in the midst of a long struggle against murderous terrorists and a poisonous ideology that supports them.

"Just as we've successfully put pressure on al-Qaeda in Afghanistan and Pakistan, so al-Qaeda franchises have been growing for years in Yemen, in Somalia and across parts of North Africa, places that have suffered hideously through hostage taking, terrorism and crime."

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Donors pledge $1.1bn Syria aid

30 January 2013 Last updated at 06:45 ET

More than $1.1bn (£700m) has been pledged to help civilians affected by the conflict in Syria at a conference of international donors, the UN says.

Kuwait's Emir Sheikh Sabah al-Ahmad al-Sabah opened the meeting with a donation of $300m, which was matched by the UAE and, reportedly, Saudi Arabia.

UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon meanwhile appealed to all sides to stop fighting "in the name of humanity".

As he spoke, Syrian state media blamed a rebel group for a massacre in Aleppo.

The bodies of more than 70 men and teenaged boys were found on Tuesday on the banks of the River Quwaiq in the second city's rebel-held western district of Bustan al-Qasr.

Most of the dead had their hands tied behind their backs and gunshots wounds to their heads, suggesting they were executed summarily.

On Wednesday, the state news agency Sana reported that the families of the victims had "identified a number of the killed, stressing that the al-Nusra Front abducted them because of their refusal to co-operate".

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The BBC's Jim Muir: "I counted on just one video about 48 bodies"

Sana's reporter said the water level in the river was too low to carry the bodies any distance suggesting they had been killed in Bustan al-Qasr.

However, locals said several of those killed were from rebel-held districts and had disappeared after crossing into those under government control. Some had been detained by security forces, they added.

The main opposition alliance, the National Coalition, called for an investigation and warned that "ongoing global inaction towards human rights violations encourages the killers to continue their crimes".

'Resources exhausted'

Continue reading the main story

We are watching a human tragedy unfold before our eyes"

End Quote Valerie Amos UN Under-Secretary General for Humanitarian Affairs

Addressing the International Humanitarian Pledging Conference for Syria in Kuwait City on Wednesday, Ban Ki-moon described the situation in Syria as "catastrophic".

"I appeal to all sides, and particularly the Syrian government, to stop the killing... in the name of humanity, stop the killing, stop the violence," the UN chief said.

He also called for urgent financial aid to ease the suffering of civilians, warning that if funds were not forthcoming "more Syrians will die".

The UN has set a funding target of $1.5bn, which it says it needs to provide food, shelter and other aid to the some four million people inside Syria and 700,000 others who have fled to neighbouring countries.

The money will fund operations during the next six months, but before Wednesday the UN had received pledges for only 18% of the target.

Kuwait's emir opened the conference by calling for humanitarian efforts in Syria to be redoubled and announcing a donation of $300m.

Sheikh Sabah said the "horrifying reports" of violence were a "cause for concern over the security of Syria, its future... and over the security and future of the region".

Shortly afterwards, the pledge was matched by the United Arab Emirates, which was represented by Abu Dhabi's Crown Prince, Sheikh Mohammed bin Zayed al-Nuhayyan, according to UAE state news agency, Wam.

A Gulf official told the AFP news agency that Saudi Arabia had promised a further $300m. Al-Jazeera TV reported that the announcement was made by Finance Minister Ibrahim al-Asaf.

UK International Development Secretary Justine Greening pledged £50m in new funding, Bahrain's Crown Prince Salman bin Hamad al-Khalifa pledged $20m, and the German foreign ministry offered 10m euros ($13.5m; £8.5m).

Melissa Fleming, chief spokesperson for the UN refugee agency, later wrote on Twitter: "Pledges so far over $1.1 billion for #SyriaResponse!"

King Abdullah of Jordan, which is hosting more than 185,000 Syrian refugees, warned his country's resources had been "exhausted", adding: "We have reached the end of the line."

UN Under-Secretary General for Humanitarian Affairs Valerie Amos said the winter weather had made matters worse, particularly for women and children, with many struggling without suitable clothes, blankets or fuel.

"We are watching a human tragedy unfold before our eyes," she added.

On Tuesday evening, the medical charity Medecins Sans Frontieres (MSF) said international aid was not being distributed equally within Syria, with government-controlled areas receiving nearly all of it.

"The current aid system is unable to address the worsening living conditions facing people inside Syria," MSF president Dr Marie-Pierre Allie said in a statement.

MSF said rebels controlled areas where at least a third of the country's population - about seven million people - were currently living.

The UN said 49% of the food aid it was distributing to 1.5 million people in co-operation with the Syrian Arab Red Crescent and other aid agencies was delivered either to rebel-held or contested areas.

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Shell 'happy' over Dutch verdict

30 January 2013 Last updated at 06:46 ET

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A Dutch court has rejected four out of five allegations against Anglo-Dutch oil giant Shell over oil pollution in Nigeria's Niger Delta region.

But it found a subsidiary of the firm, Shell Nigeria, responsible for one case of pollution, ordering it to pay compensation to a Nigerian farmer.

Shell said it was "happy" with the verdict in the landmark case.

The case was brought by four Nigerian farmers and Friends of the Earth, which says it is "flabbergasted".

The campaign group says it intends to appeal.

It launched the case in 2008 in the Netherlands, where Shell has its global headquarters, seeking reparations for lost income from contaminated land and waterways in the Niger Delta region.

'Fish ponds poisoned'

It is the first time a Dutch-registered company has been sued in a domestic court for offences allegedly carried out by a foreign subsidiary.

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• 1958: Oil struck in Ogoniland. It lies in what is now one of Nigeria's wealthiest states. Most Nigerians live on less than $2 a day
• 1993: Large-scale protests by Ogoni people over neglect by government and Shell, led by Mosop group co-founded by activist Ken Saro-Wiwa
• 1993: Shell pulls out of Ogoniland
• 1994: Four community leaders killed. Mosop leaders including Ken Saro-Wiwa arrested
• 1995: Ken Saro-Wiwa and eight others executed by military government, sparking international outrage
• 2009: Shell reaches $15.5m (£9.7m) settlement with families to stop case accusing it of complicity in Saro-Wiwa's death and other human rights abuses
• 2008-09: Shell accepts liability for two spills in Ogoniland
• 2011: UN report says it could take Ogoniland 30 years to recover fully from damage caused by years of oil spills

"We are very pleased with the verdict," Allard Castelein, of Shell, said after it was announced.

"First of all I should say that we were never pleased with the court case in its own right but we are very pleased that the parent company is not liable under any of the complaints issued."

The case was linked to spills in four areas of the Niger Delta - Goi, Ogoniland, Oruma in Bayelsa State and a third in Ikot Ada Udo, Akwa Ibom State.

The farmers had alleged that oil spills had poisoned their fish ponds and farmland with leaking pipelines.

The court found that the spills were not the result of a lack of security or upkeep but due to sabotage.

The court "dismissed all claims against the parent companies... since pursuant to Nigerian law a parent company in principle is not obliged to prevent its subsidiaries from harming third parties abroad," Judge Henk Wien told the court.

However, in one case, it found subsidiary Shell Nigeria culpable of neglecting its duty of care and ruled that: "Shell could and should have prevented this sabotage in an easy way".

The level of damages in that case will be established at a later hearing.

The Shell Petroleum Development Co is the largest oil and gas company in Nigeria - Africa's top energy producer - with an output of more than one million barrels of oil or equivalent per day.

Only one of the Nigerian plaintiffs, Eric Barizaadooh, was in court Wednesday and his claim was rejected but he said he was happy for the village that won compensation.

"For my colleagues who succeeded, that is victory," he said.

"Shell is brought to book. I believe this is a revolutionary case."

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Rare pygmy elephants 'poisoned'

29 January 2013 Last updated at 03:08 ET

Ten endangered pygmy elephants have been found dead in a reserve in Malaysia, with officials saying they may have been poisoned.

The animals, which had all suffered internal bleeding, were found near each other over the space of three weeks.

In one instance, a three-month-old calf was found alongside the body of its mother, apparently trying to wake her.

Sabah Environmental Minister Masidi Manjun said it was "a sad day for conservation and Sabah".

Sen Nathan, head veterinarian at the Gunung Rara Forest Reserve in Malaysia's Sabah state on the island of Borneo, said the elephants were all thought to be part of the same family group, and were aged between four and 20.

The bodies of four were found last week but then officials found another four animals dead or dying two days later.

Laurentius Ambu, Sabah's wildlife department director, said two "highly decomposed elephant carcasses" had been found earlier in the year.

"We believe that all the deaths of these elephants are related," he said.

The animals still had their tusks, indicating that they had not been killed by poachers, and none had gunshot wounds.

Samples have been sent for testing, but Mr Nathan said the damage evident in the elephants' digestive systems had led officials to "highly suspect" acute poisoning. Tests will confirm whether they could have been deliberately poisoned.

"It was actually a very sad sight to see all those dead elephants, especially one of the dead females who had a very young calf of about three months old. The calf was trying to wake the dead mother up," he said.

The WWF estimates that there are fewer than 1,500 Borneo pygmy elephants in the wild, most of them in Sabah state.

They are the smallest elephant subspecies, with babyish faces, long tails and straight tusks. They are threatened by logging, hunting and increasing contact with humans.

Mr Masidi said the death of "these majestic and severely endangered Bornean elephants is a great loss to the state".

"If indeed these poor elephants were maliciously poisoned, I would personally make sure that the culprits would be brought to justice and pay for their crime," he said.

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Google in N Korea mapping push

29 January 2013 Last updated at 03:52 ET

Google has published mapping information on North Korea, a country that has so far been mostly blank on the popular website Google Maps.

The data was compiled on Google's Map Maker tool which allows ordinary people to contribute information mainly using satellite images or local knowledge.

Users can now zoom in and see many landmarks labelled, including the notorious prison labour camps.

Map data is not widely available for the reclusive nation.

Launched in 2008, Map Maker data has been migrated to Google Maps for many countries such as Iraq and Afghanistan.

"This effort has been active in Map Maker for a few years and today the new map of North Korea is ready and now available on Google Maps," said Jayanth Mysore, senior product manager at Google Map Maker.

"As a result, the world can access maps of North Korea that offer much more information and detail than before."

The move comes after a private humanitarian visit to North Korea by Google's Executive Chairman Eric Schmidt.

Scant information

In the case of North Korea, satellite images, not local knowledge, were the main source of data. Most North Koreans cannot access the internet.

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Keep in the back of your mind that there are restricted areas and not much (readily available) local knowledge outside of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea "

End Quote Sebastiaan van Oyen Google Map Maker contributor

Google said a large number of South Koreans contributed information to create usable maps for the North.

"While many people around the globe are fascinated with North Korea, these maps are especially important for the citizens of South Korea who have ancestral connections or still have family living there," said Mr Mysore.

However, at least one contributor is from Australia, and doesn't speak Korean.

"I wanted to go to North Korea and because it was not yet mapped I decided to start mapping so I could at least see how easy it would be to travel within the country," Sebastiaan van Oyen who works as a risk manager for a financial trading firm in Sydney told the BBC.

Mr van Oyen explained that he used satellite images to get his data saying they "are good enough to cover the whole country, although the quality and date of the data varies".

"For a basic map you will be fine, but it will take time to get reliable street level navigation."

However, he said that the biggest obstacle towards creating a more detailed map was to get enough local knowledge to name all the features.

"Keep in the back of your mind that there are restricted areas and not much (readily available) local knowledge outside of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea."

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Deadly attack at Somali compound

29 January 2013 Last updated at 04:15 ET

At least two people have died in a suicide attack at a compound housing the offices of Somalia's president and prime minister, officials say.

Dozens were also wounded when the bomber blew himself at a checkpoint near the office of Prime Minister Abdi Farah Shirdon in the capital Mogadishu.

The prime minister and president are said to be unharmed.

Both men took office following elections last September deemed to be the first fair such vote for 42 years.

Hassan Sheikh Mohamud, an academic and civic activist, beat the incumbent in a run-off vote by MPs to become president.

He then appointed his close associate, former businessman Abdi Farah Shirdon as prime minister.

Continued threat

The attacker detonated his explosives when he was questioned at a checkpoint into the Villa Somalia, a sprawling compound that houses both the president's and prime minister's offices, officials said.

The target was Mr Shirdon's office, they said.

One report on Somali radio said that the dead included one of Mr Shirdon's bodyguards and the suicide bomber. Other reports have put the death toll as high as six.

No-one has yet claimed responsibility for the attack.

The new government is trying to rebuild the country after 20 years of conflict.

One of its biggest challenges is the al-Qaeda-aligned Islamist group, al-Shabab, which still controls large areas of rural southern and central Somalia.

The BBC's Abdullahi Abdi, reporting from Kenya, says that suicide attacks have decreased in Mogadishu since the withdrawal of al-Shabab from the city in August 2011.

But the latest attack shows that the Islamist militants still pose a threat to the city's security, he adds.

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Passenger jet crashes near Almaty

29 January 2013 Last updated at 06:11 ET

At least 20 people are feared dead after a passenger plane crashed near Kazakhstan's commercial capital, Almaty.

The CRJ-200 aircraft was travelling from the northern town of Kokshetau.

Kazakhstan's Scat airlines said it believed everyone on board died when it crashed in heavy fog at 1300 local time (0700GMT) on approach to Almaty.

Last month a military plane carrying top Kazakh security officials crashed, killing all 27 on board.

"According to preliminary information there are no survivors," the airline said on Tuesday in a statement quoted by the Interfax news agency.

The statement added that 20 people were on board the aircraft.

Earlier reports quoted officials as saying that 21 people - 15 passengers and six crew members - were on the plane.

Details about the crash are still emerging but it was a very foggy day and visibility was poor, reports the BBC's Abdujalil Abdurasulov from Almaty.

"There was no fire, no explosion. The plane just plunged to the earth," Yuri Ilyin, deputy head of Almaty's emergencies department, told Reuters news agency.

An emergency team is working at the site near the village of Kyzyl Tu.

They will soon announce if weather conditions or other factors were to blame for the crash, our correspondent says.

Almaty's deputy mayor Maulen Mukashev visited the site of the crashed Canadian-built Bombardier plane, Reuters reports.

"The preliminary cause of the accident is bad weather," Mr Mukashev is quoted as saying. "Not a single part of the plane was left intact after it came down."

A government commission has been set up to investigate the causes of the crash.

Established in 1997, Scat airlines is based in Kazakhstan with its main base at Shymkent airport - it operates extensive domestic services as well as some international flights.

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France denies state 'bankruptcy'

29 January 2013 Last updated at 06:21 ET

France's politicians are defending the health of its economy after Labour Minister Michel Sapin described the state as "totally bankrupt".

Finance Minister Pierre Moscovici said later that Mr Sapin's comments were not "appropriate".

"France is a truly solvent country, France is a truly credible country," Mr Moscovici added.

President Francois Hollande has promised to reduce its deficit to below 3% of output this year from 4.5%.

"Was it a gaffe or is the Socialist government softening up the French public for a difficult road ahead?" said the BBC's Christian Fraser in Paris.

"Having devoted most of his first year to policies that appealed to his left-wing base, Mr Hollande is now facing the tougher decisions - cuts to public spending and labour reform. And his labour minister, Michel Sapin, has spelt out why it is required."

'Persistent challenges'

In a radio interview on Sunday, Mr Sapin replied to a question on the state by saying: "But it is a state totally in bankruptcy". He later told the AFP news agency that he was speaking of the state finances in the past and it was a joke.

Mr Moscovici said his words were "not entirely appropriate because France is a country that does not need to shut down its public services on a massive scale".

France's public debt total topped 90% of the value of everything produced in the economy last year, well above the European Union target of 60%.

Unlike most of its European neighbours, the president has generally favoured tax increases over spending cuts to plug the gap between government revenue and expenditure, including increasing the top rate of 75% tax on incomes over 1m euros ($1.3m; £800,000).

The planned increase led to the departure of actor Gerard Depardieu to Russia and UK Prime Minister David Cameron to say that if the tax hike happened, he would "roll out the red carpet and welcome more French businesses to Britain".

The planned increase was struck down by the Constitutional Court recently.

In November, rating agency Moody's downgraded France's debt from Aaa to Aa1, and kept its negative outlook, meaning the rating could be cut again, because of France's "persistent structural economic challenges".

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Army warns of Egypt's 'collapse'

29 January 2013 Last updated at 06:25 ET

Egypt's armed forces chief has warned the current political crisis "could lead to a collapse of the state".

General Abdul Fattah al-Sisi, in comments posted on the military's Facebook page, said such a collapse could "threaten future generations".

He made his statement following a large military deployment in three cities along the Suez Canal where a state of emergency has been declared.

More than 50 people have died in days of protests and violence.

Overnight, thousands of people in Port Said, Ismailia and Suez - where some of the worst unrest has been - ignored a night-time curfew to take to the streets.

Gen Sisi's lengthy statement appears to be a veiled threat to protesters and opposition forces as well as an appeal for calm and an attempt to reassure Egyptians about the role of the military, the BBC's Yolande Knell in Cairo says.

Veiled threat

"The continuing conflict between political forces and their differences concerning the management of the country could lead to a collapse of the state and threaten future generations," Gen Sisi, who is also Egypt's defence minister, said.

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• 490,000 active soldiers
• Military governed between February 2011 until June 2012
• Gen Abdul Fattah al-Sisi (pictured above) is head of the armed forces and minister of defence
• Military's budget not made public or scrutinised by parliament. It is overseen by National Defence Committee made up of military chiefs and cabinet members
• US military aid to Egypt 1.3bn
• According to some estimates army controls 40% of economy

He said the economic, political and social challenges facing Egypt represented "a real threat to the security of Egypt and the cohesiveness of the Egyptian state".

The military deployment along the Suez Canal was meant only to protect the key shipping route, one of Egypt's main sources of foreign revenue, and described the army as "a pillar of the state's foundations", he added.

His comments were made in an address to army cadets which were subsequently posted on the military's official Facebook page.

Gen Sisi was appointed by President Mohammed Morsi after the armed forces handed over power to him following his election in June.

He replaced Field Marshal Hussein Tantawi who had been former President Hosni Mubarak's long-time defence minister and was chairman of the ruling Supreme Council of the Armed Forces (Scaf) following his fall from power in February 2011.

Thousands continued to protest after dark in the cities of Port Said, Ismailia and Suez on Monday, in spite of the curfew and temporary state of emergency imposed in an attempt to end the unrest.

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President Morsi announced the curfews on Sunday evening

They have been angered by death sentences handed down by a Port Said court on 21 local football fans involved in deadly riots at a football match in the city almost a year ago.

Protesters elsewhere have been marching in opposition to Mr Morsi's authority in the wake of the Egyptian revolution's second anniversary.

Mr Morsi, a member of the powerful Islamist movement, the Muslim Brotherhood, became Egypt's first freely-elected president in last year's election.

Despite promising to form a government "for all Egyptians", he has been accused by the opposition of being autocratic and driving through a new constitution that does not adequately protect freedom of expression or religion.

His recent call for national dialogue has been rejected by his political opponents.

He had urged opposition leaders to attend a meeting on Sunday evening in an effort to calm the situation, but only Islamists already aligned with the president turned up.

Meanwhile, protesters in cities along the Suez Canal accuse the authorities of making scapegoats of the football fans now facing death sentences.

They say officials for security at the game between Port Said club al-Masry and Cairo club al-Ahly nearly a year ago should have been held accountable for the fact that 74 people died in violence following the match.

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'Dozens of bodies' found in Syria

29 January 2013 Last updated at 07:09 ET

The bodies of dozens of young men, all apparently summarily executed, have been found in the northern Syrian city of Aleppo, rebels and activists say.

At least 56 bodies were found on the banks of the Quwaiq River in the rebel-held district of Bustan al-Qasr, the UK-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights (SOHR) reported.

Most had their hands tied behind their backs and gunshot wounds.

Video footage of the gruesome discovery was posted by activists on YouTube.

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Mali donor meeting raises $455m

29 January 2013 Last updated at 07:13 ET

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The BBC's Thomas Fessy: "French troops are making sure no militants are hiding in the population"

International donors meeting in Ethiopia have pledged $455.53m (£289m) for an international campaign tackling Islamist militants in Mali.

The pledges for aid projects and the African-led Afisma force that is expected to take over from French troops in the country is about half the figure African leaders had requested.

French and Malian troops are securing Timbuktu after seizing it on Monday.

They are then expected to focus on the last rebel stronghold, Kidal.

'Swift response'

The international donor conference was held in the Ethiopian capital, Addis Ababa.

At the opening of the meeting, Ivory Coast President Alassane Ouattara said the budget for the multinational force's operation would be $950m - more than double the African Union's initial estimate.

Continue reading the main story

• Timbuktu was a centre of Islamic learning from the 13th to the 17th Centuries
• 700,000 manuscripts survive in public libraries and private collections
• Books on religion, law, literature and science
• Added to Unesco world heritage list in 1988 for its three mosques and 16 cemeteries and mausoleums
• They played a major role in spreading Islam in West Africa; the oldest dates from 1329
• Islamists destroyed mausoleums after seizing the city

Some 60 to 70 donors had been invited to the conference to bolster the funding.

According to a list of donations carried on the AU's Twitter account on Tuesday, Japan pledged $120m, the US $96m and Germany $20m.

India and China pledged $1m each, the AU said, the same as Sierra Leone, which will also contribute 650 troops to African-led International Support Mission to Mali (Afisma).

The national pledges cover Afisma, humanitarian assistance, logistics, improving security and the future development of Mali.

The chairwoman of the African Union Commission, Nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma, told delegates that they had gathered "to express solidarity with the Republic of Mali and its people".

She said: "We all know the gravity of the crisis. It is a situation that requires a swift and effective international response, for it threatens Mali, the region, the continent and even beyond."

France's Foreign Minister, Laurent Fabius, said impressive progress had been made but that this did not mean the danger was over.

Mr Fabius also said credible elections in Mali would be vital to achieving sustainable peace in the country.

Ethiopian Prime Minister Hailemariam Desalegn said money would also be needed to fund post-conflict projects.

The BBC's James Copnall, who is in the Ethiopian capital, says there is a general recognition that Mali will not become peaceful again without a democratic transformation, but that for the moment the focus is firmly on finding the money needed by the military force.

On Tuesday, another conference in Brussels is due to decide on which countries will contribute troops for an EU military training mission for Mali.

The UK had already said it would contribute to the training mission and, on Tuesday, the government said around 350 British troops would be deployed to Mali and West Africa in a supporting role for French forces.

It said the UK would also allow allies to operate air refuelling flights out of the UK.

'No shots fired'

Life appeared to be returning closer to normal in Timbuktu on Tuesday, with French and Malian troops in control of the streets of the historic city, although electricity and phone lines were still cut and the AFP news agency reported some looting of shops.

On Monday, about 1,000 French soldiers - including paratroopers - and 200 Malian troops seized Timbuktu airport and entered the city.

Col Frederic Gout, head of French helicopter operations at Timbuktu, told AFP: "There were no shots fired, no blood spilt. Not even passive resistance with traps."

Welcoming the French and Malian force, residents said that the Islamist militants had left several days earlier, following French air strikes on their bases.

As they withdrew into the desert, the Islamist fighters set fire to several buildings, including a library containing priceless manuscripts, some dating back to the 13th Century.

The recovery of Timbuktu followed the swift capture by French and Malian forces of Gao on Saturday.

Islamist militants took advantage of a coup last year to seize the vast north of Mali and impose a strict interpretation of Sharia, or Islamic law, on its inhabitants.

France - the former colonial power - launched a military operation this month after militants looked to be threatening the south, including the capital Bamako.

Fear

Meanwhile, reports from Kidal - home of the head of Ansar Dine, the main militant group in northern Mali - suggest that the group may have already lost control there.

The secular Tuareg rebel group MNLA said it had taken charge.

On Tuesday, the MNLA said on its website that it had taken control of six other towns, including Lere.

It said it was prepared to work with the French "to eradicate terrorist groups" in the north but that it would not allow the return of the Malian army, which it accused of "crimes against the civilian population".

France has 2,900 soldiers in Mali, with almost 8,000 African troops expected to take over, although the deployment has been slow.

The BBC's Mark Doyle, in Bandiagara, some 320km (200 miles) south of Timbuktu, says there is still great fear among the people outside of the main population centres.

No-one is sure where the Islamist fighters have gone, he says, and there are concerns that another phase of the war could now begin - one of hit-and-run attacks or suicide bombings.

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Dreamliner battery 'not faulty'

28 January 2013 Last updated at 06:46 ET

Airline safety inspectors have found no faults with the battery used on Boeing's 787 Dreamliner, Japan's transport ministry has said.

The battery was initially considered the likely source of problems on 787s owned by two Japanese airlines.

The world's entire fleet of 50 787s has been grounded while inspections are carried out.

Attention has now shifted to the electrical system that monitors battery voltage, charging and temperature.

Transport ministry official Shigeru Takano said "we have found no major quality or technical problem" with the lithium-ion batteries. Shares in GS Yuasa, which makes the batteries, jumped 5% on the news.

"We are looking into affiliated parts makers," he said. "We are looking into possibilities."

The safety investigation started after one of the 787s operated by All Nippon Airways made an emergency landing in Japan when its main battery overheated. Earlier, a battery in a Japan Airlines 787 caught fire while parked at Boston's Logan International Airport.

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• Air India: 6
• All Nippon Airways (Japan): 17
• Ethiopian Airlines: 4
• Japan Airlines: 7
• LAN Airlines (Chile): 3
• Lot Polish Airlines: 2
• Qatar Airways: 5
• United Airlines (US): 6
• Total: 50

Source: Boeing

Two weeks ago the US Federal Aviation Administration said both batteries had leaked electrolyte fluid, and there had been smoke damage to parts of the aircraft.

The FAA said airlines must demonstrate battery safety before flights could resume, a statement that effectively meant airlines had to ground their 787s.

Boeing, which competes against Airbus of France, has halted 787 deliveries. Boeing has orders for more than 800 Dreamliners.

The 787 is the first airliner made mostly from lightweight composite materials that boost fuel efficiency. It also relies on electronic systems rather than hydraulic or mechanical systems to a greater degree than any other airliner.

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Brazil mourns nightclub fire dead

28 January 2013 Last updated at 02:21 ET

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The BBC's Gary Duffy says there is a sense of national shock in Brazil

Brazil has declared three days of national mourning for 231 people killed in a nightclub fire in the southern city of Santa Maria.

The fire reportedly started after a member of a band playing at the Kiss nightclub lit a flare on stage.

Authorities say most of the victims were students who died of smoke inhalation. The first funerals took place place on Monday morning.

It is the deadliest fire in Brazil in five decades.

The BBC's Gary Duffy reports from Sao Paulo that the national sense of loss is profound.

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At the scene

The local gym has been turned into a makeshift morgue and is being called The Room of Despair.

That is where a few hours ago, the mobile phones of the victims could be heard ringing with no-one to answer them, and where, later on, family members identified their loved ones.

It is not only dozens of doctors and psychologists who have volunteered to help in Santa Maria, but also the local people who are displaying a tremendous sense of solidarity.

They are offering the victims' relatives - who have arrived from other towns - and volunteers free accommodation and food.

Some are walking around, carrying trays with food, fruit and biscuits. Others have offered to clean the gym's toilets as the last bodies await burial.

Brazil postponed a ceremony due on Monday in the capital, Brasilia, to mark 500 days to the 2014 football World Cup. In Santa Maria, 30 days of mourning were declared.

President Dilma Rousseff, who cut short a visit to Chile, has been visiting survivors at the city's Caridade hospital along with government ministers.

"It is a tragedy for all of us," she said.

Authorities have released the names of the victims, after revising down the death toll from 245.

More than 100 people were being treated in hospital, mostly for smoke inhalation.

Officials will now investigate reports that a flare was lit on stage, igniting foam insulation material on the ceiling and releasing toxic smoke.

They will also look at claims that many of those who died were unable to escape as only one emergency exit was available.

'Dark, heavy smoke'

The fire broke out as students from the city's federal university (UFSM) were holding a freshers' ball, the Diario de Santa Maria, a local newspaper, reported.

A local journalist, Marcelo Gonzatto, told the BBC that the flare had "started a huge and fast fire that grew quickly and made a very dark and heavy smoke."

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Eyewitness - Fernanda Bona

"I am the official photographer at the club and I was taking photos of people. I was watching a band on stage and the fireworks.

I was in the VIP area and I could see the whole club. The area was close to the exit. I saw the fire going through the club.

People were screaming 'fire, fire' and to run. People were scared and were running everywhere.

I ran as quickly as I could to the door of the street. But it was hard to get out because there were so many people.

It took a few minutes for me to get out of the club. I know people who are in hospital or who are missing. A lot of people died from not so much the fire but the toxic smoke."

"Lots of people couldn't get out and died mainly because of the smoke not the fire," he said.

Witnesses spoke of scenes of panic after the fire started, and a stampede as people tried to escape.

One, Mattheus Bortolotto, told local television: "It was sheer horror. The emergency exits did not work, and then I lost my friend in the confusion. Then a girl died in my arms. I felt her heart stop beating."

A large number of victims were trapped in the club's toilets, they said, possibly after mistaking them for an exit.

Survivors and police inspector Marcelo Arigony said security guards briefly tried to block people from leaving the club, the Associated Press news agency reported. Bars in Brazil commonly make customers pay their whole tab at the end of an evening before they are allowed to leave.

One of the owners of the club is reported to have confirmed that they were in the process of renewing its license to operate, and that its fire safety certificate had expired last year.

He is said to have received threats on the internet - in addition to surviving members of the band that was performing on stage when the blaze started.

Its guitarist, Rodrigo Martins, told local radio: "It might have happened because of the Sputnik, the machine we use to create a luminous effect with sparks.

"It's harmless; we never had any trouble with it. When the fire started, a guard passed us a fire extinguisher. The singer tried to use it but it wasn't working."

He said the band's accordion player had died in the fire.

Brazilian broadcaster Globo said most of the victims were aged between 16 and 20.

A temporary morgue was set up in a local gym as the city's main morgue was unable to cope.

Family members came to identify the dead, led in one by one to see the bodies, Diario de Santa Maria reported.

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Australia floods trap hundreds

28 January 2013 Last updated at 03:24 ET

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The BBC's Nick Bryant says the floodwaters are expected to break records

Helicopter rescue crews are trying to reach hundreds of people trapped by rising floodwaters in Bundaberg in the Australian state of Queensland.

Many people are trapped on roofs, but there are fears homes could be washed away by fast-moving waters after the Burnett River burst its banks.

Three people have already died in the Queensland flooding, after a cyclone brought heavy rain.

Australian PM Julia Gillard offered her condolences to the families of victims.

Ms Gillard was speaking in Gipsland, Victoria, where she was visiting people afflicted by the recent wildfires.

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Do not wait. Move now. Yr life depends on it"

End Quote Ian Stewart on Twitter Queensland police commissioner

She said it had been a "tough period" for Queensland, and that the whole country was being "challenged by nature".

"But we are a strong and smart nation and we'll get through this, as we always do, by pulling together," she said.

'Hundreds stranded'

Bundaberg Mayor Mal Foreman said the floods would be "far worse" than those of late 2010 and early 2011, which left 35 people dead across Queensland, with Bundaberg among the towns affected.

In 2010, the Burnett River at Bundaberg reached 7.92 metres, but at 15:00 (05:00 GMT) on Monday, the river was at 9.2m and rising slowly, the Bureau of Meteorology (BoM) said in a statement.

It is expected to peak late on Tuesday or early Wednesday. Major flooding has also been reported at Mundubbera and Gayndah, said the BoM.

Residents of North Bundaberg were ordered to evacuate immediately, with the state's Police Commissioner Ian Stewart tweeting: "Do not wait. Move now. Yr life depends on it."

Police Superintendent Rowan Bond said many people had only a few hours left in which to leave, before becoming stranded, saying there was an "imminent danger of people being killed and drowned".

But the waters are moving too quickly for boats to be used, and there are fears that homes could be swept off their foundations by the torrent.

At least 1,200 properties have flooded and State Premier Campbell Newman said up to 1,500 people could still be in need of rescue.

"We've never seen floodwaters like this before," he told reporters.

"People probably feel, quite reasonably, that they've seen this all before and they feel they can be safe in certain parts of North Bundaberg. Right now our view is they are not, and that's why we need to get them out.

Mr Newman said 14 helicopters were already at work plucking people from rooftops but that more were being brought in. He urged stranded people to group together and ensure less mobile people were not left behind.

"I can assure people who may be in harm's way at the moment that we are doing everything we can to come to get you to get you out of this situation," said Mr Newman.

By late afternoon, the main Bundaberg evacuation centre at Oakwood State School was itself evacuated, the Brisbane Times reports. Some 300 people were being moved to another centre near the airport.

Elsewhere in the state, some 350 homes have been flooded in Ipswich. More than 200,00 people are without power across the state.

Residents of the Lockyer Valley, which was the scene of deadly flash floods in 2011, have also been told to evacuate as creeks and rivers rise.

The town of Gympie has been cut off and dozens of businesses are underwater, ABC News reports, while hundreds of homes are threatened in Ipswich, where the Bremer River is expected to peak later in the day.

Police said the body of an elderly man who went to check on a yacht north of Bundaberg had been recovered on Sunday. Two men swept away by flooding in separate incidents in Queensland were also found dead on Monday.

In Brisbane, which was paralysed by flooding two years ago, water has been creeping into low-lying parts of the central business district.

A woman and her three-year-old son were also taken to hospital in Brisbane after a tree fell on them.

The rain was brought by Tropical Cyclone Oswald, which is now affecting the northern part of New South Wales.

The BoM has warned of heavy rain, usually high tides and damaging winds, with gusts of up to 100 km/h (62 mph). Flash flood warnings have also been given.

A number of roads have been closed in the state and 6,000 homes are without power in the north.

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Egypt's Morsi calls crisis talks

28 January 2013 Last updated at 05:39 ET

Egyptian President Mohammed Morsi has urged leading opposition figures to attend a "national dialogue" meeting following four days of deadly violence.

Dozens of people have died since a court sentenced 21 people to death over football riots. Anger over Mr Morsi's rule has fuelled unrest elsewhere.

Mr Morsi declared a state of emergency in Port Said, Suez and Ismalia, and a 21:00 to 06:00 curfew from Monday.

The opposition has yet to announce whether it will attend the talks.

It says the president must address its demands over the recently adopted constitution.

Violence continued on Monday morning, with one man killed by gunfire near Cairo's Tahrir Square.

'Waste of time'

Mr Morsi has called the meeting for 18:00 local time (16:00 GMT).

The BBC's Yolande Knell, in Cairo, says Mr Morsi is hoping that political dialogue can restore national unity amid growing concern about the scale of the latest unrest.

She says he has invited representatives from 11 political forces - Islamists, liberals and leftists - to come to the presidential palace for talks but so far it is unclear who will accept his invitation.

Egypt's main opposition coalition, the National Salvation Front, said it would meet on Monday to discuss the initiative.

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Port Said 2012 football deaths

• 74 people killed in Port Said stadium on 2 February 2012
• Clashes broke out between rival fans of clubs al-Masry and al-Ahly
• Fans flooded on to pitch attacking Ahly players and fans as match ended
• Most died of concussion, cuts and suffocation
• The largest death toll in Egypt's football history

Hussein Gohar, of the Egyptian Social Democratic Party, which is part of the Front, told Agence France-Presse news agency the coalition would meet "in the early afternoon to determine its position".

Front spokesman Khaled Dawoud earlier told Reuters news agency: "[Mr Morsi's] call to implement emergency law was a right move given what is going on, namely thuggery and criminal actions."

However, he said that Mr Morsi was "missing the real problem on the ground, which is his own polices".

Mr Dawoud said the invitation to talks was meaningless unless the opposition's demands for amendments to the constitution were met.

The opposition accuses Mr Morsi of being autocratic and driving through a new constitution that does not protect adequately freedom of expression or religion.

The constitution was approved in a national referendum in December.

Former presidential candidate Hamdeen Sabahy said he would not attend Monday's meeting "unless the bloodshed stops and the people's demands are met".

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President Morsi's speech was "very tough", says the BBC's Aleem Maqbool

On his Twitter account, leading Front politician Mohamed ElBaradei wrote: "Unless the president takes responsibility for the bloody events and pledges to form a government of national salvation and a balanced committee to amend the constitution, any dialogue will be a waste of time."

Another anti-Morsi rally is scheduled for Cairo for Monday afternoon.

Mr Morsi announced the state of emergency in the three cities in a national televised address on Sunday evening.

He said he might take further steps "for the sake of Egypt" as it was his "duty" as president.

"I have said I am against any emergency measures but I have said that if I must stop bloodshed and protect the people, then I will act," the president said.

"If I must, I will do much more for the sake of Egypt. This is my duty and I will not hesitate."

Cairo protests

Violence continued overnight, with anti-Morsi protesters in Ismalia clashing with police, who responded with tear gas.

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"Start Quote

We will not allow our children to be scapegoats for Morsi"

End Quote Amr Mubarak Port Said resident

About 30 people were killed in unrest in Port Said on Saturday, with a further three dying at a mass funeral on Sunday.

The protests had begun in Port Said after a court sentenced 21 local people to death over riots that killed 74 people after a football game last February.

The violence began when fans of Port Said side al-Masry attacked visiting supporters from Cairo club al-Ahly.

Fans flooded on to the pitch, attacking Ahly players and fans as the match ended.

Most of the victims died of concussion, cuts and suffocation.

Early on Monday, protesters and riot police also clashed for a fifth consecutive day in Cairo, where the anger focuses more heavily on the constitution and on what Mr Morsi's opponents say is a betrayal of the revolution that overthrew Hosni Mubarak.

Protests last week marking the second anniversary of the uprising left five people dead in Suez.

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