EU alarm over US bugging claim

29 June 2013 Last updated at 23:36 ET

The head of the European Parliament has demanded "full clarification" from the US over a report that key EU premises in America have been bugged.

Martin Schulz said that if this was true, it would have a "severe impact" on ties between the EU and the US.

The report, carried by Germany's Der Spiegel magazine, cites a secret 2010 document alleging that the US spied on EU offices in New York and Washington.

Fugitive ex-CIA analyst Edward Snowden leaked the paper, Der Spiegel says.

Mr Snowden - a former contractor for the CIA and also the National Security Agency (NSA) - has since requested asylum in Ecuador.

According to the document - which Der Spiegel says comes from the NSA - the agency spied on EU internal computer networks in Washington and at the 27-member bloc's UN office in New York.

The document also allegedly referring to the EU as a "target".

It is not known what information US spies might have got, but details of European positions on to trade and military matters would have been useful to those involved in negotiations between Washington and European governments, the BBC's Stephen Evans says.

'Polite request'

In a statement on Saturday, Mr Schulz said: "On behalf of the European Parliament, I demand full clarification and require further information speedily from the US authorities with regard to these allegations."

Der Spiegel also quotes Luxembourg Foreign Minister Jean Asselborn as saying: "If these reports are true, it's disgusting. The United States would be better off monitoring its secret services rather than its allies."

The US government has so far made no public comments on the Spiegel's report.

Mr Snowden is believed to be currently staying at Moscow's airport. He arrived there last weekend from Hong Kong, where he had been staying since he revealed details of top secret US surveillance programmes.

The US has charged him with theft of government property, unauthorised communication of national defence information and wilful communication of classified communications intelligence.

Each charge carries a maximum 10-year prison sentence.

On Saturday, US Vice-President Joe Biden and Ecuadorian President Rafael Correa held a telephone conversation about Mr Snowden's asylum request.

According to Mr Correa, Mr Biden had "passed on a polite request from the United States to reject the request".

The left-wing Ecuadorian leader said his answer was: "Mr vice-president, thanks for calling. We hold the United States in high regard. We did not seek to be in this situation."

If Mr Snowden ever came to "Ecuadoran soil" with his request, he added, "the first people whose opinion we will seek is that of the United States".

Quito earlier said it was willing to consider Mr Snowden's request but only when he was physically in the Latin American country.

Meanwhile, White House spokeswoman Bernadette Meehan said only that Mr Biden and Mr Correa had held a wide-ranging conversation.

CLICKABLE

Hawaii

20 May: Snowden flies from Hawaii to Hong Kong.

Hong Kong

5 June: From Hong Kong, Snowden discloses details of what he describes as a vast US phone and internet surveillance programme to the UK's Guardian newspaper.

Moscow

23 June: Snowden leaves Hong Kong on a flight to Moscow. He is currently thought to remain airside at Sheremetyevo airport.

Cuba

From Moscow, Snowden could fly to Cuba, en route to Ecuador, which has said it is "analysing" whether to grant him asylum.

Venezuela

Venezuela had also been considered a possible destination for Snowden, however it is thought he would only pass through on his way to Ecuador.

Ecuador

Snowden is reported to have requested asylum in Ecuador, which previously granted haven to Wikileaks founder Julian Assange in its London embassy.

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WHO to recommend earlier HIV drugs

30 June 2013 Last updated at 00:03 ET By Jane Dreaper Health correspondent, BBC News

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Paul Ward, UK's Terrence Higgins Trust: "There is no reason now why anybody should die because of HIV"

New guidelines for HIV treatment could see millions more people in developing countries getting life-saving medicine.

The World Health Organization (WHO) is recommending that patients start taking medication at a much earlier stage of the disease.

The WHO says the guidelines, which are being launched at an international Aids conference in Kuala Lumpur, could help avert an extra 3m Aids deaths by 2025.

The charity MSF welcomed the move - but said extra investment would be needed.

A single pill combining three drugs will be given to people who are HIV positive much earlier, while their immune systems are still strong. Algeria, Argentina and Brazil are already doing this.

Not everybody who needs the medicine currently receives it, although big strides have been made in recent years in widening access to HIV treatment.

The WHO says these guidelines represent a "major shift" in policy, and will result in the number of people in developing countries who are eligible for drug treatment rising from 16m to 26m, or 80% of the total who are thought to have HIV.

It is thought the guidelines will add 10% to the $23bn (£15bn) overall cost of treating HIV/AIDS in developing countries.

WHO believes global donors and the affected countries themselves will be convinced that the idea is cost-effective.

It agreed the policy after a year-long consultation, in which evidence about the role earlier treatment can play in reducing transmission of the virus was considered.

'Safer, simpler medicines'

The WHO's HIV/Aids director, Dr Gottfried Hirnschall, said: "It will be very difficult to end Aids without a vaccine - but these new guidelines will take us a long way in reducing deaths.

Continue reading the main story

Our collective goal should now be to scale up without messing up"

End Quote Dr Gilles van Cutsem MSF

"We're recommending earlier treatment - and also safer, simpler medicines that are already widely available.

"We also want to see better monitoring of patients, so they can see how well they're doing on the treatment.

"This is not only about keeping people healthy and alive - the anti-retroviral drugs block transmission, so there is the potential for a major impact in preventing epidemics within different countries."

Five companies make the daily combination pill, which can cost about $127 for a year's individual treatment in countries where price reductions have been negotiated.

The WHO says there is an "encouraging trend" of countries using their own finances to fight the HIV/Aids epidemic such as Zimbabwe, which has successfully used a levy on mobile phones.

The new recommendations also include providing drugs to all children under five with the virus, all HIV-positive pregnant and breastfeeding women and to people whose partner is uninfected.

In all of these cases, treatment would start regardless of how far the condition has damaged their immune system.

Dr Hirnschall added: "We are still seeing young children lagging behind in terms of access to treatment. Two-thirds of adults that need anti-retroviral drugs get them, but only a third of young children."

'Ambitious but feasible'

The Global Fund - set up to fight Aids, tuberculosis and malaria - welcomed the guidelines as "very timely".

Its executive director, Dr Mark Dybul, said: "This is an example of how the Global Fund and the WHO work together to support countries as we move towards removing HIV as a threat to public health."

MSF (Medecins Sans Frontieres / Doctors Without Borders) warned extra political and financial support would be needed for implementing the recommendations, which it said were "ambitious but feasible".

MSF medical co-ordinator in South Africa Dr Gilles van Cutsem said: "With these new guidelines our collective goal should now be to scale up without messing up: to reach more people, retain them on treatment, and with an undetectable viral load.

"There's no greater motivating factor for people to stick to their HIV treatment than knowing the virus is 'undetectable' in their blood."

Paul Ward, deputy chief executive at the UK's Terrence Higgins Trust, said: "These guidelines have implications for the UK and would expand the number of people eligible for HIV treatment.

"Using treatment to reduce transmission is a key part of modern prevention efforts, including our own.

"In the UK, we have some of the best treatments in the world, and offering them earlier could be one way of slowing the spread of the epidemic. It could also improve the person's own long-term health."

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Dozens treated as heat grips US west

30 June 2013 Last updated at 04:18 ET

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Spencer Lubitz a reporter with KNTV in Las Vegas spoke to BBC News about the effect of the extreme heat

Dozens of people across western US states have been treated for exhaustion and dehydration, as the region is continuing to bake in a heat wave.

A man in Las Vegas is believed to have died from a heat-related illness.

Air-conditioned "cooling centres" have been set up in California, Nevada and Arizona, as officials warn the heat could be life-threatening.

Temperatures in some areas are expected to be near 54C (130F) - close to the world's all-time record.

Several parts of California - including the desert town of Palm Springs - saw record highs on Saturday.

There are fears of wildfires, as the heat could last for several days.

Pushed to the limit

More than 34 people were taken to hospital after attending an outdoor concert in Las Vegas, Nevada, officials said.

They also said that an elderly resident was found dead in a house with no air-conditioning. The man suffered medical problems, but his condition is believed to have been aggravated by the heat, according to the Associated Press news agency.

Continue reading the main story

In Los Angeles, California, a number of people were treated for heat stroke and dehydration.

Shelters for homeless in Phoenix, Arizona, added extra beds as temperatures in the city were expected to hit 50C.

The Running with the Devil Marathon in the Mojave Desert outside Las Vegas - which had been scheduled for Saturday - was later cancelled because of extreme heat.

The National Weather Service earlier issued a heat warning for several parts of the region until Monday morning.

Temperatures in Death Valley in the California desert are forecast to reach 54C. The highest-ever temperature on Earth - 56.7C (134F) - was recorded there on 10 July 1913.

The heat wave comes after one of the driest winters on record, and there is a fear of wildfires, the BBC's David Willis in Los Angeles says.

Energy suppliers are expected to be pushed to the limit in the next few days, our correspondent adds.

Weather officials say the extreme weather is caused by a high-pressure system stuck over the area.

The US Border Patrol's rescue unit has added extra personnel this weekend as the threat of exhaustion and dehydration rises for those attempting to cross the US-Mexico border illegally on foot.

At least seven migrants were found dead in Arizona's desert last week in lower temperatures. Border officials in Tucson, Arizona, rescued more than 170 people suffering from the heat during a thirty-day period in May and June.

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Obama to visit Robben Island jail

30 June 2013 Last updated at 04:56 ET

US President Barack Obama is due to tour Robben Island - the jail in which Nelson Mandela was kept for 18 years.

The trip comes a day after Mr Obama visited members of the family of the 94-year-old former president, who remains critically ill in hospital.

Mr Obama paid tribute to the impact of the anti-apartheid leader in building a free South Africa, describing him as "an inspiration to the world".

Later, riot police clashed with anti-Obama protesters in Soweto.

Security is likely to be strengthened during this final Cape Town leg of his time in South Africa, says the BBC's Karen Allen who is there.

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Obama: "Madiba's moral courage... has been a personal inspiration to me"

The US leader did not visit Mr Mandela, but met the Mandela family in private and spoke by telephone to his wife, Graca Machel.

Mr Mandela remains in critical condition. On Sunday South Africa's last apartheid president and the man jointly awarded the 1993 Nobel Peace Prize with Mr Mandela, FW de Klerk, will return to South Africa after cutting short a visit to Europe due to Mr Mandela's poor health.

Power pledge

The visit by Mr Obama and the first family to Robben Island is likely to be the most poignant moment of the president's Africa tour, our correspondent says.

Mr Mandela was held there for 18 years and his long history of lung problems can be traced to the tuberculosis he contracted there - which he attributed to the dampness of his cell.

Continue reading the main story

• 1918 Born in the Eastern Cape
• 1944 Joins African National Congress
• 1956 Charged with high treason, but charges dropped
• 1962 Arrested, convicted of sabotage, sentenced to five years in prison
• 1964 Charged again, sentenced to life
• 1990 Freed from prison
• 1993 Wins Nobel Peace Prize
• 1994 Elected first black president
• 1999 Steps down as leader

Mr Obama will also visit a community project before delivering a keynote address at the University of Cape Town.

It is the same venue where 47 years ago, US Senator Robert Kennedy gave his famed "ripple of hope" speech, which gave inspiration to those fighting the racially divisive policies of apartheid rule and linked their struggle with that of the US civil rights movement.

Mr Obama is expected to pay tribute to South Africa's achievements over the past two decades but is expected to stress that more needs to be done to tackle poverty and disease, and strengthen democracy across the continent.

He is also due to announce a $7bn (£4.6bn) five-year initiative to double access to electricity in sub-Saharan Africa, in partnership with African countries and the private sector.

Beacon

Mr Obama has been faulted for lacking a grand programme and many Africans have been disappointed at what they see as his lack of engagement with the continent, despite his African ancestry.In Pretoria on Saturday, Mr Obama said Mr Mandela's example of "the power of principle, of people standing up for what's right continues to shine as a beacon".

Later, riot police fired rubber bullets and stun grenades at scores of protesters in Soweto, once a flashpoint in the anti-apartheid struggle.

At least one person was injured and one arrested.

"People died in Libya, people are still dying in Syria... in Afghanistan, in Pakistan, drones are still killing people. So that's why we are calling him a Hitler. He's a killer,'' Ramasimong Tsokolibane, 54, was quoted as saying by the Associated Press news agency.

Mr Obama arrived in South Africa from Senegal on Friday evening. On Monday, he will continue his African tour in Tanzania.

Continue reading the main story Family row

Mr Mandela's family heir, Mandla, has said he will oppose a court action brought by the rest of the family, seeking to exhume the bodies of his father, Makgatho, two of Nelson Mandela's daughters and two other relatives.

The rest of the family want the remains to be reburied in Qunu, where the former South African president wants to be laid to rest, while Mandla, an ANC MP, wants them to stay in the nearby village of Mvezo, Nelson Mandela's birthplace, where he is building a museum dedicated to his grandfather.

This is an extremely important matter for the Mandela family, especially while he remains critically ill in hos[ital - it is one of the reasons why they held a family meeting last week.

South Africa's Sunday Times newspaper quotes local chiefs in the area as saying that Madiba, as Nelson Mandela is known in the country, will not be at peace until this issue is resolved.

On Friday, a court granted an interim action saying the bodies could be exhumed and reburied but Mandla Mandela says he was not aware of the case until it was reported in the media and he is now opposing it.

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Uganda tanker fire kills 29 people

30 June 2013 Last updated at 06:15 ET

At least 29 people have been killed in the Ugandan capital after a car crashed into a fuel tanker, police say.

Many of those who died had rushed to the scene on a main road in Kampala to siphon off the fuel, they say.

Around 20 motorbikes were burnt - eyewitnesses say they were used to take people to collect the petrol.

Kampala is a key transit point for tankers taking fuel to landlocked Rwanda, Burundi and eastern Democratic Republic of Congo.

More than 20 people are said to be critically ill in hospital.

Many of the victims ran to a nearby papyrus swamp to try and douse the flames, reports say.

Several bodies were found in the water.

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North-west Pakistan bomb 'kills 17'

30 June 2013 Last updated at 07:48 ET

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The BBC's Orla Guerin in Islamabad: "The target was a convoy of vehicles of the security forces"

At least 17 people have been killed and more than 40 injured in a bomb attack targeting the security forces in north-west Pakistan.

Hospital officials have told the BBC four children were amongst those killed in the attack near Peshawar.

The bomb was placed inside a car parked on the side of the road in a busy market area just south of the city.

The attack came during a visit to Pakistan by the British Prime Minister David Cameron.

The target was a convoy of troops, but all those reported to have been killed were civilians.

The explosion was followed by an exchange of fire between Frontier Corps - paramilitary soldiers - and the armed assailants, reported Pakistani newspaper the Express Tribune.

The BBC's Richard Galpin, in Pakistan's capital Islamabad, says this was just the latest in a spate of attacks which has left 60 people dead in the past two weeks.

He add that it is unclear who carried out the bombing, but the Pakistan Taliban has often targeted the security forces in the past.

Tackling extremist violence was high on the agenda during Mr Cameron's talks with the Pakistan prime minister Nawaz Sharif in Islamabad.

Peshawar is on the edge of Pakistan's semi-autonomous tribal region - the main militant haven from which attacks are often launched.

It has been hit by dozens of bombings and killings over recent years.

Last Monday, a senior police and his driver were shot dead in the city. Three days earlier, a suicide bomb attack on a neighbourhood populated by some of the city's minority Shia Muslims killed 15.

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Thousands stage Egypt protests

30 June 2013 Last updated at 07:55 ET

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The BBC's Aleem Maqbool reports from inside Tahrir Square

Protests calling for the resignation of Egypt's President Mohammed Morsi and early presidential elections have kicked off in the capital, Cairo, and around the country.

His opponents say he has failed to tackle economic and security problems.

Thousands spent the night in Cairo's Tahrir Square, focus of protests which brought down ex-leader Hosni Mubarak.

The protests come on the first anniversary of Mr Morsi's election as the country's first Islamist president.

Morsi critics also say he has put the Islamist agenda of the Muslim Brotherhood party ahead of the country's wider interests.

In Cairo, the anti-Morsi supporters are chanting: "Irhal! Irhal!" ("Leave! Leave!"), reports the BBC's Aleem Maqbool.

Continue reading the main story

Mohammed Morsi's first year

• June 2012 - Narrowly wins presidential election. Orders parliament to meet in defiance of a military decree dissolving it
• July 2012 - Submits to a Supreme Court ruling that the parliamentary elections were invalid
• August 2012 - Dismisses Defence Minister Hussein Tantawi and Chief of Staff Sami Annan, and strips military of say in legislation and drafting the new constitution
• November 2012 - Rescinds a decree stripping the judiciary of the right to challenge his decisions, after popular protests
• December 2012 - Public vote approves draft constitution boosting the role of Islam and restricting freedom of speech and assembly
• March 2013 - Court halts his plans to bring parliamentary elections forward to April, citing failure to refer the electoral law to the Constitutional Court
• June 2013 - Puts Islamists in charge of 13 of Egypt's 27 governorships - controversially he appoints a member of the former armed group Gamaa Islamiya to be governor of Luxor

In Alexandria, Egypt's second biggest city, hundreds of protests are gathering now in one of the main squares in the city, al-Qaid Ibrahim, BBC Arabic's Rami Gabr reports.

The rallies from the square and elsewhere in Alexandria are expected to move later in the day to the central Sidi Gaber area.

The Suez Canal city of Port Said, in north-east Egypt, is expected to see similar rallies on Sunday afternoon.

A big stage is being erected in the city's main square, and protesters are checking the identities of those going in and out of the square, BBC Arabic's Attia Nabil reports.

There are similar rallies in Suez, Monofia and Sharqiya - the birthplace of President Morsi.

Supporters of the president are also holding their own rallies.

Society split

Egyptians have been talking about 30 June for many weeks - the opposition vowing not to leave until Mr Morsi steps downed and calls early presidential elections, says the BBC's Aleem Maqbool in Cairo.

But his supporters point out that Mr Morsi was elected and say he should see out his full term in office, so there is a real split in Egyptian society at the moment, our correspondent adds.

Opposition activists say more than 22 million people have signed a petition seeking a snap election. They have urged the signatories to come out on Tahrir Square.

The grassroots movement Tamarod (Rebellion) is behind the petition, which has united liberal and secular opposition groups, including the National Salvation Front.

However, many ordinary Egyptians - angered by Mr Morsi's political and economic policies - are also taking part in the rally.

Flags and tents form a base camp on the square from where protesters plan to march on the presidential palace.

Hanan Bakr travelled specially from Dubai where she lives to join Sunday's protest.

"I'm hoping to stay on the streets until the whole regime of the Brotherhood is brought down," she told the BBC.

"We are seeking the support of the country to stand behind the second Egyptian revolution. If Egypt falls under Islamist extremism, this will affect the whole region... Egypt is for all religions - I am a Muslim who attended an Armenian Catholic school."

Speaking in South Africa, US President Barack Obama urged "all parties to make sure they are not engaging in violence and that police and military are showing appropriate restraint".

Continue reading the main story Bloodshed

At least three people, including a US citizen, died in unrest on Friday.

Washington has warned Americans not to travel to Egypt.

The UK urged its citizens to "avoid all demonstrations and large gatherings" while France said citizens should "limit movements to those strictly necessary".

Continue reading the main story

"Start Quote

Morsi has accomplished nothing, and things are only going from bad to worse"

End Quote Maha Said Housewife

"We would like to see the opposition and President Morsi engage in a more constructive conversation about [how] to move their country forward," he said.

On Friday, US national Andrew Pochter and another man were killed in the northern Egyptian city of Alexandria as protesters stormed an office of the Muslim Brotherhood.

Mr Pochter, who was in the country to teach English to children and improve his own Arabic, was killed apparently while using a mobile phone to take pictures.

His family said in a statement that he had been stabbed by a protester while observing demonstrations.

The other fatality in Alexandria on Friday was an Egyptian man who was shot dead, according to medical sources.

Another man, said to be a journalist, was killed by an explosion in Port Said and five other people were injured.

President Morsi earlier this week offered a dialogue - a move rejected by his opponents.

Mr Morsi, who hails from the Muslim Brotherhood, became Egypt's first Islamist president on 30 June 2012, after winning an election considered free and fair.

His first year as president has been marred by constant political unrest and a sinking economy.

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Mid-East talks 'within reach' - US

30 June 2013 Last updated at 08:09 ET

The US secretary of state has said final-status Israeli-Palestinian peace negotiations could be "within reach... with a little more work".

John Kerry extended his peace mission on Saturday, cancelling a scheduled trip to Abu Dhabi.

For three days he has shuttled between Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.

But Palestinian negotiator Saeb Erekat said there had been no breakthrough.

He said the latest meeting had been "positive and profound", but "there is still a gap between the Palestinian and Israeli positions".

'No impediments'

"I'm pleased to tell you that we have made real progress on this trip," Mr Kerry told reporters in Tel Aviv, before leaving the region.

"And I believe that with a little more work, the start of final-status negotiations could be within reach. We started out with very wide gaps, and we have narrowed those considerably."

"We made progress in every sector," he went on to say.

He said he was reluctant to leave and was "leaving people behind" to continue to try to secure the basis for discussions, and that both sides had asked him to return to the region soon.

The main stumbling block to talks has been Israel's refusal to cease settlement-building as a precondition, but speaking at the start of Sunday's weekly cabinet meeting, Mr Netanyahu insisted that Israel was not blocking a return to negotiations.

"We are not putting up any impediments on the resumption of the permanent talks for a peace agreement between us and the Palestinians," he said in remarks quoted by AFP news agency.

"There are things that we will strongly insist on in the talks themselves, especially security... there will be no agreement that will endanger Israelis' security."

Among other issues, Mr Abbas is said to be pushing Israel to release the longest-serving Palestinian prisoners.

Two decades of on-off negotiations between Israel and the Palestinian Authority (PA) have failed to produce a permanent settlement, with the latest round of direct negotiations breaking down in 2010.

Mr Kerry is on his fifth visit to the region since taking office in February.

He is offering the Palestinians the incentive of a major investment plan, but it is dependent on progress towards a peace deal.

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News Corp officially splits in two

28 June 2013 Last updated at 16:30 ET

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News Corp is being split into two divisions; broadcasting and publishing

Rupert Murdoch's media empire, News Corporation, has officially split into two separate companies.

The corporation's more profitable entertainment arm, which includes a Hollywood film studio, is being spun off under the name 21st Century Fox.

The publishing arm, which includes the Sun and the Times in the UK, and the Wall Street Journal and the New York Post, will retain the News Corp name.

Mr Murdoch says the move will unlock value for shareholders.

Its publishing wing made a $2.1bn (£1.3bn) loss in the last financial year.

Rebecca Lieb, analyst at the Altimeter Group in New York, told the BBC: "The lagging revenues of the print properties are dragging down the overall profitability of News Corp.

"While there are certainly efforts afoot to change print, to revamp print, to find new monetisation streams for print - those endeavours certainly aren't going as fast or as nimbly as perhaps the shareholders might hope."

The move is also expected to protect the TV and film brands from the phone-hacking scandal surrounding its British newspapers, and which led to the closure of the News of the World in July 2011.

Mr Murdoch announced plans to separate the businesses last year and News Corp shareholders approved the split earlier this month.

Rupert Murdoch will serve as chairman and chief executive of 21st Century Fox, as well as executive chairman of News Corp, while sons James and Lachlan will also sit on the boards of both companies.

The chief executive of the News Corp publishing business will be Robert Thomson, a former editor of the Times, managing editor of the Wall Street Journal and editor-in-chief of Dow Jones.

The two companies will start trading separately in New York on 1 July, under the tickers NWSA and FOXA.

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Heat wave bakes western US states

28 June 2013 Last updated at 22:01 ET

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Footage from across the south west shows the heat wave take hold, which Arizona resident Michael Fedo describes as "an invisible wall"

Western US states are baking in an extended heat wave, with temperatures threatening to break the all-time high recorded on Earth.

In Phoenix, Arizona, the mercury hit 47C (116F) on Friday, and in the desert of Death Valley, California, the thermometer approached 51C.

The heat wave is expected to last through the weekend.

Cities in the region are opening cooling centres and officials fear the heat could delay air travel.

'Hurts to breathe'

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The temperatures are about 10C higher than average for this time of year

Most large aircraft can operate in temperatures up to 52C, but readings as low as 47C could affect liftoff conditions.

A US Airways spokesman said the airline would be monitoring temperatures in Phoenix "very closely".

Michael Fedo of Scottsdale, Arizona, told the BBC his family was spending less time outdoors as the temperature rose and that he had taken to going to the grocery store in the middle of the night.

"I've installed blackout shades on every window in my house," he said.

"I'm a fourth-generation native of Phoenix so I expect it to be hot. But when it goes above 45C it hurts to breathe. The heat sucks the energy from your core."

The National Weather Service has issued a heat warning for several parts of the region, including Las Vegas, until Monday morning. Parts of five states including Colorado and Utah will see temperatures higher than 37C over the weekend.

"We'll be at or above record levels in the Phoenix area and throughout a lot of the south-western United States," meteorologist Mark O'Malley said.

Temperatures in Death Valley in the California desert are forecast to reach 53C over the weekend. The hottest air temperature ever recorded on Earth, 57C, was marked there almost 100 years ago on 10 July 1913.

'Leave town'

Weather officials say the extreme weather is caused by a high-pressure system stuck over the area.

Scientists say the North American jet stream, the path of air that influences weather patterns, has become more erratic in the past few years, making weather systems more likely to become stuck in place.

But they disagree on whether global warming is the cause of the jet stream's behaviour.

The US Border Patrol's search, trauma and rescue unit has added extra personnel this weekend as the threat of exhaustion and dehydration rises for those attempting to cross the US-Mexico border illegally on foot.

At least seven migrants were found dead in Arizona's desert last week in lower temperatures. Border officials in Tucson, Arizona, rescued more than 170 people suffering from the heat during a thirty-day period in May and June.

Utility officials planned to monitor electricity usage closely over the weekend but were not immediately concerned about overloads.

"While it's hot, people tend to leave town and some businesses aren't open, so that has a tendency to mitigate demand and is why we typically don't set records on weekends," said spokesman Scott Harelson of Phoenix-area utility Salt River Project.

And zookeepers at the Phoenix Zoo were expected to keep outdoor animals chilled with water hoses and concrete slabs cooled by internal water-filled pipes.

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California gay marriage ban lifted

29 June 2013 Last updated at 00:52 ET

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Sandy Stier and Kris Perry took each other as a "lawfully wedded wife"

A US appeals court has lifted a ban on same-sex marriages in California, following a Supreme Court ruling.

The order was issued by the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals in San Francisco.

Within moments, gay weddings resumed at the city hall - the first such marriages in the state since the voter-approved ban in November 2008.

On Wednesday the US Supreme Court left in place a lower court ruling which had struck down the ban - also known as Proposition 8.

The ruling means that 13 US states and the District of Columbia now recognise same-sex marriage.

Supporters of Proposition 8 described the appeals's court action as "outrageous".

'Wait is over'

Continue reading the main story

It remains to be seen whether the fight can go on, but either way, it is a disgraceful day for California"

End Quote Proposition 8 supporter

The 9th Circuit Court of Appeals had been expected to wait 25 days before lifting the ban - in case the losing side wanted to ask for the case to be heard again.

But judges at the appeals court decided to act on Friday, saying: "The stay in the above matter is dissolved effective immediately."

Shortly afterwards, two same-sex couples whose case led to the Supreme Court's Wednesday decision got married.

The wedding of Kris Perry, 48, and Sandy Stier, 50, was officiated by California's Attorney General Kamala Harris at San Francisco's town hall.

She declared them "spouse and spouse", but during their vows they took each other as a "lawfully wedded wife".

"They have waited and fought for this moment. Today their wait is finally over," Ms Harris said.

The other couple, Paul Katami and Jeff Zarrillo, married in Los Angeles.

Meanwhile, Proposition 8 supporters accused their opponents of "achieving their goal in a dishonourable fashion".

"It is a disgraceful day for California,'' said Andy Pugno, general counsel for the coalition of religious conservative groups that had sponsored the proposition.

Proposition 8 was passed in 2008 - months after California's supreme court decided such unions were legal.

The two couples launched the legal challenge. As the state of California refused to defend the proposition, the group that sponsored it stepped up to do so.

On Wednesday the Supreme Court ruled that a private party could not challenge the earlier lower court ruling, as it could not demonstrate it would suffer injury if same-sex marriages were allowed.

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Eight soldiers die in Thailand blast

29 June 2013 Last updated at 05:36 ET

Eight soldiers have been killed by a roadside bomb in Thailand's restive south, police say, in one of the deadliest attacks on the security forces in recent years.

The "powerful" bomb targeted military vehicles in Krong Pinang district of Yala province, police said.

More than 5,000 people have been killed since a separatist insurgency reignited in the Muslim-majority region in 2004.

Near-daily attacks are continuing despite government talks with rebels.

"It was a very powerful bomb that completely destroyed the truck," police spokesman Colonel Pramote Promin told AFP news agency.

"Ten soldiers were in the truck. Eight died and two were wounded," he said, adding that two villagers had also been injured.

It is the single deadliest attack on Thai security forces in several years.

The attacks in the south continue despite pledges by the government and negotiators for Muslim separatists to try to curb violence over the Ramadan period, beginning next month, in talks earlier in June.

Thailand is a Buddhist-majority country, but Muslims are the majority in the three southern provinces of Yala, Pattani and Narathiwat.

Muslim militants, who are fighting for greater autonomy, are believed to carry out the gun and bomb attacks against security forces and citizens perceived to be government allies or collaborators in the area.

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US travel warning over Egypt clashes

29 June 2013 Last updated at 07:11 ET

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Footage from Alexandria shows protesters storming the headquarters of the Muslim Brotherhood

The US has warned Americans not to travel to Egypt and has told non-emergency diplomatic staff to leave, as clashes continue in the country.

The state department also urged US nationals in Egypt "to remain alert".

The warning came as at least three people - including a US citizen - died in clashes between supporters and opponents of President Mohammed Morsi.

Tensions have been rising ahead of a mass rally planned by the opposition on Sunday to demand Mr Morsi steps down.

His supporters are stressing what they see as Mr Morsi's "legitimacy", rejecting the opposition's demand.

Sunday is the first anniversary of the president's inauguration.

Speaking during an official visit to South Africa, US President Barack Obama said the US was "looking with concern" at the situation in Egypt.

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"Start Quote

Morsi has accomplished nothing, and things are only going from bad to worse"

End Quote Maha Said Housewife

He said the US's "immediate concern" was with securing its embassies and consulates, and their staff.

"We support peaceful protests and peaceful methods of bringing about change in Egypt," Mr Obama said, but he added that every party had to "denounce violence".

Earlier, the UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon urged Egyptians to respect "universal principles of peaceful dialogue" amid growing concern over the tension between Mr Morsi's supporters and his opponents.

'Unprecedented exodus'

In a warning on Friday, the US state department said it had "authorised the departure of a limited number of non-emergency employees and family members" from Egypt.

It asked Americans "to defer non-essential travel to Egypt at this time due to the continuing possibility of political and social unrest".

Cairo's main airport was packed with departing passengers, and all flights leaving for Europe, the US and the Gulf were fully booked, officials were quoted as saying.

The officials - who spoke on condition of anonymity - described the exodus as unprecedented, the Associated Press reports.

On Friday, two people died in the northern Egyptian city of Alexandria as protesters stormed an office of the Muslim Brotherhood - the political movement supporting President Morsi. It was one of eight of its offices around the country the Brotherhood said came under attack.

The US national who was killed was apparently using a mobile phone to take pictures at the time.

There are conflicting reports about the way he died. Egyptian officials say the victim was stabbed in the chest, but other reports say he was hit by gun pellets.

A statement posted on the website of Kenyon College, Ohio, identified the victim as 21-year-old student Andrew Pochter, an intern at Amideast, an American non-profit organisation working in international education and training in the Middle East and North Africa.

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Mohammed Morsi's first year

• June 2012 - Narrowly wins presidential election. Orders parliament to meet in defiance of a military decree dissolving it
• July 2012 - Submits to a Supreme Court ruling that the parliamentary elections were invalid
• August 2012 - Dismisses Defence Minister Hussein Tantawi and Chief of Staff Sami Annan, and strips military of say in legislation and drafting the new constitution
• November 2012 - Rescinds a decree stripping the judiciary of the right to challenge his decisions, after popular protests
• December 2012 - Public vote approves draft constitution boosting the role of Islam and restricting freedom of speech and assembly
• March 2013 - Court halts his plans to bring parliamentary elections forward to April, citing failure to refer the electoral law to the Constitutional Court
• June 2013 - Puts Islamists in charge of 13 of Egypt's 27 governorships - controversially he appoints a member of the former armed group Gamaa Islamiya to be governor of Luxor

The state department confirmed the death, saying it was "providing appropriate consular assistance from our embassy in Cairo and our Bureau of Consular Affairs at the state department".

The other fatality in Alexandria on Friday was an Egyptian man who was shot dead, according to medical sources.

Dozens more people were injured.

'Legitimate order'

The office of the Muslim Brotherhood in the city was set on fire, and the authorities are reported to have called in riot police and army helicopters to try to quell the violence.

Some marchers said they feared the Brotherhood was using the revolution to entrench its power and Islamic law, but others had economic grievances.

"I've nothing to do with politics, but with the state we're in now, even a stone would cry out," 42-year-old accountant Mohamed Abdel Latif told Reuters news agency.

"There are no services, we can't find diesel or gasoline. We elected Morsi, but this is enough. Let him make way for someone else who can fix it."

In Port Said, also in the north, an explosion left one person dead - a journalist, according to one report - and five injured, officials said.

Meanwhile, in Cairo thousands of Morsi supporters rallied outside the main mosque.

"I came to support the legitimate order," said Ahmed al-Maghrabi, 37, a shopkeeper from the Nile Delta city of Mansoura.

"I am with the elected president. He needs to see out his term," he told Reuters.

President Morsi earlier this week warned that divisions threatened to "paralyse" Egypt.

He offered a dialogue with the opposition - a move rejected by his opponents.

Mr Morsi, who hails from the Muslim Brotherhood, became Egypt's first Islamist president on 30 June 2012, after winning an election considered free and fair.

His first year as president has been marred by constant political unrest and a sinking economy.

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Missing yacht Nina 'presumed sunk'

29 June 2013 Last updated at 07:16 ET

An American schooner carrying eight people and missing in waters between New Zealand and Australia is now presumed to have sunk, say rescuers.

But it is possible survivors are on board the life raft or made land, they add.

On Friday a third unsuccessful day of aerial searches took place, scouring the New Zealand coastline.

Six Americans aged between 17 and 73 were on board, along with a 35-year-old British man.

Some of those on board have been named: Captain David Dyche, 58; his wife, Rosemary, 60; and their son David, 17. Also aboard was their friend Evi Nemeth, 73; a man aged 28; a woman aged 18, and Briton Matthew Wootton, aged 35.

The Dyche family were said to be experienced sailors who had been sailing around the world for several years.

Stormy

The 85-year-old schooner Nina left Opua on New Zealand's North Island on 29 May.

The last known communications with the crew were on 3 and 4 June - when conditions were very rough, said Rescue Co-ordination Centre New Zealand (RCCNZ), with winds of 80km/h (50mph) gusting to 110 km/h and swells of up to 8m (26 feet).

Mr Nemeth called and texted New Zealand meteorologist Bob McDavitt to seek advice on how to cope with the conditions, and were advised to ride it out.

After family and friends failed to hear from the crew, rescuers were alerted on 14 June. They began trying to make contact with the vessel, but were said not to be unduly alarmed as it was equipped with an emergency locator beacon which had not been activated, as well as a satellite phone and spot beacon.

But on 28 June aerial searches began, and two extensive sea-based searches as well as two shoreline searches have yielded no sign of the vessel or crew, said RCCNZ.

Search leader Neville Blakemore said it was now logical to assume the boat sank quickly in a storm, preventing the crew from activating the devices on board - though he added it was still possible survivors could be found.

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Obama praises Mandela 'inspiration'

29 June 2013 Last updated at 07:31 ET

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Obama: "Madiba's moral courage... has been a personal inspiration to me"

US President Barack Obama has praised Nelson Mandela as "an inspiration to the world", during his visit to South Africa.

He was speaking in the executive capital, Pretoria, after talks with President Jacob Zuma.

Mr Mandela, South Africa's first black president, has been critically ill for nearly a week.

Earlier, Mr Obama said he would not visit the 94-year-old in hospital, but would meet his family in private.

The White House said the decision had been made "out of deference to Nelson Mandela's peace and comfort and the family's wishes", but that Mr Obama and his wife would offer the Mandela family "their thoughts and prayers at this difficult time".

Mr Zuma said the former leader remained "stable but critical", but said he had "every hope that he will be out of hospital soon".

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Analysis

Joseph Winter BBC News, Johannesburg

---

Nelson Mandela's ill health has overshadowed Barack Obama's first trip to South Africa as US president. Both Mr Obama and South African President Jacob Zuma began their remarks to the media by mentioning the hero of the fight against white minority rule.

But the trip was planned long before Mr Mandela was taken to hospital and was intended to focus on increasing trade, for mutual benefit. President Zuma noted that Mr Obama had been involved in the campaign to impose economic sanctions on apartheid South Africa in the 1980s, but said now was the time to shift from "disinvestment to reinvestment".

While South Africa has been criticised for having slow economic growth at a time when other African countries are booming, Mr Zuma rebuffed this by saying: "We are pursuing the dreams and policies of Nelson Mandela." He even said the former president had recently told him: "When I go to sleep, I will be happy as I know I will leave South Africa moving forward."

'Outpouring of love'

In Pretoria, Mr Obama said Mr Mandela's example of "the power of principle, of people standing up for what's right continues to shine as a beacon".

"The outpouring of love that we've seen in recent days shows that the triumph of Nelson Mandela and his nation speaks to something very deep in the human spirit; the yearning for justice and dignity that transcends boundaries of race and class and faith and country," he said.

Mr Zuma said that as the first black leaders of their respective countries, Mr Obama and Mr Mandela were "bound by history" and so "carry the dreams of millions of people in Africa and in the diaspora who were previously oppressed".

The two leaders addressed a wide range of issues in their conversations, including trade and industry, conflicts in the region, efforts to tackle HIV/Aids and foreign affairs.

Mr Zuma said Mr Obama's visit was "well timed" to take advantage of a growing market in South Africa, and called for greater US investment.

He also said he believed the Africa National Congress (ANC), which he leads and which was founded by Mr Mandela, was still "moving in the footsteps" of the former leader.

"I have no doubt that what we have been doing is part of what Mandela would be doing if he was here," he said.

When asked whether the US felt threatened by the increasing influence of other countries, particularly China, in Africa, Mr Obama said he believed it was a good thing for the development of the continent, but cautioned South Africa to ensure that foreign companies were employing local workers and investing back into the country.

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Nelson Mandela: Key dates

• 1918 Born in the Eastern Cape
• 1944 Joins African National Congress
• 1956 Charged with high treason, but charges dropped
• 1962 Arrested, convicted of sabotage, sentenced to five years in prison
• 1964 Charged again, sentenced to life
• 1990 Freed from prison
• 1993 Wins Nobel Peace Prize
• 1994 Elected first black president
• 1999 Steps down as leader

Mr Obama, who is travelling with his family, arrived in South Africa from Senegal on Friday evening.

During his weekend trip, the US president will visit Robben Island off Cape Town, where Mr Mandela was imprisoned for 18 years. On Monday, he will continue his African tour in Tanzania.

Lung damage

Mr Mandela is revered for leading the fight against white minority rule in South Africa and then preaching reconciliation despite being imprisoned for 27 years.

He was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 1993 and was elected president the following year. He left office in 1999 after a single term.

Mr Mandela retired from public life in 2004 and has rarely been seen at official events since.

He has a long history of lung problems, and was diagnosed with tuberculosis in the 1980s while he was a prisoner on Robben Island.

After his release, Mr Mandela said that the tuberculosis was probably caused by dampness in his prison cell.

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West 'should have talked to Taliban'

29 June 2013 Last updated at 07:42 ET

The West should have tried talking to the Taliban a decade ago, the UK's top general in Afghanistan has said.

Gen Nick Carter told the Guardian it would have been easier to find a political solution when they were on the run in 2002.

Prime Minister David Cameron acknowledged that the original settlement for Afghanistan "could have been better arranged".

His comments come days after planned negotiations with the Taliban stalled.

Gen Carter also warned Afghan forces would need military and financial support after troops leave in 2014.

The Kabul government would have only shaky control over some areas, he said.

Negotiation attempts

A major conference on the future of Afghanistan held in Bonn, Germany, over a decade ago did not include the defeated Taliban former government of Afghanistan.

Gen Carter, deputy commander of the Nato-led coalition, acknowledged it was easy to be wise with the benefit of hindsight but added: "Back in 2002, the Taliban were on the run.

"I think that at that stage, if we had been very prescient, we might have spotted that a final political solution to what started in 2001, from our perspective, would have involved getting all Afghans to sit at the table and talk about their future.

"The problems that we have been encountering over the period since then are essentially political problems, and political problems are only ever solved by people talking to each other."

Speaking as he visited UK troops in Camp Bastion on Armed Forces Day, The prime minister said he was encouraged that the Taliban no longer wanted Afghanistan to be "a haven for terror".

He said: "You can argue that the settlement we put in place in 2001 could have been better arranged.

He added: "You have to remember why we came here and that was because the Taliban regime allowed Al Qaeda to have a base in Afghanistan, so that's why that regime was removed, why an Afghan democracy has been created and why we have now built up an Afghan National Army and police force which are capable of securing this country.

"But do we want people to give up weapons to give up an armed struggle and join a political process so that everyone in Afghanistan can be part of that political future, yes."

Doha talks row

Defence Secretary Philip Hammond said it would have been "very difficult" to negotiate with the Taliban a decade ago.

He said: "I suspect ten years ago it would have been very difficult.

"We've reset the parameters of the debate by building the Afghan security forces, by supporting the Afghan government to reach out across the country, delivering services to the people in a way that has given it legitimacy, and I think the time is right now for that negotiation to take place."

Last week, US Secretary of State John Kerry expressed caution over whether peace talks on Afghanistan with the Taliban could take place.

A row over the status of a Taliban office in Qatar's capital Doha has overshadowed efforts to start peace negotiations there.

BBC defence correspondent Caroline Wyatt said the row had simply underlined the diplomatic and practical difficulties that remained for anyone wishing to talk to the Taliban.

Gen Carter said he was confident that Nato's handover of security to Afghan forces would eventually bring the Taliban to the negotiating table.

Gradual withdrawal

He said that overall the police and army had been shaped into sustainable institutions strong enough to protect a critical presidential election next year and guarantee stability for the majority of the country after Western forces withdrew.

However, he added that the Afghan army and police would still need help in the years to come because they had been built up very quickly.

However, he expressed optimism about Afghanistan's future as long as the US and its allies came through on promises of financial and military support.

Some 8,000 British troops are still serving in Afghanistan, around half of them at Camp Bastion in Helmand province, ­many of them still mentoring or advising Afghan forces.

Until last year, the UK had 137 bases in Helmand but the gradual withdrawal ahead of the end of combat operations by 2015 means the mission is gradually changing with just 13 bases still operating.

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Bangladesh anger at US trade move

28 June 2013 Last updated at 02:36 ET

Bangladesh has criticised Washington's decision to suspend trade privileges over concerns about dangerous working conditions and labour rights.

This decision comes after a year-long review of labour practices and workplace safety in Bangladesh.

The foreign ministry in Dhaka described the move as harsh, saying the government had taken clear measures to improve safety at clothing factories.

In April, 1,127 died when when a factory building collapsed near Dhaka.

The eight-storey Rana Plaza building came crashing down on 24 April, a day after cracks had been spotted in the building.

It was the deadliest in a series of accidents that have focused global attention on safety standards in Bangladesh's export garment industry, which is the second biggest in the world after China's.

'Shoddy buildings'

The disaster sparked a series of angry protests by workers in the garment industry and heightened international concern. Twelve people have so far been arrested, including the building's owner.

It also prompted the government to introduce some reforms and more inspections and some international retailers have also proposed an accord to improve safety conditions in Bangladesh.

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• April 2005 - 64 garment workers killed in building collapse in Savar
• More than 400 garment workers killed in at least 213 factory fires between 2006 and 2009, according to Bangladesh fire department
• November 2012 - at least 117 workers killed in fire at Tazreen Fashions in Ashulia, near Dhaka

But unions and experts say hundreds of factories are still operating in shoddy buildings, raising fears that another tragedy could occur at any time.

The US order suspends Bangladesh's duty-free trade privileges under the terms of a trade programme called the Generalized System of Preferences (GSP), designed to promote economic growth in developing countries.

"It cannot be more shocking for the factory workers of Bangladesh that the decision to suspend GSP comes at a time when the government of Bangladesh has taken concrete and visible measures to improve factory safety and protect workers' rights," a Bangladesh foreign ministry statement said.

But President Barack Obama, in a proclamation, said Bangladesh was not taking steps to afford internationally recognised rights to its workers.

And US Trade Representative Michael Froman said several recent incidents "had served to highlight some of the serious shortcomings in worker rights and workplace safety standards in Bangladesh".

The BBC's Mahfuz Sadique in Dhaka says that Thursday's decision, which comes into effect in 60 days, is mostly symbolic as it covers less than 1% of Bangladesh's nearly $5bn (£3.2bn) exports to the US and it does not affect clothing exports.

But, our correspondent says, it could have an influence over the European Union's review into similar privileges.

The EU is the largest market for garments from Bangladesh, accounting for 60% of exports. The garment industry employs some four million people in Bangladesh, 80% of them women.

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US general 'target' in leak probe

28 June 2013 Last updated at 04:15 ET

A retired high-ranking US general is under investigation for allegedly leaking classified information about a covert cyber attack on Iran's nuclear programme, US media report.

Retired Marine General James "Hoss" Cartwright has been informed by the Justice Department that he is a target in their inquiry, NBC News reports.

Gen Cartwright was vice-chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff from 2007-11.

The Stuxnet virus temporarily disabled Iranian nuclear facilities in 2010.

The New York Times gave a detailed account last year about the virus, and how it temporarily took out nearly 1,000 centrifuges that Iran was using to purify uranium.

The newspaper said the attack was part of a wider cyber operation called Olympic Games, that began under President George W Bush and accelerated under President Barack Obama.

The revelations prompted the US attorney to order an investigation into the leaks.

NBC News quoted legal sources as saying that 63-year-old Gen Cartwright had a received a letter from the Justice Department informing him that he is a target in their investigation.

A target is a suspect in a criminal case who has not yet been formally charged but is expected to be, the Washington Post reports.

Gen Cartwright was part of President Obama's inner circle of security advisers before he retired in 2011.

Both his lawyer and justice department officials have refused to comment on the reports.

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Transfer of Afghan detainees begins

28 June 2013 Last updated at 06:04 ET

The Ministry of Defence says the first group of detainees captured by British forces in Afghanistan has been transferred to the Afghan authorities.

Ten have been handed over and the MoD said it planned to transfer the remaining 82 from Camp Bastion "as soon as possible".

However, legal challenges prevent the transfer of seven detainees.

On Thursday, two men dropped challenges to their detention and can now be transferred, the High Court heard.

The court confirmed that, subject to detainees confirming that they did not want legal representation, they could be transferred to the Afghan National Detention Facility, within the US Bagram airbase in Parwan province.

Defence Secretary Philip Hammond said he was "very pleased" that the High Court had agreed to vary the ruling that blocked the transfer of the suspected insurgents, who are being held at Camp Bastion without charge.

He said: "Terms have been agreed that will allow those detainees who have requested transfer to Afghan custody to be handed over.

"Unfortunately, the injunction remains in place for some detainees who are still represented by human rights lawyers."

Mr Hammond said UK forces had given the detainees telephone access to UK lawyers.

'Minded to withdraw'

On Thursday, the two main plaintiffs cases in a High Court hearing in London due to start on 19 July dropped their challenge.

The High Court was told that Niahmutullah Haqim and Mohammed Ismail were "happy to go".

Seven other detainees involved in the hearing are to be contacted by their UK lawyers shortly to see whether they want to continue their legal challenge.

The judge, Sir John Thomas, was told that another applicant - a Mr Yahyah - was also "minded to withdraw" from next month's High Court hearing.

James Eadie QC, appearing for the Ministry of Defence, told the judge the case seemed "on the verge of disappearing".

Transfer risks

On Thursday night, the first 10 detainees were put on a plane to Parwan within an hour of confirming they wished to be transferred, the MoD said.

The group is the first to be moved to an Afghan facility at Bagram airbase, about 700km (450 miles) from Camp Bastion. It is monitored by US forces, and the Ministry of Defence considers there is no risk of mistreatment.

The transfer of detainees from the UK's main base in Afghanistan to Afghan authorities was banned in November by Mr Hammond because of fears that they would be abused.

However, earlier this month he said that the facility at Parwan had received "positive reports" from humanitarian organisations.

The MoD's plan to begin the transfer this week prompted lawyers acting for some of the detainees to apply successfully for an injunction from the High Court.

Many of those being held are suspected of involvement in preparing, laying, or facilitating the use of roadside bombs against British forces, or have been picked up at the scenes of shootings of British soldiers.

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Egypt braced for mass rival protests

28 June 2013 Last updated at 06:58 ET

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The BBC's Aleem Maqbool meets a father who supports the jailing of his son for insulting President Morsi

Egypt is preparing for rival mass demonstrations, amid tight security in the increasingly polarised nation.

President Mohammed Morsi's supporters are to hold "open-ended" rallies - two days ahead of opposition protests calling for the president to resign.

Meanwhile, one person died and a number of others were injured in clashes in northern Egypt late on Thursday.

Mr Morsi said divisions threatened to "paralyse" Egypt, in a speech on Wednesday to mark a year in office.

Troops have been deployed in the capital Cairo and other cities.

Mr Morsi, who hails from the Muslim Brotherhood, became Egypt's first Islamist president on 30 June 2012, after winning an election considered free and fair.

His first year as president has been marred by constant political unrest and a sinking economy.

The president also used his televised speech late on Wednesday to warn the media not to abuse free speech.

Within hours ripples from the speech could be felt across Egyptian media.

A talk show on the al-Fareen TV channel ended abruptly on Thursday night when the presenter learned he was to be arrested. Host and owner Tawfiq Okasha is accused of spreading false information, and the channel has ceased broadcasting.

Another prominent presenter resigned on air on state-run television in protest at what he called government interference in the editorial content of his programme.

'Back on track'

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• June 2012 - Narrowly wins presidential election. Orders parliament to meet in defiance of a military decree dissolving it
• July 2012 - Submits to a Supreme Court ruling that the parliamentary elections were invalid
• August 2012 - Dismisses Defence Minister Hussein Tantawi and Chief of Staff Sami Annan and strips military of say in legislation and drafting the new constitution
• November 2012 - Rescinds a decree stripping the judiciary of the right to challenge his decisions, after popular protests
• December 2012 - Public vote approves draft constitution boosting the role of Islam and restricting freedom of speech and assembly
• March 2013 - Court halts his plans to bring parliamentary elections forward to April, citing failure to refer the electoral law to the Constitutional Court
• June 2013 - Puts Islamists in charge of 13 of Egypt's 27 governorships - controversially he appoints a member of the former armed group Gamaa Islamiya to be governor of Luxor

Thousands of Mr Morsi's supporters are expected to hold a rally in Cairo on Friday in support of his "legitimacy", rejecting the opposition's demand for him to resign.

The Muslim Brotherhood and its Islamist allies have called on supporters to mass outside the Rabaa al-Adawiya mosque in Cairo's Nasr City district.

Some Morsi opponents have already been gathering in Tahrir Square, ahead of Sunday's planned march to the presidential palace.

The main opposition coalition on Thursday rejected President Morsi's offer for dialogue.

In a statement, the National Salvation Front said it "remained determined to call for an early presidential election".

"We are confident the Egyptian people will come out in their millions to hold peaceful demonstrations on all of Egypt's squares and streets to realise their aspirations and to put the 25 January revolution back on track," it added.

The opposition was referring to the popular uprising in January 2011 which ousted President Hosni Mubarak.

Hours before Friday's planned rallies, one person was killed in clashes at the headquarters of the Freedom and Justice Party, the political wing of the Muslim Brotherhood, in the Nile Delta province of Sharqiya, reports say.

The Muslim Brotherhood blamed opposition activists for the violence.

'Enemies of Egypt'

In his televised speech, President Morsi defended his performance, admitting errors and promising immediate and radical reforms to address them.

"I was right in some cases, and wrong in other cases," he said. "I have discovered after a year in charge that for the revolution to achieve its goals, it needs radical measures."

He apologised for the fuel shortages that have caused long lines at petrol stations and angered many Egyptians, and also for failing to involve the nation's youth enough.

But despite Mr Morsi's initial conciliatory tone, the speech swiftly moved into a condemnation of those he blamed for Egypt's problems, the BBC's Aleem Maqbool in Cairo reports.

"I took responsibility for a country mired in corruption and was faced with a war to make me fail," he said, naming several officials he believed wanted to "turn the clock back" to the Mubarak era, including politicians, judges and journalists.

"Political polarisation and conflict has reached a stage that threatens our nascent democratic experience and threatens to put the whole nation in a state of paralysis and chaos," he warned.

"The enemies of Egypt have not spared effort in trying to sabotage the democratic experience."

Mr Morsi called on opposition figures to "enter elections if you want to change the government" and criticised them for refusing to take part in a national dialogue.

The head of the army earlier warned it would not allow Egypt to slip into "uncontrollable conflict".

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Somali Islamist 'not surrendering'

28 June 2013 Last updated at 07:15 ET

A key al-Shabab leader in Somalia, Sheikh Hassan Dahir Aweys, has so far refused to surrender, elders from his clan have told the BBC Somali Service.

The UN has reported that Mr Aweys has handed himself over to a pro-government administration in central Somalia after falling out with al-Shabab's leader.

But Mr Aweys is in Galmudug region with his militia with the consent of the local authorities, the elders say.

They had flown there from the capital to see if he was willing to make peace.

Mr Aweys is seen as the elder statesman of Somali Islamists and has been on a US list of people "linked to terrorism" since shortly after the 9/11 attacks in 2001.

Analysts say the administration in Adado - a town about 500km (310 miles) north of the capital, Mogadishu - where Mr Aweys arrived earlier in the week, does not want to provoke clashes.

'Split'

Mr Aweys left al-Shabab territory after factions within the al-Qaeda linked group clashed last week - the first deadly infighting since it launched an insurgency in 2006.

Elders from Mr Aweys' Haber Gedir clan, which is powerful in the Galmudug region, told the BBC they had been trying to mediate his surrender after his arrival in Adado.

They do not officially represent the UN-backed government of President Hassan Sheikh Mohamud, though it seems likely he is fully aware of the negotiations taking place, the BBC's international development correspondent Mark Doyle says.

The elders told the BBC Somali Service that negotiations with the al-Shabab commander had so far failed.

Mr Aweys denied that he had left al-Shabab and refused to go to Mogadishu, join the government or enter mediation talks with the government, they said.

Analysts say if the split within al-Shabab is serious, Mr Aweys may try to leave the country.

If he stays in central Somalia he is at risk of capture from Ethiopian troops, who back the Somali government, they say.

Al-Shabab, which means "The Youth", is fighting to create an Islamic state in Somalia - and despite being pushed out of key cities in the past two years still remains in control of smaller towns and large swathes of the countryside.

It was formed in 2006 as a radical offshoot of the now-defunct Union of Islamic Courts, which was led by Mr Aweys and for much of that year controlled Mogadishu and many southern and central areas.

The exact cause of the al-Shabab split is not known, but there has been a long-running internal power struggle between its leader Ahmed Abdi Godane and those seen as more moderate who oppose links with al-Qaeda, analysts say.

There are conflicting reports about the fate of the second-in-command - Ibrahim Afghan, the al-Shabab founder - following last week's fighting. Initially, sources told the BBC he had been captured and was in al-Shabab detention; subsequent reports in local media say he has been executed.

Some 18,000 African Union troops are in Somalia supporting the government of President Mohamud who was elected by MPs last September.

His administration is the first one in more than two decades to be recognised by the US and the International Monetary Fund (IMF).

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EU set for Serbia membership talks

28 June 2013 Last updated at 08:02 ET

EU leaders have agreed to open accession talks with Serbia, whose bid to join the EU was long delayed by a dispute over Kosovo.

EU-Serbia negotiations will begin in January 2014 at the latest, European Council President Herman Van Rompuy said at a Brussels EU summit.

In April, the EU brokered a key deal between Serbia and Kosovo, which broke away from Belgrade in a war in 1999.

Talks on an EU association agreement with Kosovo will also get under way.

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Cleric held in Vatican bank inquiry

28 June 2013 Last updated at 08:04 ET

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The BBC's Alan Johnston reports from Rome, where Monsignor Scarano says he can "explain everything"

A senior Italian cleric has been arrested in connection with an inquiry into a Vatican bank scandal over allegations of corruption and fraud.

Monsignor Nunzio Scarano works in the Vatican's financial administration. A secret service agent and a financial broker have also been arrested.

They are suspected of trying to move 20m euros (£17m) illegally into Italy.

Pope Francis ordered an unprecedented internal investigation into the bank's affairs in the wake of recent scandals.

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Analysis

An allegedly corrupt Italian monsignor who until recently helped administer the Vatican's financial assets ends up in handcuffs and is hauled off to prison in Rome together with a financial broker friend and an Italian secret service agent.

Pope Francis's new attempt this week to impose transparency and clarity on the Vatican's financial dealings could not be more timely. A sweeping internal investigation into the running of the Vatican's own bank was announced only two days ago. The result is to be on the Pope's desk "promptly", and a cardinal on the commission of inquiry has already admitted that major reforms are necessary.

Traditionally, great secrecy has been imposed by the Vatican on the bank's functions. The Vatican has hitherto concealed its activities behind a wall of confidentiality, justified by the sovereign status of the papal enclave situated in the heart of Rome.

Monsignor Scarano, 61, worked for years as a senior accountant for a Vatican department known as Apsa (the Administration of the Patrimony of the Apostolic See).

He was suspended from that position "about a month ago, after his superiors learnt about an investigation into his activities", Vatican spokesman Federico Lombardi said.

Monsignor Scarano has been under investigation by Italian police for a series of suspicious transactions involving the recycling through the Vatican bank of a series of cheques described as church donations.

Nunzio Scarano is a priest from Salerno in southern Italy, who is called "monsignor" in recognition of his seniority at the Vatican.

He was arrested along with two other men suspected of plotting to move 20m euros illegally from Switzerland to Italy. One, Giovanni Maria Zito, is described as an Italian secret service agent, and the other, Giovanni Carenzio, a financial broker.

Secretive bank

Earlier this month, the Pope named a trusted cleric to oversee the management of the bank, which has been beset by allegations of money laundering.

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Vatican Bank scandal

• September 2010: Italian police launch investigation into money laundering at the bank
• December 2010: Vatican sets up financial authority to fight money laundering and make financial operations more transparent
• May 2012: Bank chief Ettore Gotti Tedeschi dismissed for dereliction of duty
• January 2013: Italian central bank suspends all bank card payments in the Vatican, citing its failure to fully implement anti-money laundering legislation
• February 2013: German lawyer Ernst von Freyberg appointed to head bank
• June 2013: Pope Francis sets up a commission to review the bank's activities

Officially known as the Institute for the Works of Religion (IOR), the bank is one of the world's most secretive. It has 114 employees and $7.1bn (£4.6bn; 5.4bn euros) of assets.

Pope Francis has given the commission carte blanche, bypassing normal secrecy rules, to try to get to the bottom of scandals which have plagued the bank for decades.

Traditionally, the Vatican Bank has refused to co-operate with Italian authorities investigating financial crime on the grounds of the sovereign independence of the Vatican city state, the BBC's David Willey reports from Rome.

But Pope Francis has shown that he is now determined to get to the bottom of long-standing allegations of corruption and money laundering involving the bank, our correspondent adds.

The Institute for the Works of Religion was a major shareholder in the Banco Ambrosiano, a big Italian bank which collapsed in 1982 with losses of more than $3bn.

Its chairman, Roberto Calvi, was found hanging from Blackfriars Bridge in London - in a murder disguised as a suicide. Mr Calvi had close relations with the Vatican.

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Mandela well-wishers at hospital

28 June 2013 Last updated at 08:06 ET

Well-wishers are continuing to gather outside the hospital in Pretoria where former President Nelson Mandela remains in a critical condition.

They have been singing and saying prayers both outside the hospital and at his former home in Soweto.

People are anxious about his health but also want to express pride in the man many consider the father of the nation, the BBC's Karen Allen reports.

South Africa's first black president is suffering from a lung infection.

The 94-year-old icon of the anti-apartheid struggle has now spent 20 days in hospital.

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• 1918 Born in the Eastern Cape
• 1944 Joins African National Congress
• 1956 Charged with high treason, but charges dropped
• 1962 Arrested, convicted of sabotage, sentenced to five years in prison
• 1964 Charged again, sentenced to life
• 1990 Freed from prison
• 1993 Wins Nobel Peace Prize
• 1994 Elected first black president
• 1999 Steps down as leader

President Jacob Zuma - who cancelled a visit to Mozambique on Thursday to visit Mr Mandela in hospital - said his condition had improved, but still remained critical.

Mr Mandela's daughter Makaziwe admitted on Wednesday night after seeing him that "he doesn't look good... but... if we speak to him, he responds and tries to open his eyes".

She was also highly critical of the behaviour of the international media, accusing some of behaving like vultures with their "overboard" coverage.

Mixed emotions

An increasing number of messages of support and thanks have been posted on the hospital railings and walls.

Many contain images that capture the life of Nelson Mandela, known by his clan name Madiba.

People sang and danced in tribute during an all-night prayer vigil outside his former home in Soweto.

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Speaking on SABC, Makaziwe, Nelson Mandela's daughter accused some journalists of racism, describing them as "vultures"

Children released 94 balloons - one for every year of the ex-president's life - into the air in his honour.

There are mixed emotions among the well-wishers outside the hospital, our correspondent reports. People are sad and anxious but at the same time feel deeply proud of him and his achievements.

"There is no sadness here. There is celebration. He is a giant," 57-year-old Nomhlahla Donry, whose husband served time with Mr Mandela, told the AFP news agency.

"We are saying let him live long because we like him and he has done a lot for us in this world. He's done a lot of amazing things and we really love Tata," local resident Alfred Makhathini told Reuters.

South Africa's ruling African National Congress (ANC) has said it will hold vigils each day that the former leader remains in hospital.

US President Barack Obama, who is due to fly to South Africa later on Friday, described Mr Mandela as "a hero for the world".

"His legacy will linger on through the ages," he said, while on a visit to Senegal on Thursday.

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Brazilians protest near stadium

26 June 2013 Last updated at 17:38 ET

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Julia Carneiro reports from Belo Horizonte as police tackle protesters with tear gas

Brazilian police have used tear gas to stop protesters from approaching a football stadium during a Brazil-Uruguay Confederations Cup match.

About 50,000 protesters marched to the stadium in Belo Horizonte.

A small number of them tried to push past police lines. About 20 people were detained.

The crowds repeated the demands they have made since the protests began - more spending on education and health, and a crackdown on corruption.

They also complained about the high cost of the 2014 World Cup, for which the Confederations Cup is a dress rehearsal.

The match has now finished; Brazil beat Uruguay 2-1, and qualified for the final of the tournament.

Since the demonstrations escalated last week, President Dilma Rousseff has introduced a series of measures to answer some of those demands.

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Julia Carneiro BBC Brasil, Belo Horizonte

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The scenes at the demonstration's beginning and end seemed worlds apart. During the festive gathering at Praca Sete, in Belo Horizonte's city centre, the crowds waved banners, played drums, blew horns.

But at the end of the 8km march towards the Mineirao football stadium clashes with police started, as a group of protestors repeatedly tried to break the police lines protecting a perimeter about 2km from the entrance.

Police used tear gas to push them away. Groups broke into shops, set cars on fire, threw rocks and fireworks at the police and broke hundreds of beer bottles taken from inside a convenience shop in the middle of the street. I could smell the smoke mixed together with tear gas and firecrackers.

These were the people at the very front line - but hundreds of others were spectators at a distance. And the majority didn't even get close, wanting no part in the violence.

Protestors I spoke to said they were relieved by the first measures taken by President Dilma Rousseff and by Brazil's Congress in response to the demonstrations. But they didn't seem ready to get off the streets just yet, after having had a taste of this new found power of public pressure.

In the capital, Brasilia, campaigners against social inequality have placed 594 footballs in front of the parliament building to show that the "ball is in the court of the Congress to pass the reforms demanded by those on the streets".

Government concessions

A key grievance of protesters was a proposed constitutional amendment, PEC 37, which would have limited the power of federal prosecutors to investigate crimes - which demonstrators claim could have opened the way for more corruption.

But on Tuesday, the proposed measure was defeated by 430 votes to nine.

Congress also voted to use all the royalties from newly discovered oil fields for education and health.

Some of the largest oil finds in recent years have been discovered off the Brazilian coast, and the country is expected to be able to produce tens of billions of barrels of crude oil over the coming decades.

In another attempt to pacify protesters, the government promised to speed up the pace of reform.

It said it would simplify a referendum to establish a constituent assembly - proposed on Monday by President Dilma Rousseff - to allow for a vote as early as 7 September.

The sudden burst of initiatives is not confined to the government, the BBC's Gary Duffy in Sao Paulo says.

The president of the Senate, Renan Calheiros, has proposed free transport for all students.

The rising cost of public transport was the main catalyst for the protests, and various city authorities have already decided to reverse fare increases.

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Morsi warns of risks from unrest

26 June 2013 Last updated at 21:00 ET

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President Mohammed Morsi: ''I did my best''

Egyptian President Mohammed Morsi has warned that continuing unrest is "threatening to paralyse the country".

In a speech marking his first year in office, Mr Morsi acknowledged making some "mistakes" and offered opponents a say in amending the new constitution.

But the president also threatened those he saw as conspiring against him and trying to "sabotage" democracy.

Troops have been deployed in cities across the country ahead of planned weekend protests demanding his removal.

Ahead of Mr Morsi's speech, deadly clashes broke out in the northern city of Mansoura.

Two people were killed and 170 injured in fighting between supporters and opponents of the government, a health ministry spokesman said.

'Radical measures'

Mr Morsi, who hails from the Muslim Brotherhood, became Egypt's first Islamist president on 30 June 2012, after winning an election considered free and fair. His first year in office has been marred by constant political unrest and a sinking economy.

In his two-hour televised address on Wednesday evening, Mr Morsi defended his performance, admitting errors and promising immediate and radical reforms to address them.

"I was right in some cases, and wrong in other cases," he said. "I have discovered after a year in charge that for the revolution to achieve its goals, it needs radical measures."

He apologised for the fuel shortages that have caused long lines at petrol stations and angered many Egyptians, and also for failing to involve the nation's youth enough.

But despite Mr Morsi's initial conciliatory tone, the speech swiftly moved into a condemnation of those he blamed for Egypt's problems, the BBC's Aleem Maqbool in Cairo reports.

"I took responsibility for a country mired in corruption and was faced with a war to make me fail," he said, naming several officials he believed wanted to "turn the clock back" to the Mubarak era, including politicians, judges and a journalists.

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• June 2012 - Narrowly wins presidential election. Orders parliament to meet in defiance of a military decree dissolving it
• July 2012 - Submits to a Supreme Court ruling that the parliamentary elections were invalid
• August 2012 - Dismisses Defence Minister Hussein Tantawi and Chief of Staff Sami Annan and strips military of say in legislation and drafting the new constitution
• November 2012 - Rescinds a decree stripping the judiciary of the right to challenge his decisions, after popular protests
• December 2012 - Public vote approves draft constitution boosting the role of Islam and restricting freedom of speech and assembly
• March 2013 - Court halts his plans to bring parliamentary elections forward to April, citing failure to refer the electoral law to the Constitutional Court
• June 2013 - Puts Islamist in charge of 13 of Egypt's 27 governorships - controversially he appoints a member of the former armed group Gamaa Islamiya to be governor of Luxor

"Political polarisation and conflict has reached a stage that threatens our nascent democratic experience and threatens to put the whole nation in a state of paralysis and chaos," he warned. "The enemies of Egypt have not spared effort in trying to sabotage the democratic experience."

Mr Morsi called on opposition figures to "enter elections if you want to change the government" and criticised them for refusing to take part in a national dialogue.

The president said he would invite party leaders to meet on Thursday to choose a chairman for a committee that will prepare amendments to the constitution, approved in a referendum last year amid protests by secularists, liberals, women and minorities. He also said he was forming a committee of leading public figures to promote national reconciliation.

"I say to the opposition, the road to change is clear," he added. "Our hands are extended."

Anti-government supporters had gathered in the capital's Tahrir Square and outside the defence ministry ahead of Mr Morsi's speech.

The head of the army earlier warned it would not allow Egypt to slip into "uncontrollable conflict".

Soldiers have been stationed in areas of the capital, Cairo, where pro-Morsi demonstrators are expected to gather following Friday prayers.

Armoured trucks are lining the streets near Rabaa al-Adawiya Mosque in the city's east, which has become a gathering point for Islamist protesters.

Troops have also been deployed to protect the presidential palace - the scene of previous clashes - and other public buildings in Cairo.

Fuel shortages

Tensions in Cairo have been rising ahead of the demonstrations planned for the weekend, with counter-demonstrations by Islamists in support of Mr Morsi planned for the coming days.

There have also been acute shortages of fuel in the city, leading to huge traffic jams as well as long and sometimes bad-tempered queues at petrol stations, adding to the febrile atmosphere.

Some Cairenes have begun stockpiling food in anticipation of street clashes between the two opposing political camps, with staples including canned goods, grains and frozen vegetables much sought after.

Gen Abdul Fattah al-Sisi said the army was obliged to stop Egypt plunging into a "dark tunnel", in remarks which were seen as one of the strongest interventions since the army handed over power to President Morsi last year.

Anti-Morsi activists say they have gathered 13 million signatures on a petition calling for the Islamist leader to step down. They want early presidential elections to be called to replace him.

His supporters say any move to unseat him now would be undemocratic.

Many analysts say the instability and a continuing threat of violence have frightened away foreign investors and tourists.

There is increasing unemployment, particularly among the young, and the country's foreign currency reserves are falling.

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