Muammar Gaddafi: How he died

Col Muammar Gaddafi died from bullet wounds some time after a failed attempt to escape from the fighters of the National Transitional Council (NTC), but the exact circumstances of his death are still emerging.

Attempt to escape Sirte
After the fall of Tripoli in August, Sirte remained one of the final pockets of loyalist resistance, in particular District 2 in the north-west of the city.
In the early hours of Thursday it appears that Col Gaddafi, accompanied by key loyalists, decided to attempt a breakout from District 2 in a convoy of vehicles.
At about 08:30 local time French aircraft operating as part of the Nato mission attacked the convoy of 75 vehicles heading out of Sirte at high speed approximately 3-4 km (two miles) west of the city near the western roundabout.
Among those in the convoy were Col Gaddafi's son Mutassim and head of Gaddafi's army Abu Bakr Younis Jabr - both men were later reported dead at the scene and Mutassim's body shown on Libyan TV.
According to Nato, a first strike destroyed one vehicle and caused the convoy to disperse into several groups.
One of those groups, carrying Col Gaddafi, headed south and was hit again by a Nato fighter, destroying 11 vehicles

“Start Quote

My master is here ... Muammar Gaddafi is here and he is wounded”

Unnamed Gaddafi bodyguard

Col Gaddafi and a handful of his men managed to escape on foot and sought refuge in two large drainage pipes filled with rubbish. Rebel forces then closed in.

Fighter Salem Bakeer told Reuters: "At first we fired at them with anti-aircraft guns, but it was no use.
"Then we went in on foot. One of Gaddafi's men came out waving his rifle in the air... as soon as he saw my face he started shooting at me. I think Gaddafi must have told them to stop. 'My master is here, my master is here', he said, 'Muammar Gaddafi is here and he is wounded'".
Gaddafi caught Col Gaddafi was initially captured, with serious injuries, at around noon.

The al-Jazeera news channel broadcast footage showing the dazed and wounded Col Gaddafi gesticulating while being man-handled by rebel fighters.
Salem Bakeer told Reuters: "We went in and brought Gaddafi out. He was saying 'What's wrong? What's wrong? What's going on?' Then we took him and put him in the car." One fighter showed reporters a golden pistol he said he had taken from Col Gaddafi.
What happened next and how Libya's former leader died remains unclear.
What is certain is that at 16:30 local time, Mahmoud Jibril, the NTC prime minister, confirmed the news that Col Gaddafi was dead, saying: "We have been waiting for this moment for a long time. Muammar Gaddafi has been killed."
He later told journalists that a "forensic report" had concluded that the colonel had died from bullet wounds when the car he was in was caught in crossfire. "The forensic doctor could not tell if it came from the revolutionaries or from Gaddafi's forces," he said.
According to Mr Jibril, the colonel died just minutes away from hospital.
But a man claiming to be an eyewitness told the BBC that he saw Col Gaddafi being shot with a 9mm gun in the abdomen at around 12:30 local time.

Col Muammar Gaddafi was shot in the abdomen, according to a man who says he was there

Video footage seemed to show his body was dragged through the streets of Misrata.
The UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, Navi Pillay, has said there should be a full investigation.
Her spokesman Rupert Colville told the BBC: "There are two videos out there, one showing him alive and one showing him dead and there are four or five different versions of what happened in between those two cellphone videos. That obviously raises very, very major concerns."

Pakistan wins UN Security Council seat alongside India

Pakistan may resist Western attempts to sanction Syria and Iran

Pakistan has won a seat alongside its regional rival India on the UN Security Council.

It was contesting elections for five positions with two-year terms.
Morocco, Guatemala and Togo have also been elected as new temporary members of the council. The Eastern European seat is still being contested.
Pakistan's win means both South Asian nuclear states will serve, but diplomats do not think regional rivalry will play out in a big way there.
The positions of Pakistan and India are similar on many international issues.
The elections replace five of the 10 temporary members of the council every year.
Usually regional groupings endorse the seats in advance, but this year there was an unusually high number of contestants, making the outcome unpredictable.
Guatemala ran unopposed and Morocco won easily, but Togo's victory took three rounds and the fifth seat is still contested.
Pakistan's ambassador, Abdullah Hussain Haroon, said he expected to work well with his Indian counterpar - he received a congratulatory call from the Indian envoy while talking to journalists.
Diplomats say the greater impact may be on wider council dynamics - they suspect Pakistan may join emerging powers in resisting Western attempts to sanction countries such as Syria and Iran.
If so, it would continue positions held by Brazil, whose term is ending.
Togo's victory ensures a black African presence on the council, something that was in doubt because its run-off was against the Arab state of Mauritania.

Obituary: Crown Prince Sultan bin Abdulaziz al Saud

Crown Prince Sultan's death has again shone a spotlight on the Saudi succession

Saudi Crown Prince Sultan bin Abdulaziz al Saud has died after a long battle against colon cancer. As one of the sons of the favourite wife of the founder of Saudi Arabia, he was a major influence for many years in the Kingdom, serving as minister of defence and aviation.

Crown Prince Sultan was a member of the most powerful family group in Saudi Arabia, the Sudairi Seven.
They are the sons of Ibn Saud's most influential wife, Hassa bint Ahmad al-Sudairi. The oldest of the seven was King Fahd, who died in 2005 - to be succeeded by a half-brother, the current King Abdullah.
So, Sultan was born to power and influence and, as the oil riches poured into Saudi Arabia, wealth.
His first appointment was as governor of Riyadh. He was made Minister of Defence and Aviation in 1963.
In this post, he oversaw extraordinary expenditure on modernising the armed forces, as multi-billion dollar deals made Saudi Arabia one of the world's biggest arms spenders.
BBC Middle East analyst Sebastian Usher says that despite this, Saudi Arabia is still widely seen as unable to defend itself against major threats.
Sultan was also involved in the setting up and development of the national airline, Saudia. Huge sums of money flowed into Saudi Arabia because of the deals - and Sultan benefited as much as anyone.
He was one of the strongest supporters of forging close ties with the US - links which came under strain after 9/11.

Crown Prince Sultan's son, Bandar (r), was Saudi ambassador to the US for many years

His son, Prince Bandar, was instrumental in this as the Kingdom's Washington ambassador for more than 20 years.
Sultan was still defence minister in 1990 at the time of the first Gulf War, when US troops deployed in Saudi Arabia to help defend the country against Iraq forces that had overrun Kuwait.
Another of his sons, Prince Khaled, served as the top Arab commander in Operation Desert Storm.
Health issues
Sultan's health and age had already raised questions over whether he would be able to succeed Abdullah as King.
The crown prince had a string of health issues. He underwent surgery in New York in February 2009 for an undisclosed illness and spent nearly a year abroad recuperating in the US and at a palace in Agadir, Morocco.
Furthermore, his death has again shone a spotlight on the Saudi succession. Correspondents say the mechanism of picking the next crown prince is not entirely clear.
Another member of the Sudairi Seven, interior minister Prince Nayef, was made second deputy prime minister in 2009 - in effect the next in line after Sultan.
But their generation of Saudi leaders are now in their 70s or 80s and there is no clear idea yet of who will take over among Ibn Saud's legion of grandsons when they have died out.
The Saudi King traditionally names his successor but, as the Associated Press reports, it is possible the king could put the decision of his heir to the Allegiance Council, a body he created a decade ago as one of his reforms. The council is made up of his brothers and nephews with a mandate to determine the succession.

Saudi Arabia Crown Prince Sultan bin Abdulaziz al Saud dies

Crown Prince Sultan was one of the sons of Saudi Arabia's founder

Saudi Crown Prince Sultan bin Abdulaziz al Saud has died, Saudi TV says.

The crown prince was King Abdullah's half-brother and first in line to the Saudi throne. He was also minister of defence and aviation.
He was in his eighties and was diagnosed with colon cancer in 2004. He is thought to have died at a New York hospital.
Prince Sultan had been on a visit to the US for medical tests, and he had an operation in New York in July.
The royal court confirmed the death in a statement carried by SPA, the state news agency:
"With deep sorrow and sadness the Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques King Abdullah bin Abdulaziz mourns the death of his brother and his Crown Prince Sultan... who died at dawn this morning Saturday outside the kingdom following an illness."
'Moderniser' Crown Prince Sultan was a member of the most powerful family group in Saudi Arabia, the Sudairi Seven, and one of the sons of the country's founder, King Abdulaziz, known as Ibn Saud.
The Sudairi Seven are the sons of Ibn Saud's most influential wife, Hassa bint Ahmad al-Sudairi.
The oldest of the seven was King Fahd, who died in 2005 - to be succeeded by a half-brother, the current King Abdullah.
Prince Sultan's first appointment was as governor of Riyadh and he became minister of defence and aviation in 1963.
He oversaw extraordinary expenditure on modernising the armed forces - with multi-billion dollar deals making Saudi Arabia one of the world's biggest arms spenders.
Prince Sultan was also involved in the setting up and development of the national airline, Saudia.
He was one of the strongest supporters of forging close ties with the US, which faced its biggest challenge after 9/11.
His son, Prince Bandar, was instrumental in this as the kingdom's Washington ambassador for more than 20 years.
But BBC Middle East analyst Sebastian Usher says that, with the current generation of Saudi leaders now in their seventies or eighties, there is no clear idea yet of who will take over among Ibn Saud's legion of grandsons when they have died out.
Next in line
Prince Sultan's most likely successor as the next in line to the Saudi throne is Prince Nayef, 78, also a full brother of King Abdullah and one of the Sudairi Seven.
He has been the interior minister, in charge of the security forces, since 1975. In contrast to King Abdullah, who is seen as a cautious reformer, Prince Nayef is believed to be closer to conservative Wahhabi clerics.
Earlier this year, as part of a package of reforms to see off unrest spreading from other Arab countries, the king announced an extra 60,000 posts to be created within the security forces.
In 2009, after Prince Sultan fell ill, King Abdullah named Nayef as his second deputy prime minister, traditionally the post of the second in line to the throne.
However, the king has also established a succession council, made up of his brothers and nephews. It is expected to meet for the first time to determine who will be named as the next in line to the Saudi throne.

Fifa to re-examine bribes inquiry, says Sepp Blatte

Fifa president Sepp Blatter denies world football's governing body is corrupt

Documents relating to the case are believed to show senior Fifa officials were paid kickbacks in return for granting World Cup television and sponsorship rights during the 1990s.
Fifa president Sepp Blatter said: "This is an issue which has been raised by the national associations and members.
"The executive committee has decided that this case should be opened."
Blatter said the executive committee will examine the documents relating to the company, International Sport and Leisure, at a meeting in December.

Continue reading the main story

We will give this file to an independent organisation outside of Fifa so they can delve into this file and extract its conclusions and present them to us

Sepp Blatter Fifa president

World football's governing body has repeatedly blocked attempts by journalists to have the documents released.
Last year, lawyers acting for Fifa and its senior officials paid 5.5m Swiss francs (£3.9m) to settle the case and keep their identities secret.
Blatter also detailed an overhaul of Fifa's ethics bodies and announced the creation of three "task forces" and a good governance committee to drive through reforms.
He laid out a two-year timetable for implementing the reforms.
Regarding the ISL case, Blatter said: "The executive committee has at my request agreed that in the meeting of 16-17 December we will re-open this file.
"If there are any measures to be taken they will not be taken by the executive committee - it is not the body that can take sanctions or release anyone
"So we will give this file to an independent organisation outside of Fifa so they can delve into this file and extract its conclusions and present them to us."

Bolivia's Evo Morales scraps Amazon road project

There had been vocal support for the protesters' cause

Bolivia's President Evo Morales has scrapped plans for a road project in the Amazon that had triggered protests by indigenous people.

Mr Morales said the highway would no longer cross through a rainforest reserve.
Mr Morales made the announcement a day after protesters arrived in La Paz after a two-month march from the Amazon lowlands to voice their opposition.
It is not yet clear what the demonstrators' response will be.
The president said he would send a measure to Congress that would accommodate the protesters' demands.
"The matter is resolved," Mr Morales said.
An indigenous leader Rafael Quispe, said the president's proposal was a "good sign" but said they had 15 other demands that needed to be discussed, the Spanish news agency Efe reported.
Thousands of residents were on the streets of La Paz this week as some 1,000 protesters arrived to call for the project to be stopped.
The government had argued that the road would boost economic development and regional integration.
The protesters said the project - funded by Brazil and built by a Brazilian company - would encourage illegal settlement and deforestation in their rainforest homeland.
The plans were for a highway through the Isiboro Secure Indigenous Territory and National Park - known by its Spanish acronym Tipnis.
President Morales, Bolivia's first indigenous president, has seen his popularity dented by the protest.
He had already suspended the project and offered talks with the protesters.
However, there were also demonstrations in support of the road project from indigenous groups that are loyal to the president.

US economy: Foreign home-buyers sought

Most foreign homebuyers choose Florida and California for their purchases

Two US senators have proposed a plan to offer visas for foreigners buying homes worth $500,000 (£314,000) or more.

Democrat Chuck Schumer and Republican Mike Lee, sponsoring a bill, say it is a move to increase housing demand.
The proposal is similar to an existing Green Card program for foreigners who invest at least $500,000 in an American business that creates at least 10 jobs.
The US Chamber of Commerce has announced its support for the new legislation proposal.
"Our housing market will never begin a true recovery as long as our housing stock so greatly exceeds demand. This is not a cure-all, but it could be part of the solution," said Mr Schumer, a Democrat from New York.
Mr Lee, a Republican from Utah, described the bill as a "free market method for increasing demand for housing".
Residential restrictions Sales of previously owned homes in the United States dropped to 3% in September following a jump in August, according to the National Association of Realtors.
The same group said residential sales to foreigners and recent immigrants totalled $82bn between April 2010 and March 2011, up from $66bn.
Some 31% of all international housing buyers choose Florida.
The proposal would provide a three-year residential visa for foreign owners.
Prospective buyers would need to spend at least $250,000 on one property that would serve as their primary residence, and could make up the $500,000 requirement with additional rental properties.
To qualify for the visa, however, the purchases must be in cash, and the owners would have to reside at the primary residences for 180 days out of the year.
They would also have to apply for a separate work visa in order to be employed in the US, and would not be eligible for government aid programs.
"The bill does not limit people from being productive," Mr Schumer said. "It simply prevents them from coming here and taking jobs that otherwise would go to Americans."
The idea has also been supported by billionaire investor Warren Buffett.
"If you wanted to change your immigration policy so that you let 500,000 families in but they have to have a significant net worth and everything, you'd solve things very quickly," Mr Buffett told PBS's Charlie Rose in August.
Mr Schumer said he was working to get the backing of the Obama administration on Thursday.

Gold: Beyond the eurozone debt crisis

Gold price have continued to fall from their mid year highs of over $1900/oz, with Thursday morning seeing a further 2% easing to $1,608.40 as the Eurozone debt crisis heads towards the weekend unveiling of a comprehensive plan by EU leaders.

But analysts say that Eurozone concerns aren’t alone.This week’s release of Chinese 3Q 2011 GDP data showing a fall to 9.1% from 9.5% in 2Q has also helped to undermine sentiment about gold. Ira Harris, from Praxis Trading, says that while very sensitive to developments out of Europe gold prices are also waiting for news from elsewhere.
“The price ofthe precious metalis highly dependant on the cost ofhigh-yieldassets thatareresponsive to thecommentsby European politiciansfor a resolutionof the debt crisis. But other macroeconomic statistics may have an impactprecious metal prices,in particular, the figures from the housing marketandthe consumer price indexinthe U.S. in September.”
But Harris adds that the gold prices could still be pushed higher depending on attempts by major economies to deal with debt issues or weak economic growth.
"Right now many factors contribute to growing of gold prices. The problems of banks and government debt in Europe are potentially going to be solved with injections of liquidity, with the zero interest rate policy applied in the U.S. and Japan, and Switzerland.”
MichaelVerdyan from Forex, adds that the US data could be particularly critical, against a backdrop of EU events dominating market focus.
“If U.S statistics are moderately positive it will support gold. In addition, if data on U.S consumer price inflation is higher than forecast – 3.8% in annual terms, precious metal may resume its moderate growth. Iif economicstatistics from the U.S.are not as strong asexpected, and Europe debt problems remain in focus,goldmay continue todecline.”
Verdyan added that contradictory comments being released in the media by political figures in the Eurozone ahead of the weekend summit are likely to see a risk off environment underpin gold.
“The new wave of negative sentiment came with the latest news from German Finance Minister, WolfgangSchauble, who said that, no bailout game plan is to be announcedduring the coming October, 23 EU summit. Investors began toclose long positionsin assetswith high risk: equity and commodityassets, opting for U.S. dollar.”
Robert Mantse, Metals and Mining analyst at Otkritie, said gold prices have grown significantly, and then retraced, but have further growth ahead.He says the outlook is very fragile with downside risks in focus, with sovereign debt concerns and continued long term low interest rates in developed economies positive for the metal.

Steve Jobs was preparing for thermonuclear war with Google

Apple CEO Steve Jobs delivers the keynote address at the 2011 Apple World Wide Developers Conference at the Moscone Center on June 6, 2011 in San Francisco, California

Before he passed away earlier this month, Apple CEO Steve Jobs was unable to carry out his last and perhaps biggest plan ever: a war with Google.
According to a copy of Walter Isaacson’s upcoming biography of the Silicon Valley superstar obtained by The Associated Press, Jobs was out to destroy the search engine giant who in recent years had unleashed Android, the main competitor to Apple’s iPhone operating system.
"I will spend my last dying breath if I need to, and I will spend every penny of Apple's $40 billion in the bank, to right this wrong," Jobs is quoted as saying in the forthcoming book. "I'm going to destroy Android, because it's a stolen product,” he says.
Think Jobs was bluffing? How’s this for harsh: “I'm willing to go thermonuclear war on this."
Those are big words directed at a friend turned foe; Former Google CEO Eric Schmidt sat on the board of Apple up until 2009, shortly before the Android became a worth adversary in the smart phone industry.
When Schmidt helped release the Android O/S, Jobs reportedly sent him an expletive-laced rant accusing Google of "grand theft."
Following a meeting between the two parties, Isaacson attests that Jobs said, "I don't want your money. If you offer me $5 billion, I won't want it. I've got plenty of money. I want you to stop using our ideas in Android, that's all I want."
Among the other dirt dug up in Isaacson’s expose, he claims that the author turned sour during a meeting with President Barack Obama — a meeting that he refused until the commander-in-chief issued a personal invitation himself. When the two finally did come head to head, Isaacson says Jobs told Obama, "You're headed for a one-term presidency.”
Another opponent of Jobs: unions. He said that "union work rules" were crippling the American education system, and insisted that reform was futile until the union was squashed.

Syria unrest: 'At least 13' die in protests

Protesters have been holding regular protests since March, despite a government crackdown

At least 13 people were killed across Syria after protesters returned to the streets following Friday prayers, activists said.

Most of the deaths were in the central city of Homs, according to the UK-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights.
The death of Libya's Col Gaddafi was said to help galvanise activists, who regularly protest after Friday prayers.
Protesters are demanding an end to the rule of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad and a transition to democracy.
More than 3,000 people - mostly unarmed demonstrators - have been killed since the revolt began in March, the UN says.
'Your turn' The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said 10 of the deaths took place in Syria's third city, Homs, according to AFP news agency.
"Ten martyrs were killed in Homs, the revolutionary capital of Syria, including eight who took part in mass protests across the majority of the city's neighbourhoods," the group said in a statement cited by AFP.
Two civilians were shot dead ahead of the protest by security forces manning a checkpoint in Bab al-Sibaa, it said.
Homs, a city of one million, has been a focal point for unrest since demonstrations began.
Others were reportedly killed in Deraa and Hama, AFP cited the group as saying.
There has been no independent confirmation of the latest deaths.
Foreign journalists are severely restricted in Syria and information is tightly controlled by the government.
"Gaddafi is finished. It's your turn now Bashar!" shouted demonstrators in the town of Maaret al-Numaan in the northwestern province of Idlib, one witness told Reuters news agency.
In the town of Qusair near the Lebanese border, Syrian forces closed all mosques to prevent people from gathering, AP reports.
Syria has faced mounting international condemnation for its violent response to protesters, including being the subject of US and EU sanctions.
On Sunday, the Arab League called for talks between the Syrian government and opposition forces to take place within 15 days.
Arab foreign ministers at an emergency meeting in Egypt decided not to suspend Syria from the organisation.
Damascus has expressed reservations about the plan although correspondents say it is beginning to feel the pressure as criticism increases.
Saudi Arabia and other Gulf states have already withdrawn their ambassadors from Syria in protest.

Turkey and Iran 'collaborating against Kurdish rebels

Turkey and Iran have vowed to co-operate to defeat separatist Kurdish militants, on the third day of a Turkish offensive on its Iraq border.

The Kurdish militants posed a "common problem" for Turkey and Iran, Iranian Foreign Minister Ali Akbar Salehi said on an unscheduled trip to Ankara.
Turkey vowed jointly to "totally eliminate" the "terrorist threat".
Turkey's latest offensive was triggered by rebel attacks which killed 24 Turkish soldiers on Tuesday.
Turkish warplanes and helicopter gunships flew bombing sorties against the main base of Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) rebels in Iraq, the Qandil Mountain on the Iraq-Iran border, local media reports said.
Hundreds of Turkish soldiers - said to include commandos and special forces - were hunting PKK fighters around the Zap river a few kilometres inside Iraqi territory, Reuters news agency quoted Turkish security officials as saying.

Rising Violence

• 19 Oct: At least 26 soldiers killed in attacks on police and army posts in Hakkari province, triggering military incursion into northern Iraq
• 18 Oct: Five soldiers and three civilians killed in roadside bomb in Bitlis
• 17 Aug: Nine Turkish troops killed and 14 injured in attack in Cukurca, Hakkari province - sparking series of retaliatory air strikes that Turkish officials say kill up to 160 rebels
• 14 July: 13 soldiers die in rebel ambush in south-eastern Turkey; seven rebels also die
• 12 June: Parliamentary elections: Turkish Kurd nationalists do well but success sours as one deputy stripped of seat over terrorism charge, and others delayed from taking up seats
• 4 May: PKK attack PM Erdogan's election bus, killing policeman
• Early May 2011: Army ambushes kill seven PKK fighters in south-eastern Tunceli, then 12 more just over the Iraq border; no military casualties

Local media reported bombing sorties in the same area.

But the Turkish military said most of the operations being undertaken by its 10,000-strong force were confined to the Turkish side of the border, in its Kurdish-dominated south-east - including in Cukurca, one of the sites of Tuesday's bloody rebel raids on Turkish soldiers.
"The air and ground offensives mostly concentrate within Turkey and in the Cukurca area, while air and ground operations are under way in a few areas across the border in northern Iraq," the military said in a statement Friday.
Journalists in Cukurka reported only military aircraft overhead and, overnight, the sound of gunshots.
Tuesday's attacks, in Hakkari province, are thought to have inflicted the biggest loss on Turkish forces since 1993 and President Abdullah Gul has vowed to avenge them.
They were another ratcheting-up of a conflict in which tens of thousands of people have died since 1984.
'Joint struggle' Mr Salehi told reporters in Ankara that the PKK and its Iranian offshoot, the Party of Free Life of Kurdistan (PJAK) were "common problems for Turkey and Iran".
"Our determination continues, we should fight them with a more serious co-ordination," Mr Salehi said.
His Turkish counterpart, Ahmet Davutoglu, said the two countries' "joint determination to struggle against the PKK and the PJAK will continue in the strongest way".
"From now on, we will work together in a joint action plan until this terrorist threat is totally eliminated."
It was not immediately clear what measures the two countries would take - and observers say the window for action is shrinking as winter looms and snow begins to fall in the border zone.
In the past, Iran has shelled targets in the Qandil Mountain and reports suggest Tehran has been carrying out a major offensive against PJAK since July.
Analysts say Turkey's decision to host a radar system for a Nato missile defence shield soured relations with Iran.
Risks of action

Analysts also point out that previous Turkish efforts to take on Kurdish rebels militarily have had short-lived results. Turkey launched a major ground offensive in northern Iraq in 2008, but PKK fighters were able to regroup and continue to stage attacks.
They also suggest such military campaigns risk destabilising the region, with US troops due to depart from Iraq later in the year and neighbouring Syria struggling to suppress a pro-democracy movement within its own borders.
But Turkish leaders have been under pressure from many ordinary Turks to respond to Tuesday's attacks, with the normally measured President Ali Abdullah Gul vowing to exact "great revenge" for the bloodshed.
Tens of thousands of people, including school students, took to the streets in Turkey on Tuesday demanding action against the rebels.
Many have male relatives serving in Turkey's conscript army.

Exclusive Video:Gaddafi moment out of the bunker, a new neighborhood is very

Families condemn 'false hope'

The Free Patriotic Union political group, created by wealthy Tunisians, is accused of using photos of sick and wounded Tunisians for political gain

The Free Patriotic Union (UPL by its French acronym) was created by a group of Tunisian businessmen who have lived abroad for years without any involvement in politics.

What it lacks in history, the UPL compensates for in exposure. The UPL has resources that few of Tunisia's longstanding opposition parties can match. It has outspent every other party in advertising. Its extensive resources have been used to run a campaign reaching out to the country's most marginalised areas, promising investment and job opportunities.
It is now being accused of exploiting the stories and photographs of sick and wounded Tunisians for its own political benefit.

Loujain Ghazouani is a three year old with a serious tumour. She first became sick in June, and now the tumour is attacking her spine.
She is undergoing chemotherapy to threat the tumour, but doctors have warned that without an operation, chances are high that the cancer will spread to her bones.
Her parents Neila and Nejib are desperate to save their daughter, but the operation must be performed overseas. It will cost $40,000, well beyond their means.
They were approached by Nour Chaine, a woman working for Riahi, in early September, who promised them that the generous businessman would take care of everything.
“She came to our home and said Slim Riahi would take care of everything,” Neila Ghazouani says.
She also took photos of Loujain, but promised her mother they would never be used for political propaganda.
Neila, who does not have access to the internet, did not realise that the photos where posted on the UPL’s website and Facebook page.
Riahi’s team booked Loujain in for a consultation at the Gustave Roussy Cancerology Institute in Paris for October 12. Chaine took Neila and Loujain’s passports to apply for French visas.
On October 6, less than a week before the operation, Imed Belkacem, one of the cofounders of the UPL, came to tell the family that they would have to cover the cost of the operation themselves.
Riahi would pay for the flights and hotel, Belkacem said, but not for the id="mce_marker"40,000 operation.
Riahi told Al Jazeera that he had never promised to cover the cost of the operation and that he believed there had been political manipulation in Ghazouani’s case.
“It’s not true. I’m start[ing] to believe it’s a dirty game now,” he said.
 
Mohammed Jendoubi was one of hundreds of protesters who were shot by Tunisian security forces in the last days of Zine El Abidine Ben Ali’s regime.
The Jendoubi family lives in Ariana. An hour before Ben Ali gave his final speech to the nation, on January 13, Mohammed Jendoubi was demonstrating nearby, in the poor suburb of El Kram.
“I went out on the streets like many other Tunisians, for freedom,” he says.

Mohammed Jendoubi was among hundreds of protesters shot by security forces

The bullet pierced his right side, and became lodged in his spine. With an operation to remove it and proper therapy,
there is a good chance he could walk again.
The longer the operation is delayed, the less chance Mohammed has of recovering the movement in the lower part of his body.
Even covering the costs of basic healthcare is a battle for his father, Mouldi, who is supporting the whole family on his retirement benefit of $560.
He’s already scrapped together $2100, and borrowed $2800 from friends and family, to cover hospital fees. He doesn’t know where he’s going to get the money to cover medicine for his son, let alone the vital operation.
“I can’t just leave my son to die, I need money to save my child,” Mouldi says.
The family thought its prayers were answered when a representative of the UPL paid a visit in September, promising that Slim Riahi would find a leading international surgeon to perform the operation. In the meantime, the UPL official told the family, Riahi would send a helicopter to move Mohammed to a private hospital with decent facilities.
Riahi’s aides told the family to apply for passports, which they did.
In late September, Mohammed Jendoubi’s mother gave an interview on national television about her son’s situation. She made no mention of Slim Riahi or the UPL.
The next day, Mohammed received a text message from Riahi’s employee:
“We’re the ones supporting you, call us and mention us in the media”.
After that, Riahi’s team made no more contact with the Jendoubi family.
“Why did they give us false hope?” Mouldi says.

Al-Shabab claims peacekeepers' killings

Somalia's al-Shabab fighters have put on display the dead bodies of more than 70 African Union peacekeepers they say they killed in the country's capital, Mogadishu.
The troops, reportedly Burundian soldiers, were killed on Thursday following a battle with al-Shabab, according to Abu Omar, a commander of the anti-government Islamist group.
"We can confirm that more than 150 Burundian soldiers were killed in the battle. We can confirm to you that 76 of the bodies are currently in our custody and the battle lasted for about six hours," he told Al Jazeera.
Displaying the bodies in the dust to reporters, Sheikh Ali Mohamud Rage, an al-Shabab spokesman, said: "We have killed more than 70 of the enemy soldiers today ... We have inflicted heavy losses on them and you can see their dead bodies."
The bodies were put on display in the al-Shabab-controlled El-Maan area, 18km from Mogadishu.
Witnesses say the bodies were not Somalis and most were dressed in military uniforms.
"I have seen the largest number of soldiers killed in a battle, I have counted 63 Burundian soldiers, all of them dead, the Shabab brought them on trucks to Alamada," Hasan Yunus, a witness, said.
"Some of the dead bodies were dragged along by angry residents."
Photographs showed long lines of at least 20 bodies dressed in military uniform laid out in the sand, surrounded by a large crowd with their faces covered.
'Fell into an ambush'
Al-Shabab's Omar told Al Jazeera that the battle started when "the Burundian crusaders supported by some of the militia from the regime attacked an area in Dayniile which also has a large population of innocent civilians".
"First the Burundian troops began by indiscriminately shelling the area with mortars and rockets whereby dozens of innocent civilians lost their lives as a result and hundreds more were injured. Shortly after the shelling had stopped, the Burundian troops began to move towards the district of Dayniile.
"We were informed of their preparations and movements by our reconnaissance teams, so the mujahideen [al-Shabab] was laying in wait for them. And when they advanced, along with their tanks and armoured personnel carriers, they fell into an ambush and that's where the battle began," he added.
Heavy fighting was reported in the northwest Dayniile district throughout Thursday, but Somali government officials had earlier said they were moving alongside AU troops "towards the final strongholds of the terrorist militants".
Battles began before dawn in Mogadishu as AU-backed Somali forces advanced on holdout al-Shabab positions, officials and witnesses said.
African Union Mission for Somalia (AMISOM) troops and government forces have been pushing into remaining al-Shabab areas in Mogadishu, after the bulk of the fighters abandoned their fixed positions in August.
Burundian troops with the 9,000 strong AMISOM force control the sector closest to the fighting and are believed to have led the assault. Ugandan soldiers make up the bulk of the AU force and control other sections of Mogadishu.
Despite their pullout from much from the capital, al-Shabab has not wavered from its aim to topple the government. The fighters still control large swathes of southern and central Somalia, and remain a serious security threat.
Meanwhile, al-Shabab fighters in southern Somalia are also facing assaults from Kenyan troops and tanks backed by air strikes since Kenya declared war on the group and confirmed it had moved its forces into Somalia on Sunday.

Uncertainty in Tunisia ahead of vote

TUNIS, Tunisia - The streets of downtown Tunis were calm on Friday morning, as the election campaign for the country’s first democratic election entered its last day.
Voters are going to the polls to elect a constituent assembly, a body that will be tasked with deciding what kind of political system the country will have, writing a new constitution, and appointing a new government to replace the interim government.
Voting for Tunisians living abroad began on Thursday, with the first vote being cast in Melbourne, Australia. Overseas voting will continue until Saturday.
Election day inside Tunisia is on Sunday, and the results are expected to be announced the following day.
The ISIE, the Tunisia electoral authority created earlier in the year to oversee the electoral process, has introduced strict rules to govern campaigning. Some, such as the ban on campaign advertising ahead of the official campaign period (October 1-21), were introduced only weeks ahead of the election.
Beji Caid Essebsi, the interim prime minister, stirred controversy at the beginning of the official campaign when, in an interview with The New York Times, he said he would like to continue as a member of the next government.
Essebsi is a member of the old guard – he was a minister in the government of former president, Habib Bourguiba – and his comments revived fears of a "counterrevolution".
Potential manipulation
While the campaign has been largely peaceful, there are fears that the vote might be manipulated in some way, or that the interim government might refuse to hand over power.
In a meeting on Thursday, al-Nahda, the pro-democratic Islamist party headed by Rachid Ghannouchi that polled highly in the run-up to the election, warned that if the party suspected the election results were rigged, they would take to the streets.
Tunisia’s democratic transition is being watched throughout the region, with many considering it a trial case for genuine democracy in the Arab world.
Most parties have accentuated the Mediterranean country’s Arab-Muslim identity throughout the campaign, although the role that religion should play in political life has been controversial.
Other successful democracies in the Muslim world include Turkey, Malaysia and Indonesia.
Al-Nahda looks towards Turkey as a model Tunisia could follow, because of the balance struck between Muslim identity and political pluralism.
“Ghannouchi is both attracted by the Turkish model because it works, and it’s accepted by other forces and he’s attracted to it because it’s the logical conclusion of the position he took up many many years ago,” George Joffe, a North Africa specialist at who is a research fellow at the University of Cambridge, explained.
Role of religion
The last attempt at democracy in the North Africa region came in neighbouring Algeria after protests in 1988 forced the regime there to legalise opposition parties and allow for a democratic election, but the blossoming of political pluralism was cut short by a coup d’état that led to a decade long bloody civil war.
There were grave human rights abuses committed by both the military regime and some of those claiming to defend the cause of political Islam.
Tunisia is a very different case, not least because the former regime is arguably no longer in place and the Tunisian military is far weaker.
The schism between those who would like religion to play a more important role in public life, and those who want to limit the influence of religion, has been noted by many, however.
Al-Nahda has clearly learned from the Algerian example and has led a tightly managed campaign, repeatedly stressing the party’s opposition to violence and its acceptance of democratic values.
"What happened in Algeria has reconfirmed our belief that violence never achieves anything that is good," Ghannouchi told Al Jazeera in an interview ahead of the election.
"Even if this choice of opting for peaceful political engagement doesn’t bear fruit very quickly, we believe that in the longterm, it is good for the people and for the country."

Occupy London: Demo forces St Paul's Cathedral to close

The protest camp has been located outside St Paul's Cathedral since Saturday

St Paul's Cathedral is to close to visitors because of the anti-capitalist demonstrators camping on its doorstep, its dean has said.

The decision was taken with "heavy hearts" for health and safety reasons, said the Reverend Graeme Knowles.
The Occupy London Stock Exchange movement has been located in Paternoster Square since Saturday after being barred from the Stock Exchange.
The dean has asked the activists to move on from the area by the entrance.
World War II "We have a legal obligation to keep visitors safe and healthy," he said.
The cathedral will close to members of the public after a service on Friday afternoon.
It is the first time it has shut to visitors since World War II, the dean added.
On Sunday the cathedral's canon chancellor, the Reverend Giles Fraser, said he had asked for the police presence outside the building to be scaled back.
By Wednesday, the increased number of protesters at the site meant officials had to review "the extent to which it can remain open for the many thousands coming this week as worshippers, visitors and in school parties".

What does Gaddafi's death mean for Africa?

A grandson of Nelson Mandela is named Gadaffi - a sign of how popular the late Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi once was in South Africa and many other African countries.

With his image of a revolutionary, Col Gaddafi inspired South Africans to fight for their liberation, funding and arming the anti-apartheid movement as it fought white minority rule.
However, he also backed notorious rebel groups in Liberia and Sierra Leone and his demise could serve as a warning to the continent's other "big-man" rulers.

“Start Quote

We saw him [Col Gaddafi] slap his foreign minister in our presence, which is something unexpected of any dignified and self-respecting head of state”

Moses Wetangula Kenya's foreign minister

After Mr Mandela became South Africa's first black president in 1994, he rejected pressure from Western leaders - including then-US President Bill Clinton - to sever ties with Col Gaddafi, who bankrolled his election campaign.

"Those who feel irritated by our friendship with President Gaddafi can go jump in the pool," he said.
Instead, Mr Mandela played a key role in ending Col Gaddafi's pariah status in the West by brokering a deal with the UK over the 1988 Lockerbie bombing.
It led to Col Gaddafi handing over Abdelbaset Ali Mohmed al-Megrahi for trial in Scotland. He was convicted in 2001, before being released eight years later on compassionate grounds - a decision Mr Mandela welcomed.
Mr Mandela saw the Lockerbie deal as one of his biggest foreign policy achievements.
"No-one can deny that the friendship and trust between South Africa and Libya played a significant part in arriving at this solution... It vindicates our view that talking to one another and searching for peaceful solutions remain the surest way to resolve differences and advance peace and progress in the world," he said in 1999, as he approached the end of his presidency.
"It was pure expediency to call on democratic South Africa to turn its back on Libya and [Col] Gaddafi, who had assisted us in obtaining democracy."
'Vanquished' Col Gaddafi's position in Africa was paradoxical. Just as he backed pro-democracy causes, he also fuelled rebellions in countries such as Liberia and Sierra Leone and supported Uganda's infamous dictator Idi Amin.
African leaders tended to overlook this.
"Muammar Gaddafi, whatever his faults, is a true nationalist. I prefer nationalists to puppets of foreign interests," Ugandan President Yoweri Museveni said in February.
"Therefore, the independent-minded Gaddafi had some positive contribution to Libya, I believe, as well as Africa and the Third World.

Col Gaddafi was declared Africa's "king of kings"

"We should also remember, as part of that independent-mindedness, he expelled British and American military bases from Libya [after he took power]," Mr Museveni said.

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The AU will work better now without his [Gaddafi's] delaying it and with some members no longer feeling as intimidated by him as they did”

Jacob Zuma South African president

Col Gaddafi played a prominent role in the formation of the African Union (AU) - a body in which he wielded enormous influence because he was one of its major financiers.

At an AU summit in 2008, he got many African traditional leaders to declare him the continent's "king of kings".
A spokesman for one of those traditional leaders - Uganda's Tooro kingdom - says Col Gaddafi was a "visionary" and would be missed.
"We saw the human side of him - not Gaddafi the colonel or the proverbial terrorist as the Americans and Europeans described him," Philip Winyi said.
"In spite of what many see as his weaknesses, he has done quite a lot for Africa, contributing to the building of infrastructure."
Col Gaddafi pushed for a United States of Africa to rival the US and the European Union (EU).
"We want an African military to defend Africa. We want a single currency. We want one African passport," he said.
Africa's other leaders paid lip-service to achieving this vision but none seemed very serious about putting it into practice.
In a BBC interview after Col Gaddafi's death, Kenya's Foreign Minister Moses Wetangula said the late Libyan leader sometimes showed a violent streak at AU meetings.
"He really suppressed Libyan people and vanquished them to the extent that in one of many AU meetings we saw him slap his foreign minister in our presence, which is something unexpected of any dignified and self-respecting head of state," Mr Wetangula told the BBC's Focus on Africa programme.
Mugabe and Gaddafi An AU expert with the South African Institute for International Affairs, Kathryn Sturman, says Col Gaddafi's death will have a profound effect on the AU.

Col Gaddafi on Africa

2008: "We want an African military to defend Africa, we want a single African currency, we want one African passport to travel within Africa," after being declared king of kings by African traditional rulers in Libya.
2010: "We don't know what will happen, what will be the reaction of the white and Christian Europeans faced with this influx of starving and ignorant Africans," after discussing halting the flow of African migrants to Italy.
2007: "Libya is an African country. May Allah help the Arabs and keep them away from us. We don't want anything to do with them."
2009: "I am an international leader, the dean of the Arab rulers, the king of kings of Africa and the imam of Muslims, and my international status does not allow me to descend to a lower level," at an Arab League summit.

"It's the end of an era for the AU. Libya was one of the big five [along with South Africa, Nigeria, Egypt and Algeria] financial contributors of the organisation. It paid 15% [of its budget], and also the membership fees of countries in arrears, like Malawi," Ms Sturman said.

"The new government in Libya is not going to be well disposed to the AU [which opposed the Nato-led intervention in Libya]."
Ms Sturman said that while the AU financial woes may worsen, it may work more effectively in the post-Gaddafi era.
"He was very adamant about pursuing a United States of Africa - and was quite obstructive in attempts to bring about deeper regional integration."
Last week, South Africa's President Jacob Zuma - whose government initially backed Nato intervention, but then denounced it - echoed a similar view in a foreign policy speech.
"Colonel Gaddafi spent a lot of time discussing a unity government for Africa that was impossible to implement now. He was in a hurry for this, possibly because he wanted to head it up himself.
"I had arguments with him about it several times. The AU will work better now without his delaying it and with some members no longer feeling as intimidated by him as they did," the South African president said.
It is an open secret in political circles that some African leaders are also intimated by Zimbabwe's President Robert Mugabe, who remained a staunch ally of Col Gaddafi until his death.
Having spearheaded Zimbabwe's independence struggle, Mr Mugabe - who has been in office since 1980 - portrays the opposition as "puppets" of the West as he tries to hang on to power.

Hillary Clinton: US held meeting with Haqqani network

The US has blamed the recent attack on Kabul's US embassy on the Haqqani network

The US has held its first ever meeting with representatives of the Haqqani militant network, US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton says.

She did not give any details about who was involved and where they met.
But one senior US official said the meeting took place over the summer, before several major attacks against US interests in Pakistan.
Mrs Clinton has been in talks in Islamabad, where she has urged Pakistan to clamp down on the Haqqanis.
Pakistan has so far refused to act.
Hillary Clinton said the US held a preliminary meeting with the Haqqani network to see if they would even show up to such a meeting.
There had been reports about the talks over the summer but the US had refused to confirm it at the time.
Mrs Clinton, speaking to Pakistani journalists, said the US had reached out to the Taliban and to the Haqqani network to test their sincerity and willingness to engage in a peace process.
A political settlement is key to ending the war in Afghanistan. The secretary of state said Pakistan had helped faciliate the meeting.
A senior US official also said the meeting took place over the summer at the request of Pakistan's intelligence services, the ISI, who asked the US to give it a chance.
The meeting took place before two major attacks against US troops in Afghanistan and the US embassy in Kabul.
The attacks were blamed on the Haqqani network.

Manchester City to charge Carlos Tevez with refusing to warm up

Striker Carlos Tevez will be charged by Manchester City for refusing to warm up against Bayern Munich when he attends a disciplinary hearing on Friday.

A club investigation failed to prove City boss Roberto Mancini's claim that Tevez did not follow instructions to come on as a substitute.
The 27-year-old will face a number of other charges and City are expected to make an announcement early next week.
Tevez, set to exit the club in January, will appeal against any punishment.
A senior City figure who has not been part of the initial investigation will chair Friday's hearing.
Tevez can request that club captain Vincent Kompany or a member of the Professional Footballers' Association be present.
Once charged, he can take his case to the City board - with that hearing likely to involve a representative of the club's Abu Dhabi-based owners.
If he is again unsuccessful, the Argentine would be able to appeal to the Premier League - and he could contest that ruling as well - meaning the dispute may not be settled until mid-December.
Both camps accept it would then be best if Tevez moved on during the winter transfer window, although no talks have taken place with potential suitors.
Mancini said after the Champions League defeat in Germany that Tevez was "finished" at City.
The player denied refusing to play, blaming a "misunderstanding" and his adviser Kia Joorabchian insisted a post-match interview in which Tevez said "I didn't feel right to play so I didn't" was mistranslated.
Tevez was signed by then City manager Mark Hughes in the summer of 2009 and has since scored 53 goals in 91 appearances.
In May, he captained the club to FA Cup triumph, with a 1-0 victory over Stoke in the final at Wembley, City's first major trophy in 35 years.
However, he has also twice asked for a transfer away from Eastlands and looked set to get his wish before a proposed £40m move to Brazilian side Corinthians fell through.
He has made five appearances for City this season but only two starts and is yet to score.

No celebration for Col Muammar Gaddafi victims

WPC Yvonne Fletcher was fatally shot outside the Libyan Embassy in London in 1984

A police officer who was on duty with WPC Yvonne Fletcher when she was murdered has said Col Gaddafi's death is no cause for celebration.

John Murray described the former Libyan leader's death as "the worst result I could imagine" and said it left many questions unanswered.
The dad of a Lockerbie bombing victim said it was "no form of justice".
Defence Secretary Philip Hammond said Britain's involvement in Libya would continue "until there is no threat".
He said thousands of people in Britain had suffered because of the Gaddafi regime.
"To all of those people a cloud has now been lifted. Gaddafi has gone and he can no longer export terror to the rest of the world," he told BBC Radio 4's Today programme.
Former PC John Murray was on duty with WPC Fletcher when she was fatally shot outside the Libyan Embassy in London in 1984 and vowed to trace her murderer.
"When we found out he (Col Gaddafi) had been confirmed dead for me it was no celebration," he told BBC Breakfast.
"It was the worst result that certainly I could ever imagine. The death of Gaddafi has left so many questions unanswered."
But Mr Murray, who recently travelled to Libya to meet members of the country's new government, the National Transitional Council, said there was Libyan will for "closure and justice" in the case.
He said he was hopeful that Matouk Mohamed Matouk, the only one of three suspects still alive, would face trial if he was caught.
"(Matouk) survived these last few months under the protection of Gaddafi. Now he's got no-one to look after him so I think there's a reasonable chance that very soon he will be detained and stand trial for Yvonne's murder," he said.

Fletcher murder suspect

• Matouk Mohamed Matouk is the last named suspect alive in the murder case
• He travelled to London in February 1984 as one of those ordered by Gaddafi to take over the Libyan Embassy
• WPC Fletcher was murdered on April 17, 1984, and Matouk returned to Libya later the same month, claiming diplomatic immunity from prosecution
• There, he became one of the leading figures in the Gaddafi regime
• He is now a wanted man in Libya, accused of crimes against the Libyan people

Mr Murray said he had not yet spoken to WPC Fletcher's family but would do shortly.

He added: "I wanted to see Gaddafi in a court of law. I wanted the answers to many many questions that I've been fighting for for the last 27 years.
"Why did it happen? Who gave the orders? What did the whole incident achieve? We've never had answers to those questions and they need to be answered."
Dr Jim Swire, whose daughter Flora died in the 1988 Lockerbie atrocity, said Col Gaddafi should have been kept alive and put on trial.
"I think he did take with him questions that he might have been able to answer," he told BBC Breakfast.
"As far as justice being done is concerned the pictures seem to show that he was first captured and then essentially lynched or shot once in captivity.
"If that is the case, as opposed to what the committee are putting out publicly, then it was no form of justice and I think it would have been much better if he could have been kept alive so that he could have been perhaps extradited to the Criminal Court of Justice in the Hague in order to have a fair trial and to answer the questions that he could."
Abdelbaset al-Megrahi remains the only man convicted of the atrocity which killed 270 people when Pan Am Flight 103 exploded over Lockerbie four days before Christmas.

I hope we are closer to a conclusion. It has been a long campaign”

Colin Parry Father of Warrington bomb victim

He was freed from Greenock prison in August 2009 on compassionate grounds because he had terminal prostate cancer. Despite doctors determining at the time that he had around three months to live, he is still alive.

Dr Swire has always maintained that Megrahi is innocent, but thinks Col Gaddafi would have known who committed the crime.
He said: "I don't have any evidence that Gaddafi was involved either, but I think at the very least Gaddafi would have known who was going to do Lockerbie and how they were going to do it."
The Scottish government has previously said it is ready to re-open the investigation into the Lockerbie bombing, saying the Libyan intelligence agent who was convicted "did not act alone".
Colin Parry, whose 13-year-old son Tim died in the 1993 Warrington bomb attack, in which Semtex provided by Col Gaddafi's regime was used to make the IRA bomb, said if Gaddafi had gone on trial it would have been a "better outcome".
"I hope we are closer to a conclusion. It has been a long campaign," he said.
"The temporary government has been helped considerably by the British and the French in overcoming Gaddafi's regime. And in a sense the new the emerging nation of Libya owes a debt to this country.
"So I would hope that factor, allied to the natural justice of our claim, would lead to a speedy settlement (of legal claims for IRA victims)."

Jim Swire: 'No form of justice'

Following Col Gaddafi's death Prime Minister David Cameron spoke of the toll on victims, saying Thursday was "a day to remember" WPC Fletcher, those who died at Lockerbie, and people killed by IRA terrorism.

Philip Hammond said Nato officials were meeting on Friday to discuss their next move on Libya and the UK would stay in the country "as long as there is any threat to the Libyan civilian population".
He said he was proud of the contribution of Britain's armed forces and hoped there would now be a "stable Libya" on Europe's southern border.
He added he expected British sales directors to pack their suitcases and head to Libya to take part in the reconstruction as soon as possible.
Mr Hammond said the prime minister had taken a "very bold decision" to protect the Libyan people from "imminent disaster".
"David Cameron is a very cautious and thoughtful person. I don't think there is any danger of him charging around in a gung-ho frame of mind," he said.
"He will look very carefully around the world. If we see civilian nationals being threatened, if we see people like Col Gaddafi, who pose a real and present danger to the UK's own national security, then of course we will look to do what we can to end those situations."

AU rejects al-Shabab bodies 'stunt' in Somalia

The bodies were displayed in one of the few parts of Mogadishu controlled by al-Shabab

The African Union has denied that 70 bodies displayed by Somalia's militant Islamist group al-Shabab were those of its troops killed in fighting.

Al-Shabab showed the bodies to journalists, claiming they were Burundian soldiers killed in Mogadishu on Thursday.
An AU spokesman dismissed the claim as propaganda and said 10 of its soldiers had been killed and two were missing.
The AU has 9,000 troops in Somalia to back the weak interim government.
In August, al-Shabab announced a "tactical withdrawal" from Mogadishu and the AU said it was in control of most of the city.
But fighting has continued and the two sides clashed throughout Thursday in the city's Daynile district.
"We have killed more than 70 of the enemy soldiers... We have inflicted heavy losses on them [AU troops] and you can see their dead bodies," al-Shabab
spokesman Sheikh Ali Mohamud Rage said, AFP reports.
Photographs show a row of bodies - some of them decapitated - on display in Alamada, an al-Shabab stronghold outside Mogadishu.
Many of the dead were wearing flak jackets and helmets - equipment issued to AU troops, the AP news agency reports.

But AU spokesman Lt-Col Paddy Ankunda said al-Shabab had dressed up their own dead troops in uniforms.
BBC East Africa correspondent Will Ross says that in the past, the AU has been reluctant to admit to heavy losses.
Al-Shabab has been weakened but the ongoing battle for total control of Mogadishu and the recent suicide bombings show that the capital is still far from stable, he says.
The al-Qaeda linked group controls many areas of southern Somalia.
More than 70 people were killed in a suicide attack in Mogadishu on 4 October and five people were killed in an attack on 18 October.
Kenya sent troops to Somalia on Sunday to fight al-Shabab militants it blames for a spate of kidnappings of foreign nationals.
They include two Spanish doctors who were working in Dadaab, the world's largest refugee camp in Kenya.
Al-Shabab has denied any link to the kidnappings and has vowed to stage revenge attacks in Kenya.
Hundreds of thousands of Somalis are taking refuge in Kenya and Ethiopia to escape conflict and famine.
The UN declared a famine in six areas of Somalia earlier this year.
All are controlled by al-Shabab, which restricts access to their areas by international aid agencies.

Chinese toddler left for dead in hit-and-run crash dies

The distressing footage caused outcry when it was shown on television

A two-year-old girl in southern China, who was run over by two vans and ignored by 18 passers-by, has died, hospital officials say.

Surveillance camera footage showed people walking past the girl as she lay bleeding and unconscious.
It sparked a wave of condemnation and soul-searching on China's social networking sites.
Doctors had earlier said Wang Yue, who had been in a coma since the incident on 13 October, was unlikely to survive.
Police have detained the drivers of both vehicles involved in the incident, which happened in the city of Foshan in southern Guangdong Province.
Outrage Wang Yue was knocked down by a van while wandering through a market, where her parents run a shop. The driver sped off without checking on the girl's condition.
Over the following minutes, 18 people walked past the bleeding toddler, and another van ran over her legs, but no-one stopped to help.

At the scene

Martin Patience BBC News, Foshan

Other than the two chalk circles marked "1" and "2" on the road, there was little to suggest anything out of the ordinary.
The hardware stores selling irons, light fittings and taps were all open. Shopkeepers sat around chatting to each other.
But what happened on a covered street of this huge wholesale market last week shocked China.
A shopkeeper close to where the incident took place said she had been sickened when she saw the footage.
"Every time I watch it, my heart breaks," said Hu Haiou. "I catch the news every night to see if she'll survive. The people who walked by were shameful."
Another shopkeeper, Chen Guilin, said it had been raining hard the night of the incident.
"The raindrops sounded like drumbeats on the roof," she said, "We had no idea what happened outside."

The distressing footage was shown on television.

A rubbish collector who finally moved the toddler to the side of the street was hailed as a national hero, but the incident led many online commentators to question the state of Chinese morality.
A spokesman for the hospital told the AFP news agency that Wang Yue had died of "systemic organ failure", adding that no expense had been spared to try to save the girl, whose parents are migrant workers.
There have been millions of internet comments about how to encourage good Samaritans - and many more expressing outrage that so many people refused to help.
Her death was one of the most remarked on topics on China's Weibo - a micro-blogging site similar to Twitter - on Friday as people expressed sorrow and anger over the incident.
"Farewell to little Wang Yue. There are no cars in heaven," wrote one micro-blogger.
Guangdong province is debating the introduction of a law to force people to help others in obvious distress.
Initial online polls, though, suggest most people are against it.
"Talk about being civilised first. Is anyone paying attention to that?" read one posting.
Organisations in Guangdong are also looking at other ways to encourage people to act with compassion when faced with an emergency.
The provincial government's political and legal affairs committee is using its micro-blog site to gather opinions about how to "guide brave acts for just causes" and promote "socialist morals".
Several commentators have linked the failure of the passers-by to help with high-profile cases in which residents who stopped to assist people in distress were later held responsible for their plight.

Thailand floods: Bangkok braced as drainage begins

Flood defences in central Bangkok have been fortified in recent days

More districts in the north of the Thai capital have been told to brace for flooding as water begins to drain through the city's canals to the sea.

On Thursday the government opened several floodgates due to a build-up of water to the north of Bangkok.
It urged residents to move their belongings to higher floors but cautioned against panic.
Thailand is facing its worst floods in decades with more than 340 people dead and a third of all provinces inundated.
Three months of heavy monsoon rain have left swathes of the country flooded. Northern and central areas were worst hit initially but now the run-off is draining south to the sea, threatening Bangkok.
The capital is protected by floodgates, and barriers in key areas have been reinforced with sandbags.
But with suburbs to the north of the city now under water, the government was forced to open some of the floodgates on Thursday.
The authorities want to drain the water to the east and west of the city, avoiding the central hub.
Panic buying The BBC's Rachel Harvey, in Bangkok, says the move is a change of tactic for the government - and no-one seems entirely sure whether the volume of water can be safely controlled.
"I ask all Bangkok residents to move your belongings to higher ground as a precaution, but they should not panic. It's preparation," Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra said.
"We will rapidly assess the situation and regularly inform the public."
Reports said water had flooded homes in the Lak Si district, along a key canal in the north of the city.
Our correspondent says that there is growing concern in the capital after confused, sometimes contradictory, messages from the authorities.
Some shops have reported a flurry of panic buying, while bridges and flyovers have been blocked with parked cars.
The flooding has already taken a toll on the economy, with several industrial parks to the north of Bangkok under water. About 1,000 factories have had to close.
On Thursday, the central bank said the damage to industry amounted to over 100bn baht ($3.3bn; £2.1bn).
Analysts have warned that growth this year could be up to two percentage points less than the 4.1% forecast if Bangkok is flooded.
The tourism industry has so far been largely unaffected, with southern islands escaping the flooding. The main international airport is operating as normal and its flood defences have been fortified.

Spanish PM Zapatero hails end to Basque Eta violence

Mr Zapatero said the violence carried out by Eta should never have happened

Spain's prime minister has hailed the end of Basque separatist group Eta's armed campaign as a "victory for democracy, law and reason".

Jose Luis Rodriguez Zapatero said the 800 victims of Eta's 40-year struggle would be remembered forever and that the "terror" should never happen again.
On Thursday, Eta declared a "definitive cessation" to bombings and shootings.
Politicians have previously rejected such announcements, with Eta having broken ceasefires before.
But correspondents say this time appears to be different, with Thursday's move the latest step in what Eta has called its transition to peaceful methods.
'Direct dialogue' Mr Zapatero said after 40 years of bomb attacks and assassinations, Spain was now experiencing "legitimate satisfaction" at the victory over terror.
"With the restraint that history imposes on us, we are today living legitimate satisfaction over the victory of democracy, law and reason.

Eta statement: "Eta has decided on the definitive cessation of its armed activity"

"It is a satisfaction in mourning for the pain caused by violence that should never have happened and that should never happen again."
In a statement provided to the BBC on Thursday, Eta said it had renounced armed struggle as a tool for achieving an independent Basque state - a key demand by the Spanish government.
The group said it faced "a historic opportunity to obtain a just and democratic solution to the age-old political conflict."
"Eta has decided on the definitive cessation of its armed activity," the statement said.
The announcement was made in a video showing three Eta members wearing trademark Basque berets and white masks.
The group said it would campaign for its cause through peaceful means, and called on the Spanish and French governments to respond with "a process of direct dialogue".
The new Spanish government to emerge after November's general election is to take charge of any process, said former interior minister Alfredo Perez Rubalcaba - who is running on behalf of the Socialist Party in the poll.
Mr Zapatero is not running for re-election.
Thursday's move followed a conference this week in the Basque country, attended by international statesmen including former UN Secretary General Kofi Annan, and protagonists in the Northern Ireland peace process.
They called on Eta to lay down its arms.
'Total defeat'

Eta under pressure

A string of arrests in recent years is believed to have weakened the group significantly

• 11 March 2011: Suspected Eta leader Alejandro Zobaran Arriola arrested in France

• 28 February 2010: Suspected key militant Ibon Gogeascotxea arrested in France

• 6 August 2009: Juan Manuel Inciarte, accused of six murders, deported from Mexico

• 19 April 2009: Jurdan Martitegi, Eta's suspected military chief, arrested in France

• 8 December 2008: Aitzol Irionda, suspected military chief, arrested in France

• 17 November 2008: Suspected military chief Garikoitz Aspiazu Rubina arrested in France

In September 2010, the group announced to the BBC a decision not to carry out further attacks.

In January this year, it declared a permanent and "internationally verifiable" ceasefire.
Relatives of victims killed by Eta say the group must disband and inform the authorities of any weapons or bomb-making material.
"It is the hoped-for end, but not the desired one," Angeles Pedraza, president of a relatives' association, told the AP news agency.
"The victims want the attacks to stop, but we want them to pay for what they have done. We want the total defeat of Eta."
Spain's Socialist government has previously insisted that it will not negotiate on demands for Basque self-determination until Eta disbands.
Correspondents say the government is cautious about engaging in another peace process, after the last one failed.
It opened contacts with Eta when the group called a "permanent" ceasefire in 2006, only to break it by bombing an airport car park in Madrid, killing two people.
But observers say this time appears to be different, in part because the group is widely considered to have been seriously weakened, by a concerted Spanish and French crackdown.
Dozens of Eta militants, including successive leaders, have been arrested and jailed, and analysts say the group realises its days are numbered.