Twin blasts shake Damascus suburb

28 November 2012 Last updated at 13:23 GMT No group has claimed responsibility for the blasts

At least 34 people are reported to have been killed and many injured by two car bomb explosions in a south-eastern district of Syria's capital, Damascus.

State media said "terrorists" were behind the blasts in Jaramana and broadcast pictures showing several charred vehicles and damaged buildings.

The district is predominantly Druze and Christian, two communities which have so far not joined the uprising.

Earlier, there were clashes between security forces and rebels in Jaramana.

There has been fierce fighting in recent days in eastern parts of the countryside around Damascus, known as the Ghouta.

'Suicide attacker'

Pro-government TV channel Addounia said the car bombs had exploded in Jaramana shortly after 06:40 local time (04:40 GMT).

Continue reading the main story Lina Sinjab BBC News, Damascus

The car bombs exploded in an area which is predominantly Druze and Christian - two minorities which President Bashar al-Assad's government says it is protecting from "terrorist extremists".

These are not the first attacks in Jaramana to have been blamed on those seeking to overthrow the government. But in the past, the armed opposition has denied any involvement and repeatedly said it is targeting Mr Assad's forces and not minority groups. Areas like Jaramana are heavily guarded by pro-government militia known as Popular Committees.

The conflict in Syria is rapidly taking on a sectarian dimension. Earlier this month, similar attacks took place in pro-government Alawite districts like Mezzeh 86 and Woroud.

Meanwhile, government forces continue to bombard rebel-held areas in Damascus and elsewhere in the country that are predominantly Sunni. The opposition says the decisive battle to overthrow Mr Assad will be in Damascus. The city has become heavily fortified, with security forces personnel and checkpoints all over. Many people here feel the tension of further escalation yet to hit the capital.

"Terrorists blew up two car bombs filled with a large amount of explosives in the main square," the official Sana news agency reported.

State television quoted a source at the interior ministry as saying that 34 people had died and 83 had been seriously injured.

The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights (SOHR), a UK-based activist group, put the death toll at 47, including women and children. It said it had so far identified 38 of the victims and that the death toll would probably rise.

"Activists and residents in the town said most of the victims were killed when a suicide attacker blew up his car, just after an explosive device was used to blow up another car," it added.

Two smaller bombs also exploded in Jaramana at around the same time as the attack, Sana said, adding that nobody was killed by them.

No group has said it was behind the bombings, and there was no immediately obvious military or government target, reports the BBC's Jim Muir in Beirut.

"What do they want from Jaramana? The town brings together people from all over Syria and welcomes everybody," one resident told the AFP news agency.

The population of Jaramana is mainly Christian and Druze, a heterodox offshoot of Islam. It is also home to many Palestinian and Iraqi refugees.

Few members of Syria's minority groups have supported the revolt against President Bashar al-Assad. They are fearful for their future if the country's majority Sunni Muslim community chooses an Islamist leadership to replace decades of secular rule.

Supporters of the government in Jaramana and other Damascus suburbs have set up armed vigilante groups - known as Popular Committees - to prevent attacks such as Wednesday's. On 29 October, 11 people were killed in a car bombing in Jaramana.

Jaramana is a mainly Druze and Christian district

Elsewhere on Wednesday, activists posted video footage online apparently showing a government warplane being shot down by rebels over Darat Izza, in the northern province of Aleppo, and one of its pilots being captured.

Coming just a day after a helicopter was reported to have been brought down, it suggests that rebel fighters may be starting to obtain more effective weapons to counter the government's monopoly on air power, our correspondent says.

Fighter jets earlier bombarded rebel positions in the western Damascus suburb of Darayya, the SOHR said.

The government army also reportedly shelled Zabadani, a town in the mountains north-west of the capital.

Activists say more than 40,000 people have been killed since the uprising against President Assad began in March 2011.

Send your pictures and videos to yourpics@bbc.co.uk or text them to 61124 (UK) or +44 7624 800 100 (International). If you have a large file you can upload here.

Read the terms and conditions

View the original article here

Jaffna students boycott classes

29 November 2012 Last updated at 14:48 GMT By Charles Haviland BBC News, Colombo The campus was the scene of the worst political disturbances since the war ended in 2009 Students at Jaffna University in northern Sri Lanka have started a two-day boycott of classes after clashes with security forces on Wednesday.

They say they do not feel safe after several were beaten and injured in the worst political disturbances since the civil war ended in 2009.

Security forces entered the university, disrupting students marking a commemoration of dead rebel fighters.

The army said it had to restrain people who were throwing stones.

But some staff at the university accused the security forces of starting the violence, saying they believe the police baton-charged a group of students who had begun a planned march through the streets.

Only after that did some students throw stones, they said.

One staff member told the BBC the aftermath of the clashes was "like a battlefield". And on Thursday, reports said there was little activity on the campus.

There were Sinhala and Muslim as well as Tamil students on the campus, one staff member emphasised.

Tension in the north

Across the former war zone in northern and eastern Sri Lanka there is a higher military presence than usual.

Asked by the BBC why the students in Jaffna should not be allowed to march in the streets, Jaffna's military commander, Maj-Gen Mahinda Hathurusinghe, said the students have been "categorically told not to" because "they would become violent".

He said that "for the betterment of the country", "Martyrs' Day" - which commemorates dead Tamil Tiger fighters - should not be observed by people.

The tensions arose as some students marked the death of Tamil Tiger guerrillas at small candle-lit memorials, while well-produced pro-Tiger posters appeared in various parts of the formerly Tiger-held territory.

Since the end of the war this had hardly happened within Sri Lanka, where the Tigers and their separatist ideology are strictly banned - although Tiger sympathisers in the diaspora call 27 November "Martyrs' Day" and mark it as such.

The clashes point to simmering tensions three-and-a-half years after the mainly Sinhalese security forces crushed the Tamil separatists, and as the army maintains tight control over the whole of the north where the war was fought most bitterly.

In a Jaffna suburb, a petrol-bomb was thrown at the offices of a small Tamil political party on Thursday. There were no reports of injuries. It is unclear who did it or whether it was related to the campus trouble.

View the original article here

Egypt constitution voting begins

29 November 2012 Last updated at 14:13 GMT President Morsi's decree has sparked huge protests across Egypt

The Islamist-dominated assembly writing a new Egyptian constitution has convened to vote on the final draft.

In one of its first steps, the constituent assembly voted to keep sharia, or Islamic law, as the main source of legislation.

It came after the constitutional court said it would rule on Sunday whether to dissolve the assembly.

Egypt's judiciary is in a stand-off with President Mohammed Morsi after he granted himself sweeping new powers.

Mr Morsi's decree last week has sparked huge protests across the country.

Liberal, left-wing and Christian members have boycotted the assembly, accusing the Islamists of trying to impose their vision.

Sharia

According to Egyptian state TV, the articles so far passed stipulate the Islam is the religion of the state, and the principles of sharia are the "main source of legislation".

This is unchanged from the previous constitution under Hosni Mubarak, who was toppled as president last year.

Salafists and some members of Mr Morsi's Muslim Brotherhood failed to have "principles" replaced by "rules".

The draft also says that Christianity and Judaism will be the "main source of legislations" for Egyptian Christians and Jews, state TV reported.

The assembly also adopted a new article that al-Azhar mosque and university, authorities on Sunni Muslim jurisprudence, must be consulted on "matters related to the Islamic sharia".

Officials at the assembly said on Wednesday they were finishing the draft constitution, even though Mr Morsi recently extended its deadline until February.

"May God bless us on this day," assembly speaker Hossam el-Gheriyani said at the start of Thursday's session.

The assembly will vote on each of 234 articles in the draft constitution. It will then be sent to Mr Morsi for approval. After that, he must put it to a popular referendum.

The BBC's Jon Leyne, in Cairo, says issuing a constitution in these circumstances would be a deeply inflammatory move.

Opposition figure and former Arab League chief Amr Moussa told Reuters news agency: "This is nonsensical and one of the steps that shouldn't be taken, given the background of anger and resentment to the current constitutional assembly."

'Sacred mission'

Egypt's state-run news agency Mena said on Thursday it had obtained details of the draft constitution.

Mena said it included a clause on press freedom, and stated that only courts could suspend or close newspapers.

The assembly also aimed to set up a national security council led by the president and consisting of key officials such as the prime minister, defence minister and intelligence chief, Mena said.

Continue reading the main story Reopen investigations into killings of protesters; retrials of those accused No appeals against constitutional decrees made since Morsi came to power President to appoint the public prosecutor (must be aged at least 40)Constituent assembly to get two months extra to draft new constitutionNo judicial authority can dissolve the constituent assembly or the upper house of parliament (Shura Council)President authorised to take any measures to preserve the revolution or safeguard national securityThursday's vote appeared to be aimed at dodging a ruling by the constitutional court on Sunday on whether the assembly should be dissolved.

The constitutional court's deputy chairman, Maher Sami, said in a televised speech that the ruling would go ahead.

"The court is determined to rise above its pain and continue its sacred mission until the end, wherever that takes us," he said.

The court has already dissolved the lower house of Egypt's parliament, which was led by the Muslim Brotherhood.

The declaration that sparked protests gave Mr Morsi powers to take any measures to protect the revolution, and stated that no court could overturn his decisions. It is valid until a new constitution is in place.

Critics accuse Mr Morsi of trying to seize absolute power.

Supporters say the extra powers were needed to protect the gains of the revolution against a judiciary with deep ties to overthrown President Hosni Mubarak.

On Wednesday, Mr Morsi told Time magazine that he would surrender his new powers once a new constitution was in place.

"If we had a constitution, then all of what I have said or done last week will stop," he said.

"I hope, when we have a constitution, what I have issued will stop immediately."

On Monday, Mr Morsi told senior judges that the decrees would be restricted to "sovereign matters" designed to protect institutions.

But judges said they were not satisfied and wanted the declaration completely withdrawn.

On Wednesday, judges called a strike, saying appeals courts and the court of cassation would halt work until it was revoked.

There have been running protests since the decrees were issued, often spilling over into violent clashes between protesters and riot police.

The Muslim Brotherhood and the more radical al-Nour party have called for a counter-protest in Cairo on Saturday.

Send your pictures and videos to yourpics@bbc.co.uk or text them to 61124 (UK) or +44 7624 800 100 (International). If you have a large file you can upload here.

Read the terms and conditions

View the original article here

Anglo Irish suing Ernst & Young

29 November 2012 Last updated at 14:56 GMT It is the first time that an Irish bank has pursued legal action against a former auditor Anglo Irish Bank is taking legal action against its former auditor Ernst & Young for failing to spot the lender's massive exposure to the Irish property bubble.

Anglo suffered the largest corporate loss in the history in the country when the bubble burst.

Ernst & Young said it would "vigorously defend" itself against the claims.

It is the first time that an Irish bank has sued an ex-auditor over its conduct in the run-up to the financial crisis.

The bank said it took the legal action against Ernst & Young on Tuesday, in proceedings that "relate to the role of Ernst & Young as auditors to Anglo Irish Bank Plc pre-nationalisation".

Ernst & Young audited the lender's books in the years leading up to the financial crisis and the 2009 nationalisation, which cost Irish taxpayers more than £20bn. The bank's affairs were taken over by the Irish Bank Resolution Council.

Ernst & Young said it was aware of Anglo Irish's proceedings but that it had not yet received an official statement detailing the bank's allegations.

"Without more detail it is difficult for us to comment further. We have consistently said we stand by the quality of our work performed in the Anglo audit and will vigorously defend any such proceedings," the auditing firm said in a statement.

View the original article here

Christie seeks $37bn in storm aid

28 November 2012 Last updated at 23:01 GMT Christie won plaudits for his handling of the storm's aftermath New Jersey Governor Chris Christie has requested $37bn (£23bn) from the US federal government to help the state recover from "Superstorm" Sandy.

The funds would cover mitigation and prevention efforts as well as repairs.

On Monday New York Governor Andrew Cuomo asked for $42bn, saying his state could not foot the bill alone.

The north-eastern states were devastated by the 30 October storm, which killed more than 100 and caused $62bn in damage.

"My commitment to the people of New Jersey is to make steady progress in our recovery, and to know that three or six or 12 months from now I'll demand the same level of effort, attention and results from government as I have in the past 30 days," Gov Christie said at a news conference on Wednesday.

Last week, the Republican governor announced he had requested $29.4bn for repairs.

On Wednesday he added to that $7.4bn for the mitigation and prevention of future flooding and destruction.

The request is larger than the state's annual budget of $32bn.

Gov Christie says more than 30,000 properties were destroyed or badly damaged in last month's storm, while 230,000 New Jerseyans have registered for emergency aid from the government.

In New York, Gov Cuomo said taxpayers could not afford to pay for the recovery and prevention on its own.

"It would incapacitate the state," he said on Monday. "Tax increases are always a last, last, last resort."

Gov Christie said this week he would run for re-election in November. He said he was motivated by a desire to help the state through the recovery process.

His response to the storm, including his embrace of Democratic President Barack Obama and federal recovery efforts, won widespread praise.

View the original article here

Body needed to curb press 'havoc'

29 November 2012 Last updated at 15:17 GMT Lord Justice Leveson: "It must protect both the public interest and the rights and liberties of individuals"

A tougher form of self-regulation backed by legislation should be introduced to uphold press standards, the Leveson report has recommended.

Lord Justice Leveson said the press had "wreaked havoc in the lives of innocent people" for many decades.

He said the proposals in his report will protect the rights of victims and people bringing complaints.

Prime Minister David Cameron said he had "serious concerns and misgivings" over the idea of statutory regulation.

Speaking in the Commons he rejected the proposals for a new law to underpin press regulation on grounds of principle, practice and necessity.

Delivering his report, Lord Justice Leveson acknowledged that all of the press served the country "very well for the vast majority of the time," holding a privileged and powerful place as a defender of democracy and the public interest.

The prime minister set up the Leveson Inquiry in July 2011 after it emerged journalists working for the Sunday tabloid the News of the World had hacked the mobile phone of murdered Surrey schoolgirl Milly Dowler. The paper was subsequently shut down by its owners News International.

'Accountable press'

Among Lord Justice Leveson's findings:

All of the press served the country "very well for the vast majority of the time"The press must create a new and tough regulator backed by legislation to ensure it was effectiveThis cannot be characterised as statutory regulationLegally-binding arbitration process needed to force newspapers to deal effectively with complaintsSome "troubling evidence" in relation to the actions of some police officers - but no proof of widespread corruptionOver last 30 years all political parties have had too close a relationship with the press which has not been in the public interestFormer Culture Secretary Jeremy Hunt was not biased in his handling of News Corp's BSkyB bid but failed to supervise his special adviser properly

In his 2,000-page report, Appeal Court judge Lord Justice Leveson said the press had failed to properly regulate itself in the past, but he believed the law could be used to "validate" a new body.

Continue reading the main story

The hearings, nearly nine months of them, were painful for politicians, police officers and the press.

The report, by contrast, is a difficult read for just one of these groups of individuals.

Jeremy Hunt, whose job was once under threat, is given a clean bill of health. There is no mention of David Cameron in the Executive Summary.

The former senior police officer, John Yates, is criticised - but the Metropolitan Police, the force that once employed him - escapes with its integrity not called into question.

But Britain's papers aren't so fortunate. Lord Justice Leveson describes the behaviour of some journalists as "outrageous".

To cure the ills he perceives, the senior judge has come up with a solution - an independent regulator backed-up by law.

Lord Justice Leveson's job is done.

The arguing and the debating has just begun.

Lord Justice Leveson said the legislation would enshrine, for the first time, a legal duty on the government to protect the freedom of the press.

He rejected a proposal from the press itself to enforce standards through contracts, saying he could not see how it could be independent.

David Sherborne, a barrister for the victims of press intrusion, said they welcomed the contents of the report.

"In particular the clear recognition of widespread failings in the behaviour, ethics and standards of the press and the devastating consequences for victims," he said.

The chairman of the Press Complaints Commission, Lord Hunt, said the press had to seize the baton and make sure it "doesn't let Lord Justice Leveson down".

Deputy Prime Minister Nick Clegg is to make his own statement to MPs, having reportedly failed to agree a united government response with the prime minister on press regulation.

View the original article here

Burma targets copper mine protest

29 November 2012 Last updated at 11:56 GMT The BBC's Jonathan Head in Burma: "It's become a test case for how old injustices will be addressed"

Police in Burma have used water cannon and tear gas to break up a protest against a vast Chinese-backed copper mine in the north-west of the country.

Protesters said dozens were injured and their camps set alight in Monywa town.

Local farmers, monks and activists have been protesting against what they say are forced evictions to allow for the mine's expansion.

The mine, Burma's largest, is owned by the military and Chinese arms manufacturer Norinco.

The BBC's Jonathan Head, who recently visited the mine, says this is now being seen as a test case for how Burma's new government will handle growing protests around the country over land grabs that took place under military rule.

The farmers started their protest in June, saying they were forced to accept a deal two years ago under which they gave up their land in return for new housing and financial compensation. The company has said that the deal was voluntary, and that only a small minority of farmers rejected it.

The mine's billion-dollar expansion project covers several thousand hectares of land in Burma's Sagaing region.

Squads of riot police arrived at the camps early in the morning, witnesses say.

Continue reading the main story Jonathan Head BBC News, Bangkok

When the government issued its ultimatum to the farmers and activists camped outside the Monywa copper mine, no-one could have guessed what would happen next. The rules have changed in post-military Burma, but no one is quite sure what they are.

When I was there last Saturday the police guarding the mine entrance were shocked to see a solitary monk walking past the gate and its intimidating "Restricted Area" sign, towards them. One officer shouted at him to leave - the others resorted to holding hands, like children in a playground, in a line across the road.

Eventually, the police relented and allowed a group of nuns to enter the site. It seemed then that we were witnessing a new era in Burma, one where violent repression is no longer an option for the security forces.

Today we saw something of the old Burma, in the rough way the police broke up the farmers' sit-in, using water cannon and something else that seems to have set the protest camps alight.

The government says it is still committed to a full inquiry into the farmers' complaint, that they were forced to accept the deal with the mining company under which they gave up their land for modest financial compensation and new but very basic housing.

The Burmese parliament is now asserting itself, and there will surely be aspiring politicians there who will see backing the farmers' grievances against a Chinese- and military-backed mine as a vote-winner. This conflict is not over, and from what I saw and heard from the farmers, they will not give up their struggle easily.

"They shot some sort of canisters that caused fire at the camp. We just don't know what sort of weapon it was," Shin Oattama, a Buddhist monk, told Reuters news agency.

"We are now seeking refuge at a nearby village. There's no ambulance, no doctor to take care of the injured."

Of the 22 injured, many are monks, and they are mostly suffering from burns, our correspondent reports.

It is not clear what caused the burns, but he says it is possible that it was incompetence, more than ruthlessness, that caused the injuries.

President Thein Sein's office said in a statement that police had used water cannon, tear gas and smoke bombs to disperse the crowds. A spokesman denied that chemical weapons were used.

Opposition lawmaker Aung San Suu Kyi, greeted by supporters who lined the streets, has arrived in the area to meet protesters about their grievances.

Laws on public protests in Burma have been relaxed amid a series of democratic reforms. But this week the government gave the protesters an ultimatum to leave the site.

Meanwhile, China has defended its joint mining project with Burma.

"The relocation, compensation, environmental protection and other issues involved with this project were jointly settled through negotiations by the Chinese and Myanmar [Burma] sides and meet Myanmar's laws and regulations," Foreign Ministry spokesman Hong Lei said during a regular press briefing in Beijing.

"We hope all levels of Myanmar society can provide an environment beneficial to the project's development."

In an editorial published on Thursday, state-run Chinese newspaper Global Times said that halting the project would be a "lose-lose situation" for both countries.

"Only third parties, including some Western forces, will be glad to see this result," it said.

Send your pictures and videos to yourpics@bbc.co.uk or text them to 61124 (UK) or +44 7624 800 100 (International). If you have a large file you can upload here.

Read the terms and conditions

View the original article here

HP accountants sued over Autonomy

29 November 2012 Last updated at 12:35 GMT Some of HP's own executives are included in the lawsuit Deloitte and KPMG are being sued over their alleged role in Hewlett Packard's controversial purchase of Autonomy.

An HP shareholder says the US PC-maker paid too much for the UK software firm.

The lawsuit, filed in California on Monday, accuses the two auditors and other named defendants of failing in their duty to spot that Autonomy was not worth as much as it claimed, and then misrepresenting the deal's value.

Both firms have denied responsibility for valuing Autonomy at the time.

"Simply put, HP grossly overpaid for Autonomy," claims the legal action, which was brought by Philip Ricciardi, an HP shareholder since 2007.

Last week, HP announced that it was writing off $8.8bn of the $11.1bn it paid for Autonomy, of which $5bn was "linked to serious accounting improprieties, misrepresentation and disclosure failures".

HP's boss, Ms Whitman, said that her firm had relied on the work of the UK unit of Deloitte Touche Tohmatsu, which had acted as Autonomy's auditor prior to the acquisition.

She also said HP had relied on KPMG's audits of Deloitte's work.

The computer maker said it would be taking civil action itself to try and recover money for shareholders.

'Red flags'

Shares in the US computer-maker have lost 60% of their value since the Autonomy deal was announced in August last year - including a steep fall on the day after the announcement - and are down by three-quarters since their peak in April 2010.

Continue reading the main story The legal case, which came to light on Wednesday, has been brought by the shareholder against the two auditors, as well as against Autonomy's former chief executive Mike Lynch, HP chief executive Meg Whitman, former HP chief executive Leo Apotheker, and Barclays and Perella Weinberg Partners, who acted as financial advisers on the deal.

It claims that the two auditors, as well as other advisers and employees paid to work for HP, failed in their duty to the company and "consistently misled the public with improper statements".

The two auditors "consciously disregarded numerous red flags" that should have alerted them to Autonomy's allegedly inflated value, the lawsuit said, according to the Bloomberg news agency.

KPMG has denied HP's claims, saying that it was engaged only to provide limited services and did not carry out any audit work.

For its part, Deloitte has insisted that it was not responsible for the due diligence work that HP carried out on Autonomy before going ahead with the purchase.

Barclays and Perella Weinberg could not be reached for comment.

Second lawsuit

It is the second such lawsuit to be filed by an HP shareholder over the Autonomy deal. Another investor, Allan Nicolow, filed a similar case at the same court and on the same day.

The other legal case has been brought against Hewlett Packard, as well as various executives of the firm - but not against the two auditors or the two financial advisers - and seeks damages for HP's purchase of Autonomy, as well as an earlier purchase of Electronic Data Systems Corporation, which the suit also claims was overvalued.

Mr Nicolow's lawyers hope to turn his case into a class action lawsuit on behalf of all investors who owned shares in HP between 19 August 2011 - the day after the Autonomy acquisition - and 20 November 2012.

Autonomy's former head, Mike Lynch - who is a non-executive director of the BBC - has rejected HP's claims that former Autonomy management misled them as to the company's value.

View the original article here

Ponting retires from Test cricket

Former Australia captain Ricky Ponting has announced he will retire from international cricket at the end of the third Test against South Africa.

The 37-year-old, who is the second highest run scorer in Test history behind Sachin Tendulkar, will play his 168th Test in Perth on Friday.

"I haven't been performing consistently over the last 12 to 18 months," he said. "I believe now is the right time.

Born 19 December, 1974, Launceston, Tasmania 167 Test caps & 13,366 runs 375 ODI caps & 13,704 runs 71 international centuries Highest Test score: 257 v India in 2003 Won three World Cups "This is a decision not made by the selectors, it was made by me."

Ponting has scored 13,366 runs at an average of 52.21 in his career, but he has struggled for form in the current series with South Africa.

He scored just 20 runs in the two drawn Test matches and, despite receiving the support of coach Mickey Arthur, he decided to make way.

The Tasmanian admitted his recent poor form had prompted the decision to call time on an international career that began in 1995.

"It's a decision I thought long and hard about. It was based on my output and my results in this series so far. It hasn't been what I expect of myself and certainly not the level required of a batsman in the Australia team," he said.

Former Australia bowler Glenn McGrath on Twitter:  "Well done Punter on an incredible career. It would be great to see you finish with a ton. It was an honour to play alongside you."

Former Australia opener Matthew Hayden on Twitter:  "Punter, congratulations on a fantastic career. Your departure will be a massive hole in the Australian cricket team."

Former England captain Michael Vaughan on Twitter:  "The best batsman I had the privilege to play against was Ricky Ponting. Australian cricket will not be the same without him. Punter played better against me than Sachin Tendulkar did. Both are incredible players, but if I had to pick one it would be Ricky."

"I've said all along that I would continue to play as long as I could continue to make a contribution to wins, and I think over the last couple of weeks my performance has not been good enough to do that.

"I've given cricket my all, it's been my life for 20 years, there's not much more I can give."

Ponting made the announcement at a news conference at the Waca in Perth, flanked by his wife Rianna, daughters Emmy and Mattise and every member of the Australia team.

The series is level at 0-0 going into the third and final Test, and Ponting is determined to end his international career with a 109th Test victory to return Australia to the top of the Test rankings.

"I've prepared this week and I'm hungrier than ever. I want this win more than any game I've ever played in," he said.

"If that happened and we get back to the top of the tree and number one in the world then there's no better time to finish."

Australia captain Michael Clarke was close to tears as he paid tribute to his predecessor, who stepped down from the Test captaincy last year and retired from one-day cricket in February,

"The boys are obviously hurting at the moment. He's been an amazing player for a long time," Clarke said.

Prime Minister Julia Gillard thanked Ponting in the Parliament of Australia for his contribution to international cricket, and wished him well in his retirement.

Mark Ramprakash Former England batsman

Mark Ramprakash retired from professional cricket in July 2012. He scored 114 first-class centuries during a 25-year career.

"Ricky has been in the spotlight for most of his career and he would have had to weigh up several things. Not least whether he was mentally up for it, because he has played for such a long time and that can take a toll.

"When you have been such a professional and dedicated player as he has, you can be on autopilot and sometimes you do not see that you are lacking maybe 1% in certain areas."

"It means that he is going into the next phase of his life with a lot of gratitude and a lots of thanks from the Australian community - full as it is with cricket tragics," she said at question time on Thursday. 

Former Australia opener Justin Langer believes Ponting, who will equal Steve Waugh's Australian record of 168 Tests at the Waca on Friday, will be remembered as one of the greats of the game.

"His humility, loyalty, passion for the game and for people is quite extraordinary. He will leave the game sadly, but as one of its greatest ever players and one of its greatest people," he told BBC Radio 5 live Breakfast.

Langer feels that Ponting never got the credit he deserved in England, but hopes his retirement will prompt a reassessment by England supporters.

"It used to make me sick when the great Ricky Ponting walked out onto the ground and England fans booed him. I never quite got that," he said.

"It was disrespectful and hard to stomach, but I am sure that he will be admired in England now that he has retired. He will leave the game as a legend."

Ponting took over the one-day captaincy in 2002 and replaced Steve Waugh as Test captain in 2004. He went on to become Australia's most successful skipper with 48 Test wins.

After defeat in the 2005 Ashes series in England, Ponting led Australia to a 5-0 whitewash in the return series in 2007, topping the run charts with 576 runs at an average of 82.28.

Two more Ashes defeats followed in 2009 and 2010-11, and Ponting gave up the Australian captaincy after a World Cup quarter-final defeat to India in March 2011.

In the one-day game, Ponting guided Australia to back-to-back World Cup titles in 2003 and 2007, having won the trophy as a player in 1999.

Ponting plans to continue playing for Tasmania in the Sheffield Shield competition and the Hobart Hurricanes in the Big Bash League, and will play for the Prime Minister's XI against Sri Lanka later in the summer.

View the original article here

Gotye cleans up at Aria Awards

29 November 2012 Last updated at 13:21 GMT Gotye won best male artist, live act, pop release and album Australian musician Gotye was the big winner at the Aria Awards in Sydney, picking up four prizes.

The Somebody That I Used to Know singer picked up best male artist, best live act, best pop release and best album for Making Mirrors.

New Zealander Kimbra, who also featured on Gotye's smash hit, won best female artist for a second consecutive year.

The Australian Recording Industry Association awards are the biggest event in the country's music calendar.

The Temper Trap were the other multiple award winners, winning best group and best rock album.

After picking up his fourth award, Gotye said: "I just want to say its cool that the last award of the night is for an album. I still love albums. So keep listening to records and keep buying records."

On accepting her award, Kimbra said she did not expect to win, adding: "This means a lot to me. What a whirlwind year it has been and what a way to top it off."

Other winners at the ceremony included Matt Corby, who won song of the year for his track Brother, and Missy Higgins, who won the award for best adult contemporary album for The Ol' Razzle Dazzle, following after a break of a couple of years from the music industry.

Sydney rapper 360, who went into the award with six nominations, only came away with one - for best breakthrough artist.

Former X Factor contestants One Direction won best international artist, although they were not at the event and accepted their prize by video message.

The ceremony also honoured groundbreaking band Yothu Yindi, best-known for their indigenous anthem Treaty, who were inducted to the Aria Hall Of Fame.

View the original article here

FIA believes Vettel not guilty

By Andrew Benson Chief F1 writer Formula 1's governing body the FIA believes world champion Sebastian Vettel committed no offence during the Brazilian Grand Prix.

Ferrari have written to the FIA asking for official clarification of whether the German's overtake of Toro Rosso's Jean-Eric Vergne was legitimate.

The FIA has made it clear it believes the pass was legal but Ferrari have not yet received any official reply.

Andrew Benson Chief F1 writer on F1's track warning system

"Drivers are given indications of the status of a race track by three different methods - trackside flags and lights and a display in their cockpit. These are all supposed to coincide. But in reality there are more flags than lights, and the FIA says it has told drivers to respond to the first indication of a change of status, whether that be light or flag. The cockpit display is not supposed to be able to contradict the track-side indicators, whether flags or lights. One of the complications of this situation, is that it does - Vettel's dashboard display continues to indicate he is in a caution zone after he passes the green flag the FIA says is on the inside of the track by the pit lane exit."

Any penalty for the pass could have resulted in Vettel losing the title.

If the overtaking manoeuvre had been declared illegal, Vettel could have been given a penalty that would make Ferrari driver Fernando Alonso world champion.

However, the FIA believes that Vettel did nothing wrong and the 25-year-old's third successive world title is set to stand.

The situation was complicated because Vettel's dashboard display and trackside warning lights and flags appear to have contradicted each other.

Vettel, the youngest ever three-time champion, pulled off the pass on lap four of the race before he reached a green flashing light indicating that the yellow caution zone - in which overtaking is not allowed - had ended. And his dashboard display showed the yellow-flag warning sign throughout.

However, on-board videos of the incident appeared to show a marshal waving a green flag on the inside of the track.

It has emerged that the incident was not investigated during the race because a green flag was being waved at a marshals' post after Turn Three. Vettel only began his move after passing that flag.

"The incident wasn't reported to stewards in the first place because it didn't seem like there was a need to report it at the time," Norman Howell, the director of communications for the International Automobile Federation (FIA), said. "Now that Ferrari has sent us a letter asking for an explanation we will give it to them."

That means the move was viewed at the time as legitimate and so race control, which judges potential infringements, was not informed and the stewards did not become involved.

BBC Sport understands several team bosses have seen the footage of the incident and agree a green flag was being waved at the marshals' post.

Vettel's road to glory in 2012

Race director Charlie Whiting has told the drivers that the first signal is what counts - whether it is a light or a flag.

However, there have been a series of clarifications on the correct way of responding to the three different methods of indicating track status - the flags, lights and cockpit displays - and that these can be interpreted in different ways.

Regardless of the outcome from Ferrari's request for clarification, they will want the situation made clearer for the future.

The issue is of huge significance because the penalty for a pass under yellows judged after the race is 20 seconds added to a driver's race time.

If this was applied, it would drop Vettel to eighth and make Alonso world champion by one point.

The 31-year-old Spaniard, world champion in 2005 and 2006 with Renault, on Tuesday posted a cryptic message on his Twitter account  that appeared to relate to this incident.

He wrote in Spanish: "I don't believe in miracles. I make my miracles out of the correct rules."

Ferrari's action is not the same as appealing against the race result.

Red Bull have so far not commented on the situation.

View the original article here

US growth rate revised up to 2.7%

29 November 2012 Last updated at 14:38 GMT A rapid restocking by US businesses added to the summer growth spurt The US economy grew at an annualised rate of 2.7% in the third quarter of the year, revised data has suggested.

The figure is significantly higher than the 2% initial estimate that the Commerce Department released just before the presidential election.

Much of the growth was due to companies rebuilding their inventories, and is not expected to be sustained.

The first estimate itself had beaten analysts' expectations, and fuelled the suspicions of some Republicans.

The growth rate for the second quarter was confirmed at 1.3%.

Housing rebound

The revised data confirmed that a 9.5% jump in spending by the federal government during the quarter - compared with a 0.2% decline the previous quarter - played an important role in the pick-up in growth.

What the first estimate had failed to pick up was the scale of restocking by private-sector businesses.

This inventory build-up effect - which typically provides a temporary boost to economic activity early on in the recovery from a recession - added 0.77 percentage points to the pick-up in the overall growth rate in the third quarter, the Commerce Department said.

Other factors that boosted growth included the continued rise in consumer spending, stronger exports, and a slight rebound in homebuilding activity from historically low levels.

There were also some negative factors in the data, including further cuts in state and local government spending, and a fall in construction of commercial property.

Developments in the US housing market are being watched closely by economists, as they are likely to determine the durability of the recovery.

Normally, periods of recovery in the US economy are led by residential construction, as building firms quickly get back to work on a backlog of projects as soon as the recession is over.

But this time round, the recession was in large part caused by the bursting of a housing market bubble, that left behind a glut of unsold homes, bankrupted many homebuilding firms, and saw the sharpest and most sustained collapse in homebuilding activity in recorded US history.

Data controversy

Some Republicans had expressed incredulity at a string of unexpectedly strong economic figures released in October, in the run-up to the presidential elections.

The initial growth estimate followed jobs figures that showed the unemployment rate falling in September from 8.1% to 7.8% - its lowest rate since January 2009, and well below market expectations.

The positive jobs data came shortly after Mr Obama put in a poor performance during the first of the three presidential debates, and prompted some Republican supporters to call foul.

View the original article here

The Peshawar roots of the Bollywood Greats

29 November 2012 Last updated at 02:30 GMT By M Ilyas Khan BBC News, Dhakki, Peshawar Anybody who knows anything about Bollywood will have heard of Shah Rukh Khan and Dilip Kumar.

What people don't know is that they - and many others - have roots in the Pakistani city of Peshawar, better known these days for militancy and conservatism.

Dhakki is a maze of narrow streets and alleyways, winding up and around a hill that flanks Peshawar's oldest and most famous street, Qissa Khwani - the street of the storytellers.

Within a 200m radius in this area are located the ancestral homes of three of Bollywood's all-time great stars - Shah Rukh Khan, Dilip Kumar and Raj Kapoor.

To get to this area in Dhakki, I duck into a dark, covered passageway on the left of Qissa Khwani street, and walk on to a small open area of ground on the other side.

A labyrinth of streets on the left takes me up the hill to the house of Raj Kapoor, a mega star of the 1950s.

Kapoor's father, Prithviraj, was the first self-confessed Hindu "Pathan" from Peshawar to make a mark in Bollywood as an actor and producer. He started the first Bollywood dynasty whose actors and film-makers today span four generations.

Continue reading the main story

Tasveer Mahal cinema is located a stone's throw from Shah Rukh Khan's house in Peshawar. The Taliban, who consider films as obscene and un-Islamic, have bombed it twice since 2009. A filmgoer outside the cinema says you watch the gates of the auditorium as much as you watch the movie, which is not much fun.

As such, any thought of preserving the city's Bollywood heritage is simply out of tune with the mood of the times. But Peshawar has had a strong tradition of music, poetry and theatre. In 1936, it became one of the first Indian cities to have a radio station. It also had several theatre groups - both professional and amateur, which flourished until as late as the 1980s.

Some of these actors, such as Dilip Kumar, relocated to India because their families had businesses there. Others, especially Hindus like the two Kapoor clans, left because of the partition of India in 1947. Yet others, like SRK's father, stayed on in India because they had been activists of a freedom movement that opposed partition.

Their three-storey mansion has an elaborate, though crumbling, facade that features arched windows and protruding balconies.

No one lives here any more. But their memory is still alive.

'Gulli-danda' Kapoor

Mohammad Yaqoob, a 90-year-old resident of Dhakki, remembers Raj Kapoor fondly.

"He was my buddy back in the 1920s. He was a year younger than me. We used to play a game of sticks called gulli-danda. We went to the same school," he recalls.

The Kapoors moved to Mumbai in the 1930s, and their occasional visits to Peshawar ended completely after the partition of India in 1947, he says.

About three minutes down the street from the Kapoor's mansion, through a tiny alleyway, lies the rotting home of another Bollywood legend from the 1950s and 1960s, Dilip Kumar.

Described by critics as the ultimate method actor of Indian cinema, Mr Kumar has more gongs than any other Bollywood star. Over his long career, he has won eight Filmfare awards, India's version of the Oscars.

His ancestral house is narrow and shaky, and looks like it's about to fall apart. The facade looks shabby; once expensive woodwork around windows and doors is soiled and cracked, and there are cobwebs all over the place.

Inside, the once trendy partitions of typical Peshawari wood panels are sagging. Plaster has fallen off the ceiling.

The place is being used as a warehouse to store clothes.

A worker at the site, who introduces himself as Maaliar, sounds typically fatalistic.

"It's a matter of pride for those who started from this small place and earned worldwide fame, but as far as I'm concerned, it's a historical place, which is now a warehouse, and I work here."

While Dilip Kumar and Raj Kapoor are legends of the past, some current Bollywood stars can still trace their origins to Peshawar, nearly 66 years after partition.

SRK in Peshawar

Another three minutes down a busy street is the ancestral home of Shah Rukh Khan, or SRK - the biggest and most expensive actor in Bollywood today.

Shah Rukh Khan used to visit his family in Peshawar - and they have been to Mumbai to meet him

SRK's father, Taj Mohammad Khan, was born and raised here, and SRK himself spent many days and nights here as a teenager when he came visiting on family holidays from his birthplace, Delhi.

His first cousin, Noor Jahan, who lives in the house, has been to Mumbai twice to meet him - the last time in 2010.

"He slept in this very room where we are sitting," she says, recalling the two visits SRK paid to the house in 1978 and 1979.

"He was very happy to be here, because it was the first time he'd met his father's family. In India he only has relatives from his mother's side."

Continue reading the main story Prithviraj Kapoor (1906 - 1972) Actor-producer founder of the Kapoor dynasty which came to dominate Bollywood Dilip Kumar, (1922 -)Highly acclaimed Indian actor born in Peshawar, star of many filmsRaj Kapoor (1924-1988)Indian actor and producer, son of Prithviraj, involved in many hits such as Chori Chori and BarsaatMadhubala (1933-1969) Actress who shot to fame at the age of 16 starring in the film, MahalPrem Nath (1926-1992) Punjabi actor whose family moved to India after partition and made his film debut in 1948Vinod Khanna (1946-) Popular and successful actor, particularly in the 1970s and 1980s. Two of his sons have also gone into the film industry .Noor Jahan's 12-year-old son is named after his famous uncle, and calls himself Shah Rukh Khan 2.

"Uncle has promised that if I grow up to be a good cricket player, he'll include me in his team," he says.

SRK owns a cricket franchise, the Kolkata Knight Riders, which represents the city of Calcutta in the Indian Premier League (IPL).

Peshawar boasts several other Bollywood legends, such as Madhubala, the Marilyn Monroe of Indian cinema in the 1950s and 1960s, and the inimitable Amjad Khan - the bad guy of the 1975 Indian classic, Sholay.

Vinod Khanna, who played the lead in several Bollywood films of the 1970s, was born here, and so was Surinder Kapoor, a film producer who started the second Kapoor clan in Bollywood. One of his sons, Anil Kapoor, who acted in Danny Boyle's Oscar winning Slumdog Millionaire, dominated the Indian film scene for a while in the 1980s.

Why Peshawar?

Given this rich heritage, there have been calls for the preservation of known sites associated with these stars.

"[Dilip Kumar's house] should be preserved, so that the people can see what the Peshawaris can do," says Fawad Ishaq, a relative of Dilip Kumar.

Documents from Peshawar still exist as testament to the Bollywood greats who were born in the city

But a recent attempt by the provincial government of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa to acquire the house was stalled by an ownership dispute.

Another move to acquire Raj Kapoor's house also had to be put off due to "unavailability of funds, and also because of problems relating to the accessibility and security of the house," says Feryal Ali Gauhar, a conservation expert who has been an adviser to the provincial government.

The question now is, what is it about Peshawar that has led it to produce so many mega stars for Bollywood?

For the man on the street, it's just the beneficence of God.

Local historian Ibrahim Zia has this explanation: "During the silent era, the Indian cinema was dominated by Bengalis and Parsis, but when talkies came, the personality of the actor assumed greater importance, and the people of Peshawar were not only tall and fair skinned by Indian standards, they spoke Hindi with greater flair and style..."

Whatever the reason, Peshawar has a special place in film history. But for the moment, it seems as if those Bollywood roots are destined to fade in the neglected alleyways of this troubled city.

View the original article here

Detained in Cameroon's hospitals

29 November 2012 Last updated at 08:19 GMT By Francis Ngwa Niba Douala Estelle Koulman has recently celebrated her first birthday - and her first taste of freedom as she spent the first 11 months of her life imprisoned - in a Cameroonian hospital.

Shortly after she was born in a ward in Ngousso, on the outskirts of Cameroon's capital, Yaounde, she was operated on for a bowel problem.

The little girl made a quick recovery, but she and her mother Germaine Abeboulouguiye were unable to return home as the bill came to $600 (about £375).

The government hospital refused to release them until the medical fee was settled.

Germaine Abeboulouguiye and her baby were recently freed after a paper highlighted their plight

But the family was broke - Ms Abeboulouguiye was unemployed, her partner, who did have a job, had abandoned her when she became pregnant and her parents were retired, living by subsistence farming.

"There is a lot of stress and complications - the atmosphere is not good to help raise a baby," Ms Abeboulouguiye told the BBC during her detention.

Ms Abeboulouguiye's mother came to visit at the time - bringing food and other essentials, but otherwise they were prevented from leaving the hospital.

When Cameroon's Le Jour newspaper reported their case, it caused outrage in Cameroon and a local charity intervened and paid part of the bill.

The authorities, embarrassed by the furore, waived the rest of the fee and mother and baby were finally allowed home after 11 months of detention in a white-walled hospital ward.

They are the most extreme case of the government's policy to get patients to help fund healthcare.

It makes up about 70% of the hospital budgets - and patients are expected to cover the rest.

Some free services are carried out, like malaria diagnosis for children under five.

'Held back' But now it is common for patients who cannot pay their bills for other treatments to be detained until their relatives pay up some or all of the debt.

It was not a government policy that was ever announced, but it has come in gradually over the last five years.

Three weeks after Mary Akwa was admitted to Buea Regional Hospital for a stomach problem she was unable to find money for her bill.

"If my family members can't help, where else should I turn to?" she asked, clearly distressed.

The health authorities in Cameroon declined to comment on the allegations.

A doctor at Hospital Laquintinie in the commercial capital Douala, says the government policy brings with it difficult choices - and sometimes treatment is withheld.

"If patients don't pay me, I can't treat them," he told the BBC, requesting anonymity.

However, Dr George Enow Orock, director of Buea Regional Hospital, says while some patients may be "held back" to pay their bills they are never denied assistance.

"[We will] do something to cater for somebody dangling between life and death," he said.

"It is our obligation to care for citizens."

Traditional doctors accept produce and animals as payment for their services

Security at government hospitals has been tightened over the last five years, with high walls, fences and gates erected at institutions across the country.

Private and public security guards have been drafted in - usually on duty at the gates to ensure no patient escapes without paying their bill.

'Escaped' Continue reading the main story

I worked for six long months to pay off that bill. Cleaning, washing plates, gardening - any odd job that cropped up”

End Quote Former patient at a Catholic hospital "We check patients before they leave the hospital premises if they have paid all the necessary dues. We check the various receipts and ensure that they are authentic," says Samuel Njie, a guard at Buea Regional Hospital.

"We've had cases of patients who have escaped from the hospital without our knowledge."

Some religious or mission hospitals and private clinics, which receive a small government subsidy, operate a similar policy in order to cover their costs.

But instead of expecting patients to pay, some ask them to work in lieu of their bill.

A tall man in Yaounde, who asked to remain anonymous, told me he was detained until July in a mission hospital in the north-west of Cameroon for six months.

He said he had contracted typhoid fever and gone to a Catholic hospital for treatment.

After the little money he had on him ran out, he was told he would have to work off the rest of his medical fees.

Patients are urged not to make corrupt payments

"I worked for six long months to pay off that bill," he said.

"Cleaning, washing plates, gardening - any odd job that cropped up.

"There was nothing I could do about it."

With the average Cameroonian surviving on less than $1 a day, some people prefer visiting traditional doctors when they get sick.

When a patient cannot pay for their treatment in cash, traditional practitioners allow them to pay in kind.

One traditional doctor in Buea told me the most popular items people use to pay their bills are fowls, goats and other things easily available in rural areas.

It is an option Germaine's mother, Mrs Abeboulouguiye, wished she could have used to settle her daughter and granddaughter's bill.

"For the first time in my life I could not help my daughter. They kept asking me to bring money to pay - even when I said I had no money."

View the original article here

Birth tests 'can predict obesity'

28 November 2012 Last updated at 23:16 GMT By Melissa Hogenboom BBC News Researchers say a baby's chance of being obese in childhood can be predicted at birth using a simple formula.

The formula combines several known factors to estimate the risk of obesity.

The authors of the study, published in PLos One, hope it will be used to identify babies at risk.

Childhood obesity can lead to many health problems, including Type 2 diabetes and heart disease.

Researchers from Imperial College London looked at 4,032 Finnish children born in 1986 and at data from two further studies of 1,503 Italian children and 1,032 US children.

They found that looking at a few simple measurements, such as a child's birthweight and whether the mother smoked, was enough to predict obesity.

Previously it had been thought that genetic factors would give bigger clues to later weight problems, but only about one in 10 cases of obesity is the result of a rare gene mutation that affects appetite.

Obesity in children is rising, with the NHS estimating that 17% of boys and 15% of girls in England are now obese.

Continue reading the main story

Predictors used in the calculation include:

The child's birthweightThe parents' body mass indexNumber of people in the householdThe mother's professional status Whether or not the mother smoked during pregnancyThe risk factors for obesity are already well known, but this is the first time these factors have been put together in a formula.

Prof Philippe Froguel from Imperial College London, who led the study, said that prevention was the best strategy. Once obese, a child can find it difficult to lose weight.

"The equation is based on data everyone can obtain from a newborn, and we found it can predict around 80% of obese children.

"Unfortunately, public prevention campaigns have been rather ineffective at preventing obesity in school-age children. Teaching parents about the dangers of overfeeding and bad nutritional habits at a young age would be much more effective.

"The message is simple. All at-risk children should be identified, monitored and given good advice, but this costs money."

Prof Paul Gately, a specialist in childhood obesity at Leeds Metropolitan University, said a tool like this would help the NHS target specific people at risk rather than the "scattergun one-size-fits-all approach, which we know does not work".

"Rather than spending money on a huge number of people, we can be more specific and spend appropriately. We may not save money in the short-term but it will be spent more wisely and could reduce [obesity-related] NHS bills in the future.

"We've done a great job of outlining that obesity is a serious issue but we have made the general public paranoid that everyone is at risk.

"Tools like this will help change that attitude. Once we use the tool, we need intervention programmes for children at a greater risk."

View the original article here

Director Milos Forman honoured

29 November 2012 Last updated at 10:29 GMT Veteran film director Milos Forman has also written an autobiography, My Two Worlds Milos Forman is to be honoured with a lifetime achievement award from the Directors' Guild of America.

The Czech-born film-maker, 80, won two Oscars for best director of 1975's One Flew Over The Cuckoo's Nest, starring Jack Nicholson, and 1984's Amadeus.

"Milos finds the universality of the human experience in every story," said Taylor Hackford, president of the Directors' Guild.

The awards ceremony takes place in Los Angeles on 2 February 2013.

Forman becomes the 34th recipient of the Directors' Guild honour, following in the footsteps of Steven Spielberg, Francis Ford Coppola and Stanley Kubrick.

After graduating from the University of Prague's Film Institute, Forman was at the forefront of the Czechoslovak New Wave movement in the 1960s, with two of his early works, Black Peter, and satire The Fireman's Ball being banned for a period in Czechoslovakia.

Fireman's Ball was nominated for a best Foreign language film at the 1969 Oscars, two years after Forman's A Blonde in Love was nominated for the same award.

The global recognition prompted the director to move to the US, garnering worldwide acclaim with his 1975 hit One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest, which won all top five Academy Award categories, including best film, best director, best actor and best actress.

Later works include Hair in 1979, Valmont (1989) and 1996's The People vs. Larry Flynt, for which he received his third best director Oscar nomination.

Recent works include 2006's Goya's Ghosts - starring Javier Bardem and Natalie Portman - and the Czech musical A Walk Worthwhile, in 2009.

View the original article here

UN to vote on Palestinian status

29 November 2012 Last updated at 14:28 GMT Palestinian leader Mahmoud Abbas has been urged not to ask for the UN status upgrade The UN General Assembly is set to vote on upgrading the Palestinian status from observer entity to observer state.

Palestinians say the bid, which would give it the same "non-member state" status as the Vatican, is an attempt to rescue the Middle East peace process.

Analysts say the application is likely to win approval in the 193-member body when it is put to a vote, because it needs only a simple majority to pass.

The bid is strongly opposed by Israel and the US. The UK may abstain.

According to the Palestine Liberation Organisation (PLO), more than 130 countries now grant the Palestinians the rank of a sovereign state.

They chose the "International Day of Solidarity with the Palestinian People" for the vote, which is set to take place at 21:00 GMT and will be preceded by a number of speeches focusing on the rights of the Palestinians.

European Union 'split'

The Palestinians are seeking UN recognition of a Palestinian state in the West Bank, Gaza and East Jerusalem, the lands Israel captured in 1967

Continue reading the main story Jon Donnison BBC News, Ramallah

The turnout for a mass rally in Ramallah's Clock Square is poor. The bunting's up, a stage has been erected but most of the chairs are empty. After a troupe of Palestinian dabka dancers took to the stage to provide a brief moment of entertainment, a crowd of a few hundred people drifted away.

It will be a long day and night with the UN vote not expected until around midnight local time. Mr Abbas is coming at this from a position of weakness. He has been much criticised by many Palestinians for remaining on the sidelines of this month's war in Gaza and efforts to achieve a ceasefire.

But Gaza has put the Palestinians back in the news after the world attention ahs been focused elsewhere in the Middle East for much of the last two years..

Mr Abbas will want to capitalise on what will be an inevitable success at the UN, but he may need more than that to boost his diminished reputation.

Opponents of the bid say a Palestinian state should emerge only out of bilateral negotiations.

Israel and the US say the Palestinians are trying to seek full statehood via the UN, rather than through negotiation as set out in the 1993 Oslo peace accords under which the Palestinian Authority was established.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said: "The decision at the United Nations will change nothing on the ground.

"It will not advance the establishment of a Palestinian state. It will delay it further."

The Palestinians say the move is not meant to replace negotiations but improve their leverage and define the territory they want for a state, which has been eroded by Israeli settlement building.

"It is a very important step in trying to save the two-state solution, maybe last time to save the two-state solution," said Palestinian ambassador to the UN Riyad Mansour.

France, Spain and Norway are among those urging the General Assembly to raise the Palestinians' UN status. Germany is set to abstain.

Strong European support would strengthen the diplomatic clout of the bid, says the BBC's Barbara Plett in New York: the European Union is split but so far more than a dozen countries have said they will vote in favour.

UK Foreign Secretary William Hague has said the UK will back the resolution, but only after receiving a number of assurances, principally that the Palestinians would seek negotiations with Israel "without pre-conditions".

He told parliament on Wednesday that the Palestinians must also agree not to seek membership of International Criminal Court (ICC), as any move to extend the jurisdiction of the court over the occupied territories could derail any chance of talks resuming.

Continue reading the main story Palestinians currently have permanent observer entity status at the UNThey are represented by the Palestine Liberation Organisation (PLO)PLO officials now want an upgrade so that a state of Palestine has full member status at the UNThey seek recognition on 1967 boundaries - in the West Bank, including East Jerusalem, and GazaEnhanced observer member status could be an interim option"However, in the absence of these assurances, the UK would abstain on the vote," he said.

"This would be consistent with our strong support for the principle of Palestinian statehood, but our strong concern that the resolution could set the peace process back."

Palestinian diplomats said they had rejected the "unrealistic" demands.

Entering peace talks without any strings attached meant abandoning the key demand that the construction of settlements on the West Bank must be frozen, Palestinian ambassador to the UK Manuel Hassassian told the BBC.

The request not to join the ICC was "absolutely unworkable", he added.

Change in tone?

While the move is seen as a symbolic milestone in Palestinian ambitions for statehood, a "Yes" vote would also have a practical diplomatic effect, adds our UN correspondent:

Continue reading the main story Nations in favour of or likely to support the bid: France, Spain, Norway, Switzerland, Austria, Denmark, Turkey, China, Russia, India, Brazil, South Africa, NigeriaNations against or likely to oppose the bid: Israel, USNations set to abstain: UK (needs assurances that the Palestinians would seek negotiations with Israel "without pre-conditions"), Germany, Australia, Belgium, ColombiaIt would allow the Palestinians to participate in debates at the UN and improve their chances of joining UN agencies and bodies like the ICC.

Last year Mr Abbas applied for full UN membership, but that got bogged down at the Security Council amidst US opposition, she says.

The US and especially Israel had suggested the Palestinians would suffer financial sanctions for this lesser upgrade, although Israel seems to have moderated its tone. Officials now say they will wait to see how the Palestinians use their new status.

As senior US diplomats travelled to New York on Wednesday in a last-bid attempt to get Mr Abbas to reconsider, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton reiterated the US position that the Palestinian move was misguided.

"The path to a two-state solution that fulfils the aspirations of the Palestinian people is through Jerusalem and Ramallah, not New York," she said. "The only way to get a lasting solution is to commence direct negotiations."

View the original article here

Piracy site gives up and closes

29 November 2012 Last updated at 14:17 GMT Newzbin originally claimed it was unaffected by the block as it offered workarounds Newzbin2, once one of the web's most popular sites offering links to pirated content, has decided to close.

It comes 15 months after a UK court ordered internet service providers to block the site, and amid global pressure from copyright holders.

Internet rights groups said the move was "pointless" in stopping piracy.

In a statement, Newzbin2's owners said it had struggled to cover costs because payment providers had "understandably lost their nerve".

"Newzbin2 was always hoped to be a viable underground commercial venture," the site said.

"The figures just don't stack up."

The Creative Coalition Campaign, which represents groups such as the Motion Picture Association (MPA) and record industry body the BPI, welcomed the announcement.

"This is great news," chairwoman Christine Payne said.

"Pirate websites should not be allowed to trade as this undermines the ability of legitimate businesses to recoup their considerable investment and threatens jobs in the creative sector."

Heavily sued

Newzbin2 was the follow-up site to the original Newzbin1, which was sued by the MPA, leaving it with massive debts.

The site was taken over by a group of hackers known as Team R Dogs who resurrected the site as Newzbin2.

In July 2011, a court ruling meant the site had to be blocked to users in the UK.

It attempted various techniques to circumvent the ban, but users began to head elsewhere.

"Newzbin1 was said to have had 700,000 registered users," the site's statement said.

"In fact that was the total number of people who ever signed up in the history of Newzbin from 2000 onwards.

"Only a fraction were active, loads of people dropped out and went to other sites."

'Running scared'

The administrators defended their record on tackling piracy, saying they had been willing to comply with requests to remove pirated content - but that copyright holders had never sent them a "single complaint".

"The tragedy is this: unlike Newzbin1 we are 100% DMCA [Digital Millennium Copyright Act] compliant," the statement said.

Continue reading the main story

Efforts to stem online piracy have in recent times focused on cutting off the public's access to websites offering links to download content.

Groups like the BPI - which represents the UK music industry - have used the courts to make internet service providers (ISPs), who typically resist such moves, block websites.

Aside from Newzbin2, this year has seen The Pirate Bay blocked by all of the UK's major ISPs, a controversial move among campaigners who believe that such censorship is ineffective.

Following the block, The Pirate Bay's traffic plummeted. However, other data has suggested the overall level of piracy has not dropped.

Beyond blocking sites, copyright holders have also called for measures to make the likes of Google give preferential treatment to search results containing legal downloads.

"We have acted on every DMCA notice we received without stalling or playing games: if there was a DMCA complaint the report was gone. Period."

As well as providing a free service listing download links, the site also offered a premium subscription option with various perks.

However, the site said not enough members had been paying, and that for those that had, the services the site had used to receive the money had been backing out.

"All our payment providers dropped out or started running scared," the site said.

It added that accepting Bitcoin - an electronic, hard-to-track currency - had not been an option because it was "just too hard for 90% of people".

The Open Rights Group, which campaigns for an open internet, said Newzbin's closure should not be taken as a sign that blocking sites was effective.

"Newzbin were rightly pursued through the courts and found to be encouraging infringement," said Jim Killock, the group's executive director.

"That is the right approach. However, censorship and block orders are disturbing and we think unnecessary given the success in tackling the businesses and payment mechanisms involved.

"Web blocking is a blunt instrument and is a dangerous practice. We wish copyright owners the best in enforcing their rights and building their businesses, but urge them not to resort to further requests for censorship."

View the original article here

Dalai Lama visa delay 'unlawful'

29 November 2012 Last updated at 13:04 GMT The Dalai Lama ended up giving his birthday lecture via a video link South Africa's government acted unlawfully in failing to give the Dalai Lama a visa in time for a planned visit last year, a court has ruled.

Tibet's spiritual leader was forced to cancel plans to attend Archbishop Desmond Tutu's 80th birthday celebrations in October 2011.

The Supreme Court of Appeal said the former home affairs minister had "unreasonably delayed her decision".

The government denied it had bowed to pressure from China to block the trip.

In response to the ruling, Archbishop Tutu's office said it as a "credit to South Africa's judicial system" and he looked forward to inviting the Dalai Lama to South Africa for his 90th birthday.

Stalling tactics Continue reading the main story

We are inviting the Dalai Lama to come to South Africa as soon as it is convenient to him, and we look forward to having him in our midst again to share with him the bond of peace, love and enlightenment”

End Quote Mangosuthu Buthelezi Inkatha Freedom Party The Supreme Court of Appeal was hearing an appeal application by two opposition parties - the Inkatha Freedom Party (IFP) and the Congress of the People (Cope) - about the issue.

Earlier, the Western Cape High Court had dismissed the case, the South Africa Press Association reports.

Archbishop Tutu was furious about the visa delay for his fellow Nobel Peace Prize winner and accused the government of behaving "worse than the apartheid government".

According to the AFP news agency, the Supreme Court of Appeal found no evidence that the government had actually made a decision not to grant a visa, but did detect stalling tactics.

"What is justified by the evidence is an inference that the matter was deliberately delayed so as to avoid a decision," the news agency quotes the judgment as saying.

The court said that former Home Affairs Minister Nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma "was not entitled to deliberately procrastinate", South Africa's City Press newspaper reports.

Ms Dlamini-Zuma, who is President Jacob Zuma's ex-wife, now heads the Africa Union.

Archbishop Desmond Tutu said the failure to grant the Dalai Lama a visa was a disgrace

The Home Affairs Department said it respected the ruling of the Supreme Court, but would study the reasoning for the judgement before responding.

China sees the India-based Nobel Peace laureate, who campaigns for the rights of the Tibetan people, as a dangerous separatist leader.

It has pushed for his international isolation, urging governments not to meet him.

The Dalai Lama visited South Africa in 1996, meeting then-President Nelson Mandela, but he was prevented from attending a peace conference for Nobel laureates in 2009 as the government said his visit would distract from preparations for the 2010 World Cup.

IFP leader Mangosuthu Buthelezi said the judgement revealed the government had lost its "principles, moral direction and moral legitimacy" over the issue.

"We are inviting the Dalai Lama to come to South Africa as soon as it is convenient to him, and we look forward to having him in our midst again to share with him the bond of peace, love and enlightenment," he said in a statement.

Last year, the Dalai Lama eventually delivered a lecture at Archbishop Tutu's birthday celebrations via a video link.

View the original article here

Savile probe: Man in 80s quizzed

29 November 2012 Last updated at 14:06 GMT Police launched Operation Yewtree following allegations made about Jimmy Savile A man in his 80s is being interviewed by detectives investigating child abuse allegations linked to Jimmy Savile.

The man, from Berkshire, attended a south London police station by appointment and is now being interviewed under caution.

Officers from the Metropolitan Police's Operation Yewtree searched an address in Berkshire on Saturday.

The police said he was being interviewed as part of the inquiry that does not directly relate to Savile.

View the original article here

Argentina wins delay over debt

29 November 2012 Last updated at 00:20 GMT Economy Minister Hernan Lorenzino has said Argentina will fight the US ruling Argentina, which is locked in a court battle over its debt, has received more time to argue against paying investors over its defaulted debt.

The nation is appealing against a US ruling ordering it to pay $1.3bn (£800m) to foreign creditors holding bonds that it defaulted on in 2001.

Argentina had been given until 15 December to reimburse the hedge funds, which shunned two previous debt swaps.

But the New York court has now granted a stay while its appeal is heard.

Under the original ruling, Argentina had to place the money in an account while it pursued appeals. President Cristina Fernandez de Kirchner called the ruling "judicial colonialism" and said her government would not pay a single dollar.

Now, the two sides will meet in court to argue the appeal in February.

Argentina defaulted on $100bn of bonds in 2001, a record amount at the time.

But by 2003 a recovery was under way, and the International Monetary Fund (IMF) agreed to a new loan.

Since then, Argentina has restructured its massive debt twice, offering creditors new bonds for the defaulted ones.

These hedge funds have previously rejected exchanges of their defaulted debt in 2005 and 2010. If Argentina is forced to pay in full, other holders of debt totalling more than $11bn are expected to demand immediate payment as well.

Argentine Economy Minister Hernan Lorenzino has said it is illegitimate to pay "vulture funds".

View the original article here

After Sandy: The struggles of Ortley Beach

By Adam Blenford BBC News, New Jersey The ever-growing piles of rubbish outside every home in Ortley Beach only hint at the sadness of the owners inside.

There is a lot of wooden furniture, much of it clearly carved and crafted decades ago, and sofas upholstered in patterns of the past. There are mattresses and clothes left sodden by water.

But there are also leather footballs, children's bicycles, and vintage LPs; there are gas-fired BBQs, refrigerators and plastic flowers.

As good Italian home-makers, John and Merlinda Berish even had six months' worth of home-cooked meals in their freezer. No longer.

Sandy's salty floodwater and its deadly ally, a creeping mould, have spared little.

Instead of personal possessions the Berishes now have a rogue home sitting outside the front porch, a beachside bungalow that has come to rest a full quarter of a mile from its usual spot.

Sandy tore the house from its foundations in Beier Avenue and sent it careering up 3rd Avenue, where it eventually slammed into the Berishes' property and came to a halt. It's still there, weeks later.

"It hit my house pretty good," says John Berish, 75. "I wish they'd get it out of here now. It's an eyesore.

"Everything you see in most houses up and down the street is destroyed. You name it, it's gone."

John and Merlinda Berish's home white wooden home was hit by the corner of the rogue house

He looks out over his front porch and surveys his belongings.

"Everything you have personally in your life is now going out in the garbage cans."

The Berishes' experience is entirely typical of the new reality in Ortley Beach. One month on from Sandy's inundation, it's not that Ortley Beach is yet to recover; the problem is that it has barely begun.

Continue reading the main story

I think once residents were able to get over to the island after it was cleaned up they got a full appreciation of the damage over there.”

End Quote George Whitman Jr Local councillor The barrier island community was especially vulnerable to a storm like Sandy, which pushed great swells of ocean towards the coast, breaching protective dunes and flooding virtually every home.

While Ortley Beach is often referred to as "ground zero", other Jersey Shore communities were also badly hit: Seaside Heights, Lavallette, Normandy and Mantoloking on Ortley's island strip; on Long Beach Island and in Atlantic City to the south.

The governors of New York and New Jersey states have now asked for almost $80bn (£50bn) in federal funding for disaster relief and future flood prevention. New Jersey's $37bn request is bigger than the state's entire annual budget.

In Ortley Beach, it is hard to overstate the chaos and sadness the storm has left behind.

Although no-one died here, tales of loss are on every street corner and in most of the homes in between.

Continue reading the main story Residents and homeowners gained regular access to the island only last weekend, after Thanksgiving. One-third of Ortley Beach is now open each day, albeit with access controlled by police.

There is no power, no gas, few toilets, no sewerage, no phone service, no shops and no restaurants. No-one sleeps in the town at night.

"They're all victims, and our goal is to help them one victim at a time," says Mike Mastronardy, chief of police for Toms River Township, which includes Ortley Beach.

As the water receded, Mastronardy and the Toms River council kept residents off the island, away from their ruined homes, until emergency infrastructure repairs made Ortley Beach safe to enter.

Continue reading the main story

"Our states took a devastating blow from Hurricane Sandy, and our respective cost estimates to restore and rebuild reflect the ferocity of Sandy and the impact to our transportation and utilities infrastructures, our economies, tourism industries and, most importantly, the lives, homes and livelihoods of our citizens."

Gov Andrew Cuomo (NY) and Gov Chris Christie (NJ)

Estimated cost to New Jersey: $37bnEstimated cost to New York: $41.9bnDisaster centres open in New Jersey: 33 Disaster centres open in New York: 33Deaths attributed to Sandy: 121Uninsured eligible for help via National Flood Insurance ProgramIt was not a universally popular policy, and public discontent grew as impatient residents clamoured to see their homes and assess the damage.

Those who did make it in found the town in ruins. The beach had been eviscerated, with 8ft-high (2.4m) protective dunes simply washed away. Instead, streets within two blocks of the water were filled with 2-3ft of sand.

Homes, boats and cars were strewn around, power lines were down, sinkholes appeared, and many buildings were unsafe.

"It really wasn't a good idea to go back there," Toms River council member George Whitman Jr says.

"I think once residents were able to get over to the island after it was cleaned up they got a full appreciation of the damage over there."

Only by visiting Ortley Beach itself is it possible to understand what Whitman means.

At its northern tip is a towering mountain of sand, reclaimed from the streets and corralled on top of what was once a popular pier.

From there, sweeping south, much of what remains is a withered mess.

The Surf Club, a Jersey Shore institution, now lies in ruins, and the wreckage of Ortley Beach's boardwalk runs both ways along the beach, meandering south towards Seaside Heights and its now-famous rollercoaster-in-the-ocean.

Before the storm, beachside dunes higher than the boardwalk protected the walkway - and the road and homes beyond - from storm-tossed seas.

But there are no dunes anymore. There is no tarmac road either, just an expanded and flattened beach stretching from the sea to the streets.

The houses ranged along Ocean Avenue are shattered, broken or simply not there anymore. The road that once ran parallel to the boardwalk is now twisted, broken and buckled.

There was no rain, and little wind, as Sandy closed in on the Jersey Shore on 29 October. But water had already seeped into the streets by the time the clock struck noon. As night fell, Ortley Beach was already flooded.

Continue reading the main story

Right now everybody is worrying about the immediate. I think the fallout from the insurance is still to come”

End Quote Karen Vail Born in Ortley Beach "I went up to the ocean and they said the storm was about 500 miles away, and it had already breached the dunes and damaged oceanfront homes," says Frank Mazzo, a local builder who defied an evacuation order as the waters rose.

"That was about noon. By eight o'clock, eight-thirty, the water just rose about 2ft. By nine we were really in the thick of it."

Mazzo's sturdy, modern house - by the bay almost half a mile away - was barely damaged. Water flooded his garage, but most of his property is built on sturdy concrete pillars, and no structural damage was done.

"I built the house to withstand these things. But who knew the first hurricane we faced would be the 100-year storm, or the 500-year storm?"

Mazzo's neighbours were not so fortunate. To his right, Joanna Anselmo's neat, pink summer home - bought by her family in 1948 - is at least still standing. But it now perches precariously over a watery pit.

"It's very, very surreal," she says. "I keep waking up and thinking it didn't happen."

The house to Frank Mazzo's left, at 2029 Bay Boulevard, is listing oddly, its front aspect plunging forward into the same hole that scuppered the Anselmo home.

"The house is cracked in half at the back, I got a four foot pit around the back of my house, and my shed is nearly in the bay," says Bill Carroll, who has lived in Ortley Beach for 50 years.

John Berish says he has doubts about rebuilding. "It will never be the same again"

"Pretty much, we lost everything here. We're coming out with nothing."

But if Ortley Beach is sad, it is not universally depressed.

Across the road, Karen and Rick Vail are literally taking a breather. Clad in white all-in-one Tyvek "disaster suits", they sit by their car and remove the face masks protecting them from prolonged exposure to mould spores.

The Vails are clearing Karen's mother's home, salvaging what they can. But she worries that many people might suffer at the hands of insurance companies.

Homeowner insurance generally does not cover flood damage, and many people were either unwilling to buy flood insurance or unable to get coverage.

"Right now everybody is worrying about the immediate, rather than when the insurance company starts paying off later," she says.

"People have a tendency to get angry as they get removed from something. I think the fallout from the insurance is still to come."

But she is optimistic, too: "Coming back in and seeing all the people rebuilding, instead of making me sad it's making me more hopeful."

Back on the beach, Police Chief Mike Mastronardy looks around the splintered landscape and sees a recovery already under way.

"You should have seen it two days after the storm hit," he says.

"We'll be in business this summer. You want to get a beach patch?"

View the original article here

Court bans Pussy Riot video clips

29 November 2012 Last updated at 13:19 GMT Pussy Riot's Yekaterina Samutsevich: "This is a clear case of censorship"

A Moscow court has ruled that websites must remove video clips of the Pussy Riot female punk band, two of whose members are in jail.

The clips include a crude anti-Kremlin song which they performed in Moscow's main cathedral in February, for which they were convicted.

The "punk prayer" has been viewed nearly 2.4m times on YouTube.

In its ruling, the court called the clips "extremist". Websites that fail to remove the clips may be blocked.

There were widespread international protests over the Pussy Riot trial.

The video clip ban will only apply once the court ruling takes effect. It was not immediately clear when this would happen.

Nor was it clear if the court was banning all of the group's clips, which include a song mocking Russian leader Vladimir Putin that was performed on Red Square.

The court listed websites carrying the clips and said they should be blocked, Russian media report.

A representative of Google's Russian office said YouTube would not take any decision regarding the clips until it had received official documents, Russia's Interfax news agency reports.

Appeal doubts

The court said it had based its ruling on conclusions by a panel of experts who studied the footage, showing band members in colourful dresses, tights and ski masks dancing in front of the altar of Christ The Saviour Cathedral.

Judge Marina Musimovich said the video had "elements of extremism".

Continue reading the main story

The judge put the group's clips, with their dancing and signing, on the same level as Islamist videos calling for murder”

End Quote Pavel Chikov Human rights activist "In particular, there are words and actions which humiliate various social groups based on their religion," she added.

The Pussy Riot members have said their performance of the "punk prayer" on 21 February was aimed at highlighting support given to Mr Putin by the head of the Russian Orthodox Church, Patriarch Kirill.

Their brief, obscenity-laced performance implored the Virgin Mary to "throw Putin out".

Any appeal against the verdict has to be made within one month.

Yekaterina Samutsevich, a third member of the group who had her sentence suspended on appeal, said she would try to lodge one, adding: "Today's verdict was to be expected."

However, the court's press secretary suggested Ms Samutsevich was excluded from making an appeal as she had not attended the court's proceedings.

"The prosecutor and the justice ministry of the Russian Federation are considered to be the participants in these proceedings," Yevgenia Pazukhina told the Russian legal news agency Rapsi.

Blacklist The head of the Russian Orthodox Church, Patriarch Kirill, has said the act amounted to blasphemy.

The two band members now in prison, Maria Alyokhina and Nadezhda Tolokonnikova, are serving two-year sentences after being convicted of "hooliganism motivated by religious hatred".

Materials deemed to be "extremist" are put on a blacklist kept by the Russian justice ministry.

Currently the list contains about 1,500 items, mostly related to banned religious and ultra-nationalist groups or those deemed to have a fascist ideology, AFP news agency reports.

A top official of the Russian Orthodox Church, Archpriest Vsevolod Chaplin, welcomed Thursday's court verdict.

"Many similar texts and video content have already been included on the federal list of extremist materials, and it is quite appropriate that this video clip be included on the list, I think," he said.

Critics have accused Russia's anti-extremism law, first passed in 2002 and regularly amended since then, of being too vague.

The Council of Europe, Europe's main human rights watchdog of which Russia is a member, concluded in a report this summer that the law gave "too wide discretion in its interpretation and application, thus leading to arbitrariness".

Pavel Chikov, head of a network of Russian human rights groups, condemned Thursday's verdict.

"The judge put the group's clips, with their dancing and signing, on the same level as Islamist videos calling for murder," he was quoted as saying by the Russian news website gazeta.ru.

View the original article here