Apple under fire over new map app

20 September 2012 Last updated at 12:20

Inaccuracies and misplaced towns and cities in Apple's new map software have provoked anger from users.

In June Apple announced it would stop using Google Maps in favour of its own system, created using data from navigation specialist TomTom.

Apple is yet to comment on the complaints about the software, which comes already installed on the new iPhone.

TomTom said it provided only data and was not responsible for how it worked.

The software is packaged with iOS6, the latest version of Apple's operating system, which runs on the iPhone, iPad and iPod Touch.

Previously, the system had an app running mapping software from Google.

But users are now forced to use Apple's new maps once they upgrade or buy the latest iPhone - which goes on sale on Friday.

There is not currently a Google Maps app available in Apple's App Store, although Google's system is still accessible via the phone's web browser.

Museum in river

Among the user complaints regarding Apple's maps sent to the BBC were:

• Some towns appear to be missing, such as Stratford-upon-Avon and Solihull.
• Others, like Uckfield in East Sussex, are in the wrong location.
• Satellite images of various locations, particularly in Scotland, are obscured by cloud.
• A search for Manchester United Football Club directs users to Sale United Football Club, a community team for ages five and above.
• Users also reported missing local places, such as schools, or strange locations. Another screenshot showed a furniture museum that was apparently located in a river.

TomTom, which also licenses data to a range of other mobile manufacturers, defended its involvement.

A spokesman told the BBC that its maps provided only a "foundation" to the service.

"The user experience is determined by adding additional features to the map application such as visual imagery," a spokesman said.

Spot the difference Continue reading the main story

"User experience fully depends on the choices these manufacturers make.

"We are confident about our map quality, as selling 65 million portable navigation devices across the world and more than 1.4m TomTom apps for iPhone in the past two years reaffirms this quality."

Prior to the release of iOS6, several developers had expressed concerns over the capability of the mapping app, in particular its ability to find businesses via search.

"This is incredibly different from using Google Maps," one Denver-based blogger wrote on 13 September.

"It's a tremendous step backwards and something that cripples iOS for Apple's customers.

"I [searched] 'iPhone Repair' and 'iPad Repair' since that's relevant to our business. The results broke my heart.

"All of the work I've put into our local recognition is completely gone."

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Clashes at Pakistan film protest

20 September 2012 Last updated at 08:51 ET

Pakistani police have clashed with protesters demonstrating against an amateur video mocking Islam outside the US embassy in the capital, Islamabad.

Live rounds have been heard and tear gas has been fired as police struggled to contain the crowd of about 1,000 people. The Pakistani government has called in the army to help.

The film, which was made in the US, is said to insult the Prophet Muhammad.

Several people have died in protests in the Middle east and North Africa.

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Law bans cybersex in Philippines

20 September 2012 Last updated at 11:44

The Philippines has outlawed cybersex and online sex video chat.

Cybersex involves women - "cam girls"- chatting and performing sexual acts in front of webcams for internet clients.

It is a growing industry in many parts of the world, and often young women and under-age girls are forced into it.

Anyone breaking the law faces a fine of 250,000 Philippine pesos ($6,000; £3,700) and a jail term of up to six months.

The new legislation is part of the Cybercrime Prevention Act of 2012, signed by President Benigno Aquino on 15 September.

The act defines cybersex as "the wilful engagement, maintenance, control, or operation, directly or indirectly, of any lascivious exhibition of sexual organs or sexual activity, with the aid of a computer system, for favour or consideration".

One of the authors of the law, senator Edgardo Angara, said the act was needed to detect, investigate and suppress cybercrime such as hacking, cybersex, identity theft, spamming, and child pornography online.

The National Bureau of Investigation and the Philippine National Police are now meant to set up a cybercrime unit "to exclusively handle cases involving violations of this act".

To deal with these cases, the authorities are planning to create cybercrime courts with specially trained judges.

The law states that the regional trial court "shall have jurisdiction over any violation of the provisions of this Act including any violation committed by a Filipino national regardless of the place of commission... if any of the elements was committed within the Philippines".

The country has taken a hard line on cybersex in the past.

In 2011, two Swedish men were jailed for life for running a cybersex operation in the Philippines.

Three Filipinos were given 20-year jail sentences for helping the Swedes, who had set up the internet and payment systems, to run the business.

Free press threat?

Although the law talks specifically about cybercrime, Philippine media organisations have expressed concerns that it may also be used to curb press freedom because it lists internet libel as cybercrime.

According to the act, someone found guilty of libellous comments online, including comments made on social networks and blogs, could be jailed for up to 12 years with no possibility of parole.

The Centre for Media Freedom and Responsibility said the act showed "how restrictive rather than expansive is the mindset of the country's legislators and of Aquino himself" in promoting transparency, press freedom, and free expression.

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Japan seeks China damages payment

20 September 2012 Last updated at 06:37 ET

Japan will seek compensation from China for damages to its diplomatic missions there during protests over disputed islands, Chief Cabinet Secretary Osamu Fujimura has said.

He told reporters in Tokyo that "this was an issue between the governments".

It comes as China expressed regret over protesters attacking the US ambassador's car in Beijing on Tuesday.

Chinese dissident and artist Ai Weiwei filmed the attack, a copy of which was uploaded on YouTube.

Tensions have been high between Japan and China after Japan purchased three of the disputed islands, known as Senkaku in Japan and Diaoyu in China, from a private owner.

Both Japan and China, as well as Taiwan, claim the uninhabited but resource-rich islands that are controlled by Japan.

Over the last week anti-Japanese protests in China have forced Japanese businesses to close or scale down operations.

In some cities on Tuesday, Japanese shops were attacked and vandalised on the anniversary of an incident in 1931 which led to Japan's invasion of north-east China. The protests appeared to have diminished on Wednesday.

US 'concern'

"Regarding damage to our embassies and consulates, we plan to demand compensation [from China] as it is an issue between the governments," Mr Fujimura is quoted as saying in Tokyo.

Continue reading the main story

• The archipelago consists of five islands and three reefs
• Japan, China and Taiwan claim them; they are controlled by Japan and form part of Okinawa prefecture
• The Japanese government signed a deal in September 2012 to purchase three islands from Japanese businessman Kunioki Kurihara, who used to rent them out to the Japanese state
• The islands were the focus of a major diplomatic row between Japan and China in 2010

He added that any damage to Japanese property in China should be handled under local laws.

Mr Fujimura also said that the Japanese prime minister is planning to send a special envoy to China as part of efforts "to resolve the issue cool-headedly through various diplomatic routes".

When asked whether China would pay for damages related to the protests, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Hong Lei said that relevant cases would be handled appropriately, state-run news agency Xinhua reports.

Meanwhile, China has expressed regret over the incident involving protesters that attacked US Ambassador Gary Locke's car in Beijing on Tuesday, the US State Department said.

Its spokeswoman, Victoria Nuland, said that the US had registered its concern with China over the incident in Washington and Beijing.

Protesters chanted anti-American slogans and said that the disputed islands were part of Chinese territory as they tried to prevent the car from entering the embassy.

Ai Weiwei told the BBC's Martin Patience in Beijing that he was able to shoot video footage of the attack from a friend's place nearby.

Hong Lei said that the incident was an "individual case", and that they were investigating it.

The US, which is an ally of Japan, has said that it would remain neutral on the islands dispute.

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Karzai sacks governor of Helmand

20 September 2012 Last updated at 06:21 ET

The governor of Afghanistan's volatile Helmand province has been sacked, as President Hamid Karzai makes a series of sweeping political changes.

Gulab Mangal, considered a close ally of British interests, is one of 10 governors removed or put in new jobs.

He ran Helmand during a critical Nato offensive against Taliban insurgents.

Analysts say his sacking is likely to be a political move. Mr Mangal's successor is thought to enjoy closer relations with the presidential palace.

President Karzai has made several attempts to have him removed from his post before, correspondents add.

Overseas trip row

He will be replaced by General Naeem Baloch, who works for the intelligence service.

The changes come in advance of elections which are due in 2014. Mr Mangal has been tipped as a possible contender for the leadership.

In a statement, the British embassy in Kabul said Mr Mangal, who had been in the post for four years, had "made a real difference to the life of ordinary Afghans in Helmand".

A Pashtun from Paktika province in the south-east, he also had to deal with complex tribal tensions and ongoing problems related to the opium trade - Helmand at that time grew half of the country's opium poppies.

He has also been accused of taking an unauthorised trip to the United States. All governors must have the permission of the president in order to go abroad.

But Mr Mangal denies this and says that both the US embassy in Kabul and the Afghan embassy in Washington can confirm this.

Speaking to the BBC before the formal announcement that he had been sacked, he said he had sought permission from the Independent Department for Local Governance for a holiday in Europe and India.

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Complaint over French cartoons

20 September 2012 Last updated at 05:48 ET

A legal complaint has been filed against a French satirical magazine which published obscene cartoons of the Prophet Muhammad.

The complaint accuses the magazine of inciting hatred.

A little-known Syrian organisation lodged the complaint with prosecutors in Paris, who will decide if action should be taken against Charlie Hebdo.

France is braced for protests, with plans to close some embassies in foreign capitals on Friday.

Embassies, consulates, cultural centres and schools in some 20 countries are to shut as a precaution. Public protests in Muslim countries sometimes take place after traditional Friday prayers.

A tenet of Islam bans the portrayal of its founder, the Prophet Muhammad.

Feelings in the Islamic world have already been running high over an amateur video mocking the Prophet Muhammad, which emerged in the US this month. Some 30 people have died in violent protests over the film.

Concern has been expressed by the White House over the decision to publish the cartoons.

'Limits to provocation'

The complaint against Charlie Hebdo was filed on Wednesday by an organisation called the Syrian Freedom Association, which was registered earlier this year in France but appears to be little-known among Syrian expatriates.

It accuses Charlie Hebdo of "throwing oil on the fire by disseminating a cartoon against the Prophet Muhammad".

While the complaint refers to "a" cartoon, there are several in the latest issue of the magazine.

Charlie Hebdo is accused of "publicly provoking discrimination, hatred or violence of an ethnic, racial or religious kind".

Mr Cohn-Bendit, leader of the main Green group in the European Parliament and a prominent figure in German and French politics for decades, dismissed Charlie-Hebdo as "idiots" in an interview for French channel BFMTV on Thursday.

While such cartoons should not be banned, he said, there were "limits to provocation".

"They are masochists, they must enjoy it," he added.

The French government met Muslim representatives in Paris on Wednesday as part of efforts to defuse anger over the cartoons.

Nerves were rattled after a lunchtime fire-bomb attack on a kosher grocery store in Sarcelles, a Paris suburb that is home to a large Jewish community, but prosecutors said it was too early to draw conclusions.

A French Jewish umbrella organization, the Crif, said in a statement it feared the attack, which left one person slightly hurt, was connected to the film protests.

'Doing our jobs'

One of the magazine's cartoonists, Renald "Luz" Luzier, defended their publication in an interview for the BBC World Service.

They had not, he said, been aimed at provoking a violent reaction. He said the magazine had simply been doing what they usually do to cover news stories, on this occasion the uproar over the American film.

"I don't think we decided to put oil on fire, we just did our work," he said.

"Everybody's looking or drawing flags like [it's] a provocation but it's not, it's only drawings, it's only a little sketch of papers, we are not in the Crusades."

Luz said he had been under police protection since Charlie Hebdo's Paris offices were burned down in a petrol bomb attack in November, following an edition in which the Prophet Muhammad was named as "guest editor".

Some 20 cartoons feature in Wednesday's Charlie Hebdo. They include graphic depictions of the Prophet Muhammad naked, with allusions to other current news stories such as the topless picture scandal involving the Duchess of Cambridge.

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Eurozone business activity falls

20 September 2012 Last updated at 05:20 ET

Activity among eurozone firms suffered its steepest contraction since June 2009, according to a survey.

The Markit Flash Eurozone Purchasing Managers' (PMI) Composite Output Index fell to 45.9 in September from 46.3 in August, its lowest level for 39 months.

The composite figure combines services and manufacturing activity, and a figure below 50 indicates contraction.

Markit said the results indicated the eurozone was heading back into recession.

The services PMI activity index fell from 47.2 to 46, but the manufacturing PMI output index rose to 45.5 from 44.4 in August.

"The eurozone downturn gathered further momentum in September, suggesting that the region suffered the worst quarter for three years," said Chris Williamson, Markit's chief economist.

"The flash PMI is consistent with GDP contracting by 0.6% in the third quarter and sending the region back into a technical recession."

However, while there were falls in production and new orders across the eurozone as a whole, Germany's rate of decline slowed "substantially".

"Services even saw a marginal upturn in activity for the first time since May," the report said.

But employment fell for the ninth consecutive month across the eurozone, with French payroll numbers being cut at the fastest rate since November 2009.

Chinese manufacturing

Earlier, the flash PMI manufacturing measure for China had indicated another fall in output in the sector, adding further to eurozone woes.

The survey of factory managers found that while the rate of decline had slowed, manufacturing still fell in September for the 11th month in a row.

The HSBC flash China manufacturing PMI rose from 47.6 in August to 47.8 in September.

China has given the go-head for infrastructure projects worth more than $150bn (£93bn).

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Helicopter crashes near Damascus

20 September 2012 Last updated at 03:40 ET

A helicopter has crashed near the Syrian capital, Damascus, Syrian state television has said.

The helicopter was said to have crashed close to Douma, a suburb east of Damascus.

At the end of August, rebels said they shot down a helicopter on the outskirts of Damascus.

The government has increasingly been using helicopters and other aircraft in its fight against the rebellion which started last year.

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Engineer admits to US data theft

20 September 2012 Last updated at 00:28 ET

Chunlai Yang, a former programmer for CME Group, the largest US futures exchange operator, has admitted to stealing trade secrets from the firm.

He pleaded guilty to downloading CME's computer codes to help boost trading speeds and volumes at a Chinese exchange.

The US government said the potential loss from the theft was between $50m-$100m (£30m-£60m).

Mr Yang, a Chinese national who has US citizenship, faces 10 years in jail.

"Trade secret theft is a serious economic crime that affects the interests of corporations, as well as our national interest, in protecting intellectual property," said Gary Shapiro, acting United States Attorney for the Northern District of Illinois.

'Confidential business property'

Mr Yang also admitted that he had planned to set up his own firm, along with two partners, to work to help improve the functioning of the Zhangjiagang Exchange in China.

It its report, the US Department of Justice said that Mr Yang had downloaded more than 10,000 files containing sources codes from CME.

"The source code and algorithms that made up the supporting programs were proprietary and confidential business property of CME Group," the report said.

It said that Mr Yang had planned to use these codes to help set up multiple trading functions for the Chinese exchange.

Such a move was expected to help provide the exchange's customers with more ways of placing orders, thus increasing the trade volumes and boosting profits.

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Wen set for final China-EU summit

20 September 2012 Last updated at 00:35 ET

China's premier Wen Jiabao is to take part in his last EU-China summit before handing over power later this year.

His talks in Brussels with senior EU figures, including European Council President Herman Van Rompuy and foreign policy chief Catherine Ashton, are expected to focus on economic issues.

Beijing has previously expressed concerns about Europe's economic slowdown and offered to help.

Mr Wen is seen as having played a key role in building Chinese-EU relations.

Bilateral trade has more than quadrupled under his nine-year premiership.

The EU is now China's largest export market and the world's second-largest exporter to China.

'Consolidating relations'

There have been trade disputes between the partners - such as a recent EU decision to investigate allegations that Chinese manufacturers are dumping solar panels by selling them at below market value.

But EU officials believe these disputes must be seen in the context of a broad and growing economic relationship, says the BBC's Chris Morris in Brussels.

The Chinese government has also repeatedly expressed concern about Europe's faltering economy, which continues to struggle through a eurozone debt crisis.

There had been hopes that China would invest some $3 trillion (2.3 trillion euros; £1.85 trillion) of its foreign exchange reserves in European bailout funds - although pressure has now been eased by a European Central Bank decision to buy up government bonds.

In this context, the BBC's Chris Morris in Brussels says this summit will be all about consolidating relations rather than taking big decisions.

Europe's leaders, he says, have their eye on China's leadership change, which only happens once every decade and could bring new challenges in relations between these major economic powers.

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India strike over retail reforms

19 September 2012 Last updated at 23:43 ET

Opposition parties and trade unions in India are joining in one-day strike over the government's plan to open the retail sector to global supermarket chains and other reforms.

Early reports said that opposition workers had blocked railway tracks in Uttar Pradesh and Bihar states.

A key ally of the ruling coalition has pulled out of the government in protest at the plan.

Observers say the coalition's majority in parliament is not at immediate risk.

Delhi's plan is aimed at reviving a flagging economy, but small shops fear they will be put out of business.

The decision was one of several reforms announced by the government last week.

It also decided to allow foreign airlines to buy 49% stakes in local carriers, in the hope that this will boost the country's troubled aviation sector.

The government also announced a 14% rise in the price of diesel, which is heavily subsidised in India.

Angry

The Trinamool Congress party, a key ally of the ruling coalition, has said it would pull out of the government and that its six ministers would resign on Friday.

Thursday's nationwide strike, called by the main opposition Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), its allies and Communist parties, is expected to shut down schools, businesses and public transport in many cities.

TV channels showed protests taking place in the cities of Patna, Allahabad and Varanasi in northern India.

Most businesses were shut in the eastern city of Calcutta and public transport was disrupted, reports said.

The Confederation of All India Traders said 50 million people were expected to participate in the protests, and that large demonstrations were planned in Delhi and other cities.

"Multinational companies will destroy the economic and social fabric of the country and will adversely impact traders, transporters, farmers and other sections of retail trade," Praveen Khandelwal, the head of the group, was quoted as saying by AFP news agency.

A BJP spokesperson said people were supporting the strike because they were "angry at the recent decisions of the government".

Under the government's proposal, global firms - such as Walmart and Tesco - will be able to buy up to a 51% stake in multi-brand retailers.

Multinational retailers already have outlets in India, but they deal with smaller retailers. This decision allows them to sell directly to Indian consumers.

Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh has said the reforms would "help strengthen our growth process and generate employment in these difficult times".

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Marikana miners to return to work

19 September 2012 Last updated at 23:06 ET

Miners in South Africa are due to return to work at the Marikana platinum complex, which was the scene of violent protests in which 44 people died.

Striking miners reached an agreeement with owners Lonmin on Tuesday. It will see their salaries rise by up to 22%.

Lonmin is hoping to recover some of the big losses it incurred during the six-week stoppage.

An investigation is under way into the deaths of the miners, 34 of whom were shot by police.

The strikes have spread to other mines in South Africa, one of the world's biggest producers of precious metals.

Spreading strikes

On Monday, President Jacob Zuma said that the disruption had cost the industry $548m (£337m) in lost output.

On Wednesday police fired rubber bullets and tear gas to disperse protesters near a mine owned by Anglo American Platinum (Amplats), the world's largest platinum producer.

Amplats had re-opened its mines on Tuesday after they were closed last week.

Last week the government announced it would clamp down on the protests.

The Marikana miners had been demanding a monthly salary of 12,500 rand ($1,513; £935) - they currently earn between 4,000 and 5,000 rand.

As well as a pay rise of 11-22%, they will get a one-off payment of 2,000 rand to help cover the weeks of not being paid while they were on strike.

Analysts had warned that the Lonmin deal could encourage other miners to down tools to obtain pay hikes.

Some 15,000 miners at Gold Fields' Dreifontein Gold Mine remain on strike.

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UK deports Tamils to Sri Lanka

19 九月 2012 Last updated at 23:09 ET

Up to 60 Sri Lankan Tamils being deported from the UK on an overnight charter flight, despite warnings they may face torture on their return.

UK officials say those being sent back include failed asylum seekers and visa overstayers.

The flight department from the UK late on Wednesday, despite last-minute legal pleas against the deportation.

The Sri Lankan government says those being sent back will not be mistreated.

Presidential adviser Rajiva Wijesinha said Britain itself had established that returnees would not be tortured. He said most of those being deported were economic migrants.

Britain says that unless a Sri Lankan Tamil was a high-level activist with the separatist Tamil Tiger rebel group, he or she is unlikely to be targeted on returning to Sri Lanka.

But human rights groups such as Freedom from Torture and Human Rights Watch argue that Tamil people either linked or perceived to be linked to the Tigers - at any level - are at risk if they return.

One Tamil man due to be sent back told the BBC: "Instead of getting killed there I would far rather commit suicide in the UK."

The man, who asked not to be named, said that he would be singled out by the authorities because his uncle was a well-known Tamil Tiger rebel. He said that he had never been a member of the group, although he did run errands and was a courier on their behalf.

"The Tamil Tigers during the war were seen to be a movement representing legitimate Tamil aspirations and grievances," he said.

A man now on his second asylum application in Britain said he was beaten, deprived of sleep and almost suffocated in polythene and petrol by the Sri Lankan police, the BBC's Charles Haviland in Colombo reports.

The UK Border Agency says the removal of a person only happens where it is satisfied that he or she has no protection needs.

Both Freedom from Torture and Human Rights Watch say that they have interviewed nearly 40 people who subsequently escaped back to Britain and gave accounts of alleged torture by the Sri Lankan authorities which the groups say is medically verified.

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Actress sues over anti-Islam film

19 September 2012 Last updated at 22:24 ET

A US actress who appeared in the anti-Islam film that sparked protests across the Muslim world is suing the film's suspected director.

Cindy Lee Garcia accused Nakoula Basseley Nakoula of duping her into a "hateful" film that she was led to believe was a desert adventure movie.

She is also asking a judge to order YouTube to remove the film.

A clip dubbed into Arabic provoked widespread anger for its mocking portrayal of the Prophet Muhammad.

The film, Innocence of Muslims, has sparked protests across the Middle East, North Africa and as far away as Sri Lanka, with some demonstrations turning into destructive and violent riots.

Four Americans, including Ambassador Chris Stephens, were killed during an attack on the US consulate in Benghazi, Libya.

According to Ms Garcia, the script she received had made no mention of the Prophet Muhammad or made references to religion.

She claims she has received death threats since the video was posted to YouTube, and says her association with the film has harmed her reputation.

In a court filing lodged with Los Angeles Superior Court on Wednesday, Ms Garcia alleged fraud, slander and intentional infliction of emotional distress.

Dialogue dismay

Lawyers for Ms Garcia contend that changes in dialogue during post-production casts her in a false light.

"[Garcia] had a legally protected interest in her privacy and the right to be free from having hateful words put in her mouth or being depicted as a bigot," the lawsuit says.

"There was no mention of 'Mohammed' during filming or on set. There were no references made to religion nor was there any sexual content of which Ms Garcia was aware," it adds.

Mr Bakoula denies being "Sam Bacile", a pseudonym used by the person who posted the video online.

He has gone into hiding after telling US media he was the manager of a company that helped produce the film, but US officials believe him to be the director.

Mr Bakoula was convicted of fraud in 2010 and ordered to pay more than $790,000 in restitution. He was released in June 2011 with the provision that he did not access the internet or use any aliases without permission.

Authorities questioned him last week over whether he had violated any of those conditions.

YouTube has so far refused Ms Garcia's requests to remove the film, according to the lawsuit, although it has blocked it in Saudi Arabia, Libya and Egypt.

"This lawsuit is not an attack on the First Amendment nor on the right of Americans to say what they think, but does request that the offending content be removed from the Internet," the complaint states.

Google, which owns YouTube, has blocked the film in Saudi Arabia, Libya and Egypt.

A spokesman for YouTube said they were reviewing the complaint and would be in court on Thursday.

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'Popcorn lung' man wins $7.2m

19 September 2012 Last updated at 21:18 ET

A US man has been awarded $7.2m (£4.4m) in damages after claiming he developed "popcorn lung" from inhaling the artificial butter in microwave popcorn.

A Colorado jury agreed with Wayne Watson that a popcorn manufacturer should have had warning labels that the bag's fumes were dangerous to inhale.

Defence lawyers argued that Mr Watson's problems stemmed from years of working with carpet-cleaning chemicals.

He developed respiratory problems in 2007, after regularly eating popcorn.

"Popcorn lung" is a form of irreversible obstructive lung disease that scars the lung and makes it difficult for air to flow out.

The verdict is the latest in a series of successful cases, including by popcorn plant workers who became ill. The cases link diacetyl, an ingredient in the flavouring, to health problems.

Jurors found Gilster-Mary Lee Corp, a private-labelling manufacturer of popcorn, liable for 80% of the damages. Supermarket company Kroger Co was held liable for the other 20%.

Mr Watson had previously settled with flavourings company FONA International Inc.

"[The popcorn manufacturer] did absolutely no testing whatsoever to think the consumer might be at risk," Mr Watson told CBS News.

Mr Watson's case was helped by the testimony of Dr Cecile Rose, the doctor who diagnosed him with the condition.

She had been a consultant to the flavourings industry and had seen the same disease Mr Watson had developed among workers exposed to the chemical, Reuters reports.

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Colombia kingpin caught on phone

19 September 2012 Last updated at 17:23 ET

Security officials say they captured one of the most wanted Colombian men while he was making a call in a public telephone booth in Venezuela.

Mr Barrera, who is accused of being one of the most powerful drug kingpins, was arrested on Tuesday.

Police also described the lengths to which Mr Barrera, 50, went to disguise his appearance.

They said he had plastic surgery and burnt his fingertips with acid to avoid being identified.

Venezuelan Interior Minster Tarek El Aissami said police had been monitoring 69 public telephones Mr Barrera was using to communicate.

According to the authorities, Mr Barrera only ever used public telephones to communicate with his family and allies, in an attempt to avoid being traced by police.

'Nowhere to hide'

Colombian Police Director Jose Leon Riano described the operation, which was carried out with the help of British, US, Colombian, and Venezuelan officials as "great triumph of international co-operation".

He said it had been co-ordinated from Washington to prevent any possible leaks.

Gen Leon Riano said it proved that drug lords had nowhere to hide.

He described how a group of police officers had monitored Mr Barrera's conversations from a hotel room in Venezuela, recording and tracing his every call.

He told reporters at a news conference in Washington that an informant close to Mr Barrera had confirmed the information the agents had gathered, leading to Mr Barrera's capture.

The US had offered $5m (£3m) for information leading to his arrest and Colombia added an additional $2.7m to that reward.

Gen Leon Riano said the reward would be paid out to those who had provided the crucial information, without giving details of who they were.

According to police, Daniel Barrera was carrying fake identification when he was arrested.

They also released pictures of his burnt fingertips, which they said he had dipped in acid to make it more difficult to identify him through fingerprinting.

Colombian President Juan Manuel Santos said Barrera had "dedicated 20 years to doing bad things to Colombia and the world, all types of crime, perverse alliances with paramilitaries, with the Farc [rebel group]".

He had allegedly forged alliances with left-wing Farc rebels, right-wing paramilitaries and corrupt security officials to smuggle huge quantities of cocaine to the US, Africa and Europe over a period of two decades.

Colombian Justice Minister Ruth Stella Correa said she would ask for Mr Barrera to be extradited to Colombia.

20 Sep, 2012

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Israel strike in Gaza 'kills two'

19 September 2012 Last updated at 19:01 ET

An Israeli air strike has killed two people and wounded another in the southern Gaza Strip, Palestinian officials say.

They say the car they were travelling in was hit east of the town of Rafah.

A Palestinian security official identified the dead as employees of a border patrol unit.

sIsrael's military said they had launched an air strike on Gaza, which is administered by Hamas, but did not comment on casualties.

Other reports have said Wednesday's attack was in response to mortar shells fired into Israel from Gaza earlier in the day.

Israel holds Hamas responsible for rockets attacks launched from Gaza.

Nine days ago two Palestinian children were injured by Israeli air strikes on smuggling tunnels between Gaza and Egypt, Palestinian medics said.

20 Sep, 2012

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Fast and Furious probe faults 14

19 September 2012 Last updated at 16:58 ET

The US justice department has cited 14 people for possible disciplinary action for their roles in a botched gun-running operation.

Operation Fast and Furious saw US agents lose track of hundreds of illegal guns sold in Arizona and allowed into Mexico to target dealers.

The inspector general's 471-page report comes after a 19-month review.

Attorney General Eric Holder was not criticised, as no evidence was found he knew about the controversial tactics.

Mr Holder was held in contempt of Congress in June for not handing over documents related to the operation.

Two of the illegal weapons were found in December 2010 at the scene of a US border agent's murder. Fast and Furious ended in early 2011.

No criminal charges were recommended as a result of the report.

'Misguided strategies'

The most senior official cited by Inspector General Michael Horowitz's 471-page report was Lanny Breuer, head of the justice department's criminal division.

Continue reading the main story

• Began in October 2009
• Officials hoped to follow the guns to drug cartel leaders
• But weapons were lost after being transferred from buyers to smugglers who brought them to Mexico
• Congressional report showed at least 122 weapons recovered at crime scenes in Mexico were linked to the sting
• About 1,400 have yet to be recovered
• The operation has produced charges against 20 gun traffickers, 14 have pleaded guilty

Mr Breuer was criticised for not alerting his superiors in 2010 to flaws in a similar programme, known as Operation Wide Receiver, which started under former President George W Bush.

A "series of misguided strategies, tactics, [and] errors in judgment" all contributed to the failure of Fast And Furious and Wide Receiver, the report said.

The problems dated back to 2006 but current senior officials were criticised for failing to question firearms officials about the questionable tactics during Fast and Furious.

The strategy known as "gun-walking", allowing suspected straw purchasers to leave gun stores with weapons with the intent of tracking them, was barred under a long-standing departmental policy.

The inspector general also concluded that poor internal information-gathering and communication at the justice department and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms caused them to misinform Congress about the operation.

"The key conclusions are consistent with what I, and other justice department officials, have said for many months now," Mr Holder said in a statement.

Two other top justice officials named in the report, Kenneth Melson, the former head of ATF, will retire after its publication. Jason Weinstein, a senior criminal division official, will resign.

Mr Holder said officials cited in the report, from the ATF as well as the US Attorney's Office for the District of Arizona, have been referred for disciplinary action.

Contempt citation

In June Mr Holder became the first sitting attorney general to be held in contempt of Congress. He faced proceedings after the House Oversight Committee led its own investigation into operation.

The roots of that investigation began on 4 February 2011 when the justice department sent lawmakers a letter denying it had sanctioned or otherwise knew about guns illegally ending up Mexico.

The department withdrew the letter 10 months later, acknowledging the operation had allowed guns across the border.

Led by Republican Darrell Issa, the House Oversight Committee subpoenaed documents for that 10-month period.

The justice department sent the committee more than 7,000 documents relating to Fast and Furious, and to a similar operation that took place during the George W Bush administration.

The Department of Justice says it has denied access to rest of the files because they contain information that could affect ongoing criminal investigations.

The White House then raised the stakes by announcing it would exert executive privilege to protect the documents in question from subpoena.

Dan Pfeiffer, an Obama administration communications director, called the vote a "transparently political stunt".

20 Sep, 2012

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'No military solution' in Syria

19 September 2012 Last updated at 17:45 ET

Amateur footage, which cannot be independently verified, shows flattened buildings, apparently in the Hajar al-Aswad suburb of Damascus

The UN secretary general has said a military solution is not the answer to the Syrian conflict, though both government and rebels seem determined to defeat each other by force.

Ban Ki-moon said it was "troubling" that no end was in sight, and called for political dialogue.

He was speaking as heavy fighting continued in the capital Damascus and the northern city of Aleppo.

Activists said government forces had stormed a southern suburb of Damascus.

The situation for residents in Hajar al-Aswad was said to be desperate.

State media said troops had killed many of what they called "terrorists".

Iran planes list

Speaking at a news conference to mark the new session of the UN General Assembly, Mr Ban said he was deeply affected by TV images of the conflict in Syria.

"Unfortunately both sides, government and opposition forces, seem to be determined to see the end by military means," he said.

"I think military means will not bring an answer. That should be resolved through political dialogue."

Meanwhile, Iranian Foreign Minister Ali Akbar Salehi held talks with President Bashar al-Assad and other officials in Damascus.

Continue reading the main story

Black and white plumes of smoke rise from Damascus all through the day. There is a frequent wail of ambulance sirens. There is now regular government shelling of some districts, mostly on the outskirts of the city, known to have a strong opposition presence.

Much of the heavy fire seems to come from Mount Qassioun, which overlooks Damascus. One aid worker told me they were now holding their meetings in the basement because of the constant bombardment.

Across the city, there are many more checkpoints including sand-bagged positions, with Syrian flags and photos of President Assad, as well as impromptu security checks on key roads.

The government has reinforced its control of large parts of Damascus after intense fighting in July reached the heart of capital. But the battles clearly are not over and there's mounting concern over the human cost as people flee their homes, and parts of some neighbourhoods lie in ruin.

Mr Salehi said a solution to the conflict, which the UN estimates has left at least 20,000 people dead, lay "only in Syria and within the Syrian family".

Mr Assad said that the "current battle targets resistance as a whole not only Syria", in an apparent reference to Iran and Lebanese Shia militant group Hezbollah.

The meeting came as the US Treasury Department said it had identified 117 Iranian aircraft that it said were carrying weapons to the Syrian government.

Planes operated by Iran Air, Mahan Air and Yas Air were making the deliveries under the cover of humanitarian shipments, a statement by the department said.

The airlines are already subject to sanctions, but correspondents say the US is listing the planes individually to put pressure on Iraq to stop them flying through its airspace.

Also, financial experts and foreign diplomats are meeting in The Hague on Thursday to find ways to close loopholes and make existing sanctions more effective.

Rebel withdrawal

On Wednesday, opposition activists said the military was attacking the south-western Damascus suburbs of Muadhamiya, Jadidat Artouz and Kanakir, Qudsaya to the north-west, and the southern districts of Qaddam, Assali, Yalda and Hajar al-Aswad.

They posted videos online which they said showed helicopter gunships firing rockets on the southern suburb of Hajar al-Aswad, as well as the bodies of some of the more than 20 people they said had been killed in the assault.

The army was destroying and setting houses on fire, they added.

State media said troops had moved into Hajar al-Aswad and clashed with an "armed terrorist group" near a cemetery, eliminating "a number of its members", and that others had been killed as streets were "cleansed".

The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, a UK-based activist group, later said rebel fighters had announced their withdrawal from Hajar al-Aswad, Qaddam and Assali after weeks of violent clashes.

Activists also reported that the bodies of at least 20 people executed by government forces had been found in the north-eastern district of Jobar.

In Aleppo, government forces had bombarded several central areas surrounding the Old City, including Bab al-Hadid and Bab al-Nasr, and also attacked the outlying districts of Hananu and al-Bab, they added.

The Local Co-ordination Committees, an activist network, said more than 62 people had so far been killed across the country on Wednesday, including 30 in Damascus. It put the death toll on Tuesday at 160.

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Record minimum for Arctic sea ice

19 September 2012 Last updated at 13:36 ET By Paul Rincon Science editor, BBC News website

Arctic sea ice has reached its minimum extent for the year, setting a record for the lowest summer cover since satellite data collection began.

The 2012 extent has fallen to 3.41 million sq km (1.32 million sq mi) - 50% lower than the 1979-2000 average.

Arctic sea ice has long been regarded as a sensitive indicator of changes in the climate.

Scientists who have been analysing the startling melt think it is part of a fundamental change.

"We are now in uncharted territory," said Mark Serreze, director of the National Snow and Ice Center (NSIDC) in Colorado, US.

"While we've long known that as the planet warms up, changes would be seen first and be most pronounced in the Arctic, few of us were prepared for how rapidly the changes would actually occur."

This year's minimum caps a summer of low ice extents in the Arctic. On 26 August, sea ice extent fell to 4.10 million sq km (1.58 million sq mi), breaking the previous record low set on 18 September 2007 of 4.17 million sq km (1.61 million sq mi).

On 4 September, it fell below four million sq km (1.54 million sq mi), another first in the 33-year satellite record.

"The strong late season decline is indicative of how thin the ice cover is," said NSIDC scientist Walt Meier.

"Ice has to be quite thin to continue melting away as the sun goes down and Fall approaches."

Scientists say they are observing fundamental changes in sea ice cover. The Arctic used to be dominated by multiyear ice, or ice that survived through several years.

Recently, the region is characterised by seasonal ice cover and large areas are now prone to completely melt away in summer.

Continue reading the main story

It's difficult to grasp the scale of this but picture about a dozen United Kingdoms lined up side by side: that's how much more sea ice has vanished beyond the average amount left at the end the summer over the past 30 years.

This is a bigger, faster, more dramatic melt than anyone would have imagined possible even a few years ago. The most striking impression during a visit to Svalbard earlier this month was the look of shock on the faces of the scientists.

The models have underestimated the rapidity of the processes at work. The polar winters will always see the ocean refreeze. But the prospect of change on a planetary scale looms closer: the Arctic ice cap, a permanent feature at the roof of the world throughout human history, becoming a seasonal, temporary one instead, and sooner rather than later.

The sea ice extent is defined as the total area covered by at least 15% of ice, and varies from year to year because of changeable weather.

However, ice extent has shown a dramatic overall decline over the past 30 years.

A 2011 study published in Nature journal, used proxies such as ice cores and lake sediments to reconstruct sea ice extent in the Arctic over the last 1,450 years.

The results suggest the duration and magnitude of the current decline in sea ice may be unprecedented over this period.

Dr Julienne Stroeve, a research scientist with the NSIDC, is currently aboard a Greenpeace ship in Svalbard, Norway, that has just returned from a research expedition to assess the region's melt.

She said the new record suggested the Arctic "may have entered a new climate era, where a combination of thinner ice together with warmer air and ocean temperatures result in more ice loss each summer".

She continued: "The loss of summer sea ice has led to unusual warming of the Arctic atmosphere, that in turn impacts weather patterns in the Northern Hemisphere, that can result in persistent extreme weather such as droughts, heat waves and flooding."

If the current melting trend during summer months continues, there will be opportunities as well as challenges.

Some ships have already been cutting their journey times by sailing a previously impassable route north of Russia.

Oil, gas and mining firms are all planning to exploit rich resources thought to be held by the Arctic, although they are strongly opposed by environment campaigners.

Paul.Rincon-INTERNET@bbc.co.uk

20 Sep, 2012

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Sanctions on Burma leader lifted

19 September 2012 Last updated at 14:25 ET

The US Treasury has lifted sanctions against Burma's President Thein Sein and the speaker of the lower house of parliament, Thura Shwe Mann.

The move comes as opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi is visiting the US.

The US Treasury said it had removed Thein Sein and Thura Shwe Mann from its list of "Specially Designated Nationals" which sanctions individuals.

Sanctions against Burma have eased since the new government took power in 2011 and started reforms.

20 Sep, 2012

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Italy upholds CIA kidnap verdicts

19 September 2012 Last updated at 13:18 ET

Italy's highest appeals court has upheld the guilty verdicts of 23 Americans, all but one of them CIA agents, accused of kidnapping a terror suspect.

Their case related to the abduction of an Egyptian cleric in Milan in 2003.

The man, known as Abu Omar, was allegedly flown to Egypt and tortured.

The Americans were tried in absentia, in the first trial involving the CIA's practice of transferring suspects to countries where torture is permitted.

The group of Americans - 22 of whom were CIA agents and one an Air Force pilot - are believed to be living in the United States and are unlikely to serve their sentences.

But they will be unable to travel to Europe without risking arrest.

The group include the former station chief of CIA operations in Milan, Robert Seldon Lady, who at the time said that his opposition to the proposal to kidnap the imam was over-ruled.

20 Sep, 2012

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Senegal MP vote to abolish Senate

19 September 2012 Last updated at 11:03 ET

Senegalese MPs have voted to abolish the senate as part of moves to help the victims of recent deadly floods.

President Macky Sall has said the money reserved for the upper house - about $15m (£9.5m) - will also go towards preventing further flooding.

But critics say the aim is to weaken the opposition as most of the senators were supporters of the ex-president.

The 100 senators had fought to be retained, but lost the vote in the joint session of parliament.

The Congress also abolished the post of vice-president - although no-one has held the position since it was created in 2009 by then-President Abdoulaye Wade.

Low-lying suburbs of Senegal's capital, Dakar, flood during most rainy seasons, but this year has seen exceptionally high rainfall across West Africa.

Thirteen people died in Senegal and it is estimated that thousands of people have been left homeless.

Before President Sall announced his intention last month to abolish the Senate, residents took to the streets of the capital to denounce the government for failing to act faster and were dispersed with tear gas.

19 Sep, 2012

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Ancient reference to 'Jesus wife'

19 September 2012 Last updated at 09:41 ET

An ancient scrap of papyrus makes explicit reference to Jesus having a wife, according to a renowned expert in Christian history.

Harvard divinity professor Karen King unveiled the 4th-Century Coptic script at a conference in Rome.

She said researchers had identified the words "Jesus said to them, 'my wife'", which might refer to Mary Magdalene.

Christian tradition holds that Jesus did not marry - but Ms King said in early years it was subject to debate.

The provocative find could spark debate over celibacy and the role of women within Christianity, she added.

But the announcement sparked scepticism from some theologians.

Continue reading the main story

It is not evidence... that Jesus had a wife... (but evidence that)some Christians... thought that Jesus had a wife"

End Quote Karen King Harvard divinity professor

Jim West, a professor and Baptist pastor in Tennessee, said: "A statement on a papyrus fragment isn't proof of anything. It's nothing more than a statement 'in thin air', without substantial context."

Wolf-Peter Funk, a noted Coptic linguist attending the same conference as Ms King, said there were "thousands of scraps of papyrus where you find crazy things," and many questions remained about the fragment.

'Worthy disciple'

Ms King said the document, written in ancient Egyptian Coptic, is the first known scripture in which Jesus is reported to cite his wife.

She said the 4th-Century text was a copy of a gospel, probably written in Greek in the 2nd Century.

She said initially she was sceptical about the yellowish brown papyrus, and started from the notion that it was a forgery - but that she quickly decided it was genuine.

Several other experts agreed, she said, but the "final judgment on the fragment depends on further examination by colleagues and further testing, especially of the chemical composition of the ink".

A video filmed by Harvard University reveals experts were "sceptical" before examining the ancient scrap of papyrus

Ms King said the script was not proof of Jesus's marital status.

"It is not evidence, for us, historically, that Jesus had a wife," she said.

"It's quite clear evidence, in fact, that some Christians, probably in the second half of the 2nd Century, thought that Jesus had a wife."

Ms King said it revealed the concerns of early Christians with regards to family and marriage matters.

"From the very beginning, Christians disagreed about whether it was better not to marry, but it was over a century after Jesus's death before they began appealing to Jesus's marital status to support their positions.

"What this shows is that there were early Christians for whom sexual union in marriage could be an imitation of God's creativity and generativity and it could be spiritually proper and appropriate."

Bible scholar Ben Witherington III, a professor in Kentucky, said the term "wife" might simply refer to a female domestic assistant and follower.

Private owner

According to Ms King's research team, the text also quotes Jesus as telling his followers that Mary Magdalene is worthy of being his disciple.

This, in turn, casts new doubt on the long-held belief that Jesus had no female disciples, and raises issues about Mary's biblical role as a sinner, the researchers said.

Ms King presented the document at a six-day conference held at Rome's La Sapienza University and at the Augustinianum institute of the Pontifical Lateran University.

The faded papyrus is hardly bigger than a business card and has eight lines on one side, in black ink legible under a magnifying glass.

The private collector, who owns the fragment, has asked to remain anonymous because "he doesn't want to be hounded by people who want to buy this", Ms King said.

She said he had contacted Ms King to help translate and analyse it.

Nothing was known about the circumstances of its discovery, but because of the script used she had concluded it must have come from Egypt.

19 Sep, 2012

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Reindeer at risk from snow sport

19 September 2012 Last updated at 08:58

Wild reindeer may face a new threat from the extreme sport of snow-kiting, a study has found.

Scientists modelled reindeer's fright responses to both snow-kiting and skiing in an alpine area of south Norway.

They found that reindeer were more afraid of snow-kiters because of the airborne kite.

The study recommends that controls are put on the sport to prevent harm to wild reindeer.

Snow-kiting is a new sport, similar to kite-surfing, in which the rider wears skis and is pulled along by a kite.

It is thought to be one of the fastest-growing recreational sports in Norway.

Amid growing concern among wildlife managers and politicians the study, which is published in the journal of Applied Animal Behaviour Science, assessed the potential effect of this activity on wild reindeer in the alpine area of Norefjell-Reinsjøfjell.

Scientists conducted experiments in which the reindeer were confronted by an approaching skier or snow-kiter.

They gathered data on the animals' reactions, such as distance from the skier or snow-kiter when the reindeer fled, how far they ran and how long the fright response lasted.

Using this information, the scientists were able to predict the likely effects of an increasing number of skiers and snow-kiters on the reindeer population.

They found that habitat and feeding time would decrease by up to 7.5% if the number of skiers reached 105. At that point, the reindeer would seek refuge away from the ski trails.

But in the case of snow-kiters, that reduction could be as high as 100% if the number of snow-kiters reached 241 travelling at 8.8km per hour, or 111 snow-kiters travelling at 20km per hour.

In addition, scientists observed that the size and airborne nature of the kite "was more frightening for the reindeer" than the presence of a skier.

Long fright responses by reindeer towards snow-kiters mean the sport could have "very negative population consequences" on the animals, according to the study.

Because of the greater range of a snow-kiter, as well as the kite's visibility over long distances, interactions with reindeer populations may also be more frequent for snow-kiting than for other alpine sports.

The research also recommended that ski trails are carefully planned and managed to minimise the combined effect of the two sports on reindeer.

There are currently no restrictions on the use of snow-kites in Norway.

19 Sep, 2012

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China's Bo 'implicated in crime'

19 September 2012 Last updated at 09:36 ET

China's state-run news agency has linked fallen politician Bo Xilai to a criminal act for the first time, alleging he knew his wife was suspected of murdering a British businessman.

Xinhua quoted witnesses at the trial of his former right-hand man, Wang Lijun, suggesting that Mr Wang had tried to tell him about his suspicions.
Mr Wang was "angrily rebuked and had his ears boxed", Xinhua reports.
Mr Bo's downfall exposed the biggest political crisis in China for years.
His wife, Gu Kailai, was found guilty in August of murdering British businessman Neil Heywood. She was given a suspended death sentence.
Wang Lijun was the former police chief and deputy mayor in Chongqing, where Bo Xilai was Communist Party chief until the scandal erupted.
Earlier this week Mr Wang pleaded guilty to defection, abuse of power and bribe-taking charges during a two-day trial in the nearby city of Chengdu. A verdict is awaited.
He tried to tell "the Chongqing party committee's main responsible person at the time" about his suspicions about Gu, says Xinhua in its official published account of his trial, without naming Mr Bo.

Continue reading the main story

• 6 Feb: Chongqing police chief Wang Lijun flees to the US consulate in Chengdu
• 15 Mar: Bo Xilai is removed from his post in Chongqing
• 20 Mar: Rumours suggest Mr Bo could be linked to the death of British businessman Neil Heywood
• 10 Apr: Bo Xilai is suspended from party posts and his wife, Gu Kailai, is investigated over Mr Heywood's death
• 26 July: Gu Kailai and Bo family employee Zhang Xiaojun are charged with killing Mr Heywood
• 9 Aug: Gu Kailai goes on trial for murder
• 20 Aug: Gu Kailai given suspended death sentence
• 5 Sept: Wang Lijun charged with defection, abuse of power and bribe-taking
• 17 Sept: Trial starts in secret in Chengdu
• 18 Sept: Trial ends, verdict awaited

As Chongqing Communist Party chief, Mr Bo was tipped for promotion to the top leadership ranks at China's forthcoming leadership congress before his downfall.

Mr Wang's flight to a US consulate in Chengdu in February sparked the events which led to his downfall.
According to the UK Foreign Office, Mr Wang made allegations about Mr Heywood's death while at the US consulate.
Shortly afterwards, Mr Bo was sacked.
He has not been seen in public since the scandal erupted and is said to be under investigation by the party's disciplinary officials.
Mr Wang, 52, began his career in law enforcement in the Inner Mongolia Region in 1984 and moved to the south-western city of Chongqing in 2008.om

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Deadly bomb blast hits Peshawar

19 September 2012 Last updated at 09:31 ET

A bomb has exploded on a busy road in Pakistan's north-western city of Peshawar, killing at least eight people and wounding several others.

A coach and at least two other vehicles, including a van belonging to the Pakistan Air Force, were destroyed, police said.

Officials said the van was the target of the attack.

Peshawar is near Pakistan's tribal belt - a stronghold of Taliban and al-Qaeda militants.

Hundreds have died in attacks in and around the city in recent years.

The bomb was planted in parked car, and contained 30 to 40kg (66-88lb) of explosives as well as ball bearings and artillery shells, an official told the AFP news agency.

19 Sep, 2012

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China issues stern Japan warning

19 September 2012 Last updated at 08:14 ET

China's leader-in-waiting, Xi Jinping, has said that Japan should "rein in its behaviour" and stop undermining Chinese sovereignty, state media have reported.

His comments follow days of sometimes violent anti-Japanese protests in China over a chain of disputed islands in the East China Sea.

Mr Xi said that Tokyo's purchase of the islands from private owners last week was a "farce", Xinhua reported.

The move triggered a wave of protests across China.

In some cities on Tuesday, Japanese shops and businesses were attacked amid heightened tension on the anniversary of an incident in 1931 which led to Japan's invasion of north-east China.

Thousands of protesters chanted slogans outside the Japanese embassy in Beijing as riot police lined the streets.

The islands - known as the Senkaku islands in Japan and the Diaoyu islands in China - are claimed by both countries and have long been a point of contention. More recently there have been fears of naval conflict between the two countries.

Mr Xi made the remarks during a meeting with US Defence Secretary Leon Panetta who is currently in Beijing as part of a regional tour.

Chinese officials have called on the US to remain neutral in their ongoing territorial dispute with Tokyo.

Mr Panetta sought to reassure Beijing on Wednesday that his country's strategic shift towards the Pacific was not an attempt to curb Chinese power.

"Our rebalance to the Asia-Pacific region... is an attempt to engage China and expand its role in the Pacific," he said.

"It's about creating a new model in the relationship of our two Pacific powers," he told cadets at an armoured force engineering academy.

The defence secretary said that as the world's two biggest economies, the two countries must forge stronger ties between their armies to avoid potential crises.

"Our goal is to make sure that no dispute or misunderstanding escalates into unwanted tensions or a conflict," Mr Panetta said.

Correspondents say that his remarks are the latest effort by Washington to bolster military relations with the People's Liberation Army, which has in the past been reluctant to promote contacts with the US top brass.

19 Sep, 2012

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SA police fire at mine protesters

19 September 2012 Last updated at 07:07 ET

South African police have fired rubber bullets and tear gas to disperse protesters near a mine owned by Anglo American, a day after a deal ended a strike in Marikana.

"We are not tolerating any illegal gatherings," a police spokesman said.

Workers at the Lonmin-owned Marikana platinum mine ended their six-week strike after accepting a 22% pay rise.

The strikes have spread to other mines in South Africa, one of the world's biggest producers of precious metals.

On Monday, President Jacob Zuma said that the disruption had cost the industry $548m (£337m) in lost output.

The unrest came as Anglo American Platinum (Amplats), the world's largest platinum producer, re-opened its mines after they were closed last week following huge protests.

Amplats spokeswoman Mpumi Sithole said the mines in Rustenburg, the centre of South Africa's platinum mining - about 80km (50 miles) north-east of Johannesburg - were operational.

She said the police had "dispersed a group of people gathering illegally at Sondela informal settlement [near the mine]" and said it was not clear if they were Amplats workers.

Celebrating

Continue reading the main story

It is not what we expected to get, but it is great"

End Quote Riddick Mofokeng Marikana miner

"Police utilised tear gas and stun grenades, and rubber bullets were used at the squatter camp," said police spokesman Captain Dennis Adriao.

"As we have said, we are not tolerating any illegal gatherings," he said.

After weeks of unrest, the government last week announced that it would clamp down on the protests.

In the nearby Marikana mine, where police last month shot dead 34 protesters, workers were celebrating the end of the strike, reports the AP news agency.

Riddick Mofokeng, another miner, said he felt good about the deal. "It is not what we expected to get, but it is great," he said.

"Most of the people, we are ready to go back to work."

The miners had been demanding a salary of 12,500 rand ($1,513; £935) - they currently earn between 4,000 and 5,000 rand.

As well as a pay rise of 11-22%, they will get a one-off payment of 2,000 rand to help cover the weeks of not being paid while they were on strike.

Analysts had warned that the Lonmin deal could encourage other mines to down tools to obtain pay hikes.

Some 15,000 miners at Gold Fields remain on strike.

Last month, police opened fire on demonstrators at the mine in Marikana, killing 34 striking workers. Ten people, including two police officers, had already died in the protests.

President Zuma has ordered a judicial inquiry into what has become known as the "Marikana massacre" - the deadliest police action since the end of apartheid in 1994.

19 Sep, 2012

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France issues alert over cartoons

19 September 2012 Last updated at 07:04 ET

Security is being stepped up at some of France's embassies after a French satirical magazine published obscene cartoons of the Prophet Muhammad.

Foreign Minister Laurent Fabius said he was "concerned" after the issue of Charlie Hebdo appeared on news-stands.

French embassies, consulates, cultural centres and international French schools in some 20 countries will be closed on Friday as a precaution.

Riot police have been deployed around the magazine's offices in Paris.

The magazine has confirmed that its website has been attacked. It was not accessible as of Wednesday morning.

On Wednesday, its paper edition appeared, featuring caricatures which play on both the uproar in the Islamic world over an amateur video which mocks Islam and the row over the publication in France of topless photos of the Duchess of Cambridge.

A central tenet of Islam bans the portrayal of its founder, the Prophet Muhammad.

Some 30 people have died in violent protests which erupted early last week over the Innocence of Muslims video, which was made in the United States.

The dead include the US ambassador to Libya, Christopher Stevens, and three other Americans, who died in Benghazi. US and other Western embassies have come under attack in mainly Muslim countries.

'Disgraceful and hateful'

"I have obviously issued instructions so that special security measures are taken in all the countries where this [publication] could pose a problem," Mr Fabius said.

Continue reading the main story

"Start Quote

We are not like animals of Pavlov to react at each insult"

End Quote Dalil Boubakeur Rector of the Paris Grand Mosque

Friday's closures relate to possible protests following weekly Muslim prayers. While no list of countries affected was immediately available, the embassy in Jakarta announced on its website that it would close on Friday.

A statement about the cartoons on the French foreign ministry's website quotes Prime Minister Jean-Marc Ayrault as saying "freedom of expression is one of [France's] fundamental principles", as are secularism and respect for religious convictions.

"And this is why, in the current context, the prime minister would like to express his disapproval of any excesses," the statement adds.

Muslim leaders urged calm in France, which has the EU's largest Muslim community - about 10% of the population.

"This is a disgraceful and hateful, useless and stupid provocation," Dalil Boubakeur, rector of the Paris Grand Mosque, told the Associated Press news agency.

"We are not like animals of Pavlov to react at each insult," he added, referring to the Russian physiologist who pioneered research into conditioning.

Mr Boubakeur and other Muslim representatives are due to meet French Interior Minister Manuel Valls on Wednesday, French TV channel TF1 reports.

'Press freedom'

Continue reading the main story

"Start Quote

I'm not asking strict Muslims to read Charlie Hebdo, just like I wouldn't go to a mosque to listen to speeches that go against everything I believe"

End Quote Stephane "Charb" Charbonnier Editor of Charlie Hebdo

Charlie Hebdo, known in France for its scatological cartoons, has caricatured other religious figures in the past, including a "Pope special" in 2008 which resulted in an unsuccessful court action accusing the magazine of inciting hate.

One of the milder cartoons in Wednesday's edition, the cover image, shows an Orthodox Jew pushing a turbaned figure in a wheelchair, with the caption "You mustn't mock".

Among the explicit cartoons inside, one clearly parodies the topless photos of the Duchess of Cambridge which appeared in Closer magazine, and resulted in an injunction on Tuesday.

Magazine editor Stephane "Charb" Charbonnier said the images inside would "shock those who will want to be shocked".

"The freedom of the press, is that a provocation?" he asked.

"I'm not asking strict Muslims to read Charlie Hebdo, just like I wouldn't go to a mosque to listen to speeches that go against everything I believe."

In November, the magazine's offices in Paris were gutted by a petrol bomb attack after it named the Prophet Muhammad as its "editor-in-chief" for an issue.

During the protests against the Innocence of Muslims, a crudely produced film trailer made in the US, French police arrested some 150 people at an unapproved rally near the US embassy in Paris.

19 Sep, 2012

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Protest over Georgia jail abuse

19 September 2012 Last updated at 05:33 ET

Video footage showing prisoners being abused by guards in Georgia has triggered anti-government protests in the country.

Uniformed officers in Tbilisi's jail are seen severely beating inmates and sexually assaulting one with a broom.

The minister in charge of prisons was forced to offer her resignation after the film was aired on national TV.

The ruling party said the video was staged by the opposition to discredit the government ahead of key elections.

For critics, though, this is graphic proof that the authorities' tough approach to crime has become unaccountable and heavy-handed, the BBC's Damien McGuinness in Tbilisi reports.

Anger and shock

The film showing abuse in the Gldani prison No. 8 was broadcast on TV on Tuesday.

It triggered overnight protests in Tbilisi and also in the southern city of Batumi, Georgian media say.

In the capital, angry protesters demanded the resignation of Khatuna Kalmakhelidze, the minister in charge of prisons.

On Wednesday, Ms Kalmahelidze said she had decided to step down because her efforts to protect human rights in prisons had "proved insufficient".

President Mikheil Saakashvili expressed his anger and shock over the TV footage, promising to punish those responsible.

It has long been suspected that prisoners in Georgia are mistreated, our correspondent says.

When Mr Saakashvili swept to power after the Rose Revolution in 2004, he clamped down heavily on crime, and made the streets safe by locking up many of the criminals who had been running the former Soviet republic.

But his critics say Georgia has now swung to the other extreme, accusing his government of becoming authoritarian, our correspondent says.

The abuse video comes as Georgia is preparing for parliamentary elections on 1 October, seen as the biggest test facing the country's democracy since the revolution.

President Saakashvili's party faces a challenge from Georgia's richest man, Bidzina Ivanishvili, who has vowed to oust the government from power.

With a reputation for benevolence and philanthropy, Mr Ivanishvili is popular among many poorer voters who are struggling in modern Georgia's neo-liberal economy, correspondents say.

19 Sep, 2012

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Heavy fighting in Damascus suburb

19 September 2012 Last updated at 04:37 ET

There has been further heavy fighting in the Syrian capital, Damascus, and the northern city of Aleppo.

Activists said government forces were closing in on Hajar al-Aswad, a southern suburb of Damascus, and the situation for residents was desperate.

State media said troops had killed many of what they called "terrorists".

Earlier, Amnesty International warned that indiscriminate air and artillery strikes were causing a dramatic rise in civilian casualties in Idlib and Hama.

The report said the plight of people in the two provinces had been under-reported because world attention had focused on Damascus and Aleppo.

Meanwhile, Iranian Foreign Minister Ali Akbar Salehi has arrived in Damascus to meet President Bashar al-Assad and other officials.

Mr Salehi had earlier called for a halt of violence by both sides and insisted on a peaceful solution without foreign intervention in Syria.

Advance

On Wednesday, opposition activists said the military was attacking the south-western Damascus suburbs of Muadhamiya, Jadidat Artouz, Kanakir, the north-western districts of Qadam and Assali, and the southern district of Hajar al-Aswad.

Continue reading the main story

Every day, in the field hospitals, on the ground, in the streets and in people's homes I was seeing the disastrous consequences of these attacks on civilians"

End Quote Donatella Rovera Amnesty International

They said the situation in Hajar al-Aswad was desperate, with areas being bombarded by aircraft and heavy weapons as troops advanced.

They posted video footage online which they said showed helicopter gunships firing rockets, also the bodies of some of the more than 20 people they said had been killed.

State media said troops had moved into Hajar al-Aswad and clashed with an "armed terrorist group" near a local cemetery, eliminating "a number of its members".

"The army cleaned Quneitra street and the surrounding areas from the mercenary terrorists and killed large numbers of them," the Sana news agency reported.

The BBC's Lyse Doucet, who is in Damascus, says there was sustained shelling of one district for nearly two hours on Wednesday morning, causing a pillar of black smoke to rise into the sky above the capital.

In Aleppo, activists said government forces had bombarded several central areas surrounding the Old City, including Bab al-Hadid, Bab al-Nasr, and also attacked the outlying districts of Hananu and al-Bab.

Activists also reported that the towns of Marea and Anadan, north of Aleppo, and al-Muhassin, near Deir al-Zour, had come under fire.

The Local Co-ordination Committees, an activist network, said more than 160 people were killed across the country on Tuesday, including 67 in Damascus and its suburbs, where the majority died as a result of shelling.

Unguided bombs

The reports of violence came as Amnesty International said indiscriminate air attacks and artillery strikes by Syrian government forces are killing, maiming, and terrorising civilians in in the Idlib, Jabal al-Zawiya and north Hama regions.

Donatella Rovera, Amnesty's senior crisis response adviser, who recently returned from northern Syria, told the BBC that there was evidence that the army and air force were increasingly using battlefield weapons in residential areas where government troops had been forced out by opposition forces, with disastrous consequences for civilians.

"They are using in equal measure air-delivered, large, old, Soviet-era unguided bombs - free-fall bombs - the opposite of smart bombs," she said. "They are dropped over an area. There's no way you can target them at a specific target or specific building."

"They fall over people's houses, over markets, in the street. Many of those who were killed and injured are children. Every day, in the field hospitals, on the ground, in the streets and in people's homes I was seeing the disastrous consequences of these attacks on civilians."

Amnesty's report says the group carried out first-hand field investigations in the first half of September into attacks which killed 166 civilians, including 48 children and 20 women, in 26 towns and villages.

It says the plight of civilians in Hama and Idlib has been under-reported because world attention has largely focused on the fighting in Aleppo and Damascus, and that such indiscriminate attacks constitute war crimes.

On Monday, a UN commission investigating human rights abuses in Syria said it had a new list of Syrians and units suspected of war crimes.

Lead investigator Paulo Sergio Pinheiro said they had gathered a "formidable and extraordinary body of evidence" and urged the UN Security Council to refer the situation to the International Criminal Court.

19 Sep, 2012

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