UK hostages 'likely to be dead'

The five hostages were taken in May 2007

Two more of the British hostages held in Iraq are now thought "very likely" to be dead, the BBC has learned.

Security guards Alan McMenemy, from Glasgow, and Alec Maclachlan, from south Wales, were kidnapped in 2007 along with three other Britons.

The bodies of two of the other men were found last month with gunshot wounds.

The condition of the fifth man, Peter Moore, is not known. The Foreign Office says all efforts are being made to secure the hostages' release.

Mr Moore had been working for American management consultancy Bearingpoint in Iraq, while the other men were security contractors employed to guard him.

The group were captured at Baghdad's Ministry of Finance in May 2007 by about 40 men disguised as Iraqi policemen.

They are understood to belong to an obscure militia known as Islamic Shiite Resistance in Iraq.

There's not much we can do - we feel so helpless Edna Moore, grandmother of hostage Peter Moore

BBC security correspondent Frank Gardner said the Foreign Office told the families of Mr McMenemy and Mr Maclachlan last week that the men had most likely died while in captivity.

And he revealed the kidnappers told the British government a month ago they had two more bodies.

"At the time the hostage-takers handed over the bodies of the two other security guards - Jason Creswell and Jason Swindlehurst - they let it be known that they had two more bodies," he said.

"They have made many claims and counter-claims and that couldn't be verified immediately. The Foreign Office is now pretty certain that it's true."

Government sources had told him that the focus was now on negotiating the release of IT consultant Mr Moore.

The last proof of life sent by his kidnappers was a video handed over in March, but it is not known when the film was made or if he is still alive today.

'Only hope'

His grandmother, Edna Moore, 84, of Wigston, Leicestershire, said the family could "only hope" for Mr Moore's safe return.

"God help the other families. There's not much we can do, we feel so helpless.

"It's terrible, you try to look on the bright side and that's hammering at your brain all the time."

Rev Pauline Barnett, who knows Mr MacLachlan's family, said: "This is dreadful news. If this is true then we are devastated, it's an awful conclusion.

"We've been praying for the family and hoping there would be a good ending to this story."

The bodies of Jason Creswell and Jason Swindlehurst were found in June

The Foreign Office refused to comment on the specifics of the case, saying it did not discuss operational details.

However, a spokeswoman said: "We continue to work intensively for the release of the hostages still held in this highly complex case and are extremely concerned for their safety."

The bodies of Mr Swindlehurst, from Skelmersdale, Lancashire, and Mr Creswell, from Glasgow, were flown back to the UK last month.

News of their deaths came shortly after speculation that a deal to free all five men alive could be close.

Security experts understood there had been positive diplomatic moves behind the scenes, including the release of a prisoner whose freedom was being demanded by the hostage-takers.

But Mr Gardner said: "All the time [the kidnappers] were carrying on these discussions, cynically, they already knew they had dead bodies on their hands - two, possibly four."

Little is known about the captives because of a media blackout during a large period of their captivity.

The blackout originally came on the instruction of the hostage-takers who said they did not want publicity.

This has been Britain's longest running hostage crisis for nearly 20 years.

Hunt for Nigerian Islamist sect

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The aftermath of gun battles in Bauchi on Sunday and suspected militants

Nigerian troops are tracking down members of an Islamist sect who went on a killing spree in northern cities.

Soldiers are searching areas near the home of sect leader Mohammed Yusuf in Maiduguri, the capital of Borno state.

On Tuesday the army shelled the compound, exchanging heavy gunfire with militants. At least 140 people have been killed in three days of violence.

President Umaru Yar'Adua said the army had acted to nip a potentially dangerous problem in the bud.

Nigeria's 'Taliban' enigma Eyewitness: Nigeria attacks Fear and tension after attack

Nigeria's security services have been flooding into Maiduguri, the city worst affected by the violence, the BBC's Caroline Duffield reports.

Maj Gen Saleh Maina told the Associated Press news agency that troops were hunting for sect members in homes and a mosque and near the railway station. He said the operation was being carried out "to prevent further loss of lives and property".

Residents and civilians have been told to leave the area.

Mr Yusuf's group, known as Boko Haram, is being blamed for attacks on police stations and government buildings in four states in Nigeria.

Many civilians were also shot dead or stabbed at random.

Boko Haram is against Western education. It believes Nigeria's government is being corrupted by Western ideas and wants to see Islamic law imposed across Nigeria.

State of alert

Late on Tuesday, explosions and gunshots could be heard from the Doidamgari area of Maiduguri, where Mohammed Yusuf's home is situated and the Boko Haram have their spiritual headquarters.

President Umaru Yar'Adua ordered Nigeria's national security agencies to take all necessary action to contain and repel attacks by the extremists.

"It is the government that has moved to nip a potentially dangerous problem in the bud," he said before leaving on a visit to Brazil.

"These people have been organising, penetrating our societies, procuring arms, learning how to make explosives and bombs to disturb the peace and force abuse on the rest of Nigerians.

"And I believe the operation we have launched now will be an operation that will contain them once and for all."

Outside Maiduguri, there is a heightened state of alert across the northern states:

• In the city of Kano, police arrested 53 people after an attack on a police station outside the city on Monday; police also shot and killed three suspected militants as they tried to reach Maiduguri

• In Sokoto, in the far north-west, police arrested five men said to have been caught in the act of planning an attack

• In Bauchi, scene of the first bloodshed on Sunday, 176 people remain under arrest

President Yar'Adua said 'a potentially dangerous problem' had been tackled

A BBC reporter counted about 100 bodies of residents and militants in the streets of Maiduguri on Monday.

Maiduguri police said 103 had died in the violence in the city, including 90 members of Boko Haram, eight police officers, three prison officials and two soldiers.

At least 39 people were killed in the violence in Bauchi.

Sharia law is in place across northern Nigeria, but there is no history of al-Qaeda-linked violence in the country.

The country's 150 million people are split almost equally between Muslims in the north and Christians in the south.

US urges Iran reply by September

Mr Gates reaffirmed 'the strong commitment of the US to the security of Israel'

US Defence Secretary Robert Gates has urged Iran to respond to US diplomatic overtures by September.

His Israeli counterpart Ehud Barak indicated that military action remained an option on Iran, following talks with Mr Gates in Jerusalem.

Senior US officials are engaged in a drive to breathe new life into faltering regional peace moves.

US envoy George Mitchell met Egypt's Hosni Mubarak, as well as Israel's president and the Palestinian leader.

He has already been in Syria, drumming up regional support for the new US initiative.

Both Mr Mitchell and Mr Gates - as well as two other senior US envoys - are meeting Israeli leaders as part of the bid to revive the Israeli-Palestinian peace process, which has been stalled for six months.

US-Israeli relations have become strained since US President Barack Obama demanded a halt to all Israeli settlement building in the occupied West Bank.

Iran warned

Shortly after coming to office in January, Mr Obama made an overture to Iran, saying that if it and countries like it were "willing to unclench their fists, they will find an extended hand from us".

Tim Franks, News, Jerusalem The public rhetoric is all about "discussions among friends". But the background noise has a different tone. When it comes to Iran's nuclear ambitions, US Defence Secretary Robert Gates was keen to stress the American offer to bring Iran into talks - albeit an offer that was not open-ended. In contrast, Israeli Defence Minister Ehud Barak emphasised an implied military threat to Iran. There has been unease in Israel over Secretary of State Hillary Clinton's comments about a regional "defence umbrella", should Iran acquire a nuclear weapon. The Israeli formula is to say that such a prospect is "unthinkable". The Israelis have also been feeling American heat over the continued building of Israeli settlements in occupied Palestinian territory. Reports are circulating of a possible deal - which might allow as many as 2,000 apartments in the West Bank to be completed. The Palestinians have said they would accept no such compromise. And they say they have a question for the visiting American officials: if the Israelis don't budge, what exactly are you going to do about it?

But Israel says Iran's alleged nuclear ambitions remain its number-one concern and in recent weeks the US has expressed dismay about Iran's suppression of protests over disputed presidential elections.

Iran denies claims it wants to build nuclear weapons, saying it is enriching uranium for a civilian energy programme.

On Monday, Mr Gates said the US offer to Iran was "not open-ended", echoing comments by US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton earlier this month.

Mr Obama was hoping for a response by the time of the UN General Assembly in September, Mr Gates added.

Mr Barak cautioned that "no option" had been removed in its handling of Iran - suggesting military force remained a possibility - though "priority should be given still to diplomacy and sanctions".

The two men struck a conciliatory tone, with Mr Gates speaking of a "good meeting" with Mr Barak and reaffirming America's "strong commitment" to Israel's security.

Mr Barak said he was "extremely thankful for US support [on defence] - financial and technological".

Mr Gates later held talks with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. The Israeli leader's office said in a statement that he had emphasised the need to use "all available means" to prevent Iran developing nuclear weapons.

Mr Gates then travelled to Jordan for a meeting with King Abdullah, with the Palestinian issue and defence ties on the agenda.

Palestinian division

In Cairo, Middle East envoy George Mitchell met President Hosni Mubarak - a day earlier than initially scheduled, apparently at Mr Mubarak's request.

US OFFICIALS' WEEK OF DIPLOMACY Special envoy to the Middle East George Mitchell (to Syria, Israel, Palestinian Territories, Egypt, Bahrain) Defence Secretary Robert Gates (to Israel, Jordan) National Security Adviser James Jones (to Israel) Envoy to the Gulf states Dennis Ross (to Israel)

Their talks came ahead of Mr Mitchell's meeting with Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas in the West Bank town of Ramallah.

The Egyptians seemingly had plenty to discuss, reports the BBC's Christian Fraser in Cairo.

They are currently brokering reconciliation talks between the deeply divided Palestinian factions of Fatah and Hamas.

Despite several rounds of talks, the two Palestinian factions are still at odds on the most sensitive issues, such as the shape of a future unity government, the remit of the joint security force and the system that would be implemented for any upcoming elections.

Palestinian leaders have also refused to meet their Israeli counterparts until settlement activity ceases.

All settlements are illegal under international law, though Israel disputes this. Israel has settled more than 450,000 Jews in the occupied West Bank, including East Jerusalem.

In a meeting with Israeli President Shimon Peres on Monday, Mr Mitchell advised him that Israel could improve the climate by "dealing with difficult issues like settlements and outposts".

Mr Mitchell is due to meet the Israeli prime minister on Tuesday.

In Damascus on Sunday, the US envoy met Syrian President Bashar Assad for what he called "very candid and positive" discussions on restarting long-stalled peace talks between Syria and Israel.

He said Mr Obama was determined to reach a comprehensive peace between Israel and all its Arab neighbours in order to guarantee "stability, security and prosperity".

Other senior US officials - National Security Adviser James Jones and the US envoy to the Gulf states, Dennis Ross - are also due to visit the region this week.

US charges seven with terrorism

The FBI arrested the seven men in North Carolina

Seven US men have been charged with conspiring to provide support to Islamic militants and conspiring to murder and kidnap people abroad.

Officials say one of the men, Daniel Boyd, 39, trained in Afghanistan and fought there between 1989 and 1992.

When he returned to the US, he recruited others to engage in terrorism and provided weapons training, the Justice Department alleged.

The men were arrested by the FBI in the Raleigh, North Carolina, area.

There has been no reported response from the defendants.

'Military practice'

"The indictment alleges that Daniel Boyd is a veteran of terrorist training camps in Pakistan and Afghanistan who, over the past three years, has conspired with others in this country to recruit and help young men travel overseas in order to kill," said David Kris, of the US Department of Justice.

According to the indictment, from late 2006 until at least July 2009, Mr Boyd and the other defendants engaged in a conspiracy to advance violent jihad abroad.

They arranged weapons training, funding and travel for others who wished to fight overseas, the indictment alleges.

It says Mr Boyd and several other defendants travelled to Israel in June 2007 in an ultimately unsuccessful attempt to engage in violent jihad.

Another defendant, Ziyad Yaghi, 21, allegedly travelled to Jordan in October 2006 to commit violent acts.

The defendants allegedly practiced military tactics in North Carolina in June and July 2009.

All seven of the men face life sentences if convicted conspiracy to murder, kidnap, maim and injure persons abroad.

Home vanishes in German landslide

Homes were swept into a lake Enlarge Image

Three people are missing and feared dead after a landslide swept away two homes in the central German village of Nachterstedt, south-west of Berlin.

Both homes - one of which collapsed completely - stood near a former open-cast coal mine that had been converted into a lake.

Officials said the missing included a couple and a man, all in their 50s.

There had been heavy rain in the area, but experts said mining activity had probably made the land unstable.

Local media said a stretch of land 350m (1,150 ft) long and 120m (390 ft) wide had collapsed into the lake.

Rescue efforts were hampered by the danger of further slides in the area.

Iranian vice-president 'sacked'

Some saw Mr Mashaie as a moderate mouthpiece for Mr Ahmadinejad

Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad has dismissed his most senior vice-president, it has been reported.

The decision, the state news agency Irna said, came after Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei ordered Mr Ahmadinejad to do so.

First Vice-President Esfandiar Rahim Mashaie had angered hardliners last year by saying Iranians and Israelis were friends.

An aide said Mr Mashaie did not now consider himself first vice-president.

The decision came after a week-long stand-off between Ayatollah Khamenei and Mr Ahmadinejad, who had defended Mr Mashaie.

Ayatollah Khamenei wrote to the president, telling him that appointing Mr Mashaie was "against your interest and the interests of the government".

In the letter, which was broadcast on Iranian state TV, Ayatollah Khamenei said: "It is necessary to announce the cancellation of this appointment."

Mr Ahmadinejad, who is known for his own outspoken views against Israel, had been defending Mr Mashaie, at one stage calling him modest and loyal to Iran's Islamic system.

Hardline students

During the day, hundreds of hardline students took to the streets of the capital, Tehran, in support of the demand for Mr Mashaie to stand down.

They had warned they would withdraw support from Mr Ahmadinejad unless he dismissed Mr Mashaie.

During their demonstrations they chanted that defiance of Ayatollah Khamenei's views would not be tolerated, the semi-official Fars news agency reported.

Ayatollah Khamenei has the final say in matters of state, and analysts say he has rarely faced defiance in the past - though that changed in recent weeks with reformists challenging his ruling that last month's disputed presidential election was fair.

Correspondents say the rift between the ayatollah and Mr Ahmadinejad comes at a precarious time for the president.

They say the president needs hardline support against the reformist opposition who continue to maintain that his re-election was fraudulent.

BBC correspondent Jon Leyne says the row shows how vulnerable Mr Ahmadinejad is to pressure from conservatives.

He says that, although this was a dispute within the conservative camp, the reformist opposition is bound to gather encouragement from seeing those in power engage in such a divisive argument among themselves.

The row over Israel broke out last year when Mr Mashaie, then minister in charge of tourism, was quoted as saying that Iranians were friends with the Israeli people, despite the conflict between their governments.

Ousted Zelaya returns to Honduras

The ousted president of Honduras has briefly crossed the country's border with Nicaragua, in a symbolic move the US has described as a "reckless".

Manuel Zelaya has been in exile for nearly a month after he was forced from his position by a coup, and had previously tried to return by plane.

The interim government has said it will arrest him if he sets foot in Honduras.

Earlier, soldiers fired tear gas at hundreds of Mr Zelaya's supporters who were waiting for him near the border.

Talks in Costa Rica aimed at resolving the political crisis collapsed two weeks ago with no agreement reached.

'Not crazy'

The best thing is to reach an understanding that respects the will of the people Manuel Zelaya

Mr Zelaya, surrounded by supporters and journalists and talking into a mobile phone, lifted the chain marking the border between Nicaragua and Honduras in the frontier town of Los Manos and walked underneath it.

The BBC's Stephen Gibbs said the military personnel retreated by about 20m (yards) as he did so, apparently unclear how to react.

Mr Zelaya, wearing his customary cowboy-style hat, walked up to a sign reading "Welcome to Honduras" but did not go any further into the country.

Less than 30 minutes later, the ousted leader crossed back into Nicaragua, saying the risk of bloodshed was too great.

"I am not afraid but I'm not crazy either," he told Venezuelan-based TV network Telesur. "There could be violence and I don't want to be the cause."

He told reporters he was prepared to return to the negotiation table with the interim government.

"The best thing is to reach an understanding that respects the will of the people," he said.

The US Secretary of State, Hillary Clinton, has described Mr Zelaya's return as "reckless" and not conducive to "the broader effort to restore democratic and constitutional order in the Honduras crisis".

"We have consistently urged all parties to avoid any provocative action that could lead to violence," said Mrs Clinton.

Curfew

At least one man was wounded in skirmishes at the border

Prior to Mr Zelaya's crossing, the army had sealed all roads to the border several kilometres (miles) from the actual crossing point, says our correspondent.

But hundreds of people had still gathered in the area and when the military announced an 18-hour curfew, they began throwing rocks at the soldiers, who responded with tear gas, he adds.

At least one man was wounded in the clashes, during which Mr Zelaya was waiting in a white jeep a few metres on the Nicaraguan side of the border.

Earlier televised footage had shown Mr Zelaya driving in a convoy including Nicaraguan police cars towards the Nicaraguan border with Honduras.

The interim government, led by Mr Zelaya's former ally, Roberto Micheletti, has imposed an 18-hour curfew along the Nicaraguan border.

People living close to the border have been ordered to stay at home between midday local time (1800GMT) and 0600 (1200GMT) to "keep the peace".

"We can't be responsible for the security of people who, by inciting generalised violence in the country, may be subject to attacks even from their own supporters who may have the sole aim of turning them into martyrs," the military said in a statement.

A night time curfew already extends to the whole of the country.

Talks bid

Mr Zelaya was exiled on 28 June after a crisis erupted over his attempts to hold a vote on changing the constitution.

He insists he remains the democratically-elected leader of Honduras and had previously attempted to return home on 5 July.

On that occasion, his plane was prevented from landing when the Honduran military blocked the runway.

The ousted leader's attempt to return follows the collapse of talks in Costa Rica, mediated by the country's President, Oscar Arias.

Mr Arias had drawn up a detailed plan to facilitate Mr Zelaya's return to lead a national reconciliation government prior to early elections in October.

The proposal also included a general amnesty for crimes committed during this crisis and the setting up of a truth commission to investigate events in the run-up to Mr Zelaya's removal.

Delegates of the interim government reiterated they would not reinstate Mr Zelaya as president but said they would present the Arias plan to Congress.

But since it was Congress that approved the ousting of Mr Zelaya, the move may prove to be of limited importance, says our correspondent.

New US home starts surge in June

There are signs confidence may be returning to the building sector

The construction of new homes in the US rose 3.6% between May and June to the highest level in seven months, official figures have shown.

This is the second month in a row that housing starts have risen following a post-war low in April.

Compared with the same month a year ago, however, June starts were down 46%, the Commerce Department said.

The number of single family homes being built jumped 14.4% in June, the biggest jump in over four years.

'Genuine surprise'

The number of new homes built totalled 582,000, many more than analysts had expected.

Figures for May were also revised upwards, from 532,000 to 562,000.

Madonna stage deaths investigated

Prosecutors have opened a manslaughter investigation after a stage being built for a Madonna concert collapsed killing two people, a French official has said.

Eight other people were seriously injured in Thursday's accident at the Velodrome stadium in Marseille.

Assistant prosecutor Marc Cimamonti said an investigation for manslaughter and involuntary injuries in a work-related accident has been opened.

Madonna has said she is "devastated" by the news of the deaths.

'Tragic news'

Her concert, planned for Sunday, has been cancelled.

Charles Criscenzo, a 53-year-old French worker, was killed outright in the accident and Charles Prow, a 23-year-old from Headingley in Leeds, died in hospital.

Technicians had been setting up the stage at the city's Velodrome stadium when the partially-built roof fell in on Thursday, bringing down a crane.

The 60,000-seater Velodrome is France's second-biggest sports arena and home to the Olympique de Marseille football club.

The planned concert was part of Madonna's Sticky and Sweet tour

About 50 people from a range of nationalities were working to set up the structure, city sports official Richard Miron said.

The roof "started shaking and collapsing" gradually, said Marseille city councillor Maurice Di Nocera.

"Since it did not collapse right away that allowed several people to get out," he said.

Madonna, who is performing on her Sticky and Sweet tour, was in Udine, Italy, when told of the incident.

"I am devastated to have just received this tragic news," she said in a statement released by Live Nation, the organisers of the concert.

"My prayers go out to those who were injured and their families, along with my deepest sympathy to all those affected by this heartbreaking news."

Madonna paid tribute to the technicians at her concert in Italy on Thursday.

"I just wanted to take a moment to acknowledge and pay tribute to two people who lost their lives today," she told fans at the Fruili Stadium in Udine.

"It's a great tragedy to me," she continued, choking back tears. "I feel so devastated to be in any way associated with anyone's suffering.

"Let's all just take a moment to say a prayer for Charles Criscenzo and Charlie Prow. Our hearts go out to their family and loved ones."

San Diego menaced by jumbo squid

Squid have come to the California coast before, like this one in 2005

Scuba divers off the Californian city of San Diego are being menaced by large numbers of jumbo squid.

The beaked Humboldt squid, which grow up to 5ft (1.5 metres) long, arrived off the city's shores last week.

Divers have reported unnerving encounters with the creatures, which are carnivorous and can be aggressive.

One diver described how one of the rust-coloured creatures ripped the buoyancy aid and light from her chest, and grabbed her with its tentacles.

"I just kicked like crazy," diver Shanda Magill told the Associated Press news agency.

"The first thing you think of is: 'Oh my gosh, I don't know if I'm going to survive this.' If that squid wanted to hurt me, it would have."

Shanda Magill holds the buoyancy aid and light that the squid ripped from her

The creatures - also known as jumbo flying squid - do not affect swimmers because they remain deeper in the water.

But dozens have been washing up on beaches in the area.

"The ones that we are getting right now have a big beak on them, like a large parrot beak," San Diego's Union-Tribune quoted John Hyde of the National Marine Fisheries Service as saying earlier in the week.

"They could take a chunk of flesh off you."

'Ram you'

Diver and amateur underwater cameraman Roger Uzun said he swam with a group of squid for about 20 minutes.

They seemed curious about him, he said, and appeared to be touching him and his wetsuit with their tentacles to see if he was edible.

"As soon as we went underwater and turned on the video lights, there they were. They would ram into you, they kept hitting the back of my head," he told AP.

It is not the first time the squid, which can weigh up to 45kg (7 stone), have taken up residence off California's coast.

In January 2005 hundreds of them washed up off the coast of Orange County, to the north, and in 2002 a similar invasion was reported near San Diego.

Scientists say they do not know why the squid - which usually live in deep waters further south off Mexico and Central America - have come so close in.

But one expert, Nigella Hillgarth of the San Diego-based Scripps Institution of Oceanography, told AP it was possible that the squid had established a year-round population off California.

Haggling to make ends meet

Almost half of Indonesians live on less than two dollars a day

Jakarta's residents are slowly getting back to business and digesting what happened to their city in last week's attacks.

The deadly blasts in two luxury hotels in the commercial district of the capital, has left many here worried about the impact that this will have on Indonesia's reputation, especially amongst foreign investors.

Over the last few years, Indonesia has been seen as a relatively safe place to do business.

That's a huge change from what it was like in the early part of the decade. The country was hit by a series of deadly blasts, and investors were worried about working here.

Economic growth

But since 2005, it has been peaceful and that has helped the economy to grow on average by about 6% for the last few years.

As a result, more Indonesians have earned higher salaries, and are keen to spend that money, which is why domestic consumption is a key driver of the economy.

It is often said that the one thing Indonesians love spending their money on is food.

The Pasar Rumput outdoor market in central Jakarta is a visual treat for food-lovers.

All around there are barrows and baskets of exotic vegetables and fruits, in all sorts of colours, shapes and sizes.

Old women with wrinkled brown skin and toothless grins smile at me from behind their stalls, trying to tempt me with what they have to offer.

For Jakarta's urban elite, western-style supermarkets are becoming increasingly popular.

Yet for ordinary Indonesians, large outdoor markets like Pasar Rumput are one of the few places they can haggle with shopkeepers for a better bargain.

Food prices have stabilised somewhat in Indonesia over the last year, because of a fall in the price of oil.

Even so, millions of people here still struggle to make ends meet. So trying to find the best price for their weekly food supplies is crucial.

Sensitive issue

This market is where Mrs Martosi, a small business owner, comes on a daily basis for her groceries.

Food prices have stabilised over the past year

She runs a cafe selling meat stew to the city's professionals and spends about a fifth of her monthly income on food.

"Food prices have gone up in the last two years," she tells me. "I've had to raise the prices of my meat stew to make a profit, but it's not easy. You can't raise prices too much, otherwise you'll turn customers away."

Food prices are a sensitive issue in Indonesia.

Last year, hundreds took to the streets of Jakarta to protest against the soaring cost of cooking oil and rice.

Widespread poverty

According to analysts, the soaring cost of imported food was one of the main reasons behind the former president and dictator Suharto's downfall.

In 1998, because of the massive depreciation in the Indonesian currency, the rupiah, the price of basic household goods went through the roof.

There was wide-spread looting of food at shops across the country as the impoverished struggled to feed their families.

A lot has changed in Indonesia's economy since the days of the Asian financial crisis.

But the challenges remain. The country has one of the highest poverty rates in Asia.

According to government statistics the poverty rate is about 14%, but independent reports say it is much higher.

According to the World Bank, almost half of Indonesia's 235 million population lives on less than two dollars a day.

Making sure that those at the bottom of the economic ladder in the world's fourth most populous nation have access to cheap food is crucial.

£1bn plan to electrify rail line

By Tom Symonds BBC transport correspondent

Electric trains are cheaper and require less maintenance

A £1bn plan to electrify the main rail route between London and Swansea is to be announced by the government.

A second line between Liverpool and Manchester will also be converted from diesel to electric.

Ministers say electric trains are lighter and more energy efficient, cutting the running cost and environmental impact of train services.

The work will take eight years. Overhead power lines will be installed between London, Swansea, Bristol, Bath and Oxford.

Fare rise dismissed

Transport Secretary Lord Adonis told the BBC not backing an electrification programme now would have meant ordering new diesel trains with a lifespan of 30 years, making it impossible to electrify the Great Western Line for a generation.

Instead the rail industry can invest in the electric version of the new intercity train known as the Super Express, unveiled last year.

The government and rail industry agree that electrification will bring major benefits.

EUROPE'S ELECTRIC RAIL COVER Switzerland: 100% Sweden: 77% Netherlands: 73% Italy: 69% Germany: 56% Spain: 56% UK: 40% Source: UIC

Electric trains do not carry their own fuel - around six tonnes of weight for a fully fuelled intercity train. They also have lighter engines.

This makes them more than 35% cheaper to operate than diesel trains, according to the Department for Transport.

The electric engines also require less maintenance, and the trains are around 20% cheaper to buy.

There are also major environmental benefits. The production of electricity for trains creates up to 35% less carbon than burning the equivalent amount of diesel.

First Great Western's existing diesels, dating back to the mid-70s, achieve little more than eight miles to the gallon.

Commuter lines

Network Rail will carry out the work and has assured the government that lessons in the installation of overhead power lines have been learnt following a fiasco last year when work on the West Coast Main Line over-ran.

The company says it is buying specialist electrification trains capable of automating the installation job.

Ministers dismiss suggestions that the investment will lead to an increase in fares - a concern raised by the Campaign for Better Transport.

They say the electrification will lead to cost savings in the running of trains - and the £1bn Great Western investment, funded through Network Rail borrowing, will be repaid over 40 years.

Britain went through a period of electrification between the 50s and 80s in which two other main lines, East and West, were converted.

Many commuter lines into London from the home counties are also electrified - using a third rail system rather than overhead cables.

But Britain still has proportionally less electric railway than most European countries. In the league table, it is below Macedonia.

The latest announcement means electric trains come to Wales for the first time - not a single mile of the principality's railways is electrified.

Between Manchester and Liverpool a smaller project to electrify the line via Newton-le-Willows has also been given the green light.

This will have the added benefit of allowing Transpennine trains between Manchester airport and Glasgow to run on electric power. The project fills in an un-electrified gap in the network.

But the government has not committed to electrify another major diesel route, the Midland Main Line between London and Sheffield. It is still considering the proposal.

Wikipedia painting row escalates

By Rory Cellan-Jones Technology correspondent, BBC News

Work by Sir Joshua Reynolds was among those uploaded to Wikipedia

The battle over Wikipedia's use of images from a British art gallery's website has intensified.

The online encyclopaedia has accused the National Portrait Gallery (NPG) of betraying its public service mission.

But the gallery has said it needs to recoup the £1m cost of its digitisation programme and claims Wikipedia has misrepresented its position.

The NPG is threatening legal action after 3,300 images from its website were uploaded to Wikipedia.

The high-resolution images were uploaded by Wikipedia volunteer Derrick Coetzee.

Now Erik Moeller, the deputy director of the Wikimedia Foundation which runs the online encyclopaedia, has laid out the organisation's stance in a blog post.

'Empire building'

He said most observers would think the two sides should be "allies not adversaries" and that museums and other cultural institutions should not pursue extra revenue at the expense of limiting public access to their material.

"It is hard to see a plausible argument that excluding public domain content from a free, non-profit encyclopaedia serves any public interest whatsoever," he wrote.

He points out that two German photographic archives donated 350,000 copyrighted images for use on Wikipedia, and other institutions in the United States and the UK have seen benefits in making material available for use.

Another Wikipedia volunteer David Gerard has blogged about the row, claiming that the National Portrait Gallery makes only £10-15,000 a year from web licensing, less than it makes "selling food in the cafe".

They honestly think the paintings belong to them rather than to us David Gerard Wikipedia volunteer

But the gallery insists that its case has been misrepresented, and has now released a statement denying many of the charges made by Wikipedia.

It denies claims that it has been "locking up and limiting access to educational materials", saying that it has been a pioneer in making its material available.

It has worked for the last five years toward the target of getting half of its collection online by 2009. "We will be able to achieve this," said the gallery's statement, "as a result of self-generated income."

The gallery says that while it only makes a limited revenue from web licensing, it earns far more from the reproduction of its images in books and magazines - £339,000 in the last year.

But it says the present situation jeopardises its ability to fund its digitisation process from its own resources.

Legal issues

The gallery has claimed that Derrick Coetzee's actions have breached English copyright laws, which protect copies of original works even when they themselves are out of copyright.

The National Portrait Gallery now says it only sent a legal letter to Derrick Coetzee after the Wikimedia Foundation failed to respond to requests to discuss the issue. But it says contact has now been made and remains hopeful that a dialogue will be possible.

A spokeswoman also said that the two German archives mentioned in Erik Moeller's blog had in fact supplied medium resolution images to Wikipedia, and insisted that the National Portrait Gallery had been willing to offer similar material to Wikipedia.

The gallery said the row could prevent it putting more of its collection online

The gallery also explained how Derrick Coetzee was able to obtain the high resolution files from its site. They were made available to visitors using a "Zoomify" feature, which works by allowing several high resolution files to be seen all together.

It claims Mr Coetzee used special software to "de-scramble" the high-resolution tiles, allowing the whole portrait to be seen in high resolution.

The British Association of Picture Libraries and Agencies has backed the National Portrait Gallery's stance.

"If owners of out of copyright material are not going to have the derivative works they have created protected, which will result in anyone being able to use then for free, they will cease to invest in the digitisation of works, and everyone will be the poorer," it wrote in an email to its members.

But the Wikipedia volunteer David Gerard accuses the gallery of bureaucratic empire building.

"They honestly think the paintings belong to them rather than to us," he wrote.

Gaffe-prone Japan PM struggling

By Roland Buerk BBC News, Tokyo

Taro Aso apologised for mistakes he has made in office

He put a brave face on it, walking up to the podium and bowing stiffly before he began the news conference.

But even some in his own Liberal Democratic Party fear Japan's Prime Minister, Taro Aso, is leading them to a historic defeat.

He is asking for more time in power. But he began by saying sorry for past mistakes.

"There might have been some inappropriate comments I made that might have led to the lowering of the support of the people of Japan," he said.

"And within our party, the solidarity was lacking and that might have been because of my lack of leadership. And there might have been Japanese people who were not very comfortable about my leadership, and I would like to take this opportunity to apologise."

Mr Aso, who is known for gaffes that have offended people from doctors to the elderly, was speaking after he dissolved the lower house of Japan's Diet, or parliament.

He hopes the general election at the end of August will be about the economy, and security.

He insists he can deliver on both.

Rise from the ashes

But the campaign threatens to be more about whether the Liberal Democratic Party's time is up.

The party has governed Japan for more than half a century, except for a break of less than a year in the early 1990s.

For much of that time the story of Japan was its rise from the ashes of World War II to economic might.

But times have changed.

Japan is now mired in a recession, and that is on top of a decade of stagnation in the 1990s.

"The LDP has nothing to run on, their record is miserable, they've done nothing to alleviate the soaring misery index," says Jeff Kingston of Temple University in Tokyo.

Taro Aso is the third prime minister since the popular Junichiro Koizumi stepped down after winning the last election for the lower house in 2005 on a platform of reform.

"The voters gave Koizumi an overwhelming mandate and they didn't do anything. In the meantime the economy is falling off a cliff and unemployment is soaring," says Jeff Kingston.

Hoping to take power in the next election is Yukio Hatoyama, of the Democratic Party of Japan - like Mr Aso, the heir to a political dynasty.

Yukio Hatayama of the DPJ has already faced embarrassment

His grandfather replaced Taro Aso's grandfather as prime minister in the 1950s.

History could be about to repeat itself.

Mr Hatoyama's party is promising reforms, including strengthening social welfare and wrestling control of policy-making from what it says is an over mighty bureaucracy.

The DPJ is well ahead in the opinion polls, and perhaps Taro Aso's greatest hope of surviving in office is if the opposition stumbles before election day.

In May, Ichiro Ozawa stepped down as the leader of the DPJ amid a political fundraising scandal.

His successor - Mr Hatoyama - has already been embarrassed after it emerged some people listed as his donors were dead.

"It would have to be hugely dramatic, something way out of the ordinary to derail the DPJ express," says Jeff Kingston of Temple University.

"The DPJ has a long history of self-inflicted wounds, of snatching defeat from the jaws of victory, but it would have to be something truly extraordinary for them to blow it."

Milan keen for Beckham to return

Beckham was a major success in last season's spell at Milan

AC Milan are eager for England midfielder David Beckham to repeat his loan spell at the club this season.

Beckham, who plays for LA Galaxy in the United States, spent five months on loan with Milan last season at the end of the Major League Soccer campaign.

"The most likely hypothesis is that Beckham plays for us from January until the end of the season," said Milan vice-president Adriano Galliani.

"Then he returns to America without all the fuss that happened last March."

But Galliani dismissed speculation that the Italian giants would try to buy Beckham, who has suffered a negative response from some Galaxy fans on his return to LA.

A price in the region of £11.2m has been mentioned for Beckham, but Milan said "insurmountable financial obstacles" would restrict their involvement with him to another loan deal.

I hope to return to play for Milan David Beckham

"There's no possibility for him to come sooner," said Galliani.

"David knows that the doors of (the club's training ground) Milanello are always open for him, his lawyers also know that.

"I hope he returns in January, but before then he won't because that's when the market reopens even though he finishes there at the end of November.

"There are insurmountable financial obstacles. Before January there's no possibility."

Beckham said he had been told by England boss Fabio Capello that he needed to be playing in one of the top leagues in Europe in order to stay in his plans for next year's World Cup in South Africa, should England qualify.

And the former England captain said he would be delighted to play in Serie A again.

"I hope to return to play for Milan," he told the AC Milan website.

"They have remained in my heart and honestly I am confident I will greet them again in November.

"It's really pleasing to see that I have left good memories."

Milan coach Leonardo has also expressed his hope that Beckham will be able to play for his side later in the season.

Beckham has also been linked with Premier League sides Tottenham and Chelsea, who are now managed by former Milan boss Carlo Ancelotti.

606: DEBATE I admire Beckham for wanting to be at his best for as long as he can, so good luck to him at Milan RICHSAZ

The possibility of Beckham leaving LA Galaxy prematurely has been raised after he was booed by sections of the crowd in his first home game for them since his spell with Milan.

He was jeered during Sunday's friendly - against Milan - and even confronted one particularly vociferous spectator.

"The majority of fans have been great," said Beckham, who had upset Galaxy fans with previous comments that he would have preferred to stay at Milan than return to the MLS.

"It was only one or two that, you know, it was to be expected.

"Sometimes it goes beyond it. I tried to shake one of the guy's hands but he didn't want any of it. That's the way it is."

It marked the end of a turbulent week for Beckham since his return to the United States, who also had to placate team-mates following comments by Galaxy captain Landon Donovan.

Phone gadget to diagnose disease

The prototype of the device

Researchers have developed an add-on to a mobile phone that can take detailed images and analyse them to diagnose diseases such as tuberculosis.

The CellScope works as a so-called fluorescence microscope that can identify the markers of disease.

It is hoped the device will be useful in the developing world, where such medical diagnostics are rare but mobile ownership and coverage are common.

The research is published in the free-access journal PLoS ONE.

The CellScope is made up of conventional microscope optics as well as some equipment to make it function as a fluorescence microscope.

Fluorescence occurs when certain molecules are illuminated with a certain colour and "shine" for a period in a different colour.

Fluorescent "tagging" molecules can be specially designed to latch on to, for instance, the bacteria that are a sign of tuberculosis (TB).

The device can work also as a conventional microscope

But diagnosing tuberculosis requires a fluorescence microscope, which can illuminate a blood sample that has been treated with "tagging" molecules and detect just the light that those molecules emit with great sensitivity.

However, typical fluorescence microscopes are bulky, expensive devices limited to hospitals and laboratories.

"There are other people who have been working on developing portable fluorescent microscopes," said David Breslauer, a University of California Berkeley researcher and lead author of the study.

"The innovation on our front is that we've integrated that with a cell phone rather than just making a standalone microscope."

The researchers used a standard Nokia handset with a 3.2 megapixel camera, developing a "snap-on" addition that includes the microscope optics and a holder for blood samples on glass slides.

The CellScope uses cheap commercial light-emitting diodes as the light source - in place of the high-power, gas-filled lamps used in laboratory versions of the device, and cheap optical filters to isolate the light coming from the fluorescent tags.

The device has a resolution of just over one millionth of a metre, and the team was able to identify tuberculosis bacteria in a sample. Several other tagging molecules are in development to address the diagnosis of other diseases.

Upon the removal of the filters, they were able to use the CellScope as a standard, white-light microscope, identifying malaria parasites and the misshapen cells typical of sickle cell anaemia.

'Portable clinic'

Mr Breslauer says that more than just a camera, the incorporation of a mobile phone "gives us access to the computational power of the phone as well as the mobile communications aspect".

That computational power could be put to use in running image analysis software, which could easily be built into a small application that the phone runs.

But it is the mobile communication aspect that makes the device particularly useful for use "in the field".

"In many developing world and rural areas, you could be hundreds of miles from hospitals or miles away from power - but the mobile infrastructure is well-established and pretty much blanketing the globe," Mr Breslauer said.

"So if you can have a portable, battery-operated system to take these images, analyse, and transfer them, you're creating a portable healthcare clinic. Your doctor can see your samples without actually having to be present."

The team is now making a more robust, "field-ready" version of the device, which will be used in field testing and clinic

Expenses clean-up bill is passed

The bill was a response to the MPs' expenses scandal

A bill aimed at cleaning up Parliament after the MPs' expenses scandal has become law after getting Royal Assent.

However, the government dropped plans for a legally-binding code of conduct and two new criminal offences for MPs in the face of stiff opposition.

Ministers insisted the changes made for a better bill and that it was vital it became law before the summer recess.

Opponents complained it has been rushed through and Lib Dem leader Nick Clegg said it would not restore public trust.

The Parliamentary Standards Bill sets up an independent body to authorise MPs' expenses.

Justice Secretary Jack Straw said its speedy approval was imperative for rebuilding public confidence in the way Parliament works, with MPs leaving Westminster for their constituencies.

Nothing really has been done to fix the rotten state of British politics Nick Clegg Liberal Democrat leader The new rules for MPs explained

When it was introduced, it had been expected to apply eventually to peers as well as MPs.

However, as it returned to the Commons on Tuesday, the Lords had been assured "categorically" it would not apply to them.

Two of three proposed offences - relating to breaking rules on the registration of interests or the ban on paid advocacy - had been dropped.

A bid to scrap Parliamentary privilege, which protects MPs from court action over what they say in the Commons, was also rejected after a surprise Commons defeat for the government.

During Tuesday's debate on amendments made in the House of Lords, which were approved without a vote, Mr Straw faced accusations the bill had been rushed through for "public relations purposes" and had since been "emasculated".

Punishment threat

He said "improvements" had been made to the bill and the three main parties had backed plans for a new Parliamentary Standards Authority but they had to work "from a standing start".

He said it had been a difficult process and he would have been condemned if he had resisted making changes.

"I think we have achieved a very much better measure as a result," he said.

In a later interview, Mr Straw said the new authorisation process for expenses, combined with full transparency in the disclosure of claims, would mean past abuses could not happen again.

"Thankfully the expenses scandals will be a thing of the past," he told the BBC.

Jack Straw responds to criticism of the legislation

He said any MP "daft" enough to fiddle their expenses in future would be severely punished.

Shadow Commons leader Alan Duncan said the bill had arrived "in a state of some confusion" and he was pleased "significant" concessions had been made.

"It was obvious that ministers had been required at very short notice to create a bill that had to match the prime minister's press release, initially at least, no matter what the consequences."

The Lib Dems said the government's enthusiasm for a radical reform of the political system in the wake of the expenses scandal had been short-lived.

Nick Clegg said it "beggared belief" that MPs should be about to go on a 82-day recess with so little achieved in the way of real reforms to the House of Lords, party funding and new mechanisms for sacking dishonest MPs.

He had called for Parliament to continue sitting until such measures had been introduced.

"It[the bill] is a fig leaf to cover up the government's abject failure to deliver on the promises it made to the British people at the height of the expenses scandal that it would sort out British politics for good," he said.