As Vancouver gears up for its second stint as Olympic host with the Paralympics beginning on 12 March, one northern Canadian territory is hoping the lasting legacy of the Games will be a boost to tourism.

The government of Yukon spent just under 3m Canadian dollars (£1.9m) trying to educate people about their territory during the Winter Games, promoting it as a great place to travel, invest and do business.

"The people that go to the Olympics are our kind of people," says Sheila Dodd, who works in economic and tourism development for Whitehorse, Yukon's capital.

"They are adventurers. We know that demographic, that young person that loves skiing and snowboarding - they are for us."

"We'd actually like more people to move here, we'd really love it"

Ms Dodd says she realises Yukon is unknown to a lot of the world.

"We are a secret in the whole world I think because of our tiny population," she said.

"We'd actually like more people to move here, we'd really love it."

Yukon is about the size of Spain and has a total land mass of 483,610 sq km with a population of just over 32,000 people. Three-quarters of the people live in Whitehorse.

Yukon became famous for the Klondike Gold Rush in 1897-1898, when about 100,000 people flocked to the territory trying to find gold. Ms Dodd says those mining opportunities are still available in the Yukon today.

"Actually we take as much gold out of the Klondike today as we did during the Gold Rush, we just have bigger equipment."

Yukon's biggest employers include the government, mining, and knowledge-based industries, as well as tourism.

Tourist's story

Yukon's biggest tourist market after the US is Germany.

Americans often drive up from the US on their way to Alaska. Germans can fly direct to Whitehorse from Frankfurt every week in the summer, and then in the winter travellers can get there by going through Vancouver or Edmonton.

"Germans come here to camp. They are going down our rivers, they go to operate dogsleds," says Ms Dodd.

She adds that sometimes they don't want to leave and end up moving there and setting up their own tourism companies.

"They just love it because of the fact that there's nobody here. That is very appealing for Europeans: wide open spaces, no people," she says.

Mark Whalen is German and travels to Yukon for three weeks in the summer and in the winter, so he can camp and live in the territory's wilderness.

"In Germany it's so tight, so over-crowded with so many people and here is just the opposite of that," says Mr Whalen. "You are driving on the road for hours and hours and you meet nobody, and for most Germans it's unbelievable to do that."

Mr Whalen, 40, has been coming to Yukon for 20 years. He loves the vast country and challenging himself against nature's elements.

"When you see a grizzly bear coming out of the bush and you are on the water in a canoe and you don't know what's happening next, that's it," he says.

The access to wildlife in their own habitat is a massive draw for tourists like Mr Whalen.

"On my last trip, in two weeks I saw 28 moose. It was unbelievable. Every time I stopped to rest, a moose came out," he says.

"I normally see wolves, coyotes, grizzly bears... caribou a lot, elk. I saw a lynx two days ago right beside the cabin."

Leave no trace

But opening up Yukon's wilderness to tourists comes with its challenges.

"Most people really think it's sort of like the Arctic and it's not. We are in the Boreal forest. A normal day in the winter is a sunny -10C"

"There are concerns because some people can make a mess," says tour guide Scott McDougall.

"That's why there are publications out there educating people on how not to disturb the wildlife and to have respect for the environment."

The Yukon government has strict rules that tourism operators like Mr McDougall must follow when it comes to waste disposal. They must also practise and preach the mentality of "leave no trace".

It all comes down to "common sense and respect" for the environment, says Mr McDougall.

"There are some concerns on some of the more popular routes. People need to just practise cleaning up after themselves.

"When they are done at a camp site, they need to make it look like no one has ever been there."

And chopping down trees is completely ruled out, "unless it's an emergency situation and they have lost their supplies," he says.

'Land of midnight sun'

The Yukon authorities are trying to dispel myths people may have about their territory.

Rod Taylor, who heads the Tourism Industry Association of Yukon, says most people think getting to Yukon will take "years and years", but he points out it is just two hours' flight from Vancouver.

"The second myth, of course, is the weather: most people really think it's sort of like the Arctic and it's not. We are in the Boreal forest. A normal day in the winter is a sunny -10C," he said.

The last myth is about daylight. The Yukon is known as "the land of the midnight sun", and many people think that the territory experiences 24-hour darkness in the winter because it is above the 60th parallel.

On the shortest day of the year, 21 December, Whitehorse sees about 5.5 hours of daylight.

In late June and early July, the town can have 21 hours of sunlight without complete darkness ever moving in.

During this time locals and tourists have even been known to be golfing at 11 o'clock at night.

Yukon's tourism officials hope the Vancouver Winter Olympics and Paralympics will provide a boost to other provinces and territories, not just British Columbia.

As with the Winter Games, performers from Yukon will be doing shows during the Paralympics, from 12-21 March.

Pierre Germain, Tourism Yukon's director, says they hope to see the results of their promotional activities in six to eight months.

"We did decide to invest in our people and expose our cultural performers to the world," he says.

While Yukon's wilderness is often the big draw for visitors, Mr Germain says, "it's the culture and people that keep them coming back".

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LIVE TEXT COMMENTARY (all times GMT)

To get involved, e-mail tms@bbc.co.uk (with 'For Mark Mitchener' in the subject), use606 (after 0900 GMT)or text us your views on 81111 (UK) or +44 7786200666 (worldwide) with "CRICKET" as the first word. (Not all comments can be used. Messages will be charged at your standard operator rate)

Play is due to start at 0330 GMT (TMS coverage begins at 0315)

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Arranging an election in an area where many people live in refugee camps is far from straightforward, as the BBC's James Copnall discovered during a trip to Sudan's Darfur region.

Six years ago, as he fled the fighting in Darfur that killed one of his brothers, Adam Mahmoud felt utterly powerless.

Swept this way and that by a conflict that the UN estimates has killed 300,000, Mr Mahmoud ended up in a vast camp for internally displaced people, Abu Shouk.

Now in the relative safety, but miserable living conditions of the camp, Mr Mahmoud has found a way to make his voice heard.

"I am registered to vote in these elections," he says.

"I am free to choose, but I haven't decided yet who I will vote for."

However, if the election, Sudan's first real multi-party poll since 1986, offers Darfur's dispossessed the opportunity to influence their future, not everyone intends to take it.

The Bashir factor

Ahmed Atim, a large man with greying hair, introduces himself as the head of the traditional leaders in Abu Shouk camp.

He says turnout will be low at Abu Shouk and other refugee camps, where many of the 2.7 million displaced people in Darfur live.

"Here in the camp not more than 5,000 or 6,000 have registered, out of 70,000," he says.

"The people are against the elections. They are coming from different places, the war has been really bad for them, and they do not like this government."

There is a perception in the camp that President Omar al-Bashir's National Congress Party is so closely linked to the polls that the elections themselves are not to be trusted.

"The people think the elections are not able to change everything," says Mohamed Sharif Beshir, who also lives in Abu Shouk.

"The NCP came to attack the people, then it came again to register them. That is why they refused to register."

Others complain that the registration period in the camp lasted only two days, rather than several weeks.

One teacher, in a basic camp school composed of 11 straw huts around a dusty central square, said he had not even been aware of the registration period.

"We don't know much about the elections," he says, asking for his name not to be used.

"I myself do not even have the right to return to my village in safety. How can I think about voting"

Like many in Darfur, the displaced people in Abu Shouk are opposed to President Bashir and his party.

Some observers feel they have been deliberately marginalised during the registration process - a charge the NCP denies.

Civil war bitterness

But there are other areas where registration did not take place at all.

In South Darfur, for example, 20% of the land is estimated to be in the hands of rebels - principally the Sudan Liberation Army (SLA) Abdul-Wahid faction.

Another rebel group, the Justice and Equality Movement (Jem), which has recently signed a ceasefire with the government, has called for the election to be postponed.

A senior official from the NCP, Ibrahim Ghandour, insists there will only be three areas where voting is impossible.

He also concedes his candidate will do less well in Darfur than elsewhere.

The region has traditionally supported Sadiq al-Mahdi and his Umma party. And many Darfuris are bitter about the events of the civil war.

However, many Darfuris also support the president. They at least can rejoice in the early lead their man has taken in the numbers of posters in the main towns.

Mr Bashir's cheery face smiles down on passers-by everywhere, in stark contrast to the dearth of posters bearing the faces of opposition candidates.

"I think the election is important, to let the people choose," says one man who is desperate to vote.

Another young man, in South Darfur's largest town Nyala, was less optimistic.

"People are talking about elections, but in Darfur we have many problems," he says.

"People have not registered, and the rebels are outside the elections. I don't think the conditions are right for proper elections."

Another, Ali Asil, says the important issue is not personalities but policies.

"It is not a matter of who should govern Sudan; it is a matter of how Sudan should be governed."

No protection

Security will clearly be another issue in Darfur during elections.

The war has dropped in intensity, but quite apart from the rebels, armed groups and criminals make travelling around dangerous.

A hybrid African Union/United Nations peacekeeping mission, Unamid, has nearly 19,000 men in uniform on the ground.

But because of limits to their peacekeeping mandate and insufficient numbers to patrol such a vast area, Darfuris should not count too much on Unamid for protection.

There are areas where the peacekeepers cannot travel, and even these heavily armed military specialists sometimes come off worse in gun battles with criminals intent on car-jackings.

"There is still time to do the right things by all," says Ibrahim Gambari, the head of Unamid.

He adds that although Unamid will help, as it did in the registration process, it is up to the Sudanese to make sure their elections are safe, free and fair.

All the same, the possibilities for armed men or overzealous officials influencing voters must be huge.

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The first Mexican opera to deal directly with the country's drugs conflict has staged its premiere in Mexico City.

The opera, Only the Truth, is based on a popular Mexican song of the 1970s which tells the story of a woman who smuggles marijuana into the US.

Her lover betrays her and in an act of crazy revenge, she murders him.

Violence connected to Mexico's drugs trade has killed more 15,000 people in the past three years.

Since the song was first made popular, the central character of Camelia la Tejana seems to have become a mix of fact and fiction.

Many women have claimed to be the song's inspiration.

Gabriela Ortiz, one of the opera's authors, believes this is because her role goes beyond the expected, submissive part women often have in such tales.

"This is exactly the opposite," she said.

"This is a very strong woman who finally kills her lover and disappears with the money. She became like a hero."

'Narco corrido'

But it is in her role as a drugs trafficker that Camelia's story has more resonance for today's Mexico, as Jose Arean, the opera's musical director explained.

"Out of the last 20 years, I would say, this is the one opera that is telling us a story that is not only on everyone's mind, but also in the headlines. It is how Mexico is perceived outside as well," he said.

The song on which the opera is based is a corrido, a type of Mexican ballad initially created to tell epic stories of heroes from the Mexican revolution a century ago.

In recent years, a whole sub-genre known as "narco corridos" has developed that narrates the adventures of the drugs barons.

Some have called for the narco corridos to be banned, but artists defend their freedom of expression.

The drugs issue seems to have permeated every aspect of Mexico's culture - even that elusive, hard to reach genre that is opera.

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New York City has agreed to pay up to $657m (£437m) to thousands of rescue and clean-up workers at the 9/11 attacks Ground Zero site.

The settlement would compensate more than 10,000 plaintiffs who say they were made sick by dust from the collapsed World Trade Center towers.

At least 95% of the plaintiffs must approve the deal for it to take effect.

The money would come from a federally-financed insurance fund of $1.1bn that the city controls.

A claims adjudicator, chosen by the lawyers involved in the case, would decide on the validity of each plaintiff's claim and how much compensation they are entitled to.

In a statement, Mayor Michael Bloomberg called the settlement "a fair and reasonable resolution to a complex set of circumstances".

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Thailand has mobilised about 40,000 security personnel ahead of mass rallies by "red shirt" opposition protesters over the coming days.

The demonstrators plan to meet around the country before converging on the capital, Bangkok, on Sunday.

They are mainly supporters of former Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra, who was ousted in a military coup in 2006.

They say they plan to rally until Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva calls new elections.

The government has promised a tough reaction if the protests set to begin on Friday turn violent.

"If there is a siege, we would immediately take steps to disperse the crowds"

Profile: Thailand's reds and yellows

Q&A: Thailand protests

The Internal Security Act has been invoked, giving the military the power to impose curfews and restrict numbers at gatherings.

Checkpoints have been set up on the roads into Bangkok.

The red shirt movement, led by the United Front for Democracy against Dictatorship (UDD), has promised a huge but peaceful demonstration.

Smaller rallies, meetings and "political schools" have been planned for various provinces before convoys of vehicles carry protesters to the capital.

The red shirts' last major protests, in April last year, turned violent, with two deaths and dozens of people injured.

"If there is a siege, we would no longer consider it a peaceful protest and immediately take steps to disperse the crowds," Deputy Prime Minister Suthep Thaugsuban said.

The protest leaders say the government is playing up the threat of violence to justify a possible crackdown.

The red shirts oppose the 2006 military coup that toppled Thaksin Shinawatra.

They say Prime Minister Abhisit came to power illegitimately with the backing of the military and the Bangkok-based elites.

Mr Thaksin's power base was in the rural north. He is now living in self-imposed exile in Dubai to avoid a jail term on a corruption conviction.

Last month the Supreme Court ruled that just over half of the assets ($1.4bn; £910m) belonging to Mr Thaksin or his family which were frozen since the coup, should be seized.

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A senior advisor to former US President George W Bush has defended tough interrogation techniques, saying their use helped prevent terrorist attacks.

In a BBC interview, Karl Rove, who was known as "Bush's brain", said he "was proud we used techniques that broke the will of these terrorists".

He said waterboarding, which simulates drowning, should not be considered torture.

In 2009, President Barack Obama banned waterboarding as a form of torture.

But the practice was sanctioned in written memos by Bush administration lawyers in August 2002, providing legal cover for its use.

"I'm proud that we kept the world safer than it was, by the use of these techniques"

Profile: Karl Rove

In 2008, CIA head Michael Hayden told Congress it had only been used on three high-profile al-Qaeda detainees, and not for the past five years.

One of those was Khalid Sheikh Mohammed, a key suspect in the 9/11 attacks.

Mr Rove said US soldiers were subjected to waterboarding as a regular part of their training.

A less severe form of the technique was used on the three suspects interrogated at the US military prison at Guantanamo Bay, he added.

"I'm proud that we used techniques that broke the will of these terrorists and gave us valuable information that allowed us to foil plots such as flying aeroplanes into Heathrow and into London, bringing down aircraft over the Pacific, flying an aeroplane into the tallest building in Los Angeles and other plots," Mr Rove told the BBC.

"Yes, I'm proud that we kept the world safer than it was, by the use of these techniques. They're appropriate, they're in conformity with our international requirements and with US law."

Mr Rove has just written a memoir, Courage and Consequence, in which he defends the two terms of the Bush administration as "impressive, durable and significant".

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Ivory Coast and Chelsea striker Didier Drogba has been named African Footballer of the Year.

Drogba scored five goals as Ivory Coast qualified for the 2010 World Cup and scored for Chelsea in the FA Cup final.

Chelsea team-mate and Michael Essien and Cameroon forward Samuel Eto'o were also shortlisted for the award.

Drogba, who turned 32 on Thursday, had previously won the award in 2006, while Algeria were named team of the year at the ceremony in Accra, Ghana.

Algeria qualified for the World Cup finals in South Africa after defeating Egypt in a play-off game.

Drogba has scored 25 goals so far this season for Chelsea, who are in contention for the Premier League title and remain in the Champions League and FA Cup.

And the Ivorian claimed as he celebrated his 32nd birthday that his appetite for the game is as strong as ever.

606: DEBATE
Has the right man won the award

"I still have the same passion for the game," said Drogba. "I still feel hungry and I am still chasing medals.

"I feel really good. As I have said in the past it depends on the injuries you get and this season I can say that I am lucky, or I can say that the few months that I took out last year to get my knee well are now paying off.

"Your lifestyle is only as important as your mental approach to the game. If you put in your head that you are 32 and you are old it is going to be difficult.

"I still feel like a kid when I am on the pitch so sometimes Chelsea boss Carlo Ancelotti has to pull me back."

None of the three shortlisted candidates for the individual award were at the Confederation of African Football (Caf) ceremony.

The last time that Drogba won the award, Essien and Eto'o were also the other two shortlisted players.

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Nine members of a Russian white supremacist group have been jailed for up to 22 years each in connection with the killing of a man from Cameroon.

Three of the group, known as Simbirsk White Power, were convicted of the racially motivated murder of Etizok Ndobe Ernest in the city of Ulyanovsk.

Investigators said his throat was cut and he was stabbed repeatedly on his way home from work as a DJ in 2008.

It is the latest in a series of cases involving racist attacks in Russia.

"When investigators identified the people who carried out this cruel murder, it turned out that they were all members of an extremist organisation called Simbirsk White Power," Ulyanovsk investigators said in a statement.

Simbirsk is the original name of Ulyanovsk, about 900km (560 miles) east of Moscow.

Three members of the group were found guilty of murder for reasons of ethnic hatred, investigators said.

The other defendants, who included one woman, were convicted on various charges including the organisation of an extremist group, attempted murder, robbery and hooliganism.

The nine received jail terms ranging from two to 22 years.

Attacks filmed

Prosecutors said earlier that the group had attacked 10 non-Slavic people in 2008, which they filmed on mobile phones and posted on the internet.

Correspondents say the latest case comes as Russian authorities appear to be making a concerted effort to combat hate crime.

Last month a court in Moscow sentenced nine members of a neo-Nazi skinhead gang to prison terms of up to 23 years.

Independent groups monitoring the issue say the number of those killed in race attacks last year dropped by more than a quarter to just over 70 - a figure they say is still unacceptably high.

They attribute this fall to the police and justice system taking hate crimes more seriously and targeting some of the largest far-right groups.

Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin recently called for tougher laws against racially motivated attacks.

He also urged a deeper sense of community and a recognition that Russia is a multi-cultural country.

Hate crimes increased sharply in the early 1990s following the collapse of the Soviet Union.

Skinhead groups began targeting people of foreign appearance such as Central Asians, residents of the Caucasus or Africans.

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Turkey has withdrawn its ambassador to Sweden after the parliament voted narrowly to describe as genocide the killing of Armenians in World War I.

The Turkish government condemned the resolution, saying it was "based upon major errors and without foundation".

The Swedish government opposed the opposition resolution but it passed by one vote after some MPs voted against party lines.

It comes days after a US congressional panel passed a similar resolution.

Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan cancelled a visit to Stockholm scheduled next week and issued a statement criticising the vote.

"Our people and our government reject this decision based upon major errors and without foundation," said the statement.

MASS KILLINGS OF ARMENIANS

• Hundreds of thousands of ethnic Armenians killed by Ottoman Turks in 1915-6
• Many historians and the Armenian people believe the killings amount to genocide
• Turks and some historians deny they were orchestrated
• More than 20 countries regard the massacres as genocide

Q&A: Armenian genocide dispute

Swedish Foreign Minister Carl Bildt said the vote was a "mistake" but that it did not change the position of his government, which supports Turkey's entry into the EU.

The Swedish vote comes less than a week after the US House of Representatives Foreign Affairs Committee approved a similar resolution - by 23 votes to 22 - despite strong Turkish lobbying not to.

That vote also sparked anger from Turkey and the recall of its ambassador to Washington.

Historic argument

Moves between Turkey and Armenia to normalise relations have faltered recently.

Hundreds of thousands of Armenians died in 1915, when they were deported en masse from eastern Anatolia by the Ottoman Empire. They were killed by troops or died from starvation and disease.

Armenia says up to 1.5 million Armenians were killed, but Turkey says the figure is no more than one-third that and that many Turks died as well.

Turkey accepts that atrocities were committed but argues they were part of the war and that there was no systematic attempt to destroy the Christian Armenian people.

Armenia wants Turkey to recognise the killings as an act of genocide, but successive Turkish governments have refused to do so.

Armenians have campaigned for the killings to be recognised internationally as genocide - and more than 20 countries have done so.

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Chilean tycoon Sebastian Pinera is due to be sworn in as president of the country, which was recently devastated by a massive earthquake and tsunami.

Mr Pinera not only faces the challenge of reconstruction, but takes over from a highly popular outgoing leader.

Michelle Bachelet leaves office with a record 84% popularity rating despite criticism of the government's slow reaction to last month's disaster.

Meanwhile, Chile's disaster management chief has resigned over the response.

Carmen Fernandez is the second Chilean official to leave her post in the aftermath of the February 27 quake and ensuing tsunami that killed close to 500 people.

On Friday, Mrs Bachelet dismissed the head of the navy's Oceanography Service for failing to provide a clear warning of the tsunami.

Incoming leader

Mrs Bachelet, Chile's first woman president, was constitutionally-barred from seeking re-election.

The task of rebuilding now falls to her successor, Mr Pinera, whose presidential win ended 20 years of centre-left rule in Chile.

"We won't be the government of the earthquake, we'll be the government of reconstruction," the 60-year-old billionaire said recently.

Last month, the conservative leader named his cabinet, leaving out any figures linked with the former military ruler, Augusto Pinochet.

In his election campaign, Mr Pinera said he would focus on boosting economic growth and producing jobs while continuing with the outgoing president's social policies.

Mr Pinera is one of the country's richest men. He made his fortune introducing credit cards to Chile, then went on to buy a television channel, a stake in Chile's most successful football club, and millions of dollars in other investments.

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The arrest of a former Bosnian president is still causing diplomatic fallout, even after the decision by the High Court in London on Thursday to release him on bail.

Ejup Ganic was arrested on 1 March on a Serbian extradition request alleging war crimes committed in 1992. His arrest sparked demonstrations outside the British embassy in Sarajevo and diplomatic protests.

But speaking in London after his release, the Bosnian President Haris Silajdzic said he had told the British Foreign Secretary David Miliband that this was not the end of the matter.

"I said that I believe that an apology is in order so that the citizens of Bosnia and Hercegovina will know that our relations are normal, that this was an aberration in otherwise good and friendly relations," said Mr Silajdzic.

He said Mr Ganic had been denied access to his lawyer and to embassy staff while in custody at Wandsworth Prison, and was even denied medication for high blood pressure.

"We are shocked. We believed this was an old democratic country, a democratic society. We did not expect this to happen here," he said.

Pawn in Serbian 'game'

Mr Silajdzic added that Mr Miliband said a verbal or written apology would be made if an investigation substantiated the Bosnian claims. However, a UK government source told me that "exhaustive investigations had already been made".

"We can't find anything to suggest he was mistreated," said the source.

He added that Mr Ganic agreed a first meeting with a lawyer and Bosnian embassy officials on 3 March at 1830 GMT.

"But they arrived at 1930 GMT, an hour late, after prison visiting hours."

Aside from the question of Mr Ganic's treatment, Bosnia feels Britain has been used as a pawn in a perfidious Serbian game to draw attention away from the trial of Radovan Karadzic in The Hague.

"This has made us a laughing stock in the Balkans"

Ex-Bosnian leader 'owed apology'

It is a line of interpretation that many Balkan watchers agree on.

Robin Harris, a former speechwriter for Baroness Thatcher, said: "The Serbs were lucky he was in London just as the Karadzic trial was starting. They want to distract attention from it, and to relativise what happened in the war, reversing the roles of victim and aggressor.

"This has made us a laughing stock in the Balkans. There are all sorts of jokes and unpleasant remarks in the press. The Serbs can't believe their luck. But we aren't behaving in an anti-Bosnian way: it is incompetence and stupidity, not malice."

Mr Ganic is also a close friend of Baroness Thatcher, whom he met in Gstaad, in Switzerland, in the early 1990s after slipping out of Sarajevo on a Red Cross flight to plead for help.

Anonymous woman

Robin Harris said he has been discussing the case with her regularly. "She strongly supports him and wants him to be freed. She doesn't believe the accusations."

But President Silajdzic quashed rumours that she was the anonymous woman who had provided £300,000 to bail Mr Ganic.

Before Mr Ganic's arrest, there had been some progress in improving relations between Serbia and Bosnia.

In January, for example, direct trains between Belgrade and Sarajevo resumed for the first time since the war, 18 years ago. Political and trade contacts have also been quietly developing.

"This is a distraction from the really important issues like Serbia's [future] EU accession talks, healing the wounds of the war"

But Mr Silajdzic said the Ganic affair had "reversed the gains made". He said it was connected with Serbia's internal problems, such as a pending parliamentary resolution on the massacre at Srebrenica, and to distract attention from other things - "they still have Radko Mladic at large in Serbia".

"Hardliners there are obviously delighted by Mr Ganic's arrest," he said. "I believe this will be a short-lived triumph."

Serbia has made little comment on the case, referring to the High Court decision as a "procedural matter".

In Belgrade, the Serbian Interior Minister Ivica Dacic said: "We expect that the arguments and evidence Serbia has will be taken into serious consideration, as concerns the essential issue (of alleged war crimes)".

Meanwhile the Bosnian Serb Prime Minister Milorad Dodik said President Silajdzic was "abusing" his position by going to London to support Mr Ganic.

The British government source said the affair was a distraction for everyone.

"It's not helpful. Bosnia has its own difficulties, it still hasn't moved on from having the High Representative, it's a long way from EU membership.

"This is a distraction from the really important issues like Serbia's [future] EU accession talks, healing the wounds of the war, and the internal problems of Bosnia. It's taking us all back to the past."

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Preliminary results from Iraq's election show the grouping of PM Nouri Maliki is leading in two southern provinces, the electoral body says.

The partial results from Najaf and Babil, in the Shia south, are the first released - four days after balloting.

Full initial results, which will be made public when 30% of the ballots are counted, could be released later by the Independent High Electoral Commission.

Final results for all 18 provinces are not expected for a fortnight.

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US Vice-President Joe Biden says there must be no delay in resuming Mid-East peace talks, despite a row over Israeli plans for new homes in East Jerusalem.

Mr Biden repeated his criticism of the timing of the building decision, but praised the response of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to the controversy.

He also stressed that the United States had "no better friend than Israel".

The Palestinian Authority earlier said talks would be "very difficult" if the plans for the homes were not rescinded.

Both sides had only agreed on Monday to hold indirect, so-called "proximity talks" in a bid to restart the peace process, which has been stalled for more than a year.

'Willing partners'

In his speech at Tel Aviv University, Mr Biden said the US had "no better friend in the community of nations than Israel" and that their relationship was "impervious to any shifts in either country, and in either country's partisan politics".

"Sometimes only a friend can deliver the hardest truth"

But Mr Biden said the decision to approve the 1,600 new housing units in the settlement of Ramat Shlomo had "undermined the trust required for productive negotiations" and warranted his immediate and unequivocal condemnation.

"Sometimes only a friend can deliver the hardest truth," he added.

However, the US vice-president said he also appreciated the response of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, "who announced this morning that he is putting in place a process to prevent this sort of occurrence, and who clarified that the beginning of actual construction would likely take several years".

"That's significant because it gives negotiations the time to resolve this as well as other obstacles," Mr Biden said.

He warned Israeli leaders that in Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas and Prime Minister Salam Fayyad, they "finally have willing partners who share the goal of peace between two states".

"Their commitment to peace is an opportunity that must be seized," he added.

Close to 500,000 Jews live in more than 100 settlements built since Israel's 1967 occupation of the West Bank and East Jerusalem. They are illegal under international law, although Israel disputes this.

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Liverpool face an uphill task to progress from the last 16 of the Europa League after Eden Hazard's goal gave a lively Lille side a first-leg lead.

After the hosts' bright opening, it took a superb double save from Mickael Landreau to deny Steven Gerrard and Fernando Torres and maintain parity.

Yohan Cabaye went close before Hazard's free-kick floated over a packed penalty box and into the far corner.

Torres threatened late on but was crowded out by a scrambling defence.

After tripping up away to Wigan three days earlier in the league, Benitez had claimed the match would provide his side an immediate chance to recover their stride.

606: DEBATE

"We lacked creativity and poor in every way"

But it was Rudi Garcia's side who were faster out of the traps as Cabaye exercised Jose Reina with a well-struck shot and Hazard's dangerous low ball fizzed clear across the six-yard box.

The French side held Valencia at Stadium Lille Metropole to a draw in the group stages and their crisp passing in the first 20 minutes suggested Rafael Benitez might be satisfied to repeat his previous club's result.

Some slick interplay of their own conjured Liverpool's first opening as Ryan Babel and Torres exchanged passes to slice open the defence before the Dutchman saw his shot blocked by Mickael Landreau.

The goalkeeper came to his side's rescue again after an electric burst from Torres took the ball from halfway to the edge of the box before drawing a foul from the chasing pack of defenders.

Landreau first palmed away Steven Gerrard's fierce drive before clawing out a header from Torres that seemed destined for the net.

The 19-year-old Hazard was impressive throughout and his darting run behind the Liverpool defence after the interval seemed timed to perfection, but his progress was harshly halted by the assistant referee's flag.

At the other end, Landreau was fortunate when Babel unleashed a ferocious shot straight at him before Liverpool also enjoyed an escape as Daniel Agger narrowly avoided putting the ball into his own net.

A superb long-range effort from Cabaye had Jose Reina worried as it whistled over the bar before the Spanish goalkeeper took two attempts to grasp substitute Stephane Dumont's skidding shot.

A awkward challenge from Jamie Carragher prompted penalty appeals from the hosts, but Lille's pressure was finally rewarded when Hazard's curling set-piece cleared everyone and bounced into the bottom corner of Reina's goal.

A last-ditch challenge from Agger did just enough to divert Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang's effort on to the post as Lille threatened to take a more comfortable advantage to Anfield on 18 March.

As time ran out Torres was afforded a brief glimpse of goal but the ball was ushered away before the striker could pull the trigger.

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Many governments have used the internet to curtail freedom of expression at home, the US state department says in its latest annual human rights report.

In many cases new forms of electronic communications are restricted to control domestic dissent, it says.

The wide-ranging report also highlights continuing human rights violations in China against the Uighurs and extra-judicial killings in North Korea.

Iran's human rights record also "degenerated" after elections, it says.

Highlighting the situation regarding control of the web in China, the report pointed out that the government "increased its efforts to monitor internet use, control content, restrict information, block access to foreign and domestic websites, encourage self-censorship, and punish those who violated regulations".

Election blocking

Thousands of people at all levels of political life are deployed to monitor electronic communications, the report says.

"The government at times blocked access to selected sites operated by major foreign news outlets, health organisations, foreign governments, educational institutions, and social networking sites, as well as search engines, that allow rapid communication or organisation of users."

Iran was another country which cracked down on websites such as Facebook and Twitter, the report said.

"Ahead of the June presidential election, on the actual day of election, and during the 27 December Ashura protests, when authorities detained 1,000 individuals and at least eight persons were killed in street clashes, the government blocked access to Facebook, Twitter, and other social networking sites," the report noted.

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A school board in the US state of Mississippi has cancelled a high school prom after a female student asked to attend with her girlfriend.

The board said it would not host the event due to "distractions to the educational process".

Student Constance McMillen, 18, said the move was in retaliation for her request to bring her girlfriend to the event and wear a tuxedo.

The school had circulated a memo prohibiting same-sex dates.

Ms McMillen, 18, approached school officials shortly before the memo was issued.

Ultimatum

According to the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU), which is backing Ms McMillen's case, the school board told her that she and her partner would not be allowed to arrive at the event together nor would she be allowed to wear a tuxedo, AP reported.

Itawamba County Agricultural High School in Fulton also reserved the right to ask Ms McMillen and her girlfriend to leave if it made any other students feel uncomfortable, the ACLU said.

The ACLU had given the Itawamba County school district until Wednesday to reverse the school's ban on same-sex couples attending proms.

In a statement issued on Wednesday, the board said it hoped that "private citizens will organise an event for the juniors and seniors" instead.

Ms McMillen said cancelling the prom was an act of "retaliation".

"A bunch of kids at school are really going to hate me for this," she told local media.

She also said that when she asked a teacher about the school's ban on same-sex dates at the prom, she was told she had to remember where she was.

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Hundreds of women have taken to the streets of Nigeria's capital, Abuja, and the city of Jos in rallies against Sunday's massacre near Jos.

The women, mostly dressed in black, demanded that the government protects women and children better.

At least 109 people were killed in the ethnic clashes near Jos - many of whom were said to be women and children.

Survivors have told the BBC how they saw relatives and friends hacked down with machetes and their bodies burnt.

Witnesses and officials say the perpetrators came from the mainly Muslim Fulani group. Most of the victims were Christians from the Berom group.

FROM BBC WORLD SERVICE

More from BBC World Service

The attacks appear to be retaliation for violence in the villages around Jos in January, when most of the victims were said to be Muslim.

The women in Jos carried placards proclaiming: "Stop killing our future; Bloodshed in the Plateau [State] must stop."

They marched carrying Bibles, wooden crosses or branches of mango trees, chanting: "No more soldiers."

Mass grave

Christian pastor Esther Ebanga told the crowds of women: "Enough is enough."

"All we are asking is that our children and women should not be killed any more. We demand justice," the AFP news agency quoted her as saying.

JOS, PLATEAU STATE

• Deadly riots in 2001, 2008 and 2010
• City divided into Christian and Muslim areas
• Divisions accentuated by system of classifying people as indigenes and settlers
• Hausa-speaking Muslims living in Jos for decades are still classified as settlers
• Settlers find it difficult to stand for election
• Communities divided along party lines: Christians mostly back the ruling PDP; Muslims generally supporting the opposition ANPP

Q&A: Jos violence

Meanwhile in Abuja, women staged a similar rally, carrying pictures of the dead.

Risika Razak, one of the leaders of the protest, said she wanted to show the government that "things are not going right".

"They should beef up security in troubled areas so that we would be able to know that people that go to bed will wake up the next day and life will continue," she said.

Earlier, the BBC's Komla Dumor visited a mass grave in the village of Dogo-Nahawa where more than 100 bodies from one village had been buried.

One community leader in the village told the BBC how his five-year-old granddaughter had been hacked to death with a machete.

Like earlier eyewitness accounts, he said the violence started with gunfire.

"People were running helter-skelter because of this.... They had never heard something like this before.

"People that were running and run into them, and they were macheted."

The authorities have arrested about 200 people and charged 49 with murder.

Although the clashes take place between Muslims and Christians, analysts say the underlying causes are economic and political.

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The internet has created some of the world's youngest billionaires, possibly in the shortest possible time scale, ever.

The richest are Sergey Brin and Larry Page, the pair who set up Google in the late 1990s. They went from PhD students to (paper) billionaires in about five years.

The youngest is 25-year-old Mark Zuckerberg, founder of social networking site Facebook, who has returned to the billionaire list in 2010 after dropping out in 2009 amid the economic downturn.

As part ofSuperPower- a season of programmes exploring the power of the internet - BBC News lists the top 26 richest internet entrepreneurs according to the latest Forbes ranking, released this week.

To reorder the table, click on the category names at the top.

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A court in Stockholm has ruled that a Swedish man can be extradited to Poland to face trial over the theft of a sign from the Auschwitz death camp.

Investigators accuse Anders Hogstrom, 34, of instigating the theft of the infamous Arbeit Macht Frei sign from the camp gates last December.

The sign was recovered shortly afterwards, cut into three pieces.

Mr Hogstrom, 34, a former neo-Nazi leader, is likely to appeal against his extradition, his lawyer said.

Five Polish men have already been arrested over the theft.

The sign, which weighs 40kg (90lb), was half-unscrewed, half-torn from above the death camp's gate.

The 5m (16ft) wrought iron sign - the words on which translate as "Work sets you free" - symbolises for many the atrocities of Nazi Germany.

The theft caused outrage in Israel, Poland and around the world. More than a million people - 90% of them Jews - were murdered by the Nazis at Auschwitz in occupied Poland during World War II.

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During the vice-president's visit, Benjamin Netanyahu presented Joe Biden with a framed certificate but managed to lean on it, shattering the glass.

One Israeli newspaper had a cartoon showing an Israeli settler with a leaf-blower, blasting the shattered glass into Mr Biden's face.

The settler was presumably from Ramat Shlomo, where Israel has just announced it would be building 1,600 new homes on occupied land.

In the shadow of a settlement

An Israeli settlement in close-up

Middle East 'haunted by the past'

The Americans weren't buying Israel's explanation that this was the result of a slow-moving bureaucratic process which caught Mr Netanyahu and other senior officials unawares.

Immediately following the announcement, the vice president kept the Israeli prime minister waiting 90 minutes for an official dinner.

That was taken as a sign of Mr Biden's displeasure.

It also reflected the time needed to work out the line to take with President Barack Obama about the settlement issue.

In the end, the Americans seem to have acquiesced in a face-saving formula drawn up by Mr Netanyahu.

Warm speech

This says procedures will be put in place so that in future such announcements are not made at sensitive junctures in the peace process.

It also states that building at Ramat Shlomo will not start for several years.

In his speech in Tel Aviv, Mr Biden seized on this to say that negotiations should start immediately - there would be time later to work issues such as Ramat Shlomo (along with the division of Jerusalem, control of the holy sites, what is to happen to Palestinian refugees and the final borders between Israel and a future Palestinian state).

Mr Biden used his speech to reiterate yesterday's unequivocal condemnation of the Israeli decision to build these 1,600 new homes on occupied land.

He said it undermined the trust needed for negotiations to succeed. But the speech was nevertheless warm and non-confrontational.

Indeed Mr Biden began it by saying that he had been a friend and supporter of Israel's for the past 37 years as an elected public official.

'Don't bomb Iran'

An important section of Mr Biden's speech was devoted to Iran.

Some Israeli commentators have raised the question of whether the United States will be able to fully trust Israel over the sensitive and vital issue of how to deal with Iran if Israel was prepared to humiliate Mr Biden over the settlements issue.

To dispel such thoughts, the vice-president attempted to reassure Israelis that they would not have to face what they assume to be an Iranian nuclear threat alone.

He did however plead for sanctions and diplomacy to be given a chance to work before any military action.

A big part of his private discussions with Israeli leaders is thought to have been about delivering the message: don't bomb Iran.

Mr Biden's visit was about resuscitating a peace process which doesn't seem to have much life of its own - indeed one key part of his speech in Tel Aviv was to tell both parties to the conflict that the United States could not want peace more than they did.

Talks in doubt

So it seems that the White House had decided to try to avoid another damaging and protracted tussle with the Israeli prime minister about settlements.

After all, Israel came out on top in the last test of wills, agreeing to something far less than the total settlement freeze that Washington - and the Palestinians - had been demanding.

All this leaves the Palestinians in a very difficult position.

Backed by the Arab League, they have said that it will be very difficult for them to enter indirect talks unless the Ramat Shlomo project is cancelled.

Yesterday, they were feeling pretty pleased that Israel was at odds with its main ally.

Now the Palestinians must decide if they will go along with the formula adopted by Mr Netanyahu.

For the time being then, the much-delayed peace talks remain in doubt.

POINTS OF TENSION IN JERUSALEM

• 1 Gilo: 850 homes approved for publication and planning objections in Nov 2009
• 2 Pisgat Zeev: 600 homes approved for publication and planning objections in Jan 2010
• 3 Sheikh Jarrah: Several Palestinian families evicted in past 18 months to make way for Jewish settlers after court ruled in ownership dispute
• 4 Ramat Shlomo: 1,600 homes approved for publication and planning objections in Mar 2009
• 5 Silwan: Demolition orders on 88 Palestinian homes built without difficult-to-get permits - Israel planning controversial renewal project
• 6. West Bank barrier: Making Palestinian movement between West Bank and Jerusalem harder - Israel says it's for security

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The Palestinian Islamist movement Hamas has released a British journalist accused of espionage in the Gaza Strip.

Paul Martin, a freelance journalist accused of working for the Israelis, was arrested on 15 February.

He was held for two weeks by Hamas, who run the enclave, who then announced his detention would be extended to a month.

He was arrested on his arrival in Gaza, where he was due to give evidence in the defence of a Palestinian accused of spying for Israel.

His lawyer, Sharhabeel al-Zaeem, said Mr Martin maintained his innocence and was handed over to British consular officials.

Hamas had claimed Mr Martin "committed offences that harmed the security of the country" but has not made public its accusations against the reporter.

Hamas is the Palestinian militant Islamist organisation that took control of Gaza after winning elections there in 2007.

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Election laws announced by Burma's military rulers have provoked a storm of condemnation.

A United States State Department spokesman, Philip Crowley, said it made a mockery of the democratic process.

Burma has prohibited political prisoners - including the pro-democracy leader, Aung San Suu Kyi - from participating in forthcoming elections.

However, several offices of her National League for Democracy were re-opened for the first time since 2003.

"Maybe they want to show some flexibility," said NLD spokesman Nyan Win, adding that about 100 branch offices had been reopened across the country, including several in the main city, Rangoon.

'Farce'

The government had sealed NLD branch offices with red wax after a deadly attack on Ms Suu Kyi's convoy by pro-regime elements on 30 May 2003.

"It's a complete farce and therefore contrary to their roadmap to democracy"

"Yes, it's a positive step," he said. "I think they want us to take part in the election, but we still haven't made up our mind about this. We still need to talk it over among the top leaders, including Daw Aung San Suu Kyi."

But he described the latest laws as "completely unacceptable". Not only do they bar Ms Suu Kyi, but require participants to follow the 2008 constitution, which the NLD rejects and campaigned against. "It's completely impossible for us," Nyan Win said.

Condemnation came from one Asian neighbour, the Philippines, as well as from the US, the UN and Britain.

"Unless they release Aung San Suu Kyi and allow her and her party to participate in elections, it's a complete farce and therefore contrary to their roadmap to democracy," Philippine Foreign Secretary Alberto Romulo told The Associated Press.

The Philippines is a partner with Burma in Asean, whose 10 members rarely voice criticism of each other.

"The political party registration law makes a mockery of the democratic process and ensures the upcoming election will be devoid of credibility," US State Department spokesman Philip Crowley said.

"Our engagement with Burma will have to continue until we can make clear that... the results thus far are not what we had expected and that they're going to have to do better," he added.

Mr Obama met the Burmese Prime Minister Thein Sein on the sidelines of a recent summit of the Association of South East Asean Nations (Asean).

Gun power

The US and Asean had called for the planned elections top be free, fair and "inclusive" - code for the participation of Ms Suu Kyi and the National League for Democracy which she leads.

"We're going to need to study the election laws carefully once they've all been released," British Ambassador Andrew Heyn said.

"So many of us suspected this wasn't about bringing any real change to Burma, but it is surprising how nakedly they're going about it"

"But it's regrettable and very disappointing that the laws are not based on a dialogue with a range of political opinion."

"They've used so many devices. It's like using a machine gun to kill a mosquito," said Sean Turnell of Australia's Macquarie University.

"So many of us suspected this wasn't about bringing any real change to Burma, but it is surprising how nakedly they're going about it."

Ms Suu Kyi has been detained on various charges for most of the past 20 years, after winning the last polls in 1990.

She was already excluded from political office by a constitutional bar on people with foreign spouses.

The regime enacted five election-related laws on Monday, two of which have now been made public. Three more are to be unveiled in coming days.

Critics say the elections, the first to be held in Burma for 20 years, will be a sham designed to entrench the military's grip on power.

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Ukrainian President Viktor Yanukovych's party has formed a coalition that can now nominate a government, the parliament speaker says.

The coalition has named ex-finance minister Mykola Azarov as prime minister, an alliance member said.

Mr Yanukovych had been trying to pull together a loyal coalition after winning presidential polls last month.

He has faced resistance from outgoing Prime Minister Yulia Tymoshenko.

Speaker Volodymyr Litvyn said on Thursday that an agreement had been signed by 235 deputies from the Regions Party, the Communist Party, and the Litvyn bloc.

Mr Yanukovych's Regions Party had struck an alliance with two minority parties on Wednesday, leaving it just short of the 226 deputies needed for a majority.

Earlier this week the parliament approved an amendment making it easier for parties to form coalitions by allowing them to recruit individual deputies rather than just parliamentary blocs.

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The Sri Lankan military has announced it is putting defeated presidential candidate and former army chief Gen Sarath Fonseka on trial next week.

The general faces court martial proceedings on charges of engaging in politics while in uniform and also for breaking army procurement rules.

Gen Fonseka was arrested after he lost January's election to the incumbent President, Mahinda Rajapaksa.

He denies any wrongdoing and intends to stand in April's parliamentary poll.

But it is not clear whether he would be able to contest the election if he were found guilty of any of the charges.

Proceedings are set to start on Tuesday 16 March at the naval complex were he is being detained.

'Climate of fear'

Sri Lanka's military spokesman told the BBC that he expected the initial trial to be "over very soon". He also said that Gen Fonseka can have his own lawyers present at the court martial and can appeal to the higher civilian courts if he is found guilty.

Officials have also accused Gen Fonseka of plotting a coup and the assassination of President Rajapaksa - charges he denies.

Sri Lanka's military spokesman told AFP news agency the police were conducting a separate investigation into those allegations.

Gen Fonseka's supporters have said that the court martial is politically motivated. His lawyers have challenged his detention in the Supreme Court but the next hearing is not until late April.

The trial announcement comes as an international journalism lobby group says media workers in Sri Lanka have been living in a "climate of fear" since President Rajapaksa's re-election.

But the US-based Committee to Protect Journalists also adds the government's chief legal officer is appealing to exiled journalists to return, offering them protection.

The government has long denied victimising media workers.

Gen Fonseka was in charge of Sri Lanka's army when it defeated the Tamil Tiger rebels last year after 25 years of civil war.

But he and President Rajapaksa fell out over who should take credit for the victory - and both fought the presidential election boasting of their roles in the war.

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Smoking may be going out of fashion in many countries, but in Havana, Matt Frei finds Cuba's love affair with the cigar continues.

The United States famously takes a very fundamentalist attitude to smoking in public.

Want to light up in a restaurant or a bar in Manhattan Forget it.

How about a stealthy cigarette on the pavement outside our office in Washington No way.

They will call the cops. The people who do smoke are forced to huddle in underground garages and behind garbage bins as if they were doing crack cocaine.

For a very casual and occasional smoker like me the ostracism has been enough to make me quit for good. Until, that is, I went to Havana.

Smoking passion

Can you imagine my surprise when I saw the cleaning woman in my hotel room, vacuuming the carpet with a huge cigar protruding from her lips

I do not think they distinguish between smoking and non-smoking rooms in Cuba.

The security guard hovering at the front door was chomping on something the tobacco industry proudly refers to as a "Wide Churchill".

Cuba smokes with a vengeance. Perhaps it is another way of thumbing its nose at Uncle Sam.

It is certainly another item on the long list of idiosyncrasies.

From the vintage Buicks and Chevys rattling along the pot-holed streets like miracles of recycling, to the crumbling colonial facades, to the earnest posters calling for perpetual revolution, courtesy of the Castro brothers.

Exploding cigar

Lucky for cigars, Fidel Castro smoked them with relish. They were his official vice of choice.

Even today as an octogenarian retiree, he apparently still likes the occasional puff.

When he was younger Castro used to smoke as many as six cigars a day. He was so reliably hooked on them that the CIA even had the brilliant idea of blowing one of them up.

That was assassination attempt 105, I think, out of the 638 which the Cuban intelligence proudly lists.

For his part Castro took the threat seriously and recruited four of Cuba's best cigar rollers to work undercover in a former palace that had once belonged to a sugar cane baron.

Here they rolled the Commandante's daily supply in secret, safe from the tampering of the CIA. This is now the Cohiba cigar factory, producing perhaps the world's finest and most expensive brand.

Cigar festival

Our visit to Havana happened to coincide with the annual cigar festival. This has to be one of the strangest trade fairs on the planet.

For a whole week some of the world's most ostentatious capitalists descend on one of the world's last bastions of genuine communism, to smoke themselves to near death.

"They serve five courses and a different cigar with each one of them"

The highlight is a gala dinner hosted by Habanos, Cuba's state monopoly cigar manufacturer.

Cigars account for the country's most lucrative export after nickel.

If you are a paying guest, the dinner costs $500 (£350) a head. They serve five courses and a different cigar with each one of them.

The charming young blonde woman I was sitting next to - the head of a well known international distributor - had brought along a packet of cigarettes, for a quick smoke between cigar courses. You do not want to be caught short. Do you

It was an astonishing collection of guests.

There was the Japanese toy tycoon with the long ponytail.

The morbidly obese Beijing bigwig who used his monster cigar like a bayonet.

The Russian Mafioso with pitted skin that looked as if someone had stubbed several cigarillos out on his cheeks.

A brace of British lords, who squeezed their Cohibas cigars in deep appreciation of their elasticity, and the posse of very quiet Americans, who had slipped under the US state department's radar.

The waiters - there were hundreds of them - glowered at the assembled crowd who were puffing on something that cost more than they were lucky to earn in a whole month.

The highlight of the evening An auction of humidors, stuffed with cigars, which fetched $1m or so. The whole evening was the very definition of capitalist excess.

Smoky atmosphere

So why did the authorities broadcast it live on state television And why did it not kick-off the counter-revolution in a country plagued by genuine poverty and shortages of just about everything

It appears that national pride in Cuban cigars - still the best in the world - trumps resentment.

Call it another miracle trick of a regime that has already survived the collapse of communism and the illness of Fidel Castro.

The dinner took place in a conference centre that resembled an airport hangar.

A thousands guests, each supplied with five cigars. Imagine the air.

This was either the passive smoking Olympics or for active smokers just another Friday night out in Havana.

So I joined in - with relish - trying not to lose face with the world champion smoker on my right. After four hours, only three cigars and one cigarette, I had to call it quits.

My lungs demanded it. My brain agreed.

I ran out of the giant hall, past guest and tables that had disappeared behind dense clouds of smoke. A waiter flung open the door, clearly fearing the worst.

I inhaled the night air like a drowning man gasping for breath.

The next morning I sent all my clothes to the hotel laundry, brushed my teeth about four times and began nursing a nicotine hangover that lasted for two solid days.

My big mistake was not to follow Bill Clinton's edict. I smoked and I inhaled.

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Afghanistan does not want other countries' "proxy wars" fought on its soil, President Hamid Karzai has said.

He was speaking following talks with Pakistani leaders in Islamabad, and a day after Iran and the US traded blows over their activities in Afghanistan.

Mr Karzai said he did not want India and Pakistan, or anyone else, to fight their wars on his country's territory.

Parties to the Afghan conflict are rethinking policy ahead of 2011 when the US says it will begin to withdraw.

Mr Karzai is making his first visit to Pakistan since his controversial re-election last year.

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Mexican telecom giant Carlos Slim has topped Forbes magazine's billionaire's list - the first time since 1994 that an American has not led the rankings.

Mr Slim's fortune rose by $18.5bn (£12.4bn) from last year to $53.5bn.

That beat Microsoft founder Bill Gates into second place, with US investor Warren Buffet in third.

After a tough year in 2009, when 332 names left the list, the total number of billionaires on rose from 793 to 1,0111, Forbes said.

Bill Gates's fortune now totals $53bn, while investment guru Warren Buffet is worth $43bn.

The year's biggest gainer, Brazilian mining tycoon Eike Batista, broke into the top 10 for the first time.

He came in at number seven, having boosting his wealth by $19.5bn to $27bn.

France's Bernard Arnault ($27.5bn), the man behind the world's biggest luxury goods firm LVMH, also moved back into the top 10 and number eight, increasing his fortune by $11bn to $27.5bn.

Their mounting wealth helped to push Ikea's Ingvar Kamprad and Theo Albrecht - one of the men behind Aldi - out of the top 10.

Upturn

In a sign that the global economy could be seeing signs of improvement, the average net worth of the world's billionaires is now $3.5bn, up $500m from last year.

Furthermore, 97 names made their debut while a record 164 returned to the list in 2010 - including Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg ($4bn) who also regained the title of youngest billionaire.

CARLOS SLIM

• Full name - Carlos Slim Helu
• Age - 70
• Widower with six children
• Family empire now controls more than 200 companies
• Controls more than 90% of Mexico's phone landlines
• Other interests include Inbursa financial group and the Grupo Carso industrial conglomerate

The news was a far cry from 2009 when the financial crisis took its toll on the world's richest people, wiping 332 names off the list and an average of 23% off the wealth of the remaining billionaires.

Falling stock markets and collapsing commodity prices were blamed. Russia's ultra-rich appear to have recovered from last year's commodity-related losses, however, with 62 billionaires on the 2010 list, compared with 27 last year.

Consumer focus

In Europe, shopping dominated the money list with six of the top 10 European billionaires making their money in retail and three more in consumer products.

Top of the list was Bernard Arnault (7) from LVMH, closely followed by Amancio Ortego of clothes retailer Zara (9), Karl Albrecht of cut-price supermarket Aldi (10), Igvar Kamprad and family (11) of Ikea and Stefan Persson (13) of discount retailer Hennes & Mauritz.

In the UK, the sixth Duke of Westminster Gerald Grosvenor (45) remained the wealthiest Briton with a net worth of $12bn as he improved his finances by $1bn despite the UK property slump.

Meanwhile, two Britons also made their debut - real estate investor Xiuli Hawken ($2.4bn) and hedge fund manager Alan Howard ($1.8bn).

On the up

The improving health of the global economy meant that 55 countries were represented in the Forbes list - with Pakistan (Mian Muhammad Mansha, number 937) and Finland (Antti Herlin, number 773) adding their first billionaires.

Strengthening stock markets and several large public offerings during the past year helped Asia close the gap with Europe.

A total of 234 Asian billionaires were featured in the 2010 list compared with 248 from Europe.

Russia's reversal of fortunes in the past 12 months also helped it inch up the league of cities that are home to the most billionaires after slipping to third place last year.

In 2010, New York remained at the top of the pile with 60 ultra-rich residents, Moscow was second with 50 billionaires and London third with 32.

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At least one person has been killed in clashes between the government and secessionist rebels in southern Yemen.

Government forces tried to recapture a municipal building occupied by separatists, reports said.

The building in Tor al-Baha has been occupied for months by armed rebels, officials told journalists.

Gunfights also broke out between police and demonstrators in the town of Daleh where officials said a number of people died, AFP news agency reported.

'Burning flags'

Fighting was continuing between security services in Tor al-Baha, officials told reporters.

"Large military forces launched a campaign this morning to retake the municipality building. But gunmen from the southern movement confronted them and the two sides exchanged fire," unnamed officials told news agency Reuters.

Southern separatists say their region - a separate country before 1990 - is being exploited by northern Yemen.

A truce with another rebel group in the north has allowed the government in Sanaa to turn its attention to the secessionists.

Yemen President Ali Abdallah Saleh this week offered talks with the separatist movement, but said the "separatist flag will burn" if the talks were rejected.

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Water has been rapidly disappearing in Cyprus since the 1970s, but conflict between Turkish and Greek communities means fixing the problem is not high on the political agenda. The BBC's Alex Bell finds that Cypriots are now struggling for control of land that is slowly dying.

Here is a story: an old man from the Troodos hills of central Cyprus rises to his feet at a public meeting about the environment. He says that when he was young, his school teacher asked the class who could swim, and about half the hands went up.

Then the teacher said: "Who has been to the beach" and this time, only two hands went up.

The moral of the story I'll come back to that in a moment.

We are in Nicosia, one of Europe's last divided cities, and the focus of a bitter and bloody feud between Greek Cypriots and Turkish Cypriots.

It goes back to 1974, when the island was divided, as Turkish troops invaded - following a collapse of the Cypriot government.

It goes back further, to 1963, when the UN mission began here - never to leave as it tried to keep the sides apart.

It goes back further still, to 1960, when the British left - knowing, surely, that claims of peace on this Mediterranean island, tucked in the armpit between Turkey and Israel, might never come to bloom. It keeps on going back and back…

Water war

I am here to cover a war - but not the one that has seen shabby oil drums erected in higgledy-piggledy piles as barriers dividing the city.

The war I'm interested in is the water war - not an armed conflict, but a struggle nonetheless, between people and a rapidly disappearing resource.

The alarming thing, for those working to ease this new conflict, is that Cypriots don't even seem to realise that hostilities between them and nature have begun.

Charalampos Theopemptou is the Greek Cypriot side's Environment Commissioner, and it was he who told me the story about the old man in the classroom. He explains its meaning: that within living memory Cyprus was wet - there were plenty of rivers and lakes to swim in. Now, they are all gone.

The island has reached what geographers call Peak Water - when demand meets and then outstrips supply.

Peak Oil is already a familiar concept, and commands international attention. However, water, despite being central to life, is having a much harder time getting on to the political radar.

Dying land

Dig into the details of the current war and it seems to have less to do with fighting than it does with land.

"The irony is that the Cypriots, all of them, are fighting over land, which is slowly dying"

The issue that stalls peace talks is the question of houses and farms that were seized in the 1974 conflict. On both sides, people would like their houses back, or a cheque in compensation.

The gradual effect of increasing wealth, EU membership for the south, and the opening of the borders, has defused tension, and means that the eternal subject of property prices is now at the heart of the issue.

The irony is that the Cypriots, all of them, are fighting over land, which is slowly dying.

The famous trees of Cyprus are rotting on their waterless roots, turning to dry kindling as they stand in the blazing sun.

Ever since the 1970s, rainfall has been scarcer, meaning far less water reaching the reservoirs.

For the past four decades, getting enough water to the farms and the people has been a struggle.

The general dampness of nature is drying up, like a rag that is being wrung ever tighter.

This is why the European Commission believes Cyprus is the canary in the coalmine: what happens on this island is threatened to happen all across the drier parts of the continent.

Experts agree that this crisis can be tackled, but first you have to recognise it's there - and that's part of the problem.

Even the proposed solutions can be problematic.

Desert resort

Nicos Vassillou is a small man in his 70s with decades of experience planning and consulting for the Cypriot government. You might also call him a visionary.

He believes he has a way to solve Cyprus's problems in one fell swoop - a plan for a pipeline from the Turkish mainland to Cyprus, which will not only meet current demand, but also supply extra to irrigate the parched fields.

As we talked in a hotel lobby, he painted me a picture of the island transformed back into a verdant paradise and one where peace might reign.

But the Cypriot government is sceptical - not least because this plan would hand control of the water supply to Ankara, its sworn enemy. And it seems that it still can't quite believe the water will really run out.

It has put its money behind de-salination plants, powered by oil-fired electricity stations, which it hopes will supply the cities with water by 2012.

It has also regularly imposed water rationing - but has turned its back on water conservation and recycling schemes, or even fixing the leaking water pipes.

The irony is that Cyprus is already considered a kind of paradise by many people - its main business is tourism, and selling property to north Europeans looking for a warmer life.

The question is, will anyone want to come and swim here at all if the holiday resorts are no more than manufactured oases within a desert

While the real, political war steals the headlines for now, the water war is threatening to steal the future of a place once known as the Green Island.

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There has been protest in Japan over a proposed ban on international trade in Atlantic bluefin tuna, a day after the European Union agreed to back the plan.

Wholesalers held a protest at Tokyo's fish market, while a top official said Japan was likely to opt out of the ban.

The EU agreed on Wednesday to back the ban during next week's meeting of the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species (Cites).

But Japanese opponents say it would hit the country's massive tuna market hard.

Bluefin tuna, which is used in sushi and sashimi, is highly prized in Japan.

But Cites says stocks have declined by 80% in the past 40 years. Nations will consider whether to list the species as endangered - until stocks recover - at a meeting this weekend in Qatar.

Japan has previously indicated that it will opt out of the ban - and its top government spokesman said that nothing had changed.

"The Washington Convention [or Cites] is basically to protect endangered species, but I personally doubt that bluefin tuna is currently facing such a situation," Hirofumi Hirano said.

BBC Green Room

The plight of the bluefin

"Japan will claim its unchanged position that resource control should take place" instead of a trade ban, he said.

At Tsukiji fish market a group of traders protested against the proposed ban.

"I don't think it's appropriate to discuss bluefin tuna in the forum for endangered species, because you can preserve the species with appropriate resource control," said Tadao Ban, president of the tuna traders' association at the market.

"We want to protect Japanese food culture and to prevent tuna from disappearing as a food source," he said.

Japan consumes about three-quarters of the bluefin tuna caught worldwide, and imports large amounts from France, Italy and Spain.

Under a Cites ban, EU member states would not be allowed to export bluefin caught in their waters, and would not be able to fish in international waters.

The EU is backing exemptions for traditional fishers and deferring the ban for a year.

Japan is not opposed to bluefin conservation, but believes such matters should be regulated by regional fisheries bodies such as the International Commission for the Conservation of Atlantic Tunas (Iccat).

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An opposition leader has criticised a wave of arrests in The Gambia, saying detainees - including a former minister - do not know why they are being held.

Halifa Sallah told the BBC that those arrested have been denied visits from lawyers and family members.

High-ranking military and police officials are reportedly among those detained, and last week ex-fisheries minister Antouman Saho was jailed.

President Yahya Jammeh is frequently criticised by rights groups.

In recent years, he has publicly threatened to kill gay people and rights workers.

Last month the government of Mr Jammeh, who took power in a bloodless coup in 1994, expelled the envoy of the UN's children charity, Unicef.

No reasons given

Mr Saho, who served in Mr Jammeh's government from 1994 until he was sacked last month, was taken from his home on Friday night.

Police said he was wanted for questioning by intelligence officials.

His family has not been able to contact him since and no official reason has been given for his arrest.

"According to our constitution, within three hours of an arrest the person should be told why he or she has been arrested," Mr Sallah told the BBC's Network Africa programme.

He said relatives of people arrested as far back as October had told him they had not been able to contact their detained family members.

He said those arrested in the more recent wave of arrests were in the same situation.

"We've still been unable to establish why they've been arrested, and as it stands there is only speculation," he added.

Mr Sallah, of the National Alliance for Democracy, has himself been arrested several times in recent years.

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