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Hillary Clinton has blood clot

Written By Unknown on Senin, 31 Desember 2012 | 18.19

30 December 2012 Last updated at 23:57 ET

US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton has been admitted to hospital in New York with a blood clot, officials say.

Mrs Clinton suffered a concussion earlier this month after fainting and falling down.

At the time, she was reported to have had a stomach virus and to have passed out after becoming dehydrated.

Mrs Clinton, 65, is due to stand down as secretary of state before US President Barack Obama officially begins his second term in January.

Doctors discovered the clot during a follow-up examination on Sunday, her spokesman Philippe Reines said.

"She is being treated with anti-coagulants and is at New York-Presbyterian Hospital so that they can monitor the medication over the next 48 hours," he said.

"They will determine if any further action is required."

No information was given about where the blood clot had formed.

Mrs Clinton is due to give evidence before a Congressional committee in January in connection with the attack in September on the US consulate in the Libyan city of Benghazi.

The US ambassador to Libya and three American officials were killed in the incident.

Mrs Clinton was appointed secretary of state at the start of Mr Obama's first term, in January 2009.

Her most recent foreign trip was to Dublin earlier this month.

Mrs Clinton, 65, is known for her gruelling travel schedule.

She is the most travelled secretary of state in history, having visited 112 countries while in the job, the Associated Press says.

Earlier this month, President Obama nominated Senator John Kerry - the Massachusetts Democrat who heads the Senate Foreign Relations Committee - to replace Mrs Clinton as secretary of state.

She has repeatedly said that she only intended to serve one term in the post.


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Chavez suffers new complications

31 December 2012 Last updated at 03:21 ET

Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez has suffered "new complications" after a cancer operation in Cuba, his vice-president has said.

In a televised address from Cuba, Nicolas Maduro said Mr Chavez continued to be in a "delicate state".

Mr Chavez underwent his fourth cancer operation on 11 December in Cuba but suffered a respiratory infection.

The president - who has been in power since 1999 - is due to be sworn in on 10 January for another six-year term.

Mr Maduro did not give details about Mr Chavez's condition but said the latest complications were connected to the respiratory infection.

"We have been informed of new complications that arose as a consequence of the respiratory infection we already knew about," he said.

"The president gave us precise instructions so that, after finishing the visit, we would tell the (Venezuelan) people about his current health condition.

"The state of health of President Chavez continues to be delicate."

He added that the treatment was "not without risk."

Mr Maduro, appearing solemn, spoke alongside Mr Chavez's eldest daughter, Rosa, his son-in-law Jorge Arreaza, and Venezuelan Attorney General Cilia Flores.

The vice-president said he would remain in Havana "for the coming hours" but did not specify how long.

Secrecy over condition
Continue reading the main story

Chavez's career

  • Born in 1954
  • 1992: Leads a failed coup attempt against President Carlos Perez
  • 1999: Takes office after winning election
  • 2006: Wins another six-year term as president
  • 2011: Reveals he is being treated for cancer and has two operations in Cuba
  • 2012: Has two more operations
  • October 2012: Re-elected for another term as president

Following Mr Maduro's announcement, Information Minister Ernesto Villegas appeared in a special programme on Venezuelan TV, calling on Venezuelans not to believe rumours about the president's health.

"Do not get carried away with things on Twitter, you cannot play with Commander Chavez's health, it is a matter that affects the lives of others. We must act very responsibly, particularly those of us who communicate through mass media," he said.

Late on Sunday, Mr Villegas said a government-organised New Year's Eve concert in central Caracas had been cancelled and he urged Venezuelans to pray for President Chavez.

The BBC's Sarah Rainsford in Havana says it is now three weeks since Hugo Chavez has been seen or heard from in person.

There continues to be huge secrecy surrounding his precise condition, she says.

Continue reading the main story

Venezuelan constitution

  • Article 231: The president-elect shall take office on January 10 of the first year of their constitutional term, by taking an oath before the National Assembly. If for any reason, (they) cannot be sworn in before the National Assembly, they shall take the oath of office before the Supreme Court.
  • Article 233:(...) When an elected President becomes absolutely absent prior to inauguration, a new election...shall be held within 30 days.
  • Article 234: When the President is temporarily unable to serve, they shall be replaced by the Executive Vice-President for a period of up to 90 days, which may be extended by resolution of the National Assembly for an additional 90 days.

There are also many questions about what will happen on 10 January when Mr Chavez is due to be re-inaugurated, our correspondent adds.

National Assembly head Diosdado Cabello recently said that the swearing-in ceremony would be delayed in the case of Mr Chavez's absence.

However, opposition leaders say postponing the inauguration would be unconstitutional.

The constitution states that if there is an "absolute absence" of the president, elections must be held within 30 days.

Mr Chavez has said that, should his health fail, Venezuelans should vote for Mr Maduro in fresh elections.

Officials have never disclosed the type or severity of Mr Chavez's cancer, which was first diagnosed in June 2011.


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US 'fiscal cliff' talks go to wire

31 December 2012 Last updated at 03:27 ET

US Congressional leaders have one more day to stop steep tax rises and spending cuts, known as the "fiscal cliff", after talks ended with no deal.

Senators will continue to seek a compromise deal on Monday to send to the House of Representatives.

Failure to reach agreement by 1 January could push the US back into recession.

President Barack Obama has blamed Republicans for the deadlock. He said their "overriding theme" was protecting tax breaks for the rich.

Fallback plan
Continue reading the main story

At the scene

Adam Blenford BBC News, Washington


Few in the US capital could talk of anything but who would win Sunday's must-win showdown. For most, that meant an NFL game between the Washington Redskins and the Dallas Cowboys; on Capitol Hill the stakes were somewhat higher.

Cliches and aphorisms abounded in the Senate corridors as reports spread of a breakdown in deal-making. "The fat lady hasn't sung yet," one Republican declared, obscured by the pack of reporters following him down the hallway. "These things always happen at the end," said Chuck Schumer, a senior Democrat.

But it was the retiring senators, three days away from their final goodbyes, who spoke the most openly. Failure would "send a message worldwide that we don't have the capacity to work across political aisles on critical issues", said Olympia Snowe, Maine's outgoing Republican.

"The world has gotten used to this so they are no longer shocked," Ben Nelson, a retiring Nebraska Democrat said. "They see this as just more of the same and hope that one of these days maybe Congress will get its act together."

Republicans and Democrats have been fighting for months over how to deal with the combination of automatic spending cuts and the expiration of Bush-era tax reductions at the new year.

Without an agreement, higher taxes will rise for virtually every working American and across-the-board cuts in government spending will kick in from Tuesday.

Analysts say this could significantly reduce consumer spending, leading the US economy to fall off the "fiscal cliff".

After the latest round of intense negotiations in the Senate on Sunday the main sticking points reportedly include such key issues as the income threshold for higher tax rates and inheritance taxes.

If no agreement is reached on Monday, senators are expected to be given the chance to vote on a fallback plan proposed by President Obama.

That would renew tax cuts on earnings under $250,000 (£154,000) and extend unemployment benefits, but does not address the spending cuts.

Both the House and Senate are due to convene on Monday in a last-minute attempt to bridge the gap between the two sides. The Republican Speaker of the House, John Boehner, has insisted that the Senate act first.

The current stand-off has its roots in a failed 2011 attempt to tackle the government debt limit and budget deficit.

Republicans and Democrats agreed then to postpone difficult decisions on spending until the end of 2012.

Commentators say that even if a deal is reached, it will do little to reduce the original problem of the deficit and the government debt limit, raising the prospect of further political infighting early in the new year.

Parties divided

Senate Democratic leader Harry Reid and his Republican counterpart Mitch McConnell were locked in negotiations over the weekend.

Continue reading the main story

What is the fiscal cliff?

  • On 1 January 2013, tax increases and huge spending cuts are due to come into force - the so-called fiscal cliff
  • Deadline was put in place in 2011 to force president and Congress to agree ways to save money over the next 10 years
  • Date coincides with expiry of Bush-era tax cuts, which would affect all income groups and many businesses
  • Fear is that raising taxes while massively cutting spending will have a huge impact on households and businesses
  • Experts believe it could push the US into recession, and have a global impact on growth

The two senators appeared to admit before the 15:00 deadline (20:00 GMT) that negotiations were at a standstill, with their two parties still divided over core issues.

However late on Sunday, Senate Republicans said they were dropping their proposal to slow the growth of Social Security payments. The plan - which would have led to lower benefits to pensioners and the disabled - had been fiercely resisted by Democrats.

Meanwhile Senator McConnell said he had asked Vice-President Joe Biden for help in breaking the deadlock late on Sunday.

"I'm concerned with the lack of urgency here. There's far too much at stake," he said. "There is no single issue that remains an impossible sticking point - the sticking point appears to be a willingness, an interest or courage to close the deal."

In his interview with NBC's Meet the Press, broadcast on Sunday, Mr Obama said the priority was to ensure taxes do not rise for middle-class families, saying that would "hurt our economy badly".

"That's something we all agree on. If we can get that done, that takes a big bite out of the 'fiscal cliff'," he said.

There is also debate over where to set the threshold for tax rises. Democrats say the Bush-era tax cuts should be extended for all Americans except the richest - those with annual earnings of more than $250,000 (£155,000).

Republicans - some of whom have pledged never to vote for increased taxes - say the deficit is a consequence of excessive government spending.

They want the tax threshold set higher, at around $400,000, and for revenue to be raised by economic growth and cuts in social security and other services states are legally bound to provide.


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Rape protesters gather in Delhi

31 December 2012 Last updated at 04:15 ET

Protesters are gathering in the Indian capital, Delhi, for more demonstrations in anger at the gang rape of a young woman on a bus a fortnight ago.

Thousands of residents and clubs have cancelled New Year celebrations to mourn the 23-year-old student who died in a Singapore hospital where she was being treated for severe injuries.

She was cremated in Delhi on Sunday.

The attack sparked huge protests about gender attitudes in India amid calls to change laws on violence against women.

Six men arrested for the 16 December rape have been charged with murder. If convicted, they face the death penalty. Meanwhile, the victims's family has demanded death penalty for her killers.

Continue reading the main story

Analysis

Geeta Pandey BBC News, Delhi


There has been an unprecedented outpouring of anger and grief in India and on the eve of the New Year, many say they have decided not to celebrate.

The chief of the governing Congress party, Sonia Gandhi, has appealed to her party colleagues and well-wishers not "to extend New Year greetings in the wake of gang-rape incident".

Many private clubs, hotels and citizens have also decided not to celebrate the New Year.

Delhi's Gymkhana Club has asked its 7,000 members to come and light candles to show solidarity with the victim, while the Chelmsford Club, the Delhi Golf Club and the Press Club of India have decided to call off their celebrations.

The film industry in Mumbai has also joined the mourners with many Bollywood stars saying they have nothing to celebrate this year.

Reports said Bollywood icon Amitabh Bachchan and his wife, MP Jaya Bachchan, were extremely upset by the incident and that "all plans in the Bachchan family for the New Year have been cancelled".

"The fight has just begun. We want all the accused hanged, and we will fight for that, till the end," the brother told The Indian Express newspaper.

Speaking to the newspaper, the woman's father said the family has been consumed by grief.

"My wife had hardly eaten in the last two weeks," he said.

"She was exhausted... I think she was not ready to face the shock of our daughter's death, despite doctors always telling us that she was serious. She cried intermittently all of Saturday, but it got worse on the flight back home."

The father said he too was in shock.

"It is too painful. I have not gone inside her room. She was born in this house. Her books, clothes they are all here.

"It is hard to believe I will never hear her voice again, she will never read books to me in English again," he said.

The Indian government was heavily criticised for its response to the attack which many called "slow" and inadequate.

Indian PM Mr Singh said he was "very saddened" by the woman's death, and that the angry public reaction was "perfectly understandable".

The leader of India's governing Congress Party, Sonia Gandhi, has promised to fight what she called India's shameful social mindsets that lie behind such crimes.

Call for tougher laws

A condolence meeting for the gang-rape victim is due to be held at the Jantar Mantar observatory in central Delhi on Monday.

Continue reading the main story

"Start Quote

Clearly, many Indian women face threats to life at every stage - violence, inadequate healthcare, inequality, neglect, bad diet, lack of attention to personal health and well-being"

End Quote

Groups of students, who have been holding days of spontaneous protests in the capital, have said they will gather to demand tougher laws to protect women in the country.

Leaders from India's main opposition Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) are also expected to take part in the protests.

Meanwhile, the city authorities are due to launch a new telephone helpline for women in distress.

The 24-hour helpline number 181 will operate out of Delhi Chief Minister Sheila Dikshit's office and will be connected with all the 185 police stations across the city, officials said.

Brutal assault

The gang-rape has sparked two weeks of massive protests in the city.

Over the weekend, candlelit vigils were held to mourn the woman and express anger and sorrow at her death.

Large areas of Delhi were sealed off and hundreds of armed police and riot troops deployed.

Protesters with placards

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There was a heavy police presence at the funeral amid on-going protests

The victim died in Singapore on Saturday and her body was brought back to Delhi. Her funeral took place on Sunday under tight security.

The woman - a medical student whose identity has not been released - and her friend had been to see a film when they boarded the bus in the Munirka area of Delhi, intending to travel to Dwarka in the south-west of the city.

Friends told the AFP news agency the couple were in a relationship and had been planning to marry in the next few weeks.

According to official figures, a woman is raped in Delhi every 14 hours, while women across the country say they are frequently subjected to sexual intimidation and violence.

Officials have since announced a series of measures intended to make the city safer for women.

These include more police night patrols, checks on bus drivers and their assistants, and the banning of buses with tinted windows or curtains.

But many of the protesters say that women are viewed as second-class citizens, and that a fundamental change in culture and attitudes, backed up by law, is needed to protect them.


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Bomb kills Pakistan Shia pilgrims

Written By Unknown on Minggu, 30 Desember 2012 | 18.19

30 December 2012 Last updated at 03:18 ET
Burnt out bus

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The BBC's Aleem Maqbool: "Mastung... is a place where there've been many attacks in the past"

At least 19 Shia Muslim pilgrims have been killed by a bomb attack on a bus convoy in southwest Pakistan, local officials say.

More than 20 people have been injured in the incident in the Mastung district of Baluchistan province.

Pakistan has experienced worsening sectarian violence in recent years. Last month 23 Shia Muslims were killed by a bomb in the city of Rawalpindi.

No group has yet said it carried out Sunday's bombing.

Initial reports said it had been detonated by remote control but a government official said it had been a suicide attack.

Officials said that some of those injured were in a critical condition and that the death toll may rise.

The bus convoy had reportedly been on their way to neighbouring Iran, a Shia-majority country and popular pilgrimage destination.


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Syria troops retake Homs district

30 December 2012 Last updated at 05:45 ET

Syrian government forces have pushed rebel forces out of the Deir Baalbeh district of the city of Homs after several days of fierce fighting.

One activist group said that more than 200 civilians were killed by regime forces after the fighting, but the claim cannot be independently verified.

The death toll across Syria on Saturday was reported to be as high as 400.

The strategically important city of Homs has seen much of the heaviest fighting in Syria's 21-month conflict.

Residents of Deir Baalbeh were rounded up and forced into a petrochemical plant where they were summarily executed, according to the Local Coordination Committees (LCC), an opposition group based in Syria.

Women and children were among the dead, according to the LCC.

The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights (SOHR), a UK-based activist group, reported violence across Syria on Saturday, including in suburbs of the capital Damascus which have seen persistent clashes in recent weeks as the government attempts to wipe out the rebels' presence there.

The SOHR said it had not been able to get through to Deir Baalbeh to document the deaths there.

Risk of 'chaos'

The latest violence comes after United Nations peace envoy Lakhdar Brahimi warned on Saturday of "hell" for Syria if no political solution was negotiated to the crisis.

Mr Brahimi, speaking after talks with the Russian foreign minister, said the conflict had become more militarised and sectarian.

It also risked bringing chaos to the region with neighbouring Lebanon and Jordan overrun by refugees, he said.

Mr Brahimi arrived in Cairo on Sunday for talks with the Egyptian President Mohamed Morsi.

Opposition groups say more than 44,000 people have been killed since protests against Syria's government began in March 2011.

Earlier this month the UN's refugee agency said more than half a million Syrians had fled to neighbouring countries.


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AU chief to hold talks in CAR

30 December 2012 Last updated at 00:00 ET

The head of the African Union is due to arrive in the Central African Republic for talks as rebel forces continue to advance towards the capital Bangui.

The AU says Thomas Boni Yayi will discuss the crisis with President Francois Bozize.

Earlier, the Seleka rebel alliance entered the central city of Sibut after the army withdrew on Friday evening.

Regional leaders say both sides have agreed to hold talks, although no firm timetable has been given.

Correspondents say Mr Boni Yayi is expected to try to persuade President Bozize to launch a dialogue with the rebels.

More troops from the Central African Multinational Force (Fomac) arrived in CAR on Saturday to reinforce a contingent already there.

More than 100 French paratroopers have also been sent in. However, France insists they are only there to secure its nationals - not to save the regime.

A senior UN official told the BBC that all its international staff have been evacuated to neighbouring Cameroon.

The US has also evacuated its embassy in Bangui.

BBC West Africa correspondent Thomas Fessy says there was no fighting when rebels entered Sibut on Saturday.

The city is about 150km (95 miles) from Bangui.

Government troops and Chadian soldiers deployed as a buffer force had left their position hours before and a rebel spokesman said they took over the city because it was abandoned.

The spokesman said the rebels had no intention to march on the capital ahead of talks meant to start early next month.

However, our correspondent says there is a growing fear that the rebels may well attempt to depose President Bozize.

Government troops are reported to have fallen back to Damara, 75km from Bangui, the last major town on the road to the capital.

Seleka - an alliance of three separate groups - accuses Mr Bozize of failing to honour a 2007 peace deal under which fighters who laid down their arms were meant to be paid.

The rebels have pledged to depose Mr Bozize unless he negotiates with them.

They began their campaign a month ago and have taken several key towns and cities including Bambari and the diamond centre of Bria in their push towards the capital.

On Saturday, government officials confirmed that their forces' attempt to retake Bambari on Friday had been beaten back.

In Bangui, residents have reported sharp rises in staple food prices as the rebels draw closer.


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Delhi rape victim's funeral held

30 December 2012 Last updated at 03:54 ET

A young Indian woman who died after being gang-raped on a bus has been cremated in the capital, Delhi.

The ceremony came hours after a plane chartered by the Indian government brought her body back to the city.

The 23-year-old medical student died in a Singapore hospital where she was being treated for severe injuries.

The attack sparked two weeks of protests about gender attitudes in India, and calls for changes to laws on rape and violence against women.

Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and the head of India's governing Congress party Sonia Gandhi were at the airport when the plane landed at about 04:15 (22:45 GMT).

A convoy carrying a gold-coloured coffin and the victim's parents then drove towards the Janakpuri district of Delhi where she had been living.

The private funeral was held amid tight security.

The BBC's Andrew North in Delhi says the government has been heavily criticised for its response to the attack and remains anxious about a backlash, with police still cordoning off the heart of the capital to prevent demonstrations.

Mrs Gandhi has promised to fight what she called India's shameful social mindsets that lie behind such crimes.

Six men arrested for the 16 December rape have been charged with murder. If convicted, they face the death penalty.

'Open our eyes'

On Saturday evening, candlelit vigils were held across India to mourn the woman and express anger and sorrow at her death.

Large areas of Delhi were sealed off and hundreds of armed police and riot troops deployed as news of the victim's death spread.

Protests continued in Delhi on Sunday, with a peaceful demonstration where people painted slogans and tributes on a large white canvas.

Continue reading the main story

"Start Quote

Clearly, many Indian women face threats to life at every stage - violence, inadequate healthcare, inequality, neglect, bad diet, lack of attention to personal health and well-being"

End Quote

"This incident should open our eyes to the fact that we need to raise our children right, we need to raise the people right," said protester and social worker Murphy John.

He said he did not agree with calls for the death penalty for convicted rapists, fearing it would encourage murder so victims could not report crimes.

The Mount Elizabeth hospital in Singapore said the woman "passed away peacefully" early on Saturday.

Hospital chief executive Kelvin Loh said she had suffered severe organ failure following serious injuries to her body and brain.

Indian PM Mr Singh said he was "very saddened" by the woman's death, and that the angry public reaction was "perfectly understandable".

He called on politicians and the public to set aside "narrow sectional interest" and work together to make India "a demonstrably better and safer place for women to live in".

The woman - a medical student whose identity has not been released - and her friend had been to see a film when they boarded the bus in the Munirka area of Delhi, intending to travel to Dwarka in the south-west of the city.

Continue reading the main story

"Start Quote

Violence against women must never be accepted, never excused, never tolerated"

End Quote Ban Ki-moon UN Secretary General

Friends told the AFP news agency the couple were in a relationship and had been planning to marry in the next few weeks.

"They had made all the wedding preparations and had planned a wedding party in Delhi," said her neighbour, Meera Rai.

According to the reports, the couple were attacked after the man objected to another group of men taunting her.

Police said the woman was raped for nearly an hour. Both she and her companion were beaten with iron bars, then thrown out of the moving bus into the street.

The assault sparked angry protests about the general conditions for women in India, and about what is seen as an inadequate police response to rape allegations.

According to official figures, a woman is raped in Delhi every 14 hours, while women across the country say they are frequently subjected to sexual intimidation and violence.

Officials have since announced a series of measures intended to make the city safer for women.

Protesters with placards

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There was a heavy police presence at the funeral amid on-going protests

These include more police night patrols, checks on bus drivers and their assistants, and the banning of buses with tinted windows or curtains.

But many of the protesters say that women are viewed as secondary citizens, and that a fundamental change in culture and attitudes, backed up by law, is needed to protect them.

UN Secretary Ban Ki-moon offered his condolences to the woman's family, saying in a statement that he "utterly condemns this brutal crime".

"Violence against women must never be accepted, never excused, never tolerated," the statement said.

"Every girl and woman has the right to be respected, valued and protected."


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CAR agrees to talks with rebels

Written By Unknown on Sabtu, 29 Desember 2012 | 18.19

28 December 2012 Last updated at 23:45 ET

The government of the Central African Republic and rebels have agreed to hold talks after weeks of clashes.

A regional delegation said no pre-conditions had been set for the talks which will be held in Libreville, capital of neighbouring Gabon.

Officials also said more troops from the Central African Multinational Force (Fomac) would be sent to CAR.

The announcements come after government troops and rebel fighters clashed in the central town of Bambari on Friday.

Rapid gains by the Seleka rebels have raised fears that CAR's capital Bangui could fall within a few days.

Officials from regional blocs including Eccas (the Economic Community of Central African States) confirmed the agreement to the BBC after a two-day mission in Bangui.

They said the talks should start "within the next few days".

Eccas also said that another contingent of soldiers from Fomac would be deployed, but did not specify how many or when the troops would arrive.

More than 500 soldiers from Fomac are already in CAR.

Continue reading the main story

Most of the rebels have taken up arms against President Bozize's government before. But this time their campaign has been swift and they appear to have a chain of command that works. It also seems that these rebels have not been looting much - usually a sign that they are well kept and fed.

So where do they find their resources? Outside support for the rebel coalition cannot be ruled out. Neighbouring Chad has been fingered by some observers as a potential rebel supporter. Could Chad's President Idriss Deby want President Bozize replaced, even though Mr Deby helped him take power almost 10 years ago.

Though Chadian troops have been deployed to save Mr Bozize in the past, and they are again stationed outside Bangui as a buffer should rebels advance on the capital, Mr Deby's intentions seem unclear.

However, Mr Deby has always wanted a close ally to the south. The rebels are an unlikely alliance of splinter factions with different interests and may well split should they reach Bangui. Should that happen, it could plunge CAR into chaos - potentially sucking in Chad.

Fears over the deteriorating security situation led to the US evacuating its embassy in Bangui and the UN pull out non-essential staff.

The government and rebels blamed each other for the fresh fighting around Bambari early on Friday.

However, diplomatic sources said the army had tried and failed to retake the town from the rebels.

BBC West Africa correspondent Thomas Fessy says the failure to reclaim the town may have convinced the government that it couldn't set pre-conditions for talks.

Seleka - an alliance of three rebel groups - took Bambari last Sunday having earlier seized the rich diamond mining area around Bria.

CAR President Francois Bozize appealed on Thursday for France - the former colonial power - and the US to help stop the rebel advance.

However, the plea fell on deaf ears.

French Prime Minister Jean-Marc Ayrault reiterated on Friday that France would only intervene to protect its own nationals there.

Seleka accuses Mr Bozize of failing to honour a 2007 peace deal under which fighters who laid down their arms were meant to be paid.

The rebels have pledged to depose Mr Bozize unless he negotiates with them.

They began their campaign a month ago and have taken several towns in their push towards the capital.


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Aquino signs contraception bill

29 December 2012 Last updated at 03:20 ET

Philippines President Benigno Aquino has signed into law a bill providing for free access to contraception and family planning.

Supporters say the law, which took 14 years to pass, will reduce poverty and maternal mortality in a country with the highest birth rate in the region.

The Roman Catholic Church repeatedly tried to block the bill.

The country's Congress failed to pass the measure several times before giving it final approval on 19 December.

The law is due to take effect in mid-January, said presidential spokeswoman Abigail Valte.

"The passage into law of the Responsible Parenthood Act closes a highly divisive chapter of our history - a chapter borne of the convictions of those who argued for, or against this act," she said.

"At the same time, it opens the possibility of co-operation and reconciliation... engagement and dialogue characterised not by animosity, but by our collective desire to better the welfare of the Filipino people."

The BBC's Kate McGeown reports from the capital, Manila, that even now the bill has become law, the Church and its political allies could still derail it.

Several bishops have already threatened to contest the bill's legality in the Supreme Court.

More than 80% of the population in the Philippines is Catholic, and the Church has had the support of many politicians, media commentators, and businessmen.

Condoms are widely sold in the Philippines, but at a price that many people cannot afford.

Many maternity hospitals are struggling to cope with the number of births, and the UN appealed to the Philippines earlier this year to pass the family planning bill.

A government health survey in 2011 found that the maternal mortality rate had risen by 36% between 2006 and 2010.


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French 75% tax rate struck down

29 December 2012 Last updated at 06:04 ET

France's constitutional council has overturned a top income tax rate of 75% introduced by Socialist President Francois Hollande.

Raising taxes for those earning more than 1m euros (£817,400) has been a flagship policy for Mr Hollande, who was elected in May.

The policy angered France's business community and prompted some wealthy citizens to say they would emigrate.

The new tax rate was due to take effect in the new year.

In its ruling on Saturday, the Constitutional Council said the new tax rate was excessive and rejected new methods for calculating the tax.

The government's tax policy has been the subject of fierce debate in France.

French actor Gerard Depardieu recently announced he was moving to Belgium to avoid taxes, sparking a furious reaction from some on the left.

There was also speculation that people employed in high-income jobs like banking and finance would move elsewhere, including to London.

Mr Hollande campaigned against the austerity policies used in many European countries affected by economic crisis, favouring higher taxes rather than spending cuts to bring down the deficit.


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Delhi on alert after rape death

29 December 2012 Last updated at 06:08 ET
Protest in Delhi

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Sanjoy Majumder reports from a protest in Delhi

Police in India have sealed off much of the capital, Delhi, and issued an appeal for calm after the death of a woman who was gang-raped in the city.

The 23-year old woman, who has not been identified, died early on Saturday at a hospital in Singapore, where she had been taken for specialist treatment.

The attack on 16 December triggered violent public protests in India.

Six men who had been arrested in connection with the rape have now also been charged with murder.

Two police officers have already been suspended.

The woman's body is to be flown back to India for burial.

On Saturday, police sealed off large parts of central Delhi close to government buildings, closed down a number of metro railway stations and asked people not to travel into the city.

Hundreds of armed police and riot troops are on duty, many of them women, and Delhi's police commissioner Neeraj Kumar has called on the public to remain calm.

Gatherings of more than five people have been banned in the city centre.

But on Saturday morning, a few hundred people gathered at the Jantar Mantar observatory, one of the areas of the city where protests are permitted, said the BBC's Sanjoy Majumder in the city.

One protester, Poonam Kaushik, blamed the attack on "the government's inefficiency to ensure safety of women in Delhi" and said the woman's death would generate "even more anger".

One banner on display told politicians: "We don't want your condolences! We don't want your fake sentiments! We demand immediate action to strengthen the laws against sexual violence."

Delhi's Chief Minister Sheila Dikshit - who has described the death as a "shameful moment" for the country - arrived to speak to the protesters but was shouted down, says our correspondent.

Protests have also been held in other cities across the country, including Calcutta and Mumbai.

Continue reading the main story

We need to repent. And repentance would not be in hanging the accused or castrating them. Repentance will be in ensuring that no-one else goes through what she had to"

End Quote

There has also been an angry reaction in the Indian media, with one editorial in the Times of India calling for wider changes in society and an awareness that as well as attacks on the street, there are "a thousand unheard voices" of women who face sexual violence at home.

'Constructive action'

The Mount Elizabeth hospital in Singapore said the woman "passed away peacefully" early on Saturday with her family by her side.

Hospital chief executive Kelvin Loh said she had been in "an extremely critical condition" since arriving there, and had suffered severe organ failure following serious injuries to her body and brain.

The Indian home minister said the government had decided to send the woman abroad for treatment on the recommendation of her doctors.

India's Home Affairs minister, Ratanjit Pratap Narain Singh, said he was "heartbroken" by her death.

"I can only assure the family that the government will take whatever steps are needed to ensure that her killers get the harshest punishment in the quickest of time," he said.

"The government will work overtime to try and bring about laws and steps that will ensure that no other person, no other citizen of this country, has to go through or undergo the same kind of trauma."

Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh said he was "very saddened" by the woman's death, and that the angry public reaction was "perfectly understandable".

"It would be a true homage to her memory if we are able to channel these emotions and energies into a constructive course of action," he said in a statement.

He called on politicians and the public to set aside "narrow sectional interest" and work together to make India "a demonstrably better and safer place for women to live in".

India's High Commissioner to Singapore, TCA Raghavan

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India's High Commissioner to Singapore, TCA Raghavan: "We extend our condolences to the family"

The woman - a medical student - and her friend had been to see a film when they boarded the bus in the Munirka area of Delhi, intending to travel to Dwarka in the south-west of the city.

Police said she was raped for nearly an hour, and both she and her companion were beaten with iron bars, then thrown out of the moving bus into the street.

The assault sparked angry protests about the general conditions for women in India, and about what is seen as an inadequate police response to rape allegations.

Officials have since announced a series of measures intended to make Delhi safer for women.

These include more police night patrols, checks on bus drivers and their assistants, and the banning of buses with tinted windows or curtains.

The government has also said that it will post the photos, names and addresses of convicted rapists on official websites to shame them.

It has set up two committees - one looking into speeding up trials of cases involving sexual assaults on women, and the other to examine the lapses that might have led to the incident in Delhi.

But the protesters say the government's pledge to seek life sentences for the attackers is not enough - many are calling for the death penalty.


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Rape victim 'fighting for life'

Written By Unknown on Jumat, 28 Desember 2012 | 18.19

28 December 2012 Last updated at 00:53 ET

A female student gang-raped on a bus in India's capital Delhi is "fighting for her life" at a Singapore hospital, doctors say.

The 23-year-old victim - who remains on life support - has suffered "significant brain injury".

She arrived in Singapore on Thursday after undergoing three operations in a Delhi hospital.

The attack earlier this month triggered violent public protests that left one police officer dead.

Six men have been arrested and two police officers have been suspended following the 16 December attack.

The victim, who may require an organ transplant, has been admitted to Singapore's Mount Elizabeth Hospital.

"The patient is currently struggling against the odds, and fighting for her life," Kelvin Loh, chief executive officer of Mount Elizabeth Hospital, said in a statement.

"Our medical team's investigations upon her arrival at the hospital yesterday showed that in addition to her prior cardiac arrest, she also had infection of her lungs and abdomen, as well as significant brain injury."

Dr Loh said that multi-disciplinary team of specialists has been "working tirelessly to treat her since her arrival, and is doing everything possible to stabilise her condition over the next few days".

The woman's family has accompanied her to Singapore.

Public anger

India's Home Minister Sushil Kumar Shinde said in a statement said the government had decided to send the victim overseas on the recommendation of her doctors.

"Despite the best efforts of our doctors, the victim continues to be critical and her fluctuating health remains a big cause of concern to all of us," he said.

The government has tried to halt rising public anger by announcing a series of measures intended to make Delhi safer for women.

These include more police night patrols, checks on bus drivers and their assistants, and the banning of buses with tinted windows or curtains.

The government has also said that it will post the photos, names and addresses of convicted rapists on official websites to shame them.

It has set up two committees - one looking into speeding up trials of cases involving sexual assaults on women, and the other to examine the lapses that might have led to the incident in Delhi.

But the protesters say the government's pledge to seek life sentences for the attackers is not enough - many are calling for the death penalty.

The victim and her friend had been to see a film when they boarded the bus in the Munirka area, intending to travel to Dwarka in south-west Delhi.

Police said she was raped for nearly an hour, and both she and her companion were beaten with iron bars and thrown out of the moving bus into a Delhi street.


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Obama to host fiscal cliff talks

28 December 2012 Last updated at 04:40 ET

US President Barack Obama has called Congressional leaders to talks at the White House to try to stop the US falling over the "fiscal cliff".

Republicans and Democrats have only four days to reach an agreement before hundreds of billions of dollars of tax rises and spending cuts take effect.

Over time the loss of income would have a deleterious effect on the US economy.

Analysts say sliding over the "cliff" could tip the US into recession and set back the global economic recovery.

President Obama cut short his holiday in Hawaii to resume the negotiations, and is due to host the White House talks at 15:00 EST (20:00 GMT).

Congressional divisions

The priority for Democrats is retaining tax cuts for households earning less than $400,000 (£250,000) while raising taxes for the richest 2% of Americans in order to rein in deficit spending.

Republican congressmen feel they were re-elected with a mandate to block new taxes - certainly for those earning less than $1m. They are also demanding cuts in some popular healthcare and welfare benefit schemes.

Analysts say the two political parties remain far apart, particularly over plans to increase taxes on the wealthiest Americans.

Continue reading the main story

What is the fiscal cliff?

  • On 1 January 2013, tax increases and huge spending cuts are due to come into force - the so-called fiscal cliff
  • Deadline was put in place in 2011 to force president and Congress to agree ways to save money over the next 10 years
  • Fear is that raising taxes while massively cutting spending will have huge impact on households and businesses
  • Experts believe it could push the US into recession, and have a global impact on growth

Divisions in the two chambers of congress - with Republicans having a majority in the House of Representatives while Democrats control the Senate - are also making it hard to reach consensus: Any potential deal must pass votes in both chambers and be signed by the president.

An alternative plan proposed by Republican Speaker John Boehner - which would have seen taxes rise only on those earning over $1m - failed in the House of Representatives late last week.

The BBC's Jonny Dymond in Washington says it is very difficult to see how a solution can be reached before the new year.

The Democratic majority leader in the Senate, Harry Reid, said he thought a deal was unlikely and Senate Republican leader Mitch McConnell said his colleagues were unwilling to sign a blank cheque.

"We'll see what the president has to propose. Members on both sides of the aisle will review it, and then we'll decide how best to proceed," said Mr McConnell.

"Hopefully there is still time for an agreement of some kind that saves the taxpayers from a wholly preventable economic crisis."

In the Senate chamber on Thursday, Mr Reid said the requirement to get at least 60 of 100 votes to move to a vote on any legislation almost certainly doomed any new plan unless Republicans gave it strong backing.

"It looks like that [the fiscal cliff] is where we're headed," Mr Reid said.

Mr McConnell said that while Senate Republicans would consider any proposal sent to them by Democrats, they would not "write a blank cheque" to resolve the fiscal cliff.

Cuts and benefits

The term fiscal cliff refers to the combination of almost $600bn (£370bn) of tax rises and spending cuts due to come into force on 1 January if Congress does not pass new legislation.

Sweeping tax cuts passed during the presidency of George W Bush will expire, eventually affecting people of all income levels, and many businesses.

Other tax cuts and benefits to expire include:

  • A 2010 payroll tax cut, the expiration of which would prompt immediate wage-packet cuts
  • Benefits for the long-term unemployed
  • Compensation for doctors treating patients on federal healthcare programmes
  • Inheritance taxes are also likely to be affected if no deal is reached.

In addition, spending cuts mandated by a law passed to break a previous fiscal impasse in Congress will come into force, affecting both military and domestic budgets.

The cuts are expected to affect federal government departments and the defence sector, as well as hitting unemployment insurance and veterans' support.

How the Bush tax cuts were brought in

Tax year 1993-2000 2001 2002 2003-2008 2009-2012 2012 tax brackets 2013 scenarios
Tax cuts expire Tax cuts expire for top incomes

Source: Tax Foundation, IRS. Tax brackets shown for unmarried individuals

President

Bill Clinton

Bill Clinton

George Bush

George W Bush

Barack Obama

Barack Obama

Bottom rate

15%

10%

10%

10%

10%

Up to $8,700

15%

10%

15%

15%

15%

15%

$8,700-$35,350

15%

28%

27.5%

27%

25%

25%

$35,350- $85,650

28%

25%

31%

30.5%

30%

28%

28%

$85,650- $178,650

31%

28%

36%

35.5%

35%

33%

33%

$178,650-$388,350

36%

33% or 36%*

Top rate

39.6%

39.1%

38.6%

35%

35%

Over $388,350

39.6%

39.6%

*President Obama has previously called for the tax cut to expire for those earning over $250,000


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Putin makes US adoption ban law

28 December 2012 Last updated at 05:47 ET

Russian President Vladimir Putin has signed into law a ban on Americans adopting Russian orphans.

The law is a reaction to the US Magnitsky Act, which blacklists Russian officials accused of rights abuses.

The death of anti-corruption lawyer Sergei Magnitsky soured relations between the US and Russia.

A Moscow court acquitted a prison doctor accused of negligence over Magnitsky's death in 2009. It was the only trial to be held in the case.

The judge said Dmitry Kratov had acted appropriately when Magnitsky fell ill in jail. Mr Kratov was deputy head of the high-security Butyrka prison in Moscow at the time.

A Russian official report last year concluded that Magnitsky had been tortured and handcuffed in jail.

Magnitsky represented London-based Hermitage Capital Management (HCM). He uncovered what he described as a web of corruption involving Russian tax officials, including the alleged theft of more than $200m (£125m).

After reporting it to the authorities, he was himself detained on suspicion of aiding tax evasion, and died in custody on 16 November 2009 at the age of 37.

His case became a symbol of the fight against corruption in Russia. The EU has also criticised Russia over its handling of the case.

Earlier this month the US Congress adopted the Magnitsky Act, prompting Russia's retaliation.

On Friday, President Putin signed into law the adoption ban targeting Americans. It had already been approved by the Russian parliament.

"I see no reason not to sign it," Mr Putin told officials earlier, at a televised meeting. He said he would also sign a presidential decree "that will modify the support mechanisms for orphaned children".

"There are lots of places in the world where living standards are higher than they are here," Mr Putin said. "And what - are we going to send all our children there? Perhaps we should move there ourselves?"

The rate of adoption in Russia is low. Some 3,400 Russian children were adopted by foreign families in 2011, nearly a third of them by Americans. The number of children adopted by Russian citizens was 7,416.

The US is the main destination when foreign couples adopt Russian children. In the past two decades Americans have adopted more than 60,000 Russian children.

Suspicious death

The Moscow judge on Friday ruled that Mr Kratov had organised Magnitsky's transfer to hospital and had "taken all the necessary measures to treat the illnesses" that Magnitsky was suffering from.

Magnitsky had pancreatitis, but an investigation by Russia's presidential council on human rights concluded that he had been severely beaten and denied medical treatment.

The council's report, compiled while Dmitry Medvedev was president, singled out senior interior ministry investigator Oleg Silchenko and prison chief Ivan Prokopenko as being at fault for neglect over the lawyer's death.

The document said they "obstructed" his medical care by moving him to another prison just before he was due to have an operation, where there was a criminal failure to provide him with care in the last days of his life.

Magnitsky's mother, widow and lawyers believe that Mr Kratov has been used as a decoy by the authorities to protect the real culprits in the lawyer's death.

Mr Kratov's assistant Larisa Litvinova had also been a suspect in the case, but the investigation into her actions was dropped in April.


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China tightens rules on internet

28 December 2012 Last updated at 05:51 ET

China has tightened its rules on internet usage to enforce a previous requirement that users fully identify themselves to service providers.

The move is part of a package of measures which state-run Xinhua news agency said would protect personal information.

But critics believe the government is trying to limit freedom of speech.

The announcement will be seen as evidence China's new leadership is targeting the internet as a threat.

In recent months, the internet and social media have been used to orchestrate mass protests and a number of corrupt Communist Party officials have been exposed by individuals posting criticisms on the internet.

The Chinese authorities closely monitor internet content that crosses its borders and regularly block sensitive stories through use of what is known as the Great Firewall of China.

However, it has not stopped hundreds of millions of Chinese using the internet, many of them using micro-blogging sites to complain or campaign on issues of national interest, including government corruption.

'Safeguards'

The new measures now formally require anyone signing agreements to access the internet, fixed-line telephone and mobile devices to provide network service operators with "genuine identification information", known as real-name registration, Xinhua reports.

Real-name registration was supposed to be have been implemented in 2011 but was not widely enforced.

China's biggest internet firm, Sina Corp, warned earlier this year in a public document that such a move would "severely reduce" traffic to its hugely-successful micro-blogging site Weibo.

Under the new rules, network service providers will also be required to "instantly stop the transmission of illegal information once it is spotted" by deleting the posts and saving the records "before reporting to supervisory authorities".

The measures, to "ensure internet information security, safeguard the lawful rights and interests of citizens... and safeguard national security and social public interests", were approved China's top legislature at the closing session of a five-day meeting on Friday, Xinhua reports.

The calls for tighter controls of the internet have been led by state media, which said that rumours spread on the web could harm the public and sow chaos and confusion.


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Tea workers burn boss to death

Written By Unknown on Kamis, 27 Desember 2012 | 18.19

27 December 2012 Last updated at 02:00 ET By Subir Bhaumik Calcutta

Hundreds of tea plantation workers have set alight their boss's bungalow in north-east India, burning to death the owner and his wife, officials say.

Angry workers surrounded the bungalow at Kunapathar in Assam state late on Wednesday, following a two-week long dispute with the management.

Police said the incident happened after the management asked some workers to leave their accommodation.

More than half of India's tea output comes from 800 tea estates in Assam.

Local official SS Meenakshi Sundaram said some 700 tea garden workers surrounded the manager's bungalow on Wednesday evening and set it on fire. Two vehicles belonging to the manager were also torched.

The charred bodies of Mridul Kumar Bhattacharyya and his wife, Rita, were later recovered from the debris, Mr Sundaram said.

Police have detained three workers in connection with the incident.

Officials said Mr Bhattacharyya and his workers had been locked in a dispute for the past two weeks.

They said Mr Bhattacharyya had also faced protests at another tea estate that he owned two years ago.

In that dispute, angry workers set fire to his tea factory near the state capital, Guwahati, after he had allegedly fired on a crowd that had gathered near his house to protest against a reported attack on a local woman.

Several incidents of attacks on tea executives by angry workers have been reported from Assam in recent years.


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Benazir Bhutto murder remembered

27 December 2012 Last updated at 03:41 ET

Large crowds of Pakistan People's Party (PPP) supporters are gathering to mark the fifth anniversary of the murder of ex-Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto.

Ms Bhutto died in a gun and bomb attack during her 2007 election campaign.

Hundreds of thousands of people have set up camp near the Bhutto family's ancestral home in Sindh province.

The event is seen as a milestone in the political career of Bilawal Bhutto-Zardari - son of Ms Bhutto and Pakistan President Asif Ali Zardari.

The 24-year-old Oxford graduate has been PPP chairman since his mother's assassination by Taliban militants in 2007 - but has kept a low profile. He cannot contest an election until his 25th birthday.

Show of strength

Security is tight as activists carrying portraits of Ms Bhutto and her father, former Prime Minister Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto, are gathering at the family's shrine in the city of Larkana.

Bilawal Bhutto-Zardari is expected to use the occasion to articulate his vision for the party, says the BBC's Shahzeb Jillani.

With parliamentary elections set to be held in 2013, the governing PPP is keen to use the rally as a show of strength to demonstrate that despite widespread criticism over its performance during the last five years, it still enjoys popular support, our correspondent says.

Mr Bhutto-Zardari's father, Pakistan President Asif Ali Zardari, has been at the forefront of the party until now but faces dwindling support over corruption allegations.

Those fed up with President Zardari's politics are looking to his son to help revive the party's mass appeal, our correspondent says.

The Bhutto dynasty has been a major political force since Pakistan gained independence in 1947.

Ms Bhutto, whose father founded the PPP, was prime minister from 1988 to 1990 and from 1993 to 1996.

On both occasions she was dismissed from office for alleged corruption.

No-one has been charged with her assassination.

A UN inquiry in 2010 found that her murder could have been prevented and that the subsequent investigation was bungled.


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Obama back for fiscal cliff talks

27 December 2012 Last updated at 04:30 ET

US President Barack Obama has cut short his holidays in Hawaii and is flying to Washington to try to reach a deal to avoid the so-called fiscal cliff.

Unless a compromise is found, tax increases and huge spending cuts come into force on 1 January, threatening to tip the US back into recession.

However, Democrats and Republicans are still at loggerheads over the issue.

Meanwhile, the US Treasury has announced measures to prevent it hitting a legal limit on its borrowing.

Default warning

In an open letter to the Democrat US Senate majority leader Harry Reid, Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner said the Treasury would enact a series of extraordinary accounting measures to free up about $200bn from the government's official borrowing figure.

He said that the measures should prevent the government from reaching the $16.4tn "debt ceiling" - the legal limit set by Congress on how much the US government can borrow - for about another two months beyond 31 December.

The measures include:

  • halting certain financial assistance provided by the Federal government to state and local governments
  • suspending government contributions to retirement funds for civil servants and postal workers
  • suspending contributions to an emergency fund that the government can draw on to defend the value of the dollar

He warned that without them, the government would run out of cash on Monday and "the United States would otherwise default on its legal obligations".

Legislation passed by Congress sets out how much the US government spends on the likes of social security and defence, whilst also legally defining how much the government can raise in taxes.

By imposing a third legal limit - the debt ceiling - the government faces a potentially impossible situation in which it must either disregard the debt ceiling, raise taxes without legal authority, or else default on some of its spending obligations.

The last time that the US government ran up against the debt ceiling, in the summer of 2011, President Obama negotiated a last-minute increase with the Republican-controlled Congress, from $14.3tn to the current $16.4tn limit.

That deal effectively created the phenomenon known as the fiscal cliff - $600bn in automatic tax rises and spending cuts due to come into force on 1 January 2013.

Republicans and Democrats agreed to these draconian measures to slash the government's rate of overspending - its deficit - as a fall-back position, on the assumption that a more sensible agreement on how to cut the deficit would be reached in the meantime.

'Silent corridors'
Continue reading the main story

What is the fiscal cliff?

  • On 1 January 2013, tax increases and huge spending cuts are due to come into force - the so-called fiscal cliff
  • Deadline was put in place in 2011 to force president and Congress to agree ways to save money over the next 10 years
  • Fear is that raising taxes while massively cutting spending will have huge impact on households and businesses
  • Experts believe it could push the US into recession, and have a global impact on growth

Mr Obama is expected to meet Republican leaders again to try to negotiate a solution, although no new date has been announced.

Republicans oppose cuts to defence spending as well as the expiration of income tax cuts on the highest earners, which date from George W Bush's presidency.

Democrats want to maintain financial support for lower-income families - including a payroll tax cut and extended unemployment benefits - and oppose cuts to entitlements such as Medicare and social security.

Both sides are keen to avoid taking the blame for the sudden contraction in the government's rate of overspending that would result if no deal is reached.

Failure to do so could damage the US and global markets, and threatens to send the US economy into recession.

Brinkmanship over the 2011 debt ceiling negotiations prompted the rating agency Standard & Poor's to strip the US of its top-ranking AAA credit rating.

The two sides remain far apart, but analysts say a short-term deal may be agreed that will postpone the cuts until spring.

On Wednesday, the Republican House of Representatives Speaker John Boehner called on the Democrat-led Senate to come up with legislation on how it would avoid the cliff, and pass it to the House for consideration.

However, a senior administration official said it was up to Republican leaders not to stand in the way of an agreement.

Despite this, there is little sense of urgency in the capital - the corridors of Congress are silent, the BBC's Zoe Conway in Washington reports.

Changing taxation across the years

Tax year 1993-2000 2001 2002 2003-2008 2009-2012 2012 tax brackets 2013 scenarios
Tax cuts expire Tax cuts expire for top incomes

Source: Tax Foundation, IRS

Tax brackets shown for unmarried individuals

President

Bill Clinton

Bill Clinton

George Bush

George W Bush

Barack Obama

Barack Obama

Bottom rate

15%

10%

10%

10%

10%

Up to

$8,700

15%

10%

15%

15%

15%

15%

$8,700-

$35,350

15%

28%

27.5%

27%

25%

25%

$35,350-

$85,650

28%

25%

31%

30.5%

30%

28%

28%

$85,650- $178,650

31%

28%

36%

35.5%

35%

33%

33%

$178,650-$388,350

36%

33% or 36%*

Top rate

39.6%

39.1%

38.6%

35%

35%

Over

$388,350

39.6%

39.6%

*President Obama has previously called for the tax cut to expire for those earning over $250,000


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Antarctic lake project called off

27 December 2012 Last updated at 05:08 ET

An ambitious mission to drill through 3km (1.8 miles) of Antarctic ice to a lake that has been sealed off for thousands of years has been cut short.

The team at Lake Ellsworth decided to call off the mission in the early hours of Christmas Day UK time.

They were unable to join the main borehole with a parallel hole that was to be used to recover drilling water.

The team is now "weatherising" the equipment and it is unclear when they will be able to resume the project.

The £8m ($13m) project, headed by the British Antarctic Survey (Bas), aimed to drill carefully down using near-boiling water to pierce the lake, which has been untouched for as much as half a million years. The hope had been to find hints of life from long ago, or even still surviving today.

Continue reading the main story

Searching for life in the hidden waters of Lake Ellsworth was one of the most ambitious British science projects of recent years, so this failure in the drilling programme will come as a huge blow.

The team knew that the risks were high, but the idea of exploring an ancient and mysterious body of water isolated for hundreds of thousands of years had inspired passion and determination.

The challenge of designing and engineering equipment that could remain sterilised on the long journey to Antarctica, and then down through the 3km of ice-sheet, was immense and involved hundreds of people.

So the disappointment will be felt far beyond the 12 men at their remote camp on the ice. Engineers, technicians, support staff - and researchers eager for the results - will feel heavy disappointment. They may try again next year. But this was frontier science, a gamble, and it did not pay off.

The programme ran into trouble last week as the main boiler used to heat drilling water broke down, with a replacement part being flown from the UK reaching the remote site last Friday.

With the boiler working, the team aimed to make two parallel boreholes, intended to join 300m below the surface.

A first borehole was drilled and left for 12 hours to create a hot-water cavity. This was to be used to re-circulate drilling water and to balance pressures when the sequestered lake was finally breached.

However, the team were unable to reach the cavity during the course of drilling the second, main borehole - despite trying for over 20 hours.

During that time, drilling water seeped into porous surface layers, and the team used a significant fraction of its fuel. It eventually became clear that the mission could not be concluded.

Audrey Stevens, spokesperson for Bas, said: "We will try again, but it is uncertain when that will be. There will have to be a full report into what's gone wrong."

The team is packing up its equipment and protecting it against the bitter Antarctic winter. It may be more than another season before the team can return to try again.

There are a number of other lakes beneath the ice sheet, which may prove easier for other nations to reach.

"We have never depicted it as a race, but it may well happen that others get there first," Ms Stevens told BBC News.


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Morsi backers urge Egypt unity

Written By Unknown on Rabu, 26 Desember 2012 | 18.19

25 December 2012 Last updated at 23:01 ET
Protests in Egypt

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Egyptians on the streets of Cairo have voiced their anger, as the BBC's Joanne de Frias reports

Backers of President Mohammed Morsi have urged all Egyptians to work together after the adoption of a controversial new constitution.

Muslim Brotherhood leader Mohamed Badie said Egyptians should "begin building our country's rebirth with free will... men, women, Muslims and Christians".

More than 60% of voters backed the constitution in a referendum, although only a third of the electorate voted.

Critics say the document favours Islamists and betrays the revolution.

President Hosni Mubarak was ousted from power in February 2011 after nearly 30 years of authoritarian rule.

After the referendum result was announced on Tuesday, dozens of anti-constitution protesters blocked one of the main bridges in the capital Cairo, setting tyres alight and stopping traffic.

Continue reading the main story

Egypt referendum result

  • Votes for constitution 10,693,911 (63.8%)
  • Votes against 6,061,101 (36.2%)
  • Turnout 32.9% (17,058,317 votes including 303,395 declared invalid)

Source: Egyptian election commission

Parliamentary elections must now take place within two months.

The political divisions surrounding the referendum have led to economic uncertainty and a reported rush to buy US dollars.

Currency exchanges in parts of Cairo were said to have run out of dollars. Before the result was announced, the authorities declared a limit of $10,000 (£6,200) for travellers into and out of Egypt.

On Monday, Egypt's central bank issued a statement saying that the banks had "stable liquidity" to safeguard all deposits.

The BBC's Bethany Bell in Cairo says President Morsi's government will soon have to take some unpopular measures to prop up the economy, which could hurt his party at the ballot box.

'Special responsibility'

On Tuesday, Mr Badie welcomed the referendum's results, tweeting: "Congratulations to the Egyptian people on approving the constitution of revolutionary Egypt".

Echoing his words, Prime Minister Hisham Qandil stressed that there was "no loser" in the vote and called for co-operation with the government to restore the economy.

Continue reading the main story

Constitution at a glance

  • Sharia remains the main source of legislation
  • Al-Azhar, Sunni Islam's leading authority, to be consulted on "matters related to Sharia"
  • Christianity and Judaism to be the main source of legislation for Christians and Jews
  • Right to beliefs protected; state's obligations limited to Islam, Christianity and Judaism
  • Limits president to two four-year terms of office

President Morsi's mainly Islamist supporters say that the new constitution will secure democracy and encourage stability.

But opponents accuse the president, who belongs to the Brotherhood, of pushing through a text that favours Islamists and does not sufficiently protect the rights of women or Christians, who make up about 10% of the population.

The US state department responded to the vote by urging all sides in Egypt to commit themselves "to engage in an inclusive process to negotiate their differences".

In a direct appeal to President Mohammed Morsi, spokesman Patrick Ventrell said that as democratically elected leader he had a "special responsibility... to bridge divisions, build trust and broaden support for the political process".

Turnout was 32.9% of Egypt's total of 52 million voters, election commission President Samir Abul Maati told a news conference in Cairo.

Mr Maati rejected opposition allegations that fake judges supervised some of the polling - one of several complaints relating to voting fraud made by the opposition National Salvation Front after each stage of voting.

Egypt has recently seen large demonstrations by both critics and supporters of the constitution, which have occasionally turned violent.

Before the first round of voting on 15 December, the opposition considered boycotting the referendum before deciding to back a No vote.

Polling had to be held on two days because of a lack of judges prepared to supervise the process.


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Japan's Shinzo Abe names cabinet

26 December 2012 Last updated at 04:14 ET

Japan's new Prime Minister Shinzo Abe has unveiled his cabinet as he begins the task of economic revitalisation.

The cabinet was named shortly after parliament voted for Mr Abe as PM, following his party's emphatic poll victory earlier this month.

The Liberal Democratic Party and its coalition partner have a two-thirds majority in the lower house.

Mr Abe, who was also PM in 2006-07, chose another former premier, Taro Aso, for the key role of finance minister.

Analysts say the cabinet includes a number of Mr Abe's close allies as he eyes the task of pulling Japan out of a prolonged economic slump.

The former Trade and Industry Minister Akira Amari was named as minister for economic revival and veteran Toshimitsu Motegi was chosen for the post of trade minister.

Some reports say he will be tasked with energy policy in the aftermath of last year's Fukushima nuclear disaster.

Mr Abe is seen as a hawkish, right-of-centre leader. His previous term in office ended ignominiously amid falling popularity and a resignation on grounds of ill health.

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  • Taro Aso - Japan's former premier between 2008-2009 becomes finance minister and deputy prime minister
  • Fumio Kishida - foreign minister
  • Yoshihide Suga - chief cabinet secretary
  • Akira Amari - Tasked with economic revitalisation portfolio
  • Itsunori Onodera - defence minister
  • Nobuteru Ishihara - nuclear crisis minister
  • Toshimitsu Motegi - trade minister

But he returns to power at a critical moment and is Japan's seventh premier in six years.

The grandson of a former prime minister and son of an ex-foreign minister, Mr Abe, 58, has pledged to take a tough line in a territorial row with China.

China has urged the new government to take "practical steps" to deal with the dispute over islands in the East China Sea.

Mr Abe has also called for Japan's pacifist constitution to be revised and patriotic sentiment nurtured.

The LDP crushed the governing Democratic Party (DPJ) in the 16 December poll. DPJ leader Yoshihiko Noda stepped down shortly afterwards.

The DPJ was elected in 2009 on its promise to increase welfare spending and break ties between the bureaucracy and big business.

But its failure to deliver on the economy and response to the 11 March 2011 earthquake and tsunami lost it support.

This time round Mr Abe campaigned on a platform promising an end to years of economic stagnation, with more public spending and a looser monetary policy.

But some economists say there is little new in Mr Abe's policies, or "Abenomics" as they have been called.

He has also said he would allow nuclear energy a role in Japan's future despite last year's disaster.


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Syria army police chief defects

26 December 2012 Last updated at 05:31 ET

The commander of Syria's military police has defected from President Bashar-al Assad's government and reportedly fled to Turkey.

Lt Gen Abulaziz al-Shalal is one of the highest-ranking officials to join the uprising against the Syrian regime.

The army had failed to protect Syrians and turned into "gangs of murder", the general said in a video statement.

The announcement comes as rebels claim to have made further gains in parts of the country.

Meanwhile, the UN peace envoy for Syria has met opposition figures in Damascus in a new bid to end the conflict.

Secret co-operation

After reportedly crossing the border into Turkey, the commander released a statement saying he had defected because the military had perpetrated massacres in towns and villages instead of protecting Syrians.

"I declare my defection from the army because of its deviation from its fundamental mission to protect the nation and transformation into gangs of murder and destruction," he said in a video message posted online.

Opposition sources said the commander had been secretly co-operating with the rebels from the outset, the BBC's Middle East correspondent Jim Muir reports.

This is believed to be the case with many other senior defectors, our correspondent adds.

But Gen Shalal said defecting was becoming increasingly difficult because of the increased level of surveillance

"Definitely, there are other high-ranking officers who want to defect but the situation is not suitable for them to declare defection," he said.

An unnamed Syrian security source confirmed the army chief's defection but played down its significance, Reuters news agency reports.

Gen Shalal was due to retire soon and joined the uprising to "play hero", the source is quoted as saying.

The development comes amid reports of rebel fighters seizing the north-western town of Harem near the Turkish border.

President Bashar al-Assad meets envoy, Lakhdar Brahimi

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President, Bashar al-Assad met UN peace envoy for Syria Lakhdar Brahimi in Damascus

Earlier this week, opposition activists said dozens of people had been killed in a government air strike in the rebel-held town of Halfaya in Hama province.

Although rebels have claimed some major territorial gains in recent months, the regime has hit back with massive firepower at the areas it has lost.

Meanwhile, the UN peace envoy for Syria Lakhdar Brahimi held talks in Damascus with opposition figures who are tolerated by the regime but not supported by the mainstream opposition, our correspondent says.

Earlier, Mr Brahimi had also met President Assad to discuss "the many steps to be taken in the future" to help end the conflict.

He did not, however, elaborate on what these steps were.

With the government dismissing the uprising as a foreign-backed extremist plot, and the rebels demanding that President Assad leave power immediately, the chances for a peaceful compromise seem slight, our correspondent says.

Rebels have been fighting Mr Assad's government for 21 months. Opposition groups say more than 44,000 people have been killed.


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'Fireworks' blaze in Nigeria city

26 December 2012 Last updated at 05:33 ET

An explosion in a warehouse has sparked a major fire in Lagos, Nigeria's largest city and commercial capital.

Witnesses said fireworks were stored in the warehouse in the busy market area of Lagos Island, and the blaze quickly spread to other buildings.

The blast reportedly shook windows of homes several miles away and a thick cloud of smoke could be seen rising over the island.

It was not immediately clear if there were any fatalities.

An Associated Press journalist on site said Nigerian Red Cross workers had been treating people with light injuries.

Thousands of people in the area gathered to watch, as the fire destroyed neighbouring buildings.

The BBC's Tomi Oladipo, in Lagos, says emergency services have had problems reaching the scene of the fire because of the huge crowds.

"The firecrackers were packed in a shop, and the firecrackers caught fire," AFP news agency quoted a National Emergency Management Agency worker as saying.

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Chavez 'improves' after surgery

Written By Unknown on Selasa, 25 Desember 2012 | 18.19

25 December 2012 Last updated at 00:06 ET

Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez has improved after a cancer operation and has started walking and exercising, the country's vice-president has said.

Nicolas Maduro told state TV he had spoken on the phone to Mr Chavez, describing the call as "the best present we could get this Christmas".

Mr Chavez underwent his fourth cancer operation on 11 December in Cuba but suffered a respiratory infection.

The president - in power since 1999 - won another term in October's election.

Earlier, Venezuelan Information Minister Ernesto Villegas said: "The patient has shown a slight improvement in his condition."

However, no pictures of Mr Chavez after the surgery have been released so far.

Mr Chavez, 58, is scheduled to be sworn in on 10 January.

The lack of any word from Mr Chavez for two weeks prior to the comments by the two senior officials raised serious concerns about his current condition and his ability to attend the swearing-in ceremony.

Bolivian President Evo Morales was in Cuba over the weekend but did not speak to reporters and a Cuban government invitation for media to cover his arrival and departure was withdrawn.

Mr Morales is expected to issue a statement later on Mr Chavez's condition.

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  • Article 231: The president-elect shall take office on January 10 of the first year of their constitutional term, by taking an oath before the National Assembly. If for any reason, (they) cannot be sworn in before the National Assembly, they shall take the oath of office before the Supreme Court.
  • Article 233:(...) When an elected President becomes absolutely absent prior to inauguration, a new election...shall be held within 30 days.
  • Article 234: When the President is temporarily unable to serve, they shall be replaced by the Executive Vice-President for a period of up to 90 days, which may be extended by resolution of the National Assembly for an additional 90 days.

The country's constitution states that elections must be held within 30 days if there is an "absolute absence" of the president.

But National Assembly head Diosdado Cabello has said Venezuela will not call fresh elections if President Chavez is unable to be sworn in on 10 January.

Mr Cabello said the swearing-in ceremony would be delayed.

"Since [President] Chavez might not be here on 10 January, [the opposition] hopes the National Assembly will call elections. That's not going to happen. Commandante Hugo Chavez will continue to be our president," Mr Cabello said.

According to Mr Cabello, the constitution allows him to be sworn in before Supreme Court justices, but it does not stipulate when or where.

Mr Chavez has said Venezuelans should vote for Mr Maduro in fresh elections, should his health fail.


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Christmas marked around the world

25 December 2012 Last updated at 04:14 ET
Manger Square, Bethlehem

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Jon Donnison: ''Around 70,000 people will have visited Bethlehem by the end of the day''

Christians around the world are celebrating Christmas, which marks the birth of Jesus Christ in Bethlehem.

In the city itself, Christmas Eve Mass was celebrated at the 1,700-year-old Church of the Nativity, on the spot where it is believed Jesus was born.

Meanwhile in the Vatican, Pope Benedict XVI held the traditional Mass at St Peter's Basilica.

He urged Christians to "find time and room for God in their fast-paced lives".

The Pope prayed that Israelis and Palestinians would be able to live their lives in peace. He also prayed for peace in Lebanon, Syria and Iraq.

The Mass, usually celebrated at midnight, was brought forward by two hours to avoid tiring the 85-year-old pontiff unduly.

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I invite politicians and men of goodwill to work with determination for peace and reconciliation that encompasses Palestine and Israel"

End Quote Latin Patriarch Fouad Twal

Later on Tuesday, the Pope will deliver his traditional Christmas message - Urbi et Orbi - to the city of Rome and to the world.

World Heritage Site

In Bethlehem, the head of the Roman Catholic Church in Jerusalem voiced his support for a Palestinian state.

Latin Patriarch Fouad Twal said this Christmas would be a celebration of "the birth of Christ our lord and the birth of the state of Palestine".

"The path [to statehood] remains long, and will require a united effort," he said.

The patriarch, who was born in Jordan, led a symbolic procession from Jerusalem's Old City to the West Bank city, passing through the separation barrier and checkpoint built by the Israelis.

He was met at the church in Manger Square by thousands of tourists, pilgrims and clergy.

The patriarch later held the Mass at the Church of Nativity.

"From this holy place, I invite politicians and men of good will to work with determination for peace and reconciliation that encompasses Palestine and Israel in the midst of all the sufferings in the Middle East," he said.

And referring to last month's hostilities between Israel and Gaza militants, the patriarch said his prayers included "all Arab and Jewish families that have been touched by the conflict".

Palestinian leader Mahmud Abbas was present at the Mass.

In November, the United Nations upgraded the status of the Palestinians to that of a "non-member observer state".

Israel - strongly backed by the US - opposed the move, describing it as a Palestinian ploy to bypass stalled peace negotiations.

The Church of Nativity is located in an area of the West Bank governed by the Palestinian Authority.

In June, the church was formally named a Unesco World Heritage Site - the first to be nominated by the Palestinians, who were made full members of Unesco earlier this year.

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US actor Jack Klugman dies at 90

25 December 2012 Last updated at 04:34 ET
Jack Klugman

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The life and career of Jack Klugman

US actor Jack Klugman, who starred in hit TV series in the 1970s and 80s, has died at the age of 90.

He passed away in Los Angeles on Monday afternoon, his son Adam said, without giving further details.

Klugman played a no-nonsense medical investigator in Quincy M.E. and a sloppy sports writer in The Odd Couple.

The actor lost his voice to throat cancer in the 1980s but later trained himself to speak again. He returned to acting in the 1990s.

In his later years, he guest-starred on TV series including Third Watch and Crossing Jordan.

Off-screen, he owned racehorses and enjoyed gambling.

"The only really stupid thing I ever did in my life was to start smoking," he said in 1996. He said seeing people smoking on television and films "disgusts me, it makes me so angry - kids are watching".

'Great life'

Klugman's first wife, actress-comedian Brett Somers, played his ex-wife, Blanche, in the Odd Couple series. They married in 1953 and had two sons, Adam and David, but had been estranged for years by the time of her death in 2007.

In February 2008, aged 85, Klugman married long-term partner Peggy Crosby, who was with him when he died Monday.

"He had a great life and he enjoyed every moment of it and he would encourage others to do the same," son Adam Klugman was quoted as saying by the Associated Press news agency.

His brother David added: "His sons loved him very much. We'll carry on in his spirit."

"RIP Jack Klugman. You made my whole family laugh together," actor-director Jon Favreau wrote on Twitter.

"He was a wonderful man and supremely talented actor," wrote actor Max Greenfield. "He will be missed."

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