UN upgrades Palestinians' status

30 November 2012 Last updated at 02:45 ET

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There was applause as the result of the vote was confirmed

The UN General Assembly has voted overwhelmingly to recognise Palestine as a non-member observer state - a move strongly opposed by Israel and the US.

Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas said this was the "last chance to save the two-state solution" with Israel.

Israel's UN envoy said the bid pushed the peace process "backwards", while the US said the move was "unfortunate".

The Palestinians can now take part in UN debates and potentially join bodies like the International Criminal Court.

The assembly voted 138-9 in favour, with 41 nations abstaining.

Hundreds of Palestinians celebrated on the streets of Ramallah, in the West Bank after the result was announced.

'Birth certificate'

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Analysis

The parties began in Yasser Arafat Square on Thursday morning - long before the voting.

Mr Abbas made his speech in New York just before 23:00 local time as crowds of people waving flags gathered around large screens carrying the live feed.

Fireworks erupted in Ramallah with the news of the vote. While Palestinians will see no changes on the ground with immediate effect, the symbolism is all-important.

There is also hope that access to UN bodies will bring new rights. A successful application for membership of the International Criminal Court could be used to accuse Israel of war crimes or make other legal claims against it.

"Sixty-five years ago on this day, the United Nations General Assembly adopted resolution 181, which partitioned the land of historic Palestine into two states and became the birth certificate for Israel," Mr Abbas said shortly before the vote in New York.

"The General Assembly is called upon today to issue a birth certificate of the reality of the State of Palestine," he said.

But Israel's Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu called the vote "meaningless", and said that Mr Abbas' address in New York had not been "the words of a man who wants peace".

Opponents of the bid say a Palestinian state should emerge only out of bilateral negotiations, as set out in the 1993 Oslo peace accords under which the Palestinian Authority was established.

US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton called the vote "unfortunate and counter-productive", saying it put more obstacles on the path to peace.

UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon also called for more talks, saying the resolution underscored the need to resume meaningful peace negotiations.

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The BBC's Aleem Maqbool said there were celebrations in the West Bank and Gaza Strip

The UK abstained from the vote, as did Germany. The Czech Republic, Canada, the Marshall Islands and Panama were among the nations voting with the US and Israel.

In the West Bank, crowds celebrated the vote by waving flags and chanting "God is great!"

"For the first time, there will be a state called Palestine, with the recognition of the entire world," Amir Hamdan was quoted as saying by the Associated Press news agency.

"Today the world will hear our voice," he added.

Symbolic milestone

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

While the move is seen as a symbolic milestone in Palestinian ambitions for statehood, the "Yes" vote will also have a practical diplomatic effect, says the BBC's Barbara Plett, at the UN.

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Israel's ambassador to the UN, Ron Prosor, says the only way to achieve peace is through negotiation

The Palestinians hope that access to UN bodies will bring new rights: A successful application for membership of the ICC could be used to accuse Israel of war crimes or make other legal claims against it.

"This is a whole new ball-game now. Israel will be dealing with a member of the international community, a state called Palestine with rights," senior PLO official Hanan Ashrawi told the BBC.

"We will have access to international organisations and agencies and we will take it from there."

There had been lobbying by Israel and the US to try to delay the vote or change the text to obtain guarantees that no international legal action would be taken against Israel.

Last year, Mr Abbas asked the UN Security Council to admit the Palestinians as a member state, but that was opposed by the US.

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How did key countries vote?

• Voted for: France, Spain, Belgium, Norway, Switzerland, Austria, Denmark, Turkey, China, Russia, India, Brazil, South Africa, Nigeria
• Voted against: Israel, US, Canada
• Abstained: UK, Germany, Australia, Colombia

Mr Abbas was much criticised by many Palestinians for remaining on the sidelines of the conflict earlier this month in Gaza and efforts to achieve a ceasefire with Israel.

His Fatah movement, based in the West Bank, is deeply split from the militant Hamas movement which governs Gaza.

Gaza's Prime Minister Ismael Haniyeh said in a statement sent to the BBC that Hamas' "support for the UN bid is based on the 'rule of non-recognition of the occupier'... and the right of Palestinians to return to their homeland".

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Sixty-day bread could cut waste

30 November 2012 Last updated at 05:00 ET By Matt McGrath Environment correspondent, BBC News

An American company has developed a technique that they say can make bread stay mould-free for 60 days.

The bread is zapped in a sophisticated microwave array which kills the spores that cause the problem.

They claim it could significantly reduce the amount of wasted bread, which in the UK alone amounts to almost a third of all loaves purchased.

The technique can also be used with a wide range of foods including fresh turkey and many fruits and vegetables.

World of waste

Food waste is a massive problem in most developed countries. In the US, figures released this year suggest that the average American family throws away 40% of the food they purchase - which adds up to $165bn (£102bn) annually.

Bread is a major culprit, with 32% of loaves purchased in the UK thrown out as waste when they could be eaten, according to figures from the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra).

One of the biggest threats to bread is mould. As loaves are usually wrapped in plastic, any water in the bread that evaporates from within is trapped and makes the surface moist. This provides excellent growing conditions for Rhizopus stolonifer, the fungus that leads to mould.

In normal conditions bread will go mouldy in around 10 days.

But an American company called Microzap say they have developed a technique that will keep the bread mould free for two months.

At their laboratory on the campus of Texas Tech University in Lubbock, chief executive Don Stull showed off the long, metallic microwave device that resembles an industrial production line. Originally designed to kill bacteria such as MRSA and salmonella, the researchers discovered it could kill the mould spores in bread in around 10 seconds.

"We treated a slice of bread in the device, we then checked the mould that was in that bread over time against a control, " he explained.

"And at 60 days it had the same mould content as it had when it came out of the oven."

Question of taste

The machine the team has built uses much the same technology as found in commercial microwaves - but with some important differences, according to Mr Stull.

"We introduce the microwave frequencies in different ways, through a slotted radiator. We get a basically homogeneous signal density in our chamber - in other words, we don't get the hot and cold spots you get in your home microwave."

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• 1928: First bread slicing machine, invented by Otto Rohwedder, exhibited in US
• 1930: Large UK bakeries take commercial slicers and sliced bread first appears in shops
• 1933: About 80% of US bread is pre-sliced and wrapped, and the phrase "the best thing since sliced bread" is coined
• 1941: Calcium added to UK flour to prevent rickets
• 1942: The national loaf - much like today's brown loaf - introduced to combat shortage of white flour
• 1954: Conditions in bakeries regulated by the Night Baking Act
• 1956: National loaf abolished
• 1961: The Chorleywood Bread Process introduced

Source: The Federation of Bakers

The company's device has attracted plenty of interest from bread manufacturers - but they are worried that it could add to their costs in an industry where margins are very tight.

And there is also a concern that consumers might not take to bread that lasts for so long. Mr Stull acknowledges it might be difficult to convince some people of the benefits.

"We'll have to get some consumer acceptance of that," he said. "Most people do it by feel and if you still have that quality feel they probably will accept it. "

Mr Stull believes that the technology could impact bread in other ways. He said that bread manufacturers added lots of preservatives to try and fight mould, but then must add extra chemicals to mask the taste of the preservatives. If bakers were able to use the microwave technology, they would be able to avoid these additives.

While a wholesale change in the bread industry might be difficult to achieve, there may be more potential with other foods, including ground turkey.

In 2011, food giant Cargill had to recall 16 million kg of the product after a salmonella outbreak. Mr Stull believes that using microwaves would be an effective way of treating this and several other products ranging from jalapenos to pet foods.

The only fruit that his device was unable to treat effectively were cantaloupes.

"We've used our tumbler machine to treat them, he says "but you can't tumble cantaloupes because they damage."

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UK stops £21m payment to Rwanda

30 November 2012 Last updated at 05:46 ET

The UK has suspended aid to Rwanda, amid concerns about the country's role in the conflict in Democratic Republic of Congo.

Ministers said the UK would not now release a payment worth £21m.

An aid payment of £16m was paid to Rwanda in September despite question marks over its alleged support for the M23 militia in DR Congo.

The government also said it would give a further £18m for immediate humanitarian needs in the DR Congo.

International Development Secretary Justine Greening said the money, which was due to be handed over next month, would not be released because President Paul Kagame's regime had breached agreements.

'Credible and compelling'

It follows a controversial decision by Ms Greening's predecessor, Andrew Mitchell, to authorise payment of £16m to the country on his last day in the job in September.

Mr Mitchell, who had previously frozen aid to the country, cited progress at international talks as the reason for making the payment.

President Kagame's regime has been praised for improving the economic and social conditions in the east African country, in which it is estimated more than 800,000 people were killed in ethnic violence during 1994.

But Mr Kagame, in power since 2000, has come under fierce criticism recently for allegedly funding the M23 rebel group in the east of the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC).

A leaked United Nations document says Rwanda's defence minister is effectively commanding the rebellion.

The violence has drawn international condemnation and the US and some European countries have withheld aid from the Kagame regime.

Ms Greening said: "The government has already set out its concerns over credible and compelling reports of Rwandan involvement with M23 in DRC.

"This evidence constitutes a breach of the partnership principles set out in the memorandum of Understanding, and as a result I have decided not to release the next payment of budget support to Rwanda.

"We are committed to finding lasting solutions to the conflict in this region and will work with the governments of Rwanda and DRC to secure a peaceful resolution to the situation in eastern DRC."

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Eurozone jobless rate at new high

30 November 2012 Last updated at 05:52 ET

The eurozone's unemployment rate hit a new record high in October, while consumer price rises slowed sharply.

The jobless rate in the recessionary euro area rose to 11.7%. Inflation fell from 2.5% to 2.2% in November.

The data came as European Central Bank president Mario Draghi warned the euro would not emerge from its crisis until the second half of next year.

Government spending cuts would continue to hurt growth in the short-term, Mr Draghi said.

The unemployment rate continued its steady rise, reaching 11.7% in October, up from 11.6% the month before and 10.4% a year ago.

A further 173,000 were out of work across the single currency area, bringing the total to 18.7 million.

The respective fortunes of northern and southern Europe diverged further. In Spain, the jobless rate rose to 26.2% from 25.8% the previous month, and in Italy it rose to 11.1% from 10.8%.

In contrast, unemployment in Germany held steady at 5.4% of the labour force, while in Austria it fell from 4.4% to just 4.3%.

Spending hit

Data earlier this month showed that the eurozone had returned to a shallow recession in the three months to September, shrinking 0.1% during the quarter, following a 0.2% contraction the previous quarter.

The less competitive southern European economies, such as Spain and Italy, where governments have had to push through hefty spending cuts to get their borrowing under control, have been in recession for over a year. But growth in Germany and France came in at a disappointing 0.2%.

More recent data suggests that both core eurozone economies have continued to skirt recession during the autumn.

Retail sales in Germany shrank 2.8% in October versus the previous month, down 0.8% from a year earlier, according to data released on Friday. Analysts had expected the country to record unchanged or moderately growing sales.

Meanwhile, separate data showed consumer spending in France shrank 0.2% in October versus the previous month, with spending on cars and other durable goods hardest hit.

Contraction 'inevitable'

The sharp slowdown in the eurozone's consumer price index, to 2.2% in November, is also symptomatic of the weakness of spending.

However, the inflation data may also open the door to further measures by the ECB to boost the economy, as the index fell much closer to the central bank's 2% target rate.

"We have not yet emerged from the crisis," said Mr Draghi, speaking on pan-European radio. "The recovery of the eurozone will certainly begin in the second half of 2013.

"It's true that the budgetary consolidation entails a short-term contraction of economic activity, but this budgetary consolidation is inevitable."

Despite Mr Draghi's warning, and the generally poor state of the eurozone economy, markets have begun to take a far more sanguine view of the single currency's future.

Italy's implicit cost of borrowing in the financial markets has fallen to its lowest level in two years, dropping to an implied interest rate of about 4.5% for 10-year debt.

Spain is able to borrow from markets at a 10-year rate of about 5.5% - far below the 7%-8% rate being demanded over the summer.

Mr Draghi conceded that the announcement of the ECB's willingness to buy up potentially unlimited amounts of government debt had boosted market confidence, even though no eurozone government had actually taken up the ECB's offer yet.

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UN court clears Kosovo's ex-PM

29 November 2012 Last updated at 05:45 ET

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Judge Bakone Moloto: "The chamber finds you not guilty on all counts in the indictment"

A UN tribunal has cleared Kosovo's former Prime Minister Ramush Haradinaj of war crimes from the 1998-99 conflict, after a retrial in The Hague.

Mr Haradinaj, a rebel commander during the war, was accused of overseeing a campaign of torture and murder against Serbs and suspected collaborators.

But four years after the last acquittal the UN court ruled again that the prosecution had not proved the case.

Serbian officials reacted angrily, denouncing the UN tribunal.

President Tomislav Nikolic said in a statement that the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia was formed "to try the Serbian people".

He said the verdict would increase euro-scepticism in Serbia.

Mr Haradinaj's 2008 acquittal was overturned and a retrial ordered after appeal judges ruled that there had been witness intimidation.

But the ICTY's trial chamber once again cleared Mr Haradinaj and co-defendants Idriz Balaj and Lahi Brahimaj of all charges.

The indictment alleged the three men had been involved in a joint criminal enterprise to establish Kosovo Liberation Army control in western Kosovo through detention camps.

Ethnic Serbs, Roma and Albanians who were deemed to have collaborated with Serbs were allegedly tortured and killed.

Judge Bakone Moloto said the evidence established that Serbs and their suspected supporters were beaten at a KLA compound in Kosovo, and at least one of them died of his injuries.

However, he said there was no evidence Mr Haradinaj or his co-defendants were involved in the attacks or a conspiracy to mistreat civilians.

Political ambitions

Mr Haradinaj, who is the most senior ethnic Albanian indicted by the ICTY, has many supporters among the Kosovo Albanian community.

He served as prime minister for 100 days before he stepped down in early 2005 to deal with his first trial.

Crowds in the capital Pristina watched the latest verdict on a giant screen, and celebrated his acquittal by letting off fireworks and cheering.

Mr Haradinaj's lawyer, Ben Emmerson, said his client now wants to restart his political career.

"With the consent of the people, he will soon be resuming his rightful position as the political leader of the country," Mr Emmerson told reporters at the court.

His face is splashed across vast billboards in Kosovo, accompanied by slogans like "the leader who keeps his word" and "forward with a clean slate".

However, he is still considered a war criminal in Belgrade, and an arrest warrant has been issued against him by Serbia's war crimes prosecutor.

Kosovo unilaterally declared independence from Serbia in 2008, but Belgrade has enlisted the support of ally Russia to block any move for international recognition.

Many Serbs feel there has been little accountability for crimes committed against them during the wars of the 1990s.

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Rush to finish Egypt constitution

29 November 2012 Last updated at 06:17 ET

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President Mursi's decree has sparked huge protests across Egypt

The assembly writing a new Egyptian constitution says it hopes to vote on a draft version as early as Thursday.

The news came as the constitutional court indicated it would rule on Sunday whether to dissolve the assembly.

The assembly is dominated by the Muslim Brotherhood and other Islamists who back President Mohammed Mursi. It is being boycotted by other members.

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

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

On Wednesday, as protests continued, officials at the constituent assembly said it was finishing its draft constitution, even though Mr Mursi had recently extended its deadline to complete the work until February.

A vote was expected on Thursday, state media reported.

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

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

'Sacred mission'

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

Mena said it includes a clause on press freedom and says that only courts can suspend or close newspapers.

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

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

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• Reopen investigations into killings of protesters; retrials of those accused
• No appeals against constitutional decrees made since Mursi came to power
• President to appoint the public prosecutor (must be aged at least 40)
• Constituent assembly to get two months extra to draft new constitution
• No judicial authority can dissolve the constituent assembly or the upper house of parliament (Shura Council)
• President authorised to take any measures to preserve the revolution or safeguard national security

Its latest move appeared to be aimed at dodging a ruling by the constitutional court on Sunday on whether the assembly should be dissolved.

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

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

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

The declaration that sparked protests gave Mr Mursi powers to take any measures to protect the revolution, and stated that no court could overturn his decisions.

It is valid until a new constitution is in place.

Critics accuse Mr Mursi of trying to seize absolute powers.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

If approved by the constituent assembly, the draft constitution would then be put to a national referendum.

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Burma targets copper mine protest

29 November 2012 Last updated at 05:56 ET

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The BBC's Jonathan Head in Burma: "It's become a test case for how old injustices will be addressed"

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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Court bans Pussy Riot video clips

29 November 2012 Last updated at 05:58 ET

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

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

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

There were widespread international protests over the Pussy Riot trial.

It was not immediately clear if the court was banning all of the group's clips, which include a song mocking Russian leader Vladimir Putin that was performed on Red Square.

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

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

Appeal doubts

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

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

"In particular, there are words and actions which humiliate various social groups based on their religion," she added.

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

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

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

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

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

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Overhaul of Spain banks approved

28 November 2012 Last updated at 05:40 ET

The European Commission has given the go-ahead to Spanish government's plans to restructure four troubled banks.

Bankia, Banco de Valencia, NCG and Catalunya Banc were nationalised after experiencing heavy losses on loans to homebuyers and property developers.

Banco de Valencia is to be sold to Caixa Bank, a privately-owned lender.

The other three must cut the total size of their loans and investments by more than 60% over the next five years under their restructuring plans.

During the restructuring period, the banks will be banned from paying dividends to shareholders or from acquiring other companies, and employee pay at the banks will be capped.

According to the European Commission, some 10bn euros (£8bn: $13bn) of the restructuring cost must be borne by investors in the banks - which is expected to include the requirement that some lenders to the banks accept a reduction in the amount owed to them.

The plans had also been approved by the Spanish central bank on Tuesday.

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Poland outlaws ritual slaughter

28 November 2012 Last updated at 05:47 ET

Poland's top court has outlawed the ritual slaughter of animals weeks before the EU is due to allow the practice on religious grounds.

The Constitutional Tribunal said it was against Polish law to allow animals to have their throats cut and bleed to death without first being stunned.

Poland has small Muslim and Jewish communities who use such methods.

However, it is unclear whether the ruling will be superseded by a new EU law allowing ritual slaughter.

On 1 January, a new regulation takes effect in the EU allowing the practice and setting common standards.

Poland's Agriculture Minister Stanislaw Kalemba told Polish radio the EU law took precedence, and would remove any doubt about the legality of the practice.

His ministry has awarded licences to at least 17 slaughterhouses to carry out ritual killing of animals.

But campaigners against cruelty to animals believe the EU law allows for individual countries to set their own rules.

Before the Polish ruling, Sweden was the only state in the EU which banned the ritual slaughter of animals.

'Up to us'

The court considered the case following a petition by Polish animal welfare groups, Polish radio reports.

Attorney General Andrzej Seremet argued that a 2004 amendment allowing ritual slaughter on religious grounds was unconstitutional in that it contravened animal rights legislation dating back to 1997.

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It appears there is a legal contradiction here and it is too early to tell what this means"

End Quote Piotr Kadlcik Union of Jewish Communities of Poland

Under the 1997 laws, slaughter should only "follow the loss of consciousness" after a farm animal is stunned.

Animal welfare campaigners argue that the incoming EU regulations allow individual member states to request an exception.

"It's up to us to decide whether we want a law authorising this kind of slaughter or not," Dariusz Gzyra of the campaign group Empatia told AFP news agency.

But critics fear the court's ruling will send a message of intolerance to religious minorities in Poland, a bastion of Roman Catholicism in Europe.

Polish President Bronislaw Komorowski has defended ritual slaughter as an ancient practice.

Last year, following a similar debate in the Netherlands, he said a Dutch bill to outlaw ritual slaughter targeted "the Muslim and Jewish community" and represented "a crisis of tolerance" in Europe.

Responding to the ban in Poland, Piotr Kadlcik, president of the country's Union of Jewish Communities, said the ruling appeared to contradict a 1997 Polish law on relations between his Union and the Polish state.

"It appears there is a legal contradiction here and it is too early to tell what this means," he was quoted as saying by The Times Of Israel.

"We are seeking legal advice on this right now."

Big business

Kosher meat (slaughtered according to Jewish practice) has particular significance in Poland because the country was Europe's Jewish heartland before the Nazi Holocaust.

Some 90% of Poland's Jewish population of three million were murdered. Today just 6,000 Jews remain in a country of 38.3 million, according to the European Jewish Congress.

Poland's Muslims can be numbered in the tens of thousands.

However, Poland is now a producer of both kosher and halal (slaughtered according to Islamic practice) meat for export, selling to Arab countries, Turkey and Israel, the Polish newspaper Gazeta Wyborcza reports.

The value of exports from Poland's kosher and halal abattoirs last year is estimated at 200m euros (£162m; $259m), AFP reports.

The new EU regulation notes that the EU allows a "derogation from stunning in case of religious slaughter taking place in slaughterhouses".

"It is important that derogation from stunning animals prior to slaughter should be maintained, leaving, however, a certain level of subsidiarity to each Member State," it says.

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Twin blasts shake Damascus suburb

28 November 2012 Last updated at 05:49 ET

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The BBC's Lina Sinjab says no group has claimed responsibility for the blasts

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

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

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

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

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

Airbase 'seized'

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

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

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

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

The pro-government TV channel, Addounia, said the car bombs exploded in Jaramana shortly after 06:40 (04:40 GMT).

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

State television showed scenes of mangled vehicles and badly damaged buildings.

It quoted a source at the interior ministry as saying 34 people had died and 83 seriously had been injured. Ten bags containing the remains of unidentified victims were also collected.

The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights (SOHR), a UK-based activist group, earlier put the death toll at 29.

Two smaller bombs also exploded in Jaramana at around the same time, the state news agency said, adding that nobody was killed by them.

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

The population of Jaramana is predominantly Christian and Druze, a heterodox offshoot of Islam.

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

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

Elsewhere on Wednesday, fighter jets bombarded rebel positions in the western Damascus suburb of Darayya, the SOHR said.

The army also reportedly shelled the Zabadani, a town in the mountains north-west of the capital. The Syrian Revolution General Commission, an opposition activist network, said more than 50 shells had fallen on the town in 30 minutes, injuring several people.

The Local Co-ordination Committees (LCC), another activist network, said 48 people were killed in the capital and its suburbs on Tuesday. It put the nationwide death toll at 131.

The rebel Free Syrian Army (FSA) overran an air force base in the Sayyida Zainab area, to the south of Damascus, and fought off several attempts by security forces to storm several suburbs, the LCC added.

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

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Egyptian protesters vow defiance

28 November 2012 Last updated at 05:50 ET

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The BBC's Bethany Bell says Mr Mursi has tried to defuse the crisis by promising his new powers would be limited in scope

Egyptian protesters have vowed to continue defying President Mohammed Mursi's wide-ranging new powers.

Tens of thousands of people demonstrated across the country on Tuesday, in one of the largest protests since the overthrow of Hosni Mubarak.

Mr Mursi has said the decree will be limited in scope, but has refused continuing demands to overturn it.

Hundreds remain in Cairo's Tahrir Square - centre of protests since last year - with smoke bombs being thrown.

Mr Mursi's opponents have called for a mass rally on Friday.

The Muslim Brotherhood, to which Mr Mursi belongs, postponed a rally on Tuesday saying it wanted to avoid "public tension".

But it said it was capable of mobilising "millions" in support of the president.

Mr Mursi's backers say the decree was needed to protect the gains of the revolution against a judiciary with deep ties to the Mubarak era.

Protesters who have taken to the streets since the decree was issued last Thursday say the Brotherhood has hijacked the revolution.

Egypt's prime minister is to chair a cabinet meeting on Wednesday to discuss the situation, the Mena news agency said.

'Playing with fire'

Anti-decree protesters continue clashed with police overnight in Tahrir Square.

"The people want to bring down the regime," some shouted, repeating a chant that was used in the same square last year during the protests that led to former President Mubarak's fall.

Continue reading the main story

"Start Quote

Next Friday will be decisive"

End Quote Islam Bayoumi Cairo protester

"We don't want a dictatorship again," said 32-year-old Ahmed Husseini. "The Mubarak regime was a dictatorship. We had a revolution to have justice and freedom."

Protests were also held in Alexandria, Suez, Minya and other Nile Delta cities on Tuesday.

In the city of el-Mahalla el-Kubra, medical officials said more than 100 people were wounded as rival protesters threw stones and petrol bombs.

Several regional offices belonging to the Muslim Brotherhood were attacked.

"Next Friday will be decisive," Cairo protester Islam Bayoumi told the Associated Press news agency.

"If people maintain the same pressure and come in large numbers, they could manage to press the president and rescue the constitution."

But Saad Emara, a senior Muslim Brotherhood member, told AP: "The story now is that the civilian forces are playing with fire. This is a dangerous scene."

He said the president would not make any more concessions.

Sunday flashpoint?

The president's decree - known as the constitutional declaration - said no authority could revoke his decisions.

Continue reading the main story

"Start Quote

Mursi has split the country down the middle"

End Quote Ayman Qenawi Cairo

There is a bar on judges dissolving the assembly that is drawing up a new constitution. The president is also authorised to take any measures to preserve the revolution, national unity or safeguard national security.

Critics say the decree is an attack on the judiciary.

On Monday, Mr Mursi told senior judges that the scope of the measure would be restricted to "sovereign matters", designed to protect institutions.

But judges who attended the meeting have said they are not satisfied.

Another possible flashpoint could be Sunday, when Egypt's constitutional court could rule to disband the constituent assembly in defiance of President Mursi's decree.

The assembly is dominated by the Brotherhood and its Islamist allies.

The courts have already dissolved the lower house of parliament, which was led by the Brotherhood.

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Mursi tries to ease Egypt crisis

26 November 2012 Last updated at 18:06 ET

Egyptian President Mohammed Mursi has sought to defuse a crisis over efforts to extend his own powers, during talks with senior judges.

Mr Mursi told them that a decree banning challenges to his decisions would stand, but that it would be limited in scope, his spokesman said.

The decree has led to violent unrest, and opponents will hold new protests on Tuesday to demand its withdrawal.

However, Mr Mursi's Muslim Brotherhood has called off its own rival rally.

'Public tension'

After Mr Mursi's five-hour meeting with members of the Supreme Council for the Judiciary on Monday, presidential spokesman Yasser Ali said the president had told the judges he respected judicial independence.

Mr Ali made it clear the president would not withdraw the decree, but said Mr Mursi had reassured the judges that its scope would be restricted to "sovereign matters", designed to protect institutions.

Continue reading the main story

President Mursi may have been guilty of a degree of over-confidence, or political naivety"

End Quote

There is no word so far from the judges, but the BBC's Jon Leyne in Cairo says this is a formula the judges have previously indicated they would accept.

The presidential spokesman also said there would be no further retrials of officials who worked under President Hosni Mubarak, who was ousted in last year's revolution, unless new evidence were presented.

Opposition protests against the decree will go ahead on Tuesday.

Mona Amer, a spokesman for the opposition movement Popular Current, told Reuters: "We asked for the cancellation of the decree and that did not happen."

However, the Muslim Brotherhood said it was postponing its demonstration in support of Mr Mursi to avoid "public tension".

The group had called for a million-man march to take place outside Cairo University.

Our correspondent says the postponement is another sign that the government wants to defuse a dangerous confrontation, but it remains to be seen whether it ends the days of angry and sometimes violent protests.

Several prominent opposition leaders, including Nobel Peace Prize laureate Mohamed ElBaradei, have said they will not engage in dialogue until the president rescinds the measure, known as the constitutional declaration.

The decree, issued last week, said no authority could revoke presidential decisions.

There is a bar on judges dissolving the assembly drawing up a new constitution. The president is also authorised to take any measures to preserve the revolution, national unity or safeguard national security.

Critics said the decree was an attack on the judiciary and placed the president above the law.

It has sparked violent protests in Cairo and across the country. Many judges and prosecutors went on strike.

On Sunday, teenager Islam Fathy Massoud died and 60 people were injured in clashes in the Nile Delta town of Damanhour between the president's supporters and opponents.

His funeral was held on Monday, while in Cairo thousands of people marched through Tahrir Square for the funeral of another young activist killed in recent clashes with police.

Egypt's stock market, which had seen a fall of almost 10% on Sunday, recovered some ground on Monday morning.

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Eurozone deal on Greece bailout

27 November 2012 Last updated at 04:51 ET

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Olli Rehn: "Greece has kept its commitments"

Eurozone finance ministers and the IMF have reached a deal on an urgently needed bailout for debt-laden Greece.

They have agreed to cut debts by 40bn euros ($51bn; £32bn) and have paved the way for releasing the next tranche of bailout loans - some 44bn euros.

Greek Prime Minister Antonis Samaras welcomed the deal, saying "a new day begins for all Greeks", but it was condemned by the main opposition party.

European and Asian shares and the euro all climbed on news of the agreement.

The German Dax and French Cac 40 indexes each rose by 0.8% at the start of trading on Tuesday, while in London the FTSE 100 gained 0.6%, reversing losses from Monday.

In Asia, the MSCI's broadest index of Asia Pacific shares outside Japan gained 0.3% to its highest level in more than two weeks. Australian shares rose 0.7%, while South Korea's benchmark Kospi index was up nearly 0.9%.

The euro reached its highest level against the dollar since 31 October, up about 0.2% to $1.30.

'Credibility test'

The breakthrough came after more than 10 hours of talks in Brussels. It was the eurozone's third meeting in two weeks on Greece.

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Analysis

The deal has prompted mixed reactions here. Many Greeks will see only the price tag attached: years of crippling austerity, with no sign yet of growth. And targets may still be missed, given the deep recession.

But the government - and its supporters - are immensely relieved. The prime minister had laid his survival on the line. Securing the money and more time to cut Greece's debt will be seen as a vital vote of confidence from its lenders - a commitment to its continuing membership of the euro. The daily Ta Nea calls it the "first smile for Greece".

One senior banker told me recently two things drive the markets: fear and greed. For now, fear of a "Grexit" still drives away investors. But with the bailout cash, perhaps that fear may recede, greed may return, and investment may slowly dribble back to Greece. But it'll be a long, hard road ahead.

The deal opens the way for support for Greece's teetering banks and will allow the government to pay wages and pensions in December.

The leader of the eurozone finance ministers' group, Jean-Claude Juncker, said Greece would get the next instalment of cash on 13 December.

Greece has been waiting since June for the tranche, to help its heavily indebted economy stay afloat.

European Central Bank (ECB) president Mario Draghi said the bailout would "strengthen confidence in Europe and in Greece".

For his part, Mr Juncker said the deal did not just have financial implications.

"This is not just about money. It is the promise of a better future for the Greek people and for the Euro area as a whole."

Greece's international lenders have agreed to take steps to reduce the country's debts, from an estimated 144%, to 124% of its gross domestic product by 2020.

These include cutting the interest rate on loans to Greece, and returning 11bn euros to Athens in profits from ECB purchases of Greek government bonds.

Ministers have also agreed to help Greece buy back its own bonds from private investors.

Continue reading the main story

"Start Quote

Greece has been granted another breathing space. There will be no "Grexit" - no Greek exit. The markets should like that"

End Quote

So far the ECB, IMF and the European Commission have pledged a total of 240bn euros in rescue loans, of which Greece has received around 150bn euros.

In return, Greece has had to impose several rounds of austerity measures and submit its economy to scrutiny.

The European Union's commissioner for economic and monetary affairs, Olli Rehn, said it was crucial that a deal had finally been reached.

"For the eurozone this was a real test of our credibility, of our ability to take decisions on the most challenging of issues.

"And it was a test that we simply could not afford to fail."

However, the Greek radical left opposition party Syriza - who came close to winning elections earlier this year - rejected the deal.

"It's a half-baked compromise, a band-aid on the gaping wound of Greece's debt," said Syriza deputy Dimitris Papadimoulis, who claimed that the German Chancellor Angela Merkel had blocked attempts to cut Greece's debt in half.

'Matter of weeks'

"This is a good deal, but I think a good deal was long overdue for Greece," Gerard Lyons, chief economist of Standard Chartered Bank, told the BBC.

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"The most significant thing is the fact that about 20% of Greek debt has been written off," he said. "The lesson of all crises elsewhere is that unless you start to write down debt you don't really start to make inroads."

However, Mr Lyons cautioned that while the deal mitigated the risk of Greece leaving the euro, it did little to help the Greek economy recover.

"What Greece really needs is to reverse [its] austerity measures," he added. Spending cuts by Athens - a pre-condition for its bailout - have been blamed for significantly worsening a multi-year contraction of the Greek economy.

The sentiment was echoed by Konstantinos Michalos, president of Athens Chamber of Commerce and Industry.

"[The deal] has to be seen as a major vote of confidence to the country," Mr Michalos told the BBC, while affirming that "it's simply extending the lifeline".

Both agreed that Germany's coming parliamentary elections played a role in making the deal possible.

"Six months ago the feeling in Europe generally was that they could sacrifice Greece," said Mr Lyons. "That thinking has now changed, particularly in Germany."

A new sense of caution has descended on Berlin ahead of the elections.

But while that has increased Germany's willingness to head off the broader eurozone crisis that might be sparked by a Greek exit from the single currency, according to Mr Michalos it has also made the German government less willing to grant Greece the greater leniency needed to ensure a stronger economic recovery.

Mr Michalos said the onus was now on his own government to push through structural reforms - such as reducing protections for existing workers - in order to boost competitiveness and confidence in the economy, and achieve positive growth.

"We need to progress with these structural reforms immediately," he said. "It is not a question of years or months. It is a matter of weeks."

The Greek economy is projected by Eurostat to have shrunk by a fifth by the end of this year since the crisis began in 2008.

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Congo rebels 'agree to withdraw'

27 November 2012 Last updated at 05:56 ET

Rebel forces have reportedly agreed to withdraw from the eastern Democratic Republic of Congo city of Goma, which they captured last week.

However, there are also reports of new fighting in the area.

At an emergency meeting on Saturday, regional leaders ordered the M23 rebels to leave Goma by Monday and senior commander Col Antoine Manzi has been quoted as saying they will now do so.

Some 500,000 people have fled their homes during seven months of fighting.

Both Uganda and Rwanda strongly deny UN accusations that they are backing the M23.

'Heavy shelling'

M23 military commander Sultani Makenga on Monday flew to Uganda for talks, after which Uganda's chief of defence forces Aronda Nyakayirima told Reuters news agency that he had agreed to withdraw from Goma and the nearby town of Sake, also seized last week, by Tuesday afternoon.

Asked by the AFP news agency, Col Manzi said: "It's true."

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• Named after the 23 March 2009 peace accord which they accuse the government of violating
• This deal saw them join the army before they took up arms once more in April 2012
• Also known as the Congolese Revolutionary Army
• Mostly from minority Tutsi ethnic group
• Deny being backed by Rwanda and Uganda
• Believed to have 1,200 to 6,000 fighters
• International Criminal Court indicted top commander Bosco "Terminator" Ntaganda in 2006 for allegedly recruiting child soldiers
• The UN and US imposed a travel ban and asset freeze earlier this month on the group's leader, Sultani Makenga

M23 political leader Jean-Marie Runiga at an on-going press conference in Goma has said the rebels want negotiations with Congolese President Joseph Kabila.

The BBC's Catherine Byaruhanga in the Ugandan capital, Kampala, says following the summit on Saturday, an official told her the plan was to deploy a regional neutral force to Goma airport to secure the city for the DR Congo government.

Both the M23 and Rwanda's leaders are mostly ethnic Tutsis and on Tuesday, Rwanda accused a rival Hutu rebel group of attacking its territory not far from the border town of Goma.

Rwandan army spokesman Joseph Nzabamwita told AFP that about 100 Democratic Forces for the Liberation of Rwanda (FDLR) fighters had attacked the villages of Cyanzarwe and Bugesh in Rwanda.

"As we are talking some are fleeing back to DRC, others deep inside Rwanda," he is quoted as saying.

Simone Schlindwein, a reporter for the German newspaper TAZ in Goma, told the BBC's Newsday programme the situation in the city was extremely confusing and it was abuzz with rumours.

There are reports of heaving shelling and gunfire from Kibumba about 30km (19 miles) north of Goma - the former frontline where the rebels have reportedly agreed to withdraw, she says.

The Rwandans and M23 have told her that the FDLR have recently infiltrated the area around Kibumba before launching the attack on Rwandan territory on Monday night.

The FDLR has denied attacking Rwanda, Ms Schlindwein later tweeted.

Rwanda has sought to justify its backing for previous rebel groups in eastern DR Congo by saying they are the only way of preventing Hutu militias from launching attacks.

Rwanda's President Paul Kagame came to power in 1994 at the end of the genocide of ethnic Tutsis and moderate Hutus, when many of those who carried out the killing fled into what is now DR Congo.

Following the rebel capture of Goma, the largest city in eastern DR Congo, the UN has warned of a growing humanitarian crisis in the mineral-rich region.

Aid officials said the fighting has made camps for people displaced by earlier conflicts inaccessible, with food and medicines running short.

Some five million people died during the 1997-2003 DR Congo conflict, which drew in several regional countries.

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Yasser Arafat's remains exhumed

27 November 2012 Last updated at 06:03 ET

The remains of Yasser Arafat have been exhumed as part of an investigation into how the Palestinian leader died.

Swiss, French and Russian experts were given samples to establish whether his death in Paris in 2004 at the age of 75 was the result of poisoning before the tomb was resealed.

France began a murder inquiry in August after Swiss experts found radioactive polonium-210 on his personal effects.

Arafat's medical records say he had a stroke resulting from a blood disorder.

His widow, Suha, objected to a post-mortem at the time of his death, but asked the Palestinian Authority to permit the exhumation "to reveal the truth".

Sealed tomb

Arafat's body lies in a stone-clad mausoleum inside the Muqataa presidential compound in the West Bank city of Ramallah. The mausoleum was sealed off earlier this month.

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At the scene

On a grey day with the threat of drizzle, this event was a bit of damp squib.

For the hundreds of snap-happy journalists lined up outside the presidential compound in Ramallah where Yasser Arafat's cube-shaped mausoleum sits, there was not much to see.

It was shielded from prying eyes by large sheets of blue tarpaulin, so reporters could only guess what was going on behind.

The whole operation was over in a matter of hours. It now seems the investigators did not even have to remove the body from the tomb - scientists were able to take the samples they needed without having to do so.

My midday we were told the tomb had been resealed, with no need for a formal reburial. Any ceremonials appear to have been minimal.

Now there will be a long wait, possibly several months, before the test results come through. They may not be conclusive. There's a possibility the whole thing could be kicked into the long grass.

Palestinians here seem a little indifferent. Most take it as unproven fact that their leader died at Israel's hands. Israel has always denied it.

This has all the ingredients of a murder mystery. But it's difficult to ever see it leading to any prosecutions. And if Israel did kill Yasser Arafat, it's likely it was done with the help of somebody within his close circle.

Palestinian officials told Agence France Presse that only a Palestinian doctor had been allowed to directly touch the remains and remove the samples, but the process was conducted in front of the Swiss, Russian and French scientists, who will carry out tests for polonium-210 and possibly other lethal substances in their respective countries.

It is believed that the investigation could take several months.

Before the exhumation, the head of the Palestinian committee investigating Arafat's death, Tawfik al-Tirawi, said no journalists would be allowed to observe the exhumation.

"Because [of the] sanctity of the symbol and the sanctity of this event, [the exhumation] should not be permitted to be in front of the media," the former Palestinian intelligence chief said.

A reburial ceremony with full military honours had been planned, but this ultimately was not deemed necessary as the body was not removed from the grave during the collection of the samples.

Many Palestinians continue to believe Arafat was poisoned by Israel, which saw him as an obstacle to peace and had put him under house arrest.

There has also been speculation that Arafat was suffering from HIV or cancer at the time of his death.

Israel has strongly denied any involvement in Arafat's death.

An Israeli official, speaking on condition of anonymity, told the BBC: "All the medical files are in the hands of the family or the Palestinian Authority. For some reason they have not released them to this day. Our position has not changed over the years, but the question is why did they wait eight years?"

TV documentary

Arafat, who led the Palestine Liberation Organisation for 35 years and became the first president of the Palestinian Authority in 1996, fell violently ill in October 2004 inside the Muqataa.

Two weeks later he was flown to a French military hospital in Paris, where he died on 11 November.

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Arafat: The Swiss claims

• "Unexplained, elevated" level of polonium-210 on Arafat's clothing, keffiyeh and toothbrush
• Highest levels found on items with bodily fluids
• Toothbrush measured 54 millibecquerels (mBq); underwear 180mBq compared with 6.7mBq from another man's specimen underwear
• More than 60% of polonium was not from natural sources

Source: Al-Jazeera TV

In 2005, the New York Times obtained a copy of Arafat's medical records, which it said showed he died of a massive haemorrhagic stroke that resulted from a bleeding disorder caused by an unknown infection.

Independent experts who reviewed the records told the paper that it was highly unlikely that he had been poisoned.

A murder inquiry was launched by French prosecutors in August after an investigation by al-Jazeera TV, working with scientists at the Institute of Radiation Physics (IRA) at the University of Lausanne in Switzerland, found "significant" traces of polonium-210 present in samples taken from Arafat's personal effects, including his trademark keffiyeh headdress.

In some cases, the elevated levels were 10 times higher than those on control subjects, and most of the polonium could not have come from natural sources, the scientists said.

But the institute also said that Arafat's symptoms - as described in his medical records - were not consistent with polonium poisoning.

The former Russian spy Alexander Litvinenko died of exposure to polonium-210 in London in 2006. The UK authorities have accused Andrei Lugovoi, an ex-KGB officer, of poisoning his tea.

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Israeli minister Barak to quit

26 November 2012 Last updated at 05:22 ET

The Israeli Defence Minister, Ehud Barak, has announced he will quit politics after the general election next January.

Mr Barak, who was Israel's prime minister between 1999 and 2001, said he would now concentrate on his personal life.

"I want to study, to write, to live and have a good time," he told reporters.

Mr Barak said he would remain as defence minister until a new government is formed.

The decision brings an end to a 53-year career in Israel's military and political establishment.

Ehud Barak served in the Israel Defense Forces for 39 years, rising to become the Chief of General Staff for four years from 1991 to 1995.

He served with distinction in the 1973 Middle East war and oversaw two daring operations to free Israeli hostages on hijacked planes.

Mr Barak led the 1972 operation against Palestinian militants from the Black September group who had seized a Sabena flight and forced it to land at Lod (now Ben Gurion) airport, in Israel.

Dressed as a ground technician, he convinced the hijackers the plane needed repairing and quickly overpowered them, killing two men and capturing two women. A second future prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, served under Mr Barak on that raid.

Four years later, Mr Barak was one of the architects of the raid on Entebbe airport in Uganda to rescue another plane of Israelis also being held hostage by Black September.

Some two decades later, as Chief of General Staff, he implemented the Israel-Palestinian Oslo peace accords and participated in peace talks with Jordan.

On his resignation from the military, Mr Barak joined the Labour-led government of Yitzhak Rabin as interior minister. After Rabin's assassination in 1995, he served as foreign minister in the government of Shimon Peres until its fall in 1996.

Mr Barak was elected leader of the Labour party and defeated Benjamin Netanyahu in the 1999 general election on a manifesto which included the promise to withdraw from southern Lebanon.

He made good on that pledge in 2000 and also held detailed negotiations on final status issues with Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat, but his government collapsed in 2001 and he lost power to Ariel Sharon's Likud party.

Mr Barak returned to frontline politics in 2007 when he regained the leadership of the Labour party and joined Ehud Olmert's ruling coalition as defence minister. He has held that post for the past five years, despite leaving Labour to form his own Independence party.

Mr Barak said he had been considering his decision for the past few weeks and said he would now spend more time with his family, despite polls showing a growth in support for his party following Israel's Gaza offensive this month.

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Egypt's Mursi meets top judges

26 November 2012 Last updated at 05:37 ET

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The BBC's Jon Leyne in Cairo says it seems that President Mursi is now "reaching out for a compromise"

Egyptian President Mohammed Mursi has been meeting senior judges to try to ease a crisis over the extent of his powers, reports say.

A decree giving him sweeping new powers was announced on Thursday, sparking violent nationwide protests and leading to a 9% drop in Egypt's stock market.

Mr Mursi said on Sunday the decree was temporary and not intended to concentrate power in his hands.

He was committed to finding "common ground" with other parties, he said.

He also hoped to reach consensus on a new constitution currently being drafted, he added, and the decree was intended to prevent democratically elected bodies from being undermined.

Mediation efforts

The Judges' Club, which represents judges throughout the country, called for a nationwide strike to protest against the decree over the weekend.

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President Mursi may have been guilty of a degree of over-confidence, or political naivety"

End Quote

The journalists' union also rejected the president's decree and threatened to go on strike.

But the top judicial body, the Supreme Judicial Council, appeared not to reject the decree outright, saying it should only apply to "sovereign matters", and urged judges to return to work.

Justice Minister Ahmed Mekky has begun efforts to mediate between the president and the judges.

The minister said he himself had some reservations about the president's decree, Reuters reported.

The president met members of the Supreme Judicial Council on Monday morning to discuss the decree, Egyptian media said. It was not clear whether the talks had finished.

Several prominent opposition leaders, including Nobel Peace Prize winner Mohamed elBaradei, have said they will not engage in dialogue with the president until he rescinds the measure, known as the constitutional declaration.

Teenager dies

According to President Mursi's decree, no authority can revoke presidential decisions.

There is also a bar on judges dissolving the assembly, which is drawing up a new constitution.

The decree has sparked violent protests in Cairo and across the country since it was announced.

On Sunday, a teenager died and 60 people were injured in clashes in the Nile Delta town of Damanhour, between the president's supporters and opponents.

Described as a member of the Muslim Brotherhood, the movement that backs Mr Mursi, 15-year-old Islam Fathy Massoud was killed after its headquarters were attacked.

Other clashes saw police firing tear gas in Cairo's Tahrir Square area. However, the trouble had died down on Monday and there were no further reports of clashes.

Egypt's stock market, which had seen a fall of almost 10% on Sunday, recovered some ground on Monday morning.

Large demonstrations are planned by supporters and opponents of Mr Mursi on Tuesday.

The Muslim Brotherhood has called for a one million-man march to take place outside Cairo University.

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Gunmen attack Nigeria police HQ

26 November 2012 Last updated at 05:59 ET

Unknown gunmen have attacked a Nigerian police base in the capital, Abuja, where Boko Haram Islamist militants are often held, police say.

A police spokesman said the attack was repelled. Unconfirmed reports say some detainees were freed.

The Special Anti-Robbery Squad (Sars) headquarters is near several government buildings and security is normally extremely tight in the area.

No group has said it carried out this attack but Boko Haram is suspected.

The group wants to establish Islamic law in Nigeria and has killed hundreds of people this year, mostly in the mainly Muslim north.

The attack comes a day after a double suicide bombing killed 11 people in a church inside a military barracks in Kaduna state, north of the capital.

One Abuja resident said he heard gunfire for about half an hour in the early hours of Monday morning.

A police spokesman did not give any further details.

An AFP journalist at the Sars headquarters says there are no visible signs of damage to the building, which is heavily guarded with two armoured vehicles outside.

Armed robbery suspects are also often detained at the building.

It is where suspects are held when they are first transferred to the capital.

While most Boko Haram attacks are carried out in the north, it has previously targeted Abuja.

Last year, a suicide bomber from the group attacked the main police headquarters in the capital killing six people.

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Syrian attack 'kills 10 children'

26 November 2012 Last updated at 06:16 ET

Activists in Syria say a government jet has dropped a cluster bomb on a playground, leaving 10 children dead.

Video posted on the internet showed children's bodies on the ground with their mothers grieving over them.

The children were killed when a MiG fighter bombed a playground in the village of Deir al-Asafir, east of Damascus, opposition activists said.

Intensive fighting has continued around the capital. Rebel fighters captured at least part of an airbase on Sunday.

Further footage of the playground attack showed what appeared to be cluster bomblets on the ground. In one video, two girls could be seen lying dead in a street while another showed a distraught mother standing, apparently inside a clinic, over her daughter's lifeless body.

In recent months there have been mounting allegations that the Syrian government has resorted to using cluster bombs as the conflict intensifies, although those claims have been denied, the BBC's Jim Muir in neighbouring Lebanon reports.

'Baseless'

Two cluster bombs were dropped on the village, activists said. One man told Reuters news agency that 70 bomblets had been found.

"None of those killed was older than 15 years old," Abu Kassem, an activist in Deir al-Asafir told Reuters.

He said 15 people had been wounded in the attack and denied that rebel fighters were inside the village. They had been operating on the outskirts, he said.

Last month, Human Rights Watch said there had been an increase in online video reports purporting to show evidence of cluster bombs being dropped in the conflict, especially around the town of Maarat al-Numan.

The Syrian government said the military did not have such weapons and dismissed the allegations as "baseless".

An unverified report by the Local Co-ordination Committees (LCC), an opposition activist network, put the number of casualties across Syria on Sunday at 117, including 14 children.

Battle for military bases

Rebel fighters said on Sunday they had captured a military airbase at Marj al-Sultan, not far from Deir al-Asafir, although activists of the UK-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said they had later pulled out.

Amateur video showed a rebel standing beside a wrecked helicopter while a man speaking on the video said a warplane had been blown up.

Although the rebels control areas to the east and north-east of Damascus as well as on the edge of the city, government forces are widely seen as superior in the capital and the Free Syrian Army has been unable to take permanent control of military bases.

A similar rebel attack took place last week on an air defence battalion base at Hajar al-Aswad, south of Damascus, which fighters briefly controlled after a four-day siege.

The rebels have been more successful in holding on to bases in areas of Syria more firmly under their control. Last week opposition sources said they had seized a base at Mayadeen in the eastern province of Deir Ezzor.

They now appear to hold a swathe of territory in the Euphrates valley, from the Iraqi border to the provincial capital of Deir al-Zour.

Unverified videos posted on the internet on Monday showed fighters claiming to be in control of the Tishreen dam on the Euphrates river, further north in Aleppo province. There has been fierce fighting in the area around the dam for several days.

In a separate development, Russian Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev has criticised a decision by France and the UK to recognise Syria's new opposition coalition as sole legitimate representative of the Syrian people.

"From the point of view of international law, this is absolutely unacceptable," he told French journalists ahead of a two-day visit to Paris, which was starting on Monday.

"A desire to change the political regime of another state by recognising a political force as the sole carrier of sovereignty seems to me to be not completely civilised."

The EU has stopped short of full recognition, describing the National Coalition for Syrian Revolutionary and Opposition Forces as "legitimate representatives of the aspirations of the Syrian people."

1. Cluster bombs are usually dropped from a plane and can fly several miles before releasing their load of bomblets.

2. The canister starts to spin and opens at an altitude between 1,000m and 100m, spraying the bomblets across a wide area.

3. Each bomblet is the size of a drink can and contains hundreds of metal pieces. When it explodes, it can cause deadly injuries up to 25m away.

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Catalonia votes in key elections

25 November 2012 Last updated at 02:21 ET

The Spanish region of Catalonia is holding important regional elections, after a campaign that has focused on the issue of independence.

Catalan nationalists want to hold a referendum on whether the region should break away from the rest of Spain.

Polls suggest Catalan nationalist parties are set to do well.

Catalan President Artur Mas called early elections amid a funding row with the central government; it says he is trying to exploit the economic crisis.

Madrid says Catalan nationalists are looking for excuses having nearly run out of money, and having run up a big debt.

Polls close at 20:00 (19:00 GMT).

European membership?

Mr Mas says the wealthy and influential north-eastern region gets a raw funding deal from the central government, and his centre-right Catalan Nationalist Coalition (CiU) will be hoping for a majority in the regional parliament.

His party argues a Catalan state would fare better as a member of the EU than a province of Spain.

The European flag has been prominent at his campaign rallies, and he says an independent Catalonia would quickly gain membership of the 27-member bloc.

The CiU ousted the Socialist party in elections in November 2010.

With 135 parliamentary seats available, Mr Mas knows that if he is to pursue his dream of an independent Catalonia, he will need a clear mandate from voters, says the BBC's Tom Burridge, in Barcelona.

If not, Mr Mas will have to rely on the support of smaller pro-independence parties, our correspondent says.

Even then, the road to independence is far from straightforward.

A referendum would be illegal under the current Spanish constitution, and Spain's ruling Popular Party is likely to block any attempts for constitutional change.

Other parties, such as the nationalist Ciutadans, the Popular Party of Catalonia the Socialist Party of Catalonia are all opposed to Catalonia's independence bid.

The Catalan vote comes as the Basque separatist movement Eta indicates it is ready to disarm, disband and enter talks with the French and Spanish governments.

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Egypt crisis prompts shares dive

25 November 2012 Last updated at 05:51 ET

Shares on Egypt's stock market plunged almost 10% on Sunday, days after President Mohammed Mursi granted himself sweeping new powers.

Protests against the president's decision have continued in Cairo, while the Muslim Brotherhood is planning rallies backing him later.

Trading was suspended for 30 minutes as shares slumped in the first session since the president's announcement.

But the slide continued as soon as share dealing resumed.

Renewed clashes broke out in Cairo on Sunday morning between protesters and security forces in a street leading to Tahrir Square. Trails of tear gas could be seen in the square itself.

Stones were thrown close to the US embassy, but because concrete blocks had been erected in the area the situation was less tense than before, Mena news agency reported.

The barriers had been put up to secure key Egyptian government and parliamentary buildings, Mena added.

Continue reading the main story

• All investigations into killing of protesters or use of violence against them to be held again; trials of those accused also to be re-held
• All constitutional declarations, laws and decrees made since Mr Mursi assumed power cannot be appealed or cancelled
• Public prosecutor to be appointed by president for four-year fixed term and aged at least 40
• Constituent assembly's timeline for drafting new constitution extended by two months
• No judicial authority can dissolve constituent assembly or upper house of parliament (Shura Council)
• President authorised to take any measures to preserve revolution, national unity or safeguard national security

According to President Mursi's decree, announced on Thursday, no authority can revoke presidential decisions.

There is also a bar on judges dissolving the assembly which is drawing up a new constitution.

Mr Mursi sacked chief prosecutor Abdel Maguid Mahmoud, who was first appointed by ex-president Hosni Mubarak.

Mr Mahmoud's replacement, Talaat Ibrahim, has been given the job of re-examining all investigations into the deaths of protesters when Mr Mubarak was in power.

Egypt's judges denounced the decree on Saturday as an "unprecedented attack" on the judiciary, and the Judges' Club that represents them called for "the suspension of work in all courts and prosecution administrations".

Twenty-two rights groups signed an open letter which said the president "has dealt a lethal blow to the Egyptian judiciary" and demanded that the decree should be revoked immediately.

Opposition politician Mohamed ElBaradei had earlier complained that the president had "usurped all state powers and appointed himself Egypt's new pharaoh".

But the president's measures have also prompted his supporters to come out on to the streets and there were clashes on Saturday as pro-Mursi demonstrators tried to disrupt an emergency Judges Club meeting.

The Muslim Brotherhood, which backs Mr Mursi's Freedom and Justice Party (FJP) party, has called for further demonstrations in support of the decree after sunset.

The Islamist movement has called for a one-million-man march to be held at Abdin Square on Tuesday.

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Second bomb targets Pakistan city

25 November 2012 Last updated at 06:13 ET

Five people were killed and dozens more wounded when a bomb exploded near a Shia Muslim procession in north-west Pakistan.

It was the second bombing in the city of Dera Ismail Khan in as many days. The Taliban said it was responsible.

On Saturday, eight people died, seven of them children, when a roadside bomb went off close to another procession.

Dera Ismail Khan is a stronghold of Sunni militant groups who see Shia as non-believers.

The bomb on Sunday went off in a shop close to a street market as worshippers passed by, witnesses said.

As with the previous attack, children were among the dead, provincial officials said. At least 40 other people were wounded, including members of the security forces.

TV footage showed the wounded being taken to hospital and a doctor told Pakistani media that the number of fatalities was likely to rise because of the severity of some of the injuries.

Most of the victims of Saturday's attack were Sunnis. One Taliban spokesman said it had carried out the bombing, but on Sunday another denied it had been responsible.

There are fears of further bloodshed in Pakistan, as Shia Muslims mark Ashoura, the climax of the holy month of Muharram, the BBC's Orla Guerin reports from Islamabad.

Tens of thousands of police and paramilitary forces have been deployed around Pakistan as Sunni militants warn of further attacks.

Shia Muslims whip themselves in Ashoura processions to mourn the killing of the Prophet Mohammed's grandson Imam Hussein in the seventh century.

Mobile phone coverage has been suspended in several Pakistani cities because of several earlier bombings detonated by mobiles.

However, the Dawn newspaper reported that mobile services were still available in several parts of Pakistan's northwestern Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province, including the city of Peshawar.

Saturday's attack was reportedly triggered by TV remote control and reports said a remote controlled device was also used in the latest bombing.

Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Information Minister Mian Iftikhar Hussain told Dawn that security had been stepped up after Saturday's blast and the road had been searched before the latest procession.

But, he said, the bomb was believed to have been planted earlier in a cycle shop.

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More than 100 dead in Dhaka fire

25 November 2012 Last updated at 06:17 ET

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Firefighters took several hours to bring the fire under control

More than 100 people are now known to have died in a fire that swept through a clothes factory in Bangladesh, local officials say.

The blaze broke out late on Saturday in the multi-floor Tazreen Fashion factory in the Ashulia district on the outskirts of the capital Dhaka.

Some people died after jumping from the building to escape the flames.

It is unclear what caused the fire, which started on the ground floor trapping many victims in the factory.

Firefighters managed to contain the blaze on Sunday morning, and officials suspect an electrical short circuit might have caused the disaster.

Fatal fires are common in Bangladesh's large garment manufacturing sector, and the BBC's Anbarasan Ethirajan in Dhaka says Western companies are likely to renew pressure on the local businesses to improve safety.

In a separate development, at least 13 people died when a flyover under construction collapsed late on Saturday in the south-eastern city of Chittagong, police said.

The authorities are investigating both accidents.

Anxious wait

Initial reports said eight people had been killed in the factory fire, but the scale of the disaster became clear when rescue workers entered the building on Sunday.

"We resumed our search this morning and found the bodies lying on different floors of the factory building," Brigadier General Abu Nayeem Mohammad Shahidullah of the Dhaka fire brigade told AFP news agency.

Later reports said that 120 people had died, but the number of fatalities was then lowered to at least 112. A number of people are believed to be missing.

The fire started on the ground floor - which was reportedly used as a warehouse - and quickly spread through the building.

Senior fire department official Mohammad Mahbub told the Associated Press news agency that the factory had no fire exit on the outside of the building.

"Had there been at least one emergency exit through outside the factory, the casualties would have been much lower," he said.

The factory owner denied the allegations that the building was unsafe to work in.

"It is a huge loss for my staff and my factory. This is the first time we have ever had a fire at one of my seven factories," Delwar Hossain told AFP.

Police and soldiers were deployed to keep the situation under control as thousands of anxious relatives of factory employees gathered at the scene.

"Where's my son?" cried Sabina Yasmine. She said she saw the body of her daughter-in-law, who died in the fire, but her son was missing, AP reports.

She expressed fury at the factory owners, who she blamed for the fire.

Fatal fires are common in Bangladesh's large garment manufacturing sector.

Lax safety standards, poor wiring and overcrowding are blamed for causing several deadly factory fires every year.

In December 2010, a wiring problem led to a fire in another clothes factory in the same industrial zone, leaving at least 25 people dead.

There are around 4,500 factories in Bangladesh, employing more than two million people.

Clothes account for up to 80% of Bangladesh's $24bn (£15bn) annual exports.

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