Karachi at standstill after bombing

4 March 2013 Last updated at 02:46 ET

The Pakistani city of Karachi is in mourning after a powerful bomb ripped through a mainly Shia Muslim area, killing at least 45 people.

Schools and businesses are closed after a strike was called to protest against the attack in Abbas Town.

No group has yet said it planted the bomb, which went off near a mosque as worshippers left evening prayers.

Pakistan's Shia minority are the target of frequent sectarian attacks from Sunni militant groups.

Sunday night's explosion destroyed several buildings and set others on fire, sending a huge column of smoke into the sky and causing a power cut in part of the city.

Police are investigating whether it was a suicide attack and some reports have spoken of a second explosion.

At least 150 people were wounded by the blast, police say.

Shias targeted

Monday's strike, being observed in several cities across Sindh province, was called by an alliance of political groups.

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• Muslims are split into two main branches, the Sunnis and Shias
• The split originates in a dispute soon after the death of the Prophet Muhammad over who should lead the Muslim community
• There are also differences in doctrine, ritual, law, theology and religious organisation
• The great majority of Muslims are Sunnis
• Pakistan - where Shias are a minority - has a history of sectarian bloodshed dating back to the 1980s

Public transport stayed off the roads and petrol pumps and filling stations were also closed. Three days of mourning have also been announced by Shia groups.

Some relatives and local residents were still sorting through the rubble on Monday morning.

"I am here to look for my relative,'' Farzana Azfar told the Associated Press news agency. "People say he was here. But people say they have no idea about him. It appears that some bodies are still in the rubble," she said.

Pakistan's main political and religious leaders rushed to condemn the attack - the latest to target the Shia minority.

But the ability of the authorities to protect Shias is being severely tested, correspondents say - and this as elections are around the corner.

Some activists called 2012 the worst year in living memory for attacks on Pakistan's Shia community, with rights groups estimating that about 400 perished in militant attacks.

But this year is also shaping up to be among the deadliest: nearly 200 people were killed in two separate bombings targeting Shias in the south-western city of Quetta in January and February.

Although no group has yet said it carried out this latest bombing, suspicion is likely to fall on Sunni militant groups.

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The BBC's Mike Wooldridge said that the attack would be "deeply worrying for the government"

Groups such as Lashkar-e-Jhangvi have long regarded Shia Muslims as heretics and have stepped up attacks in recent years.

They are thought to have set up several training camps for militants, and police seizures have shown they have access to large quantities of weapons and explosives, the BBC's M Ilyas Khan in Islamabad says.

Last month Pakistan's Supreme Court called on the authorities to devise a strategy to protect Shia Muslims more effectively, given the increase in attacks.

Karachi - Pakistan's biggest city and commercial capital - has a long history of violence.

As well as a sectarian divide between Sunni and Shia, that city has also seen conflict between different ethnic communities - Pashtuns from north-west Pakistan, Mohajirs (immigrants from India following the Partition in 1947) and Sindhis.

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Cardinals in Rome for new Pope talks

4 March 2013 Last updated at 03:24 ET

Roman Catholic cardinals from around the world have gathered in Rome to begin the process of electing the next Pope.

The College of Cardinals will hold daily talks leading up to a conclave in which a new Pope will be chosen.

The election process comes after Pope Benedict XVI stepped down after nearly eight years in office leading the world's 1.2 billion Roman Catholics.

He was the first pontiff to resign in 600 years.

The first pre-conclave meeting on Monday morning is to be headed by the dean of the College of Cardinals, Cardinal Angelo Sodano.

Cardinals - known as the "princes" of the Church - will discuss future challenges to the Church and discreetly weigh up possible papal candidates.

The conclave - to be held in the Sistine Chapel - is expected to take place next week, though not all of the 115 cardinals involved have yet arrived in Rome.

'Vatileaks' report

Correspondents say the cardinal electors, those under the age of 80 who will take part in the conclave, will want the new Pope to be officially installed in time to preside over Holy Week.

Ceremonies start with Palm Sunday on 24 March and culminate in Easter the following Sunday.

Last year's "Vatileaks" scandal is expected to be high on the agenda when the cardinals meet.

The scandal exposed corruption and infighting in the Vatican through a series of leaked documents, and the cardinals are expect this week to be briefed on a confidential report into the scandal seen by Pope Benedict.

The BBC's David Willey in Rome says strict precautions against leaks of unauthorised information will be in operation at the Vatican until the next Pope has been chosen.

Technicians will debug the cardinals' lodgings and mobile phones will be banned altogether during the conclave.

But some cardinals have suggested the internal workings and possible failings of the Vatican's bureaucracy will not be a major factor in the decision to elect the next pope.

"I think the real priority in the conclave is to choose the pope who is going to deal with these great, global issues," said Cardinal Donald Wuerl of Washington, speaking to the Associated Press in Rome.

"If there are some internal problems in the Vatican, administrative problems in the Vatican, that'll eventually be dealt with. But it certainly isn't going to condition how I am going to be looking at who is going to guide and lead the church in the next years."

O'Brien apology

The church's handling of allegations of sexual abuse is also a recurring issue.

Cardinal Keith O'Brien, formerly Britain's former most senior Roman Catholic cleric, has said he will not take part in the conclave after standing down amid allegations of improper behaviour.

On Sunday, he admitted his sexual conduct had at times "fallen beneath the standards expected of me".

He apologised and asked forgiveness from those whom he had "offended".

Cardinal O'Brien resigned as Archbishop of St Andrews and Edinburgh last Monday after three priests and a former priest made allegations against him dating back to the 1980s.

Benedict, 85, officially ceased to be the Pope at 20:00 local time (19:00 GMT) on Thursday.

He left the Vatican by helicopter, flying to the papal retreat at Castel Gandolfo, near Rome.

He has vowed "unconditional obedience and reverence" to his successor.

The German pontiff, who was born Joseph Ratzinger, will continue to be known as Benedict XVI, with the new title of "pope emeritus".

The theologian is expected to retire to a monastery on a hill inside Vatican City. Officials say he will not be able to intervene publicly in the next papacy although he may offer advice.

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HIV baby 'cured' by treatment

4 March 2013 Last updated at 04:44 ET

A baby girl in the US born with HIV appears to have been cured after very early treatment with standard drug therapy, doctors say.

The Mississippi child is now two-and-a-half years old and has been off medication for about a year with no signs of infection.

More testing needs to be done to see if the treatment - given within hours of birth - would work for others.

If the girl stays healthy, it would be the world's second reported 'cure'.

Continue reading the main story

Analysis

Michelle Roberts Health editor, BBC News online

---

There is currently no cure for HIV.

This latest case of a baby girl in the US who was treated within hours of birth and has since been disease-free off HIV medication does not mean we have found this Holy Grail.

While the findings are encouraging, it remains to be seen if the treatment will provide permanent remission.

Experts also say the same treatment would not work in older children and adults with HIV as the virus will have already become too established.

Public health doctors say prevention is still the best way to beat HIV.

If expectant mothers with HIV are given anti-HIV treatment during pregnancy and then have a low-risk Caesarean delivery and do not breastfeed, their babies have a 98% chance of being HIV negative.

Dr Deborah Persaud, a virologist at Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore, presented the findings at the Conference on Retroviruses and Opportunistic Infections in Atlanta.

"This is a proof of concept that HIV can be potentially curable in infants," she said.

Cocktail of drugs

In 2007, Timothy Ray Brown became the first person in the world believed to have recovered from HIV.

His infection was eradicated through an elaborate treatment for leukaemia that involved the destruction of his immune system and a stem cell transplant from a donor with a rare genetic mutation that resists HIV infection.

In contrast, the case of the Mississippi baby involved a cocktail of widely available drugs, known as antiretroviral therapy, already used to treat HIV infection in infants.

It suggests the swift treatment wiped out HIV before it could form hideouts in the body.

These so-called reservoirs of dormant cells usually rapidly reinfect anyone who stops medication, said Dr Persaud.

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Dr Deborah Persaud, Johns Hopkins Children's Center: "This sets the stage for paediatric care agenda"

The baby was born in a rural hospital where the mother had only just tested positive for HIV infection.

Because the mother had not been given any prenatal HIV treatment, doctors knew the baby was at high risk of being infected.

Researchers said the baby was then transferred to the University of Mississippi Medical Center in Jackson.

Once there, paediatric HIV specialist Dr Hannah Gay put the infant on a cocktail of three standard HIV-fighting drugs at just 30 hours old, even before laboratory tests came back confirming the infection.

Continue reading the main story

"Start Quote

We really can quite confidently conclude at this point that the child does very much appear to be cured"

End Quote Dr Rowena Johnston Foundation for Aids Research

"I just felt like this baby was at higher-than-normal risk and deserved our best shot," Dr Gay said.

The treatment was continued for 18 months, at which point the child disappeared from the medical system. Five months later the mother and child turned up again but had stopped the treatment in this interim.

The doctors carried out tests to see if the virus had returned and were astonished to find that it had not.

Dr Rowena Johnston, of the Foundation for Aids Research, said it appeared that the early intervention that started immediately after birth worked.

"I actually do believe this is very exciting.

"This certainly is the first documented case that we can truly believe from all the testing that has been done.

"Many doctors in six different laboratories all applied different, very sophisticated tests trying to find HIV in this infant and no body was able to find any.

"And so we really can quite confidently conclude at this point that the child does very much appear to be cured."

A spokeswoman for the HIV/Aids charity the Terrence Higgins Trust said: "This is interesting, but the patient will need careful ongoing follow-up for us to understand the long-term implications for her and any potential for other babies born with HIV."

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Kenyans vote in crucial election

4 March 2013 Last updated at 05:53 ET

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The BBC's Gabriel Gatehouse reports from a polling station in a Nairobi slum where violent clashes erupted in 2007

Kenyans are voting in an election that observers describe as the most important in the country's history.

It is the first time a vote has taken place under a new constitution, designed to prevent a repeat of violence that followed the 2007 polls.

More than 1,000 people died in ethnic and political violence following claims the poll had been rigged.

Despite appeals for calm, at least five police officers died when they were attacked near Mombasa on Monday.

At least six other people - including several attackers - are also reported to have died in the assault in the early hours in Changamwe, half an hour's drive inland from the centre of Mombasa.

There have been further disturbances in the town of Kilifi, north of Mombasa, where six civilians were killed, and another attack was reported in Mishomoroni, but details of both incidents remain sketchy.

Presidential prize

Reports from around the country suggested long lines of voters had formed even before polling stations opened.

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Some technical difficulties were reported with newly instituted biometric voting kits - designed to counter claims of vote-rigging and long delays in announcing poll results that were partly blamed for the violence last time.

In places, electoral officials are having to use the manual voter registers, delaying voting. But Lilian Mahiri-Zaja, vice-chair of Kenya's independent electoral commission, said the registers were complete and there was no reason why the election would not be credible.

The BBC's Bashkas Jugsodaay in Garissa says there were three explosions in three different polling stations in Mandera, a town on the border with Somalia, as officials were preparing for polls to open. One person died.

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Uhuru Kenyatta

• Son of Kenya's first president, Jomo Kenyatta
• Due to stand trial at ICC in April accused of organising violence in last election
• His running mate, William Ruto, also accused
• Both deny the charges
• From Kikuyu ethnic group - Kenya's largest at 22% of population and powerful economically
• Kikuyus and Ruto's Kalenjin community saw fierce clashes after 2007 poll
• Currently deputy prime minister

Raila Odinga

• Raila Odinga son of first Vice-President Jaramogi Oginga Odinga
• Distant relative of Barack Obama
• Believes he was cheated of victory in last election
• From Luo community in western Kenya - 11% of population.
• Some Luos feel they have been marginalised by central government
• Third time running for president
• Currently prime minister under power-sharing deal to end violence last time

It was unclear whether the deaths around Mombasa were election-related.

Some blamed a separatist group, the Mombasa Revolutionary Council (MRC) - which has called for an election boycott - for the incident in Changamwe, but others suggested it was just a convenient scapegoat.

Inspector General David Kimaiyo said that attack involved over 200 gang members, and warned the police would crush any militant groups out to cause chaos.

Waiting in line outside polling stations in Nairobi hours before polls opened, the atmosphere was calm and people chanted "peace", reports the BBC's Gabriel Gatehouse in the capital.

In Garissa, frustration grew in the long queues as the heat beat down, our correspondent reports. Some used umbrellas to shelter from the sun and others bought water to pour over their heads.

Two-horse race

Kenyans will choose a president, members of parliament and senators, county governors and members of 47 county assemblies.

However, our correspondent says all eyes are on the presidency.

Eight candidates are standing but it is essentially a two-horse race pitting Prime Minister Raila Odinga against Deputy Prime Minister Uhuru Kenyatta, he says.

Some observers say they are particularly concerned about violence erupting should neither of the two frontrunners poll more than 50% - in which case the vote will go to a run-off, probably on 11 April.

On Monday, Mr Kenyatta said he was hopeful of victory but had "prepared myself as necessary" for defeat.

Earlier, Mr Odinga said Kenyans had turned out "in record numbers" and said he was confident they would vote "overwhelmingly for us".

Violence 'still lurks'

Mr Kenyatta, son of Kenya's founding father Jomo Kenyatta, is due to stand trial at the International Criminal Court (ICC) for his alleged role in orchestrating the violence five years ago.

Mr Kenyatta's running mate, William Ruto, has also been indicted. Both men deny any wrongdoing.

The violence broke out after Mr Odinga claimed he had been cheated of victory by supporters of President Mwai Kibaki.

Supporters of the rival candidates, from different ethnic groups, took up arms against each other.

Mr Odinga later joined a government of national unity under a peace deal.

The underlying sources of tension in the 2007-8 election remain, and in some parts have escalated, with the risk of violence "perilously high", warns Human Rights Watch.

It says the "near total impunity" of the perpetrators of violence has left them free to rape and kill again.

Security is being stepped up: some 99,000 police officers have been deployed around the country.

The polling stations are open from 06:00 to 17:00 local time (03:00-14:00 GMT), though officials say some may have to stay open until late into the night to allow everyone to vote.

Presidential candidates must secure support from across the country to be declared the winner, so they cannot just rely on support from their ethnic groups, as has been the case in previous elections.

Official results will be announced by 11 March by the electoral commission.

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'Extinction crisis' focus for summit

3 March 2013 Last updated at 01:56 ET By Matt McGrath Environment correspondent, BBC News

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Some species of sea turtle are completely prohibited from trade, CITES says

New plans to protect elephants, rhinos and other species will be discussed at a critical meeting that begins in Bangkok on Sunday.

Delegates will review the convention on the international trade in endangered species (CITES).

Around 35,000 animals and plants are at present protected by the treaty.

But with a global "extinction crisis" facing many species, this year's meeting is being described as the most critical in its history.

The CITES agreement was signed in Washington in March 1973 in an attempt to regulate the burgeoning trade in wild flora and fauna.

Continue reading the main story

"Start Quote

Thailand should grab the spotlight and shut down these markets that are fuelling the poaching of elephants in Africa"

End Quote Carlos Drews WWF

It entered into force in 1975 and experts say that legitimate global imports of wildlife products are now worth more than $300bn (£200bn) a year.

The convention works by licensing commercial trade in species.

The process is meant to be governed by the scientific evidence of threat against an animal or a plant.

However, as CITES consists of government delegations, its decision-making is rooted in the political and economic interests of member countries.

In Bangkok, delegates from some 178 countries will face some critical decisions.

Secret votes

The first one they will have to grapple with is the issue of secret ballots.

Many critics argue that CITES delegations sometimes hide behind the secret ballot process when they want to avoid being seen putting commercial interests ahead of conservation.

Many campaigners are hoping that the meeting will vote to restrict the use of secret voting in order to set a more open tone for the meeting.

"CITES ought to be a transparent body - but secret ballots have become easier to implement at the behest of certain parties who don't want their vote to be known," Mark Jones from Humane Society International told BBC News.

"We are supportive of increased transparency so that parties can be held to account," he added.

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How CITES works

The Convention assigns animals and plants to different categories depending on the level of threat they face:

• Appendix I covers animals and plants in which all international commercial trade is prohibited except in rare circumstances. In this category are 530 animal species including tigers, white rhinos and gorillas.
• Appendix II is much bigger. Trade is allowed in these animals and plants but strictly controlled by permit. Over 4,460 animals and 28,000 plants are in this grouping, including polar bears and some shark species.
• Appendix III includes species that are protected within the borders of a member country. There are 290 species in this group, including the two-toed sloth.

Delegates will have to deal with 70 proposals for amending the rules relating to specific species. Elephants will feature heavily as the global demand for ivory is driving poaching to unprecedented levels.

But many campaigners see Thailand as being one of the biggest contributors to the trade, as it is legal there to sell ivory taken from native elephants. Criminals are believed to use this loophole to sell stocks of ivory from African elephants as well.

The Thai government is now under pressure to take action.

"After years of failing to end this unfettered trade, Thailand should grab the spotlight and shut down these markets that are fuelling the poaching of elephants in Africa," said Carlos Drews of environmental group WWF.

Campaign groups are seeking to have sanctions imposed on Thailand, Democratic Republic of Congo and Nigeria to try and stem the flow of ivory.

Bear wars

Another issue that is dividing both country delegations and welfare campaigners is the status of polar bears, a situation the BBC reported on last December.

The US is proposing that all trade in bear parts be banned - a move which is stridently opposed by Canada and Russia. Around 400 bears a year are killed for this purpose.

Dan Ashe is the director of the US Fish and Wildlife Service and head of the American delegation at CITES.

"While we recognise that the bear-parts trade is not the factor that is driving the polar bears to extinction... we believe that the commercial trade in bear parts should cease."

On rhinos, Kenya is proposing that there should be a moratorium on the export of trophy horns from South Africa and Swaziland, which are currently exempt. Again there are divisions on the best approach.

Some environmentalists believe the trophy hunting has helped the rhino population to recover by bringing in revenue from tourism.

Other researchers are calling for the legalisation of the rhino horn trade as they blame the current ban for increasing the rewards from poaching. Last year 668 rhinos were killed by poachers in South Africa, and more than 100 have died so far this year.

Several species of shark are also likely to get additional protection this time round according to campaigners, as new reports indicated that over 100 million a year are being killed in commercial fisheries.

One of the most interesting aspects of this meeting is the emerging political alliance between the world's two biggest economies - the US and China are co-sponsoring proposals to restrict trade in Asian turtles and tortoises.

According to Dan Ashe, that is a significant move.

"It is the first time we have ever made a joint proposal with China - that bodes well for a future partnership emerging between US and China."

And as well as trying to save different species, the US will be pushing forward with proposals for passports for musical instruments.

Many are made from rare types of wood that require a permit to go from country to country. It is one proposal that likely to have widespread support.

The meeting runs until 14 March.

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Islamist militant 'killed in Mali'

3 March 2013 Last updated at 03:33 ET

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Mokhtar Belmokhtar was described as 'uncatchable'

Islamist militant Mokhtar Belmokhtar has been killed by Chadian soldiers in Mali, Chad's armed forces say.

His death was announced on Chadian state television but has not been confirmed by other sources.

Mokhtar Belmokhtar is a former al-Qaeda leader said to have ordered January's attack on an Algerian gas plant where at least 37 hostages were killed.

Chadian troops are fighting Islamist militants in Mali as part of an international force led by France.

"Chadian forces in Mali completely destroyed the main jihadist base in the Adrar de Ifhogas mountains... killing several terrorists including leader Mokhtar Belmokhtar," the army statement on Chadian TV said.

Weapons, equipment and 60 vehicles were seized, it added.

'Final stages'

Reports of the killing came a day after Chadian President Idriss Deby said the country's forces killed al-Qaeda militant Abdelhamid Abou Zeid during clashes in northern Mali.

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Analysis

For two decades now, Mokhtar Belmokhtar has been one of the most infamous Saharan warlords.

The self-proclaimed mastermind behind the recent Algerian gas plant hostage-taking, he and his jihadist followers are reputed to have extorted millions of euros over the years in ransoms from European governments, desperate to free their kidnapped citizens.

Last year he fell out with other leading members of al-Qaeda's franchise in the Sahara and formed his own jihadist organisation, calling it the Signed in Blood Brigade.

If his death is confirmed it will be a huge blow to his followers, although they will likely vow to avenge him and attempt to replace him as quickly as possible.

Islamist militant 'killed in Mali'

Abou Zeid - whose death is still to be confirmed by DNA evidence - is said to be second-in-command of al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb (AQIM), which is fighting foreign forces in Mali.

The French military - which is leading the military offensive in northern Mali - has not confirmed either death.

BBC West Africa correspondent Thomas Fessy says the death of Mokhtar Belmokhtar has been falsely announced several times before.

Although this is the most official claim to date, there are questions about how the Chadian military were able to confirm the militant's identity so quickly, our correspondent says.

On Friday French President Francois Hollande said the Mali operation was in its final stages.

Islamist militants took refuge in the remote mountains in northern Mali, close to the Algerian border, after being forced out of the main towns and cities by French troops backed by jets and helicopters.

Mali's army and troops from several African countries, including 2,000 from Chad, have also been involved in the fighting.

Islamist rebels took control of northern Mali a year ago after a military coup in the capital Bamako, in the south.

France intervened militarily in January amid fears they were preparing to advance on Bamako.

'Mr Marlboro'

Algerian-born Mokhtar Belmokhtar has been fighting as an Islamist militant for more than two decades.

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Veteran Islamist Mokhtar Belmokhtar

• Claims to have travelled to Afghanistan at the age of 19 to get military training from al-Qaeda
• Returned to Algeria in 1993 and lost an eye fighting in the bloody conflict between Islamists and government forces
• Joined al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb, but later formed his own group after infighting
• Blamed for kidnapping and smuggling across the Sahara region
• Claimed responsibility for the attack on an Algerian gas plant at In Amenas where at least 37 hostages were killed

He claimed to have received military training in Afghanistan before returning to Algeria, where he lost an eye fighting in the Islamist insurgency in the 1990s.

He then joined AQIM - which operates across the Sahara - before breaking off to lead his own group.

The attack on the In Amenas gas plant in Algeria - which he claims he was behind - was his group's first large-scale armed attack.

He is also known as "Mr Marlboro" because of his alleged role in cigarette smuggling in the region.

Mokhtar Belmokhtar and Abu Zeid have also been involved in numerous kidnappings.

Abu Zeid is known as the most ruthless al-Qaeda field commander in the region and is believed to have executed at least two European hostages in recent years, our West Africa correspondent reports.

If the two deaths are confirmed, they won't mean the war in Mali is over, but they will leave a vacuum in the chain of command for the jihadi fighters hiding in the mountains bordering Algeria, he says.

The reported killings also raise concerns about the fate of several foreign hostages believed to be in the two men's custody, our correspondent says.

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Court sets Mubarak retrial date

3 March 2013 Last updated at 05:32 ET

Former President Hosni Mubarak will face retrial on 13 April, Egypt's appeal's court has decided.

He faces charges of conspiring to kill protesters during the 2011 revolt that ended his 29-year rule, and corruption.

A retrial was ordered in January after a court accepted his appeal against the life sentence he had been serving since his conviction last June.

Mr Mubarak, 84, is currently in a military hospital. About 850 people were killed in the 2011 crackdown.

Mr Mubarak's Interior Minister Habib al-Adly, will also face retrial, the Mena state news agency quoted the head of the court as saying.

Last year, he was sentenced to life for contributing to the killing of protesters, and for five and 12 years for corruption charges.

Protesters' anger

Mr Mubarak's sons, Gamal and Alaa, will be retried on corruption charges for which they were acquitted in June, because of the expiry of a statute of limitations.

Mr Mubarak was also found not guilty of corruption.

In addition, six Mubarak aides will also return to the dock, Mena reported.

Anger sparked by the acquittal of key security officials over the protesters' deaths was a major factor in demonstrations in the wake of the June 2012 verdicts.

During the 10-month trial, Mubarak appeared in court on a stretcher, amid frequent reports about his ill-health.

He was treated in a military hospital after falling in his prison bathroom in December.

Families of protesters who died in the 2011 crackdown were disappointed that the former president was not convicted of ordering the killings.

There was also been anger among some that he has not faced trial for abuses allegedly committed earlier in his rule.

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Rebels 'control most of Syria base'

3 March 2013 Last updated at 06:05 ET

Rebels have captured large parts of a Syrian police academy near Aleppo, killing at least 34 members of the security forces, activists say.

Video emerged on Saturday apparently showing rebels breaking into the sprawling Khan al-Assal compound.

Fighters also seized a prison in northern Raqqa province, UK-based activist group the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights (SOHR) said.

Neither of its reports could be independently verified.

The apparent setback for government forces came a day after the army announced it had regained control of villages on a major route linking the central city of Hama to Aleppo, with security "restored" to the northern city's airport.

President Bashar al-Assad, in an interview with the UK's Sunday Times newspaper, said it was "nonsense to suggest" that the conflict was about his future as leader.

Explosions

The rebels took control of much of the police academy site at dawn on Sunday, the activist group said. They had been targeting the Khan al-Assal complex outside Aleppo for some time.

Almost 200 fighters and soldiers had been killed in the eight-day battle for the site, including 120 troops and police, Rami Abdel Rahman of SOHR told AFP news agency.

Footage had earlier shown dozens of fighters sheltering beside an outer wall as explosions could be seen apparently inside the academy's grounds.

The SOHR is one of the most prominent organisations documenting and reporting incidents and casualties in the Syrian conflict. The group says its reports are impartial, though its information cannot be verified.

In his Sunday Times interview, President Assad said the UK government was "naive, confused, unrealistic" in its approach to the conflict, accusing Prime Minister David Cameron's government of being determined to militarise the situation.

Although the UK says it supports the Syrian opposition without providing arms to the rebels, Foreign Secretary William Hague said recently that military aid was possible in the future.

President Assad said the Syrian government was ready to talk to anyone, including militants who laid down their weapons.

"We are not going to deal with terrorists who are determined to carry weapons," he said.

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Melanoma 'hits body's immune system'

1 March 2013 Last updated at 21:40 ET

A deadly form of skin cancer is able to fend off the body's immune system, UK researchers have found.

Analysis of tumour and blood samples shows that melanoma knocks out the body's best immune defence.

A potential test could work out which patients are likely to respond to treatment, the Journal of Clinical Investigation reports.

Cancer Research UK said the body's response was a "complex puzzle".

Previous work from the team at King's College London showed that while patients with melanoma produced antibodies that could attack tumour cells, the immune system often seemed powerless to stop the cancer progressing.

But in the latest research they discovered that the subtype of antibody attracted by the melanoma cells was the most ineffective at mounting the right sort of response.

In samples from 80 melanoma patients they say that the conditions created by the tumour attract IgG4 antibodies, which mount the weakest response and in turn interfere with any "strong" IgG1 antibodies that might be present.

Continue reading the main story

This work is still at an early stage, but it's a step towards developing more effective treatments for skin cancer"

End Quote Dr Kat Arney Cancer Research UK

By mimicking the conditions created by melanomas, they showed that in the presence of tumour cells, the immune system sent out IgG4 antibodies, but when faced with healthy cells it functioned as expected with IgG1 circulating.

They also confirmed that IgG4 was ineffective in launching an immune attack against cancer cells.

Potential test

In additional tests in 33 patients, they found that those with higher levels of the weak antibody IgG4 had a less favourable prognosis compared with those with levels nearer to normal.

Study author Dr Sophie Karagiannis said: "This work bears important implications for future therapies since not only are IgG4 antibodies ineffective in activating immune cells to kill tumours but they also work by blocking antibodies from killing tumour cells."

She said not only was IgG4 stopping the patient's more powerful antibodies from eradicating cancer, but it could also explain why some treatments based on boosting the immune response may be less effective in some patients.

Co-author Prof Frank Nestle said more work was needed on developing IgG4 as a potential test to improve patient care by helping to identify patients most likely to respond to treatments.

"This study can also inform the rational design of novel strategies to counteract IgG4 actions," he added.

Dr Kat Arney, science communications manager at Cancer Research UK, said: "There's a lot we don't yet understand about how our immune system recognises and responds to cancer, so we're pleased to have supported this new research that's helping to solve such a complex puzzle.

"This work is still at an early stage, but it's a step towards developing more effective treatments for skin cancer and potentially other types of cancer in the future."

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Obama signs budget cuts into effect

2 March 2013 Last updated at 01:57 ET

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President Obama said the cuts were "dumb and arbitrary"

US President Barack Obama has signed into effect a wave of steep spending cuts which he has warned could damage the US economy.

The cuts - known as the sequester and drawn up two years ago - will take $85bn (£56bn) from the US federal budget this year.

Last-ditch talks at the White House to avert the reductions before Friday's deadline broke up without agreement.

The IMF has warned the cuts could slow global economic growth.

The BBC's Mark Mardell in Washington says the cuts were designed to be so brutally painful that politicians would be forced to agree on a better way of balancing the books.

However, as the midnight deadline loomed on Friday, Mr Obama and Republican congressional leaders still failed to agree on a way to avoid them.

The two sides are at odds over the president's insistence on raising taxes as part of any plan for tackling the country's $16.6 trillion (£11tn) debt.

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Mr Obama was as insistent today as he has been ever since 6 November - his election victory gives him a moral mandate and deprives the Republicans of theirs"

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After the White House talks broke up, Mr Obama blamed Republicans for the impasse.

"They've allowed these cuts to happen because they refuse to budge on closing a single wasteful loophole to help reduce the deficit," he said.

He warned the cuts - if fully realised - would slow US economic growth by half of 1% and cost 750,000 jobs.

"We shouldn't be making a series of dumb, arbitrary cuts to things that businesses depend on and workers depend on," he said.

Unpaid leave

The sequester was drawn up in mid-2011 as Congress and the White House feuded over raising the debt ceiling and how to slash the huge US deficit.

Republicans wanted deep cuts in spending while Democrats insisted on raising taxes.

At the end of 2012 Congress and the White House struck a dramatic deal to avoid what was dubbed the "fiscal cliff", that included expiring tax breaks and the sequester.

Republicans agreed to Mr Obama's demand to raise taxes for the rich and Congress postponed the deadline for the budget cuts until 1 March.

About half the cuts will come from the defence budget. Incoming defence secretary Chuck Hagel has warned of "significant impacts" on the military.

He said the cuts "will cause pain, particularly among our civilian workforce and their families".

"Let me make it clear that this uncertainty puts at risk our ability to effectively fulfil all of our missions," Mr Hagel said.

"Later this month, we intend to issue preliminary notifications to thousands of civilian employees who will be furloughed [put on unpaid leave]."

Defence officials say 800,000 civilian employees will have their working week reduced. They say they will also have to scale back flight hours for warplanes and postpone some equipment maintenance.

The deployment of a second aircraft carrier to the Gulf has also been cancelled.

On Friday, Republican House Speaker John Boehner reiterated his party's refusal to allow taxes to rise and challenged the gridlocked US Senate to pass a bill first before the House acted on a plan.

"Let's make it clear that the president got his tax hikes on 1 January," he said as he left the White House. "The discussion about revenue, in my view, is over. It's about taking on the spending problem."

Correspondents say attention will now turn to the next congressional challenge - a possible shutdown of the US government if no funding bill is passed in the next month.

On 27 March a temporary federal budget that has kept the federal government running since 2012 is due to expire.

House Republicans have said they will vote on a bill next week to fund the government through the end of the fiscal year, on 30 September, but keep in place some automatic cuts taking effect on Friday.

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