EU rethinks biofuels guidelines

Palm plantations are replacing the original forest in some areas

Europe's environment chief has admitted that the EU did not foresee the problems raised by its policy to get 10% of Europe's road fuels from plants.

Recent reports have warned of rising food prices and rainforest destruction from increased biofuel production.

The EU has promised new guidelines to ensure that its target is not damaging.

EU Environment Commissioner Stavros Dimas said it would be better to miss the target than achieve it by harming the poor or damaging the environment.

Clampdown promised

A couple of years ago biofuels looked like the perfect get-out-of-jail free card for car manufacturers under pressure to cut carbon emissions.

Instead of just revolutionising car design they could reduce transport pollution overall if drivers used more fuel from plants which would have soaked up CO2 while they were growing.

Fuel made from plants like corn are driving up food prices

The EU leapt at the idea - and set its biofuels targets.

Since then reports have warned that some biofuels barely cut emissions at all - and others can lead to rainforest destruction, drive up food prices, or prompt rich firms to drive poor people off their land to convert it to fuel crops.

"We have seen that the environmental problems caused by biofuels and also the social problems are bigger than we thought they were. So we have to move very carefully," Mr Dimas told.

"We have to have criteria for sustainability, including social and environmental issues, because there are some benefits from biofuels."

He said the EU would introduce a certification scheme for biofuels and promised a clampdown on biodiesel from palm oil which is leading to forest destruction in Indonesia.

Some analysts doubt that "sustainable" palm oil exists because any palm oil used for fuel simply swells the demand for the product oil on the global market which is mainly governed by food firms.

US expansion

Mr Dimas said it was vital for the EU's rules to prevent the loss of biodiversity which he described as the other great problem for the planet, along with climate change.

On Monday, the Royal Society, the UK's academy of science, is publishing a major review of biofuels. It is expected to call on the EU to make sure its guidelines guarantee that all biofuels in Europe genuinely save carbon emissions.

In the US the government has just passed a new energy bill mandating a major increase in fuel from corn, which is deemed by some analysts to be useless in combating rising carbon dioxide emissions.

The bill also foresees a huge expansion in fuel from woody plants but the technology for this is not yet proven.

Russia summons UK envoy over row

Two British Council offices defied a Russian closure order by re-opening

The Russian foreign ministry has summoned the UK ambassador amid an escalating row over the reopening of two British Council offices.

The Council's branches reopened on Monday despite a government ban.

Russia called the move a "provocation" and said it would not issue new visas to British Council staff.

The offices were ordered to shut last month in the latest clash over the fatal poisoning of former Russian agent Alexander Litvinenko in London.

The branches which reopened are in St Petersburg and Yekaterinburg. The ban does not apply to the British Council's Moscow office.

'Inflaming tensions'

A statement on the Russian foreign ministry's website said: "Russia views such actions as an intentional provocation aimed at inflaming tensions in Russian-British relations.

UK-RUSSIA ROW Nov 2006: Alexander Litvinenko dies in London May 2007: UK accuses ex-KGB agent Andrei Lugovoi of murder July: Russia refuses UK request to extradite Mr Lugovoi July: UK expels four Russian diplomats July: Russia expels four British embassy staff December: Russia tells British Council to shut two offices Jan 2008: British Council re-opens both offices

"The Russian side will not issue visas to new employees sent to work in the (British) consular offices of St Petersburg and Yekaterinburg to carry out British Council work."

The UK embassy in the Russian capital declined to comment on the schedule of the ambassador, Sir Tony Brenton.

But BBC Moscow correspondent Richard Galpin says the envoy will appear at the Russian foreign ministry on Monday afternoon.

He says the escalating diplomatic crisis between the two countries is now coming to a head and it is not clear if either side is willing to back down.

The British Council, which aims to promote cultural and educational ties, was accused of violating Russian tax rules.

A spokesman for the Council insisted on Monday that its activities were "fully compliant with Russian and international law".

"We believe we're caught up in a political matter," the spokesman told the BBC News website.

'Valuable work'

The British Council's chief executive, Martin Davidson, said they would continue talking to the Russians in the hope of continuing their work.

He told the BBC: "We have to understand the issues, the problems they have with our work, but we believe [our work] is enormously valuable.

Russia has linked its action to wider British-Russian tensions

"We know ordinary Russian people believe it is of real value to them, as well of course to us here in the UK, to have that relationship with Russia."

The offices in Yekaterinburg are on the premises of the UK consulate-general.

The row came on top of continuing tensions over the death of former KGB officer Alexander Litvinenko in London in November 2006. He had been given a fatal dose of radioactive polonium 210.

The UK wants Russia to hand over businessman Andrei Lugovoi, whom UK investigators suspect of murdering Mr Litvinenko.

When Russia refused to extradite Mr Lugovoi, Britain expelled four Russian diplomats and Moscow followed suit.

Russian officials have described the action against the British Council as a retaliatory measure.

Thai parties in coalition talks

Mr Samak said that Mr Thaksin had congratulated him

Rival political parties in Thailand have begun what could be protracted negotiations to form a coalition government after the general election.

The People Power Party (PPP), allied to ex-PM Thaksin Shinawatra, has won most seats but lacks an absolute majority.

The next three biggest parties have ruled out joining the PPP in a coalition for the time being.

Analysts say the result highlights a rejection by rural voters of the 2006 military coup which ousted Mr Thaksin.

Full official results from Sunday's poll are due later on Monday but indications are the PPP has won 228 seats in the 480-seat house.

EU reform treaty goes to signing

European leaders will be signing the treaty in a 16th-century monastery.

EU leaders are preparing to sign a treaty in the Portuguese capital, Lisbon, that will greatly alter the way members govern themselves.

The treaty creates an EU president and a vastly more powerful foreign policy chief for the Union's 27 nations.

At the same time the document scraps veto powers in many policy areas.

It is a replacement for the EU constitution abandoned following French and Dutch opposition. EU leaders insist the two texts are in no way equivalent.

But the Lisbon treaty incorporates some of the draft constitution's key reforms, and several governments face domestic pressure over the document.

UK Prime Minister Gordon Brown has chosen not to attend the ceremony, citing a prior engagement in the British parliament.

However, he will sign the treaty separately, later on Thursday.

The UK's opposition Conservatives accused Mr Brown of "not having the guts" to sign the treaty, which is politically controversial in Britain, in public.

Mid-life crisis

Having started this year with a celebration of its 50th birthday, the EU hopes the signing of the Lisbon treaty will end the serious mid-life crisis brought about by the death of the constitution, the BBC's Oana Lungescu reports.

There will be a lot of relief, said a senior European diplomat, but also some apprehension about what happens next.

Ireland is the only country planning to hold a referendum, but most voters there seem either undecided or indifferent.

Parliaments in Britain, the Netherlands and Denmark are also expected to give a turbulent reception to the 250-page text.

However, Germany, France and Poland have pledged to be among the first to ratify it, so that the new reforms can come into force in 2009 as planned.

Slimmed-down

The treaty is a slimmed-down version of the European constitution, with a more modest name and without any reference to EU symbols such as the flag and anthem.

It is meant to ease decision-making, by scrapping national vetoes in some 50 policy areas, including sensitive ones such as police and judicial co-operation.

There will also be the foreign policy chief, controlling a big budget and thousands of diplomats and officials, and the permanent EU president appointed for up to five years.

But some already fear that instead of giving Europe a strong single voice in the world, the new posts will only generate more rivalry, Oana Lungescu adds.

Somali leader rushed to hospital

President Yusuf has survived several assassination attempts

Somalia's interim President Abdullahi Yusuf has been taken to hospital in the Kenyan capital, the BBC has learnt.

His condition is said to be "serious" but there are no further details. He had a liver transplant in the 1990s.

He is to be flown to London for treatment and has cancelled a meeting on Wednesday with regional leaders.

The news comes as four ministers resigned from the cabinet named by Mr Yusuf's newly appointed Prime Minister Nur Hussein Hassan.

The ministers complained that their Rahanwein clan was under-represented in the government.

Mr Yusuf, 73, had been due to travel to the Ethiopian capital, Addis Ababa for Wednesday's meeting between regional leaders and US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice.

He was appointed by the transitional parliament in 2004 after years of talks in Kenya.

He is a northerner, from Puntland, and a member of the Darod clan who had been an army commander during Siad Barre's rule and subsequently a guerrilla leader.

President Yusuf controversially enlisted the help of the Ethiopian army to oust the Union of Islamic Courts from the capital, Mogadishu in December 2006.

The past year has seen increasing levels of violence as the Islamists battle the Ethiopian-backed government, rendering Mogadishu too unsafe for the government which has been forced to operate out of Baidoa.

Somalia has not had a functioning national government since 1991.

Mid-East leaders in fresh talks

There has been scepticism over the drive in the region in question

Israeli and Palestinian leaders are set formally to begin a new round of peace talks at the White House.

US President George W Bush will meet with Ehud Olmert and Mahmoud Abbas alone before a rare three-way meeting.

It follows a conference on Tuesday when both sides agreed to engage in "vigorous" efforts to reach a peace deal by the end of 2008.

But the Palestinian group Hamas said the conference - from which it was excluded - had been a "failure".

Expectations had been low as representatives of more than 40 countries and international agencies gathered in Annapolis, Maryland, ahead of Tuesday's conference.

But in a joint statement concluded with only minutes to spare before the conference formally opened, the two sides agreed to launch negotiations for a treaty "resolving all outstanding issues, including all core issues without exception".

Both sides have said those "core issues" will include the thorny so-called "final-status issues" - the future of Jerusalem, borders, water, refugees and settlements - which have scuppered previous attempts at a peace deal.

'The beginning'

Israeli Prime Minister Olmert and the Palestinian President Abbas will formally inaugurate the new peace drive in meetings in the White House on Wednesday, said US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, in a closing news conference on Tuesday.

According to the agreement, they will go on to meet every other week.

In addition, teams of negotiators will be led by a joint steering committee which will meet for the first time on 12 December.

In Tuesday's conference, Mr Bush committed himself to spending the rest of his presidency - until January 2009 - working towards "an independent democratic viable Palestinian state".

"Such a state will provide Palestinians with the chance to lead lives of freedom, purpose and dignity," Mr Bush said.

"And such a state will help provide Israelis with something they have been seeking for generations: to live in peace with their neighbours.

"This is the beginning of the process, not the end of it," he said.

Peace hopes

Mr Abbas repeated demands including that Israel stop building settlements, and release some of the thousands of Palestinian prisoners in Israeli jails.

"Neither we nor you must beg for peace from the other," he said.

"It is a joint interest for you and us."

Mr Olmert said he had come to Annapolis despite the obstacles posed by continuing violence against the people of Israel.

"We want peace. We demand an end to terror, an end to hatred. We are prepared to make a painful compromise rife with risks, in order to realise these aspirations," he said.

In a closing news conference, Ms Rice said the event had demonstrated "unambiguously" that the new initiative had international support.

Nations will be asked to provide financial support for Palestinian aid programmes at a donors' conference in Paris in mid-December.

Caution urged

Observers say the fact that the summit is being hosted by the US and has attracted the participation of Saudi Arabia and Syria, two Arab states that do not recognise Israel, is critical to its chances for success.

In Ramallah, Palestinians protested against the conference

But following the main speeches, both countries cautioned that a "comprehensive peace" which saw relations normalised between Israel and Arab countries was dependent on Israel first meeting demands to withdraw from occupied land.

Expectations going into Annapolis have been low because every other attempt at negotiation between the Israelis and the Palestinians has failed, says the BBC's Jeremy Bowen at the conference.

However, there are grounds for optimism, says our correspondent: the Americans are behind the talks, there is no plan B and the consequences of failure could be bloody.

Hamas dismissal

The absence of the Palestinian faction Hamas, which is designated a terrorist organisation by the US, the EU and Israel, could also make negotiating a deal problematic.

Hamas controls the internal affairs of the Gaza Strip and says it will not be bound by anything decided in Annapolis.

Following the conference, Hamas spokesman Sami Abu-Zuhri said it had only achieved "a declaration of the beginning of negotiations between the Palestinians and Israelis and not a declaration of an agreement between them.

"This by itself is a sharp proof of the failure of the Annapolis meeting," he said.

In Gaza on Tuesday, tens of thousands of Hamas supporters demonstrated against the talks.

In the West Bank - a Fatah stronghold - police violently broke up some demonstrations, with one person killed in clashes in Hebron.

Musharraf gives up army uniform

Gen Musharraf said the army was the saviour of Pakistan

Pakistan's President Pervez Musharraf has handed over the command of the military in a ceremony in Rawalpindi.

Gen Musharraf passed a ceremonial baton to Gen Ashfaq Pervez Kiani at the army's headquarters.

In his farewell address, Gen Musharraf said the army was his "life" and he was proud to have been the commander of this "great force".

He had been under huge pressure to quit as army chief and is due to be sworn in as civilian president on Thursday.

The move will mean an end to nine years of military rule in Pakistan.

'Half a century'

Dressed in full military uniform, Gen Musharraf arrived at the ceremony with a baton under his left arm.

On his arrival, he was greeted by Gen Kiani and inspected a guard of honour.

A military band played Pakistan's national anthem and the ceremony began with a recitation from the Koran.

The colourful ceremony was shown live on PTV, Pakistan's national channel.

"I am bidding farewell to the army after having been in uniform for 46 years," Gen Musharraf said in his address.

Gen Musharraf's army seized power in a 1999 coup

"This army is my life, my passion. I love this army, and this relationship will continue, although I will not be in uniform," he said.

Gen Musharraf said it was difficult to describe his emotions.

"When one has lived half a century with a family, a family like the army, united, and fully loyal... then leaving it is bound to bring on emotions. But such is the system of life. People come, and they have to go. Good things also come to an end. Everything is mortal," he said.

"I am fortunate to have commanded the best army in the world. This army is an integrating force, the saviour of Pakistan," Gen Musharraf said.

"Without this army, the entity of Pakistan cannot exist".

'Excellent soldier'

Gen Musharraf expressed full faith in the ability of his successor, Gen Kiani, to lead the force.

President Musharraf's unpopularity has caused Western concern

"He's an excellent soldier and I can say with full confidence that under his command, the armed forces will achieve great heights," Gen Musharraf said.

He had designated Gen Kiani, a former head of the intelligence services, as his successor in October.

The most serious pressure on the president to give up his uniform had come from the United States, his main international backer.

Washington has grown concerned in recent months at the army's inability to rein in pro-Taleban militants and by Gen Musharraf's growing unpopularity.

As a civilian leader, Gen Musharraf will still have considerable powers, including the ability to sack a civilian government.

He imposed emergency rule on 3 November in order, he said, to control an unruly judiciary and deal with the growing threat from Islamist militants.

General elections are to be held on 8 January, but Gen Musharraf has yet to say when the emergency will be lifted.

Asian drug warlord dies in Burma

One of Asia's most notorious warlords, Khun Sa, has died in the Burmese city of Rangoon.

He had reportedly been suffering from diabetes and high blood pressure.

After decades of guerrilla warfare against the Burmese government, largely funded by his drugs empire, Khun Sa signed a peace deal in 1996.

He then retired to Rangoon, where he lived under the protection of the military rulers, despite the US offering $2m (£1m) for his capture.

He was once one of the world's most wanted men, with a vast drug-trafficking operation in the so-called Golden Triangle region, spanning the border of Thailand, Laos and Burma.

'Lofty ideals'

With a private army numbering in the hundreds, Khun Sa claimed to be fighting for independence for the Shan people - an ethnic minority group based mainly in Burma.

But he fell out with other Shan leaders in the mid-1990s and surrendered to the Burmese military government.

After his death, a former colleague said few in the Shan separatist movement would be mourning.

"He was a man with lofty ideals. He thought of becoming the liberator of Shan State," former guerrilla Khuensai Jaiyen told Reuters.

"But when the people he was supposed to be leading or liberating didn't accept his leadership, he turned his back on them."

'Prince of death'

Many have said his claims to be a freedom fighter were a ruse designed to give legitimacy to his drugs empire.

Washington reportedly branded him the "prince of death" and placed him on a par with the most notorious mafia dons.

As well as offering a huge reward, the US had requested his extradition to face drug-trafficking charges in a US court.

But it is believed he negotiated a deal with Burma's ruling generals to live out his life in relative luxury in Rangoon.

Family members and former colleagues of Khun Sa, who was in his mid-seventies, said he died within the past week. The cause of death is still unknown.

Kirchner claims Argentine victory

Cristina Fernandez de Kirchner has claimed victory in Argentina's presidential elections.

Partial official results, based on two-thirds of ballots being counted, gave her 43.6% of the vote.

Her nearest rival, former lawmaker Elisa Carrio, has admitted defeat with 22.6% of the vote.

If confirmed by the full count, Mrs Kirchner will succeed her husband Nestor Kirchner and become Argentina's first elected female president.

"We've won by a wide margin," she told supporters in a speech at her campaign headquarters at a hotel in Buenos Aires.

ELECTION ARITHMETIC 27m eligible voters 14 candidates running for president Winner needs 45%, or 40% plus 10-point lead If needed, second round on 25 November New president to be sworn in on 10 December

As her husband, the outgoing president, stood at her side, she said she would build on his work.

"We have repositioned the country, fought poverty and unemployment, all these tragedies that have hit Argentines," she said, referring to the country's recovery from the 2001 economic crash.

Exit polls showed Ms Carrio, who ran on an anti-corruption platform, took one out of four votes nationwide and did well with middle and upper-class voters in urban areas.

Ex-Economy Minister Roberto Lavagna won 19% of the vote, partial results showed.

Mrs Kirchner needs more than 45% of the full vote, or 40% with a 10 point lead over the next nearest candidate, to win the presidency without facing a second round of voting.

The partial count gives her an apparently unbeatable lead, with double the votes of her rivals.

Mr Kirchner has governed for the past four years, but surprised the nation by deciding not to seek a fresh term.

Polling was extended by one hour in some parts of the country to 1900 local time (2200 GMT) to accommodate a late rush of voters.

Besides a new president, voters were choosing eight provincial governors, a third of the Senate and about half of the Chamber of Deputies.

Some 27 million people were eligible to vote.

Economy and crime

The economy and rising crime have been the two main issues in campaigning.

Mr Kirchner has overseen a return to stability and some prosperity since the economy collapsed six years ago, plunging thousands into poverty.

But there are fears over how strong the economy really is and general scepticism over official statistics suggesting inflation is under control.

Mrs Kirchner's critics have attacked her for failing to outline exactly what her policies are, but voters said the opposition had failed to offer any real alternative.

Surprise candidate

Just a few months ago, Mr Kirchner was riding high in the opinion polls and looked set to continue for a second term.

HAVE YOUR SAY The husband wife political swap reeks of corruption and nepotism Brian, New York, USA

However, it was announced in July that his wife Cristina, senator for Buenos Aires province, would stand in his place. No explanation was given.

As candidate for the governing Front for Victory, she has promised to continue her husband's centre-left policies.

As well as facing comparisons with Eva Peron, Argentina's legendary former first lady, Mrs Kirchner has been compared to former US First Lady Hillary Clinton, who is also a lawyer and senator seeking to become the first elected female president of her country.

"I don't want to be compared with Hillary Clinton or with Evita Peron, or with anybody," she said recently.

"There's nothing better than being yourself."

Bhutto visits ancestral village

Former Pakistani Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto has arrived under heavy security at her ancestral village in Larkana in southern Sindh province.

It is her first public trip outside Karachi since nearly 140 people were killed in an assassination attempt.

The attack came within hours of her arrival in Pakistan last week after eight years of self-imposed exile.

At her home village, Ms Bhutto is to pray at the tomb of her executed father, former PM Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto.

She was greeted by crowds of supporters as she arrived at the heavily-guarded airport in Sukkur, near her home village of Garhi Khuda Baksh.

Her convoy to Karachi airport had a strong police escort and side roads along her route were sealed off.

Seat of power

Dozens of activists from her Pakistan People's Party, armed with AK-47s, are guarding her father's tomb.

Larkana, where the Bhutto family are large landowners, is Ms Bhutto's seat of power, says the BBC's Barbara Plett in Islamabad.

She will want to hold some kind of public rally, but after her homecoming parade was torn apart by bombs on 18 October it is not certain she will be able to, says our correspondent.

Ms Bhutto has vowed to stay in Pakistan despite the attack and campaign in the parliamentary election scheduled to be held by January.

"People are just being butchered and it has to stop, somebody has to find a solution and my solution is let's restore democracy," she told a news conference before leaving Karachi.

"Let's give the people education, let's give the people empowerment, let's give the people employment."

Pakistani President Pervez Musharraf granted Ms Bhutto an amnesty from corruption charges that allowed her to return to Pakistan.

She has been negotiating with Gen Musharraf over a possible power-sharing deal.

Iran defiant at new US sanctions

Iran has responded defiantly to new sanctions imposed by the US targeting Iran's Islamic Revolution Guards Corps and three state-owned banks.

The Iranian Foreign Ministry said the sanctions were doomed to failure.

The US move came as a senior American diplomat accused Russia and China of aiding and abetting Iran's military.

US Assistant Secretary of State Nicholas Burns said Russia should stop selling weapons to Iran and China should stop investing in the country.

"They're now the number one trade partner with Iran. It's very difficult for countries to say we're striking out on our own when they've got their own policies on the military side, aiding and abetting the Iranian government in strengthening its own military," Mr Burns told the BBC.

Mr Burns said that despite differences with both Russia and China the US still hoped that the UN Security Council would approve a third resolution imposing new sanctions this November.

He said he hoped Iran would be persuaded to move away from confrontation and choose to negotiate.

"We want to be at the negotiating table, we want a peaceful resolution of this dispute. But to reinforce diplomacy, sometimes it has to have a tough side to it," he said.

'Hostile' Americans

The head of Iran's Revolutionary Guards, Mohammad Ali Jaafari, set the tone for Iran's response to the new sanctions, saying the Guards Corps was now ready to defend the ideals of the revolution more than ever before.

Iran's foreign ministry also condemned the move.

REVOLUTIONARY GUARDS Officially the Islamic Revolution Guards Corps (IRGC), or Pasdaran Formed after 1979 revolution Loyal to clerics and counter to regular military Estimated 125,000 troops Includes ground forces, navy, air force, intelligence and special forces Also has political influence: dozens of ex-guard sit as MPs Iran President Ahmadinejad is a former member Source: Globalsecurity.org

"The hostile American policies towards the respectable people of Iran and the country's legal institutions are contrary to international law, without value and, as in the past, doomed to failure," Foreign Ministry spokesman Mohammad Ali Hosseini said.

The BBC correspondent in Tehran, Jon Leyne, says the sanctions could be very damaging for Iran economically.

The Revolutionary Guards are thought to control around a third of the country's economy, including car factories, newspapers and oil and gas fields.

Foreign companies will be deterred from dealing with them or anyone connected with them for fear of economic retaliation by the United States, our correspondent says.

'Destabilising' force

On Thursday, US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice described the new sanctions as part of "a comprehensive policy to confront the threatening behaviour of the Iranians".

The US declared the Revolutionary Guards a "proliferator of weapons of mass destruction", a reference to ballistic missiles they are allegedly developing, while their elite overseas operations arm, the Quds Force, was singled out as a "supporter of terrorism".

The US has repeatedly accused Iran of destabilising Iraq and Afghanistan, blaming the Revolutionary Guards for supplying and training insurgents.

Under Executive Order 13382, US authorities will be able to freeze the assets of, and prohibit any US citizen or organisation from doing business with the Revolutionary Guards.

Iran's ministry of defence, which controls the country's defence industry, three Iranian banks, and several companies owned by the Guards will also be designated.

Ms Rice has reiterated a commitment to finding a diplomatic resolution to the crisis and has offered to meet "my Iranian counterpart any time, anywhere" - words that would be unimaginable coming from the lips of Vice-President Dick Cheney.

Mr Cheney is widely believed to be pressing for a military strike on Iran before the Bush administration's term is over, our correspondent says.

If these sanctions have no effect, Ms Rice may well have to give way to those in and around the White House who believe the time for diplomacy is over, he says.

Polish opposition set for big win

The centre-right opposition Civic Platform party is heading for a landslide victory in the Polish general election, partial results suggest.

With a third of ballots counted, Donald Tusk's party is on track to win 40% of the vote, or 194 seats in parliament.

The Prime Minister, Jaroslaw Kaczynski, whose Law and Justice Party is second with 32%, has already admitted defeat.

Sunday's election was called two years early after Mr Kaczynski's coalition collapsed over a corruption probe.

The prime minister's twin brother, Lech Kaczynski, is Poland's president.

The Law and Justice Party (PiS) has pursued former communists and adopted a sceptical approach to the European Union, while Civic Platform (PO) has promised a more business-friendly administration with closer ties to Europe, correspondents say.

'Restoring hope'

Voting in Sunday's election was extended for three hours in some parts of the country as officials struggled to cope with the sharply increased turnout of 55% - the highest since the fall of communism in 1989.

Shortly afterwards, exit polls for the TVP state television network suggested Mr Kaczynski's party had received 30.4% of the vote, some 13% less Donald Tusk's Civic Platform.

I wish Donald Tusk every success and I congratulate him Polish PM Jaroslaw Kaczynski

Another exit poll by the private TVN24 channel predicted the Civic Platform would win 44.2%, leaving the Law and Justice Party on 31.3%.

If correct, the Civic Platform and its preferred coalition partner, the Polish Peasants' Party, will win a majority in the 460-seat lower house of parliament, the Sejm.

The Civic Platform's leader, Donald Tusk, was showered with confetti as he appeared in front of cheering supporters at its campaign headquarters after the polls were announced.

"We went into this election in order to make everyone, without exception, feel good in their country, in their home," he said.

"I thank everyone who, in an impartial way, has helped restore hope among Poles."

Later, Mr Kaczynski admitted defeat and congratulated his rival leader at a speech to supporters at his campaign headquarters.

"We have failed against a wide front," he said. "I wish Donald Tusk every success and I congratulate him."

Mr Kaczynski blamed the election result on a coalition of newspapers and political parties, who he said had stopped at nothing in their campaign to oust him.

He said the high turnout was a sign of the strength of Polish democracy and that his party should be proud of the five million votes he said it had won, almost two million more than two years ago.

In conclusion, Mr Kaczynski promised the Law and Justice Party would be a "decisive, tough opposition" in parliament and that future elections would be happier for the party.

The BBC's Nick Thorpe in Warsaw says the prime minister's speech set the tone for his party - a mix of defiance and despondency.

Only two years after they came to power, one of Europe's most colourful and controversial governments has been voted out of office, our correspondent says.

Democratic disillusion

Earlier, Mr Kaczynski chatted with voters as he queued at a polling station in Warsaw.

I didn't like being talked down to for the last two years Jan Zawisz Warsaw voter

"We have to accept the will of the voters, that's obvious," he said after voting, according to Reuters news agency.

"We won't get angry at the people and lessons from this campaign will be learned."

His rival, Mr Tusk, also cast his vote in the capital city.

"Of course I expect to win, but I also know perfectly well that it will not be easy and the battle goes on until the last minute," he was quoted as saying.

Poles have become disillusioned with democracy following a succession of unhappy coalition governments,.

The country is polarised over the figure of the 58-year-old prime minister, who commands both strong support and deep opposition, says our correspondent.

He has given extra power to anti-corruption agencies and purged former communists, while promoting an assertive foreign policy and traditional Catholic values.

Among his supporters, Andrzej Sulkowski said he voted for Law and Justice "because this party is telling the truth and doing something".

"In their two years of government they did what they could," he told the Associated Press news agency.

But one of Mr Tusk's supporters, Jan Zawisz, said he "didn't like being talked down to for the last two years".

Bhutto determined to contest poll

Ms Bhutto described the attacks as "dastardly and cowardly"

Former Pakistani PM Benazir Bhutto has promised she will never surrender to militants following twin bomb attacks on her convoy which killed 130 people.

Ms Bhutto told that there could be more attacks to come, but said she and her party were determined to contest the parliamentary elections in January.

The carnage has raised questions about the safety of campaigning for the poll.

Earlier, she said ex-army officials had been behind the attacks, but stressed she was not blaming the government.

She also said she had been warned that she would be targeted by four militant groups before returning to Pakistan after eight years in self-imposed exile.

Correspondents say many are asking why Ms Bhutto held the procession in Karachi on Thursday despite such fears.

'Saving democracy'

In an interview, Ms Bhutto said she was lucky to be alive following the two attacks on her motorcade as it travelled down the main road from Karachi's airport to the city centre.

What I really need to ask myself is: do I give up, do I let the militants determine the agenda? Benazir Bhutto

Authorities have said the first blast was caused by a hand grenade and that the second was a suicide bombing, but the exact sequence of events remains unclear.

She said armed militants had targeted her and that she had been saved by the bravery of her bodyguards.

Ms Bhutto conceded she was at constant risk of another attack in the future, particularly during an election campaign.

"What I really need to ask myself is: do I give up, do I let the militants determine the agenda?" she said.

Ms Bhutto said she and the Pakistan People's Party (PPP) were determined to contest the parliamentary election due to be held by mid-January and were ready to take the risks to defend democracy.

"I've been having a party meeting and, believe me, the spirit amongst the party is one that I'm so proud of because they say we can't let the militants dictate to us what's going to happen, and that we have to try and save Pakistan by saving democracy. So my supporters are ready."

Warnings

Ms Bhutto was not very specific about who she thought had attacked her, but did say she had received a warning about Pakistani and Afghan members of al-Qaeda, the Taleban and local Pakistani groups.

I don't believe the state or the government was involved in the attack on me at this stage Benazir Bhutto

Several Islamist militant groups had threatened to attack Ms Bhutto after she promised to confront those operating in the northern tribal areas bordering Afghanistan.

Half an hour before the bombs went off, she said, her security personnel had detained someone found with explosives around his body.

The person was handed over to the police, but Ms Bhutto said she did not know whether the police had discovered anything.

Ms Bhutto said Pakistan's President, Gen Pervez Musharraf, had called her shortly after the attack and that she was not blaming the government for what had happened.

KEY DATES 06 Oct: Presidential polls held 17 Oct: Supreme Court resumes hearing challenges to Musharraf candidacy 18 Oct: Benazir Bhutto's homecoming 15 Nov: Parliamentary term ends and general election must be held by mid-January

"I don't believe the state or the government was involved in the attack on me at this stage," she said.

"But I do believe that the sympathisers of the militants had managed to infiltrate some of our agencies and some of our administrative apparatus in a new guise and that they abused their positions to give covert support to the militants, which is why controlling militancy has really not succeeded within the country."

Ms Bhutto said extremists were a small minority in Pakistan and that she wanted to appeal to those who wanted to build a moderate society.

Bhutto convoy bombs kill dozens

At least 58 people have been killed and 100 wounded after two bombs hit crowds greeting returning Pakistani ex-PM Benazir Bhutto.

Ms Bhutto was being driven in a convoy through crowded streets from Karachi airport to a rally to mark her homecoming after eight years in exile.

Ms Bhutto was not among the casualties and has been driven to safety.

Hundreds of thousands of people had turned out to greet the former PM, amid a huge security presence.

Several Islamist groups including pro-Taleban militants have made threats against Ms Bhutto.

The motorcade is now said to be at a standstill, and police have cordoned off the scene of the blasts.

The area around a stage where she was due to give a speech to supporters has been evacuated.

Police say the bombings may have been suicide attacks.

Rushed away

The first explosion was relatively small but was followed by a much larger blast close to the front of Ms Bhutto's truck, which broke its windows and door.

Police vehicles took the main force of the blasts.

It is not clear whether the bomber was in a car or on foot, although police said an unregistered small white car pulled up near a police escort immediately before the explosions.

Witnesses said body parts were strewn across Ms Bhutto's truck. The death toll is expected to rise.

Most of the dead were members of her Pakistan People's Party (PPP). One cameraman for a local TV station was killed.

Correspondents say Ms Bhutto may have been shielded from the blast by an overhang because she was sitting on top of the truck at the time.

The former prime minister was immediately rushed from the scene to her Karachi residency, according to contingency plans.

Power-sharing deal

Ms Bhutto flew in from Dubai earlier on Thursday, accompanied on the flight by about 100 PPP members.

At least 200,000 people turned out to greet her in what correspondents described as a carnival atmosphere, but the crowds slowed the progress of her convoy.

Ms Bhutto had been planning to make a speech at the tomb of Pakistan's founding father, Mohammed Ali Jinnah.

The BBC's Damian Grammaticas in Karachi says that despite being away for eight years, Ms Bhutto is still enormously popular as a scion of Pakistan's pre-eminent political dynasty.

Ms Bhutto left the country soon after Gen Musharraf seized power in a coup, but returned under a power-sharing deal with the president which could see her becoming prime minister again.

The US has backed the deal, amid concerns about the military's inability to defeat Islamist militants and Gen Musharraf's rising unpopularity.

Chavez reforms go to parliament

Venezuela's parliament, made up exclusively of supporters of President Hugo Chavez, has started to debate his proposed changes to the constitution.

Mr Chavez says the 25 changes - added to 33 earlier proposals - are necessary to further his socialist revolution.

The changes would remove term limits for the presidency, allowing Mr Chavez to stand for re-election for seven-year terms instead of six years.

If passed, the measures will be put to a popular referendum.

The New York based organisation, Human Rights Watch, warned the measures would permit the president to suspend certain rights untouchable under international law, if a state of emergency was in force.

"Recent Latin American history shows that it is precisely during states of emergency that countries need strong judicial protections to prevent abuse," said HRW Americas director, Jose Miguel Vivanco.

Among the main changes to the constitution proposed by Mr Chavez are:

• Removing term limits for the presidency, and extending the term of office from six years to seven

• Bringing in a maximum six-hour working day

• Cutting the voting age to from 18 to 16

• Increasing presidential control over the central bank
• Strengthening state economic powers, allowing the government to control assets of private companies before a court grants an expropriation order.

There are no opposition politicians in the Venezuelan National Assembly since most of the anti-Chavez parties boycotted the last election in 2005.

However, several MPs have questioned the way the extra changes have been introduced, calling it constitutional fraud.

Critical cleric dies

On Tuesday, a long-standing critic of the president - Roman Catholic Cardinal Rosalio Castillo Lara - died, aged 85.

He had consistently spoken out against Mr Chavez, saying the president was increasingly authoritarian and "fundamental democratic principles [were] ignored or violated".

For his part, the president called Cardinal Castillo Lara "a hypocrite, bandit and devil with a cassock".

Rosalio Castillo Lara was ordained in 1949, and was appointed cardinal by Pope John Paul II in 1986.

Top Islamabad police men 'suspended'

The two top police officials in the Pakistani capital, Islamabad, and another city official have been suspended, the interior minister says.

Earlier the Supreme Court demanded their suspension following anti-government clashes on Saturday in which many people were injured.

Police used batons and tear gas against lawyers and opposition activists.

The protesters were calling on President Pervez Musharraf to be barred from standing for another term.

Reacting

The three suspended officials are the police chiefs for Islamabad city and Islamabad district and the deputy head of the city administration.

Interior Minister Aftab Sherpao confirmed that they had been suspended, but gave no further details.

The government was reacting to an order from Supreme Court Chief Justice Iftikhar Chaudhry and two other judges.

The judges had been viewing video footage of Saturday's clashes in Islamabad.

Hospital officials told the court that they had treated more than 80 people, many of whom had head wounds, the Associated Press news agency reports.

Chief Justice Chaudhry said that Islamabad's inspector general of police, Marwat Shah was "responsible for all that happened on Saturday", the AFP news agency says.

The protesters were trying to get the Election Commission to stop Gen Musharraf from standing in Pakistan's presidential election due on Saturday.

The day before, the Supreme Court had rejected a number of petitions against Gen Musharraf's candidature in what was a major blow to the opposition.

Police said they were enforcing a law banning demonstrations in the capital.

Protesters said the demonstration had begun peacefully and turned violent because of the huge security presence.

The police have been criticised in the past for their handling of the protests against Gen Musharraf.

In March he tried to suspend Chief Justice Chaudhry. That led to street protests by lawyers that were met with force.

Images of black-suited lawyers covered with blood after being beaten by police helped galvanise opposition political parties into joining in anti-government demonstrations.

Putin to run for parliament to become PM

MOSCOW, Oct 1: Russian President Vladimir Putin said on Monday he would run for parliament and had a “realistic” chance of becoming prime minister — a shock announcement that could herald a fundamental change in the way Russia is governed.

“I gratefully accept your proposal to head the United Russia list,” Putin told a pre-election congress of the party of power, United Russia, bringing hundreds of delegates to their feet with a roar of applause.

Mr Putin said that if the party triumphed in the Dec 2 vote and a worthy successor took his place as president in 2008, he could become prime minister.

“Heading the government is a completely realistic idea, but ... it would require at least two conditions,” he said.

The first condition, that United Russia win a majority in the State Duma, is a virtual guarantee, pollsters say. Mr Putin said the second condition was the election of an “orderly, capable and effective” president in March 2008.

His announcement stunned political observers in Moscow and came after years of speculation about what the Russian leader, who enjoys approval ratings over 80 per cent, would do after his second presidential term ends next year. Kremlin-linked political analyst Gleb Pavlovsky said that Putin’s assuming the post of prime minister would be “the most politically logical solution” to how to use his authority after he lays down the reins of the presidency.

The resulting split in power between the president and the prime minister would be “a radical advance in pluralism” for Russia, where there has been no power centre outside the Kremlin since Boris Yeltsin challenged then-Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev in the late 1980s, said Pavlovsky.

“We can forget our favourite cliche that in Russia, the president is the tsar,” Pavlovsky said, speaking on the sidelines of the congress after Putin’s announcement.

Many questions remained about how Putin could become prime minister, which under current Russian law would require his successor to appoint him to the post.

Putin’s preferred successor is all but guaranteed to win the March presidential vote, though the question of whom he will choose is as hotly debated as his future role is.

The prospect of Putin heading the government was raised by party delegate Gennady Kotelnikov, rector of a regional medical university, after a series of other delegates implored Putin to somehow retain power after March 2008.

“If you agree today to head the federal party list, then in the spring you could head the government in order to complete the changes you began in the post of president,” Kotelnikov said.

Meanwhile, Putin’s decision to lead United Russia into parliamentary elections continues a relationship of mutual support that began with the party’s formation in 2001.

The Kremlin formed the party to support Putin after he took power in 2000.

It won a vast majority in 2003 State Duma elections and has unwaveringly backed him since.

United Russia has taken every opportunity to associate itself with the massively popular Russian president, titling its parliamentary election platform “Plan Putin.” A late September poll of likely voters by the respected Levada Centre put support for United Russia at 55 per cent, followed by 18 per cent for the Communist Party.

Expected to join Putin at the head of the party list are State Duma speaker Boris Gryzlov and Emergency Situations Minister Sergei Shoigu.

Korean leaders meet in Pyongyang

North Korea's reclusive leader Kim Jong-il has welcomed South Korean President Roh Moo-hyun as he arrived in Pyongyang for a historic summit.

Live television footage showed the two men shaking hands ahead of three days of talks in the North Korean capital.

The meeting between the two leaders is only the second such meeting in more than 50 years since the Korean war.

President Roh said that he was aiming for a "peace settlement together with economic development".

The 1950-53 war between the two sides has never formally ended, but Seoul has promoted hopes for a permanent truce.

It says this summit may pave the way for that historic step

Brief reunions

President Roh left the South Korean capital, Seoul, early on Tuesday in a motorcade along with business leaders, bureaucrats, poets and clerics.

The convoy stopped at the demilitarized zone to allow the president and his wife, Kwon Yang-sook, to cross into the north on foot.

They stepped across a yellow plastic tape, printed with the words "peace" and "prosperity".

"I do hope after my crossing that more people will follow suit," said President Roh at the border. "This line will gradually be erased and the wall will fall."

The two states' only other summit was held in Pyongyang in 2000.

At the time, Kim Jong-il promised to make the return journey to Seoul, but that has never happened.

The first summit led to the former South Korean President Kim Dae-jung winning the Nobel Peace Prize for his "sunshine policy" of rapprochement with the North.

Since then, rail and road links have been reconnected and families divided between the two countries have been granted reunions, if only briefly.

But critics say the South's attempts at friendship and large donations of aid have failed to break down the impoverished North's isolationism or improve its human rights record.

Some observers doubt whether Kim Jong-il has any appetite for reconciliation, says the BBC's John Sudworth in Seoul.

They believe he prefers to keep his military threat to coax further economic aid and other concessions from the nervous South, our correspondent says.

Nuclear progress

The conservative opposition in South Korea has warned Mr Roh against making any "naive" economic concessions just for the sake of an agreement.

"They must know that an emotional approach to the North would bring on disasters," spokeswoman Na Kyung-won said.

One item not on the agenda is North Korea's nuclear weapons programme.

That is being left for ongoing multi-party talks, which made significant progress over the weekend.

A joint statement setting out the next step in the denuclearisation progress was agreed, and has been sent for approval to the six governments involved, including the two Koreas.