Refunds after Eurostar breakdowns

Refunds after Eurostar breakdowns

<img src="http://newsimg.bbc.co.uk/media/images/46446000/jpg/_46446687_lillemap.jpg” align=”left” width=”226″ height=”170″ alt=”Map showing Lille” border=”0″ vspace=”4″ hspace=”4″>

About 1,000 passengers have been left stranded on two broken down cross-Channel trains for several hours, rail operator Eurostar has confirmed.

The 1932 BST service from London St Pancras to Paris and the 1934 BST train to Brussels stopped outside Lille, north-east France, at around 2100 BST.

An electricity supply failure caused the breakdowns, and left only emergency lighting working on board.

A Eurostar spokesman said the problem would delay some Saturday services.

He told the BBC that about 460 passengers were being transferred to replacement buses to take them on the 60-mile journey to Brussels in Belgium.

Another 500 or so were on the Paris-bound train expected to be towed into Lille station, where a diesel replacement train was to take them on to the French capital.

Earlier this week a power cable collapsed on to a Eurostar train that had just arrived in London from Paris, causing delays to 11 services.</p

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US charges suspect in ‘bomb plot’

US charges suspect in ‘bomb plot’

<img src="http://newsimg.bbc.co.uk/media/images/46408000/jpg/_46408178_zazi_getty226b.jpg” align=”left” width=”226″ height=”170″ alt=”Najibullah Zazi, pictured on 17 September 2009″ border=”0″ vspace=”4″ hspace=”4″>

An airport shuttle bus driver in the US has been charged with conspiring to use weapons of mass destruction.

Afghan-born Najibullah Zazi, 24, was charged by the New York Grand Jury with plotting to use one or more explosive devices on US territory.

Mr Zazi was detained last Saturday along with his father and another man, but all three denied any involvement.

Investigators have told the media that bomb-making instructions were found in Mr Zazi’s house in Denver, Colorado.

In a statement, the US Department of Justice said Mr Zazi had "knowingly and intentionally conspired with others to use one or more weapons of mass destruction, specifically explosive bombs and other similar explosive devices, against persons or property within the United States".

Attorney General Eric Holder said investigators were examining "a wide range of leads" and would "continue to work around the clock to ensure that anyone involved is brought to justice".

He said that officials believed any "imminent threat" from the alleged plot had been disrupted.

Mr Zazi and his father were arrested in their home city of Denver while the third man, Ahmad Wais Afzali, 37, was arrested in Queens, New York, where he is an imam at a mosque.

A legal resident of the US since 1999, Mr Zazi is alleged to have received explosives and weapons training at an al-Qaeda camp in Pakistan last year.

But in a recent telephone interview with the Denver Post newspaper Mr Zazi denied the allegations and said he had nothing to hide. </p

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Russia eases over Iran sanctions

Russia eases over Iran sanctions

<img src="http://newsimg.bbc.co.uk/media/images/46431000/jpg/_46431444_008006426-1.jpg” align=”left” width=”226″ height=”170″ alt=”Dmitry Medvedev and Barack Obama 23.9.09″ border=”0″ vspace=”4″ hspace=”4″>

Russian President Dmitry Medvedev has signalled that Moscow might be prepared to soften its opposition to sanctions against Iran over its nuclear plans.

Mr Medvedev, speaking after talks with US President Barack Obama, said that in some cases sanctions were "inevitable".

Earlier, a Russian official said Moscow could support fresh sanctions if there was enough evidence from UN inspectors.

Mr Obama hopes to establish an agreed position ahead of talks next week with Tehran on its nuclear programme.

Analysts say that if those talks yield nothing he wants to pursue tougher sanctions against Tehran.

Russia has so far opposed any fresh sanctions.

But last week President Obama dropped plans for an anti-missile defence shield close to Russian borders.

There was speculation that in exchange, Moscow would make a move on sanctions against Iran.

Stance eased

Mr Medvedev said sanctions were rarely productive but he opened the door to the possibility if Iran pressed ahead with its suspected nuclear weapons programme.

"Sanctions rarely lead to productive results, but in some cases sanctions are inevitable," he said after he and Mr Obama met on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly in New York.

"Unfortunately, Iran has been violating too many of its international commitments"

Barack Obama

"We need to help Iran to (make) the right decisions," he said.

Mr Obama said he and Mr Medvedev shared the goal of allowing Iran to pursue peaceful nuclear energy, but not nuclear weapons.

"Unfortunately, Iran has been violating too many of its international commitments," Mr Obama said.

"What we have discussed is how we can move in a positive direction that can resolve a potential crisis."

Speaking earlier, an unnamed Russian official reported to be a member of Moscow’s delegation to New York, did not rule out UN sanctions against Iran "if there are objective grounds", Russia’s state-run RIA-Novosti reported.

For Russia, "the criteria are not individual evaluations, not guesswork, but the report and recommendations of the (UN) International Atomic Energy Agency", the official reportedly said.

Those comments were quickly welcomed by the White House.

"Their willingness to play a constructive role is extremely important," said Robert Gibbs, quoted by AFP news agency.

Six powers

Tehran says its nuclear programme is for civilian uses only, but Western powers suspect it is trying to develop a nuclear weapon.

Six world powers are to hold talks with Iranian officials on 1 October that are expected to cover global nuclear disarmament.

Iran’s nuclear plans have also come under fire at the UN General Assembly.

French President Nicolas Sarkozy said Iranian leaders were "making a tragic mistake" if they thought the international community would not respond.

British Prime Minister Gordon Brown warned Iran – and North Korea – that the world would be even tougher on proliferation.</p

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Yahoo’s new web portal goes live

Yahoo’s new web portal goes live
By Tim Weber
Business editor, BBC News website

<img src="http://newsimg.bbc.co.uk/media/images/46426000/gif/_46426128_yahoo_uk_.gif” align=”left” width=”226″ height=”170″ alt=”Yahoo front page screenshot” border=”0″ vspace=”4″ hspace=”4″>

Internet giant Yahoo has relaunched its web portal, supported by a $100m global advertising campaign.

The company hopes the website refresh will boost both traffic and revenues.

Yahoo will also open its home page to rivals, allowing users to integrate third-party web services like Facebook or Hotmail into its portal.

Yahoo has been struggling to turn its position as the world‘s most popular website into profits. The portal is the first move of new boss Carol Bartz.

From openness to profit

When Yahoo first announced its relaunch plans, many analysts derided the idea, arguing that most web users now ignore portals and use search engines to go directly to the page they want.

<img src="http://newsimg.bbc.co.uk/media/images/46426000/jpg/_46426136_richriley.jpg” align=”left” width=”226″ height=”170″ alt=”Rich Riley, Yahoo” border=”0″ vspace=”4″ hspace=”4″>

However, the vast majority of Yahoo’s customers still go to the portal first, insists Yahoo’s senior vice-president for Europe, Rich Riley. That also makes it the most attractive place for Yahoo to sell advertisements.

"Frontpage adverts are incredibly powerful," said Mr Riley, and can cost millions of dollar for a single day of global advertising.

At the same time, Yahoo believes that a new openness to rival brands will actually increase its profits.

The new "customisable applications" allow users to see a snapshot of their favourite websites and services within the Yahoo portal – whether it is a social networking site, a rival web mail service, or their favourite website.

This is supposed to make the Yahoo portal "stickier" and the centre of web users’ internet experience.

Fittingly, the advertising campaign has the catch phrase "It’s Y!ou", featuring the exclamation mark that is part of the Yahoo brand.

"The [new] home page is a powerful way to get a view into your life on the internet," said Mr Riley, quoting surveys that suggest that 60% of Yahoo users in the UK want a one-stop shop to organise their life on the internet.

In the United States and the United Kingdom, a majority of users have already been testing the new website, but from 23 September the new look will be the default worldwide.

"We expect more traffic, the number of unique users to go up… an increase in audience engagement and more repeat visits," which in turn will drive advertising income, said Mr Riley.

Partnerships

The new portal, however, also has an unprecedented number of links to non-Yahoo websites, potentially taking traffic away from Yahoo’s sprawling network of news, weather, finance, email, messaging, and picture services and more.

In the UK, for example, the Yahoo website features top headlines from the Telegraph, Guardian and Daily Mail newspapers.

Since the beta version of the Yahoo website was launched in the UK, Yahoo has become the second-largest source of online traffic to the newspaper’s website, said Mr Riley.

Yahoo is getting a share of the advertising revenue generated by this traffic to partners.

Ten focus markets

The $100m advertising campaign accompanying the relaunch is global, but will focus on 10 key markets: United States, United Kingdom, India, France, Brazil, South Korea, Taiwan, Indonesia, Hong Kong and Canada.

The strong emphasis on emerging markets reflects Yahoo’s belief that it is "where the next billion people are coming online", according to Mr Riley.

The portal’s relaunch is accompanied by an overhaul of the user interface of Yahoo’s search engine, which does not yet profit from Microsoft’s new search engine Bing.

The results page of Yahoo’s search engine will show not just the usual list of search results and sponsored links, but also a left-hand navigation that helps users to narrow down their search further.

In July, Microsoft and Yahoo agreed a deal that will see Yahoo’s websites use both Microsoft’s search technology and search advertising.

Yahoo in turn will become the sales team for banner advertising for both companies. However, the deal still awaits regulatory approval and is not expected to be finalised before spring 2010.

Unlike rival and erstwhile suitor Google, Yahoo has been struggling to turn its dominant position on the web into comparable profits.

During the three months to June, Yahoo made a mere $141m profit on revenues of $1.57bn.

The change of direction is driven by new chief executive Carol Bartz, who replaced co-founder Jerry Yang in January this year.</p

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Scores die in south Sudan attack

Scores die in south Sudan attack

<img src="http://newsimg.bbc.co.uk/media/images/46416000/jpg/_46416709_90170582(1).jpg” align=”left” width=”226″ height=”170″ alt=”Lou Nuer children and cattle, file image” border=”0″ vspace=”4″ hspace=”4″>

Militiamen have killed at least 27 people in an attack in southern Sudan in the latest in a series of ethnic clashes, officials say.

UN sources said thousands of armed men from the Lou Nuer ethnic group attacked civilians and security forces in the village of Duk Padiet in Jonglei state.

Last month about 185 Lou Nuers were killed by ethnic Murle fighters in the same state.

Some 2,000 people have died in similar clashes across the south this year.

Southern army spokesman Kuol Diem Kuol said the attack on the village, which is mainly occupied by the Dinka Hol group, happened on Sunday morning.

<img src="http://newsimg.bbc.co.uk/media/images/45603000/gif/_45603070_sudan_jonglei_2603091.gif” align=”left” width=”226″ height=”170″ alt=”Map” border=”0″ vspace=”4″ hspace=”4″>

"They overran our company plus the youth of the village," he said.

Under a 2005 peace deal ending a two-decade war between north and south, former southern rebels formed a power-sharing government with President Omar al-Bashir’s party in Khartoum.

A national election is due next year and southern Sudanese are meant to vote in a referendum to decide whether to secede from the north in 2011.

The BBC’s Peter Martell, in the southern Sudanese capital Juba, says many people fear Khartoum is orchestrating the violence.

Some southern politicians believe Khartoum is arming militias from both sides in a bid to destabilise the region and delay the votes indefinitely.

But the south is made up of a patchwork of rival ethnic groups who have long fought over grazing land, cattle and other resources.

And Khartoum vehemently denies playing any part in the violence in the south.</p

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Australian attacked in Belgrade

Australian attacked in Belgrade

<img src="http://newsimg.bbc.co.uk/media/images/46412000/jpg/_46412249_-5.jpg” align=”left” width=”226″ height=”170″ alt=”Serbian police at the site of a planned "non-deviant" march in Belgrade, 20 September 2009″ border=”0″ vspace=”4″ hspace=”4″>

An Australian tourist has become the second foreigner in four days to be attacked in Serbia’s capital, Belgrade.

The 25-year-old man was reportedly targeted by two men in a public park and suffered head and face injuries.

A 28-year-old French football fan who was attacked by Serbian hooligans on Thursday remains in critical condition.

The attacks come amid concerns about a surge in extremist violence, with police arresting dozens of suspected members of far-right groups.

A gay march planned for Sunday was called off this week, when authorities said they could not guarantee its safety.

Serb nationalists had planned a "non-deviant" rally to coincide with the march, but reports said it only drew a handful of people.

Serbian TV station B92 reported that police were banning all public gatherings in the centre of the city to avoid clashes.

The Gay Pride march would have been the first in Belgrade since 2001. That parade descended into chaos amid widespread violence by mobs of protesters.

The justice ministry said that a total of 46 members of far-right groups, including a number of leaders of ultra-nationalist organisations, had been arrested, the Associated Press news agency reported.

Police said they were searching for a group suspected of attacking the Australian.

The state prosecutors office has said that 11 men could be charged with attempted murder for attacking French football fans after Thursday’s incident.</p

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Gates responds to missile critics

Gates responds to missile critics

<img src="http://newsimg.bbc.co.uk/media/images/46408000/jpg/_46408161_-26.jpg” align=”left” width=”226″ height=”282″ alt=”File photo of Robert Gates, September 2009″ border=”0″ vspace=”4″ hspace=”4″>

US Secretary of Defence Robert Gates has rejected the claim that a decision to shelve a plan for missile defence in Europe was a concession to Russia.

Writing in the New York Times, Mr Gates said Russia’s attitude "played no part" in his recommendation to President Barack Obama to drop the plan.

Mr Gates said the aim was to deal with potential threats from Iran.

A new system will be able to provide such a defence sooner and more effectively, he said.

Under the original plan, the US signed a deal in August 2008 with Poland to site 10 interceptors at a base near the Baltic Sea, and with the Czech Republic to build a radar station on its territory.

Russia, which had always seen that plan as a threat, welcomed the decision to abandon it.

However, there has been criticism of the decision in conservative circles in the US.

‘Greater flexibility’

Mr Gates, a Republican who also served as defence secretary during George W Bush’s final years as president, described initially recommending the missile defence plan in late 2006.

"At the time, it was the best plan based on the technology and threat assessment available," he said.

"I have found since taking this post that when it comes to missile defence, some hold a view bordering on theology"

Robert Gates

But he said the system, designed to deal with long-range missiles, would not have been installed before 2017, and that a new system announced by President Obama this week would provide better protection.

He said this system, which would use sea and land-based interceptors, "actually provides us with greater flexibility to adapt as new threats develop and old ones recede".

"This will be a far more effective defence should an enemy fire many missiles simultaneously — the kind of attack most likely to occur as Iran continues to build and deploy numerous short- and medium-range weapons."

Mr Gates rejected the idea that Russia’s opposition to the original missile defence plan played a part in the policy change.

He added: "Of course, considering Russia’s past hostility toward American missile defence in Europe, if Russia’s leaders embrace this plan, then that will be an unexpected — and welcome — change of policy on their part."

He said the decision to drop the initial plan was a "pragmatic" one, scolding those who he said provided a "devoted following" to missile defence plans that were "unworkable, prohibitively expensive and could never be practically deployed".

"I have found since taking this post that when it comes to missile defence, some hold a view bordering on theology that regards any change of plans or any cancellation of a program as abandonment or even breaking faith," he said.

</p

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US ‘should take terror detainees’

US ‘should take terror detainees’
By Jon Manel
Reporter, BBC Radio 4′s PM programme

The man officially responsible for closing Guantanamo Bay says more detainees could be resettled worldwide if some were transferred to the US.

Daniel Fried is the special envoy for closing the detention centre and is in charge of persuading other countries to take in detainees.

He says his job is miserable because he is "cleaning up a problem".

He also revealed he was reprimanded by the UK over his decision to send four detainees to Bermuda.

Daniel Fried has one of the most important and toughest tasks in the US government.

In an exclusive first interview since his appointment, Mr Fried told the BBC about the successes and failures of his first six months in the job.

‘Huge problem’

Ordering the closure of the detention camps at Guantanamo was one of US President Barack Obama’s first acts in office.

"I’ve been admonished by the British government in very clear terms"

Daniel Fried on the Bermuda deal

Saying it would send "an unmistakable signal", he set his staff the task of closing the facility by 22 January 2009. However, predictably, it is proving to be difficult.

Working out what to do with the remaining detainees is "a huge problem and a complicated one," says Mr Fried.

So far, the number being held there has been reduced by just 16 – and one of those committed suicide. There are now 226 left.

The administration is reviewing each detainee’s case in order to decide which prisoners should be prosecuted, which should freed and which transferred to another country.

Ambassador Fried is dealing with those who are "cleared for release" by a special task force or by the courts.

Hungary is the latest country which has agreed to take a detainee. Other nations which have already done so or have pledged to help include France, Portugal, Spain, Italy and Belgium.

One of Mr Fried’s successes was the deal he struck with Bermuda, which took four Guantanamo prisoners, all of them Chinese Uighurs – an ethnic minority from north-west China. However, Bermuda is a British overseas territory and Britain was not informed until the last minute.

"The British government, it is fair to say, cannot be considered part of the deal," Mr Fried says.

"This was worked out between the Americans and the Bermudans. I will say that I’ve been admonished by the British government in very clear terms."

‘No Plan Bs’

He defended the agreement with Bermuda, however.

"We are very grateful to the Bermudan government and the behaviour of the four Uighurs has been exemplary, which really bolsters our contention that they were not any kind of threat."

"These are four people who are enjoying freedom who would otherwise be in Guantanamo."

Mr Fried’s tough job has not been helped by the decision of Congress to block the transfer of any cleared detainees from Guantanamo to the US mainland.

He says he will not criticise Congress, but told me: "It is fair to say, as just an objective statement, that the US could resettle more detainees [worldwide], had we been willing to take in some."

"But I also have to state that parliamentarians in Europe and the US have raised questions about security – and we have to respect those opinions."

Mr Fried said he was confident – but would not guarantee – that the 22 January deadline would be met.

"President Obama’s timetable is what we’ve got, we don’t have Plan Bs, we’re looking at that timetable. We’ve got a lot of work to do, we need help getting this done, and we’re going to be working hard at it."

"But you’re not going to have Guantanamo II. Whatever solution we come up with, it will be one based firmly on the rule of law and transparency."</p

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UN holds ‘urgent’ Sri Lanka talks

UN holds ‘urgent’ Sri Lanka talks
By Charles Haviland
BBC News, Colombo

<img src="http://newsimg.bbc.co.uk/media/images/46385000/jpg/_46385487_007835538-1.jpg” align=”left” width=”226″ height=”170″ alt=”Manik Farm camp in Vavuniya, Sri Lanka (15 August 2009)” border=”0″ vspace=”4″ hspace=”4″>

A senior United Nations official, Lynn Pascoe, is due to arrive in Sri Lanka for two days of talks on urgent matters.

The world body has been expressing concern at the slow pace of release of Tamil refugees.

Many are still detained in government-run camps four months after the end of the war.

The UN is sounding a note of urgency on Sri Lanka and these meetings may be well be tense.

Mr Pascoe, the UN’s head of political affairs, will hold talks on "critical issues", the UN said.

"We’re very concerned about the pace of progress," Mr Pascoe said in New York before leaving.

In the same breath he referred to agreements made by the government when UN Secretary General Ban Ki-Moon visited in May, including ones on accountability for possible violation of human rights laws, and on the movement of Tamil refugees out of their camps.

The government is now letting more people return home but still detains many others.

It has also just rejected the idea of a European Union investigation into its rights record, saying: "We do not have human rights issues."

Mr Pascoe says he will also discuss Sri Lanka’s decision to expel the spokesman for the UN Children’s Fund for allegedly parroting Tamil Tiger propaganda, and will raise the continued detention of two Sri Lankan UN staff.

Last week a UN spokeswoman said they had initially been "disappeared" by the government in June and there were allegations that the authorities had mistreated them.</p

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Al-Qaeda Somalia suspect ‘killed’

Al-Qaeda Somalia suspect ‘killed’

<img src="http://newsimg.bbc.co.uk/media/images/46074000/jpg/_46074701_somalia226afp.jpg” align=”left” width=”226″ height=”170″ alt=”Al-Shabab fighters in Mogadishu (file photo)” border=”0″ vspace=”4″ hspace=”4″>

Foreign soldiers have staged an attack on militants in Somalia, killing at least two people in a helicopter raid.

The troops, who according to some reports had uniforms with French insignia, attacked a vehicle carrying Islamists from the al-Shabab group.

Witnesses said the troops took away two men, and there were two bodies left in the road after the attack in the southern coastal town of Barawe.

A French military spokesman has denied its forces were involved.

"There was no French operation," said admiral Christophe Prazuck, spokesman for the armed forces’ general staff, according to the AFP news agency.

He said the only French forces in the region were tackling pirates off the coast and did not intervene on land.

Witness Dahir Ahmed said that the helicopters had taken off from a nearby warship flying a French flag.

<img src="http://newsimg.bbc.co.uk/media/images/46376000/gif/_46376388_somalia_226x170_8.gif” align=”left” width=”226″ height=”170″ alt=”map showing areas under Islamist control” border=”0″ vspace=”4″ hspace=”4″>

Barawe is controlled by al-Shabab.

A village elder said four foreign helicopters were involved in the raid.

"A car was destroyed, we are also hearing that some of the vehicle’s passengers were taken on the helicopters," he told AFP.

French commandos have launched raids in the past to rescue their citizens from pirates or militants. There is a French military base in neighbouring Djibouti.

The assault comes several weeks after a Frenchman held by militants in Mogadishu managed to get free.

The US has also carried out air strikes against Somali Islamist groups it accused of links to al-Qaeda in recent years.

Somalia has not had a functioning central government since 1991.

Rival Islamist factions are battling forces loyal to the weak UN-backed government, which only controls small parts of the capital Mogadishu.</p

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