Iraq battle after militia arrest

There are estimated to be 100,000 Awakening members nationwide

Two passers-by have died in the Iraqi capital, Baghdad, after clashes between security forces and one of the militias which are backed by US forces.

The gun battle in the Fadil district of the city erupted shortly after the leader of the local Awakening group, Adil Mashadani, was arrested.

One account says US troops helped with the arrest alongside the Iraqi army.

Fadil was run by al-Qaeda in Iraq for most of 2006 and 2007, but they were driven out by the Awakening movement.

Baghdad security spokesman Qassim Moussawi told Reuters news agency: "Iraqi forces arrested Mashadani because they had a judicial warrant. The clashes started because of this."

Children playing

The BBC's Hugh Sykes happened to be in Fadil a few hours before the gun battle and he says the neighbourhood seemed calm and normal.

People were out shopping, fresh fish was on sale on a cart in the shade and children were playing.

He says it is an impoverished district where many buildings are bullet-pocked from the days when al-Qaeda menaced the mostly Shia neighbourhoods nearby.

No reason has yet been given for the arrest of Mr Mashadani - but his detention may destabilise Fadil unless it is satisfactorily explained, adds our correspondent.

The Awakening - or Sons of Iraq, as the Americans call them - mostly consist of Sunni Arab fighters who used to work with al-Qaeda.

They have been credited with helping drastically reduce violence, flushing out Sunni Islamist al-Qaeda from parts of Baghdad, western Anbar province and some northern towns.

There are estimated to be around 100,000 Awakening members nationwide and they were paid by the US military until last year when the Iraqi government began taking over the programme.

Analysts say the Shia-led government's handling of the Sunni Arab fighters it once fought against will be a key test of efforts to stabilise Iraq as the US prepares to withdraw its combat troops by August 2010.

Russian 'Arctic military' plan

Warmer temperatures are making access to the Arctic easier

Russia has announced plans to set up a military force to protect its interests in the Arctic.

In a document published on its national security council's website, Moscow says it expects the Arctic to become its main resource base by 2020.

While the strategy is thought to have been approved in September, it has only now been made public.

Moscow's ambitions are likely to cause concern among other countries with claims to the Arctic.

'Military security'

The document foresees the Arctic becoming Russia's main source of oil and gas within the next decade.

In order to protect its assets, Moscow says one of its main goals will be the establishment of troops "capable of ensuring military security" in the region.

With climate change opening up the possibility of making drilling viable in previously inaccessible areas, the Arctic has gained in strategic importance for Russia, says the BBC's James Rodgers in Moscow.

Russia's moment of Arctic triumph in 2007 was captured on film

However, Russia's arctic ambitions have already put those with competing claims on the defensive.

In 2007, a Russian expedition planted a Russian flag on the seabed beneath the North Pole.

Russia, Canada, Denmark, Norway and the United States, all of whom have an Arctic coastline, dispute the sovereignty over parts of the region.

With an estimated 90 billion untapped barrels of oil, Russia's strategy is likely to be scrutinised carefully by its neighbours in the far north.

US aircraft parts fall on Brazil

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Debris from plane's engine which landed in a Brazil town

Sections of a US plane have fallen from the sky onto a residential area in the city of Manaus in northern Brazil.

Pieces from one of the turbines of the DC-10 aircraft caused damage to several houses and a car, but there were no reported injuries.

The flight, operated by the Miami-based Arrow Cargo company, had been en route to the Colombian capital, Bogota.

Brazilian officials are investigating the incident and the company said it would pay for any damage to property.

Local resident Aparecida Silva said a large part of the turbine had landed on her house when she was sleeping.

Residents reported hearing a loud bang before the parts fell from the sky

"I opened the window after I head this huge boom and I see this thing up in flames, right in front of my doorway," she told Brazil's Globo TV.

"I had no idea what it was, I thought it was some weird, ugly thing or a UFO or something."

The television station broadcast amateur footage of what appeared to be burning debris falling through the night sky.

Other footage showed damage to houses, one with a collapsed roof and smashed toilet, and a piece of engine about 2m (6ft) long lying in the street.

A representative for Arrow Cargo in Manuas, Rai Marinho, told reporters the plane, carrying three crew members and an engineer, had had engine problems shortly after takeoff.

It was able to continue its journey but was later diverted to Medellin in Colombia because of bad weather, the Associated Press quoted the Colombian air force as saying.

F1 teams given Melbourne go-ahead

Rivals claim the rear diffuser of three cars, including this Williams, are illegal

AUSTRALIAN GRAND PRIX
Venue: Albert Park, Melbourne Dates: 27-29 March Coverage: Comprehensive live coverage of Friday's practice sessions, Saturday's qualifying sessions and Sunday's race across BBC TV, radio and online. Find complete listings here

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Motorsport's governing body has rejected the protest made by three Formula 1 teams about the legality of certain cars.

With F1 just days away from the start of the new season in Australia, the FIA has ruled that the cars of Brawn GP, Toyota and Williams are all legal.

Ferrari, BMW Sauber and Renault claimed a crucial part at the back of the car does not conform to new F1 regulations.

The protesting teams now have until 1400 GMT to appeal against the ruling.

More soon.

Turkish politician in air crash

Muhsin Yazicioglu is one of six people missing

The chairman of Turkey's ultra-nationalist Grand Unity Party is missing after the helicopter he was travelling in crashed on Wednesday.

Hundreds of rescue workers have joined the search for Muhsin Yazicioglu, the pilot and four further passengers.

Turkish TV channels broadcast a phone call reported to be from one of the passengers saying that "everybody else on the helicopter seems to be dead".

Continuing bad weather conditions are slowing down the search efforts.

According to the Turkish daily Hurriyet, Mr Yazicioglu was returning from a political rally ahead of Sunday's local election when his helicopter ran into trouble in the mountainous area of Kahramanmaras province at 1500 local time (1300 GMT).

Call for help

Turkish TV channels have played a recording of a phone call they say one of the passengers made shortly after the crash.

In it, Ismail Gunes, a reporter for the IHD news agency, talks about a snowstorm and fog. He goes on to say that he fears he is the only survivor.

The Transportation Minister, Binali Yildirim, told the Anatolian news agency that they had "received signals from mobile phones of the pilot and the passengers". He said efforts were under way to locate the co-ordinates of their whereabouts.

Some members of Mr Yazicioglu's party have protested outside the office of the Interior Minister over the failure to locate the crash site almost 24 hours after the accident.

Hundreds of volunteers as well as police are taking part in the search and rescue efforts, which officials say are being hampered by the continuing harsh weather conditions.

A number of political parties, including the governing Justice and Development Party (AKP) and the opposition Republican People's Party, have cancelled their election rallies scheduled for Thursday.

Clinton: US shares blame on drugs

Hillary Clinton will meet Mexico's president and foreign minister

US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton has said the US must take part of the blame for drug-related violence in Mexico on a visit to the country.

She said the US appetite for drugs and inability to stop arms crossing the border were helping fuel violence.

Mrs Clinton's visit comes a day after the Obama administration announced new measures to boost border security.

Some 8,000 people have died in drug-related violence in Mexico over the past two years.

Trade and immigration issues are also expected to be high on Mrs Clinton's agenda.

'Co-responsibility'

"Our insatiable demand for illegal drugs fuels the drug trade," Mrs Clinton said upon arrival in Mexico.

We need to do more to make sure that illegal guns and cash aren't flowing back to the cartels US President Barack Obama Mexico arrests 'top drugs hitman'

"Our inability to prevent weapons from being illegally smuggled across the border to arm these criminals causes the deaths of police officers, soldiers and civilians.

"I feel very strongly we have a co-responsibility."

Mexico and the US are currently locked in a trade dispute, after the US government stopped a pilot scheme earlier this month which allowed Mexican trucks to use roads in the US.

Mexico said the decision violated a free-trade deal between the countries and retaliated by imposing higher tariffs on some 90 American exports.

In signs of movement on the issue, US Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood and other Obama administration officials have reportedly been working on plans to revive the scheme.

Mexico's Economy Minister Gerardo Ruiz Mateos said on Tuesday that his country would lift its tariffs as soon as the US returned to its "agreed commitments" on access for its trucks.

Illegal guns

But it is the drugs-related violence in Mexico that is likely to be the focus of Mrs Clinton's discussions.

On Tuesday, the White House unveiled a $700m (

Chinese use pills to curb gerbils

Gerbils' burrowing is damaging the roots of plants

Chinese authorities are using contraceptive pills to cut down the number of gerbils in a north-western province plagued by the rodents.

Forestry officials are leaving pills by the gerbils' burrows to try to cut back the rodents' exploding numbers.

The gerbils, officials say, are threatening the fragile desert ecosystem in the vast Xinjiang region.

Their burrowing in the Gurbantunggut Desert damages roots of the few plants that thrive there, officials say.

Authorities are using the pellets - which prevent females getting pregnant and cause abortion in those already pregnant - disguised as bran feed, the state news agency Xinhua said.

It's a good way to tackle the desert rat plague Du Yuefei forestry official

Use of the contraceptive pills is deemed to be more humane than killing the rodents and, according to officials, have little effect on other animals.

"It's a good way to tackle the desert rat plague," local forestry official Du Yuefei said.

More than 180kg (400 lb) of the tainted feed has so far been spread across an area of about 49,000 hectares in the arid region.

Officials had previously installed hundreds of perches for the gerbils' natural predators - eagles and owls - but the move failed to halt the rodents' rising numbers.

The scheme has already caused a slight drop in gerbil numbers, Mr Du said, with 11 gerbils caught in every 100 traps laid out for them. Previously an average of 12 were caught in the traps, the AP news agency reports.

If it continues to be successful, other regions in an increasingly arid China may adopt the scheme.