Guadeloupe protests turn deadly
 Protesters threw stones at lines of police from behind burning barricades |
France has appealed for calm on its Caribbean island of Guadeloupe after a local official died during protests against the rising cost of living.
The union representative was shot dead as he drove up to a barricade set up by youths in Guadeloupe's biggest town, Pointe-a-Pitre, local officials said.
Earlier, police had responded after coming under a barrage of stones from protesters who burned cars in the town.
Several were reportedly injured as police used tear gas to disperse them.
In recent days, the month-long general strike on Guadeloupe has spread to the French island of Martinique, 160km (100 miles) to the south, where looting has been reported amid thousands-strong rallies demanding higher wages.
Holidays cancelled
Violence would not solve the problem, government spokesman Luc Chatel told Europe-1 radio, urging both workers and employers to resume stalled salary negotiations.
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Mr Chatel said a return to calm was "the most important thing".
The protests and strikes have brought the islands to a standstill. They escalated on Tuesday night as protesters burned cars and looted buildings in Pointe-a-Pitre and Sainte-Anne.
Three police were injured as they came under fire from the looters and more than a dozen arrests were made.
Guadeloupe's airport was closed on Tuesday as workers could not pass through debris-clogged roads.
Thousands of tourists - an important source of revenue - have cancelled their holidays in Guadeloupe and Martinique.
The islands have a high cost of living and use the euro.
Correspondents say many residents feel their salaries are not keeping up with rising prices.
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Lisbon clears major Czech hurdle
Lisbon clears major Czech hurdle
 The Eurosceptic Czech president opposes the treaty |
The lower house of the Czech parliament has approved the EU's Lisbon Treaty - a key step towards ratification.
The treaty has not yet been approved by the upper house, the Senate, where its passage is likely to be further delayed by right-wing opponents.
The Czech Republic - current holder of the EU's rotating presidency - is among a handful of countries that have not yet ratified the reform treaty.
It was rejected by Irish voters in a referendum last June.
It cannot take effect unless all 27 EU member states ratify it.
The Republic of Ireland government plans to hold a new referendum on the treaty this year, having secured sovereignty "guarantees" from EU leaders.
On Wednesday the Czech lower house voted 125 to 61 to adopt the document, aimed at streamlining EU institutions to make them more flexible after the 27-nation bloc's enlargement in recent years.
Obstacles
Czech President Vaclav Klaus has argued that the treaty would undermine Czech sovereignty.
The treaty is seen by opponents as a way to impose a federalist agenda, undermining national sovereignty.
Czech Prime Minister Mirek Topolanek, leader of the conservative Civic Democratic Party (ODS), has signed the treaty, but a substantial part of his own party opposes it.
There is pressure from some Czech politicians to delay ratification until parliament backs the plan to host a radar base for a US missile defence shield.
The Republic of Ireland was the only EU member state to hold a referendum on Lisbon. Other governments argue that it is an amending treaty which does not change the EU enough to justify a referendum.
In Germany the treaty has gone before the constitutional court. Poland's President Lech Kaczynski is also delaying ratification, insisting that the Irish battle over Lisbon must be resolved first.
Tuesday, February 17, 2009
Italian opposition leader resigns
Italian opposition leader resigns
 Critics say Walter Veltroni has failed to capitalise on the recession |
Italy's centre-left opposition leader, Walter Veltroni, has resigned after a his Democratic Party lost a key local election on the island of Sardinia.
The result consolidated the hold on power of Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi's centre-right alliance, after its candidate for governor won.
Mr Veltroni had been criticised for failing to make gains on the government despite the deepening recession.
He said he would give a press conference on Wednesday.
Mr Veltroni led the centre-left into the general election last April after Prime Minister Romano Prodi resigned, but lost to Mr Berlusconi and his allies. He has since failed to make up ground on his rival.
In Sardinia, Mr Berlusconi's candidate and son of his tax advisor, Ugo Cappellacci, ousted the centre-left governor, Renato Soru, the founder of the Tiscali internet company.
It put the prime minister's ally in charge of a region where he owns a luxury seaside mansion and spends lots of time.
Zimbabwe opposition MP in court
Zimbabwe opposition MP in court
 Mr Bennett, here with PM Tsvangirai, faces several charges |
Zimbabwe MP Roy Bennett has appeared in a Mutare court and been charged with several offences, days after his party joined a power-sharing government.
The charges against the Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) MP included terrorism, violating immigration laws and illegal firearms possession.
The MDC said his arrest was politically motivated and called for his release.
Meanwhile, President Robert Mugabe and PM Morgan Tsvangirai attended the new cabinet's inaugural meeting in Harare.
Mr Mugabe chaired the meeting of the 32-member cabinet, state radio reported, but no further details were immediately available.
'Shooting in the dark'
The MDC and the politician's defence team said the charges against Mr Bennett had changed several times since his arrest on Friday.
The MDC said Mr Bennett had been charged under Zimbabwe's Public Order and Security Act (POSA) with:
- Attempting to commit terrorism, banditry and sabotage
- Conspiring to acquire arms with a view to disrupting essential services
- Illegal possession of fire arms and weapons
- attempting to leave the country illegally
"The police know that they do not have a case against Roy Bennett, and the charge of attempting to leave the country illegally is malicious in that they want to keep Roy Bennett in custody," said the party in a statement.
Chris Ndlovu, for the defence, told the BBC: "Police are fishing for charges. They are shooting in the dark."
Mr Bennett, the MDC's treasurer, is the party's choice to be deputy agriculture minister in the new unity government.
A white farmer who lost his property under Mr Mugabe's land reform programme, Mr Bennett spent eight months in prison in 2004-05 for pushing a minister during an argument in parliament over land reform.
He recently returned to Zimbabwe after more than two years in South Africa, where he had fled after police sought his arrest in connection with an alleged plot to kill Mr Mugabe.
Behind the LRA's terror tactics
Behind the LRA's terror tactics
| By Martin Plaut BBC News, Yambio |
 Mr Kony is said to relish recognition - and free food and cash at peace talks |
The Lord's Resistance Army, once a Ugandan group, has driven tens of thousands from their homes in the Democratic Republic of Congo and Sudan since it launched a campaign of terror at Christmas.
The UN refugee agency (UNHCR) estimates that by the end of January 130,000 Congolese and at least 10,000 Sudanese had been forced to flee.
In addition, the UNHCR reports that an LRA attack on the Congolese town of Aba, population 100,000, resulted in almost the entire population evacuating the town.
It believes that 5,000 have already crossed into Sudan at the town of Lasu.
This pattern of attacks, all along a 300km (186-mile) stretch of the Sudan-Congo border, follows a co-ordinated offensive against the LRA late in 2008.
On 14 December the forces of three countries
Australia fire deaths rise to 200
Australia fire deaths rise to 200
 Australia has launched its biggest ever arson investigation into the fires |
The number of people who died in Australia's bushfires has reached 200 and will rise further, police say.
The announcement came after fire investigators discovered 11 more bodies in and around the town of Kinglake, in south-east Victoria state.
More than 1,800 homes were destroyed and 7,500 people displaced by the hundreds of fires that swept the state.
Police suspect at least two of the fires were set deliberately, and have charged one man with arson.
 |  As to what the number's going to get to I think we should await and let it unfold over the next week or 10 days  Kieran WalsheVictoria Police Deputy Commissioner |
Prosecutors allege that the 39-year-old deliberately set a fire in Churchill, Victoria, in which 11 people died.
He is facing charges of arson causing death and of intentionally starting a bushfire. He faces a maximum 25-year sentence for the first charge, and 15 years for the second.
The updated death toll came as Disaster Victim Identification teams examined some of the areas worst-hit by fires for the first time.
Victoria Police Deputy Commissioner Kieran Walshe said some of the victims would probably never be identified.
"It is a very difficult process in some cases to actually be able to determine whether the remains are human remains or not," he was quoted by ABC as saying.
"As to what the number's going to get to I think we should await and let it unfold over the next week or 10 days."
|   |
Sunday has been announced as a national day of mourning for all victims of the bushfires.
Meanwhile, in the north of the country, major flooding caused by heavy rains has cut off towns along Australia's east coast.
Parts of New South Wales were declared a natural disaster area on Tuesday after high waters isolated thousands of people.
Much of Queensland state has been under water for weeks as a result of the worst flooding in three decades, with more rain forecast.
Emergency officials said the cost of the damage there would exceed A$210m ($135m;
Monday, February 16, 2009
Mixed reaction at Kosovo anniversary
Mixed reaction at Kosovo anniversary
| By Helen Fawkes, BBC News, Mitrovica |
 Kosovo celebrates its independence declaration anniversary on 17 February |
Adem Mripa is warming his hands on a bonfire of cardboard boxes and wooden planks - it is a bitterly cold evening in Kosovo.
By day the ethnic Albanian is the deputy head of a local school but by night he is part of an unofficial neighbourhood patrol.
''We are committed to staying here even though we are experiencing tremendous pressures from the Serbs living next door to us.'' Adem says.
Adem lives in a Serb part of the ethnically divided town of Mitrovica.
He is joined around the fire by other neighbours who all stand out on the streets after dark guarding their homes.
Just a couple of nights ago a hand grenade exploded in the area.
''Last month they were shooting at the window of the room where my kids were sleeping," Adem tells me.
"Six weeks ago a crowd of people came in front of my house and tried to set fire to it, then they moved away and burned three shops that were here in the neighbourhood. For all of this they are accusing Albanians because they say that we are provoking them.''
Since independence was declared a year ago on 17 February 2008, ethnic tensions have continued to smoulder in Mitrovica, which is the main town in the Serb-dominated north.
| There is an entrenched criminal network and there are leaders without legitimacy and this needs to be addressed Pieter FeithInternational Civilian Representative |
There has been sporadic violence. When trouble flared here back in March, a UN policeman was shot dead.
A year on from independence Kosovo has a new constitution and it is run by the government here instead of the UN.
But there is no sign that the government in the capital Pristina is able to assert its power over the north of Kosovo which is around a quarter of the territory.
Last month a Nato-trained Kosovo Security Force was launched.
It replaced the Kosovo Protection Corps, which consisted mainly of veterans of the independence struggle against Serbia.
The new force, which will be more than 2,000-strong, is supposed to be multi-ethnic but so far just six Serbs have applied to join.
Tense situation
Independence day will be ignored by Kosovo Serbs. Supported by Belgrade, they say that Kosovo is still part of Serbia.
''We've had a quite tense situation since 17 February 2008 because Serbs didn't recognise the independence but the Albanians thought everyone should recognise it," says Oliver Ivanovic, a moderate Serb leader and Serbian government official.
 The EU mission's role is to monitor and advise in areas such as customs |
"This creates a political tension which can easily escalate and we have had incidents in Mitrovica which have been motivated this lack of understanding.''
In the run-up to the anniversary, some EU police officials took part in their first joint training session with some of the 15,000 Nato peacekeepers in Kosovo.
The EU launched its largest ever civilian mission in December.
Its main role is not to police Kosovo but to monitor, mentor and advise in the areas of police, customs and justice.
Working alongside the customs service, EU officials are now based at the border and some of them work in mobile units which travel around the area.
At the Merdare border crossing with Serbia, a team of three EU customs officials turn up unannounced.
They watch as random checks are carried out on a long line of cars and lorries.
Last year in retaliation for the declaration of independence, Kosovo Serbs burnt down two of the customs posts.
A radical Kosovo Serb leader has said this should be done again to mark the anniversary.
''I've got officers on those gates, we are very concerned for their safety and the threat to burn the gates down again," says Paul Acda, head of Customs for the EU mission.
''Fortunately we are better prepared then they were last year. In the end the way to stop it happening is Belgrade needs to tell these people not to do it because if it does happen then the world should fall in on Belgrade for allowing it to happen.''
One of the biggest challenges for the Kosovo authorities is how to deal with Belgrade and the Serb-dominated north which refuses to accept the authority of the Kosovo government.
Black hole?
Due to objections from Serbia, the EU mission (known as Eulex) was delayed for months and is still not yet fully operational.
 The KSF will work with Nato troops and Eulex police |
The top international envoy in Kosovo is Pieter Feith, the International Civilian Representative; his role is to oversee the implementation of independence plan.
He says the north is a particularly serious problem.
''There is an entrenched criminal network and there are leaders without legitimacy and this needs to be addressed sooner or later," says Mr Feith.
"We have the Eulex rule of law mission deployed into the North but I think it's fair to say that to be efficient they need further co-operation with Belgrade.
"This is a general rule of law problem. We cannot leave the north as a black hole in this part of the world. ''
He admits the situation is fragile.
''We have seen over the past few weeks incidents of violence and it may erupt again very soon so its extremely unstable and we need to find a solution for this once and for all," he says.