Pakistan: Clashes At Protests Called By Qadri

By Alex Rossi, Asia Correspondent

Security forces in Pakistan have fired live rounds in the air and used tear gas to try to control anti-government protests.

Television pictures also showed demonstrators throwing stones at a rally in Islamabad organised by the Sufi cleric Tahirul Qadri.

His supporters said the crowds prevented the cleric from being arrested by government forces.

Mr Qadri claimed the size of the crowd gathered on the main avenue leading to the government quarters was four million, but that figure is hugely exaggerated.

Mr Qadri spearheaded the unrest

City officials have put the number of protesters at roughly 30,000, which is in line with pictures streaming on Pakistani news networks.

Mr Qadri is a new - and possibly powerful player - in the opaque world of Pakistani politics.

He has just arrived in the country after spending many years in Canada and has set himself up as a champion of the people, pushing an anti-corruption agenda.

His call for widespread reforms has presented the ruling Pakistan People's Party with a massive headache.

It is blamed across the country for being corrupt, failing to deal with a growing Taliban insurgency, huge power shortages and an economy in freefall.

But many Pakistanis are sceptical about Mr Qadri's motives.

It is widely rumoured that he has the backing of the country's powerful military and is being used as a pawn in the run-up to the country's elections - which are expected to be held in May.

Mr Qadri is calling for the poll to be suspended indefinitely until Pakistan's endemic corruption is cleared up - something that would play into the army's hands as it could assume the role then of a caretaker government indefinitely.

Some analysts suggest this has the all the hallmarks of a soft coup in the making.

The military denies backing him, and it is far from clear where his campaign's finances come from.

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Pakistan's Supreme Court Orders PM's Arrest

Pakistan's supreme court has ordered the arrest of prime minister Raja Pervez Ashraf over corruption claims.

The surprise move plunges the country into fresh political turmoil and came as populist cleric Tahirul Qadri demanded the resignation of the government in protests attended by thousands in capital Islamabad.

Mr Ashraf is currently fighting allegations he received payments in return for his role, while energy minister, in overseeing the introduction of "rental power" projects that are said to have produced very little power.

Nicknamed 'Raja Rental' by the press, he is also accused of buying property in London from money earned through corruption in a series of scams.

Lawyer Aamir Abbas said: "The chief justice ordered that all concerned, regardless of their rank, who have been booked in the case be arrested and if someone leaves the country, then chairman of NAB (anti-corruption watchdog) will be held responsible along with his investigating team.

"The 16 include Raja Ashraf."

Mr Qadri, who is believed to be backed by the military, mentioned the supreme court's decision during his speech to protesters, who responded with chants of "long live supreme court".

The prime minister's adviser, Fawad Chaudhry, condemned the court's order, calling it unconstitutional.

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Egypt: Train Crash Leaves 19 Dead Near Cairo

At least 19 people have died and more than 100 are injured after a train derailed in Egypt.

Two coaches at the rear of the train, which was carrying army recruits, jumped the track shortly after midnight local time just outside the capital Cairo.

More than 60 ambulances were sent to the scene, where rescuers tried to reach survivors and bodies from a twisted heap of metal left on the side of the rails.

Health ministry officials said 107 people were being treated in hospitals near the site of the accident in Giza's Badrasheen neighbourhood.

Egypt's prime minister Hesham Qandeel was met with howls of outrage when he arrived at the scene, with local residents shouting, "You have blood on your hands, Mr Hesham," according to witnesses.

The accident is the latest in a string of deadly road and rail crashes in Egypt which have claimed thousands of lives.

It comes less than two weeks after a new transportation minister was appointed to overhaul the rail system.

According to media reports, it is the fifth fatal train accident since President Mohamed Morsi was sworn in as Egypt's first Islamist president in June.

The state-owned news website Ahram reported that the 12-carriage train was carrying 1,328 conscripted Egyptian soldiers heading north to Cairo from Assiut, about 350km (£217m) south of the capital.

Roy Hamad Gaafar, a survivor, said he was on board when the last two carriages detached from the rest and derailed.

He told the website: "I saw my colleagues' body parts strewn on the tracks."

The post of transport minister had been left vacant in the aftermath of an accident that killed 49 primary school children in November when a speeding train crashed into their school bus.

Accidents due to negligence regularly killed scores during the three-decade rule of the previous president Hosni Mubarak.

Widespread corruption has also been blamed for the underfunding of government services, like railways, particularly in poor provinces outside Cairo.

According to official statistics, rail and road accidents claimed more than 7,000 lives in 2010.

Transport minister Hatem Abdel Latif, a member of the Muslim Brotherhood, said an investigation will be launched.

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Venezuela's Hugo Chavez 'Fighting For Life'

Venezuelan president Hugo Chavez is "fighting for his life", according to his former deputy.

The cancer-stricken leader has not been seen in public for more than a month, fuelling growing political uncertainty in the oil-rich country.

"The situation is complex and delicate, but it is true that Hugo Chavez has fought and is fighting for his life," said Elias Jaua, who was in office from January 2010 until October.

However communications minister Ernesto Villegas insisted Mr Chavez was doing better.

Elias Jaua's claim has been denied by a government official

"Despite his delicate health state since his complex surgery on December 11, his general health has improved in recent days," Mr Villegas said in a statement read on radio and television.

He said the president's previously disclosed severe pulmonary infection was "under control" but that he still required treatment for "respiratory failure".

Mr Chavez, whose Opec-member nation controls the world's largest proven oil reserves, has been out of sight since leaving for Cuba for the latest round of treatment in the 18 months since his condition was made public.

He was admitted to hospital following his fourth cancer operation last month.

The latest updates followed a denial from Mr Chavez's brother Adan on Saturday that the 58-year-old was in a coma.

Instead, he said the Venezuelan leader was responding "well" to treatment and making progress on a daily basis.

Mr Chavez's anointed heir, Vice President Nicolas Maduro, met with his ailing boss late on Saturday.

On Thursday, the government was forced to postpone the president's scheduled inauguration, as it became clear that Mr Chavez could not attend.

Authorities insist the Venezuelan constitution allows him to take the oath of office at a later time.

But the opposition has objected, calling for a medical board to review the absent leader's health.

However the demand was rejected by the Supreme Court, which said the delayed swearing-in was constitutional.

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Beijing Pollution 'Hazardous' For Fourth Day

By Mark Stone, China Correspondent, in Beijing

Sunrise in Beijing on Monday revealed a marginally clearer skyline, but pollution remains at levels considered 'hazardous' for a fourth consecutive day.

According to an air quality monitor on the roof of the American Embassy in the Chinese capital, the Air Quality Index (AQI) at 8am was 406. Anything above 300 is considered 'hazardous'.

One father standing with other concerned parents at the gates of Yong'anli Primary School in central Beijing told Sky News: "I'm very worried.

"The air is so dirty that we must wear face masks, otherwise all these particles go into our nose and lungs - that's very bad for our children's health."

Another said: "I'm worried. There are too many cars,on the roads every day. The car fumes pollute the air we breathe."

One grandmother, who was dropping off her grandson, she said she could not remember pollution levels so high in her many years living in Beijing.

She said: "The air pollution has never been this bad, look at the roads now, so many cars, so much pollution, and so many people."

According to the World Health Organisation, levels of the smallest pollution particles, called PM2.5, should not be more than 25 micrograms (mcg). At levels of 100mcg, the air is considered unhealthy.

But according to the Beijing Municipal Environment Monitoring Centre, on Saturday the figure rose to above 900mcg in several parts of the city. PM2.5 particles are small enough to enter the lungs and the blood stream and are considered particularly dangerous.

The pollution is shrouding Beijing

The Chinese government only started to publish its own air quality figures in early 2012 but many believe there is still a level of denial at an official level about the scale of the problem. The official Chinese air quality reading is frequently lower than the US Embassy figure.

However, levels over the weekend made it hard for the state-run media to ignore the problem.

"The foreign media is laughing at us. I agree with their laughter," said Hu Xijin, the editor of the state-run Global Times newspaper on Weibo, China's version of Twitter.

"This is a warning to the Government and Beijing's citizens. We have to think about what kind of modernisation we want and how to manage it."

Discussion of the problem and criticism of the government was widespread on internet forums, including Weibo.

"I call for the cancellation of all cars except for family use and special use. We should all use public transport, and the officials should do so to set examples to ordinary people," one user wrote.

"It must be heavy pollution here in Beijing. I heard 50% of cancer patients in Beijing are lung cancers, the dirty air must be largely responsibility," another wrote.

"I suddenly got a fever last night. It must be because of the air pollution. Now my throat really hurts, and I can't even breath outside. How could I carry on living??!!" said another.

Throughout the weekend on Beijing's streets it was hard to see more than around 150m. The skyscrapers which dominate parts of the city were barely visible.

The Chinese authorities have urged people to use public transport

Yu Jianhua, from the Beijing Environmental Protection Bureau, said the current weather conditions have been preventing the smog from dispersing.

"Beijing has got warmer and wetter. We are facing large quantities of polluting emissions and they are not diffusing very quickly. The air is severely polluted," he said.

The slightly improved visibility on Monday might partly be due to an order to shut certain factories around the city. Wind levels have increased and the temperature has dropped, which will also help disperse the blanket.

According to the state news agency, Xinhua, 28 construction sites have stopped work, the Beijing Hyundai Motor Company has stopped work and Beijing Cement Plant Company has shut down one production line.

Authorities have been urging people to use public transport rather than their own vehicles to reduce emissions but even Beijing's underground network is affected. The smog was visible hanging in the air at a number of station platforms on Saturday.

Last year, the Chinese government asked the American Embassy not to publish the figures from its monitor. The Americans refused, insisting that the information was for the benefit of its personnel.

US spokesman Nolan Barkhouse told Sky News: "By recording pollution and publishing the results we are providing members of the mission community and the broader American community in China with information so that they can make better daily decisions about their outdoor activities."

The health implications from the pollution may be obvious, but there is an important political dimension to the issue too. China's Communist Government is unelected. Of the thousands of daily protests around the country, a significant proportion are linked to environmental concerns.

If the public perception is that the local and central government is not tackling the issues, it could present one of a number of challenges for the Communist Party.

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Imani Green: Eight Held Over Brit Girl's Death

Eight people have reportedly been arrested over the fatal shooting of British schoolgirl Imani Green in Jamaica.

The eight-year-old, from Balham, south London, was on holiday visiting relatives when she was killed in the rural village of Duncans,  , , , xcv in Trelawny, on Friday night.

She is reported to have been shot twice, first in the head and then the shoulder, in what is believed to have been a revenge attack that left three others injured.

She was taken to hospital but later died.

Deputy Supt Steve Brown, from Jamaica's police force, said: "We have taken people into custody as we search for a motive for the attack.

"We've heard about gang warfare but we find it a bit difficult to believe because where the incident took place it is a sleepy community, nothing happens there, it's an isolated incident.

Police say Duncans is normally a quiet town

"But it could be linked to a number of things and we are looking at all possibilities and following all the leads that we are getting."

Speaking to BBC Breakfast, he added: "We are confident we will make a breakthrough very, very soon."

Imani, who attended Fircroft Primary School in Tooting, suffered from blood condition sickle cell anaemia and had been allowed to take an extended New Year holiday by headteacher Anne Wilson.

Her grandmother Sandra Fisher said she found Imani lying in a "pool of blood" after she asked to visit the grocery shop in the quiet Red Dirt district of Duncans.

Janella Parmer, Imani's sister, spoke of the moment the shooting took place.

"We heard gunshots. We ran outside and shouted 'Imani, Imani, Imani'," she said.

"I picked her up off the ground and realised she was still breathing. I flagged down a car and they drove us to hospital. The rest is history."

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Mali: Britain Sends Planes To Help French

Britain will provide transport planes to assist the French military operation in Mali, Downing Street has confirmed.

David Cameron spoke with Francois Hollande on Saturday evening as France attempted to contain al Qaeda-linked rebels in the north of the West African country.

French military strikes on the country have already claimed the lives of at least 100 rebels in a fight over the strategic town of Konna.

Eleven Malian soldiers are reported to have been killed and a further 60 wounded in the recent fighting.

Mr Hollande has raised his country's terror threat level amid fears of retaliatory attacks in France.

He said France "has to take all necessary precautions" in the face of a terrorist threat, including "surveillance of our public buildings and our transport network".

French troops prepare to board a flight to Mali from a base in Chad

A Downing Street spokesman said last night: "The Prime Minister spoke to President Hollande this evening to discuss the deteriorating situation in Mali and how the UK can support French military assistance provided to the Malian government to contain rebel and extremist groups in the north of the country.

"The Prime Minister has agreed that the UK will provide logistical military assistance to help transport foreign troops and equipment quickly to Mali.

"We will not be deploying any British personnel in a combat role.

"Both leaders agreed that the situation in Mali poses a real threat to international security given terrorist activity there.

"They discussed the need to work with the Malian government, regional neighbours and international partners to prevent a new terrorist haven developing on Europe's doorstep and to reinvigorate the UN led political process once the rebel advance has been halted.

"The National Security Council, which was already due to meet on Tuesday, will now consider the situation in Mali and discuss what needs to be done to secure a lasting political settlement in Mali."

The UN's Sahel envoy Romano Prodi, left, and President Dioncounda Traore

One French pilot has died in the military action after hundreds of French soldiers were deployed in the country.

Mr Hollande took action in Mali at the request of interim President Dioncounda Traore, who has declared a state of emergency.

Western governments expressed alarm on Thursday after an al Qaeda-linked rebel alliance captured Konna, a gateway towards the capital Bamako 600km (375 miles) south.

The Malian army has said it was attacking the "last pockets of resistance" by insurgents in Konna after they recaptured it with the help of the French.

Islamist rebels seized a swathe of northern Mali last spring

Mr Hollande said the "terrorist groups, drug traffickers and extremists" in northern Mali "show a brutality that threatens us all." He vowed that the operation would last "as long as necessary".

The West African regional bloc ECOWAS has now authorised the immediate deployment of troops to Mali.

The bloc's commission president, Kadre Desire Ouedraogo, said it made the decision "in light of the urgency of the situation".

For the past nine months, the Islamic militants have controlled a large swathe of northern Mali, a lawless desert region where kidnapping has flourished.

Mr Hollande said the operation was aimed in part at protecting 6,000 French citizens in Mali, including seven who are being held captive.

French Mirage 2000 D aircraft en route to the Mali operation

UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon said Senegal and Nigeria also responded to an appeal from Mali's president for help to counter the militants.

Late last year, the 15 nations in West Africa, including Mali, agreed on a proposal for the military to take back the north, and sought backing from the UN.

The Security Council authorised the intervention but imposed certain conditions, including the training of Mali's military, which has been accused of serious human rights abuses since a military coup last year sent the nation into disarray.

Al Qaeda's affiliate in Africa has been a shadowy presence for years in the forests and deserts of poverty-stricken Mali.

Most Malians adhere to a moderate form of Islam, but in recent months the terrorist group and its allies have taken advantage of political instability, taking territory they use to stock weapons and train forces.

The Islamists have insisted they want to impose Sharia only in northern Mali, though there long have been fears they could push further south.

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Israel Evicts Palestinians From Protest Camp

Palestinian protesters have been forced out of a camp they set up in an area earmarked for a Jewish housing project.

Israeli police backed by bulldozers evicted the group from the West Bank hilltop in the early hours of Sunday, two days after 200 Palestinian activists pitched tents in an area known as E1.

The protesters had ignored Israeli orders to leave until police moved in.

One Palestinian legislator, Mustafa Barghouti, said: "Hundreds of Israeli police came from all directions, surrounding all those who were in the tents and arresting them one by one."

Police spokesman Micky Rosenfeld said no arrests had been made.

"They were told they were trespassing and carefully escorted from the site one by one," he said. "Nobody was hurt on either side."

About 500 police took part in the operation, he added. He said the tents were not dismantled and that a decision on that would be made later.

Protest organisers said six people were hurt as they were carried away by police and vowed that the protest would not be the last of its kind.

In documents released to the media, Israeli state lawyers argued that if the protest were allowed to continue there was a danger that right-wing Israeli settlers, "some of them extremists", would head for the site to stage counter-demonstrations which could result in "breaches of the peace against Palestinians and security forces".

Israel announced it was moving forward with the E1 settlement after the UN recognised a de facto state of Palestine in the West Bank, Gaza and east Jerusalem in November.

Palestinians say E1 would be a major blow to their statehood aspirations because it blocks east Jerusalem from its West Bank hinterland.

The construction plans drew unusually sharp criticism from some of Israel's staunchest allies including the US, which is strongly opposed to the E1 project.

Israeli officials have said construction may be years away if it ever happens, and some doubt whether Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu really intends to develop E1 or is pandering to hard-liners ahead of Israel's January 22 election.

The camp is pictured here after it was set up on Friday

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Egypt Court Orders Hosni Mubarak Retrial

An Egyptian court has granted ousted former Egyptian president Hosni Mubarak an appeal over his life sentence.

The 84-year-old was convicted and jailed for life in June last year for failing to prevent the killing of some 900 protestors during the 2011 uprising that ended his 29-year rule.

He, and his former security chief Habib al Adli, who is also serving a life sentence on the same charges, will be retried.

"The court has ruled to accept the appeal filed by the defendants ... and orders a retrial," Judge Ahmed Ali Abdel Rahman said.

The decision was met with cheers from Murbarak supporters packed inside the courtroom and gatherd outside the building.

Murbarak's two sons, Gamal and Alaa, are in prison while on trial for alleged insider trading and using their influence to buy state land at a fraction of its market price.

The pair were acquitted of corruption charges in the same case as their father - but will be retried after Judge Abdel Rahman accepted an appeal by prosecutors against the not guilty verdicts.

Mubarak, who appeared in the dock on a stretcher during his trial, was moved to a Cairo hospital last month after slipping inside a prison bathroom and injuring himself.

Since he was handed his life sentence his health has deteriorated. The state news agency even reported him clinically dead at one point as he slipped into a coma after suffering a stroke.

He recovered, but was reportedly deeply depressed by the election of the Muslim Brotherhood's Mohamed Morsi as president.

Mohamed Abdel Razek, one of his lawyers, said: "The retrial will be based on the same evidence used in the previous trial. No new evidence will be added to the case."

He added that the new panel of judges could consider Murbarak's health when issuing a verdict.

No dates have been set for any of the retrials.

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Syria: Rebels Capture Key Military Base

Rebels have taken control of a key military base in northern Syria after weeks of fighting with Government forces.

Rebels were pictured celebrating inside Taftanaz airport, close to helicopters and tanks which had been used to attack them.

"The fighting at Taftanaz military airport ended at 11:00 am (0900 GMT) and the base is entirely in rebel hands," said Syrian Observatory for Human Rights director Rami Abdel Rahman.

Soon afterwards, it was raided by government jets, the Britain-based Observatory said.

"Warplanes are bombing Taftanaz military airport in an attempt to destroy it," a statement said.

Capturing the base is an important gain for the rebels who control vast swathes of Syria's north and east.

They are battling President Bashar al Assad's forces in most major cities and on the outskirts of Damascus.

"This is the largest airbase to be seized since the revolt began nearly 22 months ago," Abdel Rahman said.

The rebels had previously taken the relatively small Hamdan airport in Albu Kamal on the border with Iraq in the east.

They had also taken Marj al Sultan military airport in Damascus province.

The news came as UN-Arab League special envoy on Syria, Lakhdar Brahimi, met Russian deputy foreign minister Mikhail Bogdanov and US undersecretary of state William Burns in Geneva.

After more than five hours of talks, Brahimi expressed an urgent need to end the conflict, but reported no major progress.

"We all stressed the need for a speedy end to the bloodshed and the destruction and all forms of violence in Syria," he told reporters.

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