[One-Minute World News] from [BBC NEWS]
[Africa]
Page last updated at 12:49 GMT, Thursday, 27 August 2009 13:49 UK
War in Sudan's Darfur 'is over'
The six-year war between forces loyal to Sudan's government and rebels in Darfur has effectively ended, the UN's military commander in the region says.
General Martin Agwai, who is leaving his post this week, said the vicious fighting of earlier years had subsided as rebel groups split into factions.
He says the region now suffers more from low-level disputes and banditry.
The UN says 300,000 people have died in Darfur, but the Sudanese government puts the figure at 10,000.
Almost three million people are said to have been displaced by the fighting.
Oppression claims
Gen Agwai, who commands thousands of troops from the UN and African Union, said the region now suffered more from "security issues" than full-blown conflict.
"Banditry, localised issues, people trying to resolve issues over water and land at a local level. But real war as such, I think we are over that," he said.
Gen Agwai said only one rebel group, the Justice and Equality Movement (Jem), posed a real threat.
Sudan analyst Gill Lusk said his comments were "unhelpful" because they could lead people to believe that Darfur's problems had been solved.
"There has been a large decline in fighting in Darfur, and that is undoubtedly a good thing for the people," she told the BBC.
"But it is the government that turns the tap on and off - they can restart the violence whenever they want."
'Strong foundation'
The war broke out in the arid and impoverished region early in 2003 when rebel groups including Jem attacked government targets, accusing Khartoum of oppressing black Africans in favour of Arabs.
Pro-government militiamen hit back with brutal force, which the US and some rights groups have labelled genocide.
Khartoum denies supporting the militias, but the international court in The Hague issued an arrest warrant earlier this year for President Omar al-Bashir accusing him of war crimes.
Although the intensity of the violence has reduced, there is still little prospect of a peace deal.
Last week, US envoy to Sudan Scott Gration said the existence of 26 different rebel factions was a major obstacle to reaching a peace agreement with the government.
He brokered talks which led to four groups agreeing to work together, calling the deal a "very strong foundation for rebel unification".
[Europe]
Page last updated at 13:38 GMT, Thursday, 27 August 2009 14:38 UK
Merkel warns Iran on sanctions
Iran could face new sanctions if it does not show a willingness to negotiate on its nuclear programme, the German chancellor has said.
Angela Merkel was speaking after talks with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in Berlin.
She also called on Israel to freeze its settlement construction for the sake of progress in peace talks.
In London on Wednesday, Mr Netanyahu suggested Israel was close to an agreement on settlements.
During his visit to Germany, the Israeli prime minister has also been given original blueprints of the Nazi death camp at Auschwitz.
The plans, which date from 1941-2, were found in a Berlin flat last year and include technical drawings for a gas chamber and crematorium - a symbol of the difficult history which connects Germany with the Jewish state created after the Nazi Holocaust.
'Further measures'
US President Barack Obama has warned that harsher penalties could be imposed on Iran if it does not take up an offer of talks on trade benefits in exchange for shelving its nuclear programme.
"If there is no positive answer by September we will have to consider further measures," said Mrs Merkel.
Speaking at a press conference after their talks, Mr Netanyahu called for "crippling sanctions" against Iran to stop its disputed nuclear programme.
"It is possible to put real pressure, real economic pressure, on this regime if the major powers of the world unite," he said.
On the settlement issue, Mrs Merkel said a freeze in construction would push forward the Israeli-Palestinian peace process.
"Progress on the issue of settlements - a freeze on settlements - is an important building block and a prerequisite for a restart of the Middle East peace process," said Mrs Merkel.
After Wednesday's talks in London, the Israeli prime minister said the US and Israel were "getting closer" to a "bridging formula" on the settlement issue, according to his spokesman.
The US wants Israel to comply with Palestinian demands that it halt all building before peace talks can start.
The Palestinians have refused to resume peace negotiations unless Israel stops all settlement building.
Chancellor Merkel has shown herself a staunch supporter of Israel and received a standing ovation in parliament last year when she pledged that her country would stand by Israel's side against any threat.
But, says the BBC's Steve Rosenberg in Berlin, she is ready to criticise when she sees fit.
Tensions
During his visit to Germany, Mr Netanyahu was also due to visit a villa from where senior Nazis planned the extermination of the Jews.
He is the first Israeli prime minister to visit since the site, on Lake Wannsee on the outskirts of the capital, was opened.
The meeting comes a week after Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak said Germany was involved in efforts to secure the release of the captured Israeli soldier Gilat Shalit.
Sgt Shalit is due to mark his 23rd birthday - his fourth in captivity - on Friday, amid a wave of fresh speculation in the regional media about progress towards a deal.
Hamas wants several hundred Palestinan prisoners, including the popular and potentially unifying leader Marwan Barghouti, to be released by Israel in exchange for Sgt Shalit's freedom.
Germany has helped to negotiate Israeli-Lebanese prisoner swaps in the past.
[Science & Environment]
Page last updated at 00:33 GMT, Thursday, 27 August 2009 01:33 UK
'Artificial trees' to cut carbon
Engineers say a forest of 100,000 "artificial trees" could be deployed within 10 to 20 years to help soak up the world's carbon emissions.
By Judith Burns
Science and environment reporter, BBC News
The trees are among three geo-engineering ideas highlighted as practical in a new report.
The authors from the Institution of Mechanical Engineers say that without geo-engineering it will be impossible to avoid dangerous climate change.
The report includes a 100-year roadmap to "decarbonise" the global economy.
No silver bullet
Launching the report, lead author Dr Tim Fox said geo-engineering should not be viewed as a "silver bullet" that could combat climate change in isolation.
He told BBC News it should be used in conjunction with efforts to reduce carbon emissions and to adapt to the effects of climate change.
Many climate scientists calculate that the world has only a few decades to reduce emissions before there is so much carbon dioxide in the atmosphere that a dangerous rise in global temperature is inevitable.
The authors of this report say that geo-engineering of the type they propose should be used on a short-term basis to buy the world time, but in the long term it is vital to reduce emissions.
They define two types of geo-engineering. Nem Vaughan of University of East Anglia said: "The first category attempts to cool the planet by reflecting some of the sunlight away. The problem with this is that it just masks the problem."
"The other type of geo-engineering is to remove carbon dioxide from the atmosphere and store it."
Hundreds of options
The team studied hundreds of different options but have put forward just three as being practical and feasible using current technology.
A key factor in choosing the three was that they should be low-carbon technologies rather than adding to the problem.
Dr Fox told BBC News: "Artificial trees are already at the prototype stage and are very advanced in their design in terms of their automation and in the components that would be used.
"They could, within a relatively short duration, be moved forward into mass production and deployment."
The trees would work on the principle of capturing carbon dioxide from the air through a filter.
The CO2 would then be removed from the filter and stored. The report calls for the technology to be developed in conjunction with carbon storage infrastructure.
Dr Fox said the prototype artificial tree was about the same size as a shipping container and could remove thousands of times more carbon dioxide from the atmosphere than an equivalent sized real tree.
Another of the team's preferred methods of capturing carbon is to install what they term "algae based photobioreactors" on buildings. These would be transparent containers containing algae which would remove carbon dioxide from the air during photosynthesis.
The third option focuses on the reduction of incoming solar radiation by reflecting sunlight back into space. The report says the simplest way of doing this is for buildings to have reflective roofs.
The authors stress that all of these options will require more research and have called for the UK government to invest 10 million pounds in analysis of the effectiveness, risks and costs of geo-engineering.
Dr Fox said: "We very much believe that the practical geo-engineering that we are proposing should be implemented and could be very much part of our landscape within the next 10 to 20 years."
[Africa]
Page last updated at 12:49 GMT, Thursday, 27 August 2009 13:49 UK
War in Sudan's Darfur 'is over'
The six-year war between forces loyal to Sudan's government and rebels in Darfur has effectively ended, the UN's military commander in the region says.
General Martin Agwai, who is leaving his post this week, said the vicious fighting of earlier years had subsided as rebel groups split into factions.
He says the region now suffers more from low-level disputes and banditry.
The UN says 300,000 people have died in Darfur, but the Sudanese government puts the figure at 10,000.
Almost three million people are said to have been displaced by the fighting.
Oppression claims
Gen Agwai, who commands thousands of troops from the UN and African Union, said the region now suffered more from "security issues" than full-blown conflict.
"Banditry, localised issues, people trying to resolve issues over water and land at a local level. But real war as such, I think we are over that," he said.
Gen Agwai said only one rebel group, the Justice and Equality Movement (Jem), posed a real threat.
Sudan analyst Gill Lusk said his comments were "unhelpful" because they could lead people to believe that Darfur's problems had been solved.
"There has been a large decline in fighting in Darfur, and that is undoubtedly a good thing for the people," she told the BBC.
"But it is the government that turns the tap on and off - they can restart the violence whenever they want."
'Strong foundation'
The war broke out in the arid and impoverished region early in 2003 when rebel groups including Jem attacked government targets, accusing Khartoum of oppressing black Africans in favour of Arabs.
Pro-government militiamen hit back with brutal force, which the US and some rights groups have labelled genocide.
Khartoum denies supporting the militias, but the international court in The Hague issued an arrest warrant earlier this year for President Omar al-Bashir accusing him of war crimes.
Although the intensity of the violence has reduced, there is still little prospect of a peace deal.
Last week, US envoy to Sudan Scott Gration said the existence of 26 different rebel factions was a major obstacle to reaching a peace agreement with the government.
He brokered talks which led to four groups agreeing to work together, calling the deal a "very strong foundation for rebel unification".
[Europe]
Page last updated at 13:38 GMT, Thursday, 27 August 2009 14:38 UK
Merkel warns Iran on sanctions
Iran could face new sanctions if it does not show a willingness to negotiate on its nuclear programme, the German chancellor has said.
Angela Merkel was speaking after talks with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in Berlin.
She also called on Israel to freeze its settlement construction for the sake of progress in peace talks.
In London on Wednesday, Mr Netanyahu suggested Israel was close to an agreement on settlements.
During his visit to Germany, the Israeli prime minister has also been given original blueprints of the Nazi death camp at Auschwitz.
The plans, which date from 1941-2, were found in a Berlin flat last year and include technical drawings for a gas chamber and crematorium - a symbol of the difficult history which connects Germany with the Jewish state created after the Nazi Holocaust.
'Further measures'
US President Barack Obama has warned that harsher penalties could be imposed on Iran if it does not take up an offer of talks on trade benefits in exchange for shelving its nuclear programme.
"If there is no positive answer by September we will have to consider further measures," said Mrs Merkel.
Speaking at a press conference after their talks, Mr Netanyahu called for "crippling sanctions" against Iran to stop its disputed nuclear programme.
"It is possible to put real pressure, real economic pressure, on this regime if the major powers of the world unite," he said.
On the settlement issue, Mrs Merkel said a freeze in construction would push forward the Israeli-Palestinian peace process.
"Progress on the issue of settlements - a freeze on settlements - is an important building block and a prerequisite for a restart of the Middle East peace process," said Mrs Merkel.
After Wednesday's talks in London, the Israeli prime minister said the US and Israel were "getting closer" to a "bridging formula" on the settlement issue, according to his spokesman.
The US wants Israel to comply with Palestinian demands that it halt all building before peace talks can start.
The Palestinians have refused to resume peace negotiations unless Israel stops all settlement building.
Chancellor Merkel has shown herself a staunch supporter of Israel and received a standing ovation in parliament last year when she pledged that her country would stand by Israel's side against any threat.
But, says the BBC's Steve Rosenberg in Berlin, she is ready to criticise when she sees fit.
Tensions
During his visit to Germany, Mr Netanyahu was also due to visit a villa from where senior Nazis planned the extermination of the Jews.
He is the first Israeli prime minister to visit since the site, on Lake Wannsee on the outskirts of the capital, was opened.
The meeting comes a week after Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak said Germany was involved in efforts to secure the release of the captured Israeli soldier Gilat Shalit.
Sgt Shalit is due to mark his 23rd birthday - his fourth in captivity - on Friday, amid a wave of fresh speculation in the regional media about progress towards a deal.
Hamas wants several hundred Palestinan prisoners, including the popular and potentially unifying leader Marwan Barghouti, to be released by Israel in exchange for Sgt Shalit's freedom.
Germany has helped to negotiate Israeli-Lebanese prisoner swaps in the past.
[Science & Environment]
Page last updated at 00:33 GMT, Thursday, 27 August 2009 01:33 UK
'Artificial trees' to cut carbon
Engineers say a forest of 100,000 "artificial trees" could be deployed within 10 to 20 years to help soak up the world's carbon emissions.
By Judith Burns
Science and environment reporter, BBC News
The trees are among three geo-engineering ideas highlighted as practical in a new report.
The authors from the Institution of Mechanical Engineers say that without geo-engineering it will be impossible to avoid dangerous climate change.
The report includes a 100-year roadmap to "decarbonise" the global economy.
No silver bullet
Launching the report, lead author Dr Tim Fox said geo-engineering should not be viewed as a "silver bullet" that could combat climate change in isolation.
He told BBC News it should be used in conjunction with efforts to reduce carbon emissions and to adapt to the effects of climate change.
Many climate scientists calculate that the world has only a few decades to reduce emissions before there is so much carbon dioxide in the atmosphere that a dangerous rise in global temperature is inevitable.
The authors of this report say that geo-engineering of the type they propose should be used on a short-term basis to buy the world time, but in the long term it is vital to reduce emissions.
They define two types of geo-engineering. Nem Vaughan of University of East Anglia said: "The first category attempts to cool the planet by reflecting some of the sunlight away. The problem with this is that it just masks the problem."
"The other type of geo-engineering is to remove carbon dioxide from the atmosphere and store it."
Hundreds of options
The team studied hundreds of different options but have put forward just three as being practical and feasible using current technology.
A key factor in choosing the three was that they should be low-carbon technologies rather than adding to the problem.
Dr Fox told BBC News: "Artificial trees are already at the prototype stage and are very advanced in their design in terms of their automation and in the components that would be used.
"They could, within a relatively short duration, be moved forward into mass production and deployment."
The trees would work on the principle of capturing carbon dioxide from the air through a filter.
The CO2 would then be removed from the filter and stored. The report calls for the technology to be developed in conjunction with carbon storage infrastructure.
Dr Fox said the prototype artificial tree was about the same size as a shipping container and could remove thousands of times more carbon dioxide from the atmosphere than an equivalent sized real tree.
Another of the team's preferred methods of capturing carbon is to install what they term "algae based photobioreactors" on buildings. These would be transparent containers containing algae which would remove carbon dioxide from the air during photosynthesis.
The third option focuses on the reduction of incoming solar radiation by reflecting sunlight back into space. The report says the simplest way of doing this is for buildings to have reflective roofs.
The authors stress that all of these options will require more research and have called for the UK government to invest 10 million pounds in analysis of the effectiveness, risks and costs of geo-engineering.
Dr Fox said: "We very much believe that the practical geo-engineering that we are proposing should be implemented and could be very much part of our landscape within the next 10 to 20 years."
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