[One-Minute World News] from [BBC NEWS]
[Asia-Pacific]
Page last updated at 13:36 GMT, Thursday, 17 September 2009 14:36 UK
China jails four over stabbings
Four more people have been found guilty of carrying out attacks with syringes in the western Chinese province of Xinjiang, state-run television says.
The four received sentences ranging between eight and 15 years in jail.
Three other people received prison sentences for similar attacks earlier this month.
Reports of stabbings with needles began in August, a month after clashes between Muslim Uighurs and Han Chinese left almost 200 people dead.
Despite rumours that the needles contained toxic substances, officials say they have found no evidence of poisoning in blood samples from alleged victims.
Correspondents say the names of the latest four to be convicted indicate they are Uighurs while the name of the female victim indicates she is from the Han community.
Officials in Xinjiang say more than 500 people have reported being attacked with needles, with 171 showing "obvious syringe marks".
Thousands of Han Chinese in the regional capital Urumqi have staged angry protests calling for better security since the attacks began.
At least five people have died in the unrest.
Chinese authorities have blamed Uighur separatists for July's violence.
[South Asia]
Page last updated at 14:04 GMT, Thursday, 17 September 2009 15:04 UK
Italian forces die in Kabul blast
At least six Italian soldiers have been killed in a bomb attack on a military convoy in the Afghan capital, Kabul, Italian defence officials say.
Two military vehicles were reported to have been hit by a suicide car bomb. At least 10 civilians were also killed and dozens injured, officials said.
The Taliban have claimed responsibility for the attack in the city centre.
The blast comes as Afghan President Hamid Karzai reaffirmed his belief in last month's election process.
August's presidential election has been overshadowed by widespread allegations of fraud.
Deadly attack
Witnesses say an explosives-laden vehicle rammed into the Italian military convoy on Kabul's busy airport road.
"It was a suicide car bomb attack... It was against Italian forces," Kabul's chief of criminal investigations told the AFP news agency.
{ ATTACKS ON FOREIGN TROOPS
Sept 09: Six Italians killed, four wounded after attack on Kabul convoy
Aug 08: Ten French soldiers killed in ambush east of Kabul
July 08: Nine US soldiers killed in an attack in Kunar
June 08: Four British soldiers killed by a landmine in Helmand
July 07: Six Canadian soldiers and their Afghan translator killed by roadside bomb in Kandahar
June 05: Sixteen US special forces and crew killed when helicopter shot down in Kunar }
At least four Italian soldiers are also said to have been seriously wounded.
Eyewitnesses said the explosion shook buildings and that a plume of black smoke hung over the area where it occurred.
Student Jamal Nasir was in his car when the bomber struck and described an almost deafening blast.
"I could see thick black smoke behind us... There were screams and car horns. People were running over each other and in the panic cars were driving on pedestrian lanes," he told the BBC.
The blast caused considerable destruction in the immediate vicinity, with a number of shops badly damaged.
Witnesses described blood-stained roads and twisted metal littering the area.
Television footage of the blast site showed the Italian flag on Isaf armoured vehicles, one of which was destroyed.
Fierce insurgency
There have been several bomb attacks in Kabul this year.
{At least 10 Afghan civilians are said to have been killed.}
Shortly before nationwide elections in August, Nato's Kabul headquarters was hit by a suicide car bomb attack which killed at least 10 people.
But this is thought to be one of the deadliest attacks on foreign troops in recent months.
On Wednesday, three US troops were killed by a roadside bomb in southern Afghanistan.
There are about 3,200 Italian troops in Afghanistan, mostly in the west of the country.
Around 20 Italian soldiers have died in Afghanistan. The BBC's Duncan Kennedy in Rome says that despite the killings, ministers have reiterated their commitment to keep troops in Afghanistan.
US and Nato-led forces across Afghanistan are battling a fierce Taliban insurgency.
In recent months the US has poured more forces into the Taliban's heartland in the south of the country.
And on Wednesday, the top US military officer, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Adm Mike Mullen, told the US Senate that yet more troops might be required in Afghanistan.
The year 2009 has been the deadliest for foreign troops in Afghanistan since the fall of the Taliban in 2001.
[Asia Pacific]
Page last updated at 11:31 GMT, Wednesday, 16 September 2009 12:31 UK
New PM cements Japan power shift
Japanese PM Yukio Hatoyama has promised economic revival and strong US ties, hours after taking office.
No signature
In a news conference, he vowed to deliver a "people-oriented society", quick economic improvements and frank but trusting ties with Washington.
Mr Hatoyama's Democratic Party of Japan won a huge poll victory last month, ending 50 years of almost unbroken Liberal Democratic Party rule.
His untested government now controls the world's second biggest economy.
The new cabinet are due to be sworn in by Emperor Akihito later in the day.
Former DPJ leader Katsuya Okada becomes foreign minister and Hirohisa Fujii, a veteran bureaucrat, takes over as finance minister.
{ ANALYSIS
Roland Buerk, BBC News, Tokyo
Yukio Hatoyama looks like many who have gone before him, the scion of a wealthy dynasty, the grandson of a former prime minister. But his DPJ has promised profound reform.
For decades the LDP, bureaucrats and big business held sway, steering the country from wartime defeat to economic might. But in recent years this brought stagnation, rising unemployment and increasing inequality.
Mr Hatoyama wants to build a more 'fraternal' society, with a social safety net including a generous child allowance. He wants to turn away from export-led growth and encourage domestic demand.
But there are deep concerns over whether the untested new government can deliver the new era they promise. }
Another former DPJ leader, Naoto Kan, will head a new National Strategy Bureau set up to oversee the bureaucracy. He also becomes deputy prime minister.
The defeated LDP, meanwhile, will hold an election later this month to choose its new leader, after former Prime Minister Taro Aso stepped down.
The DPJ has entered into a coalition deal with two smaller parties, the Social Democratic Party and the People's New Party, and controls both houses of parliament.
Its priorities include tackling a rapidly ageing society and an economy still struggling after a brutal recession.
"We would like to carry out policies that will stimulate households so the Japanese people can have hopes for the future," Mr Hatoyama said.
He has promised to increase social welfare spending, cut government waste and rein in the powerful bureaucracy.
''Now is the time to practise politics that are not controlled by bureaucrats,'' he said.
｛ JAPAN'S NEW GOVERNMENT
> The DPJ, which has never been in government before, is taking over the world's second biggest economy
> new PM Yukio Hatoyama is a political blue-blood but largely unknown outside Japan
> He is nicknamed the 'alien', and his wife claims to have travelled to Venus in a UFO
> DPJ promises to increase spending on health and childcare, but without increasing taxes
> Other pledges include climate cuts, better ties with Asia and a more "equal" alliance with the US｝
On foreign policy, he said ties with the US were a priority.
But he said he wanted a relationship in which Japan "can act more proactively and tell them our opinions frankly", adding that his party's position on reviewing deals relating to the US troop presence had not changed.
The DPJ was elected as a wave of discontent with LDP rule swept across Japan.
Opinion polls have shown many people did not vote for the DPJ because of their policies - but because they wanted change.
Analysts say the electorate will be watching the DPJ closely in the next few weeks and months to see if it can deliver.
The BBC's Roland Buerk, in Tokyo, says that in defeating the LDP, Yukio Hatoyama has already achieved what many people thought for years was impossible.
But now the really difficult part - governing Japan - begins, our correspondent says.
[Asia-Pacific]
Page last updated at 13:36 GMT, Thursday, 17 September 2009 14:36 UK
China jails four over stabbings
Four more people have been found guilty of carrying out attacks with syringes in the western Chinese province of Xinjiang, state-run television says.
The four received sentences ranging between eight and 15 years in jail.
Three other people received prison sentences for similar attacks earlier this month.
Reports of stabbings with needles began in August, a month after clashes between Muslim Uighurs and Han Chinese left almost 200 people dead.
Despite rumours that the needles contained toxic substances, officials say they have found no evidence of poisoning in blood samples from alleged victims.
Correspondents say the names of the latest four to be convicted indicate they are Uighurs while the name of the female victim indicates she is from the Han community.
Officials in Xinjiang say more than 500 people have reported being attacked with needles, with 171 showing "obvious syringe marks".
Thousands of Han Chinese in the regional capital Urumqi have staged angry protests calling for better security since the attacks began.
At least five people have died in the unrest.
Chinese authorities have blamed Uighur separatists for July's violence.
[South Asia]
Page last updated at 14:04 GMT, Thursday, 17 September 2009 15:04 UK
Italian forces die in Kabul blast
At least six Italian soldiers have been killed in a bomb attack on a military convoy in the Afghan capital, Kabul, Italian defence officials say.
Two military vehicles were reported to have been hit by a suicide car bomb. At least 10 civilians were also killed and dozens injured, officials said.
The Taliban have claimed responsibility for the attack in the city centre.
The blast comes as Afghan President Hamid Karzai reaffirmed his belief in last month's election process.
August's presidential election has been overshadowed by widespread allegations of fraud.
Deadly attack
Witnesses say an explosives-laden vehicle rammed into the Italian military convoy on Kabul's busy airport road.
"It was a suicide car bomb attack... It was against Italian forces," Kabul's chief of criminal investigations told the AFP news agency.
{ ATTACKS ON FOREIGN TROOPS
Sept 09: Six Italians killed, four wounded after attack on Kabul convoy
Aug 08: Ten French soldiers killed in ambush east of Kabul
July 08: Nine US soldiers killed in an attack in Kunar
June 08: Four British soldiers killed by a landmine in Helmand
July 07: Six Canadian soldiers and their Afghan translator killed by roadside bomb in Kandahar
June 05: Sixteen US special forces and crew killed when helicopter shot down in Kunar }
At least four Italian soldiers are also said to have been seriously wounded.
Eyewitnesses said the explosion shook buildings and that a plume of black smoke hung over the area where it occurred.
Student Jamal Nasir was in his car when the bomber struck and described an almost deafening blast.
"I could see thick black smoke behind us... There were screams and car horns. People were running over each other and in the panic cars were driving on pedestrian lanes," he told the BBC.
The blast caused considerable destruction in the immediate vicinity, with a number of shops badly damaged.
Witnesses described blood-stained roads and twisted metal littering the area.
Television footage of the blast site showed the Italian flag on Isaf armoured vehicles, one of which was destroyed.
Fierce insurgency
There have been several bomb attacks in Kabul this year.
{At least 10 Afghan civilians are said to have been killed.}
Shortly before nationwide elections in August, Nato's Kabul headquarters was hit by a suicide car bomb attack which killed at least 10 people.
But this is thought to be one of the deadliest attacks on foreign troops in recent months.
On Wednesday, three US troops were killed by a roadside bomb in southern Afghanistan.
There are about 3,200 Italian troops in Afghanistan, mostly in the west of the country.
Around 20 Italian soldiers have died in Afghanistan. The BBC's Duncan Kennedy in Rome says that despite the killings, ministers have reiterated their commitment to keep troops in Afghanistan.
US and Nato-led forces across Afghanistan are battling a fierce Taliban insurgency.
In recent months the US has poured more forces into the Taliban's heartland in the south of the country.
And on Wednesday, the top US military officer, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Adm Mike Mullen, told the US Senate that yet more troops might be required in Afghanistan.
The year 2009 has been the deadliest for foreign troops in Afghanistan since the fall of the Taliban in 2001.
[Asia Pacific]
Page last updated at 11:31 GMT, Wednesday, 16 September 2009 12:31 UK
New PM cements Japan power shift
Japanese PM Yukio Hatoyama has promised economic revival and strong US ties, hours after taking office.
No signature
In a news conference, he vowed to deliver a "people-oriented society", quick economic improvements and frank but trusting ties with Washington.
Mr Hatoyama's Democratic Party of Japan won a huge poll victory last month, ending 50 years of almost unbroken Liberal Democratic Party rule.
His untested government now controls the world's second biggest economy.
The new cabinet are due to be sworn in by Emperor Akihito later in the day.
Former DPJ leader Katsuya Okada becomes foreign minister and Hirohisa Fujii, a veteran bureaucrat, takes over as finance minister.
{ ANALYSIS
Roland Buerk, BBC News, Tokyo
Yukio Hatoyama looks like many who have gone before him, the scion of a wealthy dynasty, the grandson of a former prime minister. But his DPJ has promised profound reform.
For decades the LDP, bureaucrats and big business held sway, steering the country from wartime defeat to economic might. But in recent years this brought stagnation, rising unemployment and increasing inequality.
Mr Hatoyama wants to build a more 'fraternal' society, with a social safety net including a generous child allowance. He wants to turn away from export-led growth and encourage domestic demand.
But there are deep concerns over whether the untested new government can deliver the new era they promise. }
Another former DPJ leader, Naoto Kan, will head a new National Strategy Bureau set up to oversee the bureaucracy. He also becomes deputy prime minister.
The defeated LDP, meanwhile, will hold an election later this month to choose its new leader, after former Prime Minister Taro Aso stepped down.
The DPJ has entered into a coalition deal with two smaller parties, the Social Democratic Party and the People's New Party, and controls both houses of parliament.
Its priorities include tackling a rapidly ageing society and an economy still struggling after a brutal recession.
"We would like to carry out policies that will stimulate households so the Japanese people can have hopes for the future," Mr Hatoyama said.
He has promised to increase social welfare spending, cut government waste and rein in the powerful bureaucracy.
''Now is the time to practise politics that are not controlled by bureaucrats,'' he said.
｛ JAPAN'S NEW GOVERNMENT
> The DPJ, which has never been in government before, is taking over the world's second biggest economy
> new PM Yukio Hatoyama is a political blue-blood but largely unknown outside Japan
> He is nicknamed the 'alien', and his wife claims to have travelled to Venus in a UFO
> DPJ promises to increase spending on health and childcare, but without increasing taxes
> Other pledges include climate cuts, better ties with Asia and a more "equal" alliance with the US｝
On foreign policy, he said ties with the US were a priority.
But he said he wanted a relationship in which Japan "can act more proactively and tell them our opinions frankly", adding that his party's position on reviewing deals relating to the US troop presence had not changed.
The DPJ was elected as a wave of discontent with LDP rule swept across Japan.
Opinion polls have shown many people did not vote for the DPJ because of their policies - but because they wanted change.
Analysts say the electorate will be watching the DPJ closely in the next few weeks and months to see if it can deliver.
The BBC's Roland Buerk, in Tokyo, says that in defeating the LDP, Yukio Hatoyama has already achieved what many people thought for years was impossible.
But now the really difficult part - governing Japan - begins, our correspondent says.
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