18 December 2011 Last updated at 13:57 GMT Philippines flood toll passes 650

The number of people killed in the Philippines by floods triggered by Tropical Storm Washi has risen to 650.

Soldiers and volunteers are still searching for the 800 people reported missing on southern Mindanao island.

Many were trapped in their homes as the flash floods coincided with high tides. In some places entire villages are reported to have been swept away.

Authorities have been criticised for not giving enough warning of the storm's severity.

However the state disaster agency said adequate warnings had been given to officials and residents three days before it reached land on Friday.

The BBC's Kate McGeown in the capital Manila says most of the 20 typhoons and major storms that hit the country each year affect the north - and many in Mindanao were unprepared for the severity of Tropical Storm Washi.

Last US troops withdraw from Iraq

he last convoy of US troops to leave Iraq has entered Kuwait, nearly nine years after the invasion that toppled Saddam Hussein.

The final column of about 100 armoured vehicles carrying 500 soldiers crossed the southern Iraqi desert overnight.

At the peak of the operation there were 170,000 US troops and more than 500 bases in Iraq.

Nearly 4,500 US soldiers and tens of thousands of Iraqis have died since the US-led campaign began in 2003.

The operation has cost Washington nearly $1 trillion (£643bn).

US forces ended combat missions in Iraq in 2010 and had already handed over much of their security role.

"(It's) a good feeling... knowing this is going to be the last mission out of here," said Private First Class Martin Lamb, part of the final "tactical road march" out of Iraq.

"Part of history, you know - we're the last ones out."

Vaclav Havel, Czech leader and playwright, dies at 75

Vaclav Havel, the Czech Republic's first president after the Velvet Revolution against communist rule, has died at the age of 75.

The former dissident playwright, who suffered from prolonged ill-health, died on Sunday morning, his secretary Sabina Tancecova said.

As president, he presided over Czechoslovakia's transition to democracy and a free-market economy.

He oversaw its peaceful 1993 split into the Czech Republic and Slovakia.

Havel first came to international fame as a dissident playwright in the 1970s through his involvement with the human rights manifesto Charter 77.

Hooligans who came with Army and police attack Ajith Kumara M P’s vehicle in Jaffna when he went to participate in protests

A massive protest was staged despite immense obstructions from the MaRa regime today (17), in Jaffna demanding the Govt. to immediately release Lalith Kumara Weeraraj and Kugan Muruganandan who were abducted in Jaffna.

When people’s struggle campaign National Organizer Ajith Kumara M P was travelling to take part in the protest , a group in civil attire with the security of the Army and police had attacked him , causing severe damage to his vehicle. When the police who were at the venue were requested to intervene to stop this violence and attack , they have replied that they have no powers to stop it.

French banker says UK should be downgraded first

The chairman of the French central bank, Christian Noyer, has said ratings agencies should downgrade the UK before France because its economy is weaker.

US agency Standard and Poor's recently warned Franceits rating could suffer over the eurozone crisis and downturn.

"The downgrade does not appear to me to be justified when considering economic fundamentals," Mr Noyer said.

The British Government responded by saying the UK had a credible plan for dealing with its deficit.

Speaking to French regional newspaper Le Telegramme, Mr Noyer said any downgrade should start with Britain "which has more deficits, as much debt, more inflation, less growth than us and where credit is slumping".

Britain was not identified as a credit risk by Standard and Poor's in its report earlier this month.

The spokesman for UK Prime Minister David Cameron said: "Credit ratings are a matter for credit rating agencies but we've put in place a credible deficit reduction plan and you can see that credibility in the UK's bond yields."

Bangladesh man 'admits' cutting off wife's fingers

Human rights groups in Bangladesh have demanded a severe punishment for the husband of a young wife who allegedly cut off most of her right hand.

Police say Rafiqul Islam, 30, attacked her because she pursued higher education without his permission.

They say Mr Islam, a migrant worker, admitted to the crime shortly after returning home from the Gulf.

However there has been no independent confirmation from the suspect that he carried out the attack.

The incident is one of a number of acts of domestic violence targeting educated women in recent months.

Police say that Mr Islam, who works in the United Arab Emirates, tied up his 21-year-old wife, Hawa Akther Jui, earlier this month. He then taped her mouth and cut off the five fingers.

UK officials 'to observe negotiations' over EU deal

The UK has been asked to play a role in negotiations over an EU-wide fiscal pact despite refusing to sign up to the proposed agreement.

No 10 said the UK would participate in "technical discussions" over the accord since, although not an active participant, it wanted it to succeed.

The Financial Times reported that UK officials might have "observer status".

This would enable the UK to monitor discussions on the role EU institutions may play in enforcing the deal.

David Cameron's decision to veto a treaty change of all 27 EU members last week led to a huge row between the Conservatives and Lib Dem partners.

The UK declined to sign up to the agreement - which proposes central oversight of EU members' budgets, tougher sanctions for overspending and moves towards tax harmonisation - because of a lack of satisfactory safeguards on financial regulation.

ICC says Muammar Gaddafi killing may be war crime

The death of Libya's former leader Muammar Gaddafi "creates suspicions" of war crimes", says the chief prosecutor of the International Criminal Court.

Luis Moreno-Ocampo said the ICC was raising the concern with Libya's the National Transitional Council (NTC).

Col Gaddafi was killed in October after being caught by rebels in his home town of Sirte.

NTC officials initiallly said he died in crossfire, but promised to investigate following Western pressure.

"I think the way in which Mr Gaddafi was killed creates suspicions of... war crimes," Mr Moreno-Ocampo told reporters.

"I think that's a very important issue. We are raising this concern to the national authorities and they are preparing a plan to have a comprehensive strategy to investigate all these crimes."

Rebel fighters found Col Gaddafi hiding in a concrete drainage pipe after a long and bloody siege of the former leader's home city of Sirte.

Amateur videos taken at the time showed him injured but alive, surrounded by a frenzied crowd of jubilant rebel fighters.

He is hustled through the crowd and beaten to the ground on several occasions, before he disappears in the crush and the crackle of gunfire is heard.

His son Mutassim, captured alive with him, also died in the custody of rebel fighters.

The National Transitional Council initially said that Col Gaddafi had been killed in crossfire, but under pressure from Western allies it later promised to investigate how he and his son were killed.

The ICC has indicted another of Col Gaddafi's sons, Saif al-Islam, for alleged war crimes and he is in the custody of the Libyan authorities.

Mr Moreno-Ocampo has accepted that Saif al-Islam will be tried in Libya, not The Hague.

Japan to declare 'cold shut-down' at Fukushima

Japan is set to announce that engineers have brought the crippled Fukushima nuclear plant to a "cold shut-down condition", nine months after the earthquake and tsunami.

PM Yoshihiko Noda is expected to make the announcement later on Friday.

Declaring a cold shut-down condition is seen as a key milestone in efforts to bring the plant under control.

But the government says it will take decades to completely dismantle the plant.

The six-reactor Fukushima Daiichi nuclear plant was badly damaged by the 11 March earthquake and tsunami. Blasts occurred at four of the reactors after waves knocked out vital cooling systems.

Workers at the plant, which is operated by Tokyo Electric Power Company (Tepco), have been using sea water to cool the reactors. Waste water has built up and some contaminated liquid has been released into the sea.

A 20km (12m) exclusion zone remains in place around the plant.

Syria crisis: Russia circulates surprise UN resolution

Russia has circulated a UN Security Council resolution aimed at ending the crisis in Syria, in a move that surprised the Western nations.

The draft condemns the violence by both Syria's government and the opposition, but does not mention sanctions.

Western nations said the proposal was not tough enough but that they were prepared to work on the document.

The West has been pushing the council to act on Syria for months, but Russia - and China - vetoed such proposals.

In the latest violence in Syria, 27 security forces members were reportedly killed by army deserters.

The London-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said the deaths occurred in the southern province of Deraa.

International journalists face severe restrictions on their movements in Syria, and it is hard to verify reports.

The UN believes more than 5,000 people have died in seven months of unrest, which the government of President Bashar al-Assad blames on armed gangs.

In a recent interview with the US network ABC, he said he had given no orders for violence to be used against protesters.

Fears for missing Sri Lankan activists -Amnesty International appeal Urgent Action

Sri Lankan political activists Lalith Kumara Weeraraju and Kugan Muruganandan have been missing since 9 December. They were arranging a press conference for the following day to publicize a protest. Lalith Kumara Weeraraju’s family received a phone
call saying that he had been killed.

Lalith Kumara Weeraraju and Kugan Muruganandan were last seen leaving Kugan Muruganandan’s residence in Avarangal, Jaffna, northern Sri Lanka, on 9 December. There were preparing a press conference to be held on 10 December, World Human Rights Day, which aimed to publicize a protest planned for the same day. The protest included parents and relatives of people missing since the end of armed conflict in Sri Lanka in 2009, and was to focus on denouncing human rights violations against Tamil civilians by the Sri Lankan military and calling for the release of detainees held without charge since the end of the war.

According to family members, the two men left the house on a motorbike bearing the license number NP GT 7852 at around 5:00pm on 9 December. Family members say they later received an anonymous phone call saying that Lalith Kumara Weeraraju had been killed. A missing persons complaint was lodged with the Jaffna Police, who denied they are holding the two men in custody.

Lalith Kumara Weeraraju has previously received threats warning him against involvement in politics in Jaffna, particularly during recent elections. He was also attacked and injured during a demonstration in Jaffna town on 14 November 2010, and was arrested and interrogated by the army in early 2011. 

Hamleys, the famous London toy store, has taken down gender signs for its toys in the wake of a campaign by a feminist blogger that the store’s blue-and-pink marked floors were sexist. Previously, the fifth floor of the Regent Street flagship store – where action figure and war-themed toys were sold – was marked with a blue “Boys” sign. Gone, too, is the third floor “Girls” sign which sells dolls and craft toys. Blogger Laura Nelson started the campaign with an October post that accused the store of promoting “gender apartheid.” “We have a severe lack of women in senior positions in our society and a severe problem of inequality,” she wrote in her blog, Delilah. “Only 22 percent of UK parliamentarians are female. A survey of Britain’s top 100 companies find that, of 329 executive directors, only 20 are women.”

Ryan Giggs 'accepts Imogen Thomas not a blackmailer'

Manchester United star Ryan Giggs has accepted there was no basis for accusing TV presenter Imogen Thomas of blackmail, the High Court has heard.

She took legal action after the Sun accused her of having an affair with a footballer - later named as Mr Giggs - which led him to seek an injunction.

The legal order, which prevented the publication of his name, was granted on the basis that Ms Thomas, 28, appeared to be trying to blackmail him.

Ms Thomas said she had been vindicated.

In a statement read outside the court in London on Thursday, Ms Thomas, the 2003 Miss Wales and former a Big Brother contestant, said: "To suddenly have to defend my character because of this legal process has been extremely upsetting and stressful.

"I'm just relieved that the parties and the court now accept that I'm no blackmailer. I have been vindicated and that's all I wanted.

"I have nothing to add - it's all behind me now."

Morocco bans EU fishing vessels amid Western Sahara row

Morocco has ordered foreign fishing boats operating in its waters under an EU deal to leave immediately.

The moves comes after the European Parliament voted not to extend a deal under which the EU paid Morocco for access to its fish stocks.

MEPs said the deal was illegal as it did not benefit the people living in the disputed Western Sahara, off which most of the fishing took place.

The ministry said the parliament's decision was "regrettable".

In a statement, it said the move could have "serious consequences for co-operation between Morocco and the European Union in fishing".

The EU - Morocco's largest trading partner - had been paying 36m euros (£30m: $47m) a year to Morocco for the right to fish in its waters, primarily off the coast of Western Sahara.

The deal officially expired in February, and the EU wanted it to be renewed up until February next year.

But on Wednesday, MEPs using powers granted under the Lisbon Treaty voted 326 to 296 to block the renewal, saying there was not enough evidence to show the deal would benefit the Sahrawi population, who live in Western Sahara.

Chevron faces $10.6bn Brazil legal suit over oil spill

Prosecutors in Brazil are demanding $10.6bn (£6.8bn) from US oil company Chevron for environmental damage caused when one of its oil wells leaked off the coast of Rio de Janeiro.

The prosecutors also asked the court to immediately suspend the operations of Chevron and its drilling contractor, Transocean, in Brazil.

Brazil has already fined Chevron $28m for the spill on 8 November.

A Chevron official said the company had not yet been notified of the suit.

The prosecutors who brought the case argued that "Chevron and Transocean weren't capable of controlling the damages from a spill of 3,000 barrels of oil, which proves a lack of environmental planning and management".

They also accused Chevron of keeping information from Brazil's oil regulator, known by its initials ANP.

Chevron has been banned from drilling any new wells for at least three months, while the ANP investigates the spill.

Chevron has accepted full responsibility for the leak.

The company said it had underestimated the pressure of underwater oil deposits while drilling, causing oil to rush up the bore hole and seep into the surrounding seabed.

US flag ceremony ends Iraq operation

The flag of American forces in Iraq has been lowered in Baghdad, bringing nearly nine years of US military operations in Iraq to a formal end.

The US Defence Secretary, Leon Panetta, told troops the mission had been worth the cost in blood and dollars.

He said the years of war in Iraq had yielded to an era of opportunity in which the US was a committed partner.

Only about 4,000 US soldiers now remain in Iraq, but they are due to leave in the next two weeks.

At the peak of the operation, US forces there numbered 170,000.

French ex-President Jacques Chirac guilty of corruption

A French court has given former President Jacques Chirac a two-year suspended prison sentence for diverting public funds and abusing public trust.

Mr Chirac, 79, was not in court to hear the verdict because of ill-health but denied wrongdoing.

President from 1995 to 2007, he was put on trial on charges that dated back to his time as mayor of Paris.

He was accused of paying members of his Rally for the Republic (RPR) party for municipal jobs that did not exist.

The prosecution had urged the judge to acquit Mr Chirac and nine others accused in the trial. Two of the nine were cleared. The other seven were found guilty and all but one handed suspended prison sentences.

Jean de Gaulle, grandson of former President Charles de Gaulle, was handed a three-month suspended term while former union leader Marc Blondel, 73, was convicted but escaped a sentence.

Protests against crates use snowball : Dambulla police use tear gas - nine grade Johnny’s novel theory wreaks havoc

The agitation by the farmers and vegetable traders against the Govt.’s vegetable crate regulation had spread to other districts of the country as well. The protests which were staged yesterday at Dambulla continued today with greater vehemence .The police tear gassed the farmers and traders who staged the protests carrying a coffin at Dambulla today. Owing to the tear gas attack , the Dambulla Hospital staff and the patients had been subjected to grave inconvenience . The protestors have also attacked a police vehicle. The ‘Nataameys’ , (laborers ), have agitated that Johnny (Minister) should carry a crate on his shoulder and show them. The police had been unable to control the situation even by evening.

According to subsequent reports , 28 persons have been arrested. 

China protest worsens in Guangdong after villager death

A stand-off between villagers and the authorities is continuing in southern China's Guangdong province.

Police have blocked roads leading to the village of Wukan. Local people are trying to keep them out.

The row - over village land taken by the local government - has been simmering for some time.

A new wave of protests broke out several days ago after the death of a villager while in police custody.

It is not easy to get information about what is going on in the area. One local official denied there was a problem.

But it appears that villagers have held a series of protest rallies over recent days involving hundreds of people.

A video of one demonstration, posted online, shows angry protesters shouting slogans such as "Down with corrupt officials".

"We will continue our fight until the end," 

Brit's seduction attempt floods luxury French villa

A 31-year-old British man has caused thousands of euros worth of damage after appropriating a luxury villa on the French coast, media reports say.

The man, said to come from Manchester, reportedly broke into the home near Nice to create a love-nest for an American girl he had met.

He sprinkled rose petals around a bed, and had champagne at the ready.

But his attempts to fill the empty roof-top pool flooded the house below, causing thousands of euros of damage.

The man broke into the split-level property with a sea view in Roquebrune-Cap-Martin on 8 December, the newspaper says.

Jailed Afghanistan rape victim Gulnaz is freed

An Afghan woman jailed for adultery after a relative raped her has been freed, her lawyer has told the BBC.

The woman, known only as Gulnaz, was released on the orders of President Hamid Karzai, who pardoned her earlier this month.

Her lawyer told the BBC that she was released without precondition, dispelling fears that she may have to marry her attacker.

The case drew international attention to the plight of many Afghan women.

Gulnaz - who was sentenced to 12 years in prison after reporting that she had been raped by her cousin's husband - recently gave birth in jail to a daughter.

Her lawyer, Kimberley Motley, told the BBC that she was healthy and happy to be released.

Ms Motley said that Gulnaz is now staying in an undisclosed location in Kabul with her child after being released overnight on Tuesday "for her own safety away from the blaze of publicity".

"She is now free to lead a normal life without the threat of further legal action," she said.

"I hope this historic case will set a legal precedent for other persecuted women in Afghanistan.

"I would like to pay tribute to President Karzai and the Afghan justice ministries for taking the measures required to win her freedom."

Ms Motley said that Gulnaz is at present "coming to terms with her future" but she is free to marry whoever she wanted in future.

Obama speech at Fort Bragg marks end of Iraq war

US President Barack Obama has marked the end of the Iraq war with a speech at Fort Bragg in North Carolina, telling troops, "welcome home!"

He paid tribute to the soldiers who served in the conflict - both those who died and veterans who returned home after long tours of duty.

More than 200 soldiers based at Fort Bragg died over the course of the nearly nine-year war.

The final US soldiers are expected to leave Iraq within days.

The last combat troops departed in August 2010.

"Tomorrow the colours of the United States Forces Iraq, the colours you fought under, will be formally cased in a ceremony in Baghdad," Mr Obama said. "Then they'll begin their journey across an ocean back home."

Colombo ready to satiate the perverted appetite of ‘pregnant’ Namal – his car race craze

The ‘Colombo night race’ organized by Namal Rajapakse is to be conducted in Colombo during the two days – December 16th-17th , and all arrangements in that regard have been finalized. In view of this event , a large number of sand sacks have been piled along the sides of the roads. Tires too have been placed alongside the roads to provide safety. Additional light posts have been erected and the city is illuminated during the day too while Roads in Colombo are being closed for rehearsals .It is learnt that local and international competitors will be taking part . 

Though a motor car race track with the latest facilities had been constructed exclusively for this purpose , the MaRa regime deems it is more important to gratify the perverted appetite of ‘pregnant’ Namal to hold a car race in Colombo than anything else in this country where a great majority of the population is hard put even to have one square meal a day . 

Kabeer Hashim M P speaking in Parliament on this crazy car race of a crazed mind described it as ‘Lambogini for Colombo – badagini (starvation ) for the villagers’

Celebrating the UAE’s historic lifeline

While the falcon is the nation’s official symbol (just check your Emirates ID card), the camel comes a very close second. Want to find out more about these two icons of the UAE? Make plans now to attend the Festival of Falconry and the Dhafra Festival, both happening this week
As its name suggests, the Abu Dhabi Authority for Culture and Heritage (ADACH) has been tasked with preserving the history and traditions of this great nation. What better way to educate and entertain both expatriates and Emiratis alike than with two fun and informative festivals?

WWE hits Abu Dhabi this January

WWE will be bringing the WWE Raw World Tour to Zayed Sports City for the first time from Thursday 9th to Saturday 11th February. This marks the second time within a year that WWE is bringing its World Tour to the Middle East.