Deadly hunt for 'witches' haunts Kenya villagers

KEGOGI VILLAGE, Kenya (CNN) -- It may be difficult for modern-day Western cultures to fathom, but in Western Kenya, beliefs in ghosts and witches are very real. And sometimes they have deadly consequences.

Justus Bosire stands in front of his house, which was destroyed by a mob that also killed his grandmother.

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In late May, news outlets in Kenya told the story of 15 people, mostly elderly women, who were murdered in a witch hunt near the town of Kisii. The killings shocked the nation.

Villagers said more than 100 people gathered machetes and knives and stormed the village of Kegogi after midnight.

"They started banging on the doors, they broke into the house and then they killed our grandmother inside," says Justus Bosire. "The mob was screaming and we panicked. We ran away and they came to our house and burned it to the ground."

When Bosire returned to his grandmother's house, he found her dead on the floor in a bed of embers. His father is missing.

"They claim that my grandmother and father were practicing witches," Bosire says. Watch Bosire describe her die »

Belief in witchcraft is strong in this part of Kenya. A few days before the incident, a group of schoolchildren reportedly found a book in their school that listed all the people in the community who would soon die and the witches who would be responsible. iReport.com: Share your stories, videos from Africa

For Bosire and his family, the killings are hard to believe. His grandmother, Peris, was the matriarch of the family. She was 86 but still actively farmed and dispensed invaluable advice to the family.

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Up the road from Bosire's house lives Paul Magoma. "I believe there is witchcraft and the witches kill," Magoma says while building a chapel. His fellow workers concur: Witches exist and can put spells on people.

Others are skeptical the slain women were witches. At the top of a hill outside Kisii, Joseph Omache practices his craft. Omache is a shaman, or traditional healer. He throws bones and communes with ancestors to help heal physical and spiritual ailments.

"It is very painful when somebody kills another person in the name of witchcraft," he says. "Why couldn't they come to me so that I can perform my herbal potion to identify the real witch so that I can go ahead now to trap him and then we can see what to do?"

Omache says that in his 10 years of studies and decades of practicing, he has never come across a witch.

"These are vendettas. It is not that people really bewitched somebody," he says, adding he believes that witch hunts are really about people expressing hatred and coming up with an excuse to hurt someone.

The area is one of the most populated rural areas in Kenya. Over the years, farming plots have been divided and subdivided. Omache and others say they believe witch hunts are about greed and vendettas in a place where almost everyone struggles to survive.

Whatever the reason, Bosire and his family must live with the consequences. Due to local taboo, they will never live in his grandmother's house. The doors are boarded, her belongings still lie charred on the floor. The family fears further attacks.

"We are fearing for our lives," Bosire says. "I knew my grandmother since I was a young child and I have never seen evidence of her being a witch

U.N. to naval powers: Protect Somalia food aid

he U.N. food agency Thursday urged naval powers to commit to protecting aid ships from pirate attacks around Somalia, warning that if escorts cease, crucial aid might not reach 2 million people.

The Spanish-registered Playa de Bakio was seized by pirates off Somalia in April.

"Millions of Somalis are suffering from a combination of insecurity, drought and high food and fuel prices. If relief shipments slow down, we could face a major catastrophe," Peter Goossens, Somalia country director for the U.N. World Food Program, said.

Pirate attacks on unescorted ships have been a growing problem in Somalia. In the last several weeks, three European freighters were hijacked off the Horn of Africa adding to the 27 other reported attacks this year, according to the International Maritime Bureau, which tracks piracy.

French, Danish and Dutch warships began escorting ships to Somalia in November 2007 and, since then, none of the food program's 27 aid ships have been attacked, spokesman Peter Smerdon said. That followed a spate of attacks against humanitarian ships earlier in the year that led to concerns that the agency would have to suspend deliveries by sea, as it did for weeks in 2005 after two WFP-chartered ships were hijacked.

With the last Dutch escort mission ending on June 25, "we need to establish a pipeline of support," Smerdon said. He said the program has appealed to governments but has not received confirmation and fears that "time is running out."

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Currently, the agency delivers 80 percent of its aid to Somalia by sea, and Smerdon said that if there are no warships to escort the food supply, the program will have to rely on ground or air travel to deliver the food. But both are dangerous and expensive.

Driving is very time-consuming, and it could take weeks to reach the people because of armed checkpoints requiring travelers to pay fees, Smerdon said, and with the increasing civil unrest within the borders, "the road is a dangerous place to be."

Air travel hasn't been used since the last severe Somalian famine, and limits the amount of food that can be carried, Smerdon said.

The International Red Cross has predicted that Somalia's food and water shortages could leave millions at risk for starvation.

Somalia's last severe famine from 1991 to 1993 swept through the nation devastating crops, killing between 240,000 and 280,000 people and displacing up to 2 million, according to the U.N. Office of the High Commissioner for Refugees.

The agency said that if there is no assistance from naval powers, piracy will increase and so too will death and malnutrition. Smerdon said that although Somalia's food crisis hasn't yet reached the devastation of the early 1990s, "we're worried it will be."

Witnesses describe Zimbabwe violence

Violence spread shortly after the 29 March election

As the date for Zimbabwe's presidential run-off approaches, state-sponsored violence has escalated sharply, according to human rights workers and opposition politicians in Zimbabwe who have given first-hand accounts to the BBC.

Andrew Makoni and Harrison Nkomo, both young human rights lawyers, fled to the safety of South Africa last week, fearing for their lives.

Five of Mr Makoni's clients, all activists for the opposition Movement for Democratic Change (MDC), have been murdered over the past few weeks.

He says three of them had their eyes gouged out, and their tongues cut off.

'Systematic campaign'

"I had threats last year, and was incarcerated for my work, and I stayed in the country," he said, speaking at a small unfinished hotel in Johannesburg where he is now staying.

"But this time we have to take the threats seriously because there seems to be a systematic campaign to eliminate those with opposing views.

There are horrific injuries. Bones are not just fractured, they are shattered Human rights worker

"People are being abducted and their decomposing bodies are being found."

Mr Nkomo said: "I received credible information that I was on a list of lawyers who are being targeted by state security agents for elimination. It seems they want to remove anyone seen to be standing in their way."

Hospitals in Harare have been kept busy dealing with an endless flow of bloodied and bruised patients, who have been subjected to brutal beatings.

"The violence we're seeing is more life-threatening than it was," said one human rights worker, who did not want to be identified.

"There are horrific injuries. Bones are not just fractured, they are shattered. Victims speak of being handcuffed and then beaten."

Petrol bombs

The violence is worst in rural areas - where the MDC did well in the 29 March election, at the expense of the ruling Zanu-PF.

"There are hit squads operating, and the level of attacks is increasing," Misheck Marava, an MDC senator from south-eastern Zimbabwe, told the BBC by telephone.

Mr Marava represents the town of Zaka where, last week, an MDC office was attacked with gunfire and petrol bombs leaving charred bodies in the wreckage, according to the opposition.

"My homestead has been attacked three times," he said.

"My wife was beaten and the husband of one of our councillor's was shot and had his ribs broken. It's very, very bad."

Morgan Tsvangirai is still campaigning, but his supporters have been targeted

He also said the government's suspension of the work of aid agencies would have a terrible effect in his district: "We are now at the mercy of God."

Aid groups believe that their field work has been banned in part to prevent them witnessing government abuses.

"We are the eyes and ears of the international community," one foreign aid worker told the BBC.

"And it's clear that the authorities don't want us out in the countryside seeing what they're going to do."

In one of the worst attacks, Human Rights Watch says six men were beaten to death in Chiweshe in Mashonaland Central province on 5 May - at a "re-education" meeting meant to compel MDC supporters to vote for Robert Mugabe in the presidential run-off.

It reports that another 70 men and women were tortured, including a 76-year old woman who was thrashed in front of assembled villagers.

Retaliatory attacks

Although the government blames the MDC for the violence, all independent reports suggest that the vast bulk of attacks are being carried out by state security organs, as well as Zanu-PF militia.

No-one in the area had the courage to help him - they were too scared Blessing Chebundo, MDC MP

But human rights workers in Zimbabwe say it is not wholly one-sided.

"We're starting to hear stories about resistance being organised and retaliatory attacks," one told the BBC.

"A couple of Zanu-PF supporters were hospitalised after the Chiweshe incident."

Human Rights Watch says it has now confirmed at least 2,000 victims of violence - and that may be a conservative figure.

"Fear is being instilled in people to such an extent that they're running away to urban areas," says Blessing Chebundo, MP for KweKwe in the centre of the country.

"Zanu-PF youth militia and army men are forcing people to put on Zanu-PF T-shirts and they're confiscating the ID cards of people they think are MDC supporters so they won't be able to vote."

He described how, after a Zanu-PF rally last Friday, government supporters went on the rampage, killing an MDC supporter.

"No-one in the area had the courage to help him - they were too scared," he said.

A human rights activist inside Zimbabwe said: "Almost everyone you talk to seems to have a story of intimidation. People are being threatened and told they must vote 'correctly.'"

Sudan air crash death toll still unknown

HARTOUM, Sudan (AP) -- Investigators searched for a passenger list and examined the scorched hull of a jetliner Wednesday to determine what caused the plane to veer off a runway and burst into flames after landing in a thunderstorm in Sudan's capital.

Officials say 28 are dead after a plane caught fire shortly after landing in Sudan.

more photos »

More than half of the 214 people on board were able to escape, but authorities said it was still unclear how many died in the inferno.

State television initially said about 100 were killed, but officials later put the toll at dozens without being more precise. Deputy parliament speaker Mohammed al-Hassan al-Ameen said "about 30 people" died, while police spokesman Maj. Gen. Mohammed Abdel Majid al-Tayeb said 23 bodies were brought to the morgue.

The Civil Aviation Authority confirmed that 103 passengers and all 11 crew members survived. In addition, it said some other passengers may have left the scene after the crash, making an exact count difficult. Officials said most aboard the Sudan Airways jetliner were Sudanese.

The aviation authority has asked its counterpart in Amman, Jordan, for the passenger manifest to determine who was actually on board, as the original was destroyed in the crash, SUNA reported. The flight originated in Damascus, Syria, then stopped in Amman.

Al-Tayeb told the official SUNA news agency Wednesday morning that the fire had been completely extinguished and civil defense officials were examining the wreckage to figure out what caused the crash, which occurred late Tuesday.

An Associated Press reporter at the scene said the plane appeared to have left the runway after landing at Khartoum International Airport, and several loud explosions resounded as fire raced through the aircraft.

The roaring blaze dwarfed the Airbus A310's shattered fuselage as firefighters sprayed water, Sudanese TV footage showed. Ambulances and fire trucks rushed to the scene, and media were kept away.

A survivor speaking at the airport to Sudanese TV said the landing was "rough," and there was a sharp impact several minutes later. Watch as flames engulf the wreckage »

"The right wing was on fire," said the passenger, who did not give his name. He said smoke got into the cockpit and some people started opening the emergency exits. Soon, fire engulfed the plane, he said.

"As we landed, the engine burst into flame -- I was sitting right next to it," passenger Kamal Eddin Mohammed told the pan-Arab satellite news channel Al-Jazeera. "It was horror inside the plane."

Reports differed on the role the weather may have played in the crash.

A sandstorm had hit the area with 20 mph winds between 2 p.m. and 3 p.m. and there was a thunderstorm and similar winds at the time of the crash around 9 p.m. local time, said Elaine Yang, a meteorologist with the San Francisco-based Weather Underground, a private weather service.

The head of Sudanese police, Mohammad Najib, said bad weather "caused the plane to crash land, split into two and catch fire."

Sudan plane incidents

July 8, 2003
116 dead, 1 survivor
Boeing 737-200 ST-AFK crashes at Port Sudan
August 16, 1986
60 dead
Fokker F27 ST-ADY shot down by SPLA rebels at Malakal
December 6, 1971
10 dead
Fokker F27 ST-AAY crashes at Tikaka after a forced landing following hijack

Youssef Ibrahim, director of the Khartoum airport, blamed the accident on technical problems, but didn't elaborate. He told Sudanese TV that the plane "landed safely" and the pilot was talking to the control tower and getting further instructions when the accident occurred.

"One of the (plane's) engines exploded and the plane caught fire," Ibrahim said.

Due to inclement weather, the aircraft stopped at Port Sudan Airport along the Red Sea, picking up 35 passengers and refueling before heading to Khartoum.

Sudan has a poor aviation safety record. In May, a plane crash in a remote area of southern Sudan killed 24 people, including key members of the southern Sudanese government. In July 2003, a Sudan Airways Boeing 737 en route from Port Sudan to Khartoum crashed soon after takeoff, killing all 115 people on board.

The Airbus A310 is a twin-engine, widebody plane used by a number of carriers around the world. Typically configured with about 220 seats, it is a shorter version of the popular A300.

An Airbus spokesman in Paris declined immediate comment on the crash.

Mandela's wife warns Mozambique of possible revolt

Thousands of destitute Mozambicans who fled anti-foreigner violence in South Africa may revolt against their home government if their needs are not met, according to a woman with a unique perspective on both countries.
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Graca Machel-Mandela, shown in April, told Mozambique it must help the destitute who have returned.

Former Mozambican first lady Graca Machel, who is married to former South African President Nelson Mandela and is a child rights advocate, spoke Wednesday in the Mozambican capital during a conference on ethnic cleansing.

A wave of attacks against immigrants in South Africa, which killed at least 60 people in May, drove 39,000 Mozambicans back home, authorities say.

Some fled on crowded buses sent by the Mozambican government; others took trains or found other ways to return. Once they arrived, however, most became dependent on others for survival.

"For the first few weeks, they will cry on the shoulders of their families for having lost everything," Machel said. "Then they will go and cry to the government, and at the end they will revolt against the government and all who are around them."

South Africans killed 27 Mozambicans during the violence, accusing them and other immigrants of taking jobs and committing crime.
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Although not all were assaulted during the attacks, accounts of violence, including a photograph of a burning Mozambican man on the front pages of local newspapers, were enough to persuade many to leave.

Machel said inadequate living conditions in South Africa's poorest areas, rather than hatred of foreigners, sparked the attacks. She said the violence was the result of years of unmonitored immigration that put enormous pressure on South Africa's urban infrastructure.

"Extreme poverty dehumanizes people and leads them to madness," she said. "That's what happened in Rwanda over 10 years ago."

South Africa -- considered the African powerhouse -- has long been a magnet for people fleeing poverty or violence in other nations on the continent. Up to 3 million Zimbabweans alone are believed to be in South Africa because of the economic meltdown and political repression in their country.

Delegates from Mozambique, South Africa, Botswana, Zambia and Zimbabwe attended the meeting Machel addressed

Mugabe pledges to fight 'lackeys'

Mr Mugabe has been ratcheting up the rhetoric ahead of the run-off

President Robert Mugabe has vowed that the main opposition party will never lead Zimbabwe and said he was prepared to "go to war" for his country.

He is due to face Morgan Tsvangirai, leader of the Movement for Democratic Change, in a 27 June run-off poll.

Mr Tsvangirai was released after being arrested for the fifth time this week.

Meanwhile, deputy MDC leader Tendai Biti appeared in court in Harare, where a judge is to rule on the legality of his arrest on treason charges.

Mr Tsvangirai has been detained several times on the campaign trail.

On Saturday, he was stopped with 11 members of his party at a roadblock, the MDC said, and held at a police station for three hours.

The MDC issued a statement saying that it was now clearly impossible to talk about free and fair elections.

Mr Tsvangirai gained more votes than Mr Mugabe in the first round of voting in the presidential election in March, but not enough for an outright victory.

Formal protest

Speaking at the burial of a former independence fighter, Mr Mugabe said he would never accept the MDC taking over the government of Zimbabwe.

Robert Mugabe vows to fight anyone who 'undermines' his party

He described the opposition as "lackeys" and referred to Zimbabwe's past struggle for independence from its colonial ruler, Britain, saying the country should not be "lost" again.

"We shall never ever accept anything that smells of a delivered parcel that comes through what they call the MDC here," Mr Mugabe said at the ceremony.

"We fought for this country. Now we have it under control. After all that work, can we allow this country to be taken over by lackeys? That will never happen in our lifetime. It will never happen.

"We are prepared to fight for our country and to go to war if we lose it the same way our ancestors lost it."

Mr Mugabe stopped short of explicitly calling for war if the opposition won the run-off vote, but the remarks raised the stakes in his fight to hold on to his job, says the BBC's Peter Greste in neighbouring South Africa.

The Zimbabwean government faces growing pressure from regional leaders over the harassment of opposition leaders two weeks before the presidential run-off election.

On Friday, Botswana lodged a formal protest over the current actions of the Zimbabwean authorities.

Political violence

Mr Biti was arrested on what police said were treason charges when he returned from neighbouring South Africa on Thursday. The charges carry a possible death sentence.

Tendai Biti has not yet been formally charged with treason

He has not yet been formally charged but that is expected to take place on Monday, says the BBC's Peter Greste in Johannesburg.

It took an order from the High Court for police to present Mr Biti - who had been taken to an undisclosed location - to the court and give him access to lawyers, our correspondent adds.

At the time of his arrest, national police spokesman Wayne Bvudzijena said Mr Biti would be charged with treason "for publishing a document that was explaining a transitional strategy around March 26".

He said he would also be charged for proclaiming victory in the 29 March elections before official results were published.

The US ambassador to Zimbabwe said the US was very concerned about the treason charge and did not consider it justified.

Mr Tsvangirai says more than 60 opposition supporters have been killed in political violence since the March elections and 200 more are unaccounted for.

Mr Mugabe's supporters say the scale of the violence has been exaggerated and blame the MDC for some attacks.

But human rights groups accuse the ruling party of being behind most of the violence.

Animal viruses and humans

By Dr. Sanjay Gupta

Chief Medical Correspondent

Dr. Sanjay Gupta at a chimpanzee sanctuary in Cameroon.

This week, I am in Cameroon investigating a piece for the CNN documentary “Planet in Peril.” I am writing this from a small village called Nyabissan. Don’t bother trying to find it on a map. It is in the heart of the jungle and one of the more remote places I have ever been. (Editor’s note: the path to Nyabissan was not very forgiving. Dr. Gupta explains HERE)

In fact, you are reading this blog because Neil Hallsworth, our camera man, was able to point a small, portable satellite dish in the sky and get a signal and then send this piece along with some of the video we shot back to Atlanta.

We picked this place because it is a hot spot in the world of viruses. It turns out there is a constant exchange of viruses here between animals and humans. There is a very cozy relationship here between humans and animals, such as rodents, snakes, mammals and other primates.

Just today, we passed two men who had killed an enormous viper, another hunter with a pangolin (also known as a scaly anteater) and two young kids with two dead monkeys. While this “Bush Meat” represents a necessary part of the diet, it can sometimes be a problem.

In fact, if you look at some of the deadliest viruses and other pathogens that have ever plagued mankind, they have come from animals, and many of them from this part of Africa. Somewhere in the hunting, slaughtering and eating of these animals, a pathogen makes a leap.

Most times it is inconsequential, but in a few rare cases it results in disaster. Think about Marburg, ebola, malaria and HIV, not to mention many of the influenza viruses. One of the mandates for the “virus hunters” we’re traveling with (Dr. Nathan Wolfe, Mat Lebreton and Karen Saylors, all with the Global Viral Forecasting Initiative) is to try and stop that exchange of pathogens, and in the process stop the next potential pandemic.

Next, I will share my experiences going out into the bush and looking at the practice of safe hunting. As I sit here in the jungle, I am wondering if you think we’re doing enough to monitor and stop emerging diseases around the world.

Editor’s Note: Medical news is a popular but sensitive subject rooted in science. We receive many comments on this blog each day; not all are posted. Our hope is that much will be learned from the sharing of useful information and personal experiences based on the medical and health topics of the blog. We encourage you to focus your comments on those medical and health topics and we appreciate your input. Thank you for your participation.

Posted by: Dr. Sanjay Gupta - CNN Chief Medical Correspondent
Filed under: Dr. Gupta • Health • Virus

Spain 'cracks $300m money racket'

It was Spain's biggest investigation

Police in Spain say they have smashed a massive international money-laundering ring centred on the southern coastal resort of Marbella.

Forty-one people of at least five nationalities were arrested.

The group is suspected of laundering more than $300m (£155m) for gangs involved in murder, drug trafficking, arms dealing and prostitution.

Spanish authorities said they suspected some of the cash was illegally siphoned from Russian oil company Yukos.

A spokesman for Yukos has denied any involvement in money-laundering.

Yukos defiant

A boat, two planes and more than 40 luxury cars were also seized in the raid which went ahead after 10 months of investigation, officials said.

Spanish, French, Finnish, Russian and Ukrainian nationals were among those arrested.

The only place left to look is on Mars - did we launder something there? Yukos spokesman

Interpol and Europol were both involved in the joint Spanish-Russian operation, nicknamed White Whale.

The Spanish interior ministry described it as its biggest investigation.

Large sums are thought to have been diverted from Yukos to a Dutch company and then to one of its Spanish branches, the ministry said.

The Russian oil giant has been under investigation by Russian authorities seeking the repayment of $28bn (£15bn) in alleged unpaid taxes.

The company's founder, Mikhail Khordokovsky, has been in jail since October 2003 and faces separate fraud and tax evasion charges.

Company spokesman Alexander Shadrin denied all wrongdoing in an interview with Moscow Radio, Russia's Interfax news agency reported.

"The only place left to look is on Mars - did we launder something there?" he said.

Spain's Costa del Sol, a coastal strip including Marbella and the city of Malaga, has long played host to a number of international criminal gangs, earning the nickname "Costa del Crime".

Spain raids 'major Russian gang'

Spanish police have arrested 20 people in raids against a major Russian mafia gang, officials have said.

The suspects are accused of arms trafficking, money-laundering and contract killings, the officials said.

They were picked up in Madrid, the Balearic islands and the coastal resorts of Malaga and Marbella.

Judge Baltasar Garzon, who tried to jail former Chilean ruler Augusto Pinochet, led the investigation with aid from German, US and Russian police.

The suspects were using front companies to launder money from criminal activities in Russia and other former Soviet countries, the interior ministry said.

They were also suspected of drug trafficking and tax fraud, it said.

Spanish media reported that the group had started operating in Spain 12 years ago.

The suspects are said to have belonged to the Tambov organised crime group.

The well-known group - named after a region in central Russia - is based in St Petersburg.

More than 300 police officers carried out the raids.

Judge Baltasar Garzon began the investigation into the group in 2006.

UK to press ahead with EU Treaty

European leaders say they have no "plan B" if the treaty is rejected

Foreign Secretary David Miliband says the UK must ratify the EU Treaty despite its rejection by Irish voters.

The result of the Irish referendum on the Lisbon Treaty should be "respected and digested" but the UK "must keep the ratification process going", he said.

EC President Jose Manuel Barroso said it will be discussed next week but the Tories said it must be "declared dead".

Ireland was the only member state to hold a public vote on the treaty, which must be ratified by all 27 countries.

The British government says the Bill to ratify the treaty will continue its progression through Parliament - despite 53.4% of Irish voters rejecting it in the referendum vote.

Mr Miliband said the Irish result should be respected but there should also be a "British view" on the treaty.

"I think it is right that we follow the view that each country must see the ratification process to a conclusion," he said.

"I believe it is right that we continue with our process and take up the Irish offer of further discussions about the next steps forward."

Mr Barosso called on other members states to continue ratifying the treaty insisting it was "alive and we should now try to find a solution".

Clear message

But Conservative leader David Cameron said it would be the "height of arrogance" to continue to try to ratify it in the UK.

"People in Ireland have sent the clearest possible message that they do not want this treaty, they do not want this constitution and by all rights now it should be declared dead."

What part of 'no' don't they understand? Nigel Farage UKIP

He said: "I think the elites in Brussels have got to listen to people in Europe who do not want endless powers being passed from nation states to Brussels."

And he added: "It is the height of arrogance for Gordon Brown and our government to press ahead with ratifying this treaty, flying in the face of public opinion."

Party splits

He said Mr Brown should come to the Commons on Monday to explain what he was going to do and if the treaty was not dead, there should be a referendum on the treaty in the UK.

Under Irish law, any amendment to an EU treaty requires an amendment to the Irish constitution and all constitutional amendments require approval by referendum.

The treaty is designed to help the EU cope with its expansion into eastern Europe and was due to come into force on 1 January 2009.

It provides for a streamlining of the European Commission, the removal of the national veto in more policy areas, a new president of the European Council and a strengthened foreign affairs post.

'Calm'

Former Europe Minister Denis MacShane conceded that the Lisbon Treaty "may well be dead" following the Irish vote.

But the Labour MP added: "I personally think that a vote in a foreign country should not determine the democratic decisions taken in the British Parliament."

UK Independence Party leader Nigel Farage, who campaigns for Britain's exit from the EU, said the treaty had been "kicked it into the long grass".

And he reacted angrily to Mr Barroso's suggestion it was not dead, saying: "This reaction shows more than even the gaping chasm that exists between the people and the politicians. What part of 'no' don't they understand?"

But Ed Davey, Lib Dem international affairs spokesman, said it was a "disappointing" result because it was a "good treaty for Ireland and good for Europe".

The House of Lords is due to have the third reading of the Bill on 18 June.

BT Vision charges for BBC content

The BBC will not make any money from the new arrangement

BT has started to charge users of its television service who want to watch on-demand BBC content.

BT Vision users could previously view programmes like EastEnders for nothing, but must now sign up to the £3-a-month TV Replay subscription to see them.

BT said that, while the same content was available on PCs, it could be seen in "top quality" through its service.

The BBC said it was happy the shows were being provided through BT's "lowest possible subscription tier".

The on-demand programmes available through BT Vision can also be found online through the BBC's iPlayer.

'Never highlighted'

A spokesman for BT said that its customers had only been able to view BBC on-demand content up until now because of "technical issues".

BT Vision had "never highlighted this benefit in its marketing materials", he added.

Customers are, of course, able to watch BBC shows for free on their laptop or PC in lesser quality on the BBC player in the usual way BT spokesman

Channel 4's on-demand content, which can also be viewed online, has been a part of the TV Replay package for some time.

"The BBC programmes, including hit shows like The Apprentice, are delivered in top quality over the BT Vision on-demand platform," the spokesman said.

He added: "Customers are, of course, able to watch BBC shows for free on their laptop or PC in lesser quality on the BBC player in the usual way."

Live streaming

A BBC spokeswoman said: "In line with other TV platforms where BBC programmes are made available on demand, the BBC requires that all public service content should be accessible via the lowest cost subscription tier.

"In this case, it is BT Replay."

She stressed that the BBC would not be making any money from the new arrangement.

The BBC iPlayer is already available through rival television service Virgin Media for no extra charge beyond the standard subscription package.

Meanwhile, the BBC has announced that BBC One will be streamed live on the corporation's website by the end of the year.

A spokeswoman said that all BBC channels would eventually be streamed live online.

Islamic bank to give food help

Senegal is expected to receive funds from the Bank.

The Islamic Development Bank (IDB) is to give poor, predominantly Muslim countries, $1.5bn (£750m) to help deal with the global food crisis.

It says it will share the money between some of its least developed member states, which are mainly in Africa.

The Bank says the cash is not intended as emergency aid to deal with shortages of food or rising prices.

But it will be used to buy seeds and fertiliser for farmers as well as to fund research into improving yields.

"Some money will be spent for research in order for [farmers] to improve the way they are doing their agriculture," the Bank's President, Dr Ahmad Mohamed Ali, told the BBC World Service.

Controversial crops

He said he would be "happy" for some of the cash to be spent on research into genetically-modified (GM) crops.

GM food is controversial, but some countries, such as Uganda, are warming to the idea.

Countries which are likely to benefit from the IDB handout include Senegal, Mauritania and Yemen.

In many countries the planting season is almost over and that worries the head of the Food and Agricultural Organisation, Jacques Diouf.

"We have to mobilise all resources at our disposal so that the farmers can obtain the seeds," he said.

The FAO has told rich countries that they must increase crop yields and tear down trade barriers in order to help the world's hungriest nations.

At a summit sponsored by the United Nations in Rome, the UN said it would provide an additional $1.2bn of food aid for the 60 nations hardest hit by rising costs.

The UN Secretary-General, Ban Ki-Moon, has said $15bn-$20bn will be needed every year to boost food production to combat hunger.

Surprise Obama-Clinton talks held

Mr Obama paid tribute to Hillary Clinton, who is expected to bow out

Democratic hopeful Barack Obama has had an unannounced meeting with his defeated rival Hillary Clinton.

The talks came two days after Mr Obama in effect clinched the nomination for November's US presidential election.

A spokesman for Mr Obama said the two former opponents met to talk about bringing their campaigns together and uniting the party.

Mrs Clinton has distanced herself from reports that she was hoping to stand as a vice-presidential running mate.

The last-minute meeting in Washington came after Mr Obama spent the day campaigning in the Republican stronghold of Virginia - a signal that he is now targeting voters who might be drawn to Republican presumptive nominee John McCain.

Mr Obama held large rallies in the state.

Intense pressure

The Illinois senator, under intense pressure from Clinton backers to choose her as his running mate, has announced a team to help him make his selection and said he will not be rushed.

Campaign aides said little about the meeting, which a Democratic source told ABC News was held at the Washington home of senior Democratic Senator Dianne Feinstein.

Hillary Clinton will thank her supporters on Saturday and endorse Obama

But reports say the two have put teams in place to handle communications between their respective camps in the coming days.

Senator Feinstein has said that a joint-ticket for the presidency would be a route to pulling together the pair's diverse constituencies.

On Tuesday Mrs Clinton said she would be "open" to the idea of being Mr Obama's running mate.

But a statement from the Clinton campaign on Thursday said: "While Senator Clinton has made clear throughout this process that she will do whatever she can to elect a Democrat to the White House, she is not seeking the vice presidency."

It adds: "The choice here is Senator Obama's and his alone."

The BBC's Andy Gallacher in Washington says that if Mr Obama were to choose her as his running mate, this could be seen as a tactical move to win over the almost 18m people who cast their votes for Senator Clinton.

But, our correspondent adds, Mr Obama has said it may be some time before he picks a running mate.

Tribute

Earlier, in an email to supporters, Mrs Clinton said she would hold an event in Washington on Saturday to thank supporters and congratulate Mr Obama and extend her "support for his candidacy".

"This has been a long and hard-fought campaign, but as I have always said, my differences with Senator Obama are small compared to the differences we have with Senator McCain and the Republicans," she said.

I am a better candidate because of the work she did Barack Obama Justin Webb's blog Obama's possible running mates

"I will be speaking on Saturday about how together we can rally the party behind Senator Obama."

Since the close of the primary season on Tuesday, Mr Obama has paid tribute to Mrs Clinton and hinted that she would play a role in any future Obama administration.

At a rally in Bristow in northern Virginia on Thursday, he told a large crowd he was "a better candidate because of the work she did".

"Whatever differences exist between me and Hillary Clinton, they pale into insignificance in comparison with those that exist between us and the other side," he added.

Correspondents say Democrats sense an opportunity in Virginia, despite the 44 years since one of their nominees won the state in a presidential election.

Mr McCain has challenged Mr Obama to take part in debates in 10 town hall meetings before the Democratic convention in August. The Obama team is said to be considering the invitation.

Clinton to bow out of campaign

Hillary Clinton will give her final speech as a candidate for president

Hillary Clinton is to formally end her marathon bid to become the United States' first woman president.

Mrs Clinton will use a party for campaign staff and supporters to suspend her 16-month campaign to become the Democratic Party's nominee.

She is expected to throw both her election machinery and support behind nominee Barack Obama.

The news comes amid intense speculation about who Mr Obama will choose to be his vice-presidential running mate.

Mr Obama is not expected to attend Mrs Clinton's farewell event at the National Building Museum in Washington.

He did hold a private meeting with his defeated rival on Thursday.

Campaign aides said little about the meeting - which was ostensibly aimed at promoting party unity - but Mrs Clinton has distanced herself from reports that she was hoping to be on the November ticket with Mr Obama.

Mrs Clinton kept a low-profile on Friday, while Mr Obama made a surprise appearance at festivities in his hometown of Chicago to celebrate the city's place on the shortlist to host the 2016 Olympic Games.

No rush

The Illinois senator won delegates enough to secure the nomination after primaries in Montana and South Dakota on Tuesday.

Obama was a surprise guest at an Olympics rally in Chicago

A statement from Mrs Clinton's campaign on Thursday said: "While Senator Clinton has made clear throughout this process that she will do whatever she can to elect a Democrat to the White House, she is not seeking the vice-presidency."

It adds: "The choice here is Senator Obama's and his alone."

In her speech on Saturday, the former First Lady is expected to thank her supporters and urge Democrats to unite behind Mr Obama in order to help him defeat the Republican presumptive nominee, John McCain, in November's election.

Mr Obama, under pressure from Clinton backers to choose her as his running mate, has announced a team to help him make his selection and said he will not be rushed.

The BBC's Andy Gallacher in Washington says that if Mr Obama were to choose her, this would be seen as a tactical move to win over the almost 18m people who cast their votes for Mrs Clinton.

Mr McCain has challenged Mr Obama to take part in debates in 10 town hall meetings before the Democratic convention in August.

The Obama team is said to be considering the invitation.

Obasanjo's legacy to Nigeria

e at the end of May, Nigeria would have achieved its first democratic transfer of power from one civilian administration to another - in spite of the reluctance of the outgoing administration.

For two years, Nigerians stood up in unusual unity against a bid by Mr Obasanjo to have the nation's constitution amended to extend his tenure by another term of four years - in order, his supporters claimed, to allow him to complete his reform programme.

And the people won a significant victory when the Senate threw out the constitutional amendment bill in May last year.

That struggle taught Nigerians the important lesson that democracy would survive only if they applied themselves to protecting and nurturing it.

Vigilance and distrust of government's motives became the watchword - and in a sense, this would be counted as one of the major legacies of Obasanjo's eight-year tenure.

Curbing corruption

At the time of his swearing-in in 1999, many Nigerians were cynical about the chances of the government lasting this long.

The fear of the military staging a comeback hung thick in the air. The president himself must have sensed it, because his very first action in office was the unexpected but tactical retirement of all military chiefs and their immediate replacement.

That action was followed by the retirement of all military officers who had held political appointments in the preceding military regime.

Umaru Musa Yar'Adua is Obasanjo's 'anointed' successor

The steps were widely applauded and they sent a clear message to the barracks and officers' messes that the military must henceforth subject itself to control by civil government.

For the first time since independence in 1960, Nigeria has now had democratic governance for eight uninterrupted years.

A hallmark of the Obasanjo presidency has been the emphasis placed on curbing official corruption.

From his very first day in office the president promised that it would no longer be "business-as-usual". He set up the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) and installed at its head Nuhu Ribadu, then an assistant commissioner of police.

A measure of Mr Ribadu's success in at least instilling a consciousness of the anti-corruption war in the minds of Nigerians is reflected in the popular saying on the streets that "the fear of Ribadu is the beginning of wisdom".

But he has done much more. For the first time in the history of Nigeria highly-placed persons in both the public and private sectors are being investigated and brought to justice.

The EFCC has prosecuted government ministers. It arrested a sitting head of the Nigeria Police Force, prosecuted him for stealing government funds, recovered the stolen funds from him and got the court to imprison him.

But it has also been criticised for indulging in selective investigations, and this complaint became more strident in the build-up to April's presidential and general elections.

'Essential' reforms

The commission was accused of being used as an instrument to harass and blackmail opponents of Mr Obasanjo and the ruling People's Democratic Party (PDP).

Mr Obasanjo's economic reform programme, meanwhile, may have earned him accolades abroad, but it has little support outside government corridors at home.

Nigeira's oil-rich deltas are becoming highly dangerous areas

The effects of the programme have been worsening unemployment, spiralling prices of food, higher housing rent and the near collapse of the power sector which, in effect, cripples small businesses.

The respected Nigerian economist Sam Aluko has said of the president, "his philosophy is that government must withdraw; an economy of withdrawal is an economy of disaster".

Former head of state Ernest Shonekan, however, defends the reforms as essential.

"Whatever initial pains they might have brought, we must appreciate the fact that economic reforms take time to work their way through and begin to produce results," he says.

The most serious legacy of the Obasanjo presidency is to be found in the deteriorating security situation in the Niger Delta - Nigeria's economic powerhouse.

The region's oil and gas riches provide about 90% of the country's foreign earnings. But militant youths, actively supported by the indigenes, are turning the entire mangrove creeks into a vast minefield.

Kidnappings

The armed protests in the region are fast turning into an insurgency. In February, the Movement for the Emancipation of the Niger Delta (Mend), an umbrella body of the major militant groups, issued a public statement threatening war.

"We will fight a war that has never been fought in Africa and disintegrate Nigeria if we have to do so to get justice," it said. It accused the government of engaging in "a show of absolute disrespect of Ijaw potency and a test of the might of the nuisance value that we can deploy".

That "nuisance value" is exacting an increasingly heavy toll on Nigeria's oil industry and on the economy.

In the past year, no less than 60 foreign oil workers have been kidnapped.

Initially all the kidnappings were carried out on oil installations, but recently foreigners were kidnapped in the centre of the city of Port Harcourt in Rivers State. The government says it lost more than $4bn last year as a result of the insecurity and vandalism of pipelines.

Giving details of the 2007 federal budget in January, Finance Minister Nenadi Usman said that Nigeria realised only a marginal increase in oil revenue last year, compared to receipts in 2005 - despite the all-time record price of crude oil in 2006.

The recent shortage of petrol in Nigeria is partly attributed to the sabotage of an important installation through which oil is supplied to the country's two major refineries in Warri and Kaduna. The militants have prevented contractors from repairing the facility.

President Obasanjo's response to the deteriorating security situation is the establishment of a military Joint Task Force (JTF), which is carrying out Operation Restore Hope in the region.

The JTF itself has suffered heavy casualties at the hands of the militants.

This legacy of an unstable and highly militarised region is one which President Obasanjo's successor must confront - and early too - for the economic and political stability of Nigeria.

My brother, the Niger Delta militant

Henry Okah in a publicity picture released by Mend

Little is known about Henry Okah, the Niger Delta militant currently being held by the Nigerian Government.

He has been accused by police of murder, kidnapping, bank robbery, gun-running and putting the state at risk by planning to secede the oil-rich delta region from Nigeria.

Now his brother has told the BBC about the early life of the man who helped turn a gang of unruly thugs into a well-publicised movement.

Charles Okah says they grew up in a privileged family who had no contact with the Delta until their late teens.

While Charles qualified as an engineer and went to work in the oil industry, Henry went deeper into "activism", fighting the oil companies.

The way people were living we did not know people lived like that. The way people were defecating in the water they drank Charles Okah

Henry's first real steps toward the rebels came in the 1990s when Henry got a job selling licensed guns to Lagos home-owners.

He got the licences from the police, Charles says, and claims it was a legitimate business.

He denies any knowledge of where the guns came from, but at the time Henry had been working for the Nigerian merchant navy for some years.

"Like any business in Nigeria, he saw an opportunity and had a connection," Charles said.

Henry was a successful salesman because he'd paint a graphic picture of what happened during an armed robbery and customers would hand over the cash.

"He even sold me a gun," his brother says, "I didn't want one but he said: can you imagine an armed robber raping your wife?"

"Nervous guys who didn't want anything to do with guns would change their minds in an instant when he said that. We'd laugh about it."

Now his brother has been extradited from Angola on gun-running charges.

Whereabouts unknown

Mr Okah, 42, has not been seen since arriving back in Nigeria last week.

Mend said they heard he was killed by security forces, prompting a denial by the government.

His lawyers filed papers in an Abuja court Thursday in an attempt to have him charged or released.

Mr Okay's family and lawyers deny Henry is a violent militant. They say he's an "activist", who has a day job as a marine engineer and "import and exporter".

Observers say that with Okah's media-savvy guidance, Mend transformed itself from a band of poorly organised thugs into a operation that had well organised propaganda and appeared to have a political mission.

They notified journalists of attacks moments after they occurred, and emailed pictures of hostages to newsdesks around the world.

Privileged upbringing

Its a far cry from when Henry and Charles were growing up in privileged Lagos society.

The children of a successful Navy officer, they lived among the wealthy elite of early post-independence Nigeria.

Charles remembers a very "British" upbringing.

MEND Formed early 2006 Had links to militant Mujahid Dokubo-Asari's Niger Delta Volunteer Force Split into two rival groups late 2006 Bayelsa State faction leader - Jomo Gbomo Delta State faction leader - Gen Godswill Tamuno Demand 100% control of Nigeria's oil wealth Demanded release of impeached Bayelsa governor on trial for money laundering Operate from creeks of Niger Delta Communicate with media by e-mail

They went to private schools, and had never visited their family village in Bayelsa state, where the oil industry was then developing.

Henry, The fourth of nine children, enjoyed adventure comics and read Commando magazine, according to older brother Charles.

"We would talk about battles in the second world war endlessly. We loved war films and talked about them all the time," he said.

But when it came down to it neither of the brothers followed his father into the military.

"He and father had a kind of running battle," Charles said "Henry has always been very brave and headstrong."

Good at literature as well as working with his hands, Henry had many offers from universities but chose to go to nautical engineering college and into the merchant navy.

"I was always the quieter brother, Henry was the adventurous one," Charles said.

Charles himself went from engineering college to work for a company making floating docks for the oil industry.

It may seem ironic that the brothers would end up on different sides of the divide, but in Nigeria the oil industry is one of the only areas of employment for educated middle-class graduates.

Political awakening

It was not until Henry was 19 and their mother died that they visited their family home in the creeks of Bayelsa.

Henry told his brother how shocked he was at the living conditions they saw when they arrived in the family home of Ammasoma.

"The way people were living we did not know people lived like that. We felt advantaged as children. He began feeling upset about it, the way people were defecating in the water they drank," Charles said.

Poverty and unemployment is high in the Niger Delta

The execution of Delta activist Ken Saro Wiwa by Nigeria's military government in 1995 affected Henry very badly, his brother said.

"We were living in the same area then. It was very depressing for him. Really Ken Saro Wiwa set the standard that he tried to surpass."

But government sources balk at the comparison with Saro Wiwa, who has become a byword for the struggle of the little man against powerful interests.

They say Mr Okah is an international arms dealer who has used guns to get control of a group of criminals, and exploited the situation for his own means.

The Police on Thursday said he was being interrogated about murders, kidnappings, bank robberies, in addition to the accusations of gun-running.

"Surprise"

But Charles Okah says he is surprised at some of the things he reads in the papers about his brother.

Since 2003, Henry has lived in South Africa with his wife and four children. Charles claims he has no knowledge of what his brother has been doing.

"I read about these things and if they are true I am surprised. It means that Henry disguised his passion even from us."

"Our background is in contrast to those guys. It's frightening. I knew he had this courage but if it is true, he commanded the respect of these people who are very tough."

Charles attributes his brother's apparent ability to bridge the gap between him and hardened militants to his being a "nice person" who "doesn't judge people or look down on them."

Arrest

Charles spoke to his brother just before he was arrested in Angola in September.

Interpol says Okah and a friend, Edward Atatah -a captain in the merchant navy- were buying explosives in Angola when they were stopped.

But Charles says they were there to buy a second hand trawler for Okah's marine engineering consultancy.

"He called me and said they were being delayed on the way in and their passports were checked. He worried they were being set up," Charles said.

He added Henry was "travelling on his real passport" because he had been visited by top-ranking members of the government in August and believed there was nothing to fear.

But then he denied Henry ever had a false passport.

The way Charles talks, it is clear he knows his brother was deeply involved with militancy.

He knew Henry was being hunted by the security services over a year ago, when Henry turned up unannounced at their father's funeral.

"He comes and goes, I don't know how," he says.

What now?

Charles clearly does not believe his brother is dead. He brightens up when he says "You will see him very soon. I'm sure you will like him."

Even if he is still alive, it is unlikely he will be released on any kind of bail.

The effect on the Delta of taking Okah out of circulation is unclear.

His arrest and the mystery around his current whereabouts has heightened tension there.

But security analysts say the future is bleak anyway.

"The saturation of small arms around the Niger Delta means that kind of criminality will continue. What is needed is to remove some of these groups reason d'être," said Security consultant Tony McClenaghan.