Israel kills Gaza militant leader

24 August 2011 Last updated at 11:04 GMT The al-Quds Brigade leader was killed in the southern Gaza city of Rafah An Israeli air strike has killed a commander from the militant Palestinian Islamic Jihad group in the Gaza Strip.

An Israeli missile hit the car of Ismael al-Ismar, a leader of al-Quds Brigades in the city of Rafah, close to the Egyptian border.

Shortly afterwards, mortars were fired from northern Gaza into southern Israel. There were no injuries.

Violence between Israel and militants in Gaza has flared since a deadly attack on Israeli buses last week.

The Israeli military said its target in Wednesday's attack had been an activist implicated in weapons smuggling and militant operations in Egypt's Sinai region.

Fragile 'truce'

The BBC's Yolande Knell in Jerusalem says these exchanges threaten to undermine the informal ceasefire agreement that was announced by an official from Hamas, which governs Gaza, late on Sunday.

This was joined by smaller militant groups.

Al-Quds Brigade is the armed wing of the Islamic Jihad organisation.

On Monday, the Popular Resistance Committees (PRC) - agreed to halt rocket fire against Israel as a "temporary" measure "for the sake of the Palestinian people".

Earlier, Israel's army radio reported that Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's security cabinet had decided the military would stop its air strikes on Gaza if militants there halted their attacks.

Tensions rose rapidly after a series of shooting ambushes near the Red Sea resort of Eilat last Thursday, which killed eight Israelis.

The militants responsible are believed to have been Palestinians from Gaza who crossed from Egypt.

The leader of the PRC, which Israel blamed for the attack was among 15 Palestinians killed in subsequent air raids in Gaza.

Militant groups there responded by firing more than a hundred rockets and mortar shells at Israeli towns and cities. One man was killed.

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Honduran peasants' leader killed

21 August 2011 Last updated at 19:17 GMT The government has sent hundreds of soldiers and police to the Bajo Aguan Valley Gunmen have shot dead farm workers' leader Secundino Ruiz in Honduras.

The murder happened in a region with heightened tension over land ownership.

Police said Mr Ruiz was killed as he was leaving a bank in the Bajo Aguan valley carrying the equivalent of more than $10,000 (£6,000) in workers' pay.

The Honduran authorities said he was murdered for the money, but the shooting comes a week after 11 people were killed in clashes between local land owners and farm workers.

'Revenge killings'

Last Sunday, six guards were killed at a local ranch in Bajo Aguan.

Security Minister Oscar Alvarez said they were targeted by a criminal gang "dedicated to stealing fruit and de-stabilising the area".

But Deputy Security Minister Armando Calidonio blamed farm workers, who he said had tried to take over the farm.

On Monday, police found the bodies of three men and two women near the same ranch.

They are not believed to have had any links to the conflict.

A local farm workers' leader said the five had been mistaken for farm workers and killed in revenge for the killings of the guards the previous day.

On Wednesday, the government deployed 600 police and 400 soldiers to the area.

Analysts say the murder of Mr Ruiz shows the presence of the extra troops has failed to quell the violence.

The latest killing has brought the total of those who have died in clashes over the past two years to at least 36.

The Aguan Valley has some of the most productive farmland in Honduras.

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Gujarat's leader 'allowed' riots

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Yemeni leader agrees to step down

23 April 2011 Last updated at 21:59 GMT Protests against Mr Saleh's rule continued in the capital Sanaa on Saturday President Ali Abdullah Saleh of Yemen has agreed to step down under a 30-day transition plan aimed at ending violent unrest over his 32-year rule.

Officials in the capital Sanaa confirmed the government had accepted the plan drawn up by Gulf Arab states.

Mr Saleh will hand power to his vice-president one month after an agreement is signed with the opposition, in return for immunity from prosecution.

At least 120 people have died during two months of protests.

The US has welcomed the announcement; a statement from the White House urged all parties to "swiftly" implement a peaceful transfer of power.

Opposition leader Yassin Noman was quoted by Reuters news agency as saying he welcomed news of the handover but would not take part in a proposed national unity government.

The opposition have been insisting they will not accept immunity from prosecution for Mr Saleh and his family.

If Mr Saleh steps down as expected, he will join Tunisia's Zine al-Abidine Ben Ali and Egypt's Hosni Mubarak as the latest Arab leader to lose power because of a popular revolt this year.

Strike action Continue reading the main story Lina Sinjab BBC News, Sanaa

The opposition say they welcome the initiative but seem reluctant to serve in a government with the ruling party. Opposition members have also been sceptical about any deal which would see President Saleh transfer power but not leave office immediately.

The timing of the announcement by the president is surprising. Earlier in the day, he delivered a tough speech to members of the country's army in which he accused the opposition of dragging Yemen into a civil war.

But on Friday Yemen saw some of the largest demonstrations so far as hundreds of thousands took to the streets in rival protests in support of both the opposition and the president. And on Saturday, opposition activists called for a general strike in the country.

Tariq Shami, a spokesman for Yemen's ruling party, told Reuters the party had informed the Gulf Cooperation Council "of their acceptance of the Gulf initiative in full".

Under the plan proposed by Saudi Arabia and five other states

Within a month of signing an agreement with the opposition, Mr Saleh quits and hands over to his Vice-President, Abdu Rabu Manur Hadi Mr Saleh appoints an opposition leader to run an interim government tasked with preparing for presidential elections two months laterMr Saleh, his family and his aides are given immunity from prosecution

Washington has urged Mr Saleh to set about the transition immediately.

"The timing and form of this transition should be identified through dialogue," state department spokesman Mark Toner said.

Hundreds of thousands of people attended a rally in support of Mr Saleh in Sanaa on Friday but comparable numbers turned out for demonstrations against him in both the capital and the southern city of Taiz.

On Saturday, a general strike called by the opposition caused disruption in Taiz, the port city of Aden and other towns, although apparently it had little effect in the capital.

'Loop-holes' Continue reading the main story President Ali Abdullah Saleh in power since 1978Population 24.3m; land area 536,869 sq kmThe population has a median age of 17.9, and a literacy rate of 61%Youth unemployment is 15%Gross national income per head was $1,060 (£655) in 2009 (World Bank)Yemen is the Arab world's most impoverished nation and, even before the current protests, it was becoming increasingly chaotic, with both al-Qaeda and separatist challenges to the government's authority.

Mr Saleh suffered a major political reversal last month when a slew of ministers and ambassadors resigned in protest at the shooting of 45 people at a demonstration in Sanaa.

The president promised earlier not to renew his presidency in 2013 or hand over to his son. He has made - and broken - similar promises in the past.

Members of the opposition coalition say they are wary of loopholes that could keep Mr Saleh, a canny politician, in office.

One opposition leader told Reuters that ending the protests would be a major sticking point.

The opposition, the unnamed leader added, did not fully control the hundreds of thousands of people, many of them youth activists, who have taken to the streets.

 

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Bolivia leader flees food protest

11 February 2011 Last updated at 01:45 GMT Mr Morales is facing rising discontent over food shortages Bolivian President Evo Morales has abandoned a public event in the face of an angry protests over food shortages and price rises.

Mr Morales was due to address a parade to commemorate a colonial-era uprising in the mining city of Oruro.

But he and his team left the city to avoid a violent demonstration by miners throwing dynamite.

There have also been protests in other Bolivian cities over the shortage of sugar and other basic foodstuffs.

Mr Morales cut short his visit and returned to La Paz after protesters set off explosions close to where he was preparing to give a speech in Oruro, the capital of his home province in western Bolivia.

"The government took the decision not to respond to shameful provocations of this kind," presidential spokesman Ivan Canelas said.

Wave of protest

Setting off dynamite is a common feature of trade union protests in Bolivia, where the explosive is widely available to miners, but injuries are rare.

In the eastern city of Santa Cruz - an opposition stronghold - protesters blocked the road to the airport to demand the government scrap an agency set up to promote food production.

The protesters say the agency - known as Emapa - is inefficient and discourages private commerce.

Smaller protests were also staged in La Paz and the central city of Cochabamba, although marches were called off because of bad weather.

President Morales is facing a wave of protest over rising food and transport costs and a shortage of sugar.

The left-wing leader's popularity has fallen sharply since the beginning of the year, when he abandoned plans to cut fuel subsidies in the face of popular protests.

Some of the protests have been led by social movements that supported Mr Morales as he rose from being a radical peasant leader to win election as Bolivia's first indigenous president in 2005.

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