Reuters say The African Union suspended Madagascar on Friday and the United States said it planned to halt all but emergency aid, increasing pressure after the opposition took power with the support of the army. Opposition leader Andry Rajoelina was declared president of the Indian Ocean island on Tuesday after weeks of political unrest that have killed at least 135 people, devastated the economy and worried foreign investors. "A civilian and military coup has taken place in Madagascar," said Burkina Faso's Ambassador Bruno Nongoma Zidouemba, chairman of the AU's peace and security council. He said the council "decided to suspend the participation of Madagascar to the bodies and organs of the AU." Meanwhile, the BBC reports Southern African leaders say they may impose sanctions on the Indian Ocean island unless legality is restored. Former colonial power France has also condemned the seizure of power, while the US has suspended some aid. But Madagascar's acting prime minister rejected growing international criticism of his government.  Although the handover in Madagascar was not a straightforward military seizure of power, an AU official said it had not been constitutional.

According to the BBC a new row over French protectionism has broken out, as EU leaders hold a summit in Brussels on the economic crisis. It followed the news that carmaker Renault was moving some production from Slovenia to create 400 jobs in France. The European Commission said it would seek urgent clarification. It comes only weeks after the EU agreed France could give state aid to its carmakers. The row may overshadow an EU pledge to double to 50bn euros an emergency fund for non-eurozone members in trouble. Meanwhile, The International Herald Tribune says the European Union asked France to explain the decision of carmaker Renault SA to move excess production from its Slovenia plant to a factory outside Paris, a decision staunchly defended by President Nicolas Sarkozy. The move announced Friday by Renault raised concerns about protectionism at an EU summit in Brussels that included the leaders of France and Slovenia. Sarkozy said the decision to add 400 jobs in France — while not taking away any in Slovenia — had nothing to do with economic nationalism. "It is exactly what I want," said Sarkozy after the summit. "We can defend production in France without costing one job in Slovenia," he said. "It makes me happy." Slovenian Prime Minister Borut Pahor was much more apprehensive. "Let us be very cautious about any temptation of protectionism," he said, eager to protect the more than 2,400 jobs currently at the Renault plant in Novo Mesto. Reuters say that as the world's leading carmakers battle to survive the worst sales crisis for decades in an industry now flirting with protectionism, French Industry Minister Luc Chatel characterised the temporary output increase as a first sign that aid measures for the country's auto sector were working. Chatel's comments provoked an angry reaction from the European Commission and French President Nicolas Sarkozy attempted to douse the political fire by stating Renault was not cutting jobs in Slovenia to create work in France.

Voice of America says North Korea has re-established a key military phone line with South Korea, after severing it nearly two weeks ago. That makes it easier for the two sides to conduct simple communications. However, tensions remain high prior to the North's promised missile launch. South Korean officials say North Korea informed them Friday of plans to reconnect a military phone line at the heavily armed border between the two countries. The North severed the line earlier this month in protest of two weeks of annual military drills between South Korea and the United States. The drills wrapped up Friday, and the inter-Korean phone lines are expected to be operational by Saturday. The lack of a phone line made it difficult to coordinate limited border crossings by South Koreans who manage a joint North-South industrial park in the North Korean city of Kaesong. The International Herald Tribune says the North says it will launch a communications satellite into orbit between April 4 and 8. Neighboring governments say the launch is a cover for testing the North's ballistic missile technology. The United States, Japan and South Korea have repeatedly urged North Korea to cancel the launch. They say it violates a 2006 United Nations resolution that bans North Korea from ballistic missile activities. North Korea also said Friday that it would convene its newly elected Parliament on April 9. Political analysts expect the country's leader, Kim Jong-il, to be re-elected to another five-year term at that meeting. Mr. Kim, 67, has ruled North Korea since the death of his father, Kim Il-Sung, in 1994. Meanwhile, the two US journalists detained by north Korean trops on Friday are still being held in detention. The Guardian reports South Korean television channel YTV said guards from the North crossed the border into Chinese territory to arrest two US journalists, quoting an official in Seoul. It said the two women, described as Korean-American employees of a California-based online news company, had ignored warnings to stop filming across the Tumen river. The Munhwa Ilbo evening newspaper said guards had detained one US journalist near the Yalu river, along the western part of the border between the two countries, which runs into the Tumen river on the east side. "It's difficult to comment on this matter because it involves a US citizen, but our government is aware that a US journalist is in detention in the North," a senior government official told the paper. Another diplomatic source said the US state department would be dealing with the case soon.

The Voice of America says Iran's supreme leader is dismissing calls from U.S. President Barack Obama for a "new beginning" in relations between the two countries. Speaking in the holy city of Mashhad Saturday, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei said that, despite Mr. Obama's words, he sees no change in U.S. policy toward Iran. Earlier, a senior Iranian official welcomed the U.S. president's appeal while also warning words alone were not enough to improve relations. Sky News quote Iran's supreme leader Khamenei who said in a television speech: "What is the change in your policy? Did you remove the sanctions? Did you stop supporting the Zionist regime? Tell us what you have changed." Mr Khamenei went on: "We have no experience with the new American government and the new American president. "We will observe them and we will judge. If you change your attitude, we will change our attitude." Meanwhile AP says the Israeli president Shimon Peres issued a rare Nowruz greeting of his own to Iranians, praising what he called "the noble Iranian people" in a message on Israel's Farsi-language radio station, which broadcasts in Iran. But Peres took a tougher tone in an interview to be aired to Iranians on the station on Monday, strongly criticizing Iran's hard-line leaders as "religious fanatics" and predicting that Iranians will overthrow them. "I think that the Iranian people will topple these leaders," Peres said in the interview, according to a transcript released Friday. "These leaders who don't serve the people, in the end the people will realize that." Haaretz says Peres has called upon Iran to reclaim its "rightful place among enlightened nations".

Haaretz exposes the new fashion among Israeli soldiers: Dead babies, mothers weeping on their children's graves, a gun aimed at a child and bombed-out mosques - these are a few examples of the images Israel Defense Forces soldiers design these days to print on shirts they order to mark the end of training, or of field duty. The slogans accompanying the drawings are not exactly anemic either: A T-shirt for infantry snipers bears the inscription "Better use Durex," next to a picture of a dead Palestinian baby, with his weeping mother and a teddy bear beside him. A sharpshooter's T-shirt from the Givati Brigade's Shaked battalion shows a pregnant Palestinian woman with a bull's-eye superimposed on her belly, with the slogan, in English, "1 shot, 2 kills." A "graduation" shirt for those who have completed another snipers course depicts a Palestinian baby, who grows into a combative boy and then an armed adult, with the inscription, "No matter how it begins, we'll put an end to it." The Palestinian website Ramallah Online taggs the story and comments: "This is the way the brave IOF (Israel Offence Forces) elite see themselves. Brave to be fighting against Palestinian civilians, crying babies, weeping mothers, pregnant mothers, raped girls, etc…"

Uri Blau, Haaretz correspondent who exposed the story is available for 2-ways.

The BBC confirms that right-to-life case babt OT is now dead, after have been cut off life support machines by court order, against his parents's will. Previously Times Online said The parents of a seriously ill baby have said they are “deeply distressed” by a legal ruling which will allow their “only and beloved son” to die.The parents, known as Mr and Mrs T, said they planned to “enjoy what little time” they had left with their son who has a rare metabolic disorder and has suffered brain damage and major respiratory failure.Last night the parents’ final possible legal avenue to keep their son alive failed when two Appeal Court judges upheld an earlier High Court ruling giving permission to doctors to allow him to die.The parents said they had battled to keep their son alive because of “his humanity and inherent worth” but they now believed doctors were preparing to switch off his ventilator within the next 24 hours.The Daily Mail reported that in a statement issued through their solicitor, Mr and Mrs T said they were 'deeply distressed' by the court's decision to allow doctors to take their 'only and beloved son' off the ventilator that is keeping him alive. They said relationships with doctors and staff at the hospital became 'very difficult' at the end of last year when medical staff wanted to withdraw treatment while they felt they 'had to fight to ensure that he is given every possible chance'. Mr and Mrs T said there were 'lots of issues which still worry us' but added: 'We think we did the right thing even though we were repeatedly told it was hopeless and that we were being irresponsible in not following the medical advice that he should be allowed to die.' The parents, who could not face hearing the decision yesterday and waited outside the court, went on: 'We are and always will be convinced that despite his desperate problems his life is worthwhile and is worth preserving as long as it is possible to do so without causing him undue pain. 

Deutsche Welle say More than 100,000 people took to the streets of Naples on Saturday in one of the biggest anti-mafia rallies in recent years.  They marched to commemorate the victims of organised crime and demand an end to its stranglehold on southern Italy. Family members of victims led the march, many carrying photos of the deceased. Four mafia groups in Italy are together held responsible for 900 deaths in recent decades. According to Sky News relatives of victims, wearing white gloves and holding pictures of their loved ones, led the march as the names of some 900 people killed by the mafia were read out through loudspeakers. One banner said: "You didn't kill them. They are walking with us." Another read: "Don't turn the other way." Writer Roberto Saviano, a symbol of the fight against the mafia since his best-selling book Gomorra - turned into an international hit film - exposed how the mob dominates life around Naples, was also at the rally. AlJazeera quotes Vincenzo D'Agostino, the father of a police officer killed by the mafia, who said: "Today is a day of celebration because we remember our dead with all these young people gathered here. They are the future of Italy." Father Luigi Ciotti, the president of Libera, an association of civil society groups which organised the march, told the crowd: "A day like today is meaningful only if we keep fighting the other 364 days of the year."Libera carries out a number of activities aimed at tackling organised crime, including acquiring farms and buildings confiscated from the mafia and using them for social good, such as schools and drug rehabilitation centres.

The BBC reports that next month's Indian Premier League will be held outside the country after organisers failed to secure government approval for the matches to go ahead. The tournament, which runs from 10 April to 24 May, clashes with the upcoming Indian general election, prompting fears over security. England, South Africa and Dubai are all potential alternative hosts. Organisers have blamed the government for being unable to provide security for the showpiece tournament. "Due to the attitude of the government that it cannot provide security for the tournament, we are forced to take a decision to move the IPL out of India," said the country's cricket chief Shashank Manohar. "A final decision on the venue will be announced in two to three days." CNN-IBN say the Indian cricket Board has decided to shift the second edition of the high profile Indian Premier League from India. Senior BCCI officials confirmed in a press conference in Mumbai after the BCCI working committee meeting on Sunday that the government's inability to promise adequate security for the tournament forced the organisers to move the tournament away from India. Although it is not yet certain if the tournament is going to be conducted in England or South Africa, the games will happen at 4 pm and 8 pm (IST). Also, the format and dates of the tournament will remain the same. BCCI President Shashank Manohar and IPL Commissioner Lalit Modi jointly addressed the press conference here on Sunday, saying the venues will be finalised within two to three days. BCCI is still in talks with other boards on holding the tournaments. "Because of the attitude of the government that they are not ready to spare security forces for the cricket tournament... we are forced to take the decision to move the event out of India," Manohar said. "So the Board has decided to take the tournament out of the country. We are in discussion with other Boards who are willing to host the event. I apologise to the people of India for moving the tournament out," Manohar added. Earlier this month, gunmen have attacked a bus carrying the Sri Lankan cricket team on its way to play in the Pakistani city of Lahore. At least six policemen escorting the team bus were killed, along with a driver. Seven cricketers and an assistant coach were injured. Pakistani officials said about 12 gunmen were involved and grenades and rocket launchers have been recovered. Officials said the incident bore similarities to deadly attacks in Mumbai in India last November.

Reuters report Iran's Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei said on Saturday U.S. President Barack Obama's offer of better ties was just a "slogan," but pledged Tehran would respond to any real policy shift by Washington. Speaking a day after Obama's videotaped overture, Iran's most powerful figure criticized U.S. actions toward Iran since its 1979 Islamic revolution and said he did not see any change in practice from the new U.S. administration so far. But Khamenei, who has final say on all matters of state, added: "You change, our behavior will change." Indicating areas where Iran wants a different U.S. approach, he said the United States was "hated in the world" and should stop interfering in other countries' internal affairs.He also spoke of "oppressive sanctions" imposed on the Islamic Republic, Iranian assets frozen in the United States and Washington's backing of Israel, which Tehran does not recognize. Iranian Press
TV  stresses that Iran vows to change in response to a "real change" in the US attitude (click here to view).

However the


Gulf Daily News present Khamenei's speech as "rebuffing" Obama's appeal to Iran.

CNN says Goody, 27, died in her sleep at home in Essex, east of London, just before 4 a.m. (midnight Eastern Daylight Time), a spokeswoman for Max Clifford Associates said. Goody's husband, Jack Tweed, who she married last month in a lavish wedding ceremony, was at her bedside when she died, Clifford said. Her mother, Jackiey Budden, who was also at the house, said: "My beautiful daughter is at peace." Goody leaves behind two sons, Bobby, 5, and Freddie, 4, by former boyfriend and TV host Jeff Brazier. "She died knowing that she had touched a lot of hearts and minds across the world," Clifford told CNN by phone from Portugal. Goody's death from cervical cancer marks the tragic end to a very modern tale. The Guardian reminds its readers that Goody, a former dental nurse, shot to fame on the 2002 series of Big Brother, where she was ridiculed by media commentators for her appearance and ignorance – she asked whether East Anglia was "abroad" and thought Rio de Janeiro was a person. She finished fourth and spent the next couple of years making the most of her fame - producing keep-fit DVDs, opening a beauty salon, writing her autobiography, launching her own perfume and appearing on television shows including Celebrity Wife Swap and Celebrity Stars in Their Eyes. The public turned against her in 2007 after she was accused of racism and bullying towards Bollywood actress Shilpa Shetty on Celebrity Big Brother. More than 45,000 people complained to the media regulator Ofcom about Goody's behaviour towards Shetty. Goody visited India to apologise for the distress her actions had caused and had hoped her appearance on Bigg Boss would also help to make amends. She left the show to return to the UK after discovering during filming that she had cancer. Specialists reported a rise in demand for cervical cancer screening following Goody's diagnosis. Cervical cancer is the second biggest cancer killer of women in their early 30s in the UK. After learning that her cancer might be terminal, Goody told the News of the World: "I've lived my whole adult life talking about my life. The only difference is that I'm talking about my death now. It's OK. "I've lived in front of the cameras. And maybe I'll die in front of them. And I know some people don't like what I'm doing but at this point I really don't care what other people think. Now, it's about what I want."

Reuters say Thousands of Iraqi prisoners being held indefinitely without charge by U.S. forces will be freed or prosecuted in Iraqi courts by the middle of this year, the U.S. commander in charge of them said on Sunday. U.S. forces are currently holding just over 13,000 Iraqi prisoners, Brigadier-General David Quantock, commander of the U.S. detention operations in Iraq, told a news conference. At its peak in November 2007, the number of prisoners held by the U.S. military was double that, he said. "Within the next couple of days we will drop below 13,000 detainees, of which about 2,500 are being prosecuted," he said. Some 500 of those had been convicted, 109 with death sentences. Some detainees had been held without trial for almost six years -- under a U.N. Security Council resolution which expired on December 31 -- stoking the anger of Iraqis and rights groups. Meanwhile, the BBC reports the kidnappers of 5 UK citizens held in Iraq for over two years have send the British embassy in Baghdad a video showing the captives. The video shows one hostage, Peter Moore, saying the five are being treated well, Channel 4 News said. He calls for their release. The video was shot eight days ago and has not been released to the media.A Foreign and Commonwealth Office spokesman did not give details but said it was a "significant development".

AP say Police arrested 11 people after a clash between youths and leftist activists giving away condoms in front of Notre Dame Cathedral in Paris. Police say the skirmish broke out after environmentalists and Communist Party activists staged a Sunday morning protest on the square in front of the cathedral against recent comments by Pope Benedict XVI over condom use. Police say about 20 rightwing youths shouting "Lay off my Pope" clashed with the activists after Mass. The Pope drew criticism from some Western governments for saying last week during a flight to Africa that condoms were not the answer to the continent's AIDS epidemic, suggesting that sexual behavior was the issue. Reuters say Far-right youths clashed with left-wing activists who had gathered outside Notre-Dame Cathedral in Paris on Sunday to protest against Pope Benedict's opposition to condoms, a police source said. About 30 ecologists and Communists threw condoms on the ground outside the cathedral, where worshippers were leaving Sunday mass. One person was injured and three were arrested after clashes between the protesters and about 20 youths who the police source said were associated with the far-right and who were carrying placards saying "Leave my Pope alone". Benedict said in Africa on Tuesday that the use of condoms was complicating the fight against AIDS, reaffirming the Roman Catholic Church's opposition to condoms. The comments were criticised by French politicians from all parties. Two surveys at the weekend showed the German-born pontiff's popularity in France has fallen sharply. Activists have uploaded a video of clashes between police and protestors to Youtube, to prove their claim that the policemen were "harassing" them.

Reuters report the man accused of being the lone surviving gunman in last year's Mumbai attacks told an Indian court on Monday that he was from Pakistan and wanted legal assistance, a senior police officer said. In February, police formally charged Mohammed Ajmal Kasab with "waging war" against India, and his trial began on Monday via video link in Mumbai, where armed gunmen killed 166 people in a three-day rampage last November. "He has confessed that he is from Pakistan and has also asked the court for legal assistance," Rakesh Maria, the chief Indian investigator in the case, told Reuters by telephone. "The hearing has concluded and the next date of the trial will be known shortly," Maria said. AlJazeera say Kasab's confession comes a day after Interpol, the international police agency, said Pakistan had provided DNA profiles of suspected "terrorists" to assist with the investigation into the attacks. The France-based agency said that the information, which was received on Saturday, would allow it to gauge "the full international dimension" of the November attacks. India has blamed Lashkar-e-Taiba, a Pakistan-based group, for the co-ordinated series of attacks at a number of locations across Mumbai. Kasab has told investigators that the assault was planned in neighbouring Pakistan and carried out by Pakistanis, Indian officials say. Police in Pakistan have detained a number of people in connection with the attacks and banned a group suspected of having links to Lashkar-e-Taibaa. The attacks have strained already poor relations between the two nuclear-armed neighbours. The Times of India says apart from Kasab, the other two accused in the case are Fahim Ansari and Sabahuddin Mohammed, suspected members of the terrorist group Lashkar-e-Taiba who are alleged to be accomplices in the crime that shook the world.The accused have been charged under various sections of Indian Penal Code including waging war against the nation and criminal conspiracy, and under the Foreigners Act, Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act, Arms Act, Explosives Act and Customs Act.

The BBC says President Barack Obama has said that the US must have an "exit strategy" in Afghanistan, even as Washington sends more troops to fight Taleban militants. He was speaking in a CBS interview, as the White House prepares to unveil a comprehensive strategy for Afghanistan. Mr Obama said preventing attacks against the US remained its "central mission" in Afghan operations. Earlier, the US envoy to Afghanistan and Pakistan said US policy would no longer treat the two separately. Reuters say The new U.S. policy for Afghanistan to be unveiled soon will contain an exit strategy and include greater emphasis on economic development, President Barack Obama said. With violence rising ahead of elections in August, Obama has already committed an extra 17,000 troops to Afghanistan, but on Sunday he said military force alone would not end the war. "What we can't do is think that just a military approach in Afghanistan is going to be able to solve our problems," he said in an interview with CBS's "60 minutes." "So what we're looking for is a comprehensive strategy. And there's got to be an exit strategy ... There's got to be a sense that this is not perpetual drift." However, the Daily Telegraph says sharp divisions have emerged over the ethics and effectiveness of paying militants to lay down their arms. President Barack Obama had hoped to unveil his plans for a troop surge well before the Nato summit on April 5, but may now have to wait until the meeting in Strasbourg. His main advisers on Afghanistan, including Richard Holbrooke, the new special envoy to Afghanistan-Pakistan, Bruce Riedel, chairman of the policy panel, and national security adviser Gen James Jones met late last week but were unable to reach a final agreement. According to a Washington source close to the deliberations, the president has received conflicting views about the thorny issue of offering financial inducements to the Taliban. Foreign policy heavyweights including Brent Scowcroft and Zbigniew Brzezinski, former national security advisers working with the administration, are said to believe that defeating the Taliban militarily is unlikely. They favour a system of inducements targeting "moderate" elements of the militia, which have made gains against Nato forces in the south and east of the country. But advisers in the White House and Pentagon are unhappy about dealing with the Taliban because of its associations with Osama bin Laden and the 9/11 attacks, and favour a tougher military approach to pacify areas before reconstruction work begins in earnest. "There is a knowledgeable outside crowd harping on about this, but advisers in the White House think this begins to look like appeasement or failure," said the source. "The divisions in opinion are striking. The administration is obsessed with the optics of all this, rather than just saying 'this is what needs to be done' in a war."

At least two people were killed in the blast which took place next to a police station, in one of the city's markets. The BBC says A suspected bomb has killed at least one person outside a police station in the Pakistani capital, Islamabad. The blast, which could be heard across the city centre, occurred outside the offices of police special branch near Sitara market in the south of the city. Police and local TV stations report that the blast appears to have been the work of a suicide bomber. Violence in Pakistan has surged in recent months amid a wave of attacks blamed on Islamist militants. "There were some dead and injured," police official Mohammad Ilyas told AFP news agency. "We don't know the exact figure." He added: "It looks like a suicide attack." TV footage from the scene of the blast showed a body under blanket. Reuters say A suspected suicide bomber killed a policeman in the Pakistani capital of Islamabad on Monday, police said. The blast occurred at a checkpoint at the gate of a police station in the Sitara Market neighborhood of the capital, police said. Express Television said its reporter saw the scattered limbs of a suspected suicide bomber. A Reuters reporter at the scene said there did not appear to have been extensive damage.

Reuters say Mexico has dramatically cut drug murders in its most violent city on the U.S. border after deploying 7,500 soldiers earlier this month, the government said on Monday. "The number of violent deaths linked to organized crime in Ciudad Juarez has fallen by more than 70 percent," Public Security Minister Genaro Garcia Luna said in a speech in the manufacturing city across from El Paso, Texas. Drug violence stemming from a turf war between Mexico's most-wanted man, Joaquin "Shorty" Guzman, and the long dominant Juarez cartel escalated to unprecedented levels at the start of the year, with up to 15 drug murders a day. Since the start of March, when the 7,500 troops and around 2,500 federal police rolled into the city and took over the municipal police and prisons, the drug murder rate has fallen to around two murders a day, police say. President Felipe Calderon has about 45,000 soldiers across Mexico fighting cartels but has never before sent so many troops to one city. Meanwhile, the LA Times says Mexico's drug war has prompted the creation of a ilst of safe and less-safe states, by Mexico's press. Outposts has posted several items pertaining to Mexico's drug war and danger, or perceived danger, to tourists visiting areas on the Baja California peninsula such as Tijuana, Rosarito Beach, Ensenada, Cabo San Lucas and La Paz. Clearly, some areas in Mexico warrant more concern than others, and debate on this blog has been varied, with many leery of all of Mexico or critical of its government, and others supportive of and feeling safe in their favorite tourist destinations. One commenter provided a link to the Mexican newspaper Excelsior, which is compiling drug-related murders for 2009. As of today that total is 1,367. Excelsior also colors the states according to number of murders. Chihuahua, home to the ground-zero border city of Juarez, leads all states with 548 murders. It's colored purple. Four red states are led by Sinaloa (166), Guerrero (149), Durango (118) and Baja California (99). Most murders in the state of Baja California have occurred in or near Tijuana.

Reuters say Fifteen of 20 American International Group leading bonus recipients have agreed to give them back in full, said New York's top legal officer who is probing into $165 million in executive pay at the troubled company bailed out by the U.S. government. New York Attorney General Andrew Cuomo told reporters on a conference call on Monday that he hopes to recoup $80 million of bonus payments made to Americans, or about half of the $165 million paid by the giant insurer on March 15. An AIG spokeswoman said late Monday a "handful" of senior executives have resigned from its Financial Products unit, which Cuomo blamed last week for bringing the insurer to the brink of collapse. It was unclear if any of the executives with the top bonuses had resigned. Newsday says State Attorney General Andrew Cuomo announced the news yesterday (Monday). "I applaud the employees who are returning bonuses," Cuomo said in a hastily arranged telephone conference call with reporters, adding that he hoped it would set an example for other AIG employees. Cuomo said his investigators are "working our way down the list," beginning with the highest bonuses and that he ultimately hopes to recoup much of the roughly $80 million in bonuses from U.S. employees. The remaining $85 million in bonuses that were paid out March 15 went primarily to foreigners, he said. The Wall Street Journal says it remains to be seen whether the givebacks will be enough to help Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner put the matter behind him. He is expected to testify before Congress on Tuesday, and the bonus controversy has ensnared him as he's tried to get his financial rescue plans off the ground.

The BBC says Israeli-Arab protesters have clashed with police as Jewish Israeli right-wingers marched in the majority-Arab town of Umm al-Fahm. Stun grenades and tear gas were used as hundreds of Israeli-Arab protesters threw stones, police said. Residents of the town of 1.5 million Israeli-Arabs view the march as highly provocative and vowed to stop it. The High Court gave permission for the march, but police had postponed it several times, fearing violence. About 2,500 police in riot gear were deployed as about 100 far-right activists marched in the town, waving Israeli flags. They declared the Israeli-Arabs counter-demonstration illegal and ordered protesters to disperse. Some of the Israeli-Arab protesters waved Palestinian flags and shoes, a sign of disrespect to the marchers, Israeli media reported. Haaretz says  Leftist lawmaker Ilan Ghilon (Meretz) and a high-ranking police officer were wounded on Tuesday in a clash between police and demonstrators protesting a march by far-rightists near the Israeli Arab town of Umm al-Fahm. The far-rightists began the march at 10:00 A.M. and ended it about 45 minutes later. The clashes, however, continued after the march had been concluded.Ghilon was wounded by a tear gas grenade fired by police in a bid to disperse hundreds of counter-protesters; the police officer was lightly hurt when a stone hurled by a demonstrator hit him in the head. A number of other police officers were also wounded in the clash, which erupted after police arrested three Israeli Arabs who had scuffled with officers. The detainees had gathered for a counter-demonstration held by Umm al-Fahm residents. Police declared the rally to be illegal and ordered the Israeli Arab protestors, some of whom were waving Palestinian flags, to leave. Earlier Tuesday, more than 2,500 police officers deployed in and around Umm al-Fahm, Israel's largest Arab city ahead of the rally, for which the far-rightists had received High Court approval.

The BBC says The Czech Republic's centre-right minority government has lost a vote of confidence in parliament midway through the country's six-month EU presidency. The result came after a group of four rebel MPs voted with the opposition Social Democrats and Communists against the Prime Minister, Mirek Topolanek. Together they garnered 101 votes in the 200-seat chamber, the minimum needed. Mr Topolanek said he would resign, but he will stay in power until a new cabinet is named or elections are held. Reuters say this is the third government collapse in eastern Europe this year after the leaders of Latvia and Hungary stepped down after their economies were hit by the financial crisis -- though Topolanek's defeat was more to do with domestic wrangling. The Czech Republic has been less affected than some of its eastern European neighbors by the financial crisis, and despite the political turmoil the crown currency has held broadly steady after recovering from a drop earlier this year. The crown dipped just 0.4 percent to 27.09 to the euro after the vote. The three-party ruling coalition, weak since its 2007 appointment due to a lack of a parliamentary majority, lost by one vote after several defectors from its camp supported the left-wing opposition. But opposition Social Democrat leader Jiri Paroubek told a news conference ahead of the vote that, "this government can continue for some time as a government in resignation, it can complete the Czech EU presidency or its substantial part." The opposition has blamed the government for economic mismanagement. Paroubek said a government of non-partisan experts could be formed in the summer to lead the country to early polls in the autumn or next spring. Regular polls are due in mid-2010. GRN
correspondent Bruce Konviser explains that what happens next would depend on political maneuverings over the next few days or weeks.  A caretaker government of non-partisan political experts could be appointed to serve until early elections or until the regularly scheduled elections occur in June 2010. Another possibility is that Prime Minister Topolanek and his government would continue to serve until early elections, which may take place as early as this summer, but are more likely to be scheduled for the autumn. Among the fissures dividing Czech politics is the debate over the Lisbon Treaty. The Czechs are the only EU country not to vote on the Lisbon Treaty, and nowhere is the dividing line bigger than in the prime minister's own party. Today’s vote was the opposition's fifth attempt to bring down the government and it comes almost 15 months before it's mandate was to expire.

Reuters say Mexicans desperate for an end to drug gang murders, abductions and extortion saw a glimmer of hope on Tuesday as the United States vowed to tighten security on the increasingly violent border. U.S. officials announced a $184 million program to add 360 security agents to border posts and step up searches for smuggled drugs, guns and money, as Mexico's spiraling drug war seeps over the border into the United States. "This is what we have wanted for so long. People can leave their houses again," said taco seller Andres Balderas in Ciudad Juarez, the bloodiest flashpoint in Mexico's drug war. Cartel violence has killed 2,000 people in the city in the past year. CNN reports On the U.S. side of the border, more funding will support "prosecutor-led, intelligence-based task forces" that bring together the Department of Justice, the Department of Homeland Security and other agencies to dismantle drug cartels through investigation and extradition and the seizure and forfeiture of assets, Deputy Attorney General David Ogden said. "As we've found with other large criminal groups, if you take their money and lock up their leaders, you can loosen their grip on the vast organizations that are used to carry out their criminal activities." To help strengthen the U.S. side of the border further, the administration also plans to triple the number of Department of Homeland Security intelligence analysts dedicated to stopping Mexican-related violence.

According to the BBC The United States says it has received assurances from North Korea that two American journalists who were detained there last week will be treated well. The US has asked Swedish diplomats in North Korea to request access to them. The journalists are believed to have been on the Chinese side of the border when North Korean guards arrested them and took them back to North Korea. Tension between North Korea and the international community is high ahead of the North's "satellite" launch. The US had initially accepted media reports that the two were being interrogated for espionage, but later clarified that the US understood the two are being investigated for illegal entry of North Korea. The two who have been identified as Euna Lee, a Korean-American, and Laura Ling, a Chinese-American, who work for Current TV in California. AFP reports In Seoul, a South Korean daily said Tuesday that North Korean intelligence officials are questioning the journalists and will likely try to persuade them to confess to spying, a South Korean daily said Tuesday. JoongAng Ilbo, quoting a South Korean intelligence source, said the pair were transported to a top-security guest-house on the outskirts of Pyongyang a day after they were seized before dawn on March 17 along the border with China.

Deutsche Welle say Far-right National Democratic Party leader Udo Voigt, party spokesman Klaus Beier and the head of the party's legal committee, Frank Schwerdt, face two counts of racial incitement and one of defamation. The defendants refused to enter pleas in their trial's opening day. They are said to have printed and distributed leaflets before the 2006 World Cup insinuating that Patrick Owomoyela was not worthy of playing on the German national soccer team. The NPD distributed the pamphlets in early 2006 ahead of the Germany World Cup showing Owomoyela wearing the white shirt of Germany's national team with the caption, "White. Not just the color of the jersey!" Owomoyela, the son of a German mother and Nigerian father, has already won a civil trial against the NPD. Following that victory, he and the German Soccer Federation (DFB) also filed criminal charges. The DFB has said it fully backs its black former national defender, adding it was pressing charges to fight "the racist campaigns against players for the German national team." Owomoyela currently plays for Borussia Dortmund. According to Spigel Online a German member of parliament has said the incitement charges brought this week against the leader of the far-right NPD party, Udo Voigt, could help efforts to get the party banned. Sebastian Edathy, a member of parliament for the center-left Social Democrats, said the trial was further evidence of the "inhuman politics and attitude" of the NPD. He told the Frankfurter Rundschau newspaper that the charges brought against Voigt and two other senior NPD members could be an important element in a new legal effort to have the party outlawed. The interior ministers of Germany's 16 states are due to meet in April to discuss such a bid.

According to the BBC At least 10 people have been killed in a suicide bombing in north-western Pakistan, local officials say. About 20 people were also reported to have been injured in the explosion at a restaurant in the town of Jandola in South Waziristan. Officials said a group of militants opposed to Pakistan's top Taleban commander had been in the restaurant. Violence in Pakistan has surged in recent months amid a wave of attacks blamed on Islamist militants. Some of the injured were reported to be in a critical condition and officials said the number of dead could rise. Reuters say Missiles believed to have been fired by a U.S. drone aircraft killed four people in Pakistan's North Waziristan region on Thursday, hours after a similar strike killed seven in neighboring South Waziristan. The drone attacks coincided with the U.S. State Department posting $5 million rewards for information leading to the arrest or location of two al Qaeda allies based in Waziristan. Two missiles struck a house near the town of Mir Ali in North Waziristan early on Thursday, killing four people, according to Pakistani intelligence officials in the area. Hours earlier, missiles killed seven people, including four Arab militants in a strike that targeted two vehicles as they drove through the Makeen area of South Waziristan, a stronghold of Pakistani Taliban leader Baitullah Mehsud. The United States, frustrated by an intensifying insurgency in Afghanistan getting support from the Pakistani side of the border, began launching more drone attacks last year. It has carried out more than 30 since early 2008, killing about 300 people, including several mid-level al Qaeda members, according to a tally of reports from Pakistani officials, residents and militants. Pakistan's civilian government, elected a year ago, and the army have complained the strikes are counterproductive and the civilian casualties they often leave have fueled support for militants. President Barack Obama has ordered a review of the objectives and strategy for pacifying and stabilizing Afghanistan, but there has been no let up in the drone attacks under his administration. The review, due to be presented to NATO partners meeting early next month, is expected to stress the need to eliminate militant havens in Pakistani tribal lands bordering Afghanistan.

ABC say US officials tell ABCNews that North Korea has begun placing a Taepodong 2 missile at a launch facility in preparation for what it says will be the launch of a communications satellite sometime between April 4 and 8th. The launch has drawn concern from the United States and Asian countries because the same technology used to launch a satellite can be used to launch ballistic missiles and would amount to a test of North Korea's ability to reach the United States with a ballistic missile. One US official says that North Korea appears to have set up two stages of a three stage Taepodong 2 missile at the Musudan Ni launch facility located on the country's northeast coast. North Korea announced its intention to launch a communications satellite in February and since then US officials have confirmed activity has taken place at the launch site, though no missile had been spotted until now. One US official said of the recent activity, "Yes, there is something out there and it's an additional step beyond what we've seen before. " Another US official tells ABC News that the placement of the rocket stages on the launch pad occurred within the last 24 to 48 hours. Reuters say North Korea has put a long-range missile in place for a launch the United States warned would violate U.N. sanctions imposed on the reclusive state for past weapons tests. South Korea said on Thursday the launch would be a serious challenge to security in the north Asian region, which accounts for one sixth of the global economy. The planned launch, which regional powers see as a disguised military exercise, is the first big test for U.S. President Barack Obama in dealing with the prickly North, whose efforts to build a nuclear arsenal has long plagued ties with Washington. The South Korean daily Chosun Ilbo quoted a diplomatic source as saying the North could technically fire the missile, which has the range to hit U.S. territory, by the weekend. This is earlier than the April 4-8 timeframe Pyongyang announced for what it says is the launch of a communications satellite.

GRN's Julian Ryall reports he has just returned from the rather eerie forest on the slopes of Mount Fuji that is known as Aohkigahara - where increasing numbers of Japanese are choosing to commit suicide. Police stopped 162 people from taking their own lives in the forest in 2008, but at least 71 people did end their lives amid the mossy rocks and coniferous trees. Police say they expect that figure to rise when the next official statistics are released as Japan is struggling to come to terms with the global economic crisis, meaning job losses, falling wages and serious problems in a society that is not used to unemployment. As well as talking to a local hotel owner, the police and fire brigade, I walked through the forest for a couple of hours. Signs of what goes on here are everywhere; an envelope full of love letters, a poem to a former wife and dozens of photos of their children. A row of three pairs of shoes - adult male, adult female, child. A hollow where someone has apparently drunk two large bottles of sake and swallowed dozens of prescription tablets. The clothes are strewn around. Four neckties linked together into a noose and thrown over a tree branch, the contents of a backpack and a man's clothes nearby. I saw no human remains as the animals apparently very quickly make short work of bodies and spread the bones over a wide area.

Julian Ryall is available for 2-ways