Your daily e-mail from the BBC

	Saturday, 17 October, 2009, 20:00 GMT 01:00 +05:00:Asia/Calcutta

TOP STORIES
	Pakistan launches Taliban assault Fierce fighting is reported as the Pakistan army opens its long-awaited offensive against the Taliban in South Waziristan.
	Karzai 'faces West poll pressure' World leaders are pressing Afghan President Hamid Karzai to accept he may have to face a run-off vote, the BBC has learned.
	Boyzone star in tribute to Gately Boyzone singer Ronan Keating breaks down during his funeral tribute to former bandmate Stephen Gately in Dublin.
	Two children die in a house fire An eight-year-old boy and his 15-year-old sister have died after a house fire in Torquay.
	Big anti-abortion rally in Spain More than a million people take part in a march in Madrid to oppose government plans to liberalise Spain's abortion law.

WORLD
	Pakistan launches Taliban assault Fierce fighting is reported as the Pakistan army opens its long-awaited offensive against the Taliban in South Waziristan.
	Karzai 'faces West poll pressure' World leaders are pressing Afghan President Hamid Karzai to accept he may have to face a run-off vote, the BBC has learned.
	Big anti-abortion rally in Spain More than a million people take part in a march in Madrid to oppose government plans to liberalise Spain's abortion law.

AFRICA
	Guinea embargo over 'atrocities' West African states order an arms embargo on Guinea over the mass shooting of opposition supporters last month.
	Ivorian dumping report published A scientific report into the dumping of toxic waste in Ivory Coast by oil company Trafigura has been released after a bid to gag it was abandoned.
	Guns given to Somali quiz winners The winners of a quiz organised by Somali Islamists are given weapons and ammunition as prizes.

AMERICAS
	Honduras coup dialogue suspended Ousted Honduras President Zelaya suspends talks with the interim government but says he will listen to further offers.
	Germany defends Opel deal Germany says European Commission concerns about state aid in the sale of carmaker Opel do not put the deal at risk.
	Hacker's extradition put on hold A Briton accused of hacking into secret military and Nasa computers is given more time to fight his extradition to the US.

ASIA-PACIFIC
	North Korea gulags 'hold 150,000' North Korea holds more than 150,000 political prisoners in six prison camps across the country, a South Korean MP says.
	Iraq cabinet ratifies oil deals Iraq's cabinet ratifies a deal with a British and a Chinese energy company to develop the giant southern oilfield in Rumaila.
	Ageing plane hits Manila suburb A propeller-driven plane, reportedly from the 1930's, crashes in the Philippines, killing at least four people.

EUROPE
	Big anti-abortion rally in Spain More than a million people take part in a march in Madrid to oppose government plans to liberalise Spain's abortion law.
	Germany defends Opel deal Germany says European Commission concerns about state aid in the sale of carmaker Opel do not put the deal at risk.
	Czech leader resigned to treaty Czech President Vaclav Klaus compares the Lisbon Treaty to an unstoppable speeding train, saying he may have to sign it.

MIDDLE EAST
	Iraq cabinet ratifies oil deals Iraq's cabinet ratifies a deal with a British and a Chinese energy company to develop the giant southern oilfield in Rumaila.
	UN backs Gaza 'war crimes' report The UN Human Rights Council backs a report into Israel's Gaza offensive accusing both Israel and Hamas of war crimes.
	Court claim over camel 'beauty' A Saudi camel owner sues oil giant Saudi Aramco for $250,000 after a prized beast falls into a hole in the desert.

SOUTH ASIA
	Pakistan launches Taliban assault Fierce fighting is reported as the Pakistan army opens its long-awaited offensive against the Taliban in South Waziristan.
	Karzai 'faces West poll pressure' World leaders are pressing Afghan President Hamid Karzai to accept he may have to face a run-off vote, the BBC has learned.
	Maldives cabinet makes a splash Maldives government ministers hold an underwater cabinet meeting to highlight the effects of global warming.

UK
	Video found of strangled children Police are examining a recent video of two children who were later found strangled in a Manchester flat.
	Arrests in power station protest Police arrest 21 people and an injured officer is airlifted to hospital during protests at a Nottinghamshire power plant.
	Boyzone star in tribute to Gately Boyzone singer Ronan Keating breaks down during his funeral tribute to former bandmate Stephen Gately in Dublin.

ENGLAND
	Video found of strangled children Police are examining a recent video of two children who were later found strangled in a Manchester flat.
	Strangled woman found after fire A murder inquiry starts after the death of a 29-year-old woman whose body was found after a fire at a flat in Brighton.
	Arrests in power station protest Police arrest 21 people and an injured officer is airlifted to hospital during protests at a Nottinghamshire power plant.

NORTHERN IRELAND
	Girl's death 'swine flu related' The health minister confirms that a 14-year-old who died in the Western Trust area was suffering from the virus.
	Attacks drive family from village A Rasharkin man says his family are desperate to leave the County Antrim village after a series of sectarian attacks.
	Four charged with kidnap attempt Four men are charged with a number of offences over an alleged attempt to take a family hostage in County Londonderry.

SCOTLAND
	Bomber compassion 'like Gandhi' Scottish First Minister Alex Salmond compares his justice secretary's actions to Indian peace champion Mahatma Gandhi.
	Funding boost for renewable power Scottish renewable energy projects are in line for more than £100m of European Commission funding.
	Man bitten by shark in aquarium A man is bitten by an angel shark at Edinburgh's Deep Sea World aquarium.

WALES
	Opposition to anti-Islamic march Around 200 people gathered to protest against an anti-Islamic extremism march which had a further 60 people.
	Rural poor children lack services Children from deprived families in rural areas are missing out on services available in urban areas, says a report.
	Hollywood's Jane Russell on stage Jane Russell, the veteran Hollywood star, is to make a guest appearance in a music concert in Cardiff.

POLITICS
	Bomber compassion 'like Gandhi' Scottish First Minister Alex Salmond compares his justice secretary's actions to Indian peace champion Mahatma Gandhi.
	Legg 'had worries' on MP expenses The civil servant who carried out the MPs' expenses audit had warned about a lack of clarity in the rules, the BBC is told.
	'Toxic waste' report gag lifted Lawyers for oil trading firm Trafigura end attempts to keep secret a report about toxic waste dumping in the Ivory Coast.

BUSINESS
	Germany defends Opel deal Germany says European Commission concerns about state aid in the sale of carmaker Opel do not put the deal at risk.
	Iraq cabinet ratifies oil deals Iraq's cabinet ratifies a deal with a British and a Chinese energy company to develop the giant southern oilfield in Rumaila.
	Halifax estate agents sold for £1 Lloyds Banking Group sells its loss-making Halifax estate agency for £1 to LSL Property Services and says up to 460 jobs will go.

ENTERTAINMENT
	Boyzone star in tribute to Gately Boyzone singer Ronan Keating breaks down during his funeral tribute to former bandmate Stephen Gately in Dublin.
	Polanski moved for medical tests Film director Roman Polanski has been moved from a Swiss prison to undergo medical tests, his lawyer says.
	Lohan's probation period extended A Los Angeles judge has increased Lindsay Lohan's probation for another year after she missed some alcohol awareness classes.

SCIENCE/NATURE
	Maldives cabinet makes a splash Maldives government ministers hold an underwater cabinet meeting to highlight the effects of global warming.
	LHC gets colder than deep space The Large Hadron Collider experiment has reached its operating temperature, colder even than deep space.
	Hare coursers 'flout Hunting Act' A BBC investigation suggests illegal hare coursing is on the rise despite its ban under the 2004 Hunting Act.

TECHNOLOGY
	Laptop for every pupil in Uruguay Uruguay has given 362,000 primary children laptops which run on a Linux desktop.
	ISP in file-sharing wi-fi theft TalkTalk has been an outspoken critic of UK government piracy plans and now it sets out to prove why.
	Confused message on UK broadband As Finland makes broadband 'a legal right' the UK government appears to toughen up its broadband plans.

HEALTH
	Warning over fibroids treatment UK doctors are warning that one of the newer treatments for heavy periods caused by fibroids can seriously harm any subsequent pregnancy.
	'No post-jab paracetamol' advice Routinely giving paracetamol to babies after vaccinations may lower the effectiveness of the immunisation, research suggests.
	Foetal kick charts 'inaccurate' Foetal kick charts, used to check a pregnancy's healthy progress, are inaccurate and should not be used, Irish researchers say.

EDUCATION
	Delay formal lessons 'to age six' A major review of primary education calls for children's formal learning to be delayed until they reach the age of six.
	Open-plan school hearing problems The acoustics of new schools will have to be improved after warnings open-plan designs make hearing difficult.
	Fewer than half get GCSE minimum Just under half of teenagers who took GCSEs this summer in England got five "good passes" including maths and English.

ON THIS DAY NEWS FROM THE BBC ARCHIVES
	1989: Earthquake hits San Francisco A powerful earthquake rocks San Francisco killing nine people and injuring hundreds.
	2000: Four dead in Hatfield rail crash Four people are killed when a high speed passenger train derails in Hatfield, just north of London.
	1980: Pope welcomes Queen to the Vatican The Queen makes the first state visit to the Vatican by a British monarch and is received by the Pope.

	OPTIONS AND HELP
		You are subscribed from the e-mail address: ashrafp21.vt45@blogger.com Change To change your e-mail address, the content or format of your daily e-mail, visit: http://www.bbc.co.uk/email Unsubscribe To unsubscribe, visit: http://www.bbc.co.uk/email Other e-mails To see the full range of e-mails available visit: http://www.bbc.co.uk/email
		Help If you are having problems with story links or for general help visit: http://www.bbc.co.uk/email/help Feedback Please send feedback to: mailto:dailyemail@bbc.co.uk
		Copyright BBC 2005