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1. Bush announces U.S. Presidential Medal of Freedom winners

The Associated Press

Published: October 29, 2007

WASHINGTON: President George W. Bush on Monday announced the recipients of this year's Presidential Medal of Freedom, the highest U.S. civilian award.

Among those being honored at a White House ceremony on Nov. 5 are:

_Ellen Johnson Sirleaf. The president of Liberia and the first woman elected president of an African nation, she is credited with working to expand freedom and healing a country torn apart by conflict.

_Oscar Elias Biscet. A human rights advocate and champion of freedoms in Cuba, Biscet is a political prisoner in Cuba who is being recognized for his fight against tyranny and oppression.

_Harper Lee. The author is being honored for her outstanding contribution to American literature, her book "To Kill a Mockingbird," which was a plea for racial tolerance.

_Gary Becker. The economist and 1992 Nobel Prize winner is being honored for broadening the understanding of economics and social science, and for helping to improve the standard of living around the world.

The Medal of Freedom was established in 1945 to recognize civilians for their efforts during World War II. The award was reinstated by President John F. Kennedy in 1963 to honor distinguished service. It is given to those deemed to have made remarkable contributions to the security or national interests of the United States, world peace, culture, or other private or public endeavors.

2. Harper Lee given Presidential Medal of Freedom

Posted by The Birmingham News staff November 05, 2007 11:50 AM

WASHINGTON -- Alabama author Harper Lee grasped President Bush's elbow and smiled broadly this morning at a ceremony to honor her and seven other recipients of the Presidential Medal of Freedom. With Gregory Peck's wife in the front row, Lee was recognized for her Pultizer Prize winning novel To Kill a Mockingbird. Peck played Atticus Finch in the movie adaptation of the book. Bush called Lee's book a gift to the world. "As a model of good writing and humane sensibility, this book will be read and studied forever," Bush said from the East Room of the White House. Mary Orndorff

3. Author Le Clezio wins Nobel prize

French novelist Jean-Marie Gustave Le Clezio has been awarded this year's Nobel Prize for Literature. The 68-year-old has been honoured with the 10m kronor (£820,810) award for his distinguished life's work.

The Swedish Academy describes him as "an author of new departures, poetic adventure and sensual ecstasy." It goes on to call him "an explorer of a humanity beyond and below the reigning civilisation." British author Doris Lessing won last year's prize.

Le Clezio's breakthrough as a novelist came in 1980 with Desert, a work the Swedish academy praised for its "magnificent images of a lost culture in the North African desert."

His most recent works include 2007's Ballaciner, a work the academy called a "deeply personal essay about the history of the art of film".

The author has also included several books for children, among them Lullaby in 1980 and Balaabilou in 1985.

He has won a number of literary honours in his native France, among them the Prix Larbaud in 1972 and the Grand Prix Jean Giono in 1997.

Born in Nice in 1940, Le Clezio spent two years as a child in Nigeria and has taught in universities in Bangkok, Boston and Mexico City.

He will receive his prize medal alongside this year's other Nobel Laureates at a ceremony in Stockholm on 10 December. Winners of the Nobel Prize for Literature traditionally deliver a lecture in the Swedish city before accepting their award. The first Nobel Prize in Literature was awarded in 1901 to the French poet and philosopher Sully Prudhomme.

Writers recognised in recent years include V S Naipaul in 2001, J M Coetzee in 2003 and Harold Pinter in 2005.

Story from BBC NEWS:

Published: 2008/10/09 11:55:19 GMT

4. Nato to target Somalia's pirates

The Nato military alliance has agreed to send warships to help combat piracy off the coast of Somalia.

Nato defence ministers meeting in Hungary agreed to despatch a joint task force by the end of the year. The force will also escort UN ships delivering aid to Somalia, where more than 3m people - almost half of the population - are in need of food aid.

Pressure for action against the pirates has intensified since a ship carrying 33 tanks was seized last month. Warships from several countries are already patrolling the waters because of the rise in piracy attacks.

Meanwhile, a Japanese chemical tanker seized in August in the Gulf of Aden has been freed. There are reports that a $1.6m (£931,000) ransom was paid.

The UN this week passed a second resolution authorising the use of force against pirates.

Somalia has been without a functioning central government for 17 years and has suffered continual civil strife, with rival armed clans and groups fighting for control.

Nato spokesman James Appathurai said the ships would be drawn for a standing maritime group of seven vessels which would be in the region in a couple of weeks. "They will be able to use force if and when necessary, in full accordance with international law," he told the BBC's Focus on Africa programme. He said he did not think the pirates, even though they were well armed and organised, would be a match for the warships.

"If I was a pirate, I wouldn't necessarily jump at the opportunity to take on a Nato frigate or a group of Nato frigates. "I suspect when it comes to firepower and capability we can hold our own just fine."

Pirates are demanding a $22m (£11m) ransom for the release of the Ukrainian ship, the MV Faina. The vessel, which was carrying T-72 tanks, rifles and heavy weapons when it was seized two weeks ago, is being held off the coast, near the town of Hobyo.

Piracy off the coast of Somalia is estimated to have cost up to $30m (£17m) in ransoms so far this year, according to a recent report.

Human Right Watch says Somalia is the most ignored tragedy in the world.

Story from BBC NEWS

Published: 2008/10/09 16:47:42 GMT

5. Bomb hits school bus in Pakistan

At least 10 people were killed when a roadside bomb exploded close to a prison vehicle and a school bus in north-western Pakistan, officials say.

The remote-controlled device exploded in the Upper Dir district of North-West Frontier Province near Swat valley. Officials said those killed by the blast included four schoolgirls and a number of policemen and prisoners.

Earlier, a suicide bomb attack on the main police complex in central Islamabad wounded at least 13 people. The bombings came just over two weeks after more than 50 people were killed and 260 wounded in a suicide bombing at the capital's Marriott hotel.

They also happened as parliament met in a special session for a second day for a classified security briefing on Pakistan's internal security situation. The joint session was called to try to help form a national consensus on how to tackle Islamic militancy and the surge in suicide bombings.

The blast targeting the prison van in Dir occurred shortly after the Islamabad attack. Officials said a school bus which was driving past at the time was also hit. "The van was carrying prisoners to jail after court proceedings when the roadside remote-controlled bomb went off," local mayor Sahibzada Tariqullah told the AFP news agency.

District administrator Sher Bahadur said 10 people were wounded.

Upper Dir district lies close to Swat and the border with Afghanistan, where security forces have been battling pro-Taleban militants since last year.

Pakistani security forces said they had detained 18 suspected militants in the valley during an operation on Wednesday, local media reported. Large quantities of arms and ammunition were also seized.

Air force jets have also bombed suspected Taleban positions in the Bajaur tribal region and in Swat. Officials said at least 20 militants were killed, eight of them foreigners. There is no independent confirmation.

Earlier, a suspected suicide bomber partially destroyed an anti-terrorist squad building deep inside a police complex in Islamabad, injuring 13 people. The explosion destroyed the front section of the red-brick structure and gouged a crater in the ground. Police said a man delivered sweets to the reception area just before the blast. They are investigating whether there is a link.

The inspector-general of Islamabad police, Asghar Raza Gardezi, said the authorities would be looking into why a civilian vehicle was allowed past security checks into the compound.

A spokesman for the Pakistani Taleban told the BBC the group carried out the attack in retaliation for army operations against it near the Afghan border.

The BBC's Barbara Plett in Islamabad says the fact that the attack occurred as lawmakers were discussing how to deal with Islamist militancy shows just how difficult their task is.

The attacks in Islamabad and Dir drew condemnation from Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani, who promised those responsible would be brought to justice.

Story from BBC NEWS:

Published: 2008/10/09 15:42:35 GMT

6. Fears over electronic cigarettes

Fears are being raised about the boom in sales in the UK of so-called electronic cigarettes. The cigarettes use replaceable cartridges with shots of nicotine, but have become popular because they are not covered by the smoking ban.

While the products do not contain tar, tobacco or carbon monoxide, experts are worried as users inhale a fine heated mist and there is a lack of regulation. But retailers said they were healthier than normal cigarettes.

Since the smoking bans came into force, smokers have been forced to go outside to light up. Companies selling the electronic cigarettes have responded by marketing them as a way of getting round the ban. And in recent months they have reported a rise in sales with some selling over 1,000 of the £40 starter-packs a month.

However, campaigners including the World Health Organisation, have raised concerns, pointing out there was a lack of knowledge about the products. Douglas Bettcher, of the World Health Organisation, said there was a "regulatory blackhole" which meant no-one knew just what these products contain.

"We are facing a new product. We do not know what is in these cartridges besides nicotine. What are the effects of heating and vapourising the nicotine and inhaling it?"

And Deborah Arnott, of anti-smoking group Ash, pointed out that many of the products were made in China where quality control was "not very good". "I think our concern is that we would really like smokers to use safer nicotine products but there is a regulatory gap. "The advice is to use products that have been tried and tested such as nicotine gums and patches."

But Jason Cropper, managing director of the Electronic Cigarette Company, said: "They are certainly healthier than smoking cigarettes. "Tests have been done on mice and in the lab and they have shown they are not harmful."

But he said it had not been possible to carry out human trials as they were too expensive.

"Most of these companies selling these are small companies. We do not have the finances to do that. "It might be an idea if we can get someone to work with us."

Story from BBC NEWS: Published: 2008/10/08 10:02:54 GMT