What is bipolar disorder

• A mental disorder characterized by episodes of mania and depression
  
  
• Bipolar disorder, also known as manic depressive disorder, manic depression or bipolar affective disorder, is a psychiatric diagnosis that describes a category of mood disorders defined by the presence of one or more episodes of abnormally elevated mood clinically referred to as mania or, if ...
  
  
• A psychiatric diagnostic category, previously called manic depression, characterised by mood swings between great energy (manic) and clinical depression
  
  
• Also known as manic-depressive illness. This is a serious illness that causes shifts in a person's mood, energy and ability to function. ...
  
  
• (BP) A mood disorder in the DSM-IV which is characterised by dramatic highs (mania) and deep depression. Bipolar was called manic depression in the DSM-III-R. Researchers are studying a possible genetic connection between Bipolar and other Mood Disorders and autistic spectrum disorders.
  
  
• also known as manic-depression, this disorder is characterized by alternating periods of extreme moods. For example, a period of mania may be characterized by excessive energy, restlessness and/or irritability. 

• A form of depressive disease that characteristically involves cycles of depression and elation or mania. Sometimes the mood switches from high to low and back again are dramatic and rapid, but more often they are gradual and slow.
  
  
• A type of depression that means the person alternates between a normal mood, feeling very depressed and feeling very elated. ...
  
  
• at least one episode of a depressed or irritable mood and at least one period of a manic (persistently elevated) mood.
  
  
• Where the individual has episodes of mania (or hypomania) alone or with depressive episodes at other times. Can occur as mixed episodes and with varying degrees of intensity.
  
  
• Bi polar disorder - A co-occurring disorder resulting in unusually extreme highs and lows of an individual's mood.

What's life like for North Koreans?

Most North Koreans are extremely poor.

Thousands starved to death after flooding and drought caused a massive famine in 1995.

And one out of every three North Koreans still relies on donations from the United Nations for food.

Two out of every three are chronically malnourished or suffering from stunted growth.

And the temperature in the capital, Pyongyang, can dip to -10 C.

DNA clue to life at high altitude

The ability of Tibetans to live on the "roof of the world" may be down to their DNA, US researchers say.

Tibetans function normally at high altitud

University of Utah researchers found 10 genes which help Tibetans thrive at heights where others get sick.

Two of the genes are linked to haemoglobin - the substance in blood that transports oxygen round the body.

Doctors say the research, published in Science, could lead to treatments for severe forms of altitude sickness and other illnesses.

Altitude sickness is the name given to ill-effects caused by the body's struggle to deal with a lack of oxygen at high altitude.

It can lead to brain and lung complications, which can threaten even the fittest mountaineers.

People native to high altitudes appear to be immune to such effects, through thousands of years of genetic selection.

Tibetans have evolved genes that others living at high altitudes - such as in the Andes - have not.

Professor Lynn Jorde, of the University of Utah School of Medicine, said: "For the first time, we have genes that explain that adaptation."

Therapies

The study looked at DNA extracted from blood samples taken from 75 villagers living at 15,000ft (4,500m).

The Utah team, in collaboration with the Qinghai University Medical School, China, compared stretches of their genetic code with that of lowland Chinese and Japanese populations.

A handful of genes turned up, including 10 unique oxygen-processing genes.

Two appear to contribute to lower levels of haemoglobin in the blood, which may help the body fight altitude sickness.

Prof Josef Prchal of the University of Utah said the work could help in developing treatments for illnesses that affect people everywhere.

He said: "What's unique about Tibetans is they don't develop high red blood cells counts.

"If we can understand this, we can develop therapies for human disease."

Darwinism

Professor Hugh Montgomery is a geneticist and director of the UCL Institute for Human Health and Performance at University College London.

He said the study helped in the understanding of how patients with the likes of heart failure and lung disease cope with low oxygen in the blood.

He told the BBC: "It's important clinically because it helps us understand how patients cope with low oxygen levels.

"There are opportunities here for developing new drug therapies."

He said the work was also important scientifically, by showing how Darwin's science coupled with modern technology could be used to identify beneficial genes.

"It's a lovely example of Darwinism," he added.

Why is Korea divided?

The Soviet Union occupied the northern half of Korea after World War II ended in 1945.

Southern Korea was controlled by the United States.

The peninsula was formally split in two on 9 September 1948.

The political differences between the two rival states led to the outbreak of a horrific war in 1950.

Three years later, a cease-fire agreement ended the Korean War.

But the North Korea and South Korea have to this day never signed a peace treaty.

Expalin apartheid

It means simply 'apartness'. Basically it was a system where blacks and whites were kept separate. Separate residential areas, separate schools, jobs, churches, parks, shopping areas, etc.

The problem was that blacks didn't have nearly the life opportunities that whites had. Their schools were underfunded and falling down, so a black kid growing up in a black neighborhood didn't have nearly the chance of going to college and bettering himself.

One of the basic fundamental values on which America was founded is the idea that every citizen has the same rights and privileges, the same governmental protections and legal status. This is why we don't have knighthoods or royalty or titles. Segregation violated that principle, making blacks 'second class citizens' for all intents and purposes.

Apartheid is now being practiced in Israel where Palestinians don't have the same rights as Jews. It's not called 'apartheid', but that's what it is.

Music piracy unstoppable, Universal admits

The world's largest music company has admitted that piracy cannot be stopped.

Francis Keeling, head of digital at Universal Music Group International, said: "Are you going to stop piracy? No you're not.

"To try and set that as an objective is just not going to succeed. Can we make piracy socially unacceptable?

"Absolutely, and that has to be our ambition around the world." Mr Keeling was speaking at the Great Escape music convention in Brighton.

He is responsible for striking deals to get artists including Lady Gaga, Eminem and Rihanna onto digital services outside North America.

Rihanna has benefited from the growth of legal downloads

He added: "We've got markets like Spain and Italy, where [people say] 'You buy music? What are you doing buying music when you can get it for free?'

"Clearly those markets are in the situation where, unless we can turn those markets around, we're going to have a major problem having a music business there."

Full weight

Universal has been prominent in the fight against illegal file-sharing.

It has also thrown its full weight behind the UK's Digital Economy Act, which will bring in sanctions against serial offenders, including the possibility of temporary internet suspensions.

The controversial law was approved last month and Mr Keeling stressed it was the "right solution".

He also said he was confident the new Conservative-Liberal Democrat coalition government would "remain supportive" of the bill.

The details of the sanctions and how they will be imposed now have to be worked out.

"The solution needs to be fair, proportionate and implemented well," Mr Keeling told delegates.

How dangerous is South Africa?

With a multitude of tourists heading to South Africa for the World Cup, a question hangs on many lips: how dangerous is the country?

South Africa is a place where a lot of violent crime happens.

That much is hard to dispute.

Each day an average of nearly 50 people are murdered.

In addition to these 18,000 murders each year, there are another 18,000 attempted murders.

Murder is a staple of the news. In April, it was white supremacist Eugene Terreblanche. Earlier this month, it was Lolly Jackson, the flamboyant owner of the Teazers strip club chain, killed at a house in Kempton Park, just outside Johannesburg.

World Cup 2010 - World Cup heaven or hell?

In the run-up to the World Cup, British newspapers have been happy to convey a terrifying picture of South Africa.

One recently told its readers about "Cape Town's culture of gangsters, drugs, rape, robbery and a murder every 25 minutes".

So should football fans fear for their lives at the World Cup?

It's a complicated picture, says Johan Burger, senior researcher in the crime and justice programme at South Africa's Institute for Security Studies.

The first thing is that the South African murder rate is going down and not up.

"Contrary to what many people think, the murder rate, while still extremely high, is down by about 44% since 1995. That's a huge decrease."

The geographical and social spread of murder might also be relevant to visitors.

"What is important to understand about our high crime rate is that we know from research that approximately 80% of our murders happen within a very specific social context, mostly between people that know one another.

"There is something wrong within some of our communities in terms of the social interaction and the social conditions."

In blunt terms, areas with problems have murder levels that can be wildly above the national average.

Kwa Mashu, a township outside Durban in KwaZulu-Natal, has the unfortunate honour of being dubbed South Africa's murder capital by the media, with 300 last year. It took the unwanted honour from Nyanga, a township outside Cape Town.

These are not the kinds of areas that are regularly frequented by tourists.

Dr Burger says research done by other academics points to the social basis for a high crime rate in such areas.

"There are extremely high rates of unemployment in some areas. All of this leads to a large element of frustration. Often this is the thing that sparks violence.

"The gap between rich and poor is still widening and it leads to what is seen as relative deprivation. The people in the very, very poor communities, they see wealth.

"It is not just a gap, it is a visible gap. The situation is aggravated by poor service delivery. Many of our municipalities are in complete disarray, complete dysfunction. This then leads to dissatisfaction. People protest sometimes very violently."

There are many other crimes apart from murder which are seen as problematic in South Africa.

The national figure of 203,777 episodes of "assault with the intent to inflict grievous bodily harm" might be alarming. It's hard to compare this with the UK where statistics are grouped differently, though the latter has a larger population (61 million compared with South Africa's 49 million.)

But like murder, many offences are geographically weighted, says Dr Burger.

Of the 18,438 house robberies in South Africa last year, 8,122 were in the province of Gauteng, which includes Johannesburg. The likelihood of being a victim is twice the national average there.

Carjacking is a category of danger that would be novel to most visitors from western Europe.

Foreign media have sometimes been scathing

There are junctions which are signposted as carjacking blackspots, and there are areas where drivers will avoid stopping at red lights, particularly at night, preferring the risk of a fine to the risk of hijack.

"Many people may come in rented cars and then like everyone else they will run the risk of this," says Dr Burger. He notes that "most of the time" carjacking victims are "threatened or violently removed... not seriously injured".

Unlike most categories of violent crime, recorded instances of carjacking are on the rise in South Africa. The police do their best to fight it, says Pretoria News crime reporter Graeme Hosken.

"We have had a problem with gangs following tourists from OR Tambo airport [near Johannesburg] and the cops cracked down on that. I take precautions. I've been nearly hijacked myself on an open freeway."

He advises:
Keep your car locked while driving
Don't stop for strangers or people who have broken down
A blue light does not necessarily mean they are police
If carjacked, do not offer resistance
Carjacking is geographically skewed with half of the 15,000 happening in Gauteng

ADVICE FOR FANS
Foreign Office travel advice - World Cup South Africa 2010

"There's another crime that poses some risk to visitors and that's street robbery," says Dr Burger.

"People are seldom seriously injured or stabbed or shot. In most cases people are threatened. Criminals will see the World Cup as a huge opportunity."

People can take a number of steps to reduce their chances of being robbed in the street, he says:
Avoid advertising. Don't show you have valuables on your person
Take precautions by trying to go to some of these places in groups of five, six, seven or more people
Most importantly, make a point of seeking advice

"The locals know which places people should avoid and the times people should stay away from certain areas."

If England win their group and make it as far as the quarter finals, they will play in Soccer City, Johannesburg.

There are areas in the city that have a disproportionate level of crime. Ask a local and they may advise against travel to Hillbrow or Yeoville at night.

At the same time, people could also point out that every city has its bad bits.

"I wouldn't go to dodgy areas in London, or the dodgy areas in Liverpool or Manchester," says Hosken.

But of course the crime issue is high on the agenda for the World Cup organisers.

The South African Police Service has prepared a plan that includes extra officers, high visibility policing, and deployment of specialist teams.

"I've seen the police plan, it's extremely impressive," says Dr Burger.

The South African police say they have a plan to tackle crime

But while there may be optimism about the police plans, there is still a deep sense of unease, says Hosken.

"The government says crime is going down, [but] 50 odd people are being killed every single day. There is scepticism about what is really happening.

"While crime might be going down, it is [often] extremely violent, armed robberies, hijackings. It is very in your face, it is very gruesome. The robbers will come in and not only attack a couple, [but] rape the wife, and severely assault the husband.

"People are worried about what the government is trying to feed them. The violence associated with crime is increasing."

And while the South African police can point to decreasing crime and the efforts they are making, fighting the fear of violence is harder.

What Does a Civil Engineer Do?

A civil engineer practices civil engineering, the branch of engineering which focuses on the design, construction, and maintenance of public works. These professionals may be employed by municipalities or by private firms which have landed contracts to build such public works. The qualifications to become a civil engineer vary by nation, but generally the position requires at least a four year degree, and in some cases formal certification will be needed as well before someone can advertise as a civil engineer.

Definitions of FIFA

The International Federation of Association Football, commonly known by its French acronym, FIFA (usual )

Who are Maoist rebels?

The Naxalites, Naxals or Naksalvadis are a Maoist communist group in India, leaders of the Naxalite-Maoist insurgency.

Map showing the districts where the Naxalite movement is active 

Their name comes from the village of Naxalbari in the Indian state of West Bengal where the movement originated, and the group are far-left radicalcommunists, supportive of Maoist political sentiment and ideology. Their origin can be traced to the split in 1967 of the Communist Party of India (Marxist), leading to formation of Communist Party of India (Marxist–Leninist). Initially the movement had its centre in West Bengal. In recent years, it has spread into less developed areas of rural central and eastern India, such as Chhattisgarh, Orissa and Andhra Pradesh through the activities of underground groups like the Communist Party of India (Maoist).

As of 2009, Naxalites are active across approximately 220 districts in twenty states of India accounting for about 40 percent of India's geographical area,They are especially concentrated in an area known as the "Red corridor", where they control 92,000 square kilometers. According to India's intelligence agency, the Research and Analysis Wing, 20,000 armed cadre Naxalites were operating apart from 50,000 regular cadres working in their various mass organizations and millions of sympathisers, and their growing influence prompted Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh to declare them as the most serious internal threat to India's national security.

The Naxalites are opposed by virtually all mainstream Indian political groups. In February 2009, Central government announced its plans for broad, co-ordinated operations in all affected states (Chhattisgarh, Orissa, Andhra Pradesh, Maharashtra, Jharkhand, Bihar, Uttar Pradesh, and West Bengal), to plug all possible escape routes of Naxalites.

Many dead' in India bus attack

Maoist rebels have attacked a bus in central India, officials say, with many people feared dead.

Reports say the bus was bombed in Chhattisgarh state's rebel stronghold of Dantewada district, and that police officers were among those on board.

Officials told the AFP news agency that at least 20 people had died; other reports gave much higher death tolls.

The rebels routinely target security forces, and thousands of people have died in their decades-long fight.

Reports said the bus was carrying both civilians and police as it travelled through Dantewada district.

The rebels are said to have detonated a landmine, destroying the front of the bus.

Local TV stations reported that as many as 50 people may have died in the attack.

Worst-hit areas

Earlier on Wednesday, the bodies of six villagers were found with their throats slit in the forests of Chhattisgarh.

Maoist rebels had kidnapped the six on the weekend, accusing them of spying for the government.

Dantewada is one of the areas worst affected by the insurgency.

Last month, the district was the scene of the worst attack the rebels have yet carried out when 75 police officers were killed.

The Maoists, also known as Naxalites, say they are fighting for the rights of rural poor who have been neglected by the government for decades.

The Maoist insurgency has been described by Prime Minister Manmohan Singh as the country's biggest internal security threat.

Ultimate vending machine dispenses gold for cash (surprise, surprise it's located in Abu Dhabi hotel)

It's the ultimate hole-in-the-wall - a money machine that dispenses pure gold.

But installed beneath the gold-coated ceilings of Abu Dhabi's Emirates Palace hotel, where royalty and billionaires come for cappuccinos topped with gold flakes, the machine almost seems part of the furniture.

'The reason we chose Emirates Palace is because it really fits with the surroundings here,' said German entrepreneur Thomas Geissler, creator of the 'Gold to Go' brand and chief executive of Ex Oriente Lux.

Enlarge 

Glittering prize: An Emirati man tries the 'Gold to Go' vending machine at the Emirates Palace Hotel in Abu Dhabi

Enlarge 

That will do nicely: He collects a gold bar wrapped in gift paper from an ATM-style kiosk which monitors the daily gold price and offers small bars up to 10 grams or coins

The exterior of the machine is coated with a thin layer of gold and offers customers 320 items to choose from, ranging from gold bars that can weigh up to 10 grams, to customised gold coins.

'All the gold is imported from Germany, and soon we will have a customized gold bar with a print of the Emirates Palace logo, which will be a nice souvenir for guests to take home,' said Geissler.

 

Through a computer system, the ATM gold machine updates the gold price every 10 minutes to match international markets.

For now, it takes notes of the local dirham currency, but the option of using credit cards will soon be introduced.

Enlarge 

A 10-gram gold ingot which he purchased from the "Gold to Go" vending machine. The well-heeled in the Gulf can now grab gold from a hotel lobby in the UAE

The cash-for-gold machines were first tested in Germany in 2009, but Geissler chose Abu Dhabi for the official launch of his invention because of the region's high demand for gold.

'On the first night we had a lot of demand,' he said. 'One customer even bought one item of every product we have.'

Geissler's timing is spot-on, as investors flock to gold as a safe haven from economic turbulence.

On Thursday, gold priced in sterling and euros reached record highs, while that priced in the more usual dollar denomination was quoted at $1,236 an ounce, with dealers expecting it to reach fresh highs over coming days.

Enlarge 

Thomas Geissler the CEO of Oriente Lux, left, and an Emirati official remove the cover of the ATM-style kiosk

Definitions of Social activists

Activism, in a general sense, can be described as intentional action to bring about social, political, economic, or environmental change. 

Read more: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Social_activists

Australian girl, 18, 'lured to her death by bogus job offer from man she met on Facebook'

An Australian teenager was allegedly lured to her death by a man she met on Facebook after he offered her a fake job protecting wildlife.

Nona Belomesoff, 18, was found dead in a creek south west of Sydney after going to meet a Facebook 'friend'.

Christopher Dannewig, 20, allegedly set up a bogus profile to pose as an animal rescue worker and enticed his victim to the isolated spot.

Nona, who is described as a animal lover, was told she first had to go on an overnight camping trip that would be part of her initial training for the post.

Murder charges: Nona Belomesoff, left, was found dead in a creek south west of Sydney, after she allegedly met Christopher Dannveig, right, pictured on his Facebook page, who had promised her a job

Filled with excitement, she headed off to a railway station to meet 'Jason Green' - the fake identity allegedly set up by Dannewig.

The teenager told her family, who also believed the offer was genuine. Her body was found on Friday night after she failed to return home.

Dannewig, who also has profiles on My Space and Bebo, was charged with murder yesterday and was refused bail after appearing in court.

Police issued a fresh warning to parents to monitor their children's internet habits.

Homicide Squad detective inspector Russell Oxford warned about the dangers of Facebook and other social networking sites.

'It's an area where predators and perverts and other people just get onto. You just don't know who you could be talking to,' he said.

'This young woman had a passion for animals and was led to believe the overnight camping trip would lead to a potential job with an animal welfare group,' Inspector Oxford said.

'She told her family and they thought it was a genuine training area she was going to. That was part of the story to encourage her to go out there.

'And it wasn't until later on that we found out there is no such training facility like that and the people aren't affiliated with that place, so it was a bogus ruse to get her out there.'

Nearly 30 police officers searched bushland before the teenager's body was found in the Campbelltown creek, although her cause of death has not been revealed.

Inspector Oxford said: 'It is heart-wrenching. We have all got kids that age. I have kids that age myself.

'I have been doing this for a long time, but we're very upset. To go outside in the dark and find a young girl lying in the creek bed...'

Comments her accused killer, Christopher Dannevig, wrote on social networking sites hinted at a troubled life.

'Life is full of s*** sometimes,' he wrote earlier this month. In April he wrote that 'a broken heart will heal in time but some wounds won't'.

Nona Belomesoff's grief-stricken mother, Nina, said through her tears today: 'She was scared she was going to lose the job she really likes, so she went - and never came back.'

Her brother Gary, warning young people not to trust strangers they meet over the internet, told Sydney's Channel Seven News: 'I can't believe such a human being would do this. It's so cold hearted.

'Be careful - you can't just trust anybody over the internet.'

Dannevig, who appeared before Parramatta Court, west of Sydney, via a video link from prison at the weekend, has been remanded in custody and will appear in court again on Thursday.

Q+A: What's happening in turbulent Thailand?

Thai troops battled anti-government protesters in Bangkok on Friday, attempting to seal off their encampment after an assassination attempt on a renegade general unleashed a fresh wave of violence.

Troops had yet to completely block roads leading to the area of luxury hotels and ritzy department stores occupied by protesters for nearly six weeks, raising questions over whether the government could soon end the protests.

The crisis, in which 30 people have been killed and more than 1,400 wounded since April, has paralyzed parts of Bangkok, devastated the vital tourism industry and scared away investors.

Here are some questions and answers on the crisis.

WILL THE MILITARY TRY TO DISPERSE THE RED SHIRTS?

The army said on Friday it has no intention of trying to enter the "red shirt" protest encampment, which sprawls over 3 kms (2 miles) of road in central Bangkok to disperse them.

The army spokesman said anyone who wanted to leave can leave safely. The army will focus on sealing off roads in an area of Bangkok that is at least 10 square kilometers, Army spokesman Sansern Kaewkamnerd said. The military has repeatedly expressed reluctance to enter the protest area. It cannot be ruled out, however, and as time goes on will become increasingly likely.

WHY IS THE MILITARY SKIRMISHING WITH PROTESTERS?

Hundreds of red shirt protesters are trying to keep the army from setting up the security cordon around the sprawling encampment they have occupied for almost six weeks. They have tried to set up at least one checkpoint outside the encampment, fortified with walls of kerosene-soaked tires, bamboo rods and concrete, which troops on Friday said they would not tolerate. Troops are also trying to push protesters, armed with rocks, slingshots and homemade rockets, back into the encampment. Some may also have guns, the military says.

HOW DOES SHOOTING OF ROGUE GENERAL AFFECT PROTESTS?

The latest bout of violence erupted after Gen. Khattiya Sawatdiphol, a suspended army military strategy specialist better known as "Seh Daeng" (Commander Red), was shot in the head, apparently by a sniper, while talking to reporters on Thursday evening.

He underwent brain surgery and was in critical condition.

Khattiya had been branded a terrorist by the Thai government, which accused him of involvement in dozens of grenade attacks that have wounded more than 100 people.

But in recent days he was equally critical of other red shirt leaders, accusing them of embracing Abhisit's proposed "national reconciliation" which unraveled after protesters refused to leave the streets.

Speculation was rife as to who might have tried to assassinate him, with fingers pointing at the military, shadowy militants who have appeared in previous incidents of violence, and the ranks of red shirts themselves.

"It's a clear attempt to decapitate the red shirt military leadership," said Anthony Davies, a security consultant with IHS-Jane's.

"It's a smart tactical move that will cause confusion in the red shirts' military ranks and send a message to the leadership that if they don't want to negotiate and come out, they can expect extreme consequences."

The head of a political party allied to ousted premier Thaksin Shinawatra, the iconic figure of the protest movement, called for the red shirts to abandon the protest encampment after the shooting. The 22-member red shirt leadership council has struggled to find common ground on how to end the protests and appeared in disarray on Friday. Its chairman and several others have not been seen in days.

WHAT ARE THE PROSPECTS OF A POLITICAL DEAL NOW?

Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva withdrew his offer of a November 14 election and says he will offer no more olive branches to the red-shirted demonstrators after their refusal to budge from their protest site in an upmarket shopping and hotel district.

The red shirts had agreed to Abhisit's five-point reconciliation plan and the November 14th poll date, but then insisted the premier and his deputy, Suthep Thaugsuban, be prosecuted for ordering troops to break up a rally at their previous protest site at the Phan Fah bridge on April 10, a botched effort that left 25 dead and more than 800 wounded.

Abhisit said the deal was non-negotiable and ordered the red shirts to leave. They have refused and his government says it will scrap the polls -- which were due to take place more than a year early -- but proceed with the reconciliation plan without the red shirts on board.

WHAT OPTIONS DOES ABHIST HAVE LEFT?

The latest turn of events indicates Abhisit and his army-backed government will try to settle the immediate crisis, by laying siege to the protesters.

That could take days -- or months, depending on the protesters' ability to sustain themselves behind their fortifications.

The military has repeatedly said it is unwilling to undertake an operation to break up the protest site, which has been occupied by 10,000 to 20,000 people at various times. A crackdown at the well-guarded site could turn out to be another bloodbath, with heavy casualties on both sides. It would no doubt be a chaotic battle security forces have no guarantee of winning

HOW WILL THE CRISIS IMPACT MARKETS AND THE ECONOMY?

The crisis has scared off investors, decimated the tourism industry and begun to hit the wider economy.

The occupation of Bangkok's ritziest shopping area by protesters has forced hotels, malls and offices to close doors and cut jobs. The tourism sector makes up 6 percent of the economy, but employs 15 percent of the national workforce. So loss of tourism has a knock-on effect on economic activity.

Foreign investors have turned negative since violence flared in April and have sold 17.4 billion baht ($539 million) in Thai shares over the past five sessions, cutting their net buying so far this year to 21 billion baht as of Tuesday.

Stocks fell another 1.2 percent on Friday.

The cost of insuring Thai debt jumped the most in 15 months and Thai bond yields fell to a nine-month low on Friday as the wave of violence prompted investors to rush to the relative safety of government debt.

Five-year credit default swaps, used to hedge against debt default but also to speculate on country risk, jumped by more than 30 basis points to 142.

Finance Minister Korn Chatikavanij said on Wednesday the protests could cut growth by 0.3 percentage point off his 4.5-5.0 percent growth forecast. Kasikorn Research Center said growth could be cut by as much as 2 points if there were more clashes.

Consumer confidence fell in February and March, after hitting a 21-month high in January, due to political turmoil, sinking to its lowest since July 2009, with sentiment eroded by political unrest and the possibility of a crackdown.

Backgrounder: The "red-shirts" in Thailand

The United Front of Democracy Against Dictatorship (UDD), or the "red-shirts", is a major anti-government force in Thailand. Its members and supporters are often referred to informally as "red shirts" since they are known for wearing red clothes during anti-government protests.

The group, formerly the Democratic Alliance Against Dictatorship (DAAD) established in 2006, was to fight against People's Alliance for Democracy (PAD) and support the ousted former Thai Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra, who was deposed by the military coup on Sept. 19, 2006. During the military regime in 2006-2007, the DAAD frequently organized rallies against the government.

The red-shirts movement cooled down after the Thaksin-affiliated parties, led by Samak Sundaravej, won the 2007 December general election, and resumed their rallies against the anti-Thaksin PAD protests since May 2008.

The main leaders of the UDD are members of the opposition Puea Thai Party and some social activists. Its core leaders include Jatuporn Prompan, Veera Musikhapong and Nattawut Saikua.

UDD is known for its support for the former premier Thaksin and the former two pro-Thaksin administrations led by Samak and Somchai. When the pro-Thaksin ruling People's Power Party (PPP) was dissolved by Thailand's Constitution Court in December 2008, and Abhisit Vejjajiva of the minority Democrat Party was elected prime minister later, the red-shirts turned up in force to hold rallies again.

They claimed the election was unfair and urged the prime minister to resign, dissolve the parliament and hold a new general election.

The major strongholds of UDD apparently are the northern and north-eastern provinces of Thailand.

East Africa seeks more Nile water from Egypt

Four East African states have signed an agreement to seek more water from the River Nile - a move strongly opposed by Egypt and Sudan.

Under colonial-era accords, the two countries get 90% of the river's water.

Upstream countries including Uganda, Rwanda, Tanzania and Ethiopia say it is unfair and want a new deal but nothing has been agreed in 13 years of talks.

A further three countries were represented at the meeting in Entebbe, Uganda, and may sign up later.

BBC East Africa correspondent Will Ross says there is a danger that the split could hamper any further efforts for all nine countries involved to negotiate how the waters should be shared.

The BBC's Wyre Davies in Cairo says that for Egypt, water is a matter of national security.

Egypt has dismissed the Entebbe agreement, saying it "is in no way binding on Egypt from a legal perspective".

"Egypt will not join or sign any agreement that affects its share," ministry spokesman Hossam Zaki was quoted as saying by the AFP news agency.

'Rule of the jungle'

Ethiopia, Tanzania, Uganda, and Rwanda signed the agreement in Entebbe, which would lead to experts determining how much water each country would be entitled to.

Kenya did not sign the agreement as its minister could not attend. Like Burundi and the Democratic Republic of Congo, it sent officials to Entebbe.

Ethiopia, for example - the source of the Blue Nile - contributes an estimated 85% of the river waters but is able to make relatively little use of its natural resource.

Rwanda's Environment Minister Stanislas Kamanzi told the BBC: "Egypt has been requesting to defer the signing of the Cooperative Framework Agreement - we couldn't wait any longer, since we have been negotiating for over 10 years."

Egypt and Sudan say they will not sign a new deal unless they are first guaranteed an exact share of the water.

Ahead of the meeting, Ahmed el-Mufti, the legal counsel for Sudan's delegation, told Reuters news agency that all nine countries were close to an agreement, so there was no need for the upstream countries to sign their own deal.

He also said Egypt and Sudan needed water more than those in more fertile regions.

"They have a lot of rain: This is nature," he said. "They do not need the water. Here in Sudan we need water."

Egypt's farmers are almost wholly dependent on the River Nile and its water.

The BBC's Will Ross says that, with populations soaring, demand for water increasing and climate change having an impact, there are warnings that wrangling over the world's longest river could be a trigger for conflict.

"If we don't have an agreed co-operative framework, there will be no peace," Kenya's director of water resources John Nyaro told the BBC before the meeting.

"Where there is no rule of law, the rule of the jungle does not provide peace."

Map of Africa

Pimp my shooter: The amazing bling guns that belong to Mexico's drug lords

Mexican soldiers have seized an arsenal of gold-plated and diamond-encrusted weapons believed to belong to the Valencia gang, allies of the powerful Sinaloa drug cartel and, it seems, fans of hip-hip excess.

Showing just how flamboyant gang members spend much of their ill-gotten wealth, pictures show how most of the 31 'pimped' pistols found in a raid on a home in western Mexico had gold or silver-plated grips or were glittered with diamonds.

Three of the assault rifles are almost entirely gold-plated and there was even a silencer plated with gold. One particularly image-conscious gangster has made his pistol unique by adding rows of gaudy red and green jewels and a Ferrari logo.

Gangster bling: The weapons were plated with silver and gold, encrusted with diamonds, and one even emblazoned with a Ferrari logo

Identification documents were found at the home on the outskirts of the western city of Guadalajara in the name of Oscar Nava Valencia.

The Attorney General's Office said he is a leader of the Valencia gang who has worked with Sinaloa cartel leader Joaquin 'El Chapo' Guzman.

On Mexico's southern Pacific coast, the Mexican navy announced that a Mexican fishing boat and its five-member crew had been captured while transporting nearly 5,300 pounds (2,400kg) of cocaine.

Silver heat: Even the ammunition magazines were covered with silver

Dazzling: The barrel of one weapon sparkles with the gleam of small diamonds

The 78ft boat was detained on April 27 in international waters, after local authorities received information from U.S. officials.

They found 105 bales of cocaine in hidden compartments in the boat's fuel tanks.

Some of the weapons, snatched from the notorious Valencia gang, were almost entirely golf and silver-plated

Large arsenal: Mexican soldiers who carried out the raid found more than 30 weapons that had been 'pimped' with silver, gold and diamonds

The boat is believed to have picked up the drugs in Colombia.

On Sunday, police said they captured a man believed to be the leader of the Zetas drug gang in the southern state of Chiapas.

Prosecutors in neighboring Tabasco state said suspect Pablo Martinez Rojas was detained near the border with Chiapas, along with four alleged accomplices.

They said the suspects carried out killings and kidnappings for the Zetas, a gang founded by army deserters.

Three assault rifles and pistols were found in the men's possession.

Handle with care: This gun is so bejewelled that even the trigger has diamonds set in it

Who are the Somali pirates?

So who are these modern-day buccaneers I keep hearing about?

HOW DID THEY START?

* When warlords toppled former dictator Mohamed Siad Barre in 1991, Somalia collapsed into anarchy. That led to a wave of illegal fishing, plus dumping of toxic and industrial waste, in Somali waters by foreign fleets from Europe and Asia.

* Toward the end of the decade, local fishermen and militia formed groups with names like the "Somali Coastguards" and the "National Volunteer Coastguards," to drive away or apprehend the vessels from South Korea, Italy, Spain, Thailand and elsewhere.

* Seeing how easy it was to capture ships, those groups metamorphosed this decade into old-fashioned pirate gangs, becoming ever more sophisticated in methods and bold in range.

HOW DO THEY OPERATE?

* In the early days, pirates with a few guns used fishing boats to approach vessels, and then simply tried to scramble on board or throw up ropes.

* As they gained money from ransoms, plus experience, they bought speedboats, tracking devices and more powerful weapons. Typically these days, a "mother ship" first spots a target, and a couple of speedboats are then launched to approach the vessel on either side and board with hooks and ladders.

* Pirates sometimes fire shots over the bow to scare sailors. Often, boats will try defensive action like zigzagging in the sea or even spraying the pirates with water from high pressure hoses. Most vessels, however, are unarmed, in keeping with international maritime practice, so sailors normally surrender quickly once the pirates are on deck.

* Hostages say they are generally well treated, with the pirates viewing them as common men caught up in a wider game: the pursuit of million-dollar ransoms from owners. Some have described the pirates slaughtering and roasting goats on board to feed them, and passing round satellite phones to let them call loved ones back home.

HOW MANY ARE THERE?

* Although traditional elders disapprove and condemn them as "immoral," the number of pirates is growing, with hundreds now working in a network of gangs.

* Many poor and unemployed young Somalis see piracy as a dazzling alternative to their hard lives, given the quick money to be made. Somalis say they are lining up to go to sea.

* The gangs are based in villages and small towns along Somalia's long coast, in lairs like Eyl, Hobyo and Haradheere.

HOW MUCH MONEY ARE THEY MAKING?

* Ship owners have been paying increasingly high ransoms with regularity. Earlier this year, the pirates made more than $6 million from the negotiated release of the Saudi supertanker the Sirius Star and the Ukrainian vessel the MV Faina.

* Ransoms during 2008, when 42 vessels were captured, ranged from $500,000 to $2 million, experts say.

* The pirates reinvest some of their money in better equipment and boats. They also spend plenty of it on flashy living, taking new wives, building palatial villas and buying 4x4 vehicles. Some get involved in smuggling.

* Financiers and masterminds, who are generally older than the young pirates, take a large cut of ransoms.

* Local rulers also take a share to allow the pirates to operate unchecked out of their territories.

WHAT CAN THE WORLD DO?

* All analysts agree that the best way to suppress piracy off Somalia is to achieve stability onshore, where civil conflict has raged for the last 18 years.

* Fourteen attempts to restore central government have failed since 1991, and a 15th one is in its infancy. The United Nations and others are hopeful that the administration of President Sheikh Sharif Ahmed, set up earlier this year, is the best chance in recent times of bringing peace to Somalia.

* Ahmed is a moderate Islamist with widespread support inside and outside Somalia, but he faces an insurgency by pro-al Qaeda militant Islamists and his government really controls little but a few parts of the capital Mogadishu.

* At sea, more than a dozen countries have provided ships for a flotilla of naval patrols off Somalia since the end of 2008. That brought an initial dip in the number of attacks, especially in the Gulf of Aden, where the patrols were concentrated. But the ever more brazen pirates have simply moved their operations further out into the Indian Ocean.

WHAT ARE THE CONSEQUENCES?

* Though world attention has been focused on Phillips the American and his rescue, Somali piracy causes enormous hardship and stress for the hundreds of hostages still caught up in it, mainly from the Third World. Released captives say they live in constant fear of being killed by the pirates or during a rescue attempt, and worry about wives and children far away. Some said pirates beat them, though in general their treatment is humane.

* Some shippers have decided to incur the extra cost and time of sending cargoes round South Africa instead of through the Gulf of Aden into the Suez Canal en route to Europe.

* Insurance premiums have risen for the whole industry.

* Somalia has suddenly come into President Barack Obama's foreign policy in-tray. Americans will shudder at the memory of a disastrous U.S. intervention in the early 1990s, including the 1993 "Black Hawk Down" battle when 18 U.S. servicemen were killed.

Somali pirates hijack Russian China-bound oil tanker

A Russian warship is rushing to assist an oil tanker bound for China which has been hijacked by Somali pirates.

Numerous pirate groups are holding more than 350 hostages

The Marshal Shaposhnikov was heading towards the Moscow University, which was attacked 900km (560 miles) off the Somali coast, officials said.

The 23 Russian crew on board are reported to have locked themselves in the ship's radar room.

Big prize

Shots were fired at the 96,000-tonne tanker from two speedboats in the dawn attack, the ship's owner said.

The BBC's East Africa correspondent Will Ross says the oil tanker is a big prize for the pirates who, based on previous hijackings, are likely to release the cargo and crew only once a multi-million-dollar ransom has been paid.

While the international war ships have prevented some attacks in the Indian Ocean and the Gulf of Aden, it is widely felt that the solution to ending piracy is on land, he says.

Over the weekend an Islamic insurgent group took control of one of the main pirate bases on the Somali coast.

The pirates had already fled and our correspondent says is not yet clear whether this was part of a wider effort by the insurgents to stamp out piracy.

For now the pirates have moved towards other bases along the coast and at sea the hijackings continue, he says.

Numerous groups of pirates are currently holding more than 350 hostages as well as about 20 ships at various bases around the country.

Who is the Taliban?

The Taliban (Pashto: طالبان ṭālibān, meaning "students"), also Taleban, is a Sunni Islamist political movement that governed Afghanistan from 1996 until it was overthrown in late 2001 during Operation Enduring Freedom. It has regrouped since 2004 and revived as a strong insurgencymovement governing local Pashtun areas and fighting a guerrilla war against the governments of Afghanistan, Pakistan, and the NATO-ledInternational Security Assistance Force (ISAF). The movement is primarily made up of members belonging to ethnic Pashtun tribes, along with volunteers from nearby Islamic countries such as Uzbeks, Tajiks, Chechens, Arabs, Punjabis and others. It operates in Afghanistan and Pakistan, mostly around the Durand Line regions. U.S. officials say their headquarters is in or near Quetta, Pakistan, and that Pakistan andIran provide support, although both nations deny this.

Mullah Mohammed Omar, in hiding, leads the movement. Omar's original commanders were "a mixture of former small-unit military commanders and madrasah teachers,"while its rank-and-file was made up mostly of Afghan refugees who had studied at Islamic religious schools in Pakistan. The Taliban received valuable training, supplies and arms from the Pakistani government, particularly the Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) and many recruits from madrasas for Afghan refugees in Pakistan, primarily ones established by the Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam(JUI).

Although in control of Afghanistan's capital (Kabul) and most of the country for five years, the Taliban regime, which called itself the "Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan", gained diplomatic recognition from only three states: Pakistan, Saudi Arabia, and the United Arab Emirates. It has regained some amount of political control and acceptance in Pakistan's border region, but recently lost one of its key leaders, Baitullah Mehsud, in a CIA missile strike. However Pakistan has launched an offensive to force the Taliban from its territory.

The Taliban enforced one of the "strictest interpretation[s] of Sharia law ever seen in the Muslim world", but occasionally modifies its code of conduct. In mid-2009, it established an ombudsman office in northern Kandahar, David Kilcullen describes as a "direct challenge" to the ISAF.

Pakistani-American Arrested For Times Square Bomb Linked To Taliban?

Shahzad Faisal, a Pakistani-American, was arrested at John F Kennedy airport, a few hours ago, in connection with the attempt to set off a bomb in Times Square New York. The suspect is believed to have been trying to leave the country when authorities swooped.

Faisal, a naturalised American who had immigrated from Pakistan, had recently returned from a trip to Pakistan to his home in Connecticut which will be of major concern in light of videos received recently.

On Sunday the Pakistani Taliban released a video on the Internet in terms of which they claimed responsibility for the car bomb attempt on Times Square, New York.

In a second video, which was released by the Taliban in early April, their leader promised an attack on major U.S. cities "in some days or a month." The video does not make specific reference to the New York attack but the U.S. group monitoring terrorist traffic believes that the video is credible.

In the first video the Pakistani militants confirm that Times Square was revenge for the death of its leader, Baitullah Mehsud, and the recent slaying of al-Qaida leaders Abu Omar al-Baghdadi and Abu Ayyub al-Masri, in Iraq.

Police and FBI agents said that they were looking for a second suspect, a man filmed on a tourist’s video camera running from the car shortly after it was parked in Times Square on Saturday.

They also want to identify a white man, aged in his forties, who was videotaped on surveillance cameras removing a shirt and putting it in a backpack.

The authorities will not have missed the fact that Faisal is from Pakistan the home of the Taliban who are threatening to wreak havoc on the U.S.

What is the war in Afghanistan all about?

The War in Afghanistan is an ongoing coalition conflict which began on October 7, 2001, as the US military's Operation Enduring Freedom(OEF) that was launched, along with the British military, in response to the September 11, 2001 attacks on the US. The UK has, since 2002, led its own military operation, Operation Herrick, as part of the same war in Afghanistan. The character of the war evolved from a violent struggle against Al-Qaeda and its Taliban supporters to a complex counterinsurgency effort.

The first phase of the war was the aftermath of the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001, when the United States launched Operation Enduring Freedom, to remove the safe haven to Al-Qaeda and its use of the Afghan territory as a base of operations for terrorist activities. In that first phase, U.S. and coalition forces, working with the Afghan opposition forces of the Northern Alliance, quickly ousted the Taliban regime. During the following Karzai administration, the character of the war shifted to an effort aimed at smothering insurgency, in which the insurgents preferred not to directly confront the International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) troops, but blended into the local population and mainly usedimprovised explosive devices (IEDs) and suicide bombings.

The stated aim of the invasion was to find Osama bin Laden and other high-ranking Al-Qaeda members to be put on trial, to destroy the whole organization of Al-Qaeda, and to remove the Taliban regime which supported and gave safe harbor to Al-Qaeda. The Bush administration stated that, as policy, it would not distinguish between terrorist organizations and nations or governments that harbor them. The United Nations did not authorize the U.S.-led invasion of Afghanistan.

The second operation is the International Security Assistance Force (ISAF), which was established by the UN Security Council at the end of December 2001 to secure Kabul and the surrounding areas. NATO assumed control of ISAF in 2003. By July 23, 2009, ISAF had around 64,500 troops from 42 countries, with NATO members providing the core of the force. The NATO commitment is particularly important to the United States because it gives international legitimacy to the war.[30] The United States has approximately 29,950 troops in ISAF.[31]

The US and UK led the aerial bombing, in support of ground forces supplied primarily by the Afghan Northern Alliance. In 2002, American, Britishand Canadian infantry were committed, along with special forces from several allied nations, including Australia. Later, NATO troops were added.

The initial attack removed the Taliban from power, but Taliban forces have since regained some strength. Since 2006, Afghanistan has seen threats to its stability from increased Taliban-led insurgent activity, record-high levels of illegal drug production, and a fragile government with limited control outside of Kabul.

By the end of 2008, the Taliban had severed any remaining ties with al-Qaeda. According to senior U.S. military intelligence officials, there are perhaps fewer than 100 members of Al-Qaeda remaining in Afghanistan.[38] The Taliban can sustain itself indefinitely, according to a December 2009 briefing by the top U.S. intelligence officer in Afghanistan.[39]

On December 1, 2009, U.S. President Barack Obama announced that he would escalate U.S. military involvement by deploying an additional 30,000 soldiers over a period of six months. He also proposed to begin troop withdrawals 18 months from that date. The following day, the American commander in Afghanistan, Gen. Stanley A. McChrystal, cautioned that the timeline was flexible and “is not an absolute” and Defense Secretary Robert Gates, when asked by a member of the Senate Armed Services Committee if it is possible that no soldiers would be withdrawn in July 2011, responded, "The president, as commander in chief, always has the option to adjust his decisions."

On January 26, 2010, at the International Conference on Afghanistan in London which brought together some 70 countries and organizations, Afghan President Hamid Karzai told world leaders that he intends to reach out to the top echelons of the Taliban within a few weeks with a peace initiative. Karzai set the framework for dialogue with Taliban leaders when he called on the group's leadership to take part in a "loya jirga"—or large assembly of elders—to initiate peace talks.

So in plain terms ie mine:

Taliban is a government organization in Afghanistan and Al- Qaeda is an terrorist organization to which they support therefore the US and other countries want to remove the Taliban thus the war in Afghanistan began!

I want to know about Al-Qaeda

Al-Qaeda (pronounced /ælˈkaɪdə/ al-KYE-də or /ælˈkeɪdə/ al-KAY-də; Arabic: القاعدة‎, al-qāʿidah, "the base"), alternatively spelled al-Qaida and sometimes al-Qa'ida, is an Islamist group founded sometime between August 1988 and late 1989. It operates as a network comprising both a multinational, stateless arm and a fundamentalist Sunni movement calling for global jihad.

Al-Qaeda has attacked civilian and military targets in various countries, most notably, the September 11 attacks on New York City and Washington, D.C. in 2001. The US government responded by launching the War on Terror.

Characteristic techniques include suicide attacks and simultaneous bombings of different targets. Activities ascribed to it may involve members of the movement, who have taken a pledge of loyalty to Osama bin Laden, or the much more numerous "al-Qaeda-linked" individuals who have undergone training in one of its camps in Afghanistan or Sudan, but not taken any pledge.

Al-Qaeda ideologues envision a complete break from the foreign influences in Muslim countries, and the creation of a new Islamic caliphate. Reported beliefs include that a Christian-Jewish alliance is conspiring to destroy Islam, which is largely embodied in the U.S.-Israel alliance, and that the killing of bystanders and civilians is religiously justified in jihad.

BP vows to clean up Gulf of Mexico oil slick

Oil giant BP has acknowledged it is "absolutely responsible" for cleaning up a huge oil spill after an explosion at one of its wells off the US coast.

But BP boss Tony Hayward said the firm was not to blame for the accident which sank the Deepwater Horizon rig on 22 April, causing the slick.

He said the equipment that failed belonged to drilling firm Transocean.

Both companies are expecting lawsuits over the slick, which threatens to cause major ecological damage.

US President Barack Obama has described the oil leak as a "potentially unprecedented" environmental disaster.

"BP is responsible for this leak. BP will be paying the bill," he said.

Slick 'heading to Florida'

The US government has been putting pressure on BP to act quickly.

In a BBC interview, Mr Hayward dismissed talk of a rift between BP and US officials.

Hundreds of people have been drafted in to help clean up the oil

"Despite some of the rhetoric we have established an incredible co-operative relationship with the federal authorities," he said.

"It's clear that we're working very well together. In terms of the responsibility, I want to be clear, this was not our accident but it is our responsibility to deal with the leak and clean up the oil."

Thousands of barrels of oil have been leaking into the Gulf of Mexico every day since the rig sank.

Some oil has washed ashore, but officials say the bulk of the slick remains a few miles from the Louisiana coastline.

The oil is already having a devastating effect on the area's fishing industry, and officials fear much wider environmental damage if the full slick hits land.

Forecasters said south-westerly winds on Monday were pushing the slick towards Florida.

Falling shares

Mr Hayward said BP was making a three-pronged effort to stop the leak:

• Undersea robots are working on the safety valve which failed, allowing the oil to escape
• A containment vessel is being sent to the site and would, in effect, suck up the escaped oil
• BP is drilling a new well to help relieve the pressure and stem the flow from the rupture

Experts warn that the cost of clearing up the spill could run into billions of dollars.

BP has said it will honour legitimate claims for compensation from people affected.

The firm's shares continued to fall on Monday, after previous trading had seen about $20bn wiped from its market value since the accident.

UK markets were closed on Monday, but BP's Frankfurt-listed shares opened 8% lower before clawing back some of the losses.

Analysts say the costs associated with the slick are uncertain, meaning that the share price was likely to remain volatile while the leak continues.

In California, Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger withdrew his support for a plan to expand oil exploration off the state's coast.

He said seeing TV images of the spill in the Gulf had changed his mind about the safety of offshore oil platforms in the Pacific Ocean.

He had supported more drilling as a way to ease the state's budget deficit.