As night fell in Indonesia, many people around Padang remained out in the open, too frightened to go back to their houses, or simply with no home to go back to. The earthquake is reported to have destroyed hundreds of buildings across 4 districts, and damaged roads, slowing relief efforts. Electricity cuts are causing communication problems in some areas and it may be some time before the final number of people dead, injured and displaced is known. Indonesia's vice president has expressed sympathy with the victims and says the government stands ready to help, but like many aid organizations here, it's waiting for an assessment of the situation before sending in supplies.
NATO says it's launched its biggest-ever combined operation with Afghan government forces to restore security to the southern province of Helmand. The operation is aimed at defeating fighters loyal to the Taliban. Alastair Leithead reports from Kabul.
NATO's International Security Assistance Force announced that Operation Achilles had begun at 5 o'clock in the morning local time, saying it was the largest joint NATO and Afghan operation to date, targeting northern Helmand. British forces in the province have been clashing regularly with the Taliban over the past few weeks, but the new offensive will, according to the Dutch commander of southern forces, eventually involve 4, 500 international troops and more than a thousand Afghan soldiers.
Some news just in. There's been a suicide bomb attack against a group of Shia pilgrims south of the Iraqi capital Baghdad. At least 8 people are said to have been killed.
Fighting has broken out in the Somali capital Mogadishu, following the arrival there of about 400 Ugandan soldiers, the first contingent of a promised African Union peacekeeping force. Sarah Grainger reports from Kampala.
Reuters News Agency says at least 100 insurgents used rocket-propelled grenades and heavy machineguns to attack a government base. Earlier, several mortars had been fired at the airport in the Somali capital, where Ugandan peacekeepers had just arrived. They are the first troops to be sent to Somalia under the mandate of the African Union to help the Somali Transitional Federal Government to assert its authority over the Islamic Courts Union. In December, Ethiopian troops helped the Somali government recover Mogadishu, which had been under the control of the Islamic group for several months.
The main body which monitors the government in Israel has called on the Prime Minister Ehud Olmert to speed up his response to questions on civil defense preparations during the conflict with the Lebanese Hezbollah Movement last year. The Israeli State Comptroller, Micha Lindenstrauss, told the parliamentary committee that he had run into difficulties obtaining information for Mr. Olmert.
This is the World News from the BBC.
People in Ghana have been celebrating the 50th anniversary of becoming the first sub-Saharan country to gain its independence. Thousands took to the streets which were decked out with the red, green, yellow and black of the national flag. Some Ghanaians have returned to their country especially for the anniversary. One of those is Abussy. He said it's a moment of pride for everyone.
It is a big sense of unity, ecstasy, enthusiasm, national sense of pride. People are really really happy.
Thousands of workers employed in France by the troubled European aircraft manufacturer Airbus have been taking part in a five-hour strike to protest against planned large-scale job cuts. Protesters were bussed in from subsidiary factories to Airbus headquarters in Toulouse in southwestern France, where around 4, 000 demonstrators staged to march.
A senior police officer in Sri Lanka has announced that current and former members of the security forces have been arrested in connection with increasing number of abductions in the country. The statement from the Deputy Inspector General of Police, Asoka Wijetilleke, follows the discovery of five bodies burnt beyond recognition in the district of Anuradhapura.
A panel of officials from the Indian and the Pakistani foreign ministries is holding its first meeting to exchange information which, they say, might help prevent terrorist attacks in their, in either country. A Pakistani Foreign Ministry spokesperson said the talks were focusing on the recent bombing on a cross-border train in India, which killed 68 people. India has said it will share details of the investigation.
France and Abu Dhabi have signed a deal to allow the Gulf emirate to build its own version of the Louvre Museum, the Paris art museum. It's among the most famous in the world. The 30-year deal, which is worth more than a billion dollars, has sparked outrage in France, where several thousand people have signed a petition in protest. Critics say the French government is cheapening an icon of French culture by selling the name and loaning many of its works to the new museum.
BBC World News.
