BBC News with Mary Small.
Scientists in Japan say they've devised a new method of creating cells for medical treatments which does not involve the controversial use of cloned embryos. The creator of Dolly the sheep, the first cloned animal, Professor Ian Wilmut, says he too will now use the new Japanese method. Our science correspondent Pallab Ghosh reports.
The Japanese breakthrough means that potentially the controversy over the use of embryos to develop new treatments could soon be over. Professor Wilmut and researchers across the world have in the past used stem cells from embryos because they alone have the potential to be grown into any cell in the human body. Such cells could then be grown into replacement tissue as body parts become worn-out. But now Japanese researchers have succeeded in genetically modifying adult cells so that they are almost as flexible as embryonic cells.
The extent of the devastation caused by a cyclone that struck Bangladesh on Thursday is becoming clearer. The Bangladeshi government says the number of dead has reached at least 2,000. Mark Dummett reports from Dhaka.
Getting aid to the worst hit villages and areas is proving much harder than anyone imagined. It seems that many people along Bangladeshi southern coast which is a maze of waterways, islands and sandbanks will be spending another night in the open, or mean whatever basic shelter they can find, with little in the way of food or medical supplies. The Bangladeshi military and aid workers are rushing to the region, but fallen trees are still blocking many roads.
Polls have closed in Kosovo in elections bringing a new assembly that is widely expected to declare independence from Serbia in the coming weeks. Election monitors have reported a steady stream of ethnic Albanian voters casting their ballots in the general and municipal elections. A spokesman for the United Nations administration supervising the province says few from the Serb minority turned out. Nick Hawton reports from Pristina.
International officials in Kosovo had appealed for a strong voter turnout, but in Serb areas at least, it appears the call has not been heeded. Around half of polling stations in Serb areas were not even open for voting by the local authorities, and where they were, very few people turned out. Belgrade had called on Serbs to boycott the elections, believing the new mainly ethnic Albanian government is likely to declare Kosovo an independent state in the near future.
The US Deputy Secretary of State John Negroponte has extended his stay in Pakistan following his talks with President Pervez Musharraf. He delivered a blunt message to General Musharraf: end the state of emergency, leave the army and ensure free and fair elections early next year. Our BBC correspondent in Islamabad says Mr. Negroponte may not have got much in return from the Pakistani leader, who had earlier told the BBC that credible elections could be held under emergency rule.
World News from the BBC.
Leaders of the OPEC oil producers' cartel have started their summit in Saudi Arabia amid internal divisions and growing concern about energy security. Speaking at the opening session in Riyadh, the host, King Abdullah, said oil should not become a tool of conflict. Presidents of Iran and Venezuela want OPEC to become a more political organization. And as Andrew Walker reports, it's not the only possible conflict.
The division emerged ahead of the summit between the host, Saudi Arabia, and Iran. Iranian officials wanted the final communiqué to express concern about the weakness of the dollar. It's an issue because oil is priced in the US currency, although as far as OPEC is concerned the dollar's decline has been offset by the rising price of crude oil.
The United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon says a new report by the intergovernmental panel on climate change has set the stage for a real breakthrough in negotiations on the issue. The report says the planet is moving towards a warmer age at a quickening pace because of human activity. The head of the UN environment program, Achim Steiner, said reacting to the warnings about global warming was common sense.
We as human beings are not stupid. I mean we don't keep on driving towards a wall at night. When somebody saw there is a wall at 100 kilometers an hour. We will slow down if we know there is a wall. This report is basically saying we may not understand everything but let us to tell these, there is a big wall into which we are crushing, and we need to slow down and take a different road.
The music and lifestyle television channel MTV has launched a new service theme at the Arab world. MTV Arabia will show a mix of Arabic hip-pop videos, talent shows and versions of worldwide hits such as Pimp My Ride that have been adapted for the Middle East market. MTV said that it hopes that the unifying force of music will help correct the misconception that the Arab world is a place of tension and stress. It's targeting a region where two thirds of the population is under 30.
BBC News.