Author: xaurav

Red Bull’s Mark Webber produced a superb display in qualifying to snatch pole position from Renault’s Robert Kubica in Monaco.

The Australian’s time of one minute 13.826 seconds edged out Kubica, who had earlier set an impressive 1:14.104.

Webber’s team-mate Sebastian Vettel was third, just ahead of Ferrari’s Felipe Massa and McLaren’s Lewis Hamilton.

Nico Rosberg claimed sixth place on the grid, ahead of team-mate Michael Schumacher, with Jenson Button eighth.

Williams’ Rubens Barrichello and Force India’s Vitantonio Liuzzi rounded out the top 10.

One notable absentee from qualifying was Ferrari’s Fernando Alonso, who crashed into the barriers at Massenet during final practice on Saturday morning, causing such severe damage to his chassis that he was unable to partake and will start Sunday’s race from the back of the grid in a spare car.

However, in his teammates absence Felipe Massa produced one of his strongest qualifying displays of the season; setting the initial pace in Q1 before ultimately settling for fourth with a time of 1:14.283.

Once again though, Red Bull have come out on top, continuing their record of being on pole for every one of this season’s six races, with Webber taking his third.

"It was a bit of a blur to be honest," said Webber. "I told the team it was all about lap three and four.

"It all came together in that lap, the car was a pleasure to drive and I am delighted because the guys have worked really hard.

"To get pole at Monaco is obviously a great feeling so I am really pleased."

Kubica had been fastest in Saturday morning’s final practice and his performance in qualifying was comfortably his best of the season, improving on his previous best sixth at Malaysia.

In the space of two flying laps he firstly recorded a time of 1:14.284 and then improving it by 0.280secs to seemingly claim only his second pole, after Bahrain in 2008.

"It has been a good effort from both the team and myself," said Kubica

"I pushed very hard on my first lap because you never know with the traffic here, but the tyres were then gone for my second lap.

"But we have to be happy obviously when you are so close to the front you want to be number one but this is still good."

Vettel, with three poles himself this season recorded a fastest lap time of 1:14.227 to take his place in the second row.

Red Bull will be particularly pleased with the display of their two drivers, who undoubtedly have speed at their disposal but have shown they also possess the driving ability to dominate the slowest circuit of the championship.

More to follow.

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McLaren’s Jenson Button has accused Ferrari’s Felipe Massa of holding him up during Monaco Grand Prix qualifying.

Defending world champion Button said the Brazilian blocked him early in the final session on Saturday.

"It was very annoying that he got in the way because it was blatantly slowing me down," said Button.

Massa denied any wrongdoing, saying: "The car in front of me backed off, so I backed off as well. These things happen. There is nothing you can do."

But Button, who will line up eighth for Sunday’s race with Massa fourth, insisted that Massa was in the wrong and that with the field reduced to 10 cars for the final shoot-out there was no excuse for his behaviour.

"I had so much space, I don’t know what he was thinking," Button said.

"There are only 10 cars out there in Q3 it should be easy to keep out of the way of cars coming round."

"He obviously was not looking in his mirrors and it was right at the end of my first timed lap of the session."

Button said he was surprised Massa had not been given a penalty.

There had been concerns ahead of qualifying that drivers would be held up in the first session, which saw 23 cars packed onto Monaco’s famously tight street circuit following Ferrari driver Fernando Alonso’s practice crash, which ruled the Spaniard out for the rest of the day.

But ironically most of the complaints came after the third session.

Michael Schumacher said he was hindered by his Mercedes team-mate Nico Rosberg.

"It was in Q3 when there was lowest traffic and he was in the way. Bit of a shame, but there you go," said the German.

The Mercedes pair line up sixth and seventh on the Monte Carlo grid, with Rosberg once again getting the better of his celebrated team-mate.

But Rosberg was far from satisfied with sixth, the 24-year old topped the timesheets in second qualifying and was disappointed that he slipped back in the final session.

"I am in a bad mood, I did terribly today," said the 24-year old German.

"I should have had pole or at least been on the front row of the grid today, because in Q2 it was easy for me to be first with just one set of tyres.

"It just went completely wrong in the last qualifying session.

"I just didn’t get it together too many laps, traffic and I made a mistake myself so just a disaster and very, very disappointing,

"I am really sorry to the whole team that it went so bad and it will be a difficult race starting sixth."

Red Bull’s Mark Webber will start from pole position for Sunday’s race after edging out Renault’s Robert Kubica in the closing stages of qualifying.

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The Thai army has designated an area of Bangkok as a "live firing zone" in a warning to protesters on a third day of violence that has killed at least 16.

"No entry" signs have been put up near a barricaded camp where the protesters, who want the prime minister to resign, have been based since March.

Some 150 people have been injured since the violence broke out, and three more deaths were reported on Saturday.

Authorities have ruled out negotiations with the red-shirt protesters.

Despite claims by the Thai government that the situation is under control and its soldiers have only fired in self-defence, army snipers have been accused of targeting protesters, and footage from Bangkok on Saturday showed red-shirts dragging gunshot-victims to safety.

Explosions and sporadic gunfire can be heard around the protest site, where barricades of tyres are still burning.

The violence escalated on Thursday after a renegade general who supports the protests was shot in the head by an unknown gunman.

Gen Khattiya Sawasdipol, better known as Seh Daeng (Commander Red), is in a critical condition and doctors believe he is unlikely to survive.

Embassy advice

Correspondents say the live firing area, more than 1 kilometre north of the camp, is an area the army has been trying to secure for several hours, and has been designated by the government to prevent reinforcements entering the camp and getting behind military roadblocks.

Around a third of the city is now under emergency rule, but while there are pockets of fighting, life beyond the barricades seems to be going on as normal, correspondents say.

Inside the camp, red-shirt leader Kwanchai Praipana said stocks were running low because of the blockade, but added that they would last "for days".

"We’ll keep on fighting until the government takes responsibility," he said.

Tori Anderson, who lives close to the camp, said the gunfire and explosions overnight had made it a sleepless night for many of the city’s residents.

"I have lived in Pakistan and Afghanistan but I feel more worried right now," she told the BBC. "The atmosphere is really tense because there is such a build up of soldiers and weapons."

The US embassy has stepped up its travel warnings, advising its citizens to stay away from Bangkok, and is offering to evacuate family members of diplomatic staff.

The US has encouraged the two sides "to find a way to work peacefully through these differences", while UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon has also urged restraint.

Journalists shot

On Friday, troops fired live rounds, tear gas and rubber bullets in clashes with the protesters, who threw petrol bombs and stones at the soldiers.

One Canadian and one Thai journalist were shot. A government spokesman said troops had come under attack and "had no choice but to respond", adding that they were authorised to use live rounds in self-defence, for warning shots or against armed protesters.

The military said some protesters had fired guns and threw grenades.

The protesters, who have adopted the colour red, have reinforced the barricades around their camp made of bamboo stakes, tyres and sandbags.

Many of the protesters support former Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra, who was ousted in a 2006 coup.

They want Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva to dissolve parliament and call fresh elections.

He had offered polls in November – but the two sides failed to agree a deal because of divisions over who should be held accountable for a deadly crackdown on protests last month.

Mr Thaksin has called on the government to withdraw troops and restart negotiations.

Thailand’s worst political unrest in nearly two decades has now left at least 42 people dead and more than 1,400 wounded.

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Italy has fined Irish low-cost airline Ryanair 3m euros (£2.5m) for failing to help passengers after cancelling their flights during the volcanic ash crisis.

Italy’s civil aviation authority said it knew of 178 cases of passengers who did not receive mandatory assistance, such as food, between 17 and 22 April.

Ash from Iceland’s Eyjafjallajokull volcano triggered a massive shutdown of European airspace last month.

Ryanair was not immediately available for comment.

The ash cloud paralysed many airports and left an estimated eight million tourists and business travellers stranded.

Italy’s air agency, Enac, accused Ryanair of failing to provide passengers at Rome’s Ciampino airport with drinks, foods and accommodation as required by European law.

Enac found that most other airlines had managed to meet their obligations despite the difficult circumstances.

Ryanair initially insisted it would only refund the cost of passengers’ tickets, but later agreed to fully implement European regulations and pay all "reasonable expenses".

Under EU regulations, if a flight is cancelled, those flying with European carriers into or out of the EU have the right to a refund or to be re-routed.

If passengers chose the latter, they have the right to care – such as accommodation and meals – while they wait.

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Talks between BA and union leaders aimed at averting a series of strikes are due to start on Monday.

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A woman has been charged with the attempted murder of Labour MP Stephen Timms, who was stabbed twice in the stomach at his constituency surgery.

The former treasury minister, 54, was left covered in blood after the attack in Newham, east London, on Friday.

Roshonara Choudhary, 21, of East Ham, has been charged with attempted murder and two counts of possession of an offensive weapon.

She is due to appear at Stratford Magistrates’ Court on Monday.

A spokesman for the Royal London Hospital said Mr Timms was recovering well following an operation.

‘Comfortable and resting’

The hospital spokeswoman said on Saturday: "Stephen Timms had surgery yesterday evening at the Royal London Hospital to repair his stab wounds.

"The operation went well. He is comfortable and resting on a ward.

"It is anticipated that he will be discharged from hospital in the next few days to recuperate at home."

Newham Council said it was reviewing security arrangements following the incident.

A spokeswoman said: "Stephen is a popular MP, well-respected by local residents and we wish him a speedy recovery."

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Services through the Channel Tunnel have been disrupted after a problem on a Eurotunnel shuttle train.

Eurotunnel said a CO2 sensor had triggered an alarm, setting off an emergency procedure in which all passengers have to be evacuated.

Eurostar, which runs high-speed trains through the tunnel between London and Paris and Brussels, said its services had been suspended for a period.

Lines have since started to reopen, but passengers were told to expect delays.

Investigation under way

"The traffic is resuming now, we have received authorisation from Eurotunnel," a Eurostar spokeswoman told AFP news agency. "But we expect a knock-on effect on the schedule."

Services in both directions were halted when the alarm was triggered in the tunnel shortly after 0700 BST (0800 GMT).

The nearest train, a shuttle carrying 30 lorries and drivers, was evacuated and taken back to the surface on the UK side.

Emergency services from Kent were called.

Nigel Shamber, duty inspector at Kent Police, said: "They have an awful lot of sensors in the tunnel and one of them went off. These things happen very frequently.

"There has not been a fire or any significant incident. Trains are now running in a reduced capacity."

A Eurotunnel spokeswoman said: "The freight train was travelling towards England and was more than half-way through the tunnel when it was stopped.

"Emergency services are trying to work out why the detector went off. We need to understand why it happened."

Nine Eurostar trains were delayed by between 50 minutes and three hours, French state rail operator SNCF said. Services leaving Paris, London and Brussels were all hit.

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Keep up-to-date with the glitz and glamour of this year’s Cannes Film Festival with our BBC News reporter Fiona Pryor.

THURSDAY, 13 MAY. 1900 LOCAL TIME (1800BST)

I’ve been to see my third film of the day, The Housemaid, directed by South Korea’s Im Sang-Soo.

It is based on a 1960 movie of the same name which I’ve never seen, but this version completely blew me away. Not knowing the story, I wasn’t prepared for the ending.

Definitely a strong contender for the Palme D’Or in my opinion.

THURSDAY, 13 MAY. 1820 LOCAL TIME (1710BST)

Not everyone who comes to Cannes is lucky enough to have access to all the screening and parties. Many people travel here in the hope they can blag their way into an official event.

The done thing seems to be holding up a sign asking for tickets – a kind of posh begging.

Kader and Antoine caught my eye as they were willing to exchange hugs for tickets. I couldn’t help (my press pass is my ticket and I’m certainly not giving that away) but they gave me a hug anyway!

THURSDAY, 13 MAY. 1420 LOCAL TIME (1320BST)

Imagine having £70,000 in savings and then ploughing it all into a low budget movie – withouth knowing how it would take off.

Well that’s exactly what actor and director Warren Speed from Newcastle did (against his wife’s better judgement).

Zombie Women of Satan is out on DVD in the UK next month and Warren and his team are out in Cannes…dressed in character trying to sell it to other countries. Oh, and wife Michelle likes the movie and says it’s worth the gamble.

THURSDAY, 13 MAY. 1300 LOCAL TIME (1200 BST)

I am well and truly into the swing of things here!

Benda Bilili was brilliant – a compelling story of Congolese street musicians, which took five years for directors Renaud Barret and Florent de la Tullaye to make.

After meeting the titular band and hearing their music, the film-makers decided to help the group, who were still living on the streets, make an album.

Half of the group are in wheelchairs and they spend their time travelling around rehearsing on the streets – some with custom-made instruments.

I don’t want to ruin the film, but if you have a Glastonbury or Womad ticket then keep an eye out for them. A great start to the 42nd Directors Fortnight.

Meanwhile, Tournee (On Tour) was the first film to be screened in the official competition. Quantum Of Solace baddie Mathieu Amalric directed, wrote and starred in the movie, about a group of US Burlesque dancers touring around France.

He plays Joachim, a former television producer, who brings the curvaceous American showgirls to France with romantic promises of a grand tour culminating in Paris.

In a case of life mirroring art, Amalric hand-picked some real-life dancers to appear in the film and brought them all the way to Cannes for today’s screening.

Their names are reminiscent of Bond girls – Mimi Le Meaux, Dirty Martini – but they got to perform their own routines in the movie.

Afterwards, the director revealed his first cut had been three hours long and it was a "terrible moment" when he had to start editing it down.

But being nominated for the Palme d’Or, he said, was "the icing on the cake".

THURSDAY, 13 MAY. 1250 LOCAL TIME (1150 BST)

Some Cannes controversy now. Algerian film-maker Rachid Bouchareb has written to the festival calling for "mutual respect" and a "calm climate" when his movie Hors La Loi (Outside the Law) is screened.

His plea comes after French war veteran groups threatened to demonstrate outside the Palais des Festivals.

Hors La Loi is about three Algerian brothers who become involved in the movement for Algerian independence. French right-wing political figures have criticised it for its depiction of the country’s role in the war – which ended with Algeria’s independence in 1962.

Rachid says that "cinema must be able to broach all subjects".

Another movie that has made headlines is Draquila, which debuts later today. Italy’s culture minister Sandro Bondi said he would boycott Cannes because the movie criticises Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi’s handling of the relief efforts for the L’Aquila earthquake last year.

Despite that, the movie – whose title is a compression of the words Dracula and Aquila – has been a big success at the box office in Italy.

Comparing herself to Michael Moore, director Sabina Guzzanti told Variety: "I make movies; not documentaries. My main goal was to understand what was going on. To be rigorous in my research, to try to be objective. But, of course, this reflects my viewpoint."

THURSDAY, 13 MAY. 0900 LOCAL TIME (0800 BST)

So, last night was the grand opening of this year’s festival and thousands turned out to greet the stars on the red carpet, including Eva Longoria Parker, Salma Hayek and Dame Helen Mirren.

But it was Kate Beckinsale – who turned up in a pale blue Marchesa gown that looked good enough to eat that, for me, stole the show. Or at least the red carpet!

One person who was missing from the line up was Robin Hood director Sir Ridley Scott, who according to reports is recovering from knee surgery.

But the rest of the A-list clientele more than made up for it. judging by the sea of flashbulbs.

Today I’m off to see my first film of the festival – after all this is what it is all about.

It’s a documentary called Benda Bilili, which is about a homeless band from the Congo and how they struggled to live on the streets whilst still making music.

WEDNESDAY, 12 MAY. 1745 LOCAL TIME (1645 BST)

The main roads in Cannes have now closed down and thousands of people are lining the streets, waiting for a glimpse of Russell Crowe and Cate Blanchett.

Their movie, Robin Hood, was screened earlier today – with the general feeling that it was good, but not as good as Crowe’s first collaboration with Sir Ridley Scott, Gladiator.

Sir Ridley, by the way, can’t be here for the premiere. He’s having a knee operation.

Crowe, meanwhile, is on bullish form – batting away questions about plans for a Robin Hood sequel with a cheeky smile.

"Obviously there’s a figure in the studio heads’ mind," he told reporters.

"If we pass a certain figure then they’ll give us a call and say, ‘well, tell the second part of the story’, but there’s no grand plan in that regard. We don’t have two other scripts under Ridley’s hospital bed."

While we wait for the talent to arrive, there are a few distractions to keep us entertained… I am stood next to a street artist dresssed as Puss In Boots, who is playing with two very tame cats!

WEDNESDAY, 12 MAY. 1415 LOCAL TIME (1315 BST)

Tim Burton and the rest of the jury have just met the press, as they prepare for the mammoth task of watching all 19 films competing for the Palme d’Or.

If past years are anything to go by, they’ll make a shortlist, then rewatch the remaining contenders again – maybe multiple times – before they make their final decision.

Burton says he told his fellow panellists to "feel the films" and "be open".

Kate Beckinsale, sitting beside him at the press conference, looked radiant – especially considering she’d had a fraught journey to Cannes because of the ash cloud.

The actress revealed she’d managed to miss last night’s arrival dinner and was worried her fellow judges "would hate her for being late".

WEDNESDAY, 12 MAY. 1245 LOCAL TIME (1145 BST)

Just slipped onto a rather exclusive yacht to meet the big boss of a 3D company. XPand is the official technical provider of 3D at the festival this year. CEO Maria Costeira tells me there are 37 screenings of 3D films in Cannes – but no big Hollywood blockbusters, unlike last year when Pixar’s Up opened the event.

Maria is promoting the world’s first set of universal 3D glasses. It’s all very technical, but basically they can be used on any 3D TV or cinema worldwide. They can be customised, too, to save you looking "like a frog" when at the cinema (Maria’s words, not mine).

Expect them to hit UK shores from August, although apparently some schools have already started using them as part of Biology lessons. Presumably to look at a frog.

WEDNESDAY, 12 MAY. 1230 LOCAL TIME (1130 BST)

Russell Crowe and co are in town! I know that, not because I’ve seen them with my own eyes (yet) but because I could hear all the photographers screaming at them.

I was denied access to the official Robin Hood photo call, so I had to make do with standing outside – with hundreds of others who’d been kept out – listening to the screams and hollers as the Hollywood A-listers had had their pictures taken.

In other news, I’ve had my first taste of what people here will do to get noticed… ANYTHING!

Earlier, I was handed a flyer by a man dressed up as a knight in shining armour. It turns out he’s written a film – My Guaranteed Student Loan – and is trying to promote the movie, which is "for sale on the market".

It stars Academy Award-winning actress Celeste Holm (Gentlemen’s Agreement, All About Eve) and Richard Pryor Jr.

In a nutshell, it’s a comedy about a US college student who makes a bet one Halloween night that could change his life forever.

As for the costume, Dexter Warr says "baby powder is the secret" to slipping it on.

TUESDAY, 11 MAY. 1630 LOCAL TIME (1530 BST)

Despite warnings that the pesky ash cloud might disrupt flights to the south of France, I have made it to Cannes… along with thousands of other journalists, producers, directors and assorted hangers-on.

Strolling around, trying to get my bearings, it seems that mother nature’s attempt to steal the lead role – by gatecrashing the town under the guise of a torrential storm – is well and truly over.

As promised, locals and festival organisers have managed to piece the town back together and everything is back on track for one of the biggest events in the film calendar.

The sun is beaming and the sea is calm, awaiting the arrival of Russell Crowe and his merry men on French turf tomorrow, where they will open the festivities with their retelling of the legend of Robin Hood.

Send us your messages for Fiona, and tell us what you think of the films competing for this year’s Palme d’Or.

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Supermodel Claudia Schiffer and her husband, British film director Matthew Vaughn, have announced the birth of their third child.

The baby girl – who was born at London’s Portland Hospital on Friday – is the couple’s second daughter.

The German model and Vaughn already have a son Caspar, seven, and a daughter Clementine, five.

A statement from the couple did not reveal their daughter’s name but said "both mother and baby were doing well".

It said: "Claudia Schiffer and Matthew Vaughn are proud to announce the birth of their baby daughter who was born on Friday May 14 in the early afternoon."

Schiffer and Vaughn first met at a dinner party in Los Angeles.

The supermodel had been in a relationship with the director of action film Kick-Ass and producer of Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels for 16 months when they tied the knot near their family home in Suffolk on 25 May 2002.

Forbes magazine once put her net worth at about $55m (£38m).

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Ed Miliband will stand for the Labour leadership, the BBC has learned.

The former energy minister told members of his local constituency party in Doncaster that he intends to run and will announce it on Saturday morning.

His older brother David – the former foreign secretary – is also standing for the post vacated by Gordon Brown.

Ed said he had thought long and hard about standing against his older sibling, while David earlier insisted "brotherly love will survive".

The pair are the only two Labour MPs to have announced they are standing for the party leadership.

Speaking before Ed confirmed his decision David Miliband said he was "absolutely confident" the family could "remain strong" whatever happened.

Ex-Schools Secretary Ed Balls and backbencher Jon Cruddas have both indicated they are considering a bid.

Alan Johnson, Harriet Harman, Yvette Cooper and Jack Straw have ruled themselves out of the race.

‘Progressive activists’

David Miliband, a former protege of ex-Labour leader Tony Blair, has said he wants to rebuild the Labour Party as "the great reforming champion of social and economic change in this country".

He said Labour had to acknowledge that it had "lost this election and lost it badly" and now had to "re-engage with the public and understand, especially in England, why we lost".

When asked earlier in the week about speculation Ed would enter the race, he said: "We have talked very frankly and openly to each other because we love each other as brothers."

He added: "Brotherly love will survive because brotherly love is more important than politics."

Before he announced his intention to stand Ed’s supporters launched a website with a petition urging him to throw his hat into the ring.

The site says it has been set up by "a bunch of progressive activists who want to see a swift end to Tory rule".

Ed Miliband is less well-known than David and has been an MP for less time, but he has the backing of trade union Unite and is known to have supporters in the Parliamentary Labour Party.

David Miliband has already been backed by a number of Labour heavyweights including former Home Secretary Alan Johnson.

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Sudan’s military says it has seized control of a key rebel stronghold in the western region of Darfur.

An army spokesman, Al-Sawarmi Khaled, said more than 100 rebels from the Justice and Equality Movement (Jem) had been killed in the Jebel Moon area.

The rebels say they left the area three weeks ago to avoid civilian casualties.

The rebels signed a preliminary peace deal with the government earlier this year, but have since pulled out of further talks.

The BBC’s James Copnall in Sudan says the situation in Darfur has changed significantly as the rebels now appear to be dispersed in small groups throughout the region.

He says the intensity of the conflict in Sudan’s western region has dropped in recent years, although it has flared up in the last few weeks.

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A driver has been jailed for killing a pedestrian while unlicensed and uninsured.

David Loosemore died after stepping in front of the car Jason John Williams, 39, from Swansea, was driving.

A judge at Swansea Crown Court said Williams was not being held responsible for 41-year-old Mr Loosemore’s death.

Rather, he was being punished for not holding a driving licence or insurance at the time of Mr Loosemore’s death. Williams was jailed for 36 weeks.

Judge John Diehl said parliament clearly wanted drivers involved in fatal road accidents to be more severely punished.

He said that Williams had never held a licence "or bothered to try and get one".

He also did not have insurance, but he had managed to build a long list of convictions for driving offences.

He stressed that Williams was not being held responsible for the death of Mr Loosemore.

On the contrary, he added, Williams had behaved entirely properly by pulling into a side street, returning to the scene, telephoning the police and trying to help.

"But this offence does not require proof as to the manner or your driving, only that you were driving without a valid licence or insurance.

"The law is seeking to tell you, and other people, that it is against the law to drive without them.

"You had no business driving because you had no insurance against the possible consequences to any unfortunate third party," he said.

Driving test

Williams, a bar manager, was driving his girlfriend home on 10 February 2009, when Mr Loosemore stepped into the path of his car which was overtaking another vehicle.

Mr Loosemore suffered head injuries and died the following day.

John Hipkin, prosecuting, said Williams had owned the BMW for eight weeks and knew he was breaking the law every time he used it.

He said there was no record of Williams ever taking a driving test, without which he could not get valid insurance even if he wanted to.

Williams denied the offence but was convicted by a jury after a trial.

Legal requirements

Judge Diehl told Williams: "There is no suggestion there was any fault with the manner of your driving, or that you were adversely affected by drink or drugs.

"Tragically, Mr Loosemore stepped out into you path. You could not avoid the collision and afterwards you behaved entirely responsibly.

"Your girlfriend, who you cherish, was in the car and she didn’t know you had no insurance.

"This offence is aggravated because you had chosen over a long period of time to ignore the legal requirements to have a valid driving licence and insurance.

"These were you responsibilities as the owner and user of the vehicle."

Williams was also banned from driving for two years.

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The Dutch boy who was the sole survivor of a plane crash in Libya that killed 103 people has been told that his parents and brother died in the crash.

Dutch officials said Ruben van Assouw would return to the Netherlands with his aunt and uncle on Saturday morning.

The Afriqiyah Airways Airbus 330 crashed short of the runway at Tripoli airport on Wednesday.

The head Libyan investigator has said the pilot reported no problems during the plane’s approach to land.

Ruben’s aunt and uncle said their nine-year-old nephew was doing well under the circumstances.

"We have explained to Ruben exactly what happened," they said in a statement to journalists in Tripoli.

"He knows his parents and brother are dead. The whole family is going to bear the responsibility for Ruben’s future," they said.

Ruben had been on holiday in South Africa with his parents, Trudy and Patrick van Assouw, and his older brother, Enzo.

"The time ahead will be a difficult period for us. We hope that the media will respect our privacy," they added.

The family had been celebrating the parents’ twelve-and-a-half year wedding anniversary, a Dutch custom.

Dutch foreign ministry officials said the boy, accompanied by his aunt and uncle and a doctor, would return to the Netherlands on Saturday morning.

Sedig Benzala, the head of the team caring for him, said Ruben was recovering well after a four-and-a-half hour operation to repair multiple fractures to his legs.

The Airbus 330 – carrying 93 passengers and 11 crew – crashed on Wednesday morning as it arrived from Johannesburg, South Africa.

The plane’s flight recorders have been sent to Paris for examination.

It is not clear what caused the plane to crash just short of the runway as it approached Tripoli airport.

The head of the investigation team said the pilot had not reported any problems.

"Until the very last moment things were normal between the pilot and the control tower," Neji Dhaou told AFP news agency.

Dutch, French, South African and US experts are helping Libya with the investigation.

Dutch forensic experts are helping to identify the bodies.

Most of the passengers on the flight were from the Netherlands.

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Police in Pakistan say at least 60 people have been kidnapped by suspected militants in the country’s volatile north-west tribal region.

The hostages were seized in Kurram after the vehicles they were travelling in were ambushed by men reportedly dressed as police officers.

Women and children were among those taken captive, according to the police.

Kidnappings for ransom are common in the Islamic militant stronghold of Kurram, which borders Afghanistan.

The Taliban has a strong presence in Kurram, which has also been the site of violence between the majority Sunni Muslims and Shias.

Heavily armed militants seized several vehicles that were travelling in convoy to Parachinar, the main city in Kurram, said Mir Chaman, the area police chief.

"The militants were posing as policemen and wearing police uniforms," he said.

An investigation was under way and all efforts were being made to find the hostages, he added.

There has been no claim of responsibility for the attack.

This article is from the BBC News website. © British Broadcasting Corporation, The BBC is not responsible for the content of external internet sites.

In 2002, Sierra Leone emerged from a decade-long civil war and as Allan Little discovers, much of it was thanks to a little-known British brigadier.

It was an astonishing thing to witness: the fortunes of a whole country transformed in the space of a few days by a single, decisive intervention.

Eight hundred British paratroopers landed at Freetown airport just as the city was about to slip into the terrifying chaos of a rebel invasion and suddenly, unexpectedly, the shape of Sierra Leone’s decade-long civil war was altered.

Or so it seemed to me at the time.

It was, in fact, a little more haphazard than that. And, I’ve subsequently learned, the British reporters on the ground in West Africa – myself included – seem, unwittingly, to have played a small part in it all.

Brutal rebels

The British Government sent paratroopers to the capital Freetown as a precautionary measure and to carry out a very limited operation.

Their task was to secure the airport and evacuate a few hundred British and other foreigners who were living in the city. The operation would take seven to 10 days, after which time the British troops would get out and leave Sierra Leone to its fate.

Freetown, we reported, was in a state of terror. Its citizens knew what a rebel assault would mean.

The rebel force, the Revolutionary United Front, or RUF, was known for its brutality.

Its soldiers, often children, sometimes fuelled by drugs and drink, were merciless. The hacking off of limbs was their signature atrocity.

When the British arrived, the people saw them as saviours, and in the end that is what they turned out to be.

‘Taking sides’

For the force commander, a little-known brigadier called David Richards, had other ideas. He saw a chance, took a risk, and changed the fate of the country.

David Richards is now General Sir David Richards and head of the British Army. I went to see him this week in London and this is his story.

"I could see," he told me, "that with a little robustness, we could make a difference."

He went to see the president, Ahmed Tejan Kabbah, who was preparing to flee the country.

"There was a helicopter parked beside his house," General Richards told me. "I told him, you won’t be needing that I promise you."

At that meeting, held within hours of the British landing in Sierra Leone, Richards promised the president that Britain would supply arms and ammunition to the government forces.

British helicopters would be made available to move men and material around the battlefield.

And he, General Richards, would, with a small team of British staff officers, take personal command of the war and seek to end it by defeating the rebel forces. In other words, Richards was committing Britain to taking sides in Sierra Leone’s civil war.

However, there was one important difficulty. The general’s political bosses in London had sent him to carry out a quick evacuation and then leave.

"So," I asked him 10 years on, "you were promising the president all this before you had the political authority from London to do so?"

"Er, yes," he said, "I’m afraid I was, yes."

War plans

For several days, the political leaders in London stuck with the evacuation narrative, while their man on the ground got on with fighting a war.

"Fortunately," he told me, "the military activities and equipment we needed for an evacuation were remarkably similar to what I needed to push back the rebel forces. So in terms of constructing a tale for London, that was useful."

"So wait a minute," I said, "London was kitting you up for a quick evacuation operation, and you decided to use that kit to intervene in the war?"

"Yes," he said.

For a few days he came under pressure from the Ministry of Defence to carry out his evacuation and then get out.

The problem was now that the British were there, Freetown felt safe and most foreigners did not want to be evacuated.

Blair’s backing

"I needed," he told me, "to get a message up beyond the Ministry of Defence. I needed to get to the next level up. I needed to get to Prime Minister Tony Blair. And I did that through you reporters on the ground, including you."

I look now at some of my reports from the time. "There is no longer any pretence," I say in one, "that this operation is about evacuation. It is about much much more than that."

Very quickly, it became clear that the intervention would be successful. The British government backed the brigadier’s bold change of plan.

"If it had gone wrong," he said, "they’d have cut me off at the knees."

It became, after Kosovo, the second of what would come to be known as "Blair’s wars", an early example of the kind of liberal interventionism that would later take Britain to war in Iraq and Afghanistan.

"Did it," I ask, "embolden British politicians, and lead them to think of war not as a last resort but as just another policy option?"

"There might," he said, "be something in that."

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This article is from the BBC News website. © British Broadcasting Corporation, The BBC is not responsible for the content of external internet sites.