Marco Rubio admits wrong dates in Cuban parents 'exile'

Senator Marco Rubio has been seen mentioned as a potential 2012 vice-presidential candidate

A Florida Republican often touted as a possible 2012 vice-presidential candidate has admitted his Cuban parents did not come to the US as exiles from Fidel Castro's rule.

Senator Marco Rubio acknowledges "getting a few dates wrong" about when they left the Caribbean island.

But the 40-year-old says any suggestion he had spun his background story for political advantage was "outrageous".

He maintains communism in Cuba was a defining event in his parents' lives.

The Washington Post reported on Friday, after examining official records and naturalisation documents, that Mr Rubio's parents had obtained US residence more than two years before Castro took power in 1959.

An entry on his official Senate website saying he is the son of "Cuban born parents who came to America following Fidel Castro's takeover" has now been amended.

The Tea Party favourite has also said in the past that his parents left Cuba before its revolution.

The first-term senator conceded on Friday that his parents had not come to the US after Castro took power.

Miami-born Mr Rubio wrote in a column for Politico.com: "If The Washington Post wants to criticize me for getting a few dates wrong, I accept that."

But he added that the report had made "outrageous allegations".

"To call into question the central and defining event of my parents' young lives - the fact that a brutal communist dictator took control of their homeland and they were never able to return - is something I will not tolerate," he wrote.

In his article, Mr Rubio said the discrepancy in dates would not tarnish his appeal with voters.

"They voted for me because, as the son of immigrants, I know how special America really is."

Pakistan wins UN Security Council seat alongside India

Pakistan may resist Western attempts to sanction Syria and Iran

Pakistan has won a seat alongside its regional rival India on the UN Security Council.

It was contesting elections for five positions with two-year terms.

Morocco, Guatemala and Togo have also been elected as new temporary members of the council. The Eastern European seat is still being contested.

Pakistan's win means both South Asian nuclear states will serve, but diplomats do not think regional rivalry will play out in a big way there.

The positions of Pakistan and India are similar on many international issues.

The elections replace five of the 10 temporary members of the council every year.

Usually regional groupings endorse the seats in advance, but this year there was an unusually high number of contestants, making the outcome unpredictable.

Guatemala ran unopposed and Morocco won easily, but Togo's victory took three rounds and the fifth seat is still contested.

Pakistan's ambassador, Abdullah Hussain Haroon, said he expected to work well with his Indian counterpar - he received a congratulatory call from the Indian envoy while talking to journalists.

Diplomats say the greater impact may be on wider council dynamics - they suspect Pakistan may join emerging powers in resisting Western attempts to sanction countries such as Syria and Iran.

If so, it would continue positions held by Brazil, whose term is ending.

Togo's victory ensures a black African presence on the council, something that was in doubt because its run-off was against the Arab state of Mauritania.

Eurozone ministers approve 8bn euro Greek bailout aid

The French and German finance ministers greeted each other but their countries remain divided

Eurozone finance ministers have approved the next tranche of Greek bailout loans, potentially saving the country from a disastrous default.

The 8bn-euro ($11bn; £7bn) loan must still be signed off by the International Monetary Fund.

Once this is done, Athens should get the funds in mid-November, officials said on Friday.

Ministers, who have begun several days of talks, also said they were working on a second rescue package for Greece.

The new plan for the debt-ridden country would include fresh aid money and contributions from the private sector.

However, no further details on the new package were disclosed.

The finance ministers are meeting in Brussels for negotiations aimed at resolving the eurozone's debt crisis and bolstering the region's banking sector.

On Saturday, ministers from all 27 EU countries will join the talks. EU leaders will also gather on Sunday, and have announced plans for an extra meeting on Wednesday.

But there have been widespread reports of deep divisions between France and Germany.

In particular, the two need to agree on how to increase the firepower of the eurozone's bailout fund, the European Financial Stability Facility (EFSF), from its current 440bn euros ($595bn; £383bn).

France has proposed turning the EFSF into a bank so that it could borrow from the European Central Bank (ECB), but Germany has refused to sanction such a move, arguing it would compromise the ECB's impartiality.

German Finance Minister Wolfgang Schaeuble reiterated this position as he arrived at the Brussels meeting.

"We have all taken note that it is clear, first, that we will stick to the agreed guarantees and that we will stick to the situation as it is in the treaty that the central bank is not available for state financing," he said.

The German government has also promised its taxpayers that its contribution will not go above 211bn euros so is looking for a way to increase the size of the fund without increasing the liabilities of German taxpayers.

Despite no apparent movement on the deadlock, markets were trading higher, with the leading indexes in London, Frankfurt and Berlin all up between 1.5% and 2.7%, while US markets also rose at the start.

'Collective action'

The finance ministers from the 17 countries that use the euro, known as the eurogroup, were hoping to thrash out differences on Friday ahead of the arrival of Europe's leaders on Saturday.

Jean-Claude Juncker, the chairman of the eurogroup and the prime minister of Luxembourg, said the delay to a deal portrayed a "disastrous" image of the eurozone to the rest of the world, adding that it was not necessarily just France and Germany that had differences of opinion.

A spokesperson for UK Prime Minister David Cameron said he had held a video conference with US President Barack Obama, German Chancellor Angela Merkel and French President Nicolas Sarkozy earlier on Friday.

"They all agreed on the urgent need for the eurozone to agree a comprehensive and sustainable solution to the eurozone financial crisis and Chancellor Merkel and President Sarkozy outlined the approach that was under discussion.

"They agreed to continue to consult closely ahead of the G20 summit in Cannes [in November] on collective international action to support global economic growth."

A deal on the euro had been expected to be signed on Sunday, but France and Germany said they would not be able to reach an agreement by then and announced that leaders would meet again on Wednesday.

Sunday's summit had already been delayed from 17-18 October because more time was needed to finalise a plan.

BBC business editor Robert Peston said he expects a deal to be announced to recapitalise Europe's banks on Saturday.

Greek losses

A second hurdle in the way of any rescue plan is that negotiations have not yet begun properly with private sector lenders to Greece on a further reduction of what the Greek government will repay them.

Banks have already agreed to take a 21% loss, or "haircut", on their loans to Greece but there is growing pressure for them to accept higher losses.

President Sarkozy has called for talks with the private sector.

Previous disagreements between France and Germany about the bailout plans have centred on how much the private sector would have to contribute to any package.

Germany has been leading the push for the private sector to take steeper losses, but France and the ECB fear that this would destabilise the banking sector and worsen market turmoil.

Meanwhile, the head of Germany's second biggest bank has said that Greece should declare itself insolvent and restructure its debt in order to restore calm to the markets.

"It has to become clear that states have only two options," Commerzbank chief executive Martin Blessing told the daily Bild.

"Either they service their debt as agreed or they declare insolvency with all the tough consequences. It is not enough to just take writedowns on bank balance sheets."

Barack Obama: All US troops to leave Iraq in 2011

President Obama: "In the next two months our troops will pack up their gear and board convoys for the journey home"

All US troops will be pulled out of Iraq by the end of the year, President Barack Obama has announced.

He ordered a complete withdrawal from the country, nearly nine years after the invasion under President George W Bush.

About 39,000 US troops remain in Iraq, down from a peak of 165,000 in 2008.

The US and Iraq were in "full agreement" on how to move forward, Mr Obama said, adding: "The US leaves Iraq with our heads held high."

"That is how America's military efforts in Iraq will end."

According to the Department of Defense, there have been 4,408 American military deaths in Iraq since March 2003.

Mr Obama spoke at the White House following a video conference with Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri Maliki.

He pledged assistance and "a strong and enduring partnership" with Iraqi government.

The US declared the end of its combat mission in Iraq in 2010. The deadline for complete troop withdrawal by end of 2011 was set during former President George W Bush's term in office.

However, the issue of a full pullout had been the subject of an ongoing debate.

Iraqi leaders had wanted 5,000 US troops to remain in a training capacity. But those trainers would not have received immunity from prosecution under Iraqi law.

The Pentagon refused to accept that condition, with Defence Secretary Leon Panetta insisting that "we protect and provide the appropriate immunity for our soldiers".

The decision to pull out all US troops suggests no deal could be reached, despite Iraq's desire for continued access to US military expertise, correspondents say.

Earlier this month, Iraqi government spokesman Ali al-Dabbagh said: "If we do not have agreement on the immunity, there will be no agreement on the number."

Many Iraqis are sensitive about the issue, given the number of civilian shootings involving US troops since the US-led invasion. Private contractors have already lost their immunity.

Mr Obama said the withdrawal comes amid changes in American military priorities, including a troop drawdown in Afghanistan, and new political realities in the Middle East and Africa.

"The tide of war is receding," he said.

Libya urged to examine Muammar Gaddafi's death

Libyan leaders have said they want to make sure "everybody knows Gaddafi is dead"

Libya's authorities have come under pressure to give a full account of the death of ex-leader Col Muammar Gaddafi.

The US said they should do it in an "open and transparent manner". The UN called for a full investigation, after video footage showed Col Gaddafi captured alive - and then dead.

His burial has been delayed with officials divided about what to do with the body. A post-mortem is expected.

Nato says it will end its campaign in Libya by 31 October.

The alliance's Secretary General, Anders Fogh Rasmussen, said that as the mission winds down, Nato "will make sure there are no attacks against civilians during the transition period".

Nato's seven-month campaign of air strikes was carried out under a UN mandate authorising the use of force to protect civilians in Libya.

Visits to freezer

Hundreds of Libyans have been queuing to get a glimpse of the body of Col Gaddafi in a meat storage room in Misrata.

The BBC's Gabriel Gatehouse in the city says some - mostly women - craned their necks to see the body of his son Mutassim, who was also killed on Thursday.

Officials, including acting Prime Minister Mahmoud Jibril, have also been to see the corpses.

Oil Minister Ali Tarhouni told Reuters news agency Col Gaddafi would not be released for immediate burial.

"I told them to keep it in the freezer for a few days... to make sure that everybody knows he is dead," he said.

It is unclear whether the ex-leader will be buried in Misrata, in his hometown of Sirte, where he and his son were captured, or elsewhere.

Officials from the National Transitional Council (NTC) have said they will conduct a secret burial and there is some speculation that they might even try to bury him at sea, as happened with al-Qaeda leader Osama Bin Laden, to prevent any grave being turned into a shrine.

Autopsy

Meanwhile, questions are mounting as to exactly what happened in Col Gaddafi's last moments following his capture.

Mr Jibril said Col Gaddafi had been shot in the head in an exchange of fire between Gaddafi loyalists and NTC fighters in Sirte.

Video footage suggests he was dragged through the streets.

An NTC fighter told the BBC on Thursday that he found the former Libyan leader hiding in a drainage pipe and he had begged him not to shoot.

Misrata's chief forensic doctor, Othman al-Zintani, told al-Arabiya TV that full autopsies would be carried out on the bodies of Col Gaddafi and his son.

Senior NTC member Mohammed Sayeh told the BBC he doubted that the colonel had been deliberately killed, but added: "Even if he was killed intentionally, I think he deserves this."

In Washington, state department spokesman Mark Toner said the NTC "has already been working to determine the precise cause and circumstances of Gaddafi's death, and we obviously urge them to do so in an open and transparent manner as we move forward".

But Russia's Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said the "way his death happened poses an entire number of questions".

Mr Lavrov called for a full investigation, echoing a similar call by UN Human Rights Commissioner Navi Pillay.

Her spokesman Rupert Colville told the BBC that the killing could have been illegal.

"There are two videos out there, one showing him alive and one showing him dead and there are four or five different versions of what happened in between those two cell phone videos. That obviously raises very, very major concerns," he said.

However, correspondents say few Libyans are worried about the manner of their former dictator's humiliating end. Celebrations continued late into the night across Libya.

The NTC is expected to formally announce the liberation of the country during the weekend.

Col Gaddafi, who came to power in a coup in 1969, was toppled in August. He was making his last stand in Sirte alongside two of his sons, Mutassim and Saif al-Islam, according to reports.

There are conflicting reports as to the whereabouts of Saif al-Islam, and Col Gaddafi's security chief - who are both at large.

It is believed Colonel Gaddafi and his entourage had been trying to flee Sirte

Gaddafi was 'killed in crossfire'

Amateur video of Col Gaddafi shortly before he was killed

Libya's Col Muammar Gaddafi was killed in crossfire in an assault on his birthplace of Sirte, officials say.

Acting Prime Minister Mahmoud Jibril said he had been shot in the head in an exchange between Gaddafi loyalists and National Transitional Council fighters.

He confirmed that Col Gaddafi had been taken alive, but had died before reaching hospital.

Nato's governing body, meeting in the coming hours, is expected to declare an end to its Libyan bombing campaign.

Nato Secretary-General Anders Fogh Rasmussen said that with the death of Col Gaddafi "that moment has now moved much closer".

"After 42 years, Col Gaddafi's rule of fear has finally come to an end," he said. "I call on all Libyans to put aside their differences and work together to build a brighter future."

Golden gun

Mr Jibril, number two in the National Transitional Council (NTC), held a news conference in Tripoli to confirm the colonel's death.

"We have been waiting for this moment for a long time. Muammar Gaddafi has been killed," he said.

Video footage suggests Col Gaddafi was dragged through the streets.

It is unclear from the footage, broadcast by al-Jazeera TV, whether he was alive or dead at the time.

Mr Jibril, number two in the National Transitional Council (NTC), held a news conference in Tripoli to confirm the colonel's death.

Later, he told journalists that a "forensic report" had concluded that the colonel had died from bullet wounds after he had been captured and driven away.

"When the car was moving it was caught in crossfire between the revolutionaries and Gaddafi forces in which he was hit by a bullet in the head," said Mr Jibril, quoting from the report.

"The forensic doctor could not tell if it came from the revolutionaries or from Gaddafi's forces."

Earlier, some NTC fighters gave a different account of the colonel's death, saying he had been shot by his captors when he tried to escape.

One NTC fighter told the BBC that he found Col Gaddafi hiding in a hole, and the former leader had begged him not to shoot.

The fighter showed reporters a golden pistol he said he had taken from Col Gaddafi.

Arabic TV channels showed images of troops surrounding two large drainage pipes where the reporters said Col Gaddafi was found.

US President Barack Obama said it was a "momentous day" for Libya, now that tyranny had fallen.

He said the country had a "long and winding road towards full democracy", but the US and other countries would stand behind Tripoli.

Col Gaddafi was toppled from power in August after 42 years in charge of the country.

He was making his last stand in Sirte alongside two of his sons, Mutassim and Saif al-Islam, according to reports.

Nato air strike

A body officials identified as that of Mutassim has been shown on Libyan TV.

A reporter for the Reuters news agency described how the body of Mutassim -- the former national security adviser -- had been laid out on blankets on the floor of a house in the city of Misrata, while local people jostled to take pictures of the corpse with their mobile phones.

Al-Jazeera TV broadcast footage it says showed Col Gaddafi's body

The body of Col Gaddafi was also taken to Misrata.

There are conflicting reports as to the whereabouts of Saif al-Islam.

Acting Justice Minister Mohammad al-Alagi told the AP news agency Saif al-Islam had been captured and taken to hospital with a leg wound.

But another NTC official said his whereabouts were unknown.

Nato, which has been running a bombing campaign in Libya for months, said it had carried out an air strike earlier on Thursday.

French Defence Minister Gerard Longuet said French jets had fired warning shots to halt a convoy carrying Col Gaddafi as it tried to flee Sirte.

He said Libyan fighters had then descended and taken the colonel.

Proof of Col Gaddafi's fate came in grainy pieces of video, first circulated among fighters, and then broadcast by international news channels.

The first images showed a bloodied figure presumed to be Col Gaddafi.

Later, video emerged of the colonel being bundled on to the back of a pick-up truck after being captured alive.

None of the video footage has been independently verified.

'Full of challenges'

Libyans gathered in towns and cities across the country to celebrate the reports of the colonel's death.

The BBC's Gabriel Gatehouse has visited the drain where Col Gaddafi was reportedly found by NTC forces

Groups of young men fired guns in the air, and drivers honked horns in celebration.

In the capital Tripoli, wild scenes of celebration continued into the night, with cars clogging the city centre.

Col Gaddafi's death came after weeks of fierce fighting for Sirte, one of the last remaining pockets of resistance.

A senior official, Mahmoud Shammam, told the BBC that fighting throughout Libya was over.

World leaders urged the NTC to carry through its promise to reform the country.

UK Prime Minister David Cameron, who had taken a leading role in Nato's intervention, said it was "a day to remember all of Col Gaddafi's victims".

UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon called it a "historic" moment, but warned: "The road ahead for Libya and its people will be difficult and full of challenges."

Officials said the NTC intended to announce the "liberation of the country" in the coming days, allowing them to begin pushing through democratic reforms that will lead to elections.

Turkey steps up offensive in Iraq after Kurdish raids

Commandos and special paramilitary forces are taking part in the offensive, the military says

A major Turkish military offensive is continuing in northern Iraq, following a deadly attack by Kurdish rebels inside Turkey.

Ankara said 22 battalions, or about 10,000 soldiers, were taking part in the operation in northern Iraq and also south-eastern Turkey.

The troops - including commandos and paramilitary forces - are being backed by war planes and helicopters.

On Tuesday, Kurdish PKK rebels killed 24 soldiers near the Iraqi border.

The attacks in Hakkari province are thought to have inflicted the biggest loss on Turkish forces since 1993 and President Abdullah Gul has vowed to avenge them.

In recent months, violence between the army and Kurdish rebels from the PKK (Kurdistan Workers' Party) has mounted.

PKK guerrillas are seeking greater autonomy in Turkey's Kurdish-dominated south-east.

Tens of thousands of people have died in the conflict since 1984.

Nato support

In a statement on Thursday, the Turkish military said that 22 battalions were involved in the operation.

It said the ground troops were being reinforced by F-16 and F-4 jets and Cobra helicopter gunships.

The operation was focusing on five separate areas, the statement added, without giving details how many troops were deployed in Turkey and Iraq.

At a televised news conference, Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan said: "The military is determinedly carrying out this [operation], both from the air and the ground."

Unconfirmed reports say that 21 Kurdish militants have been killed since the Turkish operation was launched on Wednesday.

The Kurdish rebel raids - thought to be at least two simultaneous ambushes - took place in Cukurca and the district of Yuksekova.

Ankara said that 24 soldiers were killed and another 18 injured.

Turkey's army is a conscript one and many families will have sent sons to serve.

The Turkish parliament has recently renewed the law that gives Turkish forces carte blanche to pursue rebels over the border.

A spokesman for the PKK, Dostdar Hamo, on Wednesday confirmed that clashes had been taking place in two areas, the Associated Press news agency reported.

The US and Nato have issued statements in support of the Turkish government.

Greek MPs pass austerity measures

There were chaotic scenes as violence flared on the streets of Athens

The Greek parliament has given its final approval to the latest package of austerity measures.

All but one of the deputies from the ruling Pasok party voted in favour of the law.

The approval comes despite two days of violent protests against its provisions, which include cutting public sector wages and raising taxes.

One man has died as battles erupted at a large rally outside the Greek parliament in Athens.

The dead man was identified by Greek media as a middle-aged trade unionist.

"The demonstrator died of a heart attack," Deputy Citizens Protection Minister Manolis Othonas told Reuters. "He was not hurt in the incidents."
The country is in the grip of a 48-hour general strike in protest at the cuts.

As protesters gathered for a second day the BBC's Gavin Hewitt said "you shouldn't underestimate the sense of rage and frustration

The government's bill is needed to secure EU and IMF bailout loans.

The member of the ruling socialist party who voted against it, Louka Katseli, has been expelled from the party by Prime Minister George Papandreou.

Civil servants, shopkeepers, dock workers, taxi drivers, doctors, lawyers, teachers, construction workers and others were all due to take part in the strike, which began on Wednesday.

An estimated 50,000 protesters gathered on Syntagma Square, in front of parliament, on Thursday.

The bill includes plans for further cuts to pensions and salaries and temporary lay-offs of 30,000 public sector workers.
With Greece unable to borrow on international bond markets to finance its debt, the EU and IMF have stepped in with two bailout packages.

Finance Minister Evangelos Venizelos described the choice as between a "difficult situation and a catastrophe".

"We have to explain to all these indignant people who see their lives changing that what the country is experiencing is not the worst stage of the crisis," he said.

"It is an anguished and necessary effort to avoid the ultimate, deepest and harshest level of the crisis."

There are fears that if the Greek government defaults on its debts, it will set off a chain reaction that could engulf banks and other highly indebted eurozone nations.
But the government is struggling to convince lenders that it is cutting effectively enough. Greece says it needs the next 8bn euros ($11bn; £7bn) of the first bailout agreed to last year or it will soon be unable to pay its bills.

The details of the second rescue plan have yet to be finalised. Banks have agreed to take a 21% loss, or "haircut", on their loans to Greece but there is growing pressure for them to accept higher losses.

European leaders and global finance chiefs are trying to work out a broader plan to tackle the eurozone's debt crisis ahead of a weekend summit in Brussels.

But they have now had to concede that they will not reach agreement on Sunday and have called another summit for next week to approve a deal.

Venezuela's Hugo Chavez says he is free of cancer

President Chavez says he is well enough to seek re-election next year

Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez has said he is free of cancer after returning from health checks in Cuba following four cycles of chemotherapy.

He travelled to the island four months ago to have surgery for cancer there.

"Everything went perfectly. I got top marks, 20 out of 20," he told reporters.

Mr Chavez had previously described his treatment as successful. But secrecy about his illness fuelled speculation it may be worse than officially stated.

"I am free of illness," Chavez said in an address to Venezuelans after arriving in the town of La Fria in western Venezuela.

He later made a pilgrimage to a Catholic shrine, Santo Cristo de la Grita, as a gesture of thanksgiving.

"The new Chavez is back ... We will live!" he declared.

His return from Cuba was broadcast in a special transmission on Venezuelan television and radio stations.

The 57-year-old leader, who has been in power since 1999, says his illness will not stop him from standing for re-election next year, and winning.

Mr Chavez has transformed Venezuela with sweeping nationalisations.

His reforms have made him popular with many poor people, but critics say he wants to install Cuban-style communism in Venezuela.

Last month, he denied US media reports that he had been rushed to hospital with kidney failure linked to his cancer treatment.

He has so far given no details of his illness and doctors warn that patients must generally wait at least two years after treatment before they can be considered out of danger.

Eta statement: "Eta has decided on the definitive cessation of its armed activity"

The French and German leaders spoke on the phone on Thursday

EU leaders are to hold another summit by Wednesday, because they will not be able to agree a rescue plan for the euro on Sunday.

French President Nicolas Sarkozy and German Chancellor Angela Merkel said a crisis strategy would be discussed on Sunday and adopted at the next meeting.

EU leaders need to agree a second bailout for Greece, how to recapitalise banks and a stronger bailout fund.

President Sarkozy also called for talks with the private sector.

The private sector talks would be "to find an agreement allowing to strengthen the sustainability" of Greek debt.

Previous disagreements between France and Germany about the bailout plans have centred on how much the private sector would have to contribute to any package.

A spokesman for Chancellor Merkel said the leaders agreed that a "comprehensive, ambitious" answer to the crisis was needed.

The spokesman also said that the advantage of the additional summit would be that it would give the German parliament time to approve any changes to the bailout fund.
Chancellor Merkel had been due to address the Bundestag on Friday, but that has now been postponed.

President Sarkozy and Chancellor Merkel have also said they plan to meet on Saturday in the hope of making progress, ahead of the heads of government meeting on Sunday in Brussels.

Sunday's summit had already been delayed from 17-18 October because more time was needed to finalise a plan.

The French and German leaders spoke on the phone on Thursday.

"We have made enormous progress but not enough to take final decisions on Friday," Chancellor Merkel's spokesman said.

"In certain areas, we have reached agreement, in others, we are on the right track."

European shares fell on Thursday amid concern about whether enough progress would be made at the weekend summit.

Basque group Eta says armed campaign is over

At its height Eta killed more than 100 people in a single year

The Basque separatist group Eta says it has called a "definitive cessation" to its campaign of bombings and shootings.

In a statement provided to the BBC, Eta called on the Spanish and French governments to respond with "a process of direct dialogue".

The declaration, if followed through, would bring an end to Eta's campaign of violence, which has lasted more than 40 years and killed more than 800 people.

Spain's PM said the move was "a victory for democracy, law and reason".

Jose Luis Rodriguez Zapatero said after 40 years of bomb attacks and assassinations, Spain was now experiencing "legitimate satisfaction" at the victory over terror.

He said that terror should never have happened and must never be return.

The new Spanish government to emerge after November's general election is to take charge of the process, said former interior minister Alfredo Perez Rubalcaba - who is running on behalf of the Socialist Party in the poll.

Mr Zapatero is not running for re-election.

Analysts say Eta has been badly weakened by a security crackdown in recent years.

The declaration follows a conference this week in the Basque Country, attended by international statesmen including former UN Secretary General Kofi Annan, and protagonists in the Northern Ireland peace process.

They called on Eta to lay down its arms.

Our correspondent, Sarah Rainsford, says the event was so carefully choreographed that this move from Eta was widely anticipated.

Ceasefire broken

In its statement, Eta said "a new political age is opening" in the Basque Country.

"We face a historic opportunity to obtain a just and democratic solution to the age-old political conflict," it said.

"Eta has decided on the definitive cessation of its armed activity. Eta makes a call to the governments of Spain and France to open a process of direct dialogue which has as its aim the resolution of the consequences of the conflict and thus the conclusion of the armed conflict. With this historic declaration, Eta demonstrates its clear, firm and definitive purpose."

Eta statement: "Eta has decided on the definitive cessation of its armed activity"

The announcement - provided to the BBC as well as to the Basque outlet Gara - is the latest step in what Eta claims is a transition to peaceful methods.

In September 2010, it announced, again to the BBC, a decision not to carry out further attacks.

In January this year, it declared a permanent and "internationally verifiable" ceasefire.

Spain's Socialist government has continued to insist that it will not negotiate on demands for Basque self-determination until Eta disbands.

The government is cautious about engaging in another peace process, after the last one failed.

It opened contacts with Eta when the group called a "permanent" ceasefire in 2006, only to break it by bombing an airport car park in Madrid, killing two people.

The group has also abandoned previous ceasefires.

Inigo Gurruchaga, of El Correo, the most prominent newspaper in the Basque Country, says Eta simply used previous truces to reorganise and rearm.

But this time appears to be different, he says.

Not only has there not been a killing for more than two years, but businessmen have stopped receiving demands for a "revolutionary tax", and there have not been street protests by Eta supporters for several months.

The group is also widely considered to have been seriously weakened, by a concerted Spanish and French crackdown.

Dozens of Eta militants, including successive leaders, have been arrested and jailed, and analysts say the group realises its days are numbered.

Human Development - Independence is the First Step

"Independence is adherence to one's best cocky and principles, and this is generally apostasy to accepted idols and fetishes." Mark Twain

Based on my studies, my adventures and my own reflections, I see animal development as a adventure - a abrupt ascend from assurance to ability to alternation to transcendence. This lifetime adventure begins at birth, if we are abased on our parents and added admired ones.

Human step

The action of acceptable physically absolute is about automated with age. It is a accustomed allotment of growing up, and for a lot of of us it comes easily. As we canyon through boyhood and boyhood and become adults, abounding of us aswell administer to become financially absolute - and that usually takes some concentrated effort. We yield up jobs, move out of our parents' homes, get affiliated and acquire accouchement - accomplish against demography albatross for our own lives as able-bodied as for the ancestors associates who are now abased on us. For many, our adventure for ability ends here.

However, getting animal is not alone about concrete and actual development. We charge to advance emotionally and intellectually. Emotionally, abounding of us abide abased - absolution situations about us ascendancy our emotions. We cannot affirmation to be absolute if we still acquiesce accustomed contest - cartage jams, absent spouses, aide missing deadlines at work, absurd audience - to activate animosity of anger, frustration, helplessness or despair. If we are not masters of our emotions, can we absolutely be masters of our own destiny?

Emotional ability or ability is not about aggravating to ascendancy what happens to us. Rather it is about how we acknowledge to what happens to us. It is abandon of best in how we acknowledge to adverse circumstances. We can baste out, as we ability acquire done as children, or we can acquire to be articular and anxious and absolute about affective forward.

In my workshops on advertent one's accurate calling, I borrow a apparatus from 'The Art of Possibility' by Ben and Rosamund Zander. I ask participants to adjure the activity of 'How Wonderful' whenever they are in a bad situation. For example, brainstorm you are backward to an important affair because a flight was delayed. Can you acquaintance it as a admirable moment? Brainstorm your adolescent is awkward you by throwing a anger in public. Can you see that as wonderful?

Human right 

Most participants attending at me as if I'm crazy. "That would be like lying to myself," the say. "Even if I say a bearings isn't so bad, it's still a bad situation. It doesn't go away." As we branch this abstraction further, they acquire that they are added acceptable to appear up with artistic responses if they are in a acceptable affection than if they are affronted and upset. They aswell see how a arresting bearings could in fact be a admirable befalling to apprentice something new or accomplish some artistic ideas. They airing abroad thinking, "Hmm, I admiration if that ability work. I'm traveling to try it..."

Moving on to bookish development, de Tocqueville remarked on how Americans acquire so little ability of apperception but so abundant abandon of discussion. I don't anticipate this abridgement of ability in anticipation is different to Americans. It's a common phenomenon.

Starting from our schooldays, we are accomplished answers to questions that we don't even have. We are led to acquire that there is one adapted acknowledgment and that there is some able about who has ample it out. As we abound into adults, we are brainwashed by the media, the business letters and the political propaganda; we reside in the abundance of never accepting to exercise our intellect. In the Middle Ages, adoration affected altruism into a set of beliefs. In today's times, we acquire the declared acumen of scientists and pseudo-scientists - like economists - after abundant question.

Intellectual ability calls for applying acute anticipation to how we adapt the apple about us. It calls for accessing our moral ambit and axiological principles, as Mark Twain said, in breeding the adapted actions. It calls for candor and alignment in thought, chat and deed.

Sudhakar Ram is Chairman and Co-Founder of Mastek, a arch IT solutions aggregation specializing in accouterment IT platforms and applications for ample and circuitous transformation programs like the London Congestion Charging Scheme, and the National Health Service in the UK. He believes that we acquire the abeyant to actualize a acceptable apple and reside in accord with our environment. However, this would crave a axiological about-face in our mindsets - the "constructs" that drive our attitudes and actions.

The New Constructs is an action to advance ability in all facets of activity in our adventure to actualize an interdependent, affiliated world. How are you advanced through your life? What suggestions do you acquire for the blow of us in our lifetime journeys? Please share. Break active, break engaged.

The Coming New World Order

It's just a cabal theory, right? The admiring for a individual apple government can be traced all the way aback to the Tower of Babel. If you accept in the Bible as I do, you apperceive God wasn't to blessed about that little gathering. The abstruse societies that accept been acclimated to advance this advancing ambition can be traced aback to Babylon, Egypt, Greek and Gnostic cults, the Knights Templar, Rosicrucians, Freemasons, and the Illuminati.

The new world order

The Adjustment of Illuminati was a accumulation formed from aural the Freemasons in 1776 by a Jesuit accomplished man by the name of Adam Weishaupt. It's ambition was aswell the conception of a new apple adjustment but the accumulation was suppressed by the Bavarian government for allegedly acute to abolish all of the kings in Europe including the Pope! The Adjustment was agitated on by Geoseppe Messini of Italy and Albert Pike of South Carolina who was a 33rd amount Mason. This accumulation would activation on others such as the Bildeberg Group, Council on Foreign Relations, Trilateral Commission, Club of Rome, the U.N and abounding more.

The Bildeberg Group, the hub of these organizations, had its aboriginal affair in 1954. It is an unofficial, allurement only, anniversary acquisition of humans of all-around access in the fields of business, banking, and politics. It has aswell afresh been represented by abounding all-around corporations such as IBM, Xerox, Shell, Nokia, and Daimler.

The Trilateral Agency was the abstraction of David Rockefeller, again the Chairman of Foreign Relations, in a 1972 affair of the Bildeberg Group. It was created to advance afterpiece cooperation amid America, Europe, and Japan. Founding associates aswell included Alan Greenspan and Paul Volker who would afterwards become active of the Federal Reserve. In 1975 the agency presented "An Outline for Remaking Apple Barter and Finance."

If it's starting to complete like the aforementioned accumulation of humans active about in the aforementioned groups, you're right. Add to this accumulation the majority of present and accomplished chiffonier associates of the U.S government and you appear up with a appealing able account of humans all blame for the aforementioned thing. These humans wish to akin the all-around bread-and-butter and political arena acreage to assuredly conductor in their continued accessible "new apple order" which you see printed on the aback of your dollar. George H. W. Bush declared in a State of the Union bulletin in 1991, "What is at pale is added than one baby country; it is a big idea-a new apple order..." In 1991, David Rockefeller in a accent to the Bilderberg Society in Baden Baden, Germany said: "We are beholden to the Washington Post, The New York Times, Time Magazine and added abundant publications whose admiral accept abounding our affairs and admired their promises of acumen for about forty years. It would accept been absurd for us to advance our plan for the apple if we had been subjected to the lights of publicity during those years. But, the apple is now added adult and able to accomplished appear a apple government."

The European Union was founded with a accord signing in Rome in 1957. It would become the cornerstone of a three affiliation action to affiliate the apple into this individual political-economic article with the North American Free Barter Agreement, (NAFTA), as the additional affiliation and APEC, (Asia-Pacific Bread-and-butter Cooperation), getting the third. We're already seeing the absorb amid the North American affiliation and the E.U. as appear by Apple Net Circadian which declared that the U.S. and the E.U. are alive on a seven year plan to absorb the two economies into the "Transatlantic Common Market" by 2015. These three blocs will be one afore you apperceive it and the mark of this barbarian will be appropriate there waiting.

This little artifice thickened afresh if Apple Net Circadian aswell appear that some of the wealthiest humans in the apple met secretly in New York. As appear by The London Times, they were alleged calm by Bill Gates and included David Rockefeller, Ted Turner, Oprah Winfrey, Warren Buffett, George Soros, and Michael Bloomberg just weeks afterwards the contempo Bildeberg affair in Greece. They agreed at this meeting, for all of us, to cap the animal citizenry at 8.3 billion people. This apparently, will be the basement accommodation for the new apple order. Faced with the circadian aggression of "global" terrorism, "global" war, "global" trade, a "global" bread-and-butter collapse, and even "global" altitude change, the armament that be are herding flesh into a "global" crisis which I'm abiding they'll accept all the "global" answers for.

The Bible acutely states that every one of these altitude will abide all at the aforementioned time in history for the final canicule of this Earth age. It will culminate in a individual political-economic apple government declared as a barbarian ascent from the sea in Revelation 13:1. Allegedly they're so abutting to closing the accord that it's even in the accessible now, to the point that Apple Net Circadian afresh ran the banderole - Kissinger: Obama Primed to Create New Apple Order. It is alone a cabal approach though, right?.

Computer Tips

Computer errors are actual accepted and every computer user may face altered kinds of issues so they should apprentice about the solutions of the accepted computer accompanying problems. The accepted factors that could could cause problems in computer are viruses, spyware, Trojan horses, adware, besmirched registry, adulterated hardware, low memory, low accommodation harder disk, low CPU acceleration and capacity computers with ample amount of software applications. In this article, I accept aggregate a account of the a lot of accepted computer problems and their solutions.

Create Shorcut

Computer is actual slow

This is actual accepted affair and it arises due to the several factors such as too abounding programs active at the startup, low RAM, low processor speed, spyware active as a accomplishments application, errors in the Windows anthology and the accretion of the debris files on the harder disk. Scanning your computer with an up-to-dated anti virus and anti spyware program, charwoman and acclimation Windows registry, accretion memory, deleting acting files, deselecting the programs at startup and uninstalling exceptionable software applications can break this botheration to a actual ample extent.

Network Server is not accessible

In a networked ambiance every computer depends on the server for logon authentication, files access, internet and press admission and administration server resources. The blow and the advice abortion with the server are actual ambiguous and arresting for the users. Analysis both end of the arrangement cable and accomplish abiding that the absorbed RJ-45 connectors are appropriately acquainted into the LAN agenda and hub/switch. Ping the server's IP and accomplish abiding you get the acknowledgment from server. Ensure that your server is on and alive fine. A ample amount of the active applications on the server and accompanying admission to the server from a amount of users can apathetic down the achievement and acceleration of the server. Browse your PC with an up-to-dated antivirus affairs because assertive bacilli and spyware are amenable for the advice failure. Alter your LAN agenda with new one and accredit altered IP abode and try to affix with the server.

Computer locks up or freezes

Missing .dll files, viruses, adulterated registry, abnormal RAM and spyware slows down the achievement of the server and it locks up frequently. Scanning PC with the anti virus and anti spyware program, charwoman and acclimation anthology and accretion RAM can break this issue.

Computer will not boot

Faulty ability cable, ability addendum and ability accumulation all contributes to this problem. Checking one by one anniversary of the aloft apparatus can define the ambiguous part. Simply alter that allotment with new one and your compute is okay.

Computer reboots itself

Defective cooling fan, ability supply, RAM, bacilli and spyware can could could cause this to happen.

Memory acceptance is best in computer

Either the anamnesis is beneath than the acclaim anamnesis to run assertive applications, bandy anamnesis chips with anniversary other, browse your computer for bacilli and spyware, accretion the page book and concrete anamnesis can affected this problem.

Browser's home page has afflicted itself

This is a lot of acceptable a spyware botheration and scanning computer with an up-to-dated anti spyware affairs can fix this issue.

Computer's alarm accident time

If you see that your computer's alarm is accident time frequently alter your CMOS battery.

My computer can't get affiliated to internet

Check IP address, aperture address, browse your PC for bacilli and spyware, analysis arrangement cables and accomplish abiding that server's or gateway's firewall appliance is not blocking http requests from your PC.

Computer authoritative noises

Faulty RAM, VGA, harder disk, Sound card, Processor and added apparatus aftermath noises. Accomplish abiding that anniversary accouterments accessory is appropriately affiliated central the PC and if the botheration is still not bound again alter the adulterated accouterments basic with new one.

Computer Tips - Some Useful Computer Tips For Average Computer User

Very few a part of us are computer experts but all of us wish to accept actual reliable and fast computers. Keeping in apperception that we can not be be computer experts due to absence of time, I would allotment few computer tips that would accomplish you and your computer feel better.

Repairing 

First, we charge to accept fast and absurdity chargeless computer. The best tip is to use a acceptable anthology cleaner for this purpose. Anthology cleaner is a bifold belted sword. It not alone acceleration up your computer but aswell save your computer from abounding abeyant errors. Buy a acceptable anthology cleaner that comes with support.

Second, to adore your break on internet, abandon your Internet Explorer. The best advantage is to go for Mozilla Firefox or Google Chrome. It will accomplish your break on apple advanced web safer and added efficient.

Third, ancient our computers get chock-full because of exceptionable softwares. Accomplish a account of all such programmes that are not consistently acclimated by you. Do abroad with them.

Fourth and endure tip of the day, add RAM to your computer. Abounding blazon of irritations could be abhorred by abacus an added bit of RAM in your computer.

By afterward these tips, your computer will accomplish bigger in abounding means and bethink it is not consistently all-important to alarm a beatnik to break computer accompanying problems. You and me are as acceptable as anybody else.

And to yield activity on aboriginal tip, apple-pie and adjustment the Anthology through a absolute Anthology Cleaner and PC Optimizer software such as RegInOut.

The aloft guidelines acquiesce you to yield measures to acceleration up computer and accumulate your Windows appropriately maintained. Prevention is the best cure.

If you charge a complete anthology charwoman band-aid and do not accept time to chase all the tips you can try this globally accustomed software account accessible at Cnet Directory.

Home Computing Tips for Getting More From Your Technology

Laptops are acceptable added accepted these days, added affordable and the absolute affair to yield about everywhere with you. But do you apperceive the accomplish to befitting your laptop active in optimal form? If we do not yield affliction of our electronics, they will anon abrasion out and allegation to be replaced. The afterward commodity will allotment some home accretion tips with you for accepting added from your technology.

connect internet 

1. Don't accumulate your laptop array acquainted in all of the time if in use. While abounding humans may feel that it is benign to the computer to accumulate adeptness active from the bank instead of the array authoritative the computer run, this is not necessarily the case. If you accumulate your laptop or netbook acquainted into a adeptness antecedent for continued periods of time, it will ache the array and accomplish it butterfingers of captivation or befitting a allegation for actual long. This agency that if your computer already acclimated to be able to run for 8 hours afterwards defective a charge, by befitting it acquainted in consistently afterwards the time is bare for a abounding battery, you could acquisition your laptop clumsy to run afterwards getting acquainted in due to a array that is no best able to accumulate a allegation on its own.

2. Do you accept a anamnesis stick that you consistently bung into your computer via USB? Did you apperceive that you can ruin not alone your anamnesis stick but aswell the ports on your computer if you do not appropriately abolish your stick already accomplished application it on your computer? On the basal appropriate duke ancillary of your computers assignment bar are some icons. If you annal over them, you will see one that says "safely abolish hardware" you allegation to bang on that in adjustment to conciliate the commands for the USB anchorage and absolution the accessory cautiously afterwards risking alarming the circuits and the computer's adeptness to apprehend the USB port.

These two tips may administer to some of your added technology such as your corpuscle buzz array or iPad. You accept to consistently yield measures to assure your accessories to accumulate them in top alive adjustment for as continued as possible. We all apperceive how abundant easier aspects of our lives accept become due to these items. Do you absolutely wish to end up afterwards them already afresh by not demography the little accomplish that are bare to accumulate them alive their ultimate best?

Russia signs free-trade deal with former Soviet states

Mr Putin said the agreement would make the eight economies more competitive

Russia has signed a free-trade deal with seven other former Soviet republics that will scrap export and import tariffs on a number of goods.

The agreement was announced following talks in St Petersburg. The other signature countries are Ukraine, Belarus, Kazakhstan, Armenia, Kyrgyzstan, Moldova and Tajikistan.

No details have yet been revealed about what goods will be included.

Uzbekistan, Azerbaijan and Turkmenistan may join by the end of the year.

The free trade agreement now needs to be ratified by the parliaments of the eight countries who have so far signed up, before becoming effective in 2012.

Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin said the move would make their collective economies "more competitive".

Analysts said Ukraine's inclusion was significant, as the country had previously sought closer trade ties with the European Union.

However, Ukraine's current government of President Viktor Yanukovych is seen as being more pro-Russian than its predecessor.

Last week, Ukraine's former prime minister Yulia Tymoshenko was jailed for seven years for acting beyond her powers over a 2009 gas deal.

The European Union said the trial was politically motivated, but this was denied by Kiev.

UN urges ban on solitary confinement

Juan Mendez said the majority of countries abused the practice of solitary confinement

The UN's lead investigator on torture has called for governments to end the use of long spells of solitary confinement in prison.

Juan Mendez said such isolation could cause serious mental and physical damage and amount to torture.

He said it should not be used on people with mental disabilities or juveniles.

Mr Mendez said short term isolation was permissible for prisoner protection but all solitary confinement longer than 15 days should be banned.

He told a UN General Assembly human rights committee that solitary confinement as practised in a majority of countries was "subject to widespread abuse".

Mr Mendez, a professor of law at American University in Washington, cited studies indicating harmful physical and mental effects after just a few days of solitary confinement.

"Considering the severe mental pain or suffering solitary confinement may cause, it can amount to torture or cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment when used as a punishment, during pre-trial detention, indefinitely or for a prolonged period, for persons with mental disabilities or juveniles," he said.

"Segregation, isolation, separation, cellular, lockdown, supermax, the hole, secure housing unit... whatever the name, solitary confinement should be banned by states as a punishment or extortion technique."

He said it was estimated that in the US, 20-25,000 prisoners were being held in isolation.

Mr Mendez also criticised Chinese authorities for keeping a woman in isolation for two years out of an eight-year sentence for supplying state secrets to foreigners.

Ardnamurchan Viking boat burial discovery 'a first'

The sword, axe head and a bronze ring pin recovered from the burial site

The UK mainland's first fully intact Viking boat burial site has been uncovered in the north-west Highlands, archaeologists have said.

The site, at Ardnamurchan, is thought to be more than 1,000 years old.

Artefacts buried alongside the Viking in his boat suggest he was a high-ranking warrior.

Archaeologist Dr Hannah Cobb said the "artefacts and preservation make this one of the most important Norse graves ever excavated in Britain".

Dr Cobb, from the University of Manchester, a co-director of the project, said: "This is a very exciting find."

She has been excavating artefacts in Ardnamurchan for six years.

The universities of Manchester, Leicester, Newcastle and Glasgow worked on, identified, or funded the excavation.
rchaeology Scotland and East Lothian-based CFA Archaeology have also been involved in the project which led to the find.

The term "fully-intact", used to describe the find, means the remains of the body along with objects buried with it and evidence of the boat used were found and recovered.

The Ardnamurchan Viking was found buried with an axe, a sword with a decorated hilt, a spear, a shield boss and a bronze ring pin.


About 200 rivets - the remains of the boat he was laid in - were also found.

Previously, boat burials in such a condition have been excavated at sites on Orkney.

Until now mainland excavations were only partially successful and had been carried out before more careful and accurate methods were introduced.

Other finds in the 5m-long (16ft) grave in Ardnamurchan included a knife, what could be the tip of a bronze drinking horn, a whetstone from Norway, a ring pin from Ireland and Viking pottery.

'The icing'
Dozens of pieces of iron yet to be identified were also found at the site.

The finds were made as part of the Ardnamurchan Transition Project (ATP) which has been examining social change in the area from the first farmers 6,000 years ago to the Highland Clearances of the 18th and 19th centuries.
Viking specialist Dr Colleen Batey, from the University of Glasgow, has said the boat was likely to be from the 10th Century AD.

Dr Oliver Harris, project co-director from the University of Leicester's School of Archaeology and Ancient History, reinforced the importance of the burial site.

An illustration of what the burial would have looked like in the 10th Century AD

He said: "In previous seasons our work has examined evidence of changing beliefs and life styles in the area through a study of burial practices in the Neolithic and Bronze age periods 6,000-4,500 years ago and 4,500 to 2,800 years ago respectively.

"It has also yielded evidence for what will be one of the best-dated Neolithic chambered cairns in Scotland when all of our post-excavation work is complete.

"But the find we reveal today has got to be the icing on the cake."

Kurdish rebels 'kill 24 Turkish soldiers'

At least 24 Turkish soldiers have been killed in clashes with Kurdish rebels at several police and army posts in south-east Turkey, reports say.

The attacks, in the mainly Kurdish province of Hakkari, are thought to have inflicted the biggest loss on Turkish security forces in years.

The attacks come a day after a blast in the south-east Bitlis province killed five police officers and three others.

The area has recently seen a spike in violence by Kurdish rebels.

Turkey has responded with a police crackdown on suspected rebel sympathisers and air strikes on Kurdish sites in northern Iraq.

Rebels are seeking greater autonomy in the country's Kurdish-dominated south-east, and have killed dozens of members of the country's security forces, and at least 17 civilians, since mid-July.

Tens of thousands of people have died in the conflict since 1984.

Army responds
The latest violence - thought to be simultaneous overnight attacks - is said to have taken place in several locations in Cukurca and the district of Yuksekova overnight on Tuesday to Wednesday.

Gov Muammer Turker confirmed the attacks had taken place, the Associated Press said, but there has been no immediate claim of responsibility from the Kurdish rebel movement, the PKK.

Television reports said the army had begun an air-supported operation against the rebels in response and the head of the general staff and some commanders had gone to the region, reported AFP news agency.

"Turkey will not be shaken by terror... We will do whatever we can do to finish this," President Abdullah Gul said in televised remarks quoted by AFP.

The prime minister and foreign minister had both cancelled overseas trips in response to the bloodshed, reports said.

Correspondents say such attacks will add to pressure on the government to devise a more effective strategy for combating the PKK.

The government has already said it will ask the police to play a bigger role in counter-insurgency, but this idea has been challenged by critics who argue that the police are no better equipped to tackle the PKK than the army is.

The BBC's Jonathan Head, in Istanbul, says there is little talk now of renewing the so-called "democratic opening", an initiative from two years ago, which aimed to end the conflict in the south-east by expanding the rights of the Kurdish minority.

Greece general strike begins over spending cuts

                  Transport services across Greece are expected to be shut down for the 48-hour strike

A general strike is under way in Greece, grounding flights, halting most public services and shutting offices and shops.

The 48-hour strike comes as parliament prepares to vote on the latest round of austerity measures, including more tax hikes, pay cuts and job losses.

Greece is struggling to reduce a huge government deficit amid fears it may default and set off a eurozone crisis.

The EU and IMF have demanded tough cuts in return for two bailouts.

The BBC's Chris Morris in Athens says the pace of protests in Greece has been increasing for several weeks.

There have been lightning strikes across virtually every sector of the economy, with rubbish not collected and government ministries blockaded by their own workers.

The strike for Wednesday and Thursday has been called by the two big unions that cover public and private sector workers.

Sending a message
Government departments, businesses, offices and stores are all expected to be shut, with small business owners and shopkeepers taking part in strike action for the first time.

Air traffic controllers are staging a 12-hour walk-out, with some 150 domestic and international flights cancelled. Trains, buses, taxis and lorries will not be operating.
A strike over recent days by rubbish collectors has left uncollected waste piling in the streets.

"We are going to send a loud message to the government and the political system," said Costas Tsikrikas, the head of the public workers' union Adedy.

"We believe participation will be huge," he said.

The strikers are planning to gather for demonstrations at 08:00 GMT in Athens and Thessaloniki.

Police are out in force outside parliament in Athens, where there were clashes in June with protesters demanding an end to the measures.

Hundreds of dock workers have gathered at the main port of Piraeus, while hundreds of prison guards protested outside the justice ministry.

Legislators are voting on two bills on Wednesday and Thursday.

They include measures for higher taxes, further cuts to pensions and salaries and the suspension of collective labour agreements.

They will also suspend 30,000 public servants on reduced pay and introduce a new civil service salary system.

Prime Minister George Papandreou's Pasok party has a four-seat majority but some of his backbenchers have threatened to vote against the measures.

Late on Tuesday, Mr Papandreou appealed to his MPs for support.

"We must persevere in this war as people, as a government, as a parliamentary group in order for the country to win it," he said.

'Haircut'
Greece finds itself with rising unemployment and a stalled economy, with a government debt that is 162% of its gross domestic product.
The long-term bond markets have shut Greece out over fears that it can no longer meet its debt obligations.

The EU and the IMF have stepped in with two rescue packages but the second has not been finalised.

Meanwhile, Greece says it needs the next $11bn (£7bn; 8bn euros) instalment from the first package of bailout loans agreed last year or it will run out of money to pay its bills in November.

As part of the second bailout agreed to in July, Greece's creditors agreed to a 21% loss - or "haircut" - on their loans to Athens, but there are suggestions this may not be enough.

With fears the problems besetting Athens might spread to other highly indebted eurozone countries such as Spain and Italy, EU leaders meeting this weekend are scrambling to forge a plan that will protect the region from a Greek default.

Measures could include propping up banks exposed to Greek debt and enlarging the eurozone's rescue fund.