11 feared dead on K-2; 2 Dutch climbers rescued

ISLAMABAD, Pakistan - A helicopter plucked two frostbitten Dutch climbers from K-2 on Monday after an avalanche and exposure left at least 11 people missing and believed dead on the world's second-highest mountain. One of the rescued men, Wilco Van Rooijen, blamed mistakes in preparation for the final ascent — not just the avalanche — for one of mountaineering's worst disasters as a stranded Italian climber struggled to descend low enough to reach rescuers."Everything was going well to Camp Four and on summit attempt everything went wrong," Van Rooijen told The Associated Press by phone from a military hospital, where he was being treated for frostbitten toes.K-2, which lies near Pakistan's northern border with China, is regarded by mountaineers as more challenging to conquer than Mount Everest, the world's highest peak. K-2 is steeper, rockier and more prone to sudden, severe weather.The Ministry of Tourism released a list of 11 climbers believed dead: three South Koreans, two Nepalis, two Pakistanis and mountaineers from France, Ireland, Serbia and Norway.It was not clear how they all died. At least two fell on their way up the mountain, before the avalanche.

Five ringed bicycle

A nice boy cycling on five wheels like Olympic rings.

Meet Beijing resident Meng Jie, cycling around China on a bicycle in the shape of the five Olympic rings.For more Olympics coverage, and take part in the BBC's My Games programme go to bbc.com/Olympics and look for My Games. My Games will be broadcast live on BBC World News. You can get involved by sending us your photos and videos and if you have a webcam you could even appear live on the programme.

Chinese border assault kills 16

Sixteen Chinese policemen have been killed in an attack on a border post in the restive Muslim region of Xinjiang, state media say. Two attackers reportedly drove up to the post in a rubbish truck and threw two grenades, before moving in to attack the policemen with knives. The attack came four days before the opening ceremony of the Olympic Games. Both attackers were captured during the raid near the city of Kashgar, Xinhua state news agency reported. Kashgar, known as Kashi in Chinese, is some 2,500 miles (4,000km) from Beijing, near the border with Tajikistan. Xinhua said the attack happened at Fourteen policemen died at the scene and two on the way to hospital. Another 16 policemen were hurt. One of the attackers was reported to have been injured in the leg.
Xinjiang, in the north-west of the country, is home to the Muslim Uighur people. Uighur separatists have waged a low-level campaign against Chinese rule for decades. about 0800 (0000 GMT), as the policemen were jogging outside the compound. "China has focused on strengthening security and protection around Olympic venues and at the Olympics Village, so Beijing is already prepared to respond to any threat," Sun Weide was quoted as saying. Last week, a senior Chinese army officer warned that Islamic separatists were the biggest danger to the Olympics.

Celebrities leading tattoo demand

The social stigma attached to a tattoo is disappearing, say the organisers of a major convention.
As celebrities like David Beckham show off their body art, the popularity of the once-maligned tattoo increases. The Tattoo Jam, organised by Skin Deep magazine at Venue Cymru in Llandudno, brings together about 150 tattooists from more than 20 different countries. Skin Deep editor Neil Dalleywater said celebrity culture played a part in the increased demand for tattoos. "You do tend to see a lot more ink on pop stars and film stars in the media," he said.
"The social stigma of tattoos is breaking down although you still come across it in places but it's becoming far more socially acceptable. Several Welsh tattooists are taking part in the three-day convention alongside others from as far afield as New Zealand and Singapore. "The number of studios in Wales is phenomenal for the size of the country," said Mr Dalleywater.

US HIV rate 'higher than thought'

The number of Americans infected with the HIV virus each year is much higher than current government estimates, US health officials have said.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) said 56,000 people had become infected with the virus that causes Aids in 2006. That is substantially more than the earlier annual estimate of 40,000. However, the CDC said the rise was due to improved detection methods, rather than an increase in infections. For the first time, new blood tests can tell how recently an HIV infection occurred, allowing researchers to pinpoint the year it happened. The increase is also thought to be due to new statistical methodsThe CDC's Richard Wolitski said the 2006 incidence estimate "reveals that the epidemic is, and has been, worse than previously estimated". The group added that the annual number of new infections was never as low as 40,000, and that it has been roughly stable since the late 1990s. The CDC described the findings as a "wake-up call that the US HIV/Aids epidemic is far from over". "The new estimates underscore the need to expand access to HIV prevention to gay and bisexual men, especially younger men, and to expand access to African-American men and women as well," Dr Wolitski added. The executive director of the National Alliance of State and Territorial Aids Directors, Julie Scofield, told the Associated Press news agency: "This is the biggest news for public health and HIV/Aids that we've had in a while." The revised estimated and the methodology behind it are due to be presented at the opening of an international Aids conference in Mexico City on Sunday. Ahead of the meeting, thousands of activists marched through the city to protest at discrimination against people with HIV.

Freedom to travel in China

As international journalists jet in to Beijing for the start of the Olympic Games, Hugh Sykes takes a rather slower route on the overnight train from the west of China.

"What time is it?""Twelve o'clock." "Beijing time or Xinjiang time?" You hear that a lot in the Xinjiang Uighur Autonomous Region in the far west of China, near Pakistan and Afghanistan and Kazakhstan. A long way west, in other words, but officially, it is the same time zone as Beijing in the far east, near North Korea. Imagine the US having the same time zone right across the country, from Miami to Los Angeles. But in hotels and offices in Xinjiang there are sometimes two clocks, because Xinjiang does have its own unofficial time zone, two hours behind Beijing.
This makes sense, it means it gets dark at 2030 not 2230 at this time of year, and light at 0600 not 0800. But it is confusing. "What time is the flight to Urumqi?" "One o'clock." "Beijing time or Xinjiang time?" "Beijing time, of course. Planes and trains stick to Beijing time but buses run on Xinjiang time." "What time do you start school in the morning? "Eight o'clock." "Beijing time or Xinjiang time?" "That depends. If it is a Han Chinese school, it is 0800 Beijing time. If it is a Uighur school, it is 0800 Xinjiang time, which is two hours later. And if it is a mixed school, they stick to Beijing time."

Yearly euro inflation at record high of 4.1%

Yearly inflation in the 15 euro nations rose to a record high of 4.1 percent in July, the EU statistical agency Eurostat reported Thursday.

Prices have not climbed as fast since inflation records started in 1996 for the countries that eventually formed the euro.Soaring fuel and food prices are Europe's biggest economic problem, eating into household spending -- one of the engines of economic growth -- as people steer away from major purchases and luxury goods.Accelerating prices and signs that growth is stalling create a major dilemma for the European Central Bank, which acted last month to cool inflation by hiking borrowing costs for the first time in a year.But the bank may have to hold back from more interest rate increases as the European economy stumbles and companies slash staff.Eurostat reported that the jobless rate in the 15 countries that share the euro had risen to 7.3 percent in May and June from a year ago. It revised upward an earlier estimate of 7.2 percent for May as unemployment worsened from a record low it hit in December 2007.

Obama says he opposes slavery reparations, apology

Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama opposes offering reparations to the descendants of slaves, putting him at odds with some black groups and leaders.

The man with a serious chance to become the nation's first black president argues that government should instead combat the legacy of slavery by improving schools, health care and the economy for all."I have said in the past — and I'll repeat again — that the best reparations we can provide are good schools in the inner city and jobs for people who are unemployed," the Illinois Democrat said recently.Some two dozen members of Congress are co-sponsors of legislation to create a commission that would study reparations — that is, payments and programs to make up for the damage done by slavery.Obama has worked to be seen as someone who will bring people together, not divide them into various interest groups with checklists of demands. Supporting reparations could undermine that image and make him appear to be pandering to black voters."Let's not be naive. Sen. Obama is running for president of the United States, and so he is in a constant battle to save his political life," said Kibibi Tyehimba, co-chair of the National Coalition of Blacks for Reparations in America. "In light of the demographics of this country, I don't think it's realistic to expect him to do anything other than what he's done."But this is not a position Obama adopted just for the presidential campaign. He voiced the same concerns about reparations during his successful run for the Senate in 2004.
There's enough flexibility in the term "reparations" that Obama can oppose them and still have plenty of common ground with supporters.

BMW's profit slides nearly 33 percent

Germany automaker BMW says second-quarter net profit slid nearly 33 percent and it has abandoned its yearly profit forecast, blaming a drop in U.S. sales, rising costs for raw materials and the strong euro.
The Munich-based company is the world's biggest maker of luxury cars. It said Friday it earned euro507 million (US$791.5 million) in the April-June period, down 32.7 percent from last year.
Sales fell half a percent to euro14.6 billion (US$22.8 billion) in the quarter compared with a year earlier.The company has revised its earnings forecast. Chief Executive Norbert Reithofer says BMW now expects pre-tax return on sales for the year of at least 4 percent.The news spooked investors, who sent the company's shares plunging before they leveled off to euro26.90 (US$41.89), down 6.9 percent.

More than 10,000 detainees released in Iraq

BAGHDAD - The U.S. military said Saturday it has released more than 10,000 detainees in Iraq so far this year — more than in all of 2007 — as it continues to try phase out its running of Iraqi prisons.

The military said about 21,000 people remained in custody, and it is currently releasing about 45 detainees and detaining 30 a day.The United States wants to transfer the detainees to Iraqi control. Reaching that goal has been slowed partly by the lack of adequate Iraqi prison space and trained guards. More than 8,900 people were released from detention last year.The U.S. military says its detention system is authorized by a U.N. resolution under which the Iraqi government allows U.S. troops to arrest people at will. U.S. military attorneys say it also complies with international laws covering warfare and was created in "the spirit" of the Geneva Conventions.Commanders say they are entitled to hold any prisoner until the detainee is no longer considered a threat to U.S. forces. Local law and court rulings do not apply, they add. Rights groups have criticized U.S. detention policy as a misrepresentation of international law, which they say requires some form of legal process to detain someone.The military has increased control over prisons to correct widespread U.S. prison abuses that sparked international criticism.Allegations of abuse at U.S. prisons escalated in 2004 with the release of pictures of grinning U.S. soldiers posing with detainees at the Abu Ghraib facility west of Baghdad. Some were naked, being held on leashes or in painful and sexually humiliating positions.That prison has since been closed, and 11 U.S. soldiers were convicted of breaking military laws. Five others were disciplined in the scandal.