political news

Serbian President Boris Tadic has hailed what he called a historic visit by his Croatian counterpart, Ivo Josipovic, to Belgrade.

After their talks, Mr Tadic said Serbia wished for the best possible relations with its neighbour and former enemy.

Mr Josipovic said both countries shared the goal of peace and stability and were finding ways to address the past.

Relations between the ex-Yugoslav states have been tense since the wars of the 1990s.

Both leaders stressed the co-operation and dialogue that they believe now defines their countries' relationship, pledging to find solutions to outstanding issues such as the return of refugees.

They voiced support for an out-of-court settlement of the genocide charges relating to the war that both governments had previously filed against each other at the International Court of Justice.

And they stressed their common goal: to join the European Union which, says Brussels, will only be achieved through better regional cooperation.

The Croatian-Serbian relationship is a crucial one for the stability of the Western Balkans, the BBC's Mark Lowen reports from Belgrade.

They are the biggest and most powerful former Yugoslav republics and it is widely believed that they can set an example to neighbouring Bosnia, where segregation between the different ethnic groups still runs deep since its own war of independence in the 1990s.

This is a region where reconciliation is notoriously slow, but Zagreb and Belgrade are determined to show that former foes can lay the past to rest in the hope of building a new EU future, our correspondent says.

A British tour operator has collapsed leaving thousands of holidaymakers abroad, the Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) has said.

Greece and Turkey specialist Goldtrail, based in New Malden, south-west London, went into administration on Friday with an estimated 16,000 customers overseas.

The CAA said it was arranging to fly customers home after their holidays and there were no more outbound flights.

Goldtrail customers can call the CAA on 0203 4410846 for information.

Though the company went into administration on Friday afternoon, some of Goldtrail's customers were not told until they were due to board their flights on Friday evening.

Mark McLay arrived at Glasgow airport for a 2045 BST flight but was not told of the company's demise until the early hours of Saturday, long after he and his girlfriend had already checked in for his plane to Bodrum in Turkey.

"At 0100 BST we were called together and told over the tannoy that Goldtrail had gone into administation, that we would not be flying and that we would be escorted out of the building," he said.

"One woman was crying and it was bad for the families although everyone took it as well as could be expected."

The CAA said flights home from Turkey would operate as normal but holidaymakers in Greece were warned to expect changes.

Those in Greece are advised to check with representatives at local airports. The company used charter airlines such as Onurair, Turquois and Viking.

It is thought that as many as 50,000 holidaymakers who have booked flights over the summer will be affected by the company's collapse.

One traveller, Martin Plimmer, said he had booked his flights through Goldtrail and faced losing all the money spent on his accommodation if he couldn't find the finances to pay for new flights.

"We were told we would have to pay for any new flights and claim that back through the CAA as Goldtrail were ATOL-protected.

"Our predicament was however that if we couldn't afford the flights we would lose the £1500 that we paid for our all-inclusive hotel because it was through a different company."

Another customer, Cassie Inns, from Surrey, was hoping to fly to Turkey on Monday, and said the situation was "a nightmare".

Manchester Airport has said it is expecting about 800 passengers booked with Goldtrail to pass through the airport on Saturday and a further 800 on Sunday.

'Join queue'

Simon Calder, Travel Editor of the Independent, said: "There will be people waking up, hearing the news that Goldtrail has gone bust, thinking 'well, what's going to happen to my holiday?'

"I'm extremely sorry, it will not be going ahead, those flights will not be operating, you are going to have to join the queue to get your money back from the Civil Aviation Authority."

There had been rumours for several months that Goldtrail was not doing well. The CAA had informally predicted that smaller tour operators could find it hard to survive.

On several travel review websites, feedback comments in recent weeks had been very critical. One comment described the experience of travelling to Turkey with Goldtrail as a "holiday from hell".

Another posted in June stated in capital letters, "Do not book with this company".

Last year, the company featured in a BBC Watchdog consumer affairs programme.

A number of former customers had received sub-standard accomodation and treatment on holiday in Turkey. Other holidaymakers, it discovered, had become ill after taking Goldtrail holidays.

The company was also fined thousands of pounds by the The Association of British Travel Agents, ABTA, the programme reported.

The CAA advised customers due to fly with the failed operator to check with their travel agent before travelling to the airport.

In a statement issued on its website, the aviation regulator said: "The CAA has taken steps to protect customers booked with Goldtrail Travel Limited after the company ceased trading.

"The CAA, under its ATOL (Air Travel Organiser's Licensing) scheme, is making arrangements for customers abroad to travel home at the end of their holidays."

Sean Tipton, from the ABTA said customers should not have too wait too long for refunds: "To be fair to the CAA who're dealing with these claims - they will try and refund people as quickly as possible.

"There were issues last year with a company called XL, which was quite a large company, took a long time to deal with.

"But this one is a lot smaller so in our view, you know, claims should be processed fairly quickly."

Terrorist groups like al-Qaeda and al-Shabab do not think African life is valuable, President Obama has said in response to the Uganda bombings.

At least 74 people were killed in blasts targeting people watching the World Cup.

The Somali Islamist group al-Shabab said it was behind the attacks because Uganda supports Somalia's government.

An US administration official said al-Qaeda was racist and used black Africans as "cannon fodder".

In an interview on South African television, Mr Obama said: "What you've seen in some of the statements that have been made by these terrorist organisations is that they do not regard African life as valuable in and of itself.

"They see it as a potential place where you can carry out ideological battles that kill innocents, without regard to long-term consequences, for their short-term tactical gains."

An administration official went further, saying that the Ugandan attacks show that "al-Qaeda is a racist organisation that treats black Africans like cannon fodder and does not value human life".

In his interview Mr Obama said it was both tragic and ironic that the blasts had taken place while people were celebrating the success of a World Cup staged in South Africa.

"On the one hand, you have a vision of an Africa on the move, an Africa that is unified, an Africa that is modernising and creating opportunities, and on the other hand, you've got a vision of al-Qaeda and al-Shabab that is about destruction and death."

About 5,000 African Union troops from Uganda and Burundi are based in Mogadishu, propping up the fragile interim government.

The Amisom force is engaged in frequent firefights with the Islamist insurgents who control much of southern and central Somalia.

Both Burundi and Kenya, which helps with training for the Somali interim government, have stepped up security.

"Do you know Abu Talal's house?" I shouted out of the car window to a young boy by the side of the road.

"Yes, he's my grandfather," the child beamed.

Quite a coincidence you might think - until you hear that 82-year-old Abu Talal al-Najar says he has more than 430 grandchildren.

He also has some 30 children and has racked up some 11 wives over the years. Currently he only has four.

The law in Gaza, as well as Shariah religious law outlined in the Koran, says the maximum number of wives a man can have at any one time is four.

But actually it is very uncommon for Gazan men to have more than one wife.

Arriving at his house, a half-finished looking structure near the town of Khan Younis, we found Abu Talal kneeling in the corner of the yard, facing east and praying.

He bent down, placing his forehead on the ground, his arms outstretched in the familiar ritual - still flexible even at 82.

After several minutes he rose to greet us, a sturdy, bull-like figure with a wide grin and a firm handshake.

Abu Talal is something of a legend in southern Gaza. With his many children (another 11 died over the years) he has spawned one of the strip's largest families.

"I was an only child myself," he tells me. "So I wanted to have a big family - plus it has just become something of a hobby," he laughs.

With the help of some of his grandchildren he is just about able to remember the names of his surviving children, 17 girls and 13 boys.

"Every time a child is born in this family we sacrifice a goat in celebration," says Abu Talal.

Bad news if you happen to be a goat in southern Gaza, I suggest.

The population of Gaza is rising by about 5% every year. Some 1.5m people live squeezed onto a strip of land 40km (25 miles) long and 6 to 12km wide.

Many people live in poverty, with unemployment at around 40%, according to the UN.

Does Abu Talal not worry about bringing children into such a world?

"No, because if I lose 200 of my grandchildren, I will still have 200 left."

At least five of his family were killed in last year's major conflict with Israel, in which the UN estimates about 1,400 Palestinians and 13 Israelis were killed.

Abu Talal also lost 10 family members during the fighting between Fatah and Hamas in 2007.

The Islamist movement, Hamas, took control of the Gaza Strip after forcing their secular rivals Fatah from the territory. Hamas had earlier won parliamentary elections in 2006.

Abu Talal was born in Gaza in 1928 during the British Mandate of Palestine.

"The British were bad. The Israelis were worse, but the biggest danger for my children now is the continuing disagreement between Fatah and Hamas - Palestinians fighting amongst themselves," Abu Talal says.

He has had eleven wives during his lifetime.

Some of them have died, and some of the marriages have ended in divorce.

The youngest of his current four wives is about 50 years younger than him.

As to when the father of 30 might call it a day, he chuckles. "I still think I could manage another 10 or 15 kids."

The director of the CIA has conceded that the war in Afghanistan has been "harder and slower" than expected.

Speaking on US television Leon Panetta said while progress had been made in Afghanistan, serious problems with governance, corruption and the Taliban insurgency remained.

Mr Panetta's comments come as Gen David Petraeus takes over command of multinational forces in Afghanistan, following the sacking of Gen Stanley McChrystal.

Gen McChrystal was dismissed last week over critical comments about senior US officials.

Speaking to ABC This Week programme Mr Panetta insisted that "the fundamental key is whether the Afghans accept responsibility" for taking over the battle against the insurgency once foreign troops pull out of the country.

Drones defended

Mr Panetta defended CIA drone strikes on senior al-Qaeda of Taleban leaders in the region, saying that claims they violate international law are "dead wrong".

"We have a duty, we have a responsibility, to defend this country so that al-Qaeda never conducts that kind of attack again," he said.

Mr Panetta said that al-Qaida was probably at its weakest since the 11 September 2001 attacks on the US.

He said 50 to 100 militants were operating inside Afghanistan and the rest hiding along Pakistan's mountainous western border region.

"We are engaged in the most aggressive operations in the history of the CIA in that part of the world, and the result is that we are disrupting their leadership," Panetta told ABC television.

He said the US had not had good intelligence on Osama Bin Laden's whereabouts for years.

Mr Panetta said that the al-Qaeda network was finding new ways to try to attack the United States. Of greatest concern, he said, was al-Qaida's reliance on operatives without previous records or those living in the US.