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Bill Clinton is to address the US Democratic Party convention - his speech closely watched for signs of his commitment to Barack Obama's campaign.
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The former president's wife, Hillary, lost to Mr Obama in her bid to become the Democrats' White House nominee.
She has now backed her rival and freed her supporters to rally behind him. A roll call vote of the states has begun, leading to his formal nomination.
Mr Clinton will be followed by Joe Biden, Mr Obama's running-mate.
Mr Obama has arrived in Denver, where the convention is taking place, but is not due to speak until Thursday.
The roll call of states taking place ahead of Wednesday's speeches will confirm his formal nomination as presidential candidate - the first African-American to be nominated for a major US political party.
He will stand against Republican John McCain in the 4 November presidential election.
The BBC's North America editor Justin Webb says the roll call will be an opportunity for Hillary Clinton's supporters to decide whether to fall in line, to unite as she asked them to on Tuesday, or to kick up a fuss and hold out for her.
Speaking to a crowd of about 3,000 people ahead of the roll call, Mrs Clinton released her delegates - supporters won by her during the primary election process - to vote for Mr Obama.
"This has been a joy. We didn't make it, but boy did we have a good time trying," she said.
Many in the crowd shouted back "No!" as she released them, but Mrs Clinton urged them to put the party first.
"We will leave Denver united," she said. "My goal is that we win in November."
The roll call for the nomination - in which each state, in alphabetical order, declares how many votes were cast for each candidate in the primaries - includes Mrs Clinton's name, in a bid to placate her disappointed supporters.
Experienced shoulders
In his address, Mr Clinton is expected to launch attacks on Mr McCain and on the Bush administration, particularly over the state of the US economy.
His speech will be closely scrutinised for signs of lingering resentment over the bruising primary Democratic campaign, which ended in defeat for his wife, correspondents say.
Wednesday's addresses are expected to focus on foreign policy and security.
Some observers say the topics have been weak points of Senator Obama's campaign so far.
Senator Biden, 65, is a veteran foreign policy expert who was chosen as vice-presidential candidate by 47-year-old Mr Obama partly on account of his experience.
Mr Obama will headline Thursday's convention speeches, having spent the first part of the week campaigning in battleground states, and will formally accept the party's nomination then.
'Unite'
Speaking at the convention on Tuesday, Mrs Clinton said the Democrats could not afford to lose to the Republicans.
"Whether you voted for me or voted for Barack, the time is now to unite as a single party with a single purpose," she said.
Some of the defeated candidate's supporters have suggested they will not vote for her former rival, but she asked them to remember why they were in the campaign.
Mrs Clinton accused John McCain of being indifferent to the economic slowdown and of failing to recognise the need for health and social reform.
BBC News
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Pakistan's military says it has killed 47 pro-Taleban militants in separate incidents in the rugged west of the country, bordering Afghanistan.
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Thirty-seven militants were killed in helicopter-gunship attacks in Bajaur area, an army spokesman told the BBC.
The figures cannot be confirmed. Locals in Bajaur told the BBC five people had been killed in the violence.
A further 11 militants were killed - and more than 15 hurt - in fighting in South Waziristan, the military said.
According to the military, "around 75 -100 militants attacked Tiarza fort and Tiarza Bridge Check Post in South Waziristan" late on Tuesday.
"Security forces responded effectively and repulsed the attack," the military said.
Parts of the South Waziristan region, including the town of Wana, were placed under curfew after the clash.
On Thursday, an army convoy in Wana's main market was attacked by militants.
Locals in Wana have told the BBC the town is currently the scene of fierce fighting between militants and security forces.
Attacks on Taleban
Meanwhile, in the Salarzai area of Bajaur, a suspected member of the Taleban militia has been beaten to death.
The man was attacked near the funeral of two tribal leaders, Malik Zareen and Malik Bakhtawar, who were killed in a rocket attack on Monday.
The leaders had been trying to raise a tribal force to combat the Taleban in the area.
The Taleban denied having anything to do with the rocket attack.
The BBC has learnt that locals in Salarzai have decided to oppose the Taleban.
A building used by the Taleban as their headquarters in the area has been burnt down by armed Salarzai men.
BBC News
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Two hijackers of a Sudanese plane flown to Libya have given themselves up in the desert town of Kufra.
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The surrender comes almost 24 hours after they seized the plane, shortly after it left Nyala in Darfur.
The crew have also been freed - earlier all 95 passengers on board the Sun Air Boeing 737 had been released.
There are some reports that the hijackers were members of a Darfur rebel group but this was strongly denied by the group's leader.
"The hijackers surrendered without any violence and the crew are safe and sound," a Libyan official said, according to the AFP news agency.
A Sudanese diplomat in Kufra told the AP news agency that the two men were taken into the airport building, looking exhausted.
Mohammed al-Balla Othman said the men had requested asylum in Libya. Sudan had earlier demanded they be extradited.
The man had earlier demanded fuel to fly to France and one official said they wanted to be given refugee status there.
The BBC's Rana Jawad in Tripoli says a plane is being prepared to transport the freed passengers to Khartoum.
She says that video footage on Libya's state-run television showed the released passengers in the airport lounge looking relieved but tired.
"The night was terrifying and difficult," one man said. "I thank the Libyan authorities for their efforts which allowed us to be freed."
Another said the hijackers had been armed with pistols.
Before the passengers were freed, some fainted after the plane's air-conditioning failed, the pilot said.
The plane had been on its way to the Sudanese capital, Khartoum, on Tuesday, when the men took control.
It initially tried to land in Cairo, Egypt, where it was denied permission to land.
Humanitarian corridor
Sudanese officials say the hijackers belong to one of the numerous rebel groups fighting in Darfur.
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According to the director of Kufra airport, who was quoted by Libyan media, the hijackers told the pilot they were from the rebel Sudanese Liberation Army of Abdel Wahid Mohammed Nur.
Mr Nur, who is based in Paris, has strongly denied any involvement in the hijacking.
"We categorically deny the responsibility of our movement in this hijacking operation," he told al-Jazeera television.
"We don't support putting the lives of Sudanese civilians at risk in any circumstances."
Three members of a different SLA faction, led by Minni Minawi, were aboard the plane.
A spokesman for this faction, the only one to sign a 2006 peace deal with the government, has also denied any involvement in the hijacking.
A five-year conflict in Darfur has left about 200,000 people dead and more than two million homeless.
The desert oasis of Kufra is in a remote region approximately 1,700km (1,050 miles) south of the Libyan capital, Tripoli.
It is an area close to both the Sudanese and Chadian borders, and is often used as a corridor for humanitarian aid for displaced Darfuri refugees in Chad, as well as a transit point into the country by illegal immigrants, says the BBC's Rana Jawad, in Tripoli.
BBC News
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The annual summer Proms which has been taking place in London's Royal Albert Hall since 1895, is a musical institution beloved by many.
But not so much, apparently, by the Health & Safety brigade.
Officials there are demanding that musicians turn the volume down during their performances in case the noise damages people's hearing.
They say that, under the newly introduced EU laws, maximum noise level must now not be more than 140 decibels - about the same level as a gunshot or firecracker.
Health and safety is reportedly to be really pulling out the stops by telling performers to cut out the soaring crescendos and turn down the volume on the trumpets.
They fear the flautists' delicate hearing may be harmed if they're sitting too close to the trumpets, so they have had the brass neck to insist on the spacing being changed.
The BBC, which puts on the Proms every year, is on the horns of a dilemma - it may want to please its audience but it must comply with the directive.
Its staff - the unsung heroes of the piece - have been rushing around moving to separate performers' chair to give them more space, and stocking up on ear plugs.
Cynics say Europe is once more trying to put the wind up British traditionalists, by trying to fine tune something that is already pitch perfect.
They accuse the EU of being off key - and all say they all hope that this year's Proms do not end on a 'bum' note.
-Source-Yahoo.com