Cuba reports slowdown in economy

Hurricane Gustav and other huge storms caused havoc on the island Cuba says it has suffered one of the most difficult financial years since the collapse of the Soviet Union. Economy minister Jose Luis Rodriguez said the Cuban economy had grown by 4.3% in the past year, falling short of the 8% forecast by the government. President Raul Castro called for austerity measures including cutbacks in official travel and bonuses. Cuba was hit by hurricanes Gustav, Ike and Paloma this year, with estimated losses of nearly $10bn (£6.7bn). The cost of food imports has also risen by more than $8bn on the previous year. As Cubans prepare to celebrate the 50th anniversary of the revolution, the authorities had hoped that the centrally-controlled state run economy would escape the worst of the global financial crisis, says the BBC's Michael Voss in Havana. Mr Rodriguez said the past year had been one of the most difficult since the so-called "special period" began - the term used for the economic crisis caused by the 1991 collapse of the Soviet Union, which heavily subsidised Cuba. The president of the Cuban parliament's economic commission, Osvaldo Martinez, blamed the lower growth rate on factors outside the country's control. "Economic growth of 4.3% is less than the 8% foreseen in the plan, and this is explicable, given the profound devastation caused by the hurricanes, the economic war waged against us and the noticeable increase in the price of food and fuel during most of the year," he said. Cuba calculates its Gross Domestic Product by including state spending on health care, education and food rationing, our correspondent says. This means the figure reflects public spending, not just economic activity, as it does elsewhere in the world. Trips curbed Mr Rodriguez predicted that the Cuban economy would grow by 6% in 2009. President Raul Castro, who took over from his brother Fidel in February, told the National Assembly "the accounts don't square up". "We have to be realistic and adjust our dreams to real possibilities," he said. "That means complying with the socialist principal each receives according to his work." Mr Castro said the government would cut government trips abroad by 50% and end programs that rewarded workers, business leaders and officials with free holidays at a cost to the government of $60m a year. Latin American leaders recently urged US President-elect Barack Obama to end the 46-year trade embargo on Cuba. Mr Obama has said that he would lift restrictions on family travel and remittances to Cuba, but maintain the US trade embargo to press for changes in the Communist-run country.

Bangladesh road crash 'kills 24'

At least 24 people have been killed in Bangladesh after the lorry in which they were travelling veered off the road in thick fog, police said. Thirteen others were injured when the vehicle's driver apparently lost control and crashed into a ditch. The accident occurred in Tangail, about 42 miles (72km) north of Dhaka. Road accidents are common in Bangladesh and are often blamed on faulty vehicles, poor driving or bad weather conditions. Among the injured, five are in a critical condition, a police official told Reuters. Police said the lorry was travelling to Bogra from the capital, and that most of the passengers were heading home to vote in Monday's national elections.

Argentine dig unearths tango cafe

Tango originated in Argentina and Uruguay at the end of the 19th Century Archaeologists in Argentina have found the remains of a famous tango cafe which operated in Buenos Aires in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Experts found the brick floor of Cafe Hansen 50cm (20ins) below the ground in the north of the city. The cafe took its name from its first owner, Juan Hansen, and is mentioned in historical chronicles as one of the cradles of tango. It was demolished in 1912 by order of the mayor to make way for roadworks.

Immune cells link to Parkinson's

Parkinson's gets progressively worse Rogue immune cells entering the brain may contribute to the development of Parkinson's disease, say scientists. A French study in diseased mice revealed the cells accumulating in brain tissue, and mice bred to lack them did not fall ill as quickly. The researchers suggested that the cells could be targeted using drugs. A UK charity said the findings, published in the Journal of Clinical Investigation, did not yet prove that this approach would work. This study has shown that the Parkinson's developed at a slower rate in mice lacking specific immune cells, which suggests that these cells do play a role in the development of the condition Spokesman, Parkinson's Disease Society About 120,000 people in the UK have Parkinson's disease, a progressive brain condition which causes symptoms such as tremor and difficulty moving. This is caused by the death of nerve cells which produce the chemical dopamine, which helps coordinate movements. Previous research had suggested a link between inflammation in the brain and the condition, pointing the finger at one of the body's own immune responses. The researchers from the INSERM institute in Paris looked for the presence of a particular type of immune cell called a "T-cell" in the brain tissues directly affected by Parkinson's. They found the cells gathering both in human brain samples taken from Parkinson's patients after death, and at an earlier stage in mice bred to develop the disease. When mice lacking these immune cells were studied, the rate of nerve cell death was significantly slower. The researchers said that this was enough evidence to start considering the possibility of using drugs to reduce this kind of immune response in patients with Parkinson's, in the hope that this might slow the progress of the disease. Human differences However, a spokesman for the Parkinson's Disease Society said that the research did not exclude other causes for the illness. "This study has shown that the Parkinson's developed at a slower rate in mice lacking specific immune cells, which suggests that these cells do play a role in the development of the condition. "However, the study doesn't determine at what stage of the disease the inflammation occurs. Therefore, the potential for anti-inflammatory treatment is difficult to determine." He added: "It is also important to remember that as the study was done using mice, it doesn't provide a precise model for what happens in the human brain."

LA suburb's shock at Santa killer

Residents of a Los Angeles suburb have expressed their shock at Wednesday's killings of at least nine people by a gunman dressed as Santa Claus.

Bruce Pardo burst into a Christmas Eve party at his ex-wife's parents' home in Covina, shooting and starting the fire.

He then took his life with a shot to the head at his brother's home about 25 miles (40km) away, police said.

Officials later said it appeared that he wanted to flee to Canada but was severely burned in the incident.

Law enforcement authorities in California found $17,000 (£11,658) on Mr Pardo and a plane ticket to Canada.

Pardo is said to have suffered third-degree burns on both arms and his Santa suit actually melted onto his body before he fled the house in Covina.

A Los Angeles County coroner said earlier in the day that a ninth body had been found - all of them badly burned and none as yet positively identified.

Local media have reported that Pardo's ex-wife and in-laws were among the dead but this has not been officially confirmed.

'Money problems'

The quiet suburb is still in shock at the events.

LA Santa killer 'planned to flee'

One of Pardo's co-workers at a Catholic church, Jan Detanna, told the Whittier Daily News that the unemployed aerospace engineer was "the nicest guy" who "always had a smile".

Details have emerged that Pardo, 45, had reached a divorce settlement just a few days before the attack.

Court documents showed the two-year marriage ended with an award of $10,000 to Sylvia Pardo along with their dog and her wedding ring, while Bruce Pardo took the house.

Bruce Pardo's lawyer, Stanley Silver, told the Associated Press news agency his client had fallen behind on marital support when he lost his job in July.

Pardo had knocked on the door of the home just before midnight, shooting in the face an eight-year-old girl who answered the door, police said. She is being treated for her wounds.

He then sprayed the 25 guests with bullets before setting fire to the house with a home-made incendiary device.

Iraq orphan shows football prowess

Ali Abbas from Iraq plays football for two London clubs - Chelsea and Tottenham.

Ali Abbas seldom wears his artificial arms

He plays well. He scores goals. He is fit. He is skilled. His record with "kick-ups" - keeping the ball in the air - is 98.

Ali has no arms.

Falling over is dangerous - he has had to learn to roll onto his side when he loses balance. And the Chelsea and Tottenham sides he plays for are their disabled teams.

Ali is nearly 18 now - almost six years on from a terrible event in Baghdad.

Late one night, at the end of March 2003, during the Iraq war, an American rocket exploded next to their home.

Ali's mother, father, and 14 other members of his family were killed, and Ali lost both his arms.

TV, websites and newspapers showed a boy lying in a hospital bed, looking straight at the camera biting his lower lip as if about to weep - white bandages just below his shoulders, protecting the stumps of his arms.

Ali Fund

There is another photograph of Ali, taken before his arms were amputated, which was not widely published.

It shows the blackened flesh and bones of his fingers, his wrists and his forearms scorched and incinerated by the explosion.

There is a wide burn, almost circular, covering most of the front of his body.

But above his chest, and below his waist, there was no injury at all.

Ali lost 14 members of his family, and his arms, in 2003

The media attention that Ali received six years ago caught the eye of another amputee - Zafar Khan, a London pharmacist and chairman of the Limbless Association, who has an artificial leg because of a car accident.

"Dr. Zafar", as Ali calls him, set up the Ali Fund, and arranged for the 12-year-old Iraqi to be seen by the prosthetists at Queen Mary's Hospital in south London.

The Limbless Association's senior prosthetist Nick Hillsdon fitted Ali with artificial arms.

But Ali hardly wears them.

He says they are heavy, and hard to attach. He has to leave them carefully positioned when he takes them off, so that he can get them on again without a struggle.

People who lose their legs really have no choice, if they want mobility: they have to get used to wearing artificial legs, and they have hands for tightening the straps.

But Ali gets by very well without arms. He uses his feet to change channels on the TV remote control, to play games on his Playstation, and even to hold his toothbrush.

But he is not able to use his feet to attach his arms. His uncle Mohammed helps him with that, and with going to the bathroom.

Future president?

Mohammed is a self-effacing, smiling, kind uncle who looks after Ali meticulously.

In a symmetry of loss, it was Ali's mother, killed in the rocket explosion, who brought up Mohammed after his own mother had died when he was a child.

Ali began using his feet for tasks shortly after he lost his arms

Ali is an engaging, apparently well-adjusted young man - he has an infectious laugh, and seems generally cheerful, despite what happened to him one night in Baghdad six years ago.

But tears come to his eyes sometimes when he talks about that night - he is still deeply sad that he was unable to attend his parents' funeral.

And he did not even know they were dead until several weeks later.

But he did know really: "none of my close family came to visit," he told me.

Ali now lives in London and in Baghdad. He has been to school in Britain, but not consistently enough to pass exams.

But he is intelligent and observant and perceptive - and he can type with his toes.

He told me he would like to be a professional football coach.

And, he says, he wants to do something to help his country.

"Yes, why not?" is his reply when I asked him about getting involved in politics.

"President of Iraq?" I suggested light-heartedly.

"Yes," replied Ali Abbas. And he was not joking.

Boy-killing Egypt teacher jailed

Islam Amr Badr died in hospital after being injured (Photo: Al Masry Alyoum)

An Egyptian court has sentenced a schoolteacher to six years in jail for beating a pupil to death because he had not done his homework.

Maths teacher Haitham Nabeel Abdelhamid, 23, took Islam Amr Badr outside the classroom and hit him violently in the stomach.

The 11-year-old boy fainted and later died in hospital of heart failure in the city of Alexandria.

The court was told the boy had four broken ribs.

Abdelhamid was convicted of manslaughter.

He said he only meant to discipline the pupil and did not mean to hurt anyone.

The teacher's lawyer was quoted as saying in court: "Hitting [a child] is not banned in schools and my client did not break the law."

National outrage

Observers say the case has been seen as a shocking reminder of the failings of Egypt's state education system.

The incident, at Saad Othman Primary School on the outskirts of Alexandria in October, caused national outrage.

Islam's father, Amr Badr Ibrahim, said others should have stood trial with the teacher.

"The problem is the teaching and the teachers because they cannot find good teachers," he said.

"The minister of education should be the first person to be accused - how can he agree to let such a young man teach children?"

In the state education system, young, inexperienced and under-resourced teachers often struggle to control classes of 60 to 100 children.

The Egyptian government says it is bringing in education reforms - including new teacher testing.

It is also trying to tackle violence in schools and has issued new statements on the prohibition of corporal punishment.