Pakistan edge India in T20 opener

First Twenty20 International, Bangalore:

Pakistan 134-5 (19.4 overs) beat India 133-9 (20 overs) by five wickets

Pakistan recovered superbly to edge out India by five wickets in a thrilling first Twenty20 International.

Chasing India's modest 133-9 in Bangalore, the visitors recovered from 12-3 and appeared to be cruising to victory before a late wobble resulted in them needing 10 from the final over.

But Shoaib Malik (57 from 50 balls) clobbered a straight six to see Pakistan home with two balls to spare.

This is the first bilateral series between the countries for five years.

After bowling well to restrict India to a below-par total, Pakistan's chances of a first Twenty20 victory over their hosts appeared slim when debutant seamer Bhuvneshwar Kumar (3-9) ripped through their top order.

25 December, Bangalore: 1st T20 International 28 December (11:30 GMT), Ahmedabad: 2nd T20 International 30 December (03:30 GMT), Chennai: 1st ODI 3 January (06:30 GMT), Kolkata: 2nd ODI 6 January (06:30 GMT), Delhi: 3rd ODI But a fine 116-run partnership between Malik and his captain Mohammad Hafeez (61) put them firmly in control.

When Hafeez, whose 44-ball knock included a pair of sixes and six fours, fell with the score on 118-4, Pakistan were in the driving seat, needing 16 from 17 balls.

But some tight bowling added to Pakistani nerves, and they were left needing six from Ravindra Jadeja's final three deliveries.

Rather than playing conservatively, though, Malik slogged the slow left-armer down the ground to stun the majority of the otherwise noisy 36,000 home fans, who had earlier watched their batsmen fail to capitalise on an excellent start after being asked to bat first by Pakistan.

India put on 77 for the opening wicket, as Gautam Gambhir (43) and Ajinkya Rahane (42) appeared to be laying the foundations for a big total.

But not for the first time this winter, India suffered a major batting collapse, losing nine wickets for only 47 runs in the next 7.3 overs as Umar Gul (3-21) and Saeed Ajmal (2-25) did the main damage.

Pakistan's optimism did not last long though as Kumar dismissed Nasir Jamshed in his first over and then accounted for Ahmed Shehzad and Umar Akmal in his second.

But Malik and Hafeez then steadied the ship before the former - who was fortunate to be reprieved when caught off a no-ball called because it was above shoulder height - went on to club the winning runs.

We are using archive pictures for this match because several photo agencies, including Getty Images, have been barred from the ground following a dispute with the Board of Control for Cricket in India, while other agencies have withdrawn their photographers in protest.

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Rape victim 'fighting for life'

28 December 2012 Last updated at 05:53 GMT The victim is being treated at a specialised facility in Singapore A female student gang-raped on a bus in India's capital Delhi is "fighting for her life" at a Singapore hospital, doctors say.

The 23-year-old victim - who remains on life support - has suffered "significant brain injury".

She arrived in Singapore on Thursday after undergoing three operations in a Delhi hospital.

The attack earlier this month triggered violent public protests that left one police officer dead.

Six men have been arrested and two police officers have been suspended following the 16 December attack.

The victim, who may require an organ transplant, has been admitted to Singapore's Mount Elizabeth Hospital.

"The patient is currently struggling against the odds, and fighting for her life," Kelvin Loh, chief executive officer of Mount Elizabeth Hospital, said in a statement.

"Our medical team's investigations upon her arrival at the hospital yesterday showed that in addition to her prior cardiac arrest, she also had infection of her lungs and abdomen, as well as significant brain injury."

Dr Loh said that multi-disciplinary team of specialists has been "working tirelessly to treat her since her arrival, and is doing everything possible to stabilise her condition over the next few days".

The woman's family has accompanied her to Singapore.

Public anger Protests against the incident left one police officer dead in Delhi

India's Home Minister Sushil Kumar Shinde said in a statement said the government had decided to send the victim overseas on the recommendation of her doctors.

"Despite the best efforts of our doctors, the victim continues to be critical and her fluctuating health remains a big cause of concern to all of us," he said.

The government has tried to halt rising public anger by announcing a series of measures intended to make Delhi safer for women.

These include more police night patrols, checks on bus drivers and their assistants, and the banning of buses with tinted windows or curtains.

The government has also said that it will post the photos, names and addresses of convicted rapists on official websites to shame them.

It has set up two committees - one looking into speeding up trials of cases involving sexual assaults on women, and the other to examine the lapses that might have led to the incident in Delhi.

But the protesters say the government's pledge to seek life sentences for the attackers is not enough - many are calling for the death penalty.

The victim and her friend had been to see a film when they boarded the bus in the Munirka area, intending to travel to Dwarka in south-west Delhi.

Police said she was raped for nearly an hour, and both she and her companion were beaten with iron bars and thrown out of the moving bus into a Delhi street.

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Bug reveals 'erased' Snapchat videos

28 December 2012 Last updated at 11:00 GMT Unwatched videos sent to iPhones via Snapchat can be kept forever Videos sent via smartphone app Snapchat - which should disappear after a few seconds - can be preserved with easy to find tools.

Snapchat has proved popular as it deletes sensitive or risque photos and videos after a short delay.

But tech news site Buzzfeed has found that videos sent to iPhones can be viewed easily using a file browser.

Snapchat said such "reverse engineering" was always going to be possible.

Media browser

Using a widely available file-browsing computer program Katie Notopoulos, a staff reporter at Buzzfeed, found that Snapchat and its Facebook equivalent Poke kept copies of videos that should be deleted. The ability to send video via Snapchat was introduced on 14 December.

When videos were loaded but not opened Ms Notopoulos discovered it was possible to get at and view these copies when users connected their iPhone to a computer and used a file browser to look through its internal memory.

If videos were not viewed, she found, they were stored in a folder called "tmp" by Snapchat or "mediacard" on Facebook's Poke. Copying the files in these folders to a hard drive stopped them being automatically deleted.

Snapchat is also available on Google Android phones. Ms Notopoulos did not try to find out if videos were preserved in the same way on such smartphones. However, earlier in December Snapchat did issue a patch for a bug that put permanent versions of unwatched videos into the media gallery on Android phones.

Snaptchat founder Evan Spiegel told Ms Notopoulos that those who enjoyed the service the most would not go to such lengths to view videos.

"There will always be ways to reverse engineer technology products - but that spoils the fun!" he wrote.

Facebook has yet to comment on Buzzfeed's findings.

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PSNI say church fire suspicious

23 December 2012 Last updated at 17:04 GMT The boiler room was extensively damaged in the fire Police say a fire at a Catholic church in Whitehead, County Antrim, is being treated as suspicious.

It was discovered in a boiler house at Our Lady of Lourdes Church on Victoria Avenue at about 03:40 GMT on Sunday.

Police said that the boiler house had been damaged as a result of the fire. It is expected repairs could cost thousands of pounds.

They have appealed for information about the incident.

Parishoner Paddy Stewart said he was shocked that the church had been attacked.

"We were doing a lot of preparation of vigil mass and Christmas morning mass and the damage is such that the electrics and the heating system are out," he said.

"All the suppliers are closed until after Christmas, so we've had a lot of other parishioners and helpers from different churches in Whitehead, we are a close community, moving furniture from the church into the local primary school, and we'll have our mass there until we can get the church up and running again."

East Antrim DUP MLA David Hilditch said that he was disappointed that there had been such an incident.

"Up until now relations between the various sections of the community have been fairly good, I don't know what drove someone to do this but it cannot happen," he said.

The church was built in 1909 in the County Antrim town

"You've the ongoing situation in regards to the union flag, generally the protests have been good natured and peaceful in Carrickfergus.

"We've had a couple of blips, that's well known and reported in the national media, but generally it's been peaceable and we want to see that happening."

Alliance East Antrim MLA Stewart Dickson has condemned the attack.

"There can never be any justification for an attack on a place of worship. I know the local community will show their support and offer any help that is needed to repair any damage," he said.

"I condemn this attack in the strongest possible manner. It has achieved nothing except to strengthen the resolve of a united church community in Whitehead.

"With only two days until Christmas services, it will cause a lot of disruption and distress to the congregation."

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Wife's grief over 'evil' murder

30 December 2012 Last updated at 17:55 GMT Mr Greaves was on his way to church to play the organ when he was attacked The wife of an organist who died after being attacked on Christmas Eve said she had "not stopped crying" over the "evil" that had been done.

Alan Greaves, 68, of High Green, Sheffield, died on Thursday after sustaining severe head injuries while walking to church for Midnight Mass.

Maureen Greaves spoke of her grief at a service at St Saviour's Mortomley and High Green Church.

Two men arrested on suspicion of murder have been released on bail.

They were bailed on Sunday afternoon, pending further enquiries. South Yorkshire Police said one was in his 20s and the other in his 40s.

'Longs for justice'

Mr Greaves' family were joined at the service by the Bishop of Sheffield, Dr Steven Croft.

During it, Mrs Greaves told the congregation: "I won't be able to contact you over the next few days, but I want to thank you for the support you have given me.

Maureen Greaves spoke of her grief at the service

"I have prayed constantly for Alan and I know you have too. I have not stopped crying for him and I know you have not stopped either.

"I have wept over the evil that has been done. I have prayed for you and I know you have prayed for me. You were Alan's Christian family and he loved belonging to this church. I have felt your love towards me."

Dr Croft spoke of Mr Greaves' deep Christian faith and the sense of shock at his death.

"There will be immense grief for those who knew Alan well, which includes many in this church and community. There will be fear that such a thing could happen, apparently to anyone.

"There will be anger and all kinds of questions and real pain in our hearts today," he said.

'Gentle giant'

He also paid tribute to Mrs Greaves: "Maureen has said very clearly and powerfully that she longs for justice not for vengeance, again bearing witness to her own deep faith in the midst of the sharpest agony of her life."

Dr Steven Croft spoke of the "immense sadness" felt

The vicar at St Saviour's, the Reverend Canon Simon Bessant, had worked closely with Mr and Mrs Greaves.

He described the killing as a "random" act of "senseless violence".

He said Mr Greaves was well-respected within the community, a comment reflected in the bishop's sermon.

Dr Croft said: "Simon has referred to Alan this week quite simply as a good man, a gentle giant. Goodness is not as common as it should be and this community and this city have lost a shining light."

Mr Greaves, a father-of-four, was found on a pavement near his home on Greengate Lane with a head injury at about 23:15 GMT on Monday.

He had been making his way to St Saviour's Church to play the organ at the Midnight Mass service.

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Afghan policewoman kills US aide

24 December 2012 Last updated at 07:58 GMT Many women are being recruited into Afghanistan's police force An Afghan policewoman has shot dead a US military adviser inside Kabul police headquarters, Afghan officials say.

It is the first reported incident in which a female member of Afghanistan's security forces has opened fire on a Nato soldier.

The attacker has been detained. Officials say they suspect she has links with the Taliban.

There has been a rise in incidents in which foreign troops have been killed by Afghan troops or policemen.

In Monday's incident, officials say the woman - an officer at the interior ministry - came looking for the police chief at the heavily secured headquarters.

The US adviser was thought to have been on his way to a canteen when she shot him with her pistol.

More than 50 members of the Nato-led force in Afghanistan have been killed by male Afghan troops or police this year.

In September the US suspended training for local police recruits because of such "insider attacks".

It said it was carrying out checks on whether recruits had links to the Taliban.

Training Afghan security forces is an essential part of Nato's strategy before foreign combat troops pull out in 2014.

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Actor Sheen 'upset' by litterers

28 December 2012 Last updated at 09:56 GMT By Carl Yapp BBC News Michael Sheen was approached by Keep Wales Tidy last year Hollywood actor Michael Sheen says he gets "very upset" by people throwing litter and it leads to communities having a low sense of self-esteem.

The Queen and Frost/Nixon star, from Port Talbot, is an ambassador for the anti-litter group Keep Wales Tidy (KWT).

Sheen has urged people to take more responsibility for their communities.

At the end of KWT's 40th anniversary year it said cigarette ends still made up the largest proportion of litter.

Sheen, who lives in Los Angeles, said he was approached by KWT last year when he performed his biblical play, The Passion, in Port Talbot.

"I thought they were doing great work, and I've seen the effects of it on my own town in Port Talbot with the Blue Flag that had been awarded - which is one of three coastal awards that Keep Wales Tidy administer," he said.

The actor said he had seen how much the beach meant to people in Port Talbot and it had become a special place that local people took responsibility for.

Continue reading the main story

Steve Absalom from Dyffryn Clydach, near Neath, is one of KWT's longest-serving volunteers with 25 years' service.

He said in recent years there had been a surge in the number of beer cans and bottles of spirits dumped in his rural area.

He put this down to an increase in underage drinking.

"Over the last 25 years attitudes to litter have changed a great deal.

"The work Keep Wales Tidy has done to raise awareness and council recycling projects have had a huge impact.

"Years ago people would dump waste over their garden fence or over hedges and that has mostly stopped now. Fly tipping is still a problem, but people know they just can't dump rubbish any more.

"You're always going to get people throwing fast food cartons through car windows, but I think thanks to our work it is considered socially acceptable now to drop litter.

"We cut grass, we work on footpath networks and build bridges across streams, put up styles, improve disabled access and drainage.

"We try and manage invasive species such as Japanese knotweed."

However, Sheen said parts of some communities had become "wasteland areas", and KWT was spearheading projects to transform them into green community areas.

When it comes to the type of litter discarded, it appears some things never change.

Cigarette ends continue to pose problems for KWT's army of volunteers as they did back in 1972, and discarded butts make up the largest proportion of litter.

Nearly 90% of the Welsh streets inspected over the past 12 months had "visible evidence of smoking related litter".

In a bid to tackle the problem, KWT launched its biggest ever campaign against smoking related litter earlier this year.

The stub it, bin it and help keep Wales tidy campaign saw the group distribute free portable ashtrays across Wales.

Sheen said he would like to see people, including himself, have more awareness about what "we are doing to our environment, what we're doing to ourselves".

"I smoked for 26 years, I gave up about four years ago, and now I regret everyday that I smoked," Sheen added.

'Very upset'

"I hope that people can take more responsibility for what they are putting inside themselves and what they're putting around them in their community and it's going to help all of us."

He said he got "very upset" when he saw people throwing litter.

Nearly 90% of the streets inspected over the past year had "visible evidence of smoking related litter"

"It's fairly straightforward to pick it up and put it away," Sheen added.

"What's most upsetting is seeing people's disregard for their own community, for their own environment, the place that they live in after all.

"I think the less respect you have around you the less respect you have for yourself as well as other people.

"It saddens me to see that going on because I know that leads to individuals and communities having a very low self-esteem."

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India win first Twenty20 in Pune

First Twenty20 international, Pune:

1ndia 158-5 (17.5 overs) beat England 157-6 (20 overs) by five wickets

Yuvraj Singh starred with bat and ball as India won the first Twenty20 international against England in Pune by five wickets.

Having won the toss and inserted England, India restricted the tourists to 157-6 from their 20 overs.

Alex Hales hit 56 and Jos Buttler 33 but England's total was well below par. Yuvraj took 3-19 from his four overs.

In reply, Yuvraj top-scored for India with 38 as the hosts reached their target with 13 balls to spare.

England's bowling attack served up 10 wides and will have to be far more disciplined if they are to square the series in Mumbai on Saturday.

With regulars Kevin Pietersen, Graeme Swann and Steven Finn all rested after their exploits in the 2-1 Test series win and Stuart Broad injured, Eoin Morgan led an inexperienced England line-up.

Sept 2007, Durban: India won by 18 runs June 2009, Lord's: England won by three runs August 2011, Old Trafford: England won by six wickets October 2011, Kolkata: England won by six wickets September 2012, Colombo: India won by 90 runs December 2012, Pune: Hales got the tourists off to a flyer, hitting Ashok Dinda for two fours in the first over.

Michael Lumb was out for one in the fourth over, the left-hander missing with a slog-sweep and finding himself trapped plumb in front by Ravichandran Ashwin.

But Lumb's Nottinghamshire team-mate Hales got stuck into Ashwin and fellow spinner Ravindra Jadeja, racing to 50 from only 26 balls.

Luke Wright joined in the fun, hitting three fours and one six in his 21-ball innings of 34 before mis-hitting Yuvraj to Ajinkya Rahane at long-off in the 11th over.

Wright's dismissal brought Morgan to the crease and India's bowlers managed to put the breaks on the new partnership.

And Hales, looking to break the shackles, was dismissed for 56 from 35 balls, playing all round a straight one from Yuvraj.

Morgan fell two balls later, skying Yuvraj to Rahane at long-on for five, and after an encouraging start England were suddenly wondering where the next boundary would come from.

A four through the covers by Samit Patel in the 15th over released some pressure but Yuvraj continued to strangle the innings, finishing with 3-19 from his four overs.

Buttler clubbed Ashwin for a pair of sixes in the 18th over but Patel fell off the first ball of the 19th, hitting Dinda to Rahane at long-off.

Tim Bresnan fell from his first delivery, chipping Dinda to Virat Kohli at long-on, before James Tredwell joined Buttler in the middle.

Buttler hit two successive sixes in the final over, bowled by Parvinder Awana, including a perfectly-executed scoop shot, and the late salvo carried England past the 150 mark.

However, England's score appeared to be 15-20 runs below par on a sound batting pitch.

Defending an eminently makeable target, England made a poor start, Jade Dernbach serving up three wides in the first over of India's innings.

The errant Dernbach went for 21 in his first two overs before Surrey team-mate Stuart Meaker brought some discipline to England's attack.

But it was Tim Bresnan who made the breakthrough when Hales caught Gambhir on the deep square-leg boundary for 16.

Kohli should have gone first ball only for Meaker to shell a regulation catch at short long-leg, but Rahane fell two balls later for 19, spooning a slower ball bouncer from Bresnan to Patel at long-on.

However, Yuvraj hit left-arm spinner Danny Briggs for 18 off his first over, including two sixes, as the pendulum swung firmly back in India's direction.

Yuvraj made a dashing 38 from 21 balls before he was dismissed by Wright in the 10th over, holing out to Meaker at deep square-leg.

Morgan perhaps should have run out Kohli after he was sent back by Suresh Raina but Kohli was gone for 21 in the 12th over, dragging Meaker on.

Morgan definitely should have run out Mahendra Dhoni in the 13th over but dragged his throw well wide when he had far more time than he realised.

It was third time lucky for Morgan when he executed a smart run-out of Raina for 26 but it was too little, too late for England, Dhoni leading India home in the 18th over.

We are using archive pictures for this series because several photo agencies, including Getty Images, have been barred from the ground following a dispute with the Board of Control for Cricket in India, while other agencies have withdrawn their photographers in protest.

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The rise of Ukraine's ultra-nationalists

26 December 2012 Last updated at 00:02 GMT By David Stern BBC News, Kiev Ukraine's ultra-nationalist party, Svoboda, was a shock winner in October's parliamentary election, capturing more than 10% of the vote and entering the legislature for the first time. How radical is it?

Svoboda's presence has been felt immediately in Ukraine's parliament, the Verkhovna Rada, where its 37 deputies belong to a broad coalition opposing President Viktor Yanukovych's Party of Regions.

Meeting for its first two sessions in mid-December, the Rada - as it has a number of times in the past - degenerated into scenes that resembled not so much a legislative process as an ice hockey brawl, involving dozens of shoving, punching and kicking parliamentarians.

Svoboda's newly installed deputies, clad in traditional Ukrainian embroidered shirts, were in the thick of the melee, when not actually leading the charge.

They helped attack and drive from the opposition's ranks two deputies - a father and son - who were accused of preparing to defect to the ruling party. Then they joined a massive free-for-all around the speaker's rostrum, in protest at alleged illegal absentee-voting by deputies from the governing party.

One of Svoboda's leading members, sports journalist Ihor Miroshnychenko, his ponytail flying behind him, then charged the podium to prevent a deputy speaking in Russian. (Svoboda believes that only Ukrainian should be used in all official bodies.)

Outside, Svoboda deputies used a chainsaw to cut down an iron fence erected last year to prevent crowds from storming the parliament building. This they justified in the name of popular democracy.

"No other democratic country has fenced-off the national parliament," said Svoboda's Ruslan Koshulinskiy, the deputy speaker of parliament. "People have chosen these lawmakers and should have a right to have access to them."

Chaotic and confrontational as this may seem to Western eyes, Svoboda's over-the-top behaviour is partly what drove many Ukrainians to vote for them.

The party has tapped a vast reservoir of protest votes. In a political landscape where all other parties are seen as corrupt, weak or anti-democratic - or all three - Svoboda seems to have attracted voters who would otherwise have stayed away from the polls altogether. Its strong anti-corruption stance - promising to "clean up" Ukraine - has resonated deeply.

"I'm for Svoboda," said Vadim Makarevych, a supporter, said at a recent rally in Kiev. "We have to stop what is happening in our country. It's banditry and mafia."

At the same time, they have staked out a position as fervent - some say rabid - defenders of traditional Ukrainian culture and language.

Continue reading the main story "Svoboda" means "freedom" Founded in 1991 as Social-National partyFourth largest party in new parliament, with 37 out of 450 deputiesShare of the vote grew by factor of 14 between 2007 and 2012 electionsWon 30-40% of vote in three western regions in 2012 - and about 1% in three eastern regionsMonths before Miroshnychenko charged the parliament podium, Svoboda activists were photographed appearing to spray police with pepper gas, at a demonstration against a law making Russian an official language in some regions of the country.

Among those who see Russia as a threat to Ukraine's independence - chiefly in the west rather than the east of the country - many applaud this tough anti-Moscow stance.

But in the run-up to October's election, the party also wooed centrist voters by softening its image.

Party leader Oleh Tyahnybok repeatedly reassured voters that Svoboda is not racist, xenophobic or anti-Semitic - just pro-Ukrainian. "We are not against anyone, we are for ourselves," he said.

By presenting itself as a party of very devoted patriots, Svoboda seems to have won over voters who would be repelled by some of its more radical views - or voters who sympathise with these views, but prefer them to remain unspoken.

In the last parliamentary elections five years ago, Svoboda managed only 0.7% of the vote. This time, in addition to expanding its traditional base in the country's Ukrainian-speaking west - it won close to 40% in the Lviv region - Svoboda made inroads into central regions, capturing second place in the capital Kiev.

Last week (20/12/12) the charismatic Tyahnybok was voted Person of the Year by readers of the country's leading news magazine, Korrespondent.

But while the party's radical past can be papered over, it cannot be erased. Its name until 2004 was the "Social-Nationalist Party" and it maintains informal links to another group, the Patriots of Ukraine, regarded by some as proto-fascist.

In 2004, Tyahnybok was kicked out of former President Viktor Yushchenko's parliamentary faction for a speech calling for Ukrainians to fight against a "Muscovite-Jewish mafia" - using two highly insulting words to describe Russians and Jews - and emphasising that Ukrainians had in the past fought this threat with arms.

Continue reading the main story Title - Stop the Criminal Activities of Organised JewrySigned by Tyahnybok and 17 othersLists Jewish businessmen, who got rich in the 1990s, and claims they control Ukrainian mediaDescribes Zionism as "Jewish Nazism" and warns of "genocide" through the impoverishment of UkrainiansDemands investigation into the activities of Jewish organisations headed by people "suspected of serious crimes"In 2005, he signed an open letter to Ukrainian leaders, including President Yushchenko, calling for the government to halt the "criminal activities" of "organised Jewry", which, the letter said, was spreading its influence in the country through conspiratorial organisations as the Anti-Defamation League - and which ultimately wanted to commit "genocide" against the Ukrainian people.

Tyahnybok stresses that he has never been convicted for anti-Semitism or racial hatred, though prosecutors opened a case against him after his 2004 speech. "All I said then, I can also repeat now," he says. "Moreover, this speech is relevant even today."

Other Svoboda members have also courted controversy. Yuriy Mykhalchyshyn, a parliamentary deputy considered one of the party's ideologues, liberally quotes from former Nazi propaganda minister Joseph Goebbels, along with other National-Socialist leaders.

This undoubtedly appeals to a number of Svoboda's voters, though to what extent is difficult to determine.

Even now, Svoboda's platform calls for passports to specify the holder's ethnicity, and for government positions to be distributed proportionally to ethnic groups, based on their representation in the population at large.

"We want Ukrainians to run the country," says Bohdan, a participant in a recent Svoboda rally, as he waves a Ukrainian flag and organises cheering and chanting.

Continue reading the main story

There's a belief that Svoboda will change, and that they may become proper national democrats”

End Quote Andreas Umland Mohyla Academy University "Seventy percent of the parliament are Jews."

Some see signs that Svoboda's radical elements are reasserting themselves. Activists recently attacked and sprayed tear gas at a gay rights rally in central Kiev. Ihor Miroshnychenko, meanwhile, used abusive language to describe the Ukrainian-born American actress Mila Kunis, who is Jewish, in an online discussion.

However, a number of Svoboda's critics, while underscoring the potential dangers of the party's rise, also say that its popularity may be fleeting. Svoboda's surge mirrors the far-right's growing strength in many countries across Europe, they point out, and may not signal any fundamental, long-term rightward shift among the Ukrainian population.

With the increased scrutiny that the party will come under in parliament, more Ukrainians may also take objection to Svoboda's wilder statements, or decide it creates unnecessary divisions in an already polarised country.

The party itself could also become more mainstream as it conforms to pressure from its political partners. This has happened with other far-right groups in the past, like the Italian Fascist party, which mellowed as it integrated into Italy's conservative camp, experts say.

"There's a belief that Svoboda will change, once in the Verkhovna Rada, and that they may become proper national democrats," says Andreas Umland, a political science professor at Kiev's Mohyla Academy University.

But he hesitates to predict how the party's internal tensions will be resolved.

"We don't know which way Svoboda will go," he says. "It may actually become more radical."

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Sole Iran woman minister sacked

27 December 2012 Last updated at 15:59 GMT Ms Dastjerdi was the first woman minister in the 30-year history of the Islamic republic Iran's President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad has sacked Health Minister Marziyeh Vahid Dastjerdi, the sole woman in his cabinet, state television reports.

Ms Dastjerdi was also the first woman minister in the 30-year history of the Islamic republic.

While no reason has been given, the dismissal is being linked to her call for drug price rises to fight shortages caused by international sanctions.

Mr Ahmadinejad rejected her comments, saying her budget needs had been met.

'Inevitable' price rise

Analysts say international sanctions have done significant damage to the Islamic republic's economy and led to a steep currency plunge.

Although they do not directly target medicines, they limit their importation because of restrictions on financial transactions.

Prior to her dismissal, Ms Dastjerdi said that because of the rise in the foreign exchange rate, there would be an inevitable increase in the price of medicine.

She complained of her department's inability to get access to foreign currency she had been promised.

"In the first half of the current year, the Central Bank has not allocated any exchange for the import of drugs and medical equipment," she said.

"We need $2.5bn (£1.6bn) in foreign exchange to meet the needs of the medical sector for the year, but only $650m has been earmarked."

But President Ahmadinejad said in a TV interview that enough money had been allocated to the health ministry.

"No-one has the right to raise the price of medicine," he added.

Mohammad Hassan Tariqat Monfared has been appointed as interim health minister, the Reuters news agency reports.

The EU and US recently announced new sanctions over Iran's nuclear plans.

They suspect Iran is seeking to develop nuclear weapons, something it denies.

Ms Dastjerdi was the first woman minister of the Islamic republic, although a woman did serve as vice-president for the environment under Mohammad Khatami.

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Billy Crystal: Back on the big screen

26 December 2012 Last updated at 01:14 GMT In Parental Guidance Billy Crystal plays Artie Decker, whose grandkids are reluctant to let their mother (Marisa Tomei) go on holiday without them It has been 10 years since Billy Crystal appeared on-screen in a major Hollywood movie.

The star of When Harry Met Sally and City Slickers has been busy with his one-man show, and voicing animated characters in Monsters, Inc and Howl's Moving Castle.

He also hosted the 2011 Oscars (his ninth), stepping in at the last minute after Eddie Murphy pulled out.

But he's back in front of the camera this Christmas, starring alongside Bette Midler in family comedy Parental Guidance.

Inspired by Crystal's own experiences, they play an elderly couple entrusted with the care of their grandchildren - with disastrous results.

The 64-year-old talked to the BBC about his break, the forthcoming prequel to Monsters, Inc, and his tips for hosting the Oscars.

What's the story behind Parental Guidance?

It started out with my own granddaughters. We babysat for them, the two girls, for six days while my daughter tried to have a holiday. And on the seventh day, I rested…

But I thought: "Alright, here's an idea for a movie." And that's how it began, with a very personal story about old school grandparents trying to babysit for their new-age kids.

Billy Crystal says it took "six years" to get Parental Guidance into cinemas

Are you as hopeless at looking after grandchildren as your character in the movie?

All he's trying to do is please them and get a smile out of them. But he also tries to win them over by bribing them and doing everything his daughter wouldn't do. So, in that way, yes, the film depicts everything I did!

There's a line in the film, where your daughter (Marisa Tomei) tells the children - "Grandad likes to tell jokes. You won't get them, so just pretend to laugh." Is that lifted from real life?

Oh, I can't speak for that. You'd have to ask my daughter.

So which elements were based on you?

There's a moment in the film where I say to one of the kids, "Why don't you draw inside of the lines in your colouring book?" In real life that played out exactly the way it did in the film. My daughter said, "we don't use the lines" and I couldn't understand. That's why they have them, isn't it?

The film starts off as a comedy, but it gets quite sentimental. Particularly in the scenes with Marisa.

Well, good. The movie can bear the weight of that. Those are my favourite kind of movies. Even though I wrote parts of it, I get a lump in my throat.

It was wonderful to act with Marisa, too. She has a very different tempo than either Bette or I do, and getting that - her jolt of realism and charm - into the movie, was really important to us.

The grandparents cause mayhem by shunning their daughter's strict dietary regime

There's a buzz in Hollywood about getting older audiences into cinemas. Was that a factor in getting Parental Guidance made?

I think so. Mature audiences feel they're being ignored, somehow. They think everything is for the younger market, so they don't go to movies. But if you give them something smart and funny, they'll come. In America alone, there are 77 million people who are 60 or above, so that's a huge audience that wants to be entertained.

And they can fill cinemas during the afternoon, which is attractive for cinema owners.

Yeah, and it's half price.

Maybe that's why the industry isn't so keen.

Haha! Maybe.

You've had 10 years away from the screen. What were you up to?

I spent the last bunch of time developing and appearing in my one-man show, 700 Sundays, which did great in New York, on Broadway and in Australia. But every time I was about to bring it here to the UK, Fox would say, "but you can't, we're going to make Parental Guidance now". So that's where I've been - trying to get this movie made.

You produced the film as well. How do you split those roles?

Sometimes I have to take myself aside and talk to me. "Listen, you're supposed to learn your lines, you're costing us a lot of money."

Crystal reprises his role as monocular monster Mike Wazowski in Monsters University, due for release in Jun 2013

Monsters University is coming out in June. Has Pixar let you see any of it yet?

I've seen the first 30 to 40 minutes of it and it's absolutely miraculously brilliant funny.

It's a prequel, so Mike and Sully are younger. We're 17 or 18 years old, going to university together to learn how to become scarers. It's the perfect Pixar movie. Mike, for me, is maybe the favourite character I've ever played, because I get to do so many crazy, different things with him.

I love the inventive minds at Pixar that let me and John [Goodman] play and improvise . It's a great joy to work with him, because they let us do it together, which is rare.

How did that come about? Voice-overs are usually recorded in isolation, aren't they?

It happened on Monsters, Inc. I did my first day and John's stuff was already recorded. I said: 'Well, this isn't good. There's no spontaneity. Can't we do something together?" And it was the first time it happened that Pixar would let two actors work together.

What's their objection?

It's harder to separate the two voices. They like what they call "clean tracks". But the key with these two characters is that they play off each other.

Playing Mike must give you great currency with your own grandkids.

Well, the first time they saw me do anything was Monsters, Inc. And then for six months I was grandpa Mike and had to talk like him!

Crystal has hosted the Academy Awards nine times, but has never won an Oscar of his own

The Oscars are coming up in February. Have you started preparing any material in case Seth McFarlane pulls out as host?

No, I'm done. Good luck to him! There are some really good movies this year. The one I really liked was The Impossible - it's about a family that gets swept away by a tsunami in the Philippines. It's not a lot of laughs, but it's really wonderful. I hope it gets nominated.

What's your top tip for any prospective host?

After your monologue, change to sneakers.

Is there a trick to writing the gags?

It's a long night, so just give yourself options. The most important thing is to look like you want to be there. Every time I did it, I had a good time. So, in that way, that's a big thing. Have fun. It's a special night.

Parental Guidance is released in the UK on 26 December, 2012

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Search over clothes find on beach

27 December 2012 Last updated at 08:39 GMT A search is underway at Holyhead on Anglesey after items of men's clothing and a pack of cigarettes were discovered on a beach.

Holyhead coastguard said the jeans, T-shirt and hooded top were found at Newry Beach at 06:53 GMT on Thursday with the cigarettes inside the jeans.

North Wales Police are also involved in the search along with coastguards and the Holyhead inshore lifeboat.

Coastguards said the search was fully under way now that it is light.

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Russia angered over UN helicopter

22 December 2012 Last updated at 13:08 GMT Russia has urged South Sudan to identify and punish those responsible for shooting down a UN helicopter and killing its four Russian crew.

The helicopter was apparently shot down on Friday while on a reconnaissance mission in eastern Jonglei state.

The UN strongly condemned the "shooting down... of a clearly marked UN helicopter" by South Sudanese forces.

South Sudanese officials have given conflicting accounts of why the helicopter may have been downed.

"We call on the government of South Sudan to carry out the necessary investigation, punish the guilty and take every measure to guarantee that this never happens again," Russia's foreign ministry said in a statement.

The ministry also named the four male crew members who died.

South Sudan's minister of information told the BBC on Friday that the cause of the incident was not clear.

Other officials were quoted as saying the helicopter had been mistaken for a rebel aircraft, or that it had been downed by rebels.

Initial reports said the helicopter had crashed.

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Olympians lead Scots honours list

29 December 2012 Last updated at 00:00 GMT Scotland's Olympic medal winners are among those who feature on the New Years Honours list Olympic heroes Andy Murray and Katherine Grainger are among the Scots leading the New Years Honours list.

Actor Ewan McGregor and actress Siobhan Redmond, as well as violinist Nicola Benedetti are also to receive awards.

Prof Peter Higgs, who gave his name to the "God particle", gets the Companion of Honour for services to physics.

Other Olympians and Paralympians, Tim Baillie, Scott Brash, Sophie Hosking, Neil Fachie, Craig McLean and David Smith, are recognised with MBEs.

Katherine Grainger, who has links to Glasgow, Edinburgh and Aberdeenshire, and won a gold medal after being runner up at the previous three games, is given a CBE, for services to rowing.

She said: "Every additional honour is like winning all over again, and this one is a big one. This one is very special."

"Probably the win in London will always be special. It has been an incredible journey and that was the culmination, that was the home crowd, that was the home nation support, and that was finally the Olympic title and that is what every athlete would dearly, dearly love."

Andy Murray, from Dunblane, who took Olympic gold and won his first ever grand slam when he beat Novak Djokovic in the US Open finals, is awarded an OBE.

Edinburgh-born rower Sophie Hosking, who took gold in lightweight women's double sculls at this summer's Olympics, receives an MBE, with the same honour also going to horse rider Scott Brash from Peebles, who at 27 was the youngest member of the British gold medal winning showjumping team at the London Games.

Another Olympics star to receive an MBE is Aberdeen-born Tim Baillie, who won gold in the canoe slalom C2 event.

David Smith is receiving an MBE after he was part of the team that won the mixed coxed four event at the 2012 Paralympic Games.

Cyclist Neil Fachie, who triumphed in the 1km time trial for the blind and visually impaired, also picks up an MBE, with the same honour going to cycling pilot Craig MacLean.

Scottish knighthoods

Crieff-born Ewan McGregor receives an OBE for his services to drama and charity.

The Star Wars and Trainspotting star, who is an ambassador for Unicef, became a supporter of the charity after visiting some of its projects in Ukraine, Kazakhstan and Mongolia as part of his round-the world motorcycle trip.

Siobhan Redmond also receives an MBE for services to drama. Born in Tollcross, Glasgow, she made her television debut in the early 1980s before going on to star in shows including Taggart and Holby City.

The same honour goes to violinist Nicola Benedetti - who was born in West Kilbride and was named BBC's Young Musician of the Year in 2004 at the age of 16 - for her services to music and charity.

Others who are honoured include John Leighton, the director general of the National Galleries of Scotland, who is knighted for his services to art.

Knighthoods also go to Prof Ian Diamond, the Principal and Vice Chancellor of Aberdeen University, for his services to social science and higher education and Edinburgh-born Prof Hew Strachan, the Chichele Professor of the History of War at All Souls College, Oxford.

Orkney jewellery designer Sheila Fleet, who set up her business almost two decades ago in 1993, is honoured with an OBE for services to the industry.

Her family-run business, Sheila Fleet Jewellery, has grown to become one of the biggest employers in the rural countryside of Orkney.

The 67-year-old said: "I was extremely surprised and delighted of course, it was very unexpected and after 44 years in the jewellery industry I'm delighted, it's the icing on the cake."

Queen's Medal

Others receiving awards in the New Years Honours list include Glasgow-based campaigner Gordon McCormack who has committed himself to developing sport for people with disabilities for more than 30 years. He is honoured with an OBE.

Ian Craig, former president of the Scottish Beekeepers Association, receives an MBE for services to Beekeeping.

A crofter from Shetland, Agnes Leask, is awarded a British Empire Medal for services to Crofting. She told BBC Scotland she hoped the honour would raise awareness and help preserve the "crofting way of life in the Highlands and Islands".

"It is something I have never looked for and never, ever expected. I hope it will be an honour for the crofting way of life," she said.

A senior police officer who played a key role in the creation of the new single police force in Scotland is amongst a host of emergency service personnel honoured with the Queen's Fire, Police and Ambulance Service Medal.

Northern Constabulary Chief Superintendent David O'Connor is being recognised for the contribution he has made to police service reform as President of the Association of Scottish Police Superintendents (ASPS).

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Detainee death doctor struck off

21 December 2012 Last updated at 12:22 GMT Dr Derek Keilloh was found guilty of misconduct by the MPTS A former Army doctor has been struck off the medical register after his misconduct over the death of Iraqi detainee Baha Mousa in 2003.

Derek Keilloh, of Aberdeen, was a medical officer with the Queen's Lancashire Regiment (QLR) in Basra when Mr Mousa died in British Army custody.

The Medical Practitioners Tribunal Service heard he had 93 injuries.

The MPTS said Dr Keilloh, who practises in North Yorkshire, was aware of the injuries but failed to report them.

He supervised a failed resuscitation attempt to save the life of Mr Mousa, who had been hooded, handcuffed and severely beaten by soldiers.

The hotel receptionist had been arrested in a crackdown by soldiers who believed, wrongly, that he was an insurgent involved in the murder of four of their colleagues the month before.

The MPTS recognised Dr Keilloh, now a GP at Mayford House Surgery in Northallerton, did "everything possible" to save Mr Mousa's life, in a setting that was "highly charged, chaotic, tense and stressful".

Dr Keilloh claimed he saw only dried blood around Mr Mousa's nose while giving mouth-to-mouth and CPR.

But the panel ruled he must have seen the injuries and had a duty to act.

The MPTS questioned his honesty after he lied to Army investigators about the injuries and, in sticking to his story, giving evidence in subsequent courts-martial and a public inquiry.

The panel also said the doctor did not do enough to protect his patients, the other detainees, from further mistreatment, breaking a "fundamental tenet" of the medical profession.

He told soldiers not to beat other detainees, but the panel ruled he should have blown the whistle to senior officers about what went on.

The MPTS said it was the "repeated dishonesty" in claiming not to have seen injuries to Mr Mousa that was wholly unacceptable.

Dr Brian Alderman, the panel chairman, said: "In all the circumstances, the panel determined that erasure is the only appropriate sanction in this case.

"It is considered that this action is the only way proper standards of conduct and behaviour may be upheld and trust in the profession as a whole may be restored.

"The panel has identified serious breaches of good medical practice and, given the gravity and nature of the extent and context of your dishonesty, it considers that your misconduct is fundamentally incompatible with continued registration."

Baha Mousa was arrested when weapons were discovered at the hotel where he worked

Dr Keilloh, a married father of two who qualified in medicine at the University of Aberdeen, has 28 days to appeal against the decision in the High Court.

Mr Mousa's death led to a public inquiry, led by Sir William Gage, which concluded that his death was caused by a combination of his weakened physical state and a final struggle with his guards.

The final report strongly criticised the "corporate failure" by the Ministry of Defence and the "lack of moral courage to report abuse" within Preston-based QLR.

It named 19 soldiers who assaulted Mr Mousa and other detainees and found that many others, including several officers, must have known what was happening.

Six soldiers were cleared at a court martial in 2007, while Cpl Donald Payne became the first member of the British armed forces convicted of a war crime when he pleaded guilty to inhumanely treating civilians.

The Ministry of Defence agreed to pay £2.83m in compensation to the families of Mr Mousa and nine other Iraqi men abused by UK troops.

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VIDEO: 'How I broke news of Falklands invasion'

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VIDEO: US winter storm claims more lives

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Charles pays tribute to troops

26 December 2012 Last updated at 12:00 GMT Charles recorded the message in London for broadcast from Camp Bastion The Prince of Wales has told British forces fighting in Afghanistan that the nation owes them "an everlasting debt of gratitude".

He thanked them for their "fortitude and relentless courage".

In a pre-recorded message broadcast on radio on 26 December, he said that all troops serving "in far off lands" were in his thoughts and prayers.

He joked that he had received a "very rare and precious letter" from Prince Harry, serving in Afghanistan.

His 28-year-old son is an Apache helicopter pilot, serving as part of the 100-strong 662 Squadron, 3 Regiment, Army Air Corps in Helmand province.

Charles's broadcast was aired on the British Forces Broadcasting Service radio on the Total Ops Connection programme, broadcast across the world from Camp Bastion.

He said: "I... wanted to pay tribute to the extraordinary contribution made by those of you who belong to our Armed Forces, in all sorts of different parts of the world.

"Nowhere is your fortitude and relentless courage more clearly on display than in Afghanistan, where your resilience, patience and determination to see the job through - usually in impossibly difficult conditions and circumstances - is, quite simply, humbling."

The heir to the throne is colonel-in-chief of a number of regiments serving in Afghanistan and he said he knew about the hardships troops face because of the regular reports from his units - and the occasional contact with Harry.

He said: "I am well aware of the discomfort and privations you all endure with seemingly endless reserves of good humour.

Troops have been enjoying Christmas treats at Camp Bastion

"In addition to the intense heat and dust of the summer and the freezing winters, you face the constant, terrifying threat of IEDs (improvised explosive devices), attacks from rockets, grenades and small arms fire almost every day - and sometimes these attacks come from infiltrators hidden among those who are supposed to be working alongside you as allies.

"And yet you all seem to bounce back in an almost unbelievable way, despite the setbacks and vicious insurgent attacks."

Prince Charles' elder son, William, also serves with the armed forces - as a search and rescue pilot with the RAF.

He said: "With two sons currently serving in the Armed Forces, one of whom is with you all out there, I really do have at least some understanding of what your loved ones on the 'home front' are going through."

He said servicemen and women could keep in touch with relatives through phone calls and the internet "or, in the case of my younger son, to receive a very rare and precious letter in answer to mine".

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Van Persie is 'lucky to be alive'

Sir Alex Ferguson says Robin van Persie is "lucky to be alive" after being hit in the head by a ball struck by Ashley Williams in the 1-1 draw with Swansea.

Van Persie was lying on the ground when Williams kicked the ball from a couple of yards away as the referee blew the whistle for a foul.

Ferguson felt Van Persie was fortunate to escape serious injury.

"Robin van Persie is lucky to be alive. It was a disgraceful act from their player," Ferguson told BBC Sport.

Van Persie and Williams were involved in an angry confrontation

"He should be banned by the FA. Robin could have had a broken neck."

The United manager said Williams, 28, had deliberately aimed the ball at Van Persie, who reacted furiously - both players were cautioned by referee Michael Oliver.

Ferguson added on Sky Sports: "With the Van Persie situation, you can clearly see that he could have been killed.

"He should be banned for a long time because that was the most dangerous thing I've seen on a football field for many years.

"It was absolutely deliberate. The whistle has gone, the game has stopped and he has done that right in front of the referee, he could have killed the lad.

"It was a disgraceful act by the player, he should be banned for a long time."

Williams denied he had hit Van Persie intentionally.

Williams on Van Persie incident

"I've seen it on the TV and that's his [Ferguson's] opinion," said Williams.

"Everyone's going to have their own opinion but, from my point of view, I tried to apologise on the pitch but it all flared up.

"I just kicked the ball in frustration and obviously not trying to hit him square on the head.

"I understand exactly why he's angry. I'd be the same if the ball hit me on the head at that pace."

United striker Wayne Rooney tried to play the incident down.

"I think it's one of those things," he said. "The whistle's gone, the defender has gone to clear and it's hit him in the head. I think probably the right decision from the referee."

United led the Premier League by six points going into the weekend's fixtures but, after the draw with Swansea and rivals Manchester City's win over Reading, that advantage has been cut to four points.

"It should have been six. That's the disappointment," added Ferguson.

"We absolutely battered Swansea [in the second half].

"In the second half it was a marvellous performance by us and we were unlucky not to win it. We struck the bar twice and had some great chances.

"If there is a criticism then maybe it is that we were wasteful with the chances and we have to hold out hand up to that."

The United manager was angry that referee Michael Oliver, 27, did not disallow Swansea's equaliser for a foul by Chico on Van Persie during the build-up to the goal.

"It really it should have been a foul for us when the defender fouled Van Persie but the referee has had one of those games," said Ferguson.

"I know he is a young referee but dear me what a performance that was."

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Life after the (non) end of the world

21 December 2012 Last updated at 01:56 GMT By Jon Kelly BBC News Magazine, Washington DC Despite all the predictions of Mayan apocalypse, the world will probably not end by Saturday morning. How will the believers cope when life carries on?

The clock strikes midnight, the hallowed date arrives and, once again, the apocalypse fails to turn up on schedule.

For such a cataclysmic event, the projected end of the world has come around with surprising regularity throughout history.

Each time a group of believers has been left bewildered at the absence of all-consuming death and devastation.

If they've taking the warnings seriously enough, they will have sold their homes, abandoned earthly civilisation's material trappings and braced themselves for the arrival of a new era.

The latest date to herald widespread alarm is 21 December, which marks the conclusion of the 5,125-year "Long Count" Mayan calendar.

Around the world, precautions are being taken.

Survival pods built for 21 December in Hebei province, China

Panic-buying of candles has been reported in China's Sichuan province. In Russia, where sales of tinned goods and matches have surged, Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev has urged his countryfolk to remain calm.

Continue reading the main story Dr Geoffrey Braswell University of California, San Diego

The 2012 phenomenon is essentially an accounting problem; a misinterpretation of some very ancient book keeping.

It is based on the Maya calendar, which counts the days since a date in the mythical past. This count reset after the last creation (on or about 11 August, 3114BC). On 21 December, we will reach that same number of days once again, and many now are concerned that a calendrical reset the following day will mean the end of the world.

But it is not even clear that the Maya themselves agreed on this book-keeping issue. Two ancient inscriptions emphasise the importance of the date. But a third focuses on 13 October 4772, the end of an even bigger cycle that cannot happen if a reset occurs in 2012.

This more detailed text predicts that, at an even later date, the great king K'inich Janaab' Pakal will return to Palenque to rule. If this Maya prophesy is true, then the world will not end in 2012 or even 4772, no matter how the ancient calendar functioned.

Authorities in the French Pyrenees are preparing for an influx of believers to the mountain Pic de Bugarach, where rumours have spread that UFOs will rescue human gatherers.

And one doesn't have to belong to a sect to find these predictions compelling. Humankind's ongoing fascination with the apocalypse is evident in mainstream popular culture.

Films like 2012, Armageddon and The Day After Tomorrow all packed out multiplexes by depicting threats of global catastrophe. The Left Behind novels about a "post-rapture" world have reportedly sold more than 70 million copies.

If precedent is any guide, however, 21 December is likely to prove an anti-climax. Since the dawn of civilisation, humans have often been gripped by certainty that the world was about to end.

The Romans panicked at predictions their city would be destroyed in 634 BC. Millennial fears gripped Europe ahead of the year 1000 AD. During the English Civil War, groups like the Fifth Monarchists believed the end was nigh.

More recent apocalypses have panned out in much the same way. Followers of Nostradamus braced themselves for the arrival of the "King of Terror" in "1999 and seven months". US television evangelist Pat Robertson forecast that "something like" a nuclear attack would occur in late 2007.

The California radio preacher Harold Camping set a date for the end of the world no fewer than six times, settling on 22 October 2011 - a day which, historians may recall, was distinguished by an absence of fire and brimstone.

Harold Camping revised his predicted date for Judgement Day numerous times

For those who paid heed to their dire warnings, learning that life will in fact carry on as normal might be expected to be a deeply traumatic experience.

Surprisingly, however, groups which predict the end of the world have quite a good record of carrying on after the world is supposed to have ended, says Lorne Dawson, an expert in the sociology of religion at the University of Waterloo.

"The vast majority seem to shrug off the failure of prophecy fairly well," he says.

Of 75 groups identified by Dawson which predicted the apocalypse, all but six remained intact after catastrophe failed to materialise.

Indeed, many have gone on to flourish. Jehovah's Witnesses are viewed as having predicted some form of end several times and yet still have more than seven million followers.

The Seventh Day Adventists, who have an estimated 17 million members, grew out of the Millerites, whose failed apocalyptic forecast in 1844 became known as the Great Disappointment.

Continue reading the main story William Miller, a Baptist preacher in the US, believed Jesus would return to Earth in 1844He drew on prophecies in the Book of Daniel (especially chapter 8:14 "Unto two thousand and three hundred days; then shall the sanctuary be cleansed")Tens of thousands of followers waited in vain on 22 October 1844 - some having given away their money and possessions"It was a bitter disappointment that fell upon the little flock whose faith had been so strong and whose hope had been so high," wrote follower Ellen West, "but we were surprised that we felt so free in the Lord, and were so strongly sustained by His strength and grace"The seminal study into this phenomenon came in the 1956 text When Prophecy Fails, in which psychologist Leon Festinger recounted how he and his students infiltrated a group who believed the world was about to end with members being rescued by a flying saucer.

When both the apocalypse and the UFO failed to materialise, Festinger found, the leader declared that the small circle of believers had "spread so much light" that God had spared the planet. Her followers responded by proselytising the good news among non-believers in what Festinger saw as a classic case of cognitive dissonance.

In a similar exercise, psychiatrist Simon Dein spent time with a small community of Lubavitch Hassidic Jews in Stamford Hill, north London. For years many Lubavitchers had believed their spiritual leader Menechem Mendel Schneerson, known as the rebbe, was the messiah.

According to their theology, he would herald the end of civilisation and usher in a new age. Their faith was tested, however, when the rebbe passed away in New York in 1994.

"I was there at the time he died," says Dein. "They were crying. They were mourning. There was a great sense of denial - he couldn't die. Would he reveal himself?"

But, Dein says, these Lubavitchers did not give up their belief system. Very quickly, they took up the idea he was still alive and could not be seen, or that he would somehow rise from the dead.

"There are very heated tensions between those who believe he's alive and those who believe he's dead, but his death doesn't seem to have diminished the number of people in the group," Dein says.

A candle in memory of Menechem Mendel Schneerson

According to Dawson, the 200 Lubavitcher families in Stamford Hill had the most crucial trait necessary to keep a group together after a failed apocalypse - a strong sense of community.

"If the group itself has been pretty cohesive, it's been free of schism and dissent, they can get through," he says.

Continue reading the main story

"In 1988 there was a really big apocalyptic scenario. I was 14 and in my freshman year at high school in Amarillo, Texas," says Jason Boylett, author of Pocket Guide to the Apocalypse.

"A former Nasa scientist and mathematician called Edgar Whisenant had predicted the world was going to end in September based on calculations from the Bible. He sent his pamphlets out to hundreds of thousands of churches. My Southern Baptist pastor talked about it from the pulpit.

"I spent that summer really pretty scared, because people who had authority our our lives said this is something that might happen in September. I was afraid this was going to be my last summer. When the dates came round I went to bed thinking this is going to be the last time I see my parents.

"Afterwards, obviously, I was relieved. But it really disillusioned me. I knew then I couldn't always trust my pastor.

"I'm still a practicing Christian and I'm not walking around psychologically wounded. But since then my religious belief has been marked with a lot of questioning, a lot of doubt and a lot of cynicism."

Also important, he believes, is the presence of a decisive leadership who can offer a swift explanation.

"If rationalisation comes quickly, the group can withstand ridicule from outside," he adds.

Some leaders, such as Camping on several occasions, simply offer a new date for the apocalypse. Others apologise to their members for getting the scheduling wrong.

Tragically, some take more drastic action. The bodies of 39 members of the Heaven's Gate cult were found in 1997. They had taken their own lives in the belief they would reach a UFO following the Hale-Bopp comet.

Most, however, find a peaceful way to adjust.

"When you have invested so much in a belief, you have a very strong interest in salvaging something from it," says Philip Jenkins, a historian of religion at Baylor University in Texas.

For Jenkins, the appeal of leaders preaching the impending apocalypse down the ages has always been about far more than the specifics of their prophecies.

"It's a kind of rejection of the order of the world as it is," he says. "It's to do with imagining something far better. After it becomes apparent that the new order isn't going to come, there are ways of adjusting the message."

For true believers, the saga is only just beginning when the clock hands reach 12.

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