Russia economy 'to shrink 7.5%'

Oil is sharply lower than it was a year ago

Russia's economy will shrink by 7.5% in 2009, President Dmitry Medvedev has said - but claimed Kremlin intervention had prevented a worse decline.

Russia, which is heavily reliant on oil exports, has been hit by the sharp fall in energy prices.

Mr Medvedev said the decline was "very serious" and admitted the government had been surprised at how severely Russia had been hit by the crisis.

However the predicted slide in GDP was less than earlier predictions.

"The real damage to our economy was far greater than anything predicted by ourselves, the World Bank and other expert organisations," Mr Medvedev told Russian television.

But he said that measures to save jobs and stabilise the country's banking sector had paid off.

Investment worries

Mr Medvedev added that while the rouble had initially declined against the dollar in the first months of the crisis, the currency was now "entirely calm and stable".

The most recent official figures suggest that in the year to August, Russian GDP declined 10.2% compared with the same period in 2008.

But it is expected to come out of recession in the third quarter.

Mr Medvedev spoke of other challenges the country's economy faced - though was not specific about what these were.

However overseas investment in the country is being deterred by the perception that state-run firms bully or intimidate foreign companies into handing over control of their investments.

There is also widespread cynicism as to how much President Dmitry Medvedev is really in control, and whether power really lies with Prime Minister and former President Vladimir Putin.

Deadly bombings in central Iraq

Three blasts have rocked the Iraqi city of Ramadi, west of Baghdad, killing at least 22 people and wounding several others, police have told the BBC.

A car packed with explosives ploughed into a concrete wall at the police headquarters. A motorcycle bomb then went off among the crowd that gathered.

The third blast, an apparent car bomb, went off outside a hospital.

A curfew has been imposed in Ramadi, capital of Anbar province, which was once a centre of the Sunni insurgency.

The province has been relatively stable since Sunni fighters turned against al-Qaeda and joined forces with the US and Iraqi security forces.

But recent weeks have seen a series of attacks on police and Iraqi army checkpoints in Anbar.

On Tuesday, a car bomb killed at least nine people in a market in Falluja. Earlier in the week, a suicide bomber killed six mourners at a funeral in Haditha.

The dead and injured in the latest attacks include both police and civilians.

Boyzone star Stephen Gately dies

Boyzone singer Stephen Gately has been found dead at the age of 33. He died on Saturday while on holiday in Majorca.

Spanish police said there were no signs of suspicious circumstances but that the cause of death was not yet known.

Gately was on holiday with his long-term partner Andy Cowles. A statement from the singer's bandmates said they were "devastated" at the news.

They are expected to travel to Majorca. The Irish band had six UK number one hits in the 1990s and reformed in 2007.

The band's statement said: "Ronan, Keith, Mikey and Shane are devastated by the news and send their deepest sympathies to Stephen's family and his many friends all over the world."

Police said they were called to a house near Port d'Andratx on the western tip of the island on Saturday afternoon.

"At the moment it is not known how he died," the police spokesman said. "There are no signs of suspicious circumstances."

Boyzone manager Louis Walsh, who is due to appear as a judge on The X Factor results show on Sunday, told the News of the World newspaper: "We're all absolutely devastated."

He said: "I'm in complete shock. I was only with him on Monday at an awards ceremony. We don't know much about what's happened yet.

Boyzone (Gately on far left) reunited last year

"I only heard after The X Factor and we will rally around each other this week. He was a great man."

Bertie Ahern, former Irish Taoiseach, described Gately as a personal friend and his death as a "huge, huge tragedy" for Irish music and culture.

Singer Sir Elton John said: "David and I are stunned by this tragedy. Stephen was the kindest, gentlest soul.

"We send our love and condolences to his partner Andy and to all his friends everywhere."

Caroline, Bedfordshire

Writing on the micro-blogging website Twitter, broadcaster Stephen Fry said: "Just heard the very sad news about dear Stephen Gately.

"What a dreadful shock. He was loveable and sweet-natured and will be hugely missed."

Music journalist Paul Gambaccini said: "It's sad on a personal level and a professional level."

Boyzone sold more singles than Take That in the 1990s, he said, and had 16 Top 5 singles.

Going solo

A year before Boyzone split, Gately revealed that he was gay and had a boyfriend.

Gately and Cowles tied the knot in 2006

He later held a private civil partnership ceremony in London in 2006.

After Boyzone, Gately continued his career as a solo artist, but was dropped by Polydor in 2001 after three top 20 singles.

He enjoyed further success performing in musicals, including Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat in 2003-04.

Gately also appeared in 2007 on ITV1's reality series Dancing on Ice, and was voted Hero of 1999 at the Smash Hits Poll Winners' Party.

His last message on Twitter, posted on 6 October, said: "Still busy - lots going on. Focussing on finishing my book next so may be quiet here."

US troops aid Philippine rescue

Several towns are virtually cut off from rescue teams on the ground

US troops are helping rescuers get food aid to the northern Philippine region cut off by recent floods and landslides that have killed about 600 people.

As roads and bridges have been washed away in the mountainous provinces, most aid is being dropped by helicopters.

About 700 US troops who were in the region for military exercises have been brought in to aid the relief effort.

Rescuers found only bodies on Saturday, after two typhoons in as many weeks left entire villages buried in mud.

"Dozens of people are still missing," said Lt Col Ernesto Torres, spokesman for the national disaster agency, adding that rescuers were using shovels and bare hands to avoid another landslide.

"As of now, food and relief materials can only be delivered by helicopters because it would take two to five days to clear up roads and bridges washed out by floods and landslides," he told Reuters news agency.

Submerged

A US military spokesman said four US helicopters were due to airlift 10 tonnes of food to Baguio, a central mountain resort that has been virtually cut off by deadly landslides triggered by Typhoon Parma on Thursday and Friday.

Some 300,000 people are sheltering in evacuation camps

In the northern province of Pangasinan, several towns have remained under water for the past three days.

"There is a significant number of people affected," Social Welfare Secretary Esperanza Cabral told AFP. "Our problem is getting to them."

There have given varying reports of casualties. Police in Baguio and the surrounding region said the death toll there alone climbed to 275 as more bodies were dug up on Sunday.

But the National Disaster Coordinating Council in Manila put the official toll at 193 from Parma, which finally blew out into the South China Sea late on Friday.

Overall, the death toll from Parma and Tropical Storm Ketsana, which killed 337 in Manila and surrounding areas, now stands at around 600, with fears the figure could rise.

The storms have affected over six million people, with more than 300,000 still taking shelter in evacuation camps.