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Former Bosnian Serb leader Radovan Karadzic has failed to appear at his trial on 11 charges including genocide, war crimes and crimes against humanity. Mr Karadzic denies the charges, which relate to the Bosnian war of the 1990s. The judge adjourned the court for one day, and requested Mr Karadzic, who is representing himself, to appear. However, a legal adviser for Mr Karadzic told the BBC he would not appear as he still needed at least nine months to prepare his defence. Mr Karadzic, 64, was taken to the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia (ICTY) in The Hague last year, after 13 years in hiding. His legal counsel in Belgrade said he would not attend on Tuesday unless the lengthy delay was granted, and he would also reject any counsel imposed by the court. Judges' options Judges began the trial, which has already been put back twice, at The Hague on schedule on Monday, with the prosecution present. Judge O-Gon Kwon adjourned proceedings less than 30 minutes a...

Turkey's prime minister has accused the West of treating Iran unfairly over its nuclear programme. Recep Tayyip Erdogan told Britain's Guardian newspaper Western fears Iran wanted to build the bomb were "gossip". His comments come as a team from the UN nuclear watchdog continues its inspection of a previously secret uranium plant near the city of Qom. Mr Erdogan is due in Tehran for talks with both President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad and the country's Supreme Leader. The Turkish leader suggested that there was a dual standard in the West's approach towards Iran. He said any military strike against Iran would be "crazy". Mr Erdogan also said many of the states which objected to any move by Iran to build a nuclear arsenal - including all the permanent members of the UN Security Council - possessed one themselves. "There is a style of approach which is not very fair because those [who accuse Iran of pursuing nuclear weapons] have very strong nuclear infr...

At least 14 Americans have been killed in a series of air crashes in Afghanistan, military officials say. In the first incident, four US soldiers died and two were hurt when two helicopters collided mid-air in the south, Nato-led forces said. In a separate incident seven soldiers and three civilians were killed in a helicopter crash in the west. Hostile fire was ruled out as a cause of the collision but no cause has yet been identified for the crash. Twelve Americans and 14 Afghans were injured in that incident. This year has seen the highest death toll of international troops in Afghanistan since the Taliban were overthrown in 2001. There have been dozens of American soldiers among those killed.

The trial of a man accused of stabbing a pregnant Egyptian woman to death inside a German courtroom has begun in the city of Dresden. The defendant, 28-year-old Alex W, had earlier been fined for calling Marwa Sherbini "a terrorist" and "Islamist". The defendant is alleged to have smuggled a kitchen knife into an appeal hearing where he killed Ms Sherbini. The attack in July sparked outrage in the Muslim world, with protests in Egypt, Iran and Turkey. The defendant is accused of murder, attempted murder and dangerous bodily harm. Security is tight for the trial, with 200 police securing the courthouse and bullet-proof glass installed in the courtroom. Abuse It had begun with an argument in a playground in 2008. Ms Sherbini, a pharmacist, is said to have asked the defendant to let her child use a playground swing he was sitting on. He allegedly refused and instead called her abusive names. Ms Sherbini took the defendant to court and he was fined 780 euros ($1,170; £7...

A South Korean court has convicted the disgraced cloning scientist Hwang Woo-suk of fraud over his stem cell research. He was given a two-year sentence suspended for three years. The 56-year-old scientist's work had raised hopes of finding cures for diseases such as Alzheimer's. But his research was declared bogus in 2005, and he was put on trial the following year for embezzlement and accepting money under false pretences. Hwang's research made him a South Korean hero until revelations that it was false shocked the nation. "He was guilty of fabrication," the Seoul court said, adding that Hwang illegally diverted a portion of the money he received for research for his personal use. Prosecutors had demanded a four-year prison term but instead the court suspended his two-year sentence, saying "he has shown he has truly repented for his crime". Awe, then shock As soon as his colleagues at Seoul National University had concluded Hwang's work had been ...

Iraqi officials have raised the death toll from Sunday's bombings in Baghdad to 155 and they say another 500 people were wounded in the explosions. The co-ordinated attacks, near the justice and local government ministries and the provincial government HQ, were Baghdad's bloodiest since April 2007. Suicide bombers detonated two vehicles, a lorry at a busy junction near the two ministries and a car in a parking bay. US President Barack Obama branded the attacks "hateful and destructive". American troops have been called in to help the investigation and Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri Maliki has pledged that the perpetrators will be brought to justice. Mr Obama said in a statement: "I strongly condemn these outrageous attacks on the Iraqi people, and send my deepest condolences to those who have lost loved ones. "These bombings serve no purpose other than the murder of innocent men, women and children, and they only reveal the hateful and destructive agenda of thos...

Middlesbrough have appointed Gordon Strachan as their new manager. The 52-year-old, who left Celtic in May and has also managed Coventry and Southampton, will succeed Gareth Southgate at the Championship club. Southgate was sacked last week with Boro chairman Steve Gibson doubting his ability to get the club promoted. A statement on the Boro website read: "Gordon Strachan will be unveiled at a news conference at the Riverside at 2.30pm this afternoon." Former England defender Southgate could not prevent Boro's relegation from the Premier League last season and was dismissed on 20 October, just hours after his team defeated Derby 2-0. He has since claimed that Boro had interviewed Strachan about replacing him more than two weeks before his departure. Strachan is a former Scotland international midfielder who played for Dundee, Aberdeen, Manchester United, Leeds and Coventry during a successful career. He became player-manager of Coventry in 1996 and remained at the club un...

Google has reported its highest quarterly profit, suggesting that the internet advertising market is bouncing back from the recession. Google reported net profit of $1.64bn (£1bn) for the third quarter, a 27% increase on the same period a year ago. Revenue for the three-month period came in at $4.38bn, which was well ahead of analysts' expectations of $1.29bn. "The worst of the recession is clearly behind us," said Google chief executive Eric Schmidt. "Because of what we have seen, we now have the confidence to be optimistic about our future." Google's shares rose $16.44, or 3.1%, to $546.35 in extended trading. The internet search engine has weathered the recession better than other advertising-dependent companies, and it was widely expected to be one of the first beneficiaries of an economic recovery. "Google has no competition. Yahoo is withering on the vine and [Microsoft's] Bing is too tiny now," said Coin Gillis, senior analyst at Brigant...

US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton has said whoever wins Afghanistan's recent election will be expected to do more to address the country's problems. Speaking to the BBC while in London, Mrs Clinton said the next leader needed to build better relationships with the US, the army and the Afghan people. She said America's goal in Afghanistan was still to defeat al-Qaeda. But the current US review of the conflict was "leading to some welcome clarity" on the best tactics, she said. Mrs Clinton, currently on a European tour, told the BBC's Today programme that the US was "anxiously awaiting" the outcome of the presidential elections which were held in Afghanistan in August. The results have been delayed over accusations of fraud and malpractice. Incumbent Hamid Karzai leads preliminary results with about 55% of the vote, considerably ahead of his nearest rival Abdullah Abdullah, who has 28%. 'Welcome clarity' BBC diplomatic correspondent James R...

The death of Boyzone star Stephen Gately remains shrouded in mystery amid reports he died after a marathon drinking session. The Irish singer died suddenly at the age of 33 while on holiday in Majorca. A spokesman for Gately's family attributed his death to natural causes and ruled out drugs and suicide. Newspaper reports have claimed he spent up to eight hours drinking on Friday night and choked to death on his vomit while asleep after a night's clubbing. Gately's bandmates, who arrived in Majorca on Sunday night, described him as "our friend and brother" and said he "lit up our lives". Boyzone manager Louis Walsh pulled out of Sunday's X Factor show, where judge Simon Cowell paid tribute to Gately. Gately was on holiday with his long-term partner Andy Cowles, who was introduced to him by Sir Elton John and his partner David Furnish, and married in a civil partnership in 2006. Gately's boy band enjoyed huge success in the 1990s, scoring six UK n...

A new Michael Jackson song, the first track to emerge since the star's death, has been given its public premiere. Few details of the track, called This Is It, were released beforehand. It features backing vocals by Jackson's brothers, but it is not known whether they were recorded before or after the star's death in June. At the time of its airing there was also no information about when it was written and recorded, and who else worked on it. His record label and estate declined requests for details. It was aired on Jackson's website, michaeljackson.com, at 0400GMT on Monday and sent to radio stations and other media outlets. Fans will be able to buy it as part of an album of the same name on 26 October. It is likely to be the first of many new songs to see the light of day as his family and estate sift through music he left behind. The star was working with artists like Akon and Will.i.am before his death in June. It had been widely expected that the song would be made...