BBC World Service | World Have Your Say

We're not here, we're there...

Ros Atkins (BBC World Service) — Mon, 25 Jun 2012 09:46:02 +0000

Hi. For a variety of reasons we're not using this blog at the moment. Primary among them is that the vast majority of our regular contributors have made it clear they'd prefer to take part in WHYS on our facebook page and on twitter. For the moment then, we'll give the blog a rest. Just in case you're a new arrival, you can listen to WHYS live on the BBC World Service at 1200 and 1700 or 1800GMT (depending on whether you're in Africa or not), and see us on BBC World News TV at 1500GMT on Fridays. Speak to you soon...

Who's to blame for Egypt's football tragedy?

Ben Sutherland (BBC World Service) — Fri, 03 Feb 2012 12:48:35 +0000

It's now nearly 48 hours after the football match in Port Said that ended in perhaps one of the most significant tragedies of recent times.

74 fans were killed following al-Masry's unexpected win over al-Ahly, Egypt's most famous and successful club.

What happened is now pretty clear. After the final whistle, al-Masry's fans invaded the pitch, seeking to attack al-Ahly's players; after that, they charged into the al-Ahly fans. Dozens of people were crushed to death, suffocated or fatally stabbed.

But why this happened - and who is to blame - is now the major talking point. As the BBC's Yolande Knell explains:

Did fans instigate the clashes themselves, was there a conspiracy to provoke, was there deliberate negligence by police? Or was the whole thing just a case of badly trained police mishandling football crowd violence.
These are now politically charged questions.

World Have Your Say will be on BBC World television at 1500 GMT discussing this question.

Jobless Spain

Krupa Thakrar Padhy (BBC World Service) — Wed, 01 Feb 2012 08:46:26 +0000

By Ben Allen

"Don't worry, speak to anyone in Malaga and they'll know someone who is young and unemployed." Javier, a businessman in the city, tries to reassure us as we're franticly making calls from the airport lounge in London.

Sarah Holmes and I are on a last minute trip to Spain. Despite having the 4th biggest economy in the eurozone, the country has the worst unemployment in the industrialised world and recent figures show that almost a quarter of the population are out of work. For those aged between 16 and 25 that figure increases to over half. Even in the context of the Eurozone crisis the stats are shocking and have already got many of you talking.

On Wednesday we'll be broadcasting from Malaga in the south of the country. With a growing young population the situation there is particularly bad and the stats are even more startling; in the region of Anduluca alone almost six hundred thousand young people are looking for work. We'll be talking to job seekers about their attempts to find work and what can be done to get Spain working again.

Back in the airport Javier ends the call with a promise to find us some interesting English speaking guests and we board our plane. What do you make of the situation in Spain? Do you believe the stats? What more can be done to help get people back into work?

Live: Bill Gates on World Have Your Say

Ben Sutherland (BBC World Service) — Wed, 25 Jan 2012 09:38:07 +0000

Microsoft co-founder Bill Gates will be live on World Have Your Say from 1100 GMT.

We'll be at a school in London, and joined live by pupils from schools across the world.

Your letters to Bill Gates

Ben Allen (BBC World Service) — Mon, 23 Jan 2012 18:20:56 +0000

On Wednesday 25 January 2012 at 11.00GMT Bill Gates, the founder of Microsoft and the Gates Foundation, will be linking up with students to discuss Global issues. Every year the entrepreneur releases a letter detailing his plans for his foundation and this year students who work with the BBC's World Class project have written to Mr Gates to give him their ideas on how to change their world.

If you'd like to take part you can write to the Foundation here and also send your thoughts to World Class.

WHYS & Google+: the next step

Ben James (BBC World Service) — Mon, 23 Jan 2012 12:24:24 +0000

We've been experimenting with Google+ Hangouts for a while now on WHYS. Now more than 5,000 of you have added us to your Circles, we're going to start using them as a regular part of what we do and see what happens.

As well as posting our topics on our Google+ page - just like we do on Facebook & Twitter - we're going to start hosting a hangout every day at 4pm UK time (that's 8am US Pacific time / 11am US Eastern time / 5pm Paris & Abuja / 6pm Johannesburg / 7pm Nairobi / 9.30pm Delhi / midnight Beijing) for around 30 minutes. This is of course a couple of hours before our regular radio programme begins.

WHYS has house rules - we've had them since day one - so it's worth a reminder of what they are (click here for on air, click here for online). As with everything on WHYS, we welcome your take on them.

Just like we have house rules for taking part in the radio programmes or posting comments, we thought it was only fair to start to put together some additional house rules for taking part in WHYS Hangouts, so you know what to expect.

This is our first draft as we work out how best to use Hangouts. Please let us know what you think and we'll listen! This is your programme and we want you to help us make the best of this new platform.

What are WHYS Hangouts for?

* We'll normally use them to invite you to discuss the topic for the forthcoming radio programme with each other and one of the WHYS team, a couple of hours ahead of the broadcast. We can tell you about the guests we'll hear from on the radio programme, so you might be able to suggest questions for them.

* If you've obviously got some interesting points which will add to the radio discussion, we might then invite you to take part in the programme itself.

* Sometimes, you'll be able to speak to our editor Mark, to Ros, or other members of the team to talk specifically about issues around the programme - feedback you wish to give or any topics you think we should be considering.

* Each Friday, our hangout will begin as our weekly TV programme comes to a close. You'll be able to enter the hangout to continue the conversation from the TV edition and tell us what you thought of the discussion.

Who can take part?

* Anyone with an opinion who wants to discuss global talking points - just like when we're on the radio or TV - or issues surrounding the programme.

* However, you'll only be able to see the Hangout if we've added you to one of our G+ Circles; we'll add you once you've added us. We're open to all, but we'd never have the same people dominating every single edition of our radio or TV programme. In the same way, only opening Hangouts to our Circles means that, if you've had a good run taking part in a number of WHYS Hangouts, we might move you into a different Circle for a while, to give others a chance.

* This will also help us protect our Hangouts from anyone who doesn't respect the usual WHYS principles of courtesy and respect.

We'd love to know what you think about our approach to this: please email me if you'd like to feed back, or post in all the usual ways.

The Sopa / Pipa debate

Ben Sutherland (BBC World Service) — Fri, 20 Jan 2012 14:16:59 +0000

World Have Your Say TV is live on BBC World News. It's discussing the piracy story. Megaupload.com was shut down overnight, accused of violating piracy laws in the US. More on that story in The New York Times.

This came just a day after a massive protest against a bill designed to tackle online copyright theft.

The Sopa and Pipa bills triggered a Wikipedia blackout, supported by other sites like Google, Flickr and Facebook.

So why are some people so desperate to see Sopa succeed - and others so keen to stop it?

Iran: War in all but name?

Ben James (BBC World Service) — Wed, 11 Jan 2012 14:06:18 +0000

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TWITTER: WHYS, ROS, MARK, BEN S, PHILIPPA

MY EMAIL: philippa.thomas@bbc.co.uk

Good afternoon from the WHYS team at Bush House, where it's me Philippa Thomas in the studio for our programme at 1800 GMT,

We had a big response to today's first WHYS on the car explosion which killed a nuclear scientist in Tehran. We'd like to carry on that conversation.

Mostafa Ahmadi-Roshan, who worked at the Natanz uranium enrichment facility, was killed in that attack. Other Iranian nuclear scientists have been assassinated in recent years. Iran blames Israel and the US.

Is this war in all but name?

Is it a proxy war with the US standing behind Israeli attacks? And do Americans have the appetite for outright conflict with Iran?

A lot of articles are coming through speculating about Iran and Israel - and about involvement behind the scenes of bigger powers like the UK, the US, and Saudi Arabia.

Here are a few links for you -

From the Guardian website -

Robert Fox in "This Week" talks of "the growing sensation that the Islamic republic is heading for a major collision with the US and its European and Arab allies by the end of this month". Fox says Tehran is desperate to pin the blame on the West and Israel for starting it.

In Bloomberg, Jeffrey Goldberg writes that the Obama administration "now appears to be moving inexorably towards war"

And he says some of the Republican party's presidential candidates have been getting steamed up by this argument - - an article in the influential Foreign Affairs magazine by Matthew Kroenig called simply "Time to attack Iran".

We'd like to hear from Iran, from Israel, from the US, wherever this story is getting you steamed up too.

If this IS war, what's the likely fallout?

Let us know - as ever - what you think. We're on Facebook, you can tweet us at @bbc_whys, or send me your questions @philippanews.

Or email WorldHaveYourSay@bbc.com, and you can text +44 77 86 20 60 80

Look forward to hearing from you

What a week! What a year!

Nuala McGovern (BBC World Service) — Mon, 02 Jan 2012 13:50:29 +0000

Hi Nuala here, just wanted to drop you a note about the shows Tim and
I had the pleasure of working on last week at 1100GMT. World Have Your Say wanted to give a snapshot of what five countries are talking about right now after their tumultuous year, so we turned to you our listeners and asked you. Your conversations were illuminating.

We also got some of you to present the show! Ayesha, Matthaios, Pakinam, Yoshi, Hadil and Maysam not only presented but also helped edit the show by highlighting discussions taking place in their country and identifying people who would be interesting to hear. So many of you participated as a guest or by tweeting us your comments using the hashtag #mywhys. Thank you for your input you really enhanced the global conversation.

So, we began the week with Ayesha Tammy Haq in Pakistan, she led the conversation about how Pakistan is trying to figure out how to interact with the world going forward. Did you know it's considering allying with China and turning away from the West?

We then visited Greece on Tuesday with Matthaios Tsimitakis, though Greek's economic future is bleak, the discussion was rich and varied as our participants told us what they thought should happen next. We'll continue to follow their progress.

Wednesday we eavesdropped on Egypt. Pakinam Amer guided the debate about whether the protesters are actually the problem, and whether the revolution is over.

Then, we swept across the globe to Japan with Yoshi Tomiyama on Thursday. We remember the videos of devastation after the tsunami and earthquake there we heard that some Japanese appear to have forgotten what they said was unforgettable. That's Yoshi in the photo above wearing the baseball cap.

And then to Friday, Hadil Krekshi and Maysam Shebani surprised us with what Libyan chat is about now. Yes they'd like to move on from the revolution and yes they'd like to get a job but Katy Perry and Bieber fever are also part of a new normal in Tripoli!

So thanks for all your help making really special programmes, hope you have a wonderful New Year.

Seeing in London's Olympic year

Ben Sutherland (BBC World Service) — Fri, 30 Dec 2011 09:31:55 +0000

Over the next 48 hours, the world is going to be leaving behind one of the most monumental years in modern history (and if you're in Samoa, you'll be doing so a lot earlier this time around).

But, while correspondents make their best guesses about what the major stories will be in 2012, already know what one of the very biggest will be - the Olympics, being held here in London.

For two weeks in August, the world's attention will be almost exclusively focused on the UK capital as the world's biggest sporting event unfolds. Although of course many Londoners have reservations about the Games, nevertheless it's a hugely exciting time in Europe's largest city. (Personally speaking, I can hardly wait).

And with World Have Your Say planning on being an essential part of your experience of the Games, we thought it was only right to have a bit of a celebration of our own.

Which is why, if you're listening to World Service between 2300 and 0100 GMT on New Year's Eve, you'll hear something rather special.

We're going to be live on the roof of Bush House - the home of the World Service in central London since the 1930s - with some of the people who will be making the Olympics so special for London, and London so special for the Olympics.

Ros will be live with athletes, performers and protesters from across London to give us their guide and perspective on the city from eight stories up. We'll also be joined by John the Cabbie - who you may have heard on our shows about the London riots - and some of the Occupy London protesters.

We'll even have live music from some of the people who have written songs and scores for the Olympics themselves.

2012 is also the year that the BBC World Service will leave Bush House for our new home at Broadcasting House, just off Oxford Street, only a few weeks before the Olympics begin. So what better way to see out the year - and the building - than by joining us for our 2012 celebrations?

On air at 11GMT: Can life get back to normal now in Libya?

Nuala McGovern (BBC World Service) — Fri, 30 Dec 2011 09:12:20 +0000

Hi I'm Hadil Krekshi (on the right) and I'm an international business administration student in Tripoli. I love travel and I'm really looking forward to the New Year. I'm Maysam Shebani, (yes, on the left), I'm studying graphic design here and I want to be fashion designer but for today we are both the presenters of World Have Your Say, broacasting from the center of Tripoli.

It's the last Friday morning of this life-changing year, for us and everyone else here in Libya. 2011 has been a year a year filled with emotion, a year of following our dreams, the year of working as hard as we can, the year of unity, the year of speaking out, the year of believing, the year of togetherness, the year of patriotism, the year of the long-awaited revolution. The year Muammar Gaddafi ended, and Libyans began. The Libyan uprising has been a major turning point for all of our lives. For the first time in 42 years Libyans are able to talk freely and express their feelings, are able to sing their national anthem and pay tribute to their flag they have been banned from for over 4 decades.

Now that 2012 is around the corner, what is next for Libya? We're done with the revolution and are now looking forward to working together to rebuilding Libya, the country for the first time we feel is ours. Freedom Fighters are returning their weapons and getting rid of their military uniform. Citizens of all ages are out hunting for jobs, doing whatever they can to make money to go out and shop for new outfits for the new year. Some of the graffiti on the wall is being painted over, It's not all about seeing the Libyan flag on every street anymore. And of course, everyones editing their playlists and cleaning up their iTunes, theres more to music than the revolutionary songs that we all memorized over the past 10 months or so.

It's the New Year, a new start for Libya. Life is getting back to normal, and will hopefully be better than normal in the near future. No more weapons and freedom fighters, just normal civilians with their phones, laptops, books, and work equipment!

If you'd like to ask us about life here now, tweet us using the hashtag #mywhys
Looking forward to reading your tweets!

On air at 11GMT: Has Japan forgotten the tsunami's victims?

Nuala McGovern (BBC World Service) — Thu, 29 Dec 2011 08:18:26 +0000

Hi, I'm Yoshi Tomiyama and I am excited to be presenting World Have Your
Say from Tokyo, Japan.

I am a stand-up comedian here in Tokyo, and at the same time, a chairman of an NGO, supporting the lives of people affected by tsunami and earthqake. I used to play baseball quite often during a week as a hobby, but after the earthquake hit northeast of Japan, I was motivated to drive over to those devastated regions, bringing and distributing foods, water, and all those needed items for the people living in the devastated cities and towns.

Now, 9 months had been passed since the earthquake and big tsunami hit the northeast region of Japan, but basically nothing had been changed. People are living in cheap temporary houses constructed by the Japanese government, but they will be forced to leave those houses in a year and half because the Japanese law has set an expiration date for ending the housing support.

Nothing seems to be improving. The people living there are mostly the elderly, so they cannot drive cars for shopping nor for hospitals. Also, since cities and the towns are wiped out by Ttunami and earthquake, and because the lands are sunk, the reconstruction of the cites are not carried out: no governors nor bureaucrats know how to rebuild the cities, and they have no clue to bring any industries to raise the employment levels. People lost their families, houses, jobs and everything, and the situation stays the same at this moment, although 9 months had been passed since the disaster.

Also, we are facing in danger of nuclear radiation, but most of the Japanese seem to be ignorant about the danger of the nuclear radiation, because of the lack of the information, which is strictly controlled by the Japanese government. Especially, the people living in Fukushima are still exposed to danger living there, but there is no actions taken among the residents nor on the government sides.

About 500,000 people residing in the northeast region of Japan are severely affected by the big natural disaster, but the people living in urban areas like Tokyo, Nagoya and Osaka are forgetting the tragedy, although they definitely had thought they would never forget such a tragedy......

You can post your questions for me and our Japanese guests here or at facebook.com/worldhaveyoursay and do call during the show, it will be 8pm in Tokyo. We also have a special hashtag for those of you who love to tweet #mywhys

On air at 11GMT: Has the revolution failed?

Nuala McGovern (BBC World Service) — Wed, 28 Dec 2011 08:28:51 +0000

Hi I'm Pakinam Amer and I'm very happy to be here today at World Have Your Say at 1100GMT broadcasting from Cairo, Egypt.

I am a journalist who's passionate about investigations, current affairs, travel and positive psychology and quite recently our very own Tahrir square, and where it has taken Egypt. Personally my love for this country has been renewed there during the 18 days of the first revolt, but since then, quite frankly it has been a roller coaster of emotions.

The joy at toppling a dictator that has been ruling by an iron fist for almost three decades has given way to hope, that soon became muddled by fear and doubt as political forces and even voices on the streets became divided, and as the military rulers who took over following former President Hosni Mubarak overstayed their welcome. Many of the ideals that the revolution have called for -- freedom and dignity -- have not been realized. And the utopia that Tahrir has brought was short-lived.

If anything, voices of dissent were stifled, more men and women were beaten up and even killed for demonstrating for legitimate demands in Tahrir square, female protesters were sexually assaulted, and some political groups, like the Islamists, have broken ranks with the revolutionaries and chose to play politics instead, wavering between positions sometimes, and abandoning Tahrir at others.

The future is as uncertain as ever. The layman, who can barely make ends meet in a country where over half the population is drenched in poverty, has become disenchanted with a revolution that has seemingly threatened security and dragged on far longer than anticipated. The revolutionaries want their basic human rights and want to keep protesting, while many Egyptians just want food on the table and things to go back to "normal."

The road ahead is full of possibility but also fear. What is happening to our revolution? Is it failing? Has Tahrir lost its power? Could it be salvaged? What do you think Egypt should do at this sensitive juncture? What actually can be achieved? You can post here or at facebook.com/worldhaveyoursay and do call during the show country code plus 44 20 70 83 72 72 and we have set up a special hashtag for this week #mywhys

On air at 11GMT: Can things get worse for Greece?

WHYS Team (BBC World Service) — Tue, 27 Dec 2011 07:25:26 +0000

Hello World! I'm Matthaios Tsimitakis and I'll be presenting World Have Your Say on Tuesday at 1100GMT from Athens, Greece. I am a freelance journalist, with a variety of interests over my fifteen years old career, that include investigative research, science and technology. I have also been an active blogger and a social media "junkie" since 2006.

Today's show is part of a week of special programmes that are trying to reflect conversations occurring in five countries that have had a tumultuous year, today Greece is in the spotlight. We're asking what does the future look like for my country?

2011 was the third year in a row that Greece survived bankruptcy, but the salvation came with a very high social cost. After receiving the first six instalments of a 150 billion euro bailout package by the EU and the IMF - the biggest in these institutions' history- the country introduced a series of austerity measures that have brought millions to their knees. In my view, they have failed to tackle the problem. Recession is still deepening, unemployment is reaching 20% and the deficit remains high at around 10% contrary to all predictions, catching the economy in what some economists have called a "death spiral".

Ι imagine that never before, at least not in the past thirty years, has the birthplace of democracy suffered so many dark and humiliating headlines all over the world as it has this year. Greece was characterized 'Ground Zero' of the economic crisis and the Greeks were widely portrayed in the international press as lazy and tax evaders. This triggered furious reactions within common Greeks against stereotyping but also kick-starting a conversation in the country around democracy.

During 2011 all of the social institutions underwent through enormous changes. For the first time since World War II, meals returned to primary and secondary schools in order to resolve the problem of malnourished children in some areas of Athens, a shock to Greek society. Parts of the centre of the city were declared by the NGO 'Doctors of the World' as areas of humanitarian crisis. People turned massively to the weak public health system, abandoning the private sector and the media entered a cycle of accelerated shrinkproofing. Immigration, a dominant issue in the Greek press a few years ago remained high on the media agenda but in a reverse manner. From a country that needed immigrants, Greece has now become a country that exports its youth and is suffering a brain drain.

And the problem is far from over. Many analysts still think that default and the return to the drachma is an inevitable development since Greece fails to reduce the deficit or produce economic growth. So where are Greece and the Greeks heading from here?

We'd like to hear that from you. What did you make of the news about the Greek crisis during 2011 and if you're Greek how did it affect you? What do you think should happen in 2012? What are your wishes and hopes for the New Year? You can post your comments here or at facebook.com/worldhaveyoursay Do call us during the show at +44 20 70 83 72 72 or use the hashtag for this special programmes week #mywhys

Suicide Bombings In 2011

Ben James (BBC World Service) — Mon, 26 Dec 2011 13:49:04 +0000

After attacks in Nigeria, Afghanistan and Iraq over the last day or so, we're talking about suicide bombings on WHYS later.

I've put together this list from searching back through bbc.com/news over the last 12 months - I'm not claiming it's exhaustive, but it gives some idea of the volume of these attacks (more than 90 in this list) and the countries where they've taken place.

With so many happening, are you still shocked by suicide bombings? Join the conversation on Facebook, Twitter & Google Plus.

1 Jan - Egypt has blamed a suicide bomber with foreign links for a blast which killed at least 17 people at an Alexandria church and sparked a Christian-Muslim clash. Forty-three others were wounded in the attack, which happened during a new year's service at the al-Qiddissin (Saints) Church shortly after midnight.
7 Jan - At least 17 people have been killed in a suicide attack in a crowded public bath house in Afghanistan's southern Kandahar province, officials say.
12 Jan - At least four people were killed when a suicide attacker rammed his motorcycle into a bus in the Afghan capital, Kabul, police have told the BBC.
18 Jan - A suicide bomber has killed at least 60 people outside a police recruitment centre in the Iraqi town of Tikrit, officials say. More than 100 other people were injured in the blast in the town, some 130km (80 miles) north of Baghdad.
20 Jan - Three people have been killed and 30 injured in a suicide bombing in Baquba, the second deadly attack in the central Iraqi city in as many days. The bomber blew up his vehicle outside a police headquarters, just a few streets from Wednesday's attack on another police compound that killed 14. The bomber used an ambulance.
24 Jan - An explosion has ripped through Moscow's Domodedovo airport - the busiest in the Russian capital, killing at least 35 people (number of dead later rose to 37). Some 170 people were injured in the blast, which reports suggest was the work of a suicide bomber.
25 Jan - At least nine people taking part in a Shia Muslim procession in the Pakistani city of Lahore have been killed by a suicide bomb, police say. Three policemen were said to be among the dead, while 50 other people were injured, including women and children.
28 Jan - At least eight people have been killed in a suicide attack at a supermarket popular with foreigners in the Afghan capital Kabul, officials say.
29 Jan - The deputy governor of Afghanistan's southern Kandahar province has been killed in a suicide attack, officials have said.
31 Jan - Police in north-western Pakistan say a senior police official has been killed in a suicide bomb attack.

10 Feb - A young suicide bomber dressed in school uniform has blown himself up at an army compound in Pakistan, killing at least 31 people, officials say. The boy attacked as recruits exercised at a Punjab Regiment parade ground, inside an enclosed military area of the north-western city of Mardan.
12 Feb - A Taliban raid on the southern Afghan city of Kandahar has killed 19 people, including 15 policemen, officials say. Militants armed with suicide bombs, guns and rocket-propelled grenades struck the police headquarters in the city centre around noon.
14 Feb - Two security guards and an insurgent were killed in an attack in the Afghan capital Kabul, officials say. Reports said the blast occurred just inside a shopping complex in the city centre after an attacker carrying explosives was challenged by guards.
18 Feb - A suicide car bomber has killed at least 11 people in the eastern Afghan city of Khost, police say.
19 Feb - Eighteen people have been killed and more than 70 wounded in an attack on a bank in the Afghan city of Jalalabad, according to the provincial governor. Gul Agha Shirzay said suicide attackers armed with guns and grenades carried out the attack, according to AFP.
21 Feb - A suicide car bomber has attacked a police training camp in Somalia's capital Mogadishu, killing at least 10 people, officials say. A vehicle was full of explosives and canisters of fuel when it exploded near the Darwish Camp, which is next to a police academy.
21 Feb - A car bomb detonated by a suicide attacker in the central Iraqi city of Samarra has killed 10 policemen and wounded 16 others, police say. The victims were part of a special squad sent to Samarra, 60 miles (100km) north of Baghdad, to protect Shia pilgrims during a religious ceremony.
24 Feb - At least 24 people have been wounded in a suicide car bomb explosion in the southern Afghan province of Kandahar, police said. The attack occurred in Spin Boldak town on the Pakistan border. The injured included 16 civilians.
24 Feb - A suicide bomber in the Iraqi city of Ramadi has killed at least eight people, officials say. The attack injured the deputy governor of Anbar province, Hikmet Khalaf, and killed a number of policemen.

3 Mar - A suicide bomber has targeted a bank in the northern Iraqi town of Haditha, killing at least nine people.
14 Mar - At least 36 people have been killed in an apparent suicide attack on an army recruitment centre in northern Afghanistan, local officials have said. More than 40 people were also reported to have been injured in the attack in the city of Kunduz.

3 Apr - Suicide attackers have killed at least 41 people and wounded many more at a shrine in Pakistan, police say. The explosions struck near the Sakhi Sarwar shrine in Punjab, as Sufi Muslim devotees gathered for an annual three-day festival.
4 Apr - At least seven people have been killed in a suicide-bomb attack at a bus station in north-west Pakistan.
7 Apr - A suicide bomber targeting a senior police official has killed a policeman and wounded five others in Pakistan's southern province of Balochistan. The bomber drove in a car packed with explosives and blew it up outside the home of the officer in Quetta, the main town in Balochistan.
13 Apr - A suicide bomber has killed at least 10 people in an attack on tribal elders in eastern Afghanistan, the interior ministry has said. Pro-government tribal elder Haji Malik Zarin was killed in the blast in Kunar province near the Pakistan border.
14 Apr - At least three Afghan policemen were killed when suicide bombers attacked a police training centre in the east of the country, officials say. Police said two bombers also died in the raid on the base in Paktia province where dozens of men were being trained.
15 Apr - A suspected suicide bomber has attacked a mosque in Indonesia, killing himself and wounding 28 people. Most of the wounded are police officers, as the attack happened during Friday prayers at a mosque in a police compound in Cirebon, West Java.
15 Apr - The police chief of Afghanistan's southern Kandahar province has died in a suicide attack on his headquarters. Khan Mohammad Mujahid was killed and two other police officers were injured in the blast, officials say. A suicide bomber managed to penetrate the defences of the police headquarters by wearing a police uniform, the Afghan interior ministry said.
16 Apr - Five foreign and five Afghan troops have died in an attack in eastern Afghanistan, officials say. A Taliban suicide bomber wearing a military uniform hit an Afghan army base near the city of Jalalabad, the Afghan defence ministry said.
18 Apr - Two soldiers have been killed and seven people hurt after a man in army uniform opened fire inside the Afghan defence ministry in Kabul, officials have said. The attacker, who was also wearing an explosive vest, reached the second floor, where the defence minister and the army chief of staff have offices.
28 Apr - A suicide bomber has blown himself up in the eastern Iraqi town of Baladruz, killing at least six people and injuring 15, officials say. The bomber targeted a mosque in the town, 90km (55 miles) north-east of Baghdad in Diyala province, a security official told Reuters.

5 May - A suicide bomb attack in Iraq has killed at least 16 people and injured more than 40. The bomber drove a car laden with explosives into a police headquarters in Hilla, a city south of Baghdad.
7 May - Intense fighting has taken place in Afghanistan's second city of Kandahar amid co-ordinated militant attacks, including at least six suicide bombs. The Taliban said it was behind the triple assault on the provincial governor's office, the Afghan spy agency and a police station. At least two people were killed and 23 injured in the fighting, which spread panic on the streets.
13 May - Twin bomb attacks on a paramilitary force academy in north-west Pakistan have killed 80 people, police say. At least 120 people were wounded in the blasts at the training centre for the Frontier Constabulary in Shabqadar, Charsadda district.
17 May - A suspected suicide bomber has attacked a regional security services building in the northern Kazakh city of Aktobe, wounding several people. Authorities named Rahimjan Makhatov as the man they believe detonated the bomb in front of the National Security Committee office. Kazakhstan's Prosecutor General's Office alleged that the 25-year-old was a member of an organised crime group. The attacker died at the scene and two people were injured.
17 May - Pakistani security forces have killed five militants during a clash in the western city of Quetta, officials say. The militants, reportedly armed with grenades and suicide vests, attacked a checkpost but were all shot dead. The group included three women.
18 May - At least 13 people including civilians, police cadets and a suicide bomber have been killed in an attack in eastern Afghanistan, officials say.
21 May - A suicide bomb attack on a hospital in the Afghan capital, Kabul, has left six people dead and 23 wounded. The bomber detonated his device in a tent in the grounds of Charsad Bestar Hospital where medical students were eating lunch
25 May - Four people have been killed and 22 others wounded in a suicide lorry bomb attack on a police station in Peshawar, in north-west Pakistan.
26 May - At least 32 people have been killed after a suicide bomber in a car struck government buildings in Pakistan's volatile north-west. The bomb went off near several buildings and shops in Hangu, close to Pakistan's tribal areas, causing widespread damage.
29 May - The police commander for northern Afghanistan has been killed in a suicide bomb attack on the provincial governor's compound in Takhar. Gen Mohammad Daud Daud is one of at least six people killed in the attack, claimed by the Taliban.
30 May - Two AU soldiers were killed as they tried to prevent a suicide bomb attack in Mogadishu. The AU said three of the attackers had also been killed during the assault on a position guarded by it soldiers.

10 Jun - At least three policemen have been killed by a suicide bomber in the northern Afghan city of Kunduz, officials say.
10 Jun - Somali Interior Minister Abdi Shakur Sheikh Hassan has been killed in a suicide attack at his home in the capital, Mogadishu. Officials say the bomber was his own teenage niece, who had joined the Islamist militant group al-Shabab.
13 Jun - A suicide bomber in Pakistan has blown himself up and killed a guard in a bank attack in a commercial area of the capital Islamabad, police say.
14 Jun - Gunmen and suicide bombers have stormed an Iraqi provincial council building in the city of Baquba, killing at least eight people. A car bomb and a suicide bomber opened the attack the main gate.
15 Jun - A suicide bomber in a car laden with explosives has killed himself and at least seven people in Afghanistan, the interior ministry has said.
16 Jun - Two people, including a suicide bomber, have died in an explosion at Nigeria's police headquarters in the capital, Abuja.
20 Jun - Three civilians have been killed and 11 others wounded in a suicide car bomb attack on a German military convoy in northern Afghanistan, interior ministry officials say.
26 Jun - An eight-year-old girl has been killed after insurgents used her in a bomb attack on police in southern Afghanistan, the government has said.
26 Jun - A husband and wife carried out a suicide attack that killed eight people at a police station in north-western Pakistan, the Taliban has said. The pair entered the police station dressed in burkas, hiding rifles, hand grenades and suicide vests underneath.
28/29 Jun - Nato helicopters were called in to kill three militants to help end a five-hour clash by suicide bombers and gunmen on a hotel in the Afghan capital, Kabul. The attack on the Intercontinental Hotel, frequented by Westerners, left six more attackers, two police and 11 civilians, including a Spaniard dead.

11 Jul - A suicide bomber has killed at least five people and wounded 19 others at a political rally in north-west Pakistan. The blast in Battagram district of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province was carried out by a young suicide bomber, dressed in white, police said.
13 Jul - At least five French soldiers and one civilian have been killed in a suicide bomb attack in the north-eastern Afghan province of Kapisa, officials say.
14 Jul - A suicide bomber has killed four people at a memorial service in Kandahar for the assassinated half-brother of Afghan President Hamid Karzai.
27 Jul - The mayor of the volatile Afghan city of Kandahar, Ghulam Haidar Hameedi, has been killed in a suicide attack, officials say. The attacker detonated explosives in his turban as the mayor made an address at the city hall, police said.
28 Jul - Insurgents have carried out a gun and bomb attack in the south Afghan town of Tarin Kowt, Uruzgan province, leaving at least 22 dead, officials say. They said the violence included three suicide bombings followed by fighting in a market, adding that all eight attackers had now been killed. The dead include Ahmed Omed Khpulwak, a local BBC reporter.
31 Jul - Twelve Afghan policemen and a child have been killed in a suicide attack in the southern Afghan city of Lashkar Gah, officials say.

2 Aug - Three guards belonging to a private security company have been killed in a suicide attack in northern Afghanistan.
14 Aug - At least 19 people are dead and many are injured after militants in Afghanistan stormed the provincial governor's compound in Parwan. Powerful explosions followed by bursts of gunfire were heard in the provincial capital, Charikar, an hour's drive north-west of Kabul, witnesses said. The governor, Abdul Basir Salangi, told media from inside the compound that up to six suicide bombers had struck.
14 Aug - At least 29 people have been injured in a suicide car bomb attack on a police station in Algeria, officials say. They say the bomber crashed his vehicle packed with explosives into the main entrance of the station in Tizi Ouzu, east of Algiers.
15 Aug - A series of bomb attacks has hit several Iraqi cities, killing at least 60 people. The worst attack took place in the south-eastern city of Kut where police said two near-simultaneous bombs killed at least 37 people. The blasts appeared to be co-ordinated to go off in the morning and included a combination of parked car bombs, roadside bombs and suicide bombers.
18 Aug - A suicide attack at a US-run base in eastern Paktia province killed two Afghan guards.
19 Aug - Gunmen have stormed the British Council office in the Afghan capital, Kabul, killing at least 12 people and taking over the compound for hours. A suicide car bomb destroyed the compound wall and a number of heavily armed men forced their way inside.
19 Aug - At least 40 people are reported to have died in a suspected suicide attack at a mosque in Pakistan. The blast happened when hundreds of people had gathered for Friday prayers at the mosque in Ghundi village, near the town of Jamrud in the north-west Khyber tribal district.
26 Aug - At least 13 people have been killed in a series of attacks across Iraq - in Basra, Falluja and Baghdad. In the southern city of Basra, a bomber blew himself up near a Shia mosque, killing three and wounding 50 others.
26 Aug - A suicide bomb attack on a military academy in Algeria has killed 18 people and wounded at least 20, officials say. The attack took place in the town of Cherchell, about 100km (60 miles) west of the capital Algiers. One or two bombers set off their explosives just after the breaking of the Ramadan fast, reports said. Al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb says it carried out the attack, AFP news agency reports.
27 Aug - At least four people have been killed and many others injured in two car bombings in neighbouring provinces in southern Afghanistan, officials say. The first blast happened outside a bank in Lashkar Gah, in Helmand province, where workers were collecting salaries. It was followed by another blast in Kandahar city. Both are believed to have been suicide attacks.
27 Aug - At least 18 people have been killed in an apparent suicide car bombing at the United Nations headquarters in the Nigerian capital, Abuja. The powerful blast destroyed the lower floors of the building. Dozens have been injured, some critically.
28 Aug - A suicide bomber has killed at least 28 people and wounded at least 30 more after blowing himself up inside a Sunni mosque in the Iraqi capital Baghdad, local officials say. The attack took place during prayers in the Umm al-Qura mosque in west Baghdad, the city's largest Sunni mosque.
31 Aug - A triple suicide bomb attack has killed six police officers and two other people in the Chechen capital Grozny where Muslims are celebrating Eid. A further 22 people were injured, five of them seriously, in the bombing late on Tuesday, Russian prosecutors said. It appears the bombers used the first blast to lure police to the scene before setting off other explosives.

7 Sep - Suicide bombers have attacked the residence of a military official in the Pakistani city of Quetta, killing at least 20 people. The first attacker detonated a car bomb, and a second militant blew himself up in the house of the city's Frontier Corps chief.
13 Sep - Tuesday's attacks appear to be a complex operation. At about 13:30 local time (09:00 GMT), insurgents fired rockets on a number of targets in Kabul's upmarket embassy district. In the west of the city, another two suicide attackers detonated explosives outside a police station. A Taliban spokesman said the group was carrying out "a massive suicide attack on local and foreign intelligence facilities".
15 Sep - At least 20 people have been killed in a suicide bomb attack on the funeral of a tribal elder in north-west Pakistan, police say.
19 Sep - A bomb targeting the home of a senior police officer in Karachi has killed at least eight people, officials say. A car packed with explosives blew up destroying a large part of the home of Chaudhry Aslam Khan, the chief of the crime investigation department. The police said it was a suicide attack.
20 Sep - The chairman of the Afghan High Peace Council, Burhanuddin Rabbani, has been killed with several other people in a bomb attack in Kabul, officials say. Mr Rabbani was killed at his home by a suicide attacker who officials believe had concealed a bomb in his turban.
25 Sep - At least one person has been killed and several injured by a suicide bombing at a church in Central Java, Indonesia. Witnesses said the bomber struck as people were leaving the Bethel Injil Sepuluh church in Keputon, Solo after a Sunday service.
27 Sep - A suicide car bomber attacked a bakery popular with police in southern Afghanistan. At least five people were killed and 22 injured, officials say.

3 Oct - Afghanistan's minister of of border and tribal affairs has survived a suicide bomb attack in the volatile southern province of Kandahar. Assadullah Khalid was not hurt when the bomber detonated a rickshaw packed with explosives close to his convoy, but two bystanders died and 17 were injured.
3 Oct - An assault by insurgents on a local government compound in western Iraq has ended with at least nine people dead, including all six attackers. The gunmen had disguised themselves in police uniforms before attacking the compound in al-Baghdadi, 150km (90 miles) north of the capital Baghdad. Two of the six attackers were suicide bombers who detonated their explosives in the initial onslaught, officials said.
4 Oct - At least 70 people have been killed by a huge suicide blast near a government compound in the Somali capital, Mogadishu, say officials. Eyewitnesses said a truck carrying explosives was driven into a gate near a government ministry and detonated. A spokesman for the Islamist militant group al-Shabab told the BBC it had carried out the attack.
18 Oct - A car bomb has exploded outside the former foreign ministry in the Somali capital, Mogadishu, killing five people including the suicide bomber. The attack came as Kenya's defence and foreign ministers were holding talks nearby with the Somali government.
28 Oct - A suspected suicide bomber has killed two policemen and injured seven others in northwest Pakistan, police said. The attack took place in the Nowshera area of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province. Police said one of the dead policemen, Ajmeer Shah, may have been the target.
29 Oct - A Taliban suicide bomber has rammed an explosives-laden car into a bus carrying members of the International Security Assistance Force in the Afghan capital, Kabul, killing 17 people.

3 Nov - Militants have carried out a suicide gun and bomb attack on a private construction company in the western Afghan city of Herat, officials say. Two guards were killed and four other people wounded, the officials say, with the fighting now said to be over.
6 Nov - A suicide bomber has killed at least seven people near a mosque in Afghanistan's northern Baghlan province, say officials. The bomb went off as worshippers were leaving the mosque in Old Baghlan City after prayers marking the start of the Muslim festival of Eid al-Adha.
7 Nov - A suspected suicide bomber has killed a former government official and his guard and injured nine others in north-west Pakistan, police say. The attack took place in Swabi about 102 km (65 miles) from Peshawar.
10 Nov - Attackers have stormed the offices of a governor in Afghanistan's eastern Paktia province, killing at least four Afghan security personnel. Several suicide attackers, armed with bombs, rocket-propelled grenades and machine guns, stormed the offices in the Samkani district of the province. Afghan officials said all of the attackers were killed in the clash.

2 Dec - A suicide bomber has attacked a Nato outpost in the Afghan province of Logar, killing one person and injuring about 70, officials and medics say
6 Dec - Twin attacks apparently targeting Shia Muslims have killed at least 58 people in Afghanistan. In the deadliest incident, a suicide bomb struck a shrine packed with worshippers in the capital, Kabul, killing at least 54 people.
6 Dec - At least five people, including a Somali policeman, have been killed as a car exploded while it was being searched in Mogadishu, sources say
24 Dec - A suicide car bomb attack has killed six people, including five soldiers, and wounded at least 12 others in north-west Pakistan
25 Dec - At least 40 dead in series of attacks in Nigeria, including some confirmed suicide bombings
25 Dec - At least 22 including prominent MP Mutalib Beg killed at funeral in Taloqan, NE Afghanistan
26 Dec - At least seven people have been killed in a suicide car bomb attack outside Iraq's interior ministry