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A New Zealand soldier has become the first person since World War II to be awarded the country's highest honour for bravery, after a daring rescue of a wounded comrade in Afghanistan in 2004. Corporal Bill Apiata of the New Zealand Special Air Service (SAS) was given the Victoria Cross for New Zealand. The medal is based on Britain's Victoria Cross, the highest decoration for British soldiers.

Prime Minister Helen Clark said Corporal Apiata, 35, was awarded the medal for carrying a severely wounded soldier across open ground while coming under heavy fire. Cpl Apiata's patrol came under attack from machine gun and grenade fire when it had taken cover for the night, setting two vehicles on fire, his citation notice said. During the fight, Cpl Apiata found himself isolated with two of his comrades, one of whom was badly wounded from shrapnel. Cpl Apiata carried his wounded comrade 70m to where the rest of his patrol had taken cover, despite being clearly visible by the light of the burning vehicles.

"This brave action saved his comrade's life," Miss Clark said. There are 22 New Zealand soldiers who have been awarded the British Victoria Cross, the last of which was in 1946 for service in World War II. New Zealand separated its system of honours and awards from Britain's in 1999, creating the new award. Like New Zealand, fellow Commonwealth countries Australia and Canada have established their own version of the British Victoria Cross.

Exactly 60 years ago, a light aircraft was flying over the Cascade Mountains in Washington State, at a height of around 3000m. Suddenly, a brilliant flash of light illuminated the aircraft. Visibility was good and as pilot Kenneth Arnold scanned the sky to find the source of the light, he saw a group of nine shiny metallic objects flying information. He estimated their speed as being around 2600km/h -- nearly three times faster than the top speed of any jet aircraft at the time.

Soon, similar reports began to come in from all over America. This wasn't just the world's first UFO sighting, this was the birth of a phenomenon, one that still exercises an extraordinary fascination.

Military authorities issued a press release, which began: "The many rumours regarding the flying disc became a reality yesterday when the intelligence officer of the 509th Bomb Group of the Eighth Air Force, Roswell Army Air Field, was fortunate enough to gain possession of a disc." The headlines screamed: "Flying Disc captured by Air Force."

Yet, just 24 hours later, the military changed their story and claimed the object they'd first thought was a "flying disc" was a weather balloon that had crashed on a nearby ranch.

The key witness was Major Jesse Marcel, the intelligence officer who had gone to the ranch to recover the wreckage. He described the metal as being wafer thin but incredibly tough. It was as light as balsa wood, but couldn't be cut or burned. These and similar accounts of the incident have largely been dismissed by all except the most dedicated believers.

Astonishing new twist

But last week came an astonishing new twist to the Roswell mystery. Lieutenant Walter Haut was the public relations officer at the base in 1947 and was the man who issued the original and subsequent press releases after the crash on the orders of the base commander, Colonel William Blanchard. Haut died last year but left a sworn affidavit to be opened only after his death.

Last week, the text was released and asserts that the weather balloon claim was a cover story and that the real object had been recovered by the military and stored in a hangar. He described seeing not just the craft, but alien bodies.

He wasn't the first Roswell witness to talk about alien bodies. Local undertaker Glenn Dennis had long claimed that he was contacted by authorities at Roswell shortly after the crash and asked to provide a number of child-sized coffins. When he arrived at the base, he was apparently told by a nurse (who later disappeared) that a UFO had crashed and that small humanoid extraterrestrials had been recovered. But Haut is the only one of the original participants to claim to have seen alien bodies.

A combination of East-West geopolitical rivalries and haggling between former Soviet republics is delaying the construction of a series of oil and gas pipelines that could help alleviate the world's future energy supply concerns.

Energy experts say meeting the world's increasing energy needs in the coming decades lies in building a dozen existing and planned pipelines capable of helping the movement of oil and gas from Central Asian countries to Europe and the United States.

That, in turn, has raised to prominence the role of the resource-rich Central Asian states adjacent to the Caspian Sea -- Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan, Tajikistan, Kyrgyzstan and Turkmenistan.

But the debate over the routes the pipelines would take has gotten bogged down in the political ambitions of the U.S. and Russia on the one hand and Turkey's on the other, according to experts and politicians who attended the mid-April, annual Eurasia Media Forum here. "From the perspective of meeting energy needs, the answer is export routes from Central Asia to the West," said John Robert, a leading energy expert with the Platts Energy Group in London. "The problem is to get that energy to European countries, there are two gateways -- Russia and Turkey. One of them has to be opened."

The U.S. and Europe -- which receive much of their energy supplies from Russia -- have expressed concern that under Vladimir Putin's presidency, Moscow is trying to dominate the world energy markets. "The Russian route is pretty much closed right now because Moscow takes Central Asian countries' resources for internal use and sells its own for a much higher price to the West," Roberts told an energy panel.

Russia needs to control exports from former Soviet republics because otherwise it would be forced to reform its own energy industry and rely on Western investments before it can meet internal demands, Roberts and others on the panel concurred. Currently, Turkmenistan's gas exports are under contract to Russia until 2009 and Kazakhstan has agreed to sell all its exports to Russia for the next five years. Gazprom, Russia's state-owned energy company, has booked much of Uzbekistan's transit pipelines for the next three years.

But Central Asian countries have been trying to carve out their own energy supply route independent of Moscow. Kazakhstan officials have not shied away from saying they are considering other options to the West, bypassing Russia. So have officials of the other Central Asia countries.

One pipeline project envisions passage through Kazakhstan, Azerbaijan and Turkmenistan to the Caspian Sea. Another is the 3,300 km "Nabucco" gas pipeline which, much to the chagrin of Russia, would run from the border of Turkey and Georgia, with Iran joining later, to Bulgaria, Romania and then Austria. "That presents Turkey with two options. Does it want to be part of the European energy security mechanism or continue to import two-thirds of its needs from Russia?" asked Roberts. Given Turkey's strong desire to join the European Union, many energy experts bet on Turkey taking risks against Russia, or at least keeping its options open for as long as it can.

One factor to consider in the world's energy calculations is the rising power and energy needs of Asian giants China and India. "Both countries have tremendous energy needs, given their populations and their expanding economies," Dr. Azmat Hayat Khan, director of the Area Study Centre at the University of Peshawar, Pakistan, told IPS.

While China is negotiating with Kazakhstan, India has been --at least in part -- banking on the ‘Peace Pipeline.' The perceived 2,700 km gas pipeline would run from Iran through Afghanistan and Pakistan to India. Khan said the ‘Peace Pipeline' is unlikely to materialise because it would run counter to the U.S. strategic ambitions in the Middle East and Central Asia.

"The Americans do not want to do anything that would make the Iranians stronger," he said. "While Gazprom is increasing its activity, and the Chinese are securing their economic interests and the Europeans are ensuring they get their own supplies, the Americans feel they are losing the game and they do not have any good cards,'' he added. "You look at Iraq and Afghanistan and the Americans would not benefit from stability in the region. You look at the way they are building military bases (in Iraq and Afghanistan) and you know they are staying 40-45 years," Khan said.

While many dislike the U.S. presence in the Middle East and Central Asia, for reasons of security, the worst critics are prepared to compromise, at least for now. Afghanistan and Iraq have seen a large number of pipeline explosions besides cases of narco-terrorism in the recent past. And from Russia to Kazakhstan ethnic clashes are frequent.

Afghan President Hamid Karzai declared Wednesday that his government can "no longer accept" civilian casualties caused by U.S.-led operations, shortly before news spread that as many as 51 civilians may have died during clashes this week in far western Afghanistan. Civilian deaths are "becoming a heavy burden and we are not happy about it," Karzai told reporters here.

His remarks came two days after rioting broke out following a protracted battle in western Herat province, where police said as many as 30 residents had been killed during three days of fighting between U.S.-led forces and Taliban insurgents. Several government buildings were stormed by demonstrators, some of whom were wounded by police in the incidents.

Then, on Wednesday, local officials visiting villages in the battle area, in the Shindand district, reported that 45 to 51 civilians had died and that bodies were still being dug out of mud houses that had collapsed in U.S.-led bombing raids.

"So far the people have buried 45 bodies, and they are still taking out more," said Ghulam Nabi Hakak, the Herat representative of the Afghanistan Independent Human Rights Commission, reached by telephone Wednesday night. "Yesterday they buried 12 children. They told us some women and children ran away and got lost and drowned. The exact number of dead is not clear, but the people are very angry."

Spokesmen for the U.S. military said that they had no reports of civilian casualties but that 136 suspected Taliban fighters had been killed in operations in Herat. One spokesman said that he could not comment on specific incidents but that U.S. forces "take every precaution to prevent injury to innocent civilians in every operation we do."

Public anger has been mounting steadily over a string of civilian deaths in the past month during U.S.-led counterterrorist operations. Increasingly, that anger has been directed both at Karzai and at the international forces that are here to back his government as well as hunt down Islamic insurgents. In eastern Nangahar province this week, hundreds of demonstrators repeatedly blocked a main highway, accusing U.S.-led forces of killing six civilians, including a woman and child, during a counterinsurgency raid. Some students burned President Bush in effigy and shouted "Death to America." They also demanded that Karzai resign.

Karzai, who has previously expressed regret for such deaths but continued to praise U.S.-led forces for their work in combating insurgents, displayed frustration and anguish when he met with journalists Wednesday after returning from a fence-mending meeting in Ankara, Turkey, with Pakistan's president, Gen. Pervez Musharraf.

"The intention may be very good to fight terrorism, sometimes mistakes are made, but five years on, it is very difficult for us to continue to accept civilian casualties," Karzai said. "It's not understandable anymore." He said he had worked hard to improve coordination between foreign and Afghan forces, especially during raids on villages. "Unfortunately, that has not given results, and we are not happy about that."

According to an Associated Press tally, 151 civilians were killed in violence during the first four months of this year, including at least 51 blamed on the U.S.-led coalition and NATO. The figures do not include the most recent operation in Herat. The civilian deaths are a by-product of the intensifying conflict over the past year between thousands of Taliban fighters and about 47,000 U.S.-led and NATO forces. Significant armed clashes now occur regularly in a half-dozen provinces, and the Taliban has launched a campaign of suicide blasts and bombings triggered by remote control in urban areas, as well as against military targets.

Although opinion polls show that most Afghans do not support the Taliban or other violent guerrilla groups, analysts here say the issue of civilian deaths is being manipulated by insurgent leaders to foment anger against both the Karzai government and the foreign forces who were once widely welcomed here.

"The casualties are an easy propaganda tool for the Taliban to use in the affected areas," said Nader Nadery, vice president of the Afghan Independent Human Rights Commission. "People feel under attack by both sides. This does not win hearts and minds. If we want to win the war against the Taliban and al-Qaeda, the coalition must take precautionary measures to prevent more civilian casualties." Maj. Chris Belcher, a U.S. military spokesman, said the U.S. forces are "doing everything we can to reduce civilian casualties. We take it very seriously. We are here at the invitation of the Afghan people and we value their participation in the fight against the Taliban."

None of the most recent incidents that caused civilian casualties has involved NATO troops, who are engaged in heavy fighting in the southern region that is the major Taliban stronghold. A NATO military spokeswoman said Wednesday that the alliance's role here is "counterinsurgency but not counterterrorism," meaning it does not aggressively track and kill suspected insurgents as U.S. Special Operations forces do here constantly.

Al-Qaeda terrorists use blow torches, electric drills and meat cleavers to torture and force information out of their victims, according to a "how-to" book reportedly discovered in a safe house in Iraq. The Pentagon has released bizarre cartoons showing how to torture a captive, found by American forces during a raid on an al-Qaeda house a few weeks ago. They also found photos of tortured Iraqi victims. The book guides followers of al-Qaeda chief Osama bin Laden on how to interrogate and torture captives.

The drawings and cartoons depict ways to use electric drills and irons, meat cleavers and other devices to force victims to talk or harm them. Some of the drawings show how to drill hands, sever limbs, drag victims behind cars, remove eyes, put a blowtorch or iron to someone's skin, suspend a person from a ceiling and electrocute them, break limbs and restrict breath and put someone’s head in a vice.

Items found at the safe house include electric drills, hammers, blow torches, meat cleavers, pliers and wire cutters, chains, screw drivers, whips and handcuffs, Fox News said. Earlier this week US troops found the information near Baghdad, along with five Iraqis being held, the Pentagon has said.

Meanwhile General Peter Pace, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, said yesterday Thursday that Al-Qaeda poses a dangerous threat to the United States for years to come.

"Clearly, whatever military advice we give, both in Iraq and regionally, must take into account that this group of Al-Qaeda has targeted free nations, to include the United States, and how our long-term plan and our long-term recommendations must deal with that very real threat to the United States," Gen Pace said at a Pentagon briefing.

Defence Secretary Robert Gates said the United States continues to direct most efforts to defeating al-Qaeda, but he predicted insurgents in Iraq will ramp up attacks this summer. "I think the worry that we have is clearly what we have seen over the past year: that whatever progress is made and particularly in the last few months often is overshadowed when al-Qaeda will launch a major attack that kills a lot of innocent civilian Iraqis," Mr Gates said.