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It is the first comment since Israeli air strike inside Syria. President Bashar al-Assad has said his country would not be destabilized by such attacks. Mr. Assad said it was capable of confronting any assault and accused Israel of cooperating with Syria’s enemies inside and outside the country. Israel said the raids showed it wouldn’t allow advanced weapons into a neighbouring country. Jim Muir reports on Syria’s response to the strike.

Obviously there is the rhetoric. They say they have the right to reply. They say we can defend ourselves and so on. But what they can actually do in the situation will have to wait and see. But certainly I don’t get the sense myself that there is a kind of conflagration that imminent because of what the Israeli did on Wednesday. It seems to be a message that they have conveyed to the Syrians through this action, this intervention may hear clear that any attempt to get arms across the Hezbollah as the crisis deepen will be confronted in this way. But there’s no sign over a physical reaction from the Syrian government at this stage.

Thirty French warplanes have carried out air strikes in northern Mali. The bombardment has targeted mountainous areas, north of the town of Kidal where militants are believed to be hiding. Thomas Fessy reports from the Malian capital Bamako.

Bombs were dropped around the small town of Tessalit near the Algerian border. This is a mountainous area where Jihadists are believed to be hiding since they fled from major towns secured by French-led forces. The French units in Kidal have now been reinforced by troops from Chad. The town was the last stronghold of Islamist fighters, but rebels from another group the MNLA have now seized control. They are Tuareg fighters who want their own homeland in northern Mali. The Malian president has offered to hold talks with the MNLA in order to help secure the town.

Niger has confirmed that French Special Forces are protecting the country’s uranium mines. President Mahamadou Issoufou told French media the decision to strengthen security on the sites was taken after the recent hostage crisis at an Algerian gas installation in the Sahara. He gave no further details about the French deployment.

Migrants who are rescued by the Sri Lankan navy from a sinking fishing vessel say that during the course of their journey they were intercepted by the Thai coastguard. The navy says the 138 Bangladeshi and Burmese nationals had been adrift for ten days. Berrien Alansantal reports.

Some of the Bangladeshi nationals told the BBC that they started their journey in Bangladesh on December 26. They say two days later 11 Burmese boarded the boat. Subsequently they say they were attacked by the Thai coastguard who threw most of their belongings into the sea. The accusations of the men cannot be independently confirmed. They also told the BBC they had been observed by Sri Lankan fishermen for two days before the Sri Lankan navy arrived to rescue them.

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Venezuelan officials say the President Hugo Chavez, who’s recovering from cancer surgery in Cuba, is making consistent and gradual progress. In a televised announcement, the speaker of the national assembly, Diosdado Cabello said Mr. Chavez’s health was gradually getting better. The Venezuelan leader hasn’t been seen or heard in public since he had cancer surgery almost eight weeks ago. The nature of his cancer has never been revealed and his inability to attend his own inauguration for another term in office has fueled already feverish speculation.

Cubans are voting in a general election although as a one party state there’s no campaigning and all organized opposition is outlawed. Voters will be chosen more than 600 deputies with women and Afro Cubans well represented. Sarah Rainsford is at a polling station in Havana.

It’s not a frequency to vote here, but the turnout is always around 95%. So it’s a very Cuban experience. It’s not necessary that every candidate is from the Communist Party itself. But at this polling station, all three candidates are from the Party. Cuba says it is democratic because it says that the candidates are not imposed by the Party that they come from the people. But of course there is no organized opposition here in Cuba, so everyone in some sense or other, is approved by the Party.

The British Prime Minister David Cameron is hosting a dinner for the leaders of Afghanistan and Pakistan to discuss ways to prevent a Taliban resurgence once international troops leave Afghanistan next year. The talks outside London with Hamid Karzai and Asif Ali Zardari will also involve senior diplomatic and security officials from all three countries. Britain says discussions will probably focus on peace efforts between the Taliban and the Afghan authorities and how Pakistan and other countries can support them.

Nigeria has qualified for the semifinals at the Africa Cup of Nations football tournament, beating Ivory Coast 2-1. In the last quarterfinal Burkina Faso, have beaten Togo