This weekend's Singapore Grand Prix is one of the season's showcase events - and probably the toughest of all for drivers.
So many things add up to make it that way and I love the challenge and endurance aspect of the race.
The grand prix runs for two hours; it's a long lap on a very demanding course that is pretty repetitive, with lots of 90-degree corners and heavy braking.
It's bumpy, which is uncomfortable in the cockpit and makes the demands on concentration very high, and, on top of all that, it is incredibly hot and humid, even though we're driving at night.
Television just does not do it justice and you need to be there to begin to appreciate it.
It's the same with a lot of sport that's held in extreme conditions, whether it be playing Test cricket in India or competing at the Australian Tennis Open in the middle of summer. Singapore is of course on the equator and I'm sure some of you will have been there on holiday, or to somewhere like Sri Lanka or Malaysia, and experienced what that can be like in terms of intense heat.
We are wearing three layers of fireproof clothing. There is no ventilation in the cockpit - even though it is open, the air is directed around the driver as much as possible. With a racing engine behind us, and radiators either side of us, temperatures in there exceed 50ºC.
In a grand prix there is no respite - it's high intensity action for the entire duration of the race, with core body temperatures often higher than 40ºC and your heart rate above 170 beats a minute. Webber finished third under the lights of Singapore at last year's grand prix It's a raw environment; there's no comfort, and you just have to get on with it.
The key thing is to keep on top of your hydration and that starts three or four days before the race - don't forget we have three hours of practice sessions on Friday, and two hours of practice and qualifying on Saturday before we even get to the race.
It's incredibly important to keep hydrated, and it's not about just being thirsty. If you dehydrate, it can have a major effect on body and cognitive function. So for us it can even become dangerous.
We have a drinks bottle in the car but, because of the tight confines of the cockpit and the need to keep weight down, that holds no more than a litre - and I'm definitely going to lose a lot more fluid than that during the race.
Our workload is made even higher by the fact the race is at night.
The lighting in Singapore is very good but it still requires a little bit more effort than normal to compute what you're seeing.
It's not natural light and there are inconsistencies around the track: some places have more light than during the day; some have less.
But those little subtleties of light are something you really notice at 180mph. Just think of what it's like when you're driving at night on a motorway and the lights are flashing past you. Then multiply it…
Finally, there's the fact that, by and large, we stay on European time, even though Singapore is six or seven hours ahead of that.
You have breakfast at three or four in the afternoon. You leave the track at 0130-0200 and try to get some dinner.
It's pretty surreal but it's all worth it - it's a very rewarding grand prix and the tough environment helps makes it that way.
US president tells UN that Israel and PLO both have "legitimate aspirations", but peace can only come via direct talks.
The Palestinians are turning to the UN after peace talks with Israel stalled [EPA]
Barack Obama, the US president, has said "there is no short cut to the end of a conflict that has endured for decades" between the Israelis and the Palestinians.
In a speech to the UN General Assembly, Obama expressed frustration at the failure of both parties to bridge their differences and at the Palestinians' decision to seek full membership of the UN through the Security Council later this week.
The US has said it will veto such an effort.
While conceding both sides had "legitimate aspirations," Obama said peace would not come through statements and resolutions at the UN, but rather only through a resumption of direct negotiations.
He said the parties are the only ones who can agree on the issues that continue to divide them.
Obama attempted to strike a delicate balance as he took the UN podium.
He sought to reassure Palestinians he was not abandoning his pledge to help them achieve eventual statehood, while also placating Israeli concerns about Washington's commitment to their security.
"Palestinians need to live in a sovereign state of their own. Their vision has been delayed for too long. That is why the US has spent time and money helping to build a Palestinian state," Obama said.
He then added: "Yet America's commitment to Israel's security is unshakeable and our friendship with it is enduring."
Members of the General Assembly, where pro-Palestinian sentiment is high, listened politely but had only a muted response to Obama's 36-minute speech.
The Obama administration says that only direct peace talks can lead to peace with the Palestinians, who in turn say almost two decades of fruitless negotiation has left them no choice but to turn to the world body.
Mahmoud Abbas, the president of the Palestinian Authority, and Binyamin Netanyahu, the Israeli prime minister, were scheduled to meet with Obama in separate meetings after the speech.
Violence warning
Speaking to gathered world leaders later on Wednesday, Nicolas Sarkozy, the French president, proposed a
timetable for Israeli-Palestinian peace, with resumed talks in one month, agreement on borders and security in six months, and a final deal in one year.
Sarkozy told the General Assembly that after 60 years of failure it was time to change tactics.
He said efforts to reach an accord must include a broader range of players, including Arab nations who have been sidelined. Sarkozy said talks were "doomed to failure'' if either side sets preconditions.
Sarkozy also warned that a US veto of the Palestinian bid would trigger violence.
"Who could doubt that a veto at the Security Council risks engendering a cycle of violence in the Middle East?" said Sarkozy. Rallies continue
Earlier on Wednesday, tens of thousands of people gathered in Ramallah and Nablus in the occupied West Bank, in a show of support for the Palestinian bid to secure full membership at the UN.
In video
Al Jazeera's Cal Perry reports from Ramallah
Al Jazeera's Cal Perry, reporting from Ramallah, said people rallying in there were aware of the diplomatic talks taking place in New York.
Thousands marched into Arafat Square in Ramallah, and schools and some businesses were shut as people came out in support of the bid for Palestinian statehood, he said.
In Nablus, some rallyists said it was a big day for Obama. "Lets hope he does not let us down," they said.
Recognising that Abbas is likely to proceed with his bid, Obama is expected to privately ask the Palestinian leader to essentially drop the move for statehood recognition after Abbas delivers a formal letter of intent to the UN on Friday, after his address to the UN General Assembly.
"The president will say, frankly, the same thing in private that he'll say in public, which is that we do not believe that this is the best course of action for achieving Palestinian aspirations," said Ben Rhodes, the White House deputy national security adviser.
Obama's stand has surprised many Palestinians, with the Palestinian foreign minister saying he was "amazed" by the US efforts to persuade other countries not to support the UN bid.
"They have used different forms of pressure, threats, and many others, sending letters, sending ambassadors, etc, etc... Amazing," Riyad al-Maliki told Al Jazeera.
Talking to Al Jazeera's Gregg Carlstrom, senior Palestinian activist Mustafa Barghouti, also expressed his surprise over the US opposition.
"I think it is very strange that Obama will veto a bid for Palestinian statehood, when a year ago at the UN General Assembly he supported the idea," he said.
"Palestinian statehood will create a new political situation where Israeli will be occupying another country." US hopes
The Palestinian Liberation Organisation (PLO), of whom Abbas is chairman, says it is pressing for statehood after talks with Israel led to nowhere.
The Obama administration say that only direct peace negotiations, not a UN vote, would allow the Palestinians to achieve the benefits of statehood.
The new approach being considered would see the "quartet" of the peace mediators, including the US, UN, European Union and Russia - issue a statement addressing both Palestinian and Israeli concerns and setting a timetable for a return to the long-stalled peace talks, officials close to the diplomatic talks said.
The statement would also endorse the idea of "two states for two peoples, Jewish and Palestinian", according to the AP news agency.
The White House appeared to hold out little hope that Abbas would not go ahead with the bid.
"President Abbas has indicated his determination to go to the Security Council, so we take him at his word on that," Rhodes said.
Enhanced observer
The simmering situation is far from the scenario Obama envisioned when he spoke at the UN one year ago.
"We should reach for what's best within ourselves," Obama said last September in pushing for negotiated agreement on a sovereign Palestinian state.
"If we do, when we come back here next year, we can have an agreement that will lead to a new member of the United Nations."
Should the Palestinian bid fail, Abbas could ask for a vote of the General Assembly for an enhanced observer status, which is enjoyed by others such as the Vatican, in which case no veto would be possible.
While UN recognition would have largely a symbolic value, the Palestinians argue that it would strengthen their hands in peace talks with Israel, especially on the final issues that divide them.
These are the precise location of the border, the final status of Jerusalem, the right of return of Palestinian refugees, water, and security.
On Wednesday, clashes broke out at the Qalandiya Crossing between Ramallah and Jerusalem.
Carlstrom reported that Israeli troops had fired tear gas to disperse an estimated 50 rock-throwing young people.
Several youths and one Israeli soldier were said to have been injured.
The navigator's blood alcohol content was just over the legal limit for driving in Britain and many US states [AFP]
The navigator of a Russian plane that crashed in June, killing 47 people, was legally drunk, an official report has said.
Russia's Interstate Aviation Committee said the navigator "was in a light state of alcoholic intoxication" as the crew attempted to land the plane, in a report posted on its website on Monday.
The RusAir Tu-134 jet crashed into the tops of trees, overturned and slammed into the ground while trying to land in fog at the airport in the northern city of Petrozavodsk, the first in a string of Russian air accidents in recent months.
The report said the experienced navigator, 50, was "excessively active", with data recorders showing he had told the chief pilot several times to speed up the landing.
At one point, he told the pilot: "Sasha, turn quicker, come on!" the report said.
'Excessive self-assurance'
The navigator's body was found to have 0.81 grams of alcohol per litre of blood, which would have caused a "light" level of drunkenness, likely to make a person less self-critical, the report said.
His blood alcohol content was just over the legal limit for driving in Britain and many US states, although Russia has a zero tolerance policy for drivers.
The navigator had 25 years' experience and had logged more than 13,000 hours on Tu-134 flights, said the
committee
It added the navigator's behaviour was a contributing factor in the crash, but found that the main cause was the incorrect decision not to abort the landing as the plane descended into thick fog with no sight of the runway.
It blamed a "lack of discipline and excessive self-assurance of the crew members".
The question remained why the navigator had been permitted to fly.
A pre-flight medical examination of the crew appeared to have been done "as a formality", the report, with all of the crew recorded as having exactly the same pulse rate.
Forty-four people died on the scene of the crash and three died later in hospital.
Among the dead were a citizen of the Netherlands, a Swede and two Ukrainians. Five people, including a stewardess, survived the crash with serious injuries.
The report's findings come as an investigation continues into the crash of a plane carrying a top ice hockey team earlier this month, the latest in a string of air disasters in Russia, where many smaller airlines use outdated Soviet-era planes.
The latest crash prompted Dmitry Medvedev, the Russian president, to order his government to shut down unreliable airlines and raise penalties for air safety violations.
The explosion gutted several parked cars before it was put out by fire fighters [Reuters]
At least three people have been killed and 15 others wounded in an explosion in the Turkish capital, Ankara, officials have said.
"Three citizens were killed and 15 were injured, five of whom are in critical condition," Idris Naim Sahin, the interior minister, said in televised remarks.
Tuesday's blast occurred in the Kizilay district of downtown Ankara, and Bulent Arinc, the country's deputy prime minister, blamed it on a bomb planted on a vehicle.
Bulent Tanik, a local mayor, said an eyewitness told him someone threw a burning gas canister onto the vehicles from a nearby building.
"The investigation is under way," Tanik said. "If true, that canister might have triggered the blast of a liquefied petroleum gas tank on a vehicle." Cars set ablaze
The blast occurred across a school but no student was harmed, Tanik said.
There was no immediate claim of responsibility for the attack, but Kurdish, leftist and Islamic fighters have carried out bomb attacks in Turkey in the past.
The explosion set several vehicles on fire before it was extinguished by firefighters.
One of the vehicles was totally burnt down and four others were also damaged, television images showed.
Monsoon rains cause flooding in Sarabun, Thailand [Gallo/Getty]
The devastating floods in Pakistan have overshadowed the fact that many other parts of Asia have also been suffering from too much rainfall over the past few weeks. The list of countries affected is extensive and includes China, Thailand, Laos, Vietnam, Cambodia and of course India.
Over 250 people have died in the flooding in SE Pakistan and despite the fact that the rain has now eased somewhat, the floodwaters are still reluctant to recede. Run-off from the higher ground will add to the problems for many days to come.
Widespread heavy rain has also hit eastern and northwestern China recently, disrupting transport and tourism. Shangdong Province has suffered for 5 successive days now and the rain is not expected to ease for at least another 3 days. Shaanxi and Huayin have also been submerged by the extensive downpours.
In the case of India, not only has the northwest been badly hit, the eastern state of Orissa has also suffered, as floods caused major destruction, forcing thousands of people to leave their villages and take up refuge in relief camps. More than 65,000 people have been affected by the adverse conditions.
Meanwhile, at least 2,000 houses were damaged in northern and central Vietnam as a result of heavy rains and flooding since the weekend. Six people have been killed in that time.
Similarly, Thailand continues to struggle with this season’s monsoon rains. More than 80 people have died and there are still flood warnings in force across 14 provinces. Some of the dams are at 95% capacity and it is possible that the floodwaters could extend into Bangkok. Media reports suggest that some of the dams could be opened by the Thai government to release the flood waters.
This is creating much cause for concern in neighbouring Cambodia where 4 people have already died as a result of flooding.
Rising floodwaters have already hit four provinces close to the Thai border with another three also under threat. Officials in Phnom Penh are bracing the city against a similar fate with the Tonle Sap and Mekong river currently full to overflowing. The rainy season does extend right through October (which is, on average, the wettest month) so it seems likely that conditions could get worse before they get better.
The navigator's blood alcohol content was just over the legal limit for driving in Britain and many US states [AFP]
The navigator of a Russian plane that crashed in June, killing 47 people, was legally drunk, an official report has said.
Russia's Interstate Aviation Committee said the navigator "was in a light state of alcoholic intoxication" as the crew attempted to land the plane, in a report posted on its website on Monday.
The RusAir Tu-134 jet crashed into the tops of trees, overturned and slammed into the ground while trying to land in fog at the airport in the northern city of Petrozavodsk, the first in a string of Russian air accidents in recent months.
The report said the experienced navigator, 50, was "excessively active", with data recorders showing he had told the chief pilot several times to speed up the landing.
At one point, he told the pilot: "Sasha, turn quicker, come on!" the report said.
'Excessive self-assurance'
The navigator's body was found to have 0.81 grams of alcohol per litre of blood, which would have caused a "light" level of drunkenness, likely to make a person less self-critical, the report said.
His blood alcohol content was just over the legal limit for driving in Britain and many US states, although Russia has a zero tolerance policy for drivers.
The navigator had 25 years' experience and had logged more than 13,000 hours on Tu-134 flights, said the
committee
It added the navigator's behaviour was a contributing factor in the crash, but found that the main cause was the incorrect decision not to abort the landing as the plane descended into thick fog with no sight of the runway.
It blamed a "lack of discipline and excessive self-assurance of the crew members".
The question remained why the navigator had been permitted to fly.
A pre-flight medical examination of the crew appeared to have been done "as a formality", the report, with all of the crew recorded as having exactly the same pulse rate.
Forty-four people died on the scene of the crash and three died later in hospital.
Among the dead were a citizen of the Netherlands, a Swede and two Ukrainians. Five people, including a stewardess, survived the crash with serious injuries.
The report's findings come as an investigation continues into the crash of a plane carrying a top ice hockey team earlier this month, the latest in a string of air disasters in Russia, where many smaller airlines use outdated Soviet-era planes.
The latest crash prompted Dmitry Medvedev, the Russian president, to order his government to shut down unreliable airlines and raise penalties for air safety violations.
Battles between pro-Saleh troops and anti-government fighters have left scores of people dead [Reuters]
Deadly fighting has spread across Yemen's capital as tribesmen joined battles between rival military units, raising fears among residents the country is descending into civil war.
At least fifteen people were killed in the battles that rocked the north of Sanaa on Thursday, the defence ministry's website and tribal sources said.
The clashes, now in their fifth consecutive day, reached the doorsteps of the US and British embassies in Sanaa, witnesses said.
The escalating tensions between troops loyal to Ali Abdullah Saleh, the Yemeni president, and opponents of his regime collapsed efforts on Wednesday by international mediators to promote a Gulf-initiated peace deal aimed at halting the political impasse that has gripped Yemen for months.
Factional fighting
At least four civilians were killed when they were caught in the crossfire of the fighting that broke out early Thursday between Republican Guard troops commanded by Saleh's son Ahmed, and dissidents loyal to General Ali Mohsen al-Ahmar, witnesses and medics said.
They said two women and a man were shot by snipers positioned on rooftops near and overlooking Change Square, the base of the anti-government protesters.
Another man died from wounds sustained when a mortar shell smashed into the square. Nine people were also wounded in the blast and several tents set up by protesters caught fire, according to witnesses.
Medics said hundreds had been wounded, adding that most of the casualties were civilians caught in the crossfire or gunned down by Saleh loyalists.
"I can no longer open my store for fear of stray bullets, whether from the opposition or government forces. Every day there are many casualties due to the stray bullets," said 25-year-old Mohammed al-Jabiri, who owns a mobile phone shop in Sanaa. Soaring violence
Fighting which had been concentrated since Sunday in the city centre and at Change Square spread on Thursday to Sanaa's Al-Hasaba district, where gunmen loyal to powerful dissident tribal chief Sheikh Sadiq al-Ahmar traded fire with followers of Saghir bin Aziz, a tribesman loyal to Saleh, witnesses said.
For more on Yemen, visit our Spotlight page
Bin Aziz, who is from Yemen's most influential tribe Bakil, is also a Republican Guard officer and a member of parliament.
Witnesses said men loyal to Hemyar al-Ahmar, Sheikh Sadiq's brother, joined the battles and that shells were being fired from the building of Yemen's interior ministry towards his house and that of another brother Hussein al-Ahmar.
United Nations envoy Jamal Benomar told the AFP news agency late on Wednesday that the deteriorating security situation, and the reluctance of both sides to reach a political resolution, raises "the risk of civil war breaking out".
Gulf Cooperation Council chief Abdullatif al-Zayani is expected in New York on Friday to discuss the Yemeni crisis with GCC foreign ministers and international diplomats who are gathered at the UN for the annual General Assembly meeting, a Yemeni diplomat said, requesting anonymity.
The latest violence is the worst incident of bloodshed since a similar massacre killed 52 people in mid-March.
Saleh, who has been in power for 33 years, has since January faced protests over nepotism and corruption from reform activists inspired by the Arab Spring.
He left the country three months ago for Saudi Arabia where he has been recovering from a June 3 attack on his presidential compound.
The government estimates that the floods have caused economic losses to the tune of $2.7bn [Reuters]
At least 14 people have been killed in China after a week of heavy rains triggered floods and landslides across the country, the government says.
The ministry of civil affairs said in a statement late on Monday that the rain had forced authorities to evacuate more than 1.2 million people from their homes.
"Constant strong rainfall has caused serious flood disasters in Sichuan (southwest), Shaanxi (north) and Henan (central China)," the statement said.
More than 120,000 houses have collapsed and economic losses from damaged houses, crops and land is estimated to have reached $2.7bn, it added.
Work teams are helping with relief efforts, distributing thousands of tents, cots, blankets and clothing, the ministry said.
Over the weekend, officials in Sichuan's Dazhou and Guangan regions ordered the evacuation of over 600,000 people as major tributaries to the Yangtze - China's longest river - exceeded danger levels, the Xinhua news agency said.
The Jialing river was recorded 23ft above alert levels, and waters were expected to rise to their highest levels since record-keeping began in 1847, the statement added.
China is hit by big downpours every summer. Last year saw the nation's worst flooding in a decade, leaving more than 4,300 people dead or missing.
A local helps to extinguish a forest fire that jumped a controlled burn area [Getty]
For the farmers of Bolivia, September signals the beginning of the planting season. In order to prepare their fields, it is a common practice for farmers to use a technique called "slash and burn". This involves cutting and burning forests or woodlands to create fields.
However, this technique has gone horribly wrong. An ongoing drought across the region, coupled with high winds, has caused these fires to spread uncontrollably into the forests. Over 40,000 fires are now burning across millions of acres of the nation’s heartland.
Around the city of Santa Cruz, located 550 kilometres to the southeast of the capital of La Paz, farmers are fleeing their ranches in fear that more strong winds will bring the destructive wildfires to their fields and livestock.
Doctors and pediatricians are reporting a 30% increase in cases of respiratory illnesses, due to the heavy smoke which is lingering over the area. The most susceptible are the young and elderly.
Forest fires are not uncommon in Bolivia. In 2010, the government declared a state of emergency last August when the number of fires jumped from 17,000 to over 25,000 in just three days. Over 3.7 million acres were lost as well as nearly 60 homes. This year's fires have already broken last year's record, and are on course to break the all-time record of 2004, when 50,000 fires were recorded.
Local government officials are vowing to raise fines for uncontrolled burns. Even though yearly wildfires are common, the country is poorly equipped to handle them due to insufficient water-bombing aircraft.
Webber finished third under the lights of Singapore at last year's grand prix It's a raw environment; there's no comfort, and you just have to get on with it.
