NEWS FROM AROUND THE WORLD

WORLD/ DEADLY CLASHES ERUPT AT ISRAELI BORDERS: Israeli forces fired on groups of protesters today at the borders with the Palestinian territories, Syria and Lebanon. Reports say that at least 12 people have died and dozens more have been injured. In one incident, thousands of Palestinian supporters from Syria entered the Golan Heights, Israel said.  Palestinians are marking the Nakba or Catastrophe, their term for the founding of the Israeli state in 1948. Hundreds of thousands of Palestinians fled or were forced out of their homes in fighting after its creation. Responding in a televised address to today's violence, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said he hoped "calm and quiet will quickly return, but let nobody be mistaken, we are determined to defend our borders and sovereignty". Clashes have been taking place today at 4 separate borders or crossing points: at Erez in Gaza, near Ramallah in the West Bank, on the Golan Heights and at the border with Lebanon.

WORLD/ ZURICH VOTES TO RETAIN ASSISTED SUICIDE: Voters in Zurich, Switzerland, have rejected proposed bans on assisted suicide and "suicide tourism". Some 85% of the 278,000 votes cast opposed the ban on assisted suicide and 78% opposed outlawing it for foreigners. About 200 people commit assisted suicide each year in Zurich, including many foreign visitors. It has been legal in Switzerland since 1941 if performed by a non-physician with no vested interest in the death. Assistance can be provided only in a passive way, such as by providing drugs. Active assistance, helping a person to take or administer a product, is prohibited. While opinion polls indicated that most Swiss were in favour of assisted suicide, they had also suggested that many were against what has become known as suicide tourism. Many citizens from Germany, France and other nations come to die in Switzerland because the practice remains illegal abroad. One local organization, Dignitas, says it has helped more than 1000 foreigners to take their own lives. Another group, Exit, will only help those who are permanently resident in the country, saying the process takes time, and much counselling for both patients and relatives.