Crowds have gathered in Boston to pay their respects to Edward Kennedy on the first of three days of ceremonies to commemorate the US senator.

Mourning began on Thursday with a private family Mass at the family compound in Massachusetts.
Mr Kennedy's body was then driven to Boston, where his coffin was put on public view.
Mr Kennedy's death on Tuesday prompted a flood of tributes from across the US and around the world.
He will be buried on Saturday evening at the Arlington National Cemetery.
A large group of family members attended Thursday's private Mass at the family compound in Hyannis Port, Massachusetts.
Later, thousands of people lined the route as a hearse carrying Mr Kennedy's coffin left in a motorcade on the 70-mile (113km) trip to Boston.
'Extraordinary good'
There, the hearse wound through the streets of the city past some of Senator Kennedy's favourite landmarks, before delivering his coffin to the John F Kennedy presidential library and museum.

Death leaves no clear heir
In pictures: Kennedy ceremonies
As the motorcade passed through Boston, people applauded solemnly as helicopters buzzed overhead.
Mourners were allowed into the JFK building, about 35-40 at a time, to file past the closed coffin placed before a large window overlooking the ocean.
Senator Kennedy's widow Vicki and other members of the family shook hands with the mourners.
Earlier, in Hyannis Port, the mood was sombre.
"It was very moving when the hearse came by - it was observed in total silence," said John Celentano, a 62-year-old business consultant.
"You felt you were part of history."
After the public have paid their respects in Boston, there will be an invitation-only memorial service at the JFK library on Friday evening.
On Saturday, President Barack Obama is expected to address a funeral Mass for Mr Kennedy at Our Lady of Perpetual Help Basilica in Boston.
Mr Kennedy will be buried on Saturday next to his brothers, John F Kennedy and Robert F Kennedy, at the Arlington national cemetery in northern Virginia.
Succession talks
In the US, Mr Kennedy's death has been seen as the end of an era.

The coffin was draped in the US flag
The charismatic senator had long been the leader of one of America's great political dynasties, following the assassinations of his brothers in 1963 and 1968.
In a televised tribute on Wednesday, Mr Obama said Mr Kennedy had achieved "extraordinary good" and was "one of the most accomplished Americans ever to serve our democracy".
Meanwhile, discussions have begun over how to replace Mr Kennedy in the Senate.
Under current Massachusetts law, his seat could remain vacant for several months until a special election to choose his successor.
Senate Democrats fear that if the seat remains empty for too long, the party will struggle to pass a crucial healthcare reform that President Obama is hoping to push through.
There have been calls for a change in the law that would allow the Massachusetts governor to install an interim senator to fill the seat until the special election takes place.
Massachusetts Governor Deval Patrick has said he supports the plan.

US-China ties 'to shape century'

'The relationship between the US and China will shape the 21st Century'

The relationship between the US and China will shape the 21st Century, President Barack Obama has said, as top officials met in Washington for talks.

"Co-operation, not confrontation" was the way forward, he said, with climate change, security and the economy all areas where common ground existed.

His comments opened two days of talks at a new forum between the two nations.

The US-China Strategic and Economic Dialogue is expected to focus on working towards economic recovery.

Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner and Secretary of State Hillary Clinton are co-hosting the talks.

China has sent Vice Premier Wang Qishan and State Councillor Dai Bingguo to the forum.

'Strong coordination'

The talks will cover a range of issues, including halting the spread of nuclear weapons in North Korea and Iran, and creating clean and secure energy sources.

But the main focus will be the economy."The current crisis has made it clear that the choices made within our borders reverberate across the global economy - and this is true not just of New York and Seattle, but Shanghai and Shenzhen as well," Mr Obama said.

"That is why we must remain committed to strong bilateral and multilateral coordination."

Mr Wang said the opening up of China's economy could help the US recovery.

"With the furthering of China's reform and opening up, China and the United States will have even closer economic cooperation and trade relations and (the) China-US relationship will surely keep moving forward," he said.

But there are areas of contention. The US is expected to push China to rely less on exports and to focus on encouraging its domestic market.

US manufacturers also complain they cannot compete fairly with their Chinese competitors, accusing Beijing of deliberately devaluing its currency to make its exports seem cheaper.

China, meanwhile, is worried about the value of the US dollar. It holds huge amounts of US debt - more than $800bn (£486bn) of US Treasury securities alone.

It fears Mr Obama's stimulus spending will stoke inflation in the United States, eroding the value of the dollar and making the US debt China holds worth a lot less.

Mr Obama said that although the US and China would not agree on everything, he believed the two could make progress on pressing global challenges like trade, emissions and proliferation.

"My confidence is rooted in the fact that the United States and China share mutual interests," he said.

"If we advance those interests through cooperation, our people will benefit and the world will be better off."

The BBC's Adam Brookes, in Washington, says Mr Obama's speech laid out why it is that America needs China.

The degree to which the US president can enlist Beijing's help on global questions will do a great deal to shape the successes and failures of his administration, our correspondent says.

Afghan war is 'worth the effort'

US Vice-President Joe Biden has told the BBC that the war in Afghanistan is in the interests of the US and the UK. "It is worth the effort we are making," he said, warning that the terror groups on the border with Pakistan could "wreak havoc" on Europe and the US. The number of foreign troop deaths has jumped recently, sparking questions in the UK over its involvement in the war. Mr Biden suggested more sacrifice would have to be made during what he termed the "fighting season". Mr Biden was speaking to the BBC's Jonathan Beale during a European trip in which he has visited Ukraine and Georgia. 'Need to succeed' The vice-president insisted that "in terms of national interest of Great Britain, the US and Europe, [the war in Afghanistan] is worth the effort we are making and the sacrifice that is being felt". He added: "And more will come". And he reiterated the Obama administration's rationale for the conflict. "This is the place from which the attacks of 9/11 and all those attacks in Europe that came from al-Qaeda have flowed from that place - between Afghanistan and Pakistan." See a map of ongoing Afghan offensives He said the terror groups who sheltered along the Afghan-Pakistan border combined with the country's role in the international drug trade - supplying 90% of the world's heroin - meant the war in Afghanistan needed to succeed. "It is a place that, if it doesn't get straightened out, will continue to wreak havoc on Europe and the United States," he said. Over the last few years, the US has used controversial drone attacks to hit militant targets in Pakistan from Afghanistan. Pakistan has in the past expressed concerns about the impact of such military offensives in southern Afghanistan on south-west Pakistan as militants seep over the border into the restive Baluchistan province. 'Courageous warriors' Mr Biden was full of praise for British troops, calling them "among the best trained and bravest warriors in the world". But he was unable to comment on the standard of equipment that British troops had been given. A political row has broken out in the UK over the adequacy of British troops' equipment, after Foreign Office Minister Lord Malloch Brown told a reporter that "we definitely don't have enough helicopters". Lord Malloch Brown later withdrew his remarks. Critics say British troops' lack of helicopters has made them more vulnerable to roadside explosives. Mr Biden said that he was "not in a position to make a judgement" but said he assumed they had all they needed. Detainees Asked about the recent announcement that a report on the closure of the Guantanamo Bay prison camp was being delayed, Mr Biden said the administration had been busy trying to determine what should happen to each of the detainees held there. "We are going through every single detainee's records ... to make a judgement about whether or not they should be tried [or] ... released and if so what country might take them if we can't get them back to the country of origin because they're going to be tortured or mistreated," he said. But he expressed confidence that the camp would still be closed according to the timetable laid out by President Barack Obama in January, and hinted that some of the detainees would be retained at another prison. "We expect before January - well before January - we will have a decision on each and every individual being held."

Thousands flee Canada wildfires

Two wildfires near a western Canadian city have forced the evacuation of around 17,000 people, officials say.
One of the fires near Kelowna, British Columbia, started on Saturday. It quickly grew to 300 hectares (740 acres) and destroyed up to nine homes.
A second seemingly unrelated fire broke out on Sunday some 10km (6 miles) away and has already consumed 100 hectares.
The cause of the fires are not known. A 2003 fire in the same area destroyed more than 240 homes.
'Difficult conditions'
No injuries or deaths have been reported in the latest fires.
More than 150 firefighters are battling the blazes, with support from 10 helicopters and eight water bomber planes.
Firefighters said they were facing difficult conditions, with more hot and dry weather to come.
Local media said human activity was suspected to have sparked the blazes because there had been no lightning storms in the area.
Some residents told the Province newspaper that the larger fire may have started near a lumber mill which was also being threatened by the flames.
One resident said big, hot embers were falling all around his home.
Officials closed down a 19km (12-mile) stretch of the highway leading in and out of Kelowna, which is located 350km (217 miles) east of Vancouver.