BBC news 2007-05-25 加文本

BBC 2007-05-25


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BBC World News with Sue Montgomery.

The Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas has called the militants in Gaza to end their rocket attacks on Israel. He said they were obstructing efforts to reach a truce with Israelis. Mr. Abbas also condemned retaliatory air strikes by Israel. His comments came hours after the Israelis seized more than thirty politicians with links to Hamas, which Israel said was aimed at pressuring the Palestinians to stop their attacks. From Ramallah, Ali Makbul reports.

Israel's latest military campaign has now been extended to the West Bank. Thirty three politicians associated with Hamas remained in Israeli custody after raids across the northern part of the territory in the early hours. Much later, Israeli forces also conducted a raid in a refugee camp close to the city of Nebulas, surrounding a cafe and blindfolding and arresting at least ten people who were inside.

There has been renewed heavy fighting between the Lebanese army and Islamic militants at a Palestinian refugee camp in northern Lebanon. With a confrontation in its fifth day, the Prime Minister Fuad Saniora said he wouldn't compromise with what he called "the terrorist group that had fastened on the suffering of the Palestinian people." The new French government has signaled its strong backing for the authorities in Beirut. In his first overseas visit, the new French Foreign Minister Bernard Kouchner met Mr. Saniora and made clear his support.
“We condemn the attacks which everyday are affecting the whole population and every single religious group which make up the fabric of this country. They are jeopardizing democracy which is best represented today by Prime Minister Saniora and his government."

The British Prime Minister Tony Blair has said there is no point in having a new climate change deal without China and India, two of the world's fastest growing economies, being part of it. In a BBC interview, he said China should be offered help, including the transfer of technology and funding to consume energy more sustainably.
“There is no point in having a climate change deal ( actually the political reality is you would not get one with America in it), unless China and India are part of the deal. So the question for the Chinese will not be 'Are they going to carry on consuming energy?’ They are. The question is 'How do we help them consume it more sustainably'”.

The International Medical Relief Agency, Medecins Sans Frontieres, says millions of people in southern Africa are dying unnecessarily of AIDs because of an acute shortage of doctors and nurses. A report by the agency found that in some areas, life prolonging drugs were widely available, but there was no body to administer them. The report partly blames donor governments for agreeing to fund only drugs and clinics, but not medical staff salaries.

World News from the BBC.

The United States Senate has scheduled a vote of no confidence in the Attorney General Albert Gonzalez. He has been under fire for his role in the dismissal last year of eight federal prosecutors, some of whom have alleged they were fired for political reasons. From Washington, James Comarasamy reports.

The highly unusual no confidence vote has now been scheduled for next month. Although the US Attorney General is appointed by the President alone, those senators who want Mr. Gonzalez to resign hope the prospect of an embarrassing public reprimand might focus his mind. Five Republicans have publicly echoed calls by the majority Democrats for the Attorney General to go, while several others have questioned his ability to serve in his current office.

The Pakistani military has responded to allegations that its officers with the United Nations' peace keeping mission in the Democratic Republic of Congo have been supplying arms to militia groups in exchange for gold. A Pakistani spokesman, General Waheed Arshad, dismissed the accusations reported by the BBC as not credible. He said a UN investigation into the matter was still going on.
“Till the time when the report was given to us, and there are neither in those report, or the country will lose something. That's because the BBC report measures three also nothing.”

The International Red Cross says that the past year has been one of immeasurable suffering for millions of civilians around the world, many of them women and children caught up in violent internal conflicts. It says it assisted 3.5 million displaced people in nineteen countries last year, 300,000 more than the year before.

Polls have closed in the Republic of Ireland's general election with the outcome expected to be very close. The Prime Minister Bertie Ahern is seeking a third term in office as the head of his Fianna Fail party, which has been sharing power with a smaller group, the Progressive Democrats.

And that's the latest BBC World News.