BBC news 2007-06-17 加文本

BBC 2007-06-17


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BBC World News with Johnson Weekly.

The Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert has said that the new emergency government being formed by the Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas creats a fresh opportunity for a peace partnership because it won't now contain the Islamist movement Hamas. Mr. Olmert was speaking before boarding a flight to Washington where he is due to meet President Bush on Tuesday. Alex Van reports.

The Israeli Prime Minster Ehud Olmert said he had long considered President Mahmould Abbas a negotiating partner. But speaking before leaving for the United States, he said the alliance between Mr. Abbas's Fatah party and Hamas had made any peace making virtually impossible. Now, Mr. Olmert said the situation had changed enabling diplomatic progress. Mr. Abbas is due to swear in an emergency government today excluding Hamas. Earlier in a fresh serve of support for President Abbas, the US indicated it will lift to the aid embargo against Palestinians in the West Bank early next week.

Meanwhile, hundreds of Palestinians, many of them supporters of Fatah, have been fleeing Gaza by land and sea. After chaotic scenes, Israel closed its crossing into Gaza, saying it would consider request to leave on a case-by-case basis. An advisor to the Israeli government M I said Israel was doing its best to limit the impact of the disorder in Gaza.

"We do know of our impact certainly of the entries and entrance ways, but the water to the Gaza Strip comes from Israel that has not been stopped, the fuel, the electricity come from Israel that has not been stopped, and that though the Hamas have taken over, Israel does not want to see, like the western world, any kind of humanitarian disaster inside the Gaza Strip."

United States has welcomed North Korea's decision to invite the International Atomic Energy Agency to send inspectors to discuss shutting down a key nuclear facility. A White House spokesman described the North Korean announcement as a good step. The official North Korean news agency said the move was in response to the release of North Korean funds frozen in a bank account in Macao.

The British pop star Elton John has given a concert in the main square of the Ukrainian capital Kiev to promote awareness of AIDS. Ukraine has one of the highest HIV infection rates in Europe and the organizers hope Elton John's performance will help reduce ignorance surrounding the disease. Our correspondent Helen Fawkes was at the concert.

This was probably the biggest ever concert Ukraine has ever seen. There were more than 200,000 Ukrainians crammed into the main city square in Ukraine. And it was a very positive, very upbeat atmosphere. People were very happy. Ukraine is a country where there is widespread homophobia, openly gay men not something you rarely see.

Helen Fawkes in Kiev. You are listening to World News from the BBC.

The German Chancellor Angela Merkel has held talks with Polish President Lech Kaczynski on the future of a new treaty for the European Union which Poland has threatened to veto. A German government spokesman said the four-hour meeting took place in a good atmosphere but there was no indication that Mrs. Merkel persuaded Mr. Kaczynski to drop his veto threats.

Heavy snowfall in the Andes is hampering efforts by Argentine and Chilean authorities to clear one of the main mountain passes linking the two countries by road. More than 6,000 trucks have been stranded on the Cristo Redentor path since Wednesday. There were few cars fitted with chains have been allowed through. It's a major freight route linking Argentina and Brazil with Asian markets via ports in Chile.

The organizers of a controversial gay pride march in Rome say that more than 100,000 people took part. Revelers, many dressed in extravagant costumes, made their ways past ruins of the Colosseum to a rally outside the Basilica of Saint John Lateran. But Roman Catholics and Right Wingers have criticized the support given to the event by members of the Italian government. David Willey now reports from Rome.


As the head of the procession, Italy's best known gay MP, Vladimir Luxuria. The march was deliberately channelled by the authorities to remain far away from the Vatican. Most Italians now accept that gay civil unions are a fact and must be recognized by the law. No fewer than three government ministers took part in the rally. Italy's Environment Minister Alfonso Pecoraro Scanio said it was part of the fight for civil rights.

Four England footballers have got married within 24 hours of each other at lavish ceremonies. The wedding of the captain John Terry was in a palace in M K, which onlookers said was decked out with pink seats and purple carpets. The other players, Gary Neville Steven Gerrard and Michael Carrick had equally colorful ceremonies.

And that is the latest BBC World News.