BBC news 2007-07-19 加文本

BBC 2007-07-19


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Republicans in the United States Senate have blocked a move by the Democrats aimed at forcing President Bush to withdraw American combat troops from Iraq by April next year. When the vote came, after an all-night debate, which had begun on Tuesday, the majority wasn't large enough to allow the measure to go forward. Simon Warts reports.

The White House has been conducting intense behind-the-scenes lobbying to stop Congress blocking its troop surge strategy in Iraq. In this latest vote, the president needed to persuade wavering Senators from his own party to stay on side. And in the end, he was successful. Just 4 Republicans voted with the Democratic Party majority. Most Republicans who are unhappy with the White House policy on Iraq want congress to pass softer measures.

There has been an explosion in midtown Manhattan in New York, forcing the evacuation of nearby streets and buildings. One person is reported to have been injured. Kim Ghattas has just sent this report from New York.

The explosion spread chaos and fear on the streets of New York. Near Grand Central Station and the Chrysler Building, with people running away from the scene, as a steam billowed out from the ground. Fire workmen and emergency crews rushed to the area which filled with ash. Witnesses described a thundering noise and shaking buildings before the explosion. The New York Police Department said it did not appear to be terrorism-related, and that the explosion was probably accidental.

State Television in Iran has broadcast a program based on interviews with 2 detained Iranian Americans, in an apparent attempt to implicate them in a plot to destabilize the government in Tehran. The academics, Haleh Esfandiari, and Kian Tajbakhsh have been held since May on suspicion of endangering Iranian national security. John Loyne reports from Tehran.

As part of the program, the 2 Iranian Americans were interviewed. But they did not make anything like a confession, indeed, they said very little to incriminate themselves at all. Perhaps more will emerge in the second episode of this unorthodox program to be shown in the following night. What's not clear is whether this is a prelude to these 2 Iranian-Americans being charged or perhaps a way of preparing for negotiations or even their release.

The widow of Daniel Pearl, the American reporter, abducted and beheaded 5 years ago in Pakistan has filed a lawsuit in New York against one of Pakistan's largest banks, accusing it of playing a part in the murder. Marianne Pearl alleges that Karachi based Habib Bank transferred funds to an Islamic charity, the al-Rashid Trust, which she accuses of being connected with the killings. In court documents, she says that one of her charity's trustees owned the property where her husband's body was eventually discovered. Mrs. Pearl also names more than a dozen people, blaming them for his death.

World News from the BBC.

The airline whose plane crashed in Brazil on Tuesday killing up to 200 people says the jet had been in perfect condition and was flown by experienced pilots. The chief executive of the Tam Airline, Marco Antonio Blonia, said the aircraft was only added to its fleet in December. Gary Duffy reports from Sao Paulo.

The slow process of recovering bodies is continuing at the crash site near Congonhas airport. The fierce blaze which followed the crash has made the identification difficult. Brazil's global network is reporting that an earlier investigation suggests that the plane began to accelerate from unknown reason after making a normal landing. It's thought the government may ask for Congonhas to be closed while an investigation continues into the safety of runways of the airport. There had been concern about this issue for some time, after a number of planes get it when landing on wet weather.

Japanese authorities have ordered the world's largest nuclear power plant to be closed down indefinitely after its management admitted it had significantly underreported the matter of radioactive materials spilt there during an earthquake on Monday. The company says water from the plant contained about 50% more radioactivity than it originally reported, but was still within safety limits.

The BBC has announced new controls to address what it says of being serious breaches of editorial standards in some programs. It's ordered that the suspension of all phone-in and interactive competitions after disclosure that on 6 programs, production staff passed themselves off as "genuine viewers and listeners, or invented fictitious winners".

Scientists in London say they have found evidence that the island of Britain was separated from the European Continent by a sudden catastrophic flood rather than by a gradual process of erosion. Writing in the journal Nature, the scientists say they've captured images of a vast submerged valley they believe was created by huge torrents of water which followed the collapse of a land bridge linking Britain to the continent.

BBC World News.