BBC news 2007-09-10 加文本

BBC 2007-09-10


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BBC World News with Jonathan Izzard

After years in exile, the former Prime Minister of Pakistan Nawaz Sharif is on his way home. Mr. Sharif says he will contest forthcoming elections and end the rule of General Pervez Musharraf who ousted his government in a military coup. Mr. Sharif's flight from London was delayed by a switch of airline at the last minute and then by a medical emergency when another passenger suffered a suspected heart attack. The BBC's Owen Benerjail is on the plane with Mr. Sharif.

"Nawaz Sharif could win back the premiership or he could end up in prison. A recent Supreme Court's decision said Nawaz Sharif should be allowed back to Pakistan, but that doesn't mean he can't be arrested. Pakistan's airport has been put on high alert and some of Nawaz Sharif's party workers have been detained. Nawaz Sharif said he has prepared to go to prison although his advisors seem confident. But if that happened, he should be able to get out on bail. General Musharraf has made no secret of his contempt for Nawaz Sharif, describing him as corrupt and incompetent." When he arrives in Pakistan, Nawaz Sharif hopes to lead a motorcade from the capital Islamabad to his political power base in Lahore. But police have set up roadblocks and deployed on roads leading to Islamabad Airport where he is due to land. A spokesman for Mr. Sharif's party in Islamabad Ahsan Iqbal says the police have also detained large numbers of the former prime minister's supporters. “In last five days, more than 3,000 of our political activists have been arrested from their homes, from their workplace of work. Police is raiding to arrest them and still this is continuing. Our central secretary of the party was also raided by a heavy contingent of police. They ransacked the place. So I think both Islamabad, the Rawalpindi and the entire province of Punjab is virtually under siege."

The people of Guatemala are voting to elect a new president. The main contenders are Otto Perez Molina of the right wing Patriotic Party and Alvaro Colom of the centre-left National Unity of Hope. The polls followed the most violent campaign since the end of the civil war a decade ago, more than 50 politicians, activists and their relatives have been killed since the election day to announce in May. The BBC's Fernando Gonzalez says security has been the main campaign issue.

Security has in a way replaced poverty taking into account that 56% of population is poor or extremely poor. 6,000 Guatemalans die every year of violent crimes. I mean that's too much for this small Central American country of 13 million people.

The Iraqi government has called on neighboring countries to fulfill their promises to support Iraq's stability and integrity. The Iraqi Foreign Minister Hoshyar Zebari said outside interference in Iraq's affairs must end and Iraq's borders be made secure to prevent the infiltration of what he called killers and terrorists. Mr. Zebari was speaking in Baghdad at the one-day conference that brought together officials from Syria, Iran and the United States.

World News from the BBC.

Burma's military rulers have issued an unusually strong threat (to) take action against opposition groups involved in recent protests. State television interrupted normal programmes to accuse the opposition National Lead for Democracy of exploiting fuel price crisis to instigate unrest. It's said effective action would be taken, although gave no specific details.

The head of Bangladeshi’s military-backed interim government Fakhruddin Ahmed has said he's lifting a ban on indoor political meetings. In a nationwide broadcast, Mr. Ahmed said the move would create a smooth environment for talks later this week on electoral reforms between the government and political parties. He repeated his commitment to try to hold general elections before December next year.

The Prime Minister of Canada Stephen Harper says he profoundly disagrees with the decision allowing Muslim women to vote with their faces covered. Mr. Harper said the new rule was subverting the will of Canadian parliament which passed a law designed to ensure visual identification of voters.

In athletics, Asafa Powell of Jamaica has broken the world record for the men’s 100 meters. At a meeting in the Italian city of Rieti, Powell clocked 9.74 seconds, 300 sub-second faster than the previous best for the event. Mike Costeller reports.

The stadium in Rieti is regarded as a heaven of middle distance running and Powell's history-making run came in the second of two heats in the 100 meters. It was aided by a following wind that was strong but within the legal limits and served as a form of consolation for the Jamaican after his disappointment in taking only bronze at the World Championships. Clearly, this is a man intent on repairing his reputation.

And in tennis, the world No.1 Roger Federer has won his forth consecutive United States Open, matching a record set in 1923. He beats Serbia’s Novak Djokovic in straight sets to take the $1.4 million prize. Federer becomes the first man to win three major tournaments in a calendar year, the US, and Australian Opens, and Wimbledon.

BBC World News

premiership: n. 总理, 首相之职位与任期
motorcade: n. 汽车行列
subvert: v. 推翻,颠覆,毁减
intent on: fixed in your purpose, 抱定决心要实行
Wimbledon: 温布尔登[英国英格兰东南部城市](位于伦敦附近, 是著名的国际网球比赛地)