BBC news 2008-03-22 加文本

BBC News with Michael Poles.

The US State Department has announced an internal inquiry into how the personal files of all three American presidential hopefuls came to be breached. The State Department spokesman said they most likely contained biographical information, passport applications and were accessed on several occasions by employees working for independent contractors. Kim Ghattas reports from Washington.

Barack Obama said he was deeply disturbing that his passport files had been opened without approval. He said it was a problem not just for him， but also for the functioning of the government. Both he and the Republican presidential candidate John McCain called for an independent inquiry into the incident. The State Department Inspector General is now conducting  investigation. And State Department officials said there was nothing yet to indicate that the incident was anything more than imprudent curiosity but they added they were not discounting other possibilities. (wWw.hxen.net)

The Democratic Party presidential hopeful Barack Obama has received the endorsement from the governor of the State of New Mexico Bill Richardson whose support had also been sought by Hillary Clinton. Mr. Richardson is a former member of Bill Clinton's administration and an influential figure in the Hispanic community which has tended to favor Mrs. Clinton. He praised the speech Mr.Obama made this week about race.

"Senator Obama has started a discussion in this country that is long overdue and rejects the politics of pitting race against race. He understands that clearly by only bringing people together and by bridging our differences can we succeed together as Americans. His words, his words are one of a courageous thoughtful leader who understands that a house divided against itself cannot stand."

Clashes have broken out between Palestinian factions and a refugee camp in southern Lebanon. The fighting took place in the densely populated Ain al-Hilwe refugee camp on the outskirts of the city of Sidon. From Beirut, Mike Sargion reports.

The violence between Fatah and Islamist Jund al-Sham group was continuing into the night. Fighters exchanged rocket and gunfire, causing dozens of civilians to flee the camp. Tension had been high following the arrest by Fatah on Thursday of Samir Maarouf. He is a commander in the Jund al-Sham, a relatively small faction in the Palestinian camp which is believed to have around 50 armed members. Fatah handed Mr. Maarouf over to the Lebanese army. Palestinian security officials have been meeting inside the camp to try to restore order. (wwW.hxen.net)

The French President Nicolas Sarkozy says his country's nuclear arsenal is to be cut to be fewer than 300 warheads, a reduction of about 50. France’s airborne nuclear weapons will be cut by a third in the new emphysis placed of submarines. But Mr. Sarkozy stressed that nuclear weapons remained France’s life insurance.

World News from the BBC. 

The head of the State Broadcast in the southern Russian Republic of Dagestan has been shot dead. Police said the journalist Gadzhi Abashilov was killed by gunmen in a car of Dagestani capital Makhachkala. The Russian prosecutor general said he was taking personal control of the murder inquiry. Only hours earlier, the body of another Dagestani journalist was found in an apartment in Moscow.

The grand final of Afghanistan’s pop music talent show "Afghan Star" has taken place in Kabul. The programme has become a sensation in Afghanistan and is estimated it was regularly watched by 11 million viewers or over one third of the population. Despite its popularity,  "Afghan Star" has received intense criticism partly because a woman reached the final three, a reminder of Afghanistan’s conservative society. The winner of the competition was a man, Rafi Naabzada.

 The leader of Britain’s opposition party, the Conservative Party, David Cameron has been called" breaking the law by cycling through red traffic lights and going the wrong way up a one-way street “on his way to work. Mr. Cameron was trailed by a reporter from the Daily Mirror Newspaper who filmed him committing the offenses. In a statement Mr. Cameron said he knew it was important to obey traffic laws.

BBC News.