BBC news 2008-04-22 加文本

BBC News with Lopaco Tary.

The Democratic Party presidential candidates Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama are in their final hours of campaigning, ahead of a key primary election in the state of Pennsylvania. Analysts say this electoral battleground is particularly important for Mrs. Clinton who needs a big win to keep her White House hopes alive. Polls show that her lead over Mr. Obama has dwindled although she is still ahead. Mrs. Clinton has made much of her family's working-class roots in Pennsylvania to connect with voters.

Bill and Chelsea and I have had such a wonderful time crisscrossing Pennsylvania, a tremendous response everywhere we go, but more than that, just the personal opportunity to spend time in so many communities and hear the stories of Pennsylvanians about what they want in their next president.

The Anglo-Dutch oil giant Shell has said it would not be able to honor contractual obligations for April and May at a terminal in Nigeria's Delta Region after attacks on its oil pipelines. The Movement for the Emancipation of the Niger Delta has warned that it would carry out more raids following the arrest of one of its leaders. The unrest in Nigeria has affected the price of oil on the world markets. Alex Last reports from Lagos.(Www.hxen.net)

After months of relative quiet, a Nigerian militant faction has now attacked three oil pipelines in just the last few days. It's demanding the release of an imprisoned militant leader Henry Okah who’s on trial for treason, but the effects have been felt further afield. Nigeria is a major oil producer and these recent attacks have forced a significant cut in production and have led to uncertainty in the markets, and that's helping to push the price of oil around the world to record highs.

Tension between Georgia and Russia has risen after an incident at the weekend when Tbilisi says a Russian fighter plane shot down an unmanned Georgian reconnaissance aircraft over its territory. The Georgian President Mikheil Saakashvili telephoned President Putin to demand an end to what he called Russia's aggression. His deputy Foreign Minister Grigol Vashadze denounced Moscow.

This is an unequivocal act of military aggression from the side of Russian Federation. Second, it's a violation of nearly all existing norms of international treaties, Charter of the United Nations, and this is a very, very dangerous step.

Russia denied shooting down the spy plane. Moscow-backed separatists who control Abhkhazia say they were responsible. The United States says it is very concerned.

Death row inmates from seven American states have had their appeals against execution turned down by the US Supreme Court. The inmates had argued that their states' use of lethal injections violated a Constitutional ban on cruel and unusual punishment.

BBC News.

President Bush is meeting the leaders of the United States’ largest trading partners Canada Mexico to discuss the future of their regional free trade agreement. The North American Free Trade Agreement or NAFTA has been criticized by the Democratic candidates for the presidency Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton. Both have said they are willing to renegotiate parts of the treaty which they blame for the loss of jobs in the US.

Politicians in Britain have been reacting to news that the Bank of England has pumped at least $100 billion into the British banking system to help it cope with the global credit squeeze. Here is our business correspondent Nils Blythe.

The aim of the scheme is simple, restoring confidence to the financial systems so banks and mortgage lenders can do their normal job of providing credit. The means are a little more complex. In recent years, many lenders have become dependent on selling packages of mortgages in the wholesale financial markets to raise new money. Investors will no longer buy these asset-backed securities, so the Bank of England is offering to swap them for rock-solid government bonds which the banks can use to raise new money. The banks are now under pressure to play their part by fully revealing their losses and in some cases raising new money from shareholders.

The American Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice says Iraq's neighbors have taken a good step forward by pledging to do more to include the country in regional affairs. Doctor Rice is speaking at a meeting in Bahrain at which she urged Arab countries to give greater diplomatic and economic support to the Iraqi government.

The City Council of Paris has voted to make the ** Lama an honorary citizen. The Mayor of the French capital, Bertrand Delanoe, described the Tibetan spiritual leader as a champion of peace and said that Paris wanted to show its support for the people of Tibet. Correspondents say the move is sure to increase tension between France and China. (www.hxen.net)

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