BBC news 2008-06-13 加文本

BBC 2008-06-13

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BBC News with Joe Macintosh.

The Supreme Court in the United States has ruled that prisoners being held at Guantanamo Bay have the right to challenge their detention in civilian courts. By a majority of five to four, the judges ruled that the protections of the Constitution were designed to remain in force in extraordinary times. President Bush said he would abide by the court's ruling although he disagreed with it. Kevin Connolly reports from Washington.

This is the latest round in the long-running battle by the US Supreme Court to rein in an attempt by the Bush administration to create a system of detention, trial and punishment, under military control to deal, what he calls, enemy combatants linked to al-Qaeda and the Taliban. The White House argues that the prisoners are foreign citizens detained on foreign soil and they shouldn't therefore enjoy the benefits of US Constitution. The government sidestepped previous efforts by the court to give the detainees rights under American law by creating new types of military tribunal. The justices have now ruled that measure to be out of order.

Ethiopia has made an urgent appeal to international donors for more than 300 million dollars worth of emergency aid for people affected by the drought which struck most of the country in the early part of this year. Elizabeth Blunt reports from Addis Ababa.

In some areas, people are already out of food. Their children are falling sick with all the classic signs of severe malnutrition. The government body which deals with these crises, the Disaster Prevention of Preparedness Agency, or DPPA, says that it needs more than 500,000 tons of food, it has only 118,000. Existing stocks will cover this month, but the crunch will come in July.

Consumer associations and business leaders in Argentina are warning that a blockade by truck drivers of the country's main highways could lead to food shortages. The main bakers' association predicts bread will run out by Friday. Daniel Schweimler reports from Buenos Aires.(Www.hxen.net)

This latest demonstration by Argentina's truck drivers is a protest against a protest. They're angry about farmers who have been blocking roads in a three-month long dispute with government over export taxes. That dispute has been put on hold for now while both sides try to find some common ground to negotiate on. But just when Argentines thought it was safe to go back out onto the roads, they found that truck drivers are now blocking major highways.

Voting has ended in the Irish Republic in a referendum on whether to ratify the European Union's reform treaty. All 27 member states must approve the Lisbon Accord if it is to come into force, and Ireland is the only one putting the issue to a popular vote. The BBC correspondent in Dublin says all eyes are on the turnout, which is thought to be around 40%, this, he says, would be the bare minimum to keep the hope of Irish ratification alive. The result is expected on Friday.

World News from the BBC.

An Israeli air strike has killed three members of the armed wing of the Palestinian Hamas Movement after a day of violence in the Gaza Strip. The missile hit the Jabaliya refugee camp. Earlier, seven people including a baby were killed by the explosion that destroyed the home of a Palestinian militant. Hamas, which controls Gaza, initially blamed the explosion on an Israeli air attack, but Israel denied any involvement, and Hamas later said it was still investigating the cause of the incident. Immediately after the blast, Palestinian militants fired a barrage of mortars and homemade rockets into Southern Israel. Egypt is currently trying to broker a truce between Israel and Hamas.

Police in Brazil say thieves have stolen two Picasso engravings and two works by famous Brazilian artists from a museum in Sao Paulo. The men were seen on the closed circuit television entering the state-owned Pinacoteca Museum in broad daylight unmasked. All paintings by Brazilian artists, Di Cavalcanti and Lasar Segall, were taken in addition to the Picasso engravings, although they were valued at some 600,000 dollars.

Buskers playing Scotland's national instrument, the bagpipes, have been banned from the country's most famous street, the Royal Mile, in Edinburgh, because of complaints about the noise. Colin Blaine reports.

The Royal Mile remains a residential street, and police have received hundreds of complaints that the skirl of the bagpipes is an anti-social nuisance. They can be so loud they were banned 250 years ago as a weapon of war. Regular pipers have now had to sign contracts restricting where they can play, and they have been warned their instruments could be confiscated. There will be an exception. Some bagpipers will be allowed on the Royal Mile during Edinburgh's Music and Arts Festival in August.

Finally football, Croatia have reached the quarter-finals of Euro 2008 after defeating one of the tournament favorites Germany by 2-1.

busker: people who play music in a public place in order to earn money