BBC news 2008-08-07 加文本

BBC News with Dabura Mekenthy.

In the first American war crimes trial since the Second World War, a US military tribunal at Guantanamo Bay has found Osama bin Laden's former driver, Salim Hamdan, guilty of providing material support for terrorism. He was acquitted on the more serious charge of conspiracy to commit murder. The human rights group Amnesty International said the trial didn't meet international standards. Stacy Sullivan, who's been observing the trial at Guantanamo for the group Human Rights Watch, said the outcome was inevitable.

"There was no chance for Hamdan to have a fair trial at these commissions. First and foremost, it didn't really matter whether the jury delivered a verdict of guilty or not guilty, because it wouldn't change Mr. Hamdan's fate. He is going to be locked up at Guantanamo indefinitely, no matter what, even if he had been exonerated of all charges."

The United States Federal Bureau of Investigation is making public its case against a military scientist who it believes was behind the anthrax attacks in the US in 2001 which killed five people and made more than a dozen others seriously ill. Doctor Ivins committed suicide last week, but his lawyer has denied he was involved in the attacks. From Washington, Kevin Connolly reports.

Federal investigators have spent years piecing together their case against Bruce Ivins, a ... government scientist, who could seem so meticulous to colleagues, who was sometimes drunk and threatening in private life. There is scientific evidence in the files, Ivins was the sole keeper of a flask, containing a particular string of anthrax. But much of the case is circumstantial, detailing, for example, is his suspicious habit of working alone in late at nights.

The Red Cross has called on the Colombian government to clarify whether it deliberately misused the International Red Cross symbol throughout the rescue last month of the former presidential candidate Ingrid Betancourt. Falsely using the Red Cross symbol is against the Geneva Conventions. Jeremy McDermott reports from Bogota.

President Uribe had previously stated that the use of the symbol was not part of the planned operation. However, footage of the entire operation, not the edited version, shown by the Ministry of Defense, tells another story. The footage which was leaked by military sources who offered the images for sale to national and international media reveals a soldier wearing a bib with a Red Cross symbol before the operation even began.

There has been widespread international condemnation of the military takeover in Mauritania. Army troops overthrew President Sidi Ould Cheikh Abdallahi  detaining him at his palace after he tried to dismiss army chiefs. The United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon called for the immediate restoration of constitutional order and European Union has warned it might suspend aid and cooperation. But Mauritanian MPs said in a statement that they supported the military's actions and called on the people to rally round what they called the forces of change and reform.

World News from the BBC.

The United States and Britain say six major world powers have agreed to consider further sanctions against Iran, because of its refusal to halt its uranium enrichment program. The State Department said the five permanent members of the UN Security Council and Germany had wanted a clear answer from Iran to an offer of incentives but only received a non-committal letter. (www.hXen.com)

American scientists say they've developed an eye-shaped camera with a curved sensor that could revolutionize digital photography and also lead to the development of a bionic eye modeled closely on the real thing. Rob Norris reports.

The digital camera is the same size and shape as a human eye. In the study published in the journal Nature, the researchers explained how they found a way of putting micro-electronic components onto a curved surface to mimic the human retina. The scientists say the technology could held a new generation of cameras with much upper images and a wider angle of view. They say it could be eventually used as an artificial retina to restore sight of humans, although they haven't yet found a way of linking such a camera to the human brain.

Talks between the two main parties in Pakistan's governing coalition to discuss the possible impeachment of President Pervez Musharraf appear deadlocked. The leader of the Pakistan Muslim League Nawaz Sharif walked out briefly at one stage, objecting to President Musharraf's earlier decision to reinstate only some of the senior judges he removed from office last year. Their reinstatement is a key demand of his opponents.

Egypt's antiquity authorities say scientists are carrying out DNA tests at Cairo University on two mummified fetuses found in the tomb of King Tutankhamun. They will try to determine whether he and his only known wife Ankhesenamun were the parents. The head of Egypt's Supreme Council for Antiquities says confirming the parentage might enable archaeologists to identify the mummy of the famous mother.

BBC News.