BBC 2008-08-09
Download AudioBBC News with John Jason.
Russia says its troops have been involved in fierce clashes with Georgian forces in the Georgian breakaway region of South Ossetia. Russia, which backs the separatists, say(s) its troops have fired on Georgian positions in and around the regional capital Tskhinvali. Georgia said its military bases have been attacked by Russian aircraft, but the Georgian President Mikhail Saakashvili said its forces were in control of Tskhinvali. The separatists for their part say they control the town. Gabriel Gatehouse reports from the Georgian capital Tbilisi.
A spokesman for the Georgian Interior Ministry told the BBC that the authorities in Tbilisi were expecting the bombardment of government offices by Russian forces at any moment, though he couldn’t back the claim with specific intelligence. Shota Utyashvili said government staff had been evacuated from ministries and dispersed to secret locations. There have been separate reports of bombs falling on two other targets outside of the South Ossetia, one on a port town of Poti on the Black Sea coast, and another on a military base in western Georgian.
The escalating crisis between Russia and Georgia has caused a flurry of diplomatic moves across the world. The United Nations Security Council is meeting again in an emergency session to discuss the crisis. Our diplomatic correspondent Bridget Kendall reports.(www.hXen.com)
Across Europe and in the United States, there’s been shock and deep anxiety. some countries have carefully called on both sides to stop fighting, but others, notably France and the United States, have pointedly backed Georgia’s territorial integrity, accusatory rebuke at Russia for crossing the line.
The US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice issued a terse statement, calling on Russia to pull its troops out. Besides UN efforts to try to find a way out of the crisis, the US and the EU are dispatching a mediation team to the region.
The Olympic Games in Beijing are getting under way after the spectacular opening ceremony on Friday watched by an audience of billions around the world. On the first full day of competition, seven gold medals will be at stake. There is expected to be fierce rivalry for the first gold medal of the games with China the favor to win in the women’s ten-meter air rifle final. The Chinese hosts hope to top the final's medal table.
Share prices have risen sharply in the United States, as the price of oil continues to fall. The Dow Jones Index closed on Friday more than 300 points up, that’s an increase of 2.5 percent. Gred Wood reports from New York.
Oil is falling in value as evidence accumulates that the economic slowdown around the world is reducing demand. US light crude is now trading more than 30 dollars below the peak of 147 dollars a barrel achieved less than a month ago. Investors here in the United States believe that cheaper oil will give a boost to the economy by curbing inflation and allowing consumers to spend more. So they’ve started buying shares again on the belief that company profits will recover.
You are listening to the World News from the BBC.
The former United States Senator John Edwards has admitted that he had an extra marital affair and that he lied about it during his unsuccessful campaign for the presidency. Mr. Edwards, whose wife is suffering from incurable cancer, said the affair was with a film maker, whose company was hired to make documentaries for his campaign. But the former Democrat Senator for North Carolina said he was not the father of her child who was born in February. Correspondents say the revelations could affect John Edwards’ chances of receiving a post in government if Barack Obama won the presidency in November.
A car bomb was exploded in a village market in northern Iraq, killing at least 21 people and injuring more than 70. The attack happened in the village of al Alwa. Crispin Thorold reports from Baghdad.
The explosion happened as a night fell on the Muslim day of rest. The bomb was hidden in a mini bus parked near a vegetable market. The village of al Alwa is near the northern Iraqi city of Mosul, which was until recently described by the Iraqi and American governments as the last urban stronghold of al-Qaeda in the country. Over recent months, there have been military operations in the area, but this attack demonstrates once again that Sunni insurgents still have the ability to bring deaths to Iraq streets.
An international AIDS conference in Mexico is ended with a warning that wealthy countries need to do more to meet their commitment to fund universal access to HIV treatment by 2010. The new president of the International AIDS Society, Julio Montaner, said that the G8 Group of industrialized nations needed to follow the model of the United States which last month agreed to treble to 48 billion dollars, its spending on a health program to fight AIDS, malaria, and tuberculosis. Also at the conference, the Indian Health Minister Anbumani Ramadoss said India should legalize homosexuality and end discrimination against sex workers to help prevent the spread of virus.(www.hxen.net)
BBC News.
手机网站