BBC news 2008-08-27 加文本

First the world news. BBC news with Joe Macintosh

President Bush has demanded that Russia reconsider what he called its irresponsible decision to recognize the breakaway Georgian regions of South Ossetia and Abkhazia as independent states. The White House spokesman Tony Fratto said that Russia had made some irrational choices that would affect its place in the world.

So far, we’ve seen a series of unfortunate decisions by the Russians that only serve to further isolate them. We hope that they hear the loud voices from the international community and understand that it’s not in their long-term interests to take these kinds of actions.

The Georgian President Mikheil Saakashvili accused Russia of trying to use force to change the map of Europe. He said Russia must be held accountable for its actions.

I think what is important (is) that Russia does not get away with this. It’s important that they feel very strong cost for what they’ve done, for directly illegal actions, for the violence they have committed, for aggression that they have committed. And I think international community has much more instruments set at its disposal than Russia pretends it has.

Earlier the Russian President Dmitry Medvedev told the BBC that he decided to recognize South Ossetia and Abkhazia in order to defend the rights of the people living there. He said that while in the case of Kosovo there were not enough reasons to recognize it as independent, in the case of the two Georgia regions, independence was necessary to prevent a humanitarian catastrophe and for justice to prevail. The BBC’s diplomatic correspondent says that it will take time for the West to form a collective policy towards a newly assertive Russia.

A hijacked Sudanese passenger plane has landed in the remote Libyan town of Kufra after being refused permission to land in Cairo. The plane had just taken off from the town of Nyala in Darfur when a man tried to force the pilot to fly to Egypt. From Tripoli, here is Rana Jawad.

Libya’s state news agency confirmed that the hijacked Sudanese plane landed in the country’s desert town of Kufra. Unnamed civil aviation sources say the plane was allowed to land there because it was running low on fuel. Reports say the hijackers have so far only requested that the plane be refueled. The flight which has 95 passengers and crew on board at first headed to Egypt but changed course towards Libya when it was denied permission to land in Cairo.

Hillary Clinton is preparing to address the Democratic Party convention in Denver where she is expected to call on her supporters to get behind Barack Obama in his presidential bid. With her husband, former president Bill Clinton in the audience, Mrs. Clinton will be introduced to delegates by her daughter Chelsea. There has been speculation that some of Mrs. Clinton’s supporters may cast symbolic votes for her during Wednesday’s nomination. One opinion poll suggested more than a quarter of democrats who backed Mrs. Clinton in the primaries are now considering voting for the Republican candidate John McCain.

World news from the BBC.

There have been delays to hundreds of flights in the United States after a communication’s failure in a computer system that processes flight plans. Aviation authorities said the glitch was centered in the state of Georgia which deals with flights for the eastern half of the US. The cause of the failure isn’t yet known

The Canadian government has announced a plan to map mineral, gas and oil resources in its vast Arctic regions. The Prime Minister Stephen Harper said Canada’s share of the natural resources in the Arctic could fuel the country’s prosperity for generations.

There is gas in the Beaufort, oil in the Eastern Arctic and gold in the Yukon. There are diamonds in Nunavut and the Northwest Territories, and countless other precious resources buried under the sea, ice and tundra. It’s estimated that a quarter of the world’s undiscovered oil and gas lies under the Arctic.

Mr. Harper said he wanted to use all tools of modern geological science to encourage development and defend Canadian sovereignty in the north. Canada wants to assert control of its Arctic regions as there have been a number of competing claims by other countries.

Parliamentarians in South Africa have shelved legislation designed to speed up a land reform program by allowing the government to expropriate white-owned farms. A parliamentary committee blamed a lack of proper consultation and said it hoped to reintroduce the measure at a later date. Critics say the bill would have been unconstitutional because it tried to prevent people going to court if their properties were taken.(Www.hxen.net)

Forecasters say hurricane Gustav has made landfall along the southwestern coast of Haiti. Officials say the hurricane which is generating winds of up to 150 kilometers an hour could trigger flash-floods and mud slides in Haiti and the Dominican Republic. Haiti is still recovering from a tropical storm which left more than 30 people dead as it swept across the Caribbean and southeastern United States.

And that is the latest BBC News.