BBC news 2008-08-29 加文本

BBC News with Neil Nunes.

The Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin has said he suspects the United States helped provoke the conflict in Georgia for domestic political reasons. Mr. Putin told the American television network cnn that US citizens had been in Georgia during the fighting.

If this is so, these events might have also an internal American dimension. If my suppositions are confirmed, suspicions arise that someone in the United States deliberately created this conflict with the aim of escalating the situation and creating competitive advantages for one of the candidates fighting for the post of US president.

 Washington has dismissed the allegations， saying they are false and not rational. At the first meeting of the United Nations Security Council since Moscow’s recognition of the independence of Georgia’s breakaway regions of Abkhazia and South Ossetia, Russia and western members have clashed over the move. The French ambassador deplored the Russian decision while the US and Britain accused Moscow of trying to redraw international borders by force with no ? of China or Vietnam usually allies of Russia, a fact which Western diplomats say showed Russia’s isolation. The Democratic Party nominee for the United States Presidency Barack Obama is preparing to make his acceptance speech at a mass rally as the party’s convention in Denver reaches its climax. 80,000 Democrats are expected to pack into an American football stadium to watch this speech. From there, here is James Coomarasamy.

Four years after stealing the show with his speech at the Democratic Convention in Boston, Barack Obama headlines a current gathering as the party’s candidate of president. He'll speak outdoors in a huge Denver Bronco’s Stadium ending a gala event that will mark the effective coronation of the party’s first African-American presidential nominee. After high-profile shows of party unity this week, Senator Obama will hope to seize the moment to reach out to Americans including many democrats who are still unconvinced about his ability to lead the country.

 A court in the Unites States has acquitted a former Marine who had been charged over the killing in 2004 of unarmed Iraqi detainees during the battle of Fallujah, one of the bloodiest of the Iraq War. It was the first time a civilian jury had heard such a case. The defense argued that the Marine Corps sergeant should not be found guilty as there was no identified bodies and no forensic evidence.

The Italian government has announced plans to split in two the troubled national airline Alitalia in an effort to save it from bankruptcy. A much smaller carrier will merge with the country’s second airline and continue to fly some of Alitalia’s routes, while a second company will be allowed to go into liquidation with the loss of some 7000 jobs.

World News from the BBC.

A court in Northern Argentina has sentenced two former generals to life imprisonment for kidnapping and killing a senator Guillermo Vargas Aignasse during the period of military rule. The two men Antonio Bussi, and Luciano Menendez were found guilty of the kidnapping and disappearance of the politician in 1976. Daniel Schweimler reports now from Buenos Aires.

The former provincial Governor Antonio Bussi and military chief Luciano Benjamin Menendez, looked on passively as the sentences were read out. Family and friends of other victims were inside and outside the court, holding photographs of their loved ones. Some cheered, while others cried. A short distance away, separated by lines of riot police were supporters of the two men who earlier had told the court that they knew nothing about the disappeared man and defended the military government.(Www.hxen.net)

 The Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper has announced it will strictly control the ships entering the Northwest Passage in an attempt to assert Canada’s sovereignty over the Arctic Waterway. Mr. Harper said all ships using the Northwest Passage must now register with the Canadian coast guard. He said it was a way to defend Canada’s interests in the Arctic. Sovereignty as you know is not an abstract notion. It conveys a source of authority and protection. These measures will send a clear message to the world: Canada takes responsibility for environmental protection and enforcement in our Arctic waters.

Most countries including the Unites States dispute Canada’s claim to the Passage.

Health and Environment ministers from every country in Africa are attending a conference in Gabon to discuss ways of combating the negative impact environmental problems have on Africans. More than 50% of the continent's population have no access to clean water, and tens of thousands die each year from diseases associated with air pollution.

 BBC News.