BBC news 2008-08-30 加文本

BBC News with John Jason.

The Republican Party Presidential contender in the United States John McCain has announced his running-mate for the White House. She is the young governor of Alaska Sarah Palin who has been in office for less than two years. Our North America Editor Justin Webb reports.

Sarah Palin spent a year working as a senior official for the Alaska Oil and Gas Conservation Commission and has been governor of the state for a year and a half. The fact that she is a woman and a fresh face on the national scene, she is virtually unknown outside Alaska is obviously a potential plus that brings excitement and newsworthiness to the Republican ticket. She’s also been a very popular governor and has been a fighter against political corruption. She is strongly anti-abortion, important to many social-conservatives. But her less than two years in office would undercut one of the McCain campaign’s central criticisms of Barack Obama that he is too inexperienced to be commander-in-chief.

Georgia’s cut all diplomatic ties with Russia in the wake of their recent conflict over the two separatist regions of South Ossetia and Abkhazia. Georgia, once part of the Soviet Union accuses the Russians of continuing to occupy undisputed parts of its country despite signing a ceasefire agreement two weeks ago. Georgian Foreign Ministry spokesman Grigol Vashadze said diplomatic staff would be withdrawn. (Www.hxen.net)

 We have already received instructions and we will cut diplomatic relations with the Russian Federation. This means that Georgia will not have a diplomatic corps to conduct political assignments in the Russian Federation and that the Russian Federation will not have diplomatic corps to conduct political assignments in Georgia.

 The former Bosnian-Serb leader Radovan Karadzic has declined to enter a plea at the International War Crimes Tribunal in The Hague where he faces charges of genocide, war crimes and crimes against humanity. The judge entered not guilty pleas on his behalf.  reports from The Hague.

 His second hearing lasted only 25 minutes. But the man who appeared in court wearing a black suit and red tie was once again a defiant Radovan Karadzic. The smiling alternative healer, Doctor Dabic, his disguise during over a decade on the run is well and truly gone. Mr. Karadzic accused of the worst crimes under international law, insisted he would not plead to charges issued by what he described as a NATO court. The man they called the "butcher of Bosnia" will be back in court on September the 17th.

 The British Chancellor, the Exchequer, Alistair Darling says he is deeply concerned about the country’s economic outlook. Mr. Darling told the Guardian Newspaper the current downturn was probably the worst since the end of the Second World War and would be longer and more profound than people thought. He also acknowledged that the Labour Government now in office for the twelfth year had huge problems with the voters and said the people were in his words ‘pissed off’ by ministers.

 I’m John Jason. You are listening to the world news from the BBC.

The tropical storm Gustav which has killed more than 70 people in the Dominican Republic and Haiti has reached hurricane strength. The storm is now battering Jamaica and is moving toward the Cayman Islands and Western Cuba. From Havana, Michael Voss reports. (Www.hxen.net)

Gustav is moving extremely slowly about 12km/h and the longer it spends over the warm deep waters of the Caribbean, the greater the risks that the winds will intensify. The National Hurricane Center in Miami is predicting that it could reach a destructive Category 3 storm by the time it hits western Cuba on Saturday. The Cuban authorities are preparing for massive evacuations of the tobacco-growing region of Pinar del Rio amid fears of flash floods and mudslides. There is also a hurricane warning in effect for the capital Havana.

The Pakistani military says more than 20 militants were killed when fighter jets and helicopter gunships attack  suspected Taliban hideouts in the northwestern region bordering Afghanistan. A military spokesman said two senior militant commanders were among those killed in the attack which took place in the Swat district.

The Lebanese government has appointed a new military commander to replace General Michel Suleiman who was elected President in May. The new Commander Jean Qahwaji, a Maronite Christian who currently commands an army brigade. Correspondents say the Lebanese army whose makeup reflects the country’s sectarian groups has played a crucial role in maintaining civil peace during more than three years of political turbulence.

 The Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi and the Libyan Leader Moammar Gaddafi are due to meet in Benghazi on Saturday amid reports that the two countries have agreed to resolve a dispute over a colonial legacy. The Italian news agency Ansa reported that Italy has agreed to pay Libya billions of dollars to compensate for three decades of colonial rule. Most of the compensation would be made through Italy-building infrastructure.