BBC news 2008-10-12 加文本

The strong words from the IMF chief reflected the belief that the financial crisis can be contained and he welcomed the objective set up by the finance ministers of the G7 leading industrial countries when they met on Friday, but he clearly has some concerns. He said that the steps taken so far have not stabilized markets or bolstered confidence. Further action is likely to be required, he said. The G7 statement has been criticized for a lack of detail about how the governments would go about achieving objectives such as unfreezing credit markets and ensuring that key banks don’t fail.

Mr. Strauss-Kahn also called on donor countries not to allow the deepening financial crisis to affect their commitment to the developing world. He underlined the continuing impact to high food prices on emerging countries.

“We shouldn’t forget the other crisis, and other crisis is the crisis faced by ah… emerging countries, low income countries, due to the increasing prices of fuel and food. The bill for those countries, as far as food is concerned, for instance, is still higher than it was before. And for many countries, namely, mostly low-income countries, this bill is just unaffordable. ”

The United States has removed North Korea from its list of states which sponsor terrorism. The issue had been a sticking point in negotiations about North Korea’s nuclear disarmament. The State Department said North Korea had given assurances that it would comply with international verification of its nuclear facilities. A State Department official, Patricia Maloney, said the US would continue to apply pressure to North Korea if necessary.

“The North Korea will still remain one of the most sanctioned countries in the world in terms of US law, in fact, all exports by the United States remained, are subject to licensing by the Commerce Department as well as many prohibitions from the missile standpoint, the non-proliferation, the nuclear weapon standpoint, and so the lifting today certainly does not remove at all the leverage that we will maintain as we move forward in this process.”

The Peruvian President Alan Garcia has appointed a left-wing regional governor Yehude Simon as prime minister after the entire cabinet resigned over allegations of corruption. Mr. Simon is the governor of the northern Lambayeque province. He was imprisoned a decade ago for alleged links with guerrillas. The BBC correspondent in Lima says the appointment is seen as an attempt by the president to regain public trust.

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Nearly 3,000 people have been evacuated to temporary shelters on Mexico’s Pacific coast after a powerful hurricane made landfall. The storm Hurricane Norbert has brought heavy rain and winds of more than 160 kilometers an hour to the region of Baja, California. Warren Bull reports. (Www.hXen.com)

Hurricane Norbert hit land in the southern part of Baja California, bringing fierce winds which uprooted trees, destroyed roofs and left over 2,000 homes without power. Residents in towns such as Puerto San Carlos were evacuated in school buses and army trucks as flood waters reached their homes. Forecasters say the storm is moving steadily across the narrow peninsular before it heads into the Gulf of California and makes landfall again on the Mexican mainland. The authorities say they are concerned that the storm could bring heavy rains and flooding to several states along the Pacific coast.

Local officials in northwestern Pakistan say at least three people were killed when a missile believed to have been fired from an unmanned American aircraft struck a compound in the North Waziristan tribal region close to the Afghan border. The United States has launched several missile strikes against suspected militant targets in the border region in recent weeks.

An earthquake in the southern Russian Republic of Chechnya has killed at least 13 people. The Chechnyan Health Minister Musa Akhmadov said more than 100 others had been taken to hospital. The quake damaged roads, power supplies and communications across the Caucasus and was felt as far away as Georgia and Armenia. A rescue team has been sent from Moscow to lead the search for survivors.

The influential Jamaican musician Alton Ellis has died of cancer in London at the age of 70. Ellis won international acclaim for pioneering rock steady music which evolved into reggae. In a career spanning 50 years, he had a string of hits in the 1960s with tracks such as “I'm just a guy” and “Dance Crasher”.

And that’s the BBC News.