BBC news 2008-10-22 加文本

The US Defense Secretary Robert Gates has warned Iraqi politicians that failure to accept a draft agreement on American forces in the country could lead to a suspension of US operations there. It took months to negotiate the agreement which sets out the conditions under which American troops could stay for 3 more years. Earlier the Iraqi government said the plan would need to be amended again. Jonathan Beale in Washington has more.

 The Bush administration has come under pressure from politicians in Iraq to change the draft Status of Forces Agreement. But the US Defense Secretary Robert Gates is showing strong resistance. He told reporters that there was great reluctance to engage in further amendments. He said I don't think you slam the door shut but I’d say it’s pretty far closed. The draft agreement has not yet been published but some details have emerged .US combat troops would pull out of Iraqi cities and towns by the middle of next year, and leave the country altogether by the end of 2011.

 Robert Gates has also said it will not be possible to close the prison at Guantanamo Bay naval base in Cuba before the end of the Bush administration. Mr. Gates described the prison as one of the best-run in the world but its reputation made it a real liability for the United States.

India will begin its first ever mission to the moon when a rocket carrying an unmanned satellite lifts off from the southern coast on Wednesday morning. The satellite will orbit the moon for two years, studying its mineral composition and searching for ice under its poles. Sanjoy Majumde reports from Delhi.

Barring any weather-related delays, the Chandrayaan which means lunar craft in Sanskrit will blast off on board an Indian-built rocket. This is the country's most ambitious space venture. India successfully developed its rocket and satellite technology, but has never before sent a spacecraft beyond the earth’s atmosphere. For the next two years, Chandrayaan will be placed in a lunar orbit, mapping its three dimension atlas of the moon and studying its chemical and mineral composition. It will also check for the presence of water.

Italy's main consumer rights organization has begun a legal battle to have the prize money in the country's national lottery seized. Nobody has picked the winning numbers for months and so the jackpot has reached 125 million dollars. David Willey reports.

The Italian lottery called SuperEnalotto attracts millions of punters every week. Draws are held on Tuesdays, Thursdays and Saturdays and no one’s won the big jackpot which increases each week since the month of April. The record jackpot has created a very dangerous betting fever throughout Italy with many recorded cases of people spending their life savings according to the consumer rights group, Codacons, which filed a suit at the Rome prosecutor’s office. More than a hundred million bets were placed in last Saturday's draw.

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The International Monetary Fund says Europe will avoid the worst of the current financial crisis because governments had coordinated their rescue plans. But it warned that additional decisive measures will be needed to emerge from a sharp economic slowdown in the near term.

Prosecutors in northern Mexico say an icebox, containing four severed heads were sent to a police station. The box was labeled as containing vaccines. It remained in the police station at Ascension, near Ciudad Juarez for a week before staff opened it. Correspondents say Mexican drugs gangs have increasingly resorted to beheading their enemies as they battle to control smuggling routes.

 A court in Cairo has sentenced a man to three years in prison for molesting a woman in the street. It’s thought to be the first case of its kind in Egypt. The sentence was welcomed by a women's rights activist who has been calling on the authorities to curb widespread sexual assault and harassment of women in Egypt. From Cairo Ulan Nile reports.

 Cairo criminal court heard that the woman was walking in Heliopolis, a well-off area of the city in June, when she was grabbed by Sharif Gommaa as he drove past slowly in his car. She was touched more than once, the prosecution said and protested loudly. The victim, a 27-year-old filmmaker and her friend caught the attention of passers-by who contacted police. The court found Sharif Gommaa guilty of sexual harassment. He was jailed for three years with hard labour and ordered to pay $900 in compensation to the woman he abused.

 The Internet Services Company Yahoo says it's cutting 10% of its 15,000 work force because of lower than expected profits. Yahoo said its net profit for the 3rd quarter was over 60% down on the same period at last year. Correspondents say the announcement will put further pressure on the management of Yahoo, which in June rejected a take-over offer by Microsoft.