BBC news 2008-12-11 加文本

BBC News with David Legg.

A draft United Nations report accuses both Rwanda and the Democratic Republic of Congo of supporting opposing rebel movements fighting inside Congo. The report gives details of alleged links between Rwanda and rebels led by Laurent Nkunda and of collaboration between the Congolese army and Rwandan-Hutu militia. Thomas Fessy reports from Kinshasa.

The draft report confirms the links between the Rwandan authorities and rebels led by Laurent Nkunda. These include supplying military equipments and allowing the rebels access to Rwandan banks. According to the reports, Rwandan officers even transported recruits, some of them child soldiers, up to the border for the rebels. It confirms that Rwanda provided supporting artillery and mortar fire for the rebels in their fight against / Congolese army. But the report also says that Congolese troops collaborated extensively with Rwandan-Hutu militia.

The Greek policeman accused of killing a teenager in Athens on Saturday has been formally charged with murdering the youth. The death sparked five nights of riots in Greece. Protesters clashed with police in Athens again on Wednesday evening. The magistrate ruled that the policeman should be detained in jail. A lawyer for the policeman Alexis Kougias said that an as yet unpublished ballistics report showed the death was an accident.

Unfortunately, this tragedy is the result and this will be judged by the justice system of an act by the policeman who fired into the air. The bullet ricocheted. We have an entry wound from above to below. The bullet was flattened on one side. In other words, it irrefutably proves that it was a ricochet.

The US President-elect Barack Obama says the governor of Illinois should resign following his arrest on charges of corruption. The Governor Rod Blagojevich has the authority to appoint Mr. Obama’s replacement in the US Senate and is accused of trying to make money out of the process. The US Congressman, Jesse Jackson junior, the son of the civil rights leader, had been named as a possible candidate but said that at no time did he authorize anyone to promise anything on his behalf. Mr. Jackson called on the Governor to resign.

In light of yesterday’s criminal indictment, I believe that the Governor, in the best interest of our state, should resign and forfeit his authority to make the senate appointment. The fact is anyone appointed by the governor at this point would be too severely tainted to serve the state effectively and without suspicion in the United States Senate.

The United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees has called on rich countries to do more to help an estimated six million displaced people trapped in camps mainly in Asia and Africa. Antonio Guterres has said long-term refugees are being left behind and spend the best years of their lives in shabby camps, exposed to all kinds of dangers.

World News from the BBC.

The African Union has appealed to the United Nations to send peacekeepers to Somalia before Ethiopia withdraws 3,000 troops from the country. They are due to leave by the New Year. Elizabeth Blunt reports from Addis Ababa, the African Union’s headquarters.

The departure of the Ethiopians would leave just a small African Union force from Uganda and Burundi to protect strategic points. And although there have been some promises of extra troops from other African countries, no reinforcements have actually arrived. The latest AU statement said that the Commission Chairman Jean Ping was following the situation in Somalia with great concern, in view of the worsening in security in the country and the impending withdrawal of the Ethiopian troops.(WWw.hxen.net)

A report says one fifth of the world's coral reefs have died and warns that remaining reefs could be destroyed within 20 to 40 years. The study by the Global Coral Reef Monitoring Network says global warming is the biggest threat to the reefs, causing oceanic temperatures to rise and ocean water to become more acidic. It warns that reef destruction will have alarming consequences for around 500 million people who depend on the reefs.

Italian police say they've arrested nearly 70 nurses who were working without any medical training. They say the suspects, some of whom have been working since 1975, have bought fake diplomas from an organized crime group. The criminals had though provided brief training in basic skills like taking blood pressure or giving injections. The investigation began when a doctor spoke of his concern about incompetent nurses.

The Argentine Football Association says it will introduce an aerosol spray to help ensure that defenders maintain the required distance from the ball during a free-kick. From next year, referees will use the spray in first division matches to mark a temporary white line at the exact position, 9.15 meters from the ball, which defenders may not cross during a free-kick.

BBC News.