BBC news 2008-12-26 加文本

BBC 2008-12-26


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BBC News with Joe Macintosh.

One of the 20th century's most influential playwrights, the British Nobel Prize winner Harold Pinter has died. The 78-year-old had been having treatment for cancer. Harold Pinter also excelled as an actor and director, but it was his ground-breaking plays such as The Birthday Party and The Caretaker which made their biggest impact. He was also well known for his political views particularly his opposition to British and American foreign policy. In a BBC interview after the Nobel Prize Award three years ago, he said the war in Iraq made him very angry.

"I feel even more strongly now than I ever did about the mendacity and the corruption and the injustice of so many of the actions taken by what are called freedom-loving Western democracies. And I view them with contempt. That contempt grows stronger every day. "

The American singer, actress and cabaret star Eartha Kitt has died at the age of 81. She is best known for songs such as Old-fashioned Girl, C'est Si Bon and Santa Baby and for her role as Catwoman in the 1960s television series, Batman. Eartha Kitt was famous for her trademark feline purr and sultry voice and was still performing in cabaret in her 70s and 80s with the sensuousness and humor which were hallmarks of her professional life. But in an interview with the BBC last year, she said she never considered herself to be gifted.

"I don't think I have ever thought of myself in terms of having a talent, particularly as far as um, stage or well, singing, or dancing or whatever. I think that there is another kind of feeling that I have about myself. And that is a tremendous desire that I am really very well aware of being recognized as somebody that belongs, and I think my tremendous desire to obtain love. "

The German Navy has stopped and disarmed six pirates who tried to hijack an Egyptian ship off the coast of Somalia. The captain of the frigate involved told the BBC the pirates were not arrested. A spokesman for the European Union Military Operation of Somalia, Commander Achim Winkler said the pirates would only be arrested under certain circumstances.

In this case, they were detained by a German ship, but Germany would only bring them to justice in case German interests would have been hurt, a German ship might have been attacked or German citizens might have been injured or even killed. That was not the case. And for that very simple reason, they had to be set free again.

The Health Minister of the Democratic Republic of Congo has confirmed that nine people have died in an outbreak of the deadly Ebola Virus, the first in Africa since February. 21 other people have been infected by the rare disease which has a mortality rate of up to 90 percent.

World News from the BBC.

The Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert has given what he called a last-minute warning to the Palestinian group that controls Gaza that it must stop rockets being fired into Israel. Speaking on Arab television, Mr. Olmert said that Israel was strong and that there would be bloodshed if the attacks weren't halted. Hamas has responded by calling the comments a dangerous development and saying it would not hold its fire.

The deposed Prime Minister of the West African state of Guinea Ahmed Tidiane Souare has said that he and his government are at the disposal of the military commanders who seized power earlier this week. He was speaking to the coup leader Captain Moussa Dadis Camara after following orders to report to an army camp in the capital Conakry.

Members of the former government are utterly at your disposal for the good of our country. Since we belong to the previous government, we know only too well how daunting and complicated the task is that you are facing. Do not hesitate to ask us for our services. We are at your disposal and we congratulate you on your brave and wise attitude which fully corresponds to the vision of peace, tolerance and national reconciliation that we all share with General Lansana Conte.

Captain Camara responded by saying that his aim was not to divide Guinea and to avoid war.

A decision by the British Television Station Channel 4 to broadcast an alternative Christmas message by the Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad has drawn criticism in Britain. A foreign office spokeswoman said that although the media were free to make their own editorial choices, the broadcast would cause offense here and abroad. (www.hXen.com)

At least six people have been killed in an attack on a suburban home in Los Angeles apparently by a man dressed up in a Santa Claus outfit. Reports say that the man called at the house where a Christmas party was going on. The man was later found dead at the home of his brother, some 40 kilometers away. He was allowed in, the guest apparently believing that he had been hired to entertain the children.