BBC news 2009-01-15 加文本

BBC News with David Austin.

As the United Nations Secretary General Ban Ki-Moon tours Middle Eastern capitals to press for a ceasefire in Gaza, the number of Palestinians killed in the current fighting with Israel has passed 1, 000. The Palestinian Health Ministry said the dead included more than 320 children. In Cairo, Egyptian officials held talks with representatives of the Palestinian militant group Hamas as part of efforts to broker a truce in the Gaza fighting. A Hamas spokesman said there had been good progress. Israel is sending its chief negotiator Amos Gilad to Cairo on Thursday. Tim Franks reports from Jerusalem.

At the end of Wednesday’s talks, Hamas officials said that there had been good progress towards their goals of withdrawal of Israeli troops and an opening of the border crossing points. Senior Israeli officials are themselves making positive noises about the role the Egyptians are playing and the seriousness with which they are apparently taking a central Israeli demand that there be an end to arm smuggling across Gaza's southern border with Egypt.

The Syrian President Bashar al-Assad says a sustainable ceasefire in Gaza can only be achieved if conditions set by both sides are met. President Assad said that for Palestinian militants to stop firing rockets into Israel, the Israelis must fully respect the ceasefire and also end their blockade of the Gaza Strip.

A former convening judge in the trial of prisoners held by the Americans at Guantanamo Bay has said that one of the defendants was tortured. In an interview with the Washington Post Newspaper, the Judge, Susan Crawford, said she dismissed charges against the defendant Mohammed al- Qahtani because the way he had been treated met the legal definition of torture. She said techniques used on him included isolation, sleep deprivation, and exposure to cold, all of which Ms Crawford said left the defendant in a life-threatening condition.

The New York-based organization Human Rights Watch has called on the incoming American President Barack Obama to place greater emphasis on human rights during his time in office. In its annual survey of human rights around the world, Human Rights Watch said abuses had been committed in the name of President Bush's war on terrorism. From Washington, Kim Ghattas reports.

The report says it was wrong and ineffectual to commit abuses in the name of fighting terrorism, and it says the Bush Administration also excused abuses by repressive governments because they were allies in the war on terror. Kenneth Roth, the Executive Director of Human Rights Watch, says Barack Obama and his team will have to radically rethink how to tackle violent militancy if they want to undo what he described as the enormous damage done by the Bush Administration.

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2009-1-16 16:52

The US State Department rejected the criticism, saying it was proud of its record on human rights.

The Canadian telecommunications company Nortel has filed for bankruptcy protection in the United States and Canada. The Toronto-based company is Northern America's biggest maker of telephone equipment, but it's been hit by a sharp drop in orders.

This is the World News from the BBC.

The Russian President Dmitry Medvedev has proposed a summit on Saturday of European countries that consume Russian gas or transport it across their territory. Ukraine has welcomed the idea but not Mr. Medvedev's proposed venue--Moscow. A row between Russia and Ukraine resulting in the shutdown of pipelines carrying Russian gas to Europe has left hundreds of thousands of people without heating. Earlier, the President of the European Commission, Jos Manuel Barroso, advised European energy companies to sue the two countries for breach of contract if gas supplies are not restored quickly.

"If the agreement is not honored, it means that Russia and Ukraine can no longer be considered reliable partners for the European Union in matters of energy supply."

The BBC has launched a Persian language television service. BBC Persian TV will broadcast for eight hours a day, seven days a week, during peak viewing times in Iran and Afghanistan. It's already met strong opposition from the Iranian government. John Lion reports.

Just before 5:00 pm local time, BBC Persian TV launched straight into a major challenge. The lead story was the crisis in Gaza, the most sensitive possible subject in Iran. In theory, satellite dishes are banned in this country; in practice, just about everyone seems to have one. And with domestic TV owned and rigorously controlled by the government, many Iranians are curious to see what the BBC has to offer. As for the Iranian government, it's refused Persian TV permission to operate inside Iran, and some officials have even accused the BBC of training people to spy on Iran.(www.hXen.com)

The Roman Catholic Patriarch of Lisbon, Cardinal Jose Policarpo, has warned Portuguese women against marrying Muslims. The Cardinal said those who did so would be getting into trouble and that not even Allan knew where it would end. Cardinal Policarpo is considered to be on the liberal wing of the Catholic Church. Correspondents say his message was a blunt reiteration of Vatican policy.