BBC news 2009-02-10 加文本

BBC News with Roy Lamar.

President Obama has held his first public rally outside Washington since taking office. He used it to call on the US Congress to approve his 800-billion-dollar economic stimulus plan immediately. From Washington, James Coomarasamy.

With his economic stimulus bill proving a harder sell than expected, President Obama is taking his message directly to the American people. Speaking in Elkhart, Indiana, a town with an unemployment rate twice the national average, he outlined how different parts of the bill would stimulate the economy, and he promised transparency in how the money would be spent. Republicans and some Democrats in Congress are balking at the size and scope of a bill that would pump more than 800 billion dollars of public money into the economy.

 
The Italian coma patient whose fate provoked a political row has died in hospital. The death of Eluana Englaro was announced in the Italian Senate where politicians were debating a law that would have forced doctors to continue feeding her. President Giorgio Napolitano had refused to sign a decree issued by the Italian cabinet which had ordered doctors to continue providing life support for Ms. Englaro. Duncan Kennedy reports from Rome.

The news that Eluana has died came from Italy’s health minister. Her doctors had suspended her feeding tubes on Friday. Eluana, who is 38, had been in a vegetative state since 1992 following a car crash. Italy’s highest court ruled doctors could stop feeding her. But the Prime Minister, Silvio Berlusconi, last week ordered them to carry on. Mr. Berlusconi said he had heard news of her death with profound pain. He said he was sorry the government was not able to save her life.

 
Thousands of Australian firefighters are still trying to control more than a dozen wildfires that brought devastation to southeastern parts of the country. Nearly 170 people are known to have died so far. Police and soldiers are still searching for bodies in burned-out towns and villages. The senior Constable of Victoria Police, Wayne Wilson, said identifying the burned bodies would be a lengthy task.

"Because of the ferocity of the fire, and the, unfortunately the damage done to the people,  identification is gonna be a key issue here. And we have what we call disaster victim identification teams. They will be used foremost in this investigation into identifying the people, for the coroner, and obviously there'll be a coroner's inquest in due course, so it's very early days in what's gonna be a long, a very prolonged investigation."

US military official in Iraq says a suicide car bombing in the northern city of Mosul has killed four American soldiers. The US military says three of the soldiers died instantly when the bomb exploded near their vehicle. The other soldier and an Iraqi interpreter died of their wounds later.

  
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With just hours to go before voting gets under way in Israel’s general election, opinion polls have indicated that the result remains too close to predict. From Jerusalem, Bethany Bell.

Israel’s politicians have been now making a final push for votes. For much of the campaign, the frontrunner was Benjamin Netanyahu. But the last polls before the election suggested it could be a close race between him and Tzipi Livni from Kadima. But even if Ms. Livini does pull ahead of Mr. Netanyahu, pollsters say right-wing parties are likely to dominate the Knesset and she could struggle to form a coalition. Following the recent conflict in Gaza, many Israelis say security is what counts. Many say they don’t trust the peace process or the Palestinians.(www.hXen.com)

France has been put on storm alert to the all Paris airports are shut to flights until Tuesday morning. The national carrier, Air France, has had to cancel more than 200 flights. Forecasters say the entire west and north of France could be badly hit with winds predicted to reach up to 140 kilometers an hour.

 
The celebrated Cape Verdean singer, Cesaria Evora, has been awarded France’s highest civilian honour, the Legion d'Honneur. The French culture minister presented the award to the singer who is known as the "barefoot diva". Cesaria Evora is credited with bringing the musical style of Cape Verde, known as "morna" to an international audience.