BBC news 2009-02-15 加文本

BBC 2009-02-15


Download Audio

BBC News with Jonathan Weekley.

One of the world's leading experts on climate change says a Nobel Prize-winning panel of scientists seriously underestimated the reality of global warming when it published its report just over a year ago. Professor Chris Field, a leading member of the intergovernmental panel on climate change which was responsible for the report, says the scientists didn't have access to vital information.  Matt McGrath reports.

The report didn't have access to data on emissions of carbon dioxide between 2000 and 2007, which show far more rapid rises than had been predicted. Professor Field says that a warming planet will dry out forests in tropical areas, making them much more likely to suffer from wildfires. The rising temperatures could also speed up the melting of the permafrost, vastly increasing the amount of carbon in the atmosphere.

Finance ministers and central bankers from the Group of Seven rich industrialized countries have ended their talks in Rome on the global economic crisis. The BBC's Rome correspondent says fears were raised by a number of countries about American protectionism. But in their final statement, the G7 ministers reaffirmed their commitment to avoiding this. Duncan Kennedy reports.

A communique issued at the end says stabilizing the global economy and financial markets remains the highest priority. It follows passage of the US stimulus package which contains a Buy-America clause. The new US Treasury Secretary, Timothy Geithner, later said all countries needed a commitment to open trade policies which were essential to economic growth and prosperity.

A senior Pakistani official, Rehman Malik, has appealed to the United States to, as he put it, heed the unanimous wish of the Pakistani people and stop missile attacks on its territory.

"All the upper houses and the lower houses, they have unanimously given the voice, please stop these drones, because they are a hit on our sovereignty, and your [our] government is doing everything possible to stop it, and I hope that America listens to the voice of the people of Pakistan, and I believe America is a big champion of democracy, and I hope they also listen to the voice of people from Pakistan."

Mr. Malik was speaking after reports that at least 27 people were killed by an American missile attack on a house in south Waziristan close to the Afghan border. Local people said the house was used by militants belonging to the Pakistani Taliban leader, Baitullah Mehsud, who is wanted for a string of attacks, including the assassination of the former Pakistani Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto.

Meanwhile, the President of Pakistan, Asif Ali Zardari, has said in an interview with an American television channel that the Taliban have established themselves across a large part of his country. He added that the fight against the Taliban was about Pakistan's very survival and said the movement was trying to take over his country.

You are listening to the World News from the BBC.

The new Somali interim Prime Minister, Omar Abdirashid Ali Sharmarke, has been sworn in at a ceremony in Djibouti. Mr. Shermarke told the BBC he would try to reconcile all the opposing groups, and that one of his main priorities would be the humanitarian situation inside Somalia.

"We’ll try to extend an olive branch to those still outside the peace process, and secondly, we'll try to stabilize the country’s security, and third, I think it’s kind of a, it’s the humanitarian situation."

Mr. Sharmarke said it was vital to bring home all the people who'd been forced to flee Somalia. A BBC correspondent says there have been demonstrations of support for the new prime minister.

Here, police in northwestern England have arrested three men who were trying to join an aid convoy leaving for the Gaza Strip. The police haven't said what the detained men are suspected of doing. The 100-vehicle convoy left London on Saturday. It is carrying food, toys and medicine.

About 6,000 people have attended a neo-Nazi rally in the German city of Dresden on the anniversary of air raids that killed 25,000 people at the end of the Second World War. Some of the demonstrators carried banners comparing the destruction of Dresden by British and American bombers to the Nazi Holocaust. Police dispersed a much bigger rally held in protest against the right-wing demonstration after officers were pelted with bottles and stones.

And staying in Germany for the second year in a row, films from Latin America have won the top prizes at the Berlin Film Festival. The main award, the Golden Bear, went to "The Milk of Sorrow", a film about the consequences of the sexual violence women in Peru suffered during two decades of civil war. The prize for runner-up was won by Gigante which was made in Uruguay. It shared the award with the German entry called "Everyone Else".

BBC News.

Glossary:

permafrost: Permafrost is land that is permanently frozen to a great depth.

a string of: A string of similar events is a series of them that happen one after the other.

reconcile: If you reconcile two people, you make them become friends again after a quarrel or disagreement.

olive branch: If you offer an olive branch to someone, you say or do something in order to show that you want to end a disagreement or quarrel.(www.hXen.com)

pelt with: If you pelt someone with things, you throw things at them.

runner-up: A runner-up is someone who has finished in second place in a race or competition.