BBC news 2009-02-16 加文本

BBC News with Mary Small.

Islamist militants fighting the Pakistani army in the Swat valley in northwestern Pakistan have declared a 10-day ceasefire. The move follows an agreement by the government to enforce Sharia law in the district. The militants led by a Taliban cleric called Sufi Mohammad said a permanent end to hostilities could be close. Shoaib Hasan  reports from Islamabad.

The agreement was signed by Sufi Mohammad on Sunday after talks with the Northwest Frontier Province's government. It was immediately endorsed by a spokesman for the Taliban. The agreement binds the provincial government to implement Sharia law in the Malakand division. The current movement is led by Sufi Mohammad's son-in-law, Maulana Fazlullah. They have been fighting Pakistani security forces in this region since November 2007. Hundreds of civilians have died in the fighting while thousands of others have been forced to migrate.

British officials say that a British resident detained by the United States at its Guantanamo Bay prison camp in Cuba is fit enough to travel home. The officials visited the man, Binyam Mohamed, who's been on hunger strike. The case has led to diplomatic tensions between Britain and the United States. Rob Norris reports.

The row over Binyam Mohamed's treatment has prompted allegations that the United States put pressure on the British government not to release details of the way he was interrogated. His British lawyer says that documentary evidence that he was tortured, an allegation which the American authorities had denied. Three British embassy officials and a doctor visited Mr. Mohamed at the detention center and spoke to medical staff there who told them there was no medical reason to prevent him from travelling.

Scientists in both Britain and France are reporting possible advances in techniques for killing cancer cells. The British team says it's discovered for the first time a receptor in the body that triggers an immune response when it senses signs of ordinary cells being killed by tumors or injury. In a separate development, the French team says it's found a molecule that can trick cancel cells into believing they have become so damaged that they self-destruct.

President Hugo Chavez of Venezuela has said that his political destiny will be decided by today's referendum on whether he and other officials can stand for an unlimited number of terms in office. The socialist leader said he would respect the outcome of the vote which is expected to be close. Will Grant reports from Caracas.

In the Chavez's heartland of the Caracas's shanty town of ..., President Chaves's supporters turned out in large numbers to see him vote. He has spent weeks leading the campaign for the change, saying the four years he has left of his current term isn't enough time to make further socialist reforms in the country. The opposition reject that claim. Elsewhere in the Caracas and across Venezuela long queues of no voters have turned out to tell Mr. Chavez that 14 years in power is enough for any one leader.

BBC News.

A delegation of British MPs has succeeded in getting into the Gaza Strip after being held up on the Israeli side of the border for four hours. The MPs are visiting the Palestinian territory to see for themselves the damage caused by Israel's three-week military offensive earlier this year.

The United Nations Environment Program has urged governments to tackle the threat to human health from mercury poisoning. The UNEP's Executive Director Achim Steiner said millions of people face damage to their nervous system from releases of the toxic heavy metal into rivers, seas and the air. About 6,000 tons of mercury enter the environment every year,a third of it from coal burnt in homes and power stations.

There has been a second day of clashes in southeast Turkey between police and thousands of demonstrators marking the tenth anniversary of the capture of Turkish Kurd separatist leader, Abdullah Ocalan. Police used water cannon and tear gas to break up protests against the continued imprisonment of Mr Ocalan. Sarah Rainsford reports from Istanbul.

More than 2,000 Kurdish demonstrators gathered in Diyarbakir in the southeast of Turkey. Their protest was not authorized and clashes broke out when police prevented them from marching through the city. The angry crowd threw stones and the security forces used water cannons and tear gas. Several people were injured. For the Turkish state, Abdullah Ocalan is a convicted terrorist, but to many Kurds whose very existence was denied in Turkey for many years, he remains a hero.

Egyptian police have clashed with truck drivers on the third day of a strike in protest against plans to outlaw articulated lorries. Some strikers have blocked roads and at least 25 drivers have been arrested. The truckers say the ban on articulated vehicles blamed for a high proportion of Egypt's road accidents will put them out of business.

BBC News.(Www.hxen.net)

glossary:

turn out: If people turn out for a particular event or activity, they go and take part in it or watch it.