BBC news 2009-02-24 加文本

BBC 2009-02-24

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BBC News with David Austin.

The United States Defence Department review of conditions at the Guantanamo Bay detention camp has recommended that detainees spend less time in isolation and be given more opportunities for social contact and recreation. The review says the camp complies with the Geneva Conventions, but it did find evidence supporting 14 allegations of misconduct by camp guards. James Coomarasamy has more.

The review suggests more recreational opportunities, more intellectual stimulation and perhaps group prayer. Its contents were made public as US Attorney General Eric Holder visited the detention center. He is assessing the camp's facilities and the cases of its remaining 250 or so prisoners, as he tackles the legal complexities of shutting the camp down within a year, as President Obama has ordered.

The first man to be released from Guantanamo since President Obama took office has arrived back in Britain where he is a resident. The former detainee Binyam Mohamed was seen briefly by police who said he faced no action from them. Mr. Mohamed, who is of Ethiopian origin, said he'd had to face torture and he accused Britain of complicity.

President Obama has confirmed that he intends to cut the US budget deficit by half by the end of his first term in office. He was speaking during talks at the White House with senior American politicians about ways of bringing the deficit under control. From Washington, here is Kevin Connolly.

Barack Obama's presidency has begun with a spectacular increase in spending and borrowing to fund what he calls a stimulus package which will cost more than 780 billion dollars. But his administration sees that bulge in spending as an extraordinary measure to meet the demands of an extraordinary moment in the depths of recession. And having won the first political battle of his presidency to get it signed into law, he is now trying to signal that he is also at heart a fiscal conservative. He says he wants to halve the budget deficit in the course of his four-year term from about 1.3 trillion dollars to 533 billion.

Share prices on the New York Stock Exchange have fallen to their lowest level for almost 12 years. The Dow-Jones Industrial Average was down by 3.4 percent at the close of trading.(www.hXen.com)

The United Nations says it will strengthen its presence in the north of the Democratic Republic of Congo, as part of military operations against rebels of the Lord's Resistance Army. Our Africa editor Martin Plaut reports.

The UN is to send a new company of troops to the town of Dungu which has been at the heart of an area attacked by the Lord's Resistance Army. An attack helicopter and two transport helicopters will also help strengthen the UN presence in the area. UN operation in Congo, known as MONUC, has been criticized for failing to protect civilians from the LRA which killed and maimed more than 1,000 villagers in a series of brutal atrocities that began on Christmas Day.

Our Africa editor Martin Plaut reported.

World News from the BBC.

The Taliban in Pakistan have declared a unilateral ceasefire in their conflict with the security forces in the Bajaur tribal area, close to the Afghan frontier. A deputy leader of the movement said the decision had been taken in the best interests of the region and the nation. There has been no response yet from the Pakistani military which has been fighting the Taliban in Bajaur for several months.

The United States Federal Bureau of Investigation has announced that it has rescued 48 child prostitutes in a three-day operation involving state and local law enforcement agencies, over 570 people in 29 states were arrested. They've been charged with offences including child trafficking, prostitution, and solicitation. The operation was part of the Innocence Lost National Initiative which was launched in 2003.

A French court has rejected an attempt to halt the sale of two antique Chinese bronze artworks from the private collection of the fashion designer Yves Saint Laurent who died last year. A Chinese association wanted the items which were taken by British and French forces during the 19th century to be returned to Beijing. Alasdair Sandford has more.

The court ruled that there was nothing to justify withdrawing the two bronze relics from sale. The case was brought by a group called the Association to Protect Chinese Art in Europe. It said the rat's head and rabbit's head had been looted 150 years ago and wanted the French government to intervene to return them to China. A lawyer for the auctioneers, Christie's, says that the rare pieces will now go under the hammer on Wednesday.

The Indian government has set aside 2.5 billion dollars to fund preparations for manned space flights. The cabinet has yet to give final approval. A spokesman for India's space program said that scientists hoped to put two men into orbit in 2015. One Indian astronaut was sent into space 25 years ago but that was aboard a Russian craft.


And that's the latest BBC News.

Notes:

1. Christie’s： a well-known firm of London auctioneers, with a branch also in New York. It was started by James Christie in London in 1776 and now deals mainly with fine paintings, sculpture, furniture, etc. Its full name is Christie, Manson and Woods.

2: the depths of something: when a bad feeling or situation is at its worst level

e.g. She was in the depths of despair .

The country was recovering from the depths of recession .