BBC news 2009-02-27 加文本

BBC News with Marian Marshall.

The Bangladeshi government says paramilitary guards in Dhaka have surrendered after a two-day mutiny. The bodies of nine army officers have been recovered apparently killed by the mutineers. Military officials say many more officials are unaccounted for. The Prime Minister, Sheikh Hasina, earlier promised an amnesty for those who put down their weapons. Mark Dummett has more.

Speaking from the headquarters of the Bangladesh Rifles in Dhaka, a government negotiator, /, told the BBC that the crisis which had engulfed Bangladesh since Wednesday morning had indeed ended. The search is now on for the whereabouts of more than 130 army officers who it's feared were killed in the mutiny. It's already certain that about ten officers did die including the border forces commander.

The revolt spread to other towns, and it's not yet clear whether those mutinies are continuing.

The US President Barack Obama has outlined a spending plan of three and a half trillion dollars in his first federal budget. The plans outline an additional 250 billion dollars to support the ailing US financial system, and a fund of 600 billion to reform and expand the US healthcare system. Mr. Obama hopes to save money by cutting subsidies and tax breaks. He said the budget would include for the first time the true costs of the war started by the Bush administration.

"Large sums have been left off the books, including the true cost of fighting in Iraq and Afghanistan. And that kind of dishonest accounting is not how you run your family budgets at home, it's not how your government should run it's budgets either. We need to be honest with ourselves about what costs are being racked up, because that's how we'll come to grips with the hard choices that lie ahead."

The former Serbian President Milan Milutinovic has been acquitted by the United Nations war crimes tribunal for the former Yugoslavia. He'd been accused of ordering a systematic campaign of terror and violence against Kosovo Albanians in the 1990s. Five other senior Serbian officials were found guilty and given prison sentences of up to 22 years. This is the tribunal's first ruling on alleged crimes by Serb forces during the Kosovo conflict.

Spanish police have arrested 11 people, including several footballers and those connected with the game on suspicion of drug smuggling. It follows the discovery of 600 kilos of cocaine hidden in a freight container which came by boat to Spain from Argentina. Danny Wood reports from Madrid.(www.hxen.net)

The Spanish authorities believe the suspects were using their football connections as a cover for drugs trafficking. The police say two recruiting agents from the international football federation, FIFA, together with former and current professional footballers, are among 11 people arrested in cities across Spain. Spanish news reports claim one of the former players detained was with first division club Atletico Madrid. The same reports allege the leader of the drug smugglers is an ex-manager with a French first division team.

World News form the BBC.

The main rival Palestinian factions Hamas and Fatah say that they've started a new era of reconciliation after talks in Cairo, but there was no immediate breakthrough to end their long running feud. A senior Fatah official, Ahmed Qurei, said five joint committees had been set up. They'll work towards forming a national unity government, rebuilding security institutions and preparing for presidential and legislative elections. They'd also look at reforming the PLO.
 
For the first time the British government has admitted to taking part in rendition when five years ago the British military handed over to US forces two suspected insurgents detained in Iraq. Until now, the British authorities had always denied ever taking part in the practice in which detainees are taking from one country to another without following the usual legal procedures.

The US Secretary of Defense Robert Gates has lifted a ban on news organizations showing pictures of the coffins of soldiers killed in Iraq and Afghanistan. The move overturns a ban put in place by President Bush in 1991. Kim Ghattas has more.

It will be up to each family to decide whether they want to allow news organizations to take pictures of the flag-draped casket returning from combat zones. Robert Gates said the fallen troops had to be honoured as much as possible but that the privacy concerns of the families had to be met. Some support groups for military families have already reacted saying the decision showed disregard for privacy during a solemn moment. But critics of the ban had accused US government of trying to hide the human cost of wars in Iraq and Afghanistan.

Foreign diplomats in Kenya have urged the government not to discount a report which accused the country's police force of carrying out systematic extra-judicial killings. The UN reports said hundreds of people had been killed by the police that then claimed the victims were criminals. The government has accused the UN investigator of exceeding his mandate.

BBC News.

Glossary:

be unaccounted for: If people or things are unaccounted for, you do not know where they are or what has happened to them.

look at: If you look at a subject, problem, or situation, you think about it or study it, so that you know all about it and can perhaps consider what should be done in relation to it. = examine, consider

rendition: handing over prisoners to countries where torture is allowed

drape: If someone or something is draped in a piece of cloth, they are loosely covered by it.

casket: coffin

solemn: Someone or something is solemn is very serious rather than cheerful or humorous. =serious

discount: If you discount an idea, fact, or theory, you consider that it is not true, not important, or not relevant. =disregard

come to grips with: If you come to grips with a problem or if you get to grips with it, you consider it seriously, and start taking action to deal with it.