BBC 2009-03-29
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BBC news with Annita McVeigh
The president of Pakistan Asif Ali Zardari has promised to take steps to resolve the country’s political crisis. Mr. Zardari told parliament he would recommend lifting central government rule in the province of Punjab, the imposition of which led to a confrontation between the opposition and the government. From Islamabad, Barbara Plett reports
President Zardari used the beginning of a new parliamentary year to offer an olive branch to the opposition. The west will welcome the president’s move. It wants Pakistan’s political parties to fight Islamist militancy, not each other. Above all, it wants Pakistan to eliminate Taliban and al-Qaeda’s safe havens near the Afghan border, a demand the US president has put at heart of its new strategy for Afghanistan. The US strategy promises Pakistan increased aid but also increased pressure. President Zardari will need peace with all political parties to be able to meet it.
Tens of thousands of supporters of the former president of Madagascar Marc Ravalomanana have clashed with security forces and followers of the new army-backed government in the capital Antananarivo. Jonny Hogg has sent this report.
An initially peaceful affair turned ugly when marchers were prevented from completing their route. Security forces fired teargas but then for over an hour the capital reverberated to the sound of automatic gunfire as they attempted to break up the protest. At least 30 people were injured in the ensuing chaos. Local hospitals are saying that at least 6 people have suffered gunshot wounds in the unrest which was compounded by clashes between supporters of both the current and former governments.
Thousands of demonstrators have marched through London ahead of next week’s G20 summit on the world economic crisis. Trade unions, charities, faith groups and environmental campaigners called for action on poverty, jobs and climate change. Organizers said the protest was the first in a week-long campaign coinciding with the G20 meeting. The billionaire investor George Soros says the summit will be a make or break event for the world economy. "Unless you do something for the developing world, there’s going to be a very serious collapse in that part of the world. Unless we reconstruct and maintain the international financial system, if countries start doing it bilaterally, instead of multilaterally, the system will fall apart and we will end up in a depression.
At least three people have died in the Iraqi capital Bagdad during clashes between Iraqi security forces and the neighborhood patrol group. Several Iraqi soldiers have thought to have been taken captive. Shooting broke out after the arrest of Adil Mashadani, a local leader of the Awakening Movement, many of whose members used to fight for Al-Qaeda, but then turned against it. The BBC correspondent in Bagdad says the incident threatens to destabilize the poor district Fadhil that had recently been peaceful.
World news from the BBC
Flood waters on the Red River are still threatening the cities of Fargo and Moorhead in the mid-western Unites States. Thousands of residents have been evacuated and millions of sand bags placed along the banks of the river which has risen to its highest level for a hundred years. President Obama said he was monitoring the situation and would do everything to help.
The space shuttle Discovery has landed in Florida after a 13-day mission to the orbiting international space station. The shuttle landed smoothly at Cape Canaveral, a little later than planned because of a delay caused by strong winds and clouds. Andy Gallagher reports from Florida.
As the space shuttle Discovery touched down at Cape Canaveral here in Florida, NASA can look back on another successful mission. The seven astronauts installed the last of the solar panels on the international space station, giving the orbiting laboratory full power for the first time. In the next few weeks the space station will now be able to double its crew from 3 to 6 and press ahead with more scientific experiments, a vital part of NASA’s plans to finish the laboratory before the shuttle fleet is retired next year. NASA’s next mission is said to take place in May when the space shuttle Atlantis will be launched on a mission to service the Hubble telescope.
An accountant who was investigating corruption in an Ivory Coast's coco industry has been killed in suspicious circumstances. The family of the dead man Jacquelin Mabou Gohou said he was deliberately knocked down by the driver of a car. Mr. Gohou's investigation had led to the arrest of 20 senior coco industry officials after more than 200 million dollars went missing.(www.hXen.com)
Rival supporters of the Northern Ireland and Poland football teams clashed in Belfast city center ahead of a World Cup qualifier between the two sides. Police and riot gear had been called in to separate the fans, using batons and shields to try to restore order. Bottles, bricks, traffic cones and fireworks were thrown and a number of people were injured.
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