BBC news 2009-04-04 加文本

BBC News with Jonathan Weekley

President Obama has appealed to European leaders attending the NATO's summit in Strasbourg to unite in support of the fight against al-Qaeda in Afghanistan. Mr. Obama said that another terrorism attack was even more likely in Europe than it was in the United States. Mark Mardell now reports.

The American President has a two-part message with a two-part reception. When he talks about pulling troops out of Iraq, closing Guantanamo Bay, about France being America's oldest and first ally, many Europeans will love it, just as they love his style, his ease, his engagement and almost rock star status. But the second part of his message is much harder, that terrorism threatens Europe just as much as the USA and so Afghanistan is Europe's war, too.

Earlier the NATO's Security General Jaap de Hoop Scheffer said countries may be reluctant to send more troops to Afghanistan because of a plan to new law there, restricting the rights of some Afghan women.

A gunman has killed at least 13 people at an American immigration service center at Binghamton, in New York State. A number of other people were injured, some seriously. And hostages were seized in the incident which lasted several hours. Local police say the gunman has been found dead and all the hostages have been released. The New York Governor David Paterson said it was a tragic day for the state. "There is absolutely no reason or excuse for this kind of shooting and brutal attack of innocent people right here in New York State, and so on behalf of the residents of New York and I'm sure Americans and people around the world will like to send the fair prayers to the citizens in Binghamton and to the families who have been obviously traumatized by this event".

The Chief Justice of Pakistan has intervened over a video in circulation, showing the public flogging of a teenage girl in the northwestern Swat Valley area. The Chief Justice Iftikhar Muhammad Chaudhry has called a court hearing on the matter next week and ordered top police and government officials from northwest frontier province to appear in person and produce the girl. The video showed the girl being held down and hit with a strap and she cried out in pain. A human rights activist Tahira Abdullah described the flogging as a defamation of Islam.

"I am sickened to the court, I feel nauseous. I saw it last night. I think it's inhuman. It is a defamation of Islam. It is a defamation of our social culture, heritage of 10,000 years. I strongly condemn it."

A court in Venezuela has sentenced nine former police officers to up to 30 years in prison for their role in the killing of 19 people during violent demonstrations in 2002. The killings occurred any hours before a failed coup against President Hugo Chavez. Both supporters and opponents of the left-wing leader were shot dead in the demonstrations. Among those convicted were three former high-ranking police commissioners.

World News from the BBC

Malaysia's new Prime Minister Najib Razak has announced a comprehensive review of one of the country's most controversial laws. Just hours after being sworn in, he unveiled plans to examining the internal security act, a preemptive law which gives the government the power to order the arrest and indefinite detention of anyone deemed to threaten national security. He also said that several prisoners being held under the act would be released.

Some of the latest batch of civilians to get out the embattled Tamil Tiger enclave in northeastern Sri Lanka, have accused the rebels of forcibly taking children as young as 14 to fight government troops. They also said the rebels were not allowing people to seek refuge from the army's shelling. Some allegations have previously been made by human rights groups but were denied by the Tigers.

Newspapers aimed at Israel's ultra-Orthodox Jewish community have published photographs of a new cabinet which have been digitally altered to remove the images of two women ministers. One newspaper moved two male figures into the picture instead; another blacked out the women. Paul Wood reports.

In the original picture, both women appeared with their heads uncovered, images which would be regarded as immodest and sexually provocative by the ultra-Orthodox. During the recent election campaign, for instance, posters of the female candidate for Prime Minister, Tzipi Livni were defaced near ultra-Orthodox neighborhoods of Jerusalem. Many secular Jews are worried about the growing influence of the ultra-Orthodox. They are estimated to make up around 10% of Israel's population. (www.hXen.com)

The Supreme Court in the American state of Iowa has ruled that the state's ban on same sex marriage violates the rights of gay and lesbian couples. Iowa will now become one of only three states where gay marriage is legal. The court said that a statute limiting the civil marriage to one between a man and a woman violated Iowa's constitution and must be declared void.