BBC news 2009-04-13 加文本

BBC 2009-04-13


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BBC news, I'm John Shay.

In a dramatic rescue operation, US Special Forces have freed an American sea captain who was abducted by Somali pirates five days ago. Navy marksmen shot and killed three of pirates holding Captain Richard Philips aboard a lifeboat off the coast of Somalia. A spokesman for the US Navy Vice Admiral William Gortney said that the forces on the scene decided to act because they believed the life of Captain Philips was in immediate danger.

"The intended entire time was a deliberate process to let the negotiation process work itself out to a non-violent end and unfortunately that did not occur. The on-scene commander determined that the captain was in imminent danger. If he was not in imminent danger, they would not to take this sort of action. They were supposed to let the negotiation process work it out."

Thousands of anti-government protesters in Thailand have continued to defy a state of emergency declared in the capital Bangkok. The army has deployed troops and armored vehicles but the protesters blocked roads, commandeered buses and threw rocks and furniture at a car which they thought was carrying the Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva. From Bangkok Jonathan Head reports

Even as he announced the state of emergency, Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva found himself besieged by a furious crowd outside the Ministry of Interior from where he was making his televised statement. Only when security guards fired shots in the air did the crowd disperse. Under the decree, gatherings of more than five people were supposed to be banned and the army deployed to keep order. But when confronted by troops, the protesters greeted them like long lost friends, and at one point were allowed to climb in triumph on top of the military armored cars. The army might yet decide to move against the crowd overnight. If it chooses not to, the prime minister's position could become untenable.

The Mexican Government has urged the United States to do more to stop the flow of guns and cash which it says are fueling Mexico's drug wars. The Mexican Ambassador to the US Arturo Sarukhan said they were providing the drug cartels with the means to corrupt, bribe and kill. He said Washington's lifting of a ban on the sale of assault rifles in 2004 had been a crucial factor.

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It's been a dramatic week in Europe's poorest country. Parliamentary elections last Sunday looked to have produced to resounding victory for the ruling Communist Party with just under 50% of the vote, well ahead of the three main opposition center-right parties. They want stronger ties to the European Union. The Communists favor strong ties to Russia, as well as links to the EU. These results brought opposition supporters out onto the streets. By Tuesday, they turned violent.

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More than 70 African migrants, mostly Somali have been thrown overboard off the coast of Yemen by the smugglers transporting them. A spokesman in Yemen for the aid organization Medicins Sans Frontiers said that 48 people survived, 17 bodies have been recovered and 11 were still missing. A spokesman said among those cast overboard were women and children.

The United Nations has welcomed the temporary ceasefire announced by the Sri Lankan military in its operation against Tamil Tigers rebels in the northeast. A 48-hour pause is due to start on Monday. The UN's Emergency Relief Coordinator John Holmes told the BBC he hoped it would mean more aid being allowed into the conflict zone where tens of thousands of civilians are trapped.

The Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has told the Palestinian President Mahmud Abbas that he intends to hold talks with him in order to boost Middle East peace efforts. The statement from Mr.Netanyahu's office said he told Mr. Abbas of his intention during a phone conversation described as friendly and warm. The statement did not give any other details of that discussion. Mr. Netanyahu has not publicly committed himself to the creation of a fully independent Palestinian state which is a fundamental demand of the Palestinians.

Conservationists in Indonesia have been giving details of a new population of orangutans discovered on the island of Bonio, possibly numbering as many as 2,000 animals. The head of the research team Eric Maod told the BBC that the intelligent but reclusive red-haired primates were found in a rugged, largely inaccessible mountainous region which helped to preserve them. He described the find as a rare and significant one. (www.hXen.com)

"A lot of the populations that we are working with are pretty much in continuous decline, very few populations are really secure , so the find of a new population like this of several hundreds or maybe even like thousands or more animals. It is very exciting. "

And that's the latest BBC world news