BBC news 2009-04-14 加文本

BBC 2009-04-14


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BBC news with Jonathan Weekley

The United States has announced an easing of restrictions on travel and the sending of money to Cuba. A White House spokesman said Cuban-Americans who’ve been restricted to one visit a year could now make as many trips as they like to the island and remit as much money as they want to to relatives. Kevin Connolly now reports from Washington.

During last year’s election campaign, Barack Obama signaled that he was ready to break with the policy which had failed in one of its central goals of bringing down the Castro regime. In human terms the most striking changes affect Cuban-American families living in exile in the United States. The current restrictions on how much money they can send back to relatives on the island and on how many trips they can make to Cuba are to be abolished. President Obama clearly believed that engagement may yet achieve what embargo never did--real political change in Cuba. But there is no talk for the moment of opening diplomatic relations or of lifting the general trade embargo.

The Thai Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva says the violence in the capital Bangkok is under control after running battles between soldiers and anti-government protesters that injured 90 people.

On a chaotic day on the streets of Bangkok, the protesters blocked roads, hijacked buses and threw rocks and petrol bombs, while the army fired a mixture of live rounds and blanks in response. As night fell, the army had pushed most of the demonstrators back to their stronghold at Government House.

The United Nations Security Council has unanimously condemned North Korea for a rocket launch a week ago, which Washington says was a test for a long-range missile. The non-binding statement, the 15 members of the Security Council demanded the enforcement of the existing sanctions against the North. United States have wanted a resolution containing stronger sanctions but Russia and China made clear that they would veto such a matter so a compromise was agreed. Pyongyang says the rocket was used to launch a satellite as part of its space program. The Security Council statement says there must be no further launches from North Korea and calls for the early resumption of international talks to end Pyongyang’s nuclear program.

The American music producer Phil Spector has been found guilty of killing an actress Lana Clarkson back in the year 2003. Rajesh Mirchandani now reports from Los Angeles.

Spector denied murdering Ms. Clarkson, saying she shot herself. This was his second trial. At the first last year, jurors could not agree on a verdict and a mistrial was declared. This time the jury was given another option--if they could not agree on the charge of murder they could consider involuntary manslaughter, which carries a lower penalty. Phil Spector was a music industry legend who launched the careers of acts like the Righteous Brothers and the Ronettes. The records he produced defined the early 60s, but what happened six years ago may define his legacy. He could now face life in prison.

World news from the BBC

The crew of the American cargo ship briefly seized last week off the coast of Somalia has called on President Obama to do more to tackle Somali pirates. They spoke after the ship’s Captain Richard Phillips was dramatically rescued on Sunday. The crew have refused to disclose how they retook off the ship from the pirates so as to help other ships resist power to attack.

The American investment bank Goldman Sachs has reported a profit of 1.6 billion dollars for the first three months of the year, surpassing analysts’ predictions. The bank which has fared better than many of its competitors during the US credit crisis, says it plans to raise five billion dollars in new capital through a stock offer.

The President of Paraguay Fernando Lugo has acknowledged that he fathered a child while he was a Roman Catholic bishop. He made a surprise announcement after the mother’s lawyers filed a paternity suit last week. Reports say the child is nearly two years old. Here’s Greg Morsbach.

Facing a potentially embarrassing paternity suit in the court, President Lugo decided to own up to his secret past. Lawyers wanted to force the former clergyman to take a DNA test to establish the facts. It was wildly reported in Paraguay that he had been in a longstanding relationship with a woman more than 20 years younger than himself while working as the bishop of San Pedro. President Lugo decided to abandon the church for a political career two years ago, much to the displeasure of the Vatican.(www.hXen.com)

A 13-year-old Japanese girl has been forced to choose between her country and her Philippine parents after Japanese Immigration officials decided to deport her mother and father. Noriko Calderon, who’s been given the choice by the Japanese authorities said goodbye to her parents at Narita international airport after deciding to stay with her aunt in Japan. She was born in Japan after her parents used fake passports to enter the country. Immigration officials arrested Mr. Calderon in 200*.