BBC news 2009-05-06 加文本

BBC 2009-05-06


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BBC news with Victoria Meakin

Washington’s special representative for Pakistan and Afghanistan Richard Holbrooke says the United States should put the heaviest possible pressure on Pakistan to join American efforts to counter the Taliban. Addressing a congressional hearing in Washington, Mr. Holbrooke said Pakistan's survival as a moderate democratic state was critical to the national security of the United States. James Coomarasamy reports.

Richard Holbrooke said America's most vital interests were at stake in Pakistan, and US government needed to put pressure on its friends there to fight against the Taliban. He denied reports though that the Obama administration was trying to bypass President Asif Ali Zardari by working with his rival Nawaz Sharif. Mr. Holbrooke said the US goal was to unambiguously support and help stabilize a democratic Pakistan headed by its elected president.

The French President Nicolas Sarkozy says Europe should appoint a joint regulator with strong powers to monitor the activities of banks and other financial institutions across the continent. Mr. Sarkozy said he wanted Europe to set an example in regulating banks, hedge funds, tax havens and executives' pay. From Paris, Emma Jane Kirby reports.

The French leader also called for Europe to set up a centralized exchange to buy gas for distribution to its nations, after Europe suffered a series of gas shortages last year following a dispute between Russia and the key energy transit countries Georgia and Ukraine. He said it was vital that the EU strengthened its negotiating position. Europe, he claimed, needed to transform itself from an impotent body that just caved in, to a Europe that was decisive and could protect.

The United Nations inquiry into attacks on UN buildings during the recent conflicts in Gaza has strongly criticized Israel. The report found that six out of nine major attacks on UN premises that did the deaths, injuries and damage were caused by Israeli military actions. Israel has rejected the report as biased. Our UN correspondent Laura Trevelyan reports.

The report says Israel's actions breach the agreement that UN premises and those sheltering within them should be immune from attack. When it comes to Israeli claims that Hamas fired from within a UN school and a compound, the inquiry concludes these allegations are untrue and wants the Israeli government to admit this. The use of shells containing white phosphorus by Israel's military is criticized by the report, which says using them near a school amounted to a reckless disregard for the lives of those sheltering there.

The Basque country in northeastern Spain has its first non-nationalist government since it gained autonomy in 1980. The minority administration is headed by the regional socialist leader Patxi Lopez and has the backing of the right-wing popular party. Mr. Lopez plans to continue the fight against the armed separatist group Eta.

World news from the BBC

The United States Navy has cancelled a planned humanitarian mission to the South Pacific because a sailor on the ship involved has swine flu and 49 others are showing symptoms. The navy spokesman said the USS Dubuque which is based in California would stay in port as a result. The news comes as the authorities in the State of Texas announced another swine flu related death, the second in the US since the swine flu outbreak began.

The Georgian authorities say they’ve ended a brief mutiny by a tank battalion at a military base outside the capital Tbilisi. The Interior Ministry said the base commander had been arrested and others were being questioned. Tom Athonon reports. (www.hxen.net)

Though there's been no independent verification of the alleged mutiny, nor any testimony from the mutineers themselves, the Georgian government has blamed the uprising on Russia, saying it was part of a coup attempt, organized by two former senior Georgian military officials. Russia has denied any involvement. The events also come at a crucial time, the day before NATO is due to begin military exercises in Georgia. Russia has described the exercises as a provocation as they come just nine months after the short war between the two countries.

The chairman of the United States Federal Reserve Ben Bernanke says the American economy could start to grow again, provided the financial sector continues to recover. Mr. Bernanke told a Congressional committee that the housing market is showing signs of stabilizing. He said that there were also signs that consumer spending was picking up.

The former Zimbabwean opposition has warned that the renewed detention of 18 political activists threatens the future of the unity government. The Movement for Democratic Change led by the Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai said the state had no evidence against them, and that the arrest showed a flagrant disregard to the power-sharing deal with President Mugabe's Zanu-PF Party.

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