BBC news 2009-05-08 加文本

BBC 2009-05-08


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BBC News with Mike Cooper

The US government has found that ten of the country's nineteen largest banks are vulnerable to a further weakening of the economy and must raise extra capital. The banks were judged under strength by stress tests that projected a further deepening of the recession. The government hopes the tests will lead to greater transparency, and boost confidence in financial institutions. Greg Wood reports from New York.

These stress tests have divided the strong banks who don't need any extra capital from the weak who now have to find new money to reinforce their balance sheets. The US government has ordered roughly half of the nineteen banks tested to boost their capital. They include Bank of America, Wells Fargo, and Morgan Stanley. The stress tests calculated whether the banks were strong enough to continue lending if the recession worsened. If banks cannot raise the additional funds from private investors or by selling assets, then the US government will help them out.

The Pakistani Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani has ordered the army to carry out what he called "the elimination of militants and terrorists" in the northwest of the country. He made the announcement on national television, as Pakistani troops battled Taliban militants for control of the Swat Valley.

“The nefarious activities of the extremists and terrorists to disrupt peace and security had reached a stage wherein the government is constrained to believe that decisive steps have to be taken. In order to restore honor and dignity of our homeland, and to protect our people, the armed forces have been called in to eliminate the militants and terrorists."

The American Secretary of States Hillary Clinton and the Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov have held talks on a new treaty aimed at reducing both countries' nuclear stockpiles. Mrs. Clinton said progress was being made.

"Our negotiators met again this week to discuss a replacement for the START treaty in order to meet our shared commitment to the responsible management of our nuclear arsenals. We're also proceeding with other initiatives to help store, eh, to stop the spread of nuclear weapons and to safeguard fissile materials." The two also discussed the global economy, Afghanistan and the Middle East.

A white Kenyan aristocrat has been convicted of the manslaughter of a poacher on his estate. The judge of the court in the capital Nairobi reduced the original murder charge to manslaughter. He said Thomas Cholmondeley, who is the descendant to the one of the country’s first white settlers Lord Delamare, did not show malice aforethought in the shooting of Robert Njoya in 2006. The trial became a celebrated case, attracting huge media attention. In 2005, Mr. Cholmondeley admitted shooting another man, a Masai ranger, but the case was dropped.

World News from the BBC

A former US soldier has been found guilty of raping an Iraqi teenager, and then murdering the girl and her family. The man, Steven Dalgreen was convicted by a civilian court in the state of Kentucky. He'd been discharged from the army due to what was considered a personality disorder before he was charged. Steven Dalgreen faces a possible death sentence at a hearing, which is due to begin on Monday.

A judge in America has upheld a deportation order for the alleged Nazi Death Camp Guard, John Demjanjuk. His family and his lawyer had appealed against the US appeals court order, saying the 89-year-old was too frail to travel from the United States to Germany. John Demjanjuk still has the right to appeal to the US Supreme Court. If unsuccessful, he would be deported to Germany where an arrest warrant has been issued accusing him of 29,000 counts of accessory to murder during World War II.

More than 200 immigrants have been returned to Libya by the Italian Navy. The first time the Libyan government has accepted responsibility for non-Libyan migrants trying to reach Europe. Here's Nickels Walton.

Many thousands of migrants arrive on the shores of European Union member countries each year, and the question of who takes responsibility for them is a controversial one. Italian Interior Minister Roberto Maroni said the new agreement that allows migrants to be sent back to their jumping-off point Libya, was historic, and would help resolve that question of responsibility. Human rights groups aren't convinced. One said it violated international law, and was, in effect, a forced repatriation. (www.hXen.com)

A taxi driver in Argentina has been swarmed with gifts from admirers for what's been seen as an extraordinary act of honesty. The man found a bag in his cab containing the equivalent of $32,000 after giving a ride to an elderly couple. He tracked them down a few days later and handed over the money.

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