BBC news 2009-05-10 加文本

BBC 2009-05-10


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BBC News with John Jason 

The Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki says his country needs to wage an anti-corruption campaign to match the scale of its military campaign against insurgence. Soon after he made these remarks, it emerged that Iraqi police had arrested a brother of the trade minister on suspicion of corruption. From Baghdad, Natalia Antelava reports.

Until very recently, the two brothers of Iraq’s trade minister worked as his aides. But they disappeared in late April when Iraqi forces went to the ministry to deliver warrants for their arrest. The soldiers were greeted by gunshots fired into the air by the ministry’s own guards. The al-Sudany brothers in the meantime escaped through the back gate. The police say they have now arrested one of the brothers who they believe was trying to flee the country and that they are still looking for nine other senior trade ministry officials. All of them are accused of embezzlement and corruption.

On the second day of his Middle East visit, Pope Benedict has condemned what he called the ideological manipulation of religion. He made the comments at Jordan’s biggest mosque in a speech aimed at improving relations between Roman Catholicism and the Islamic world. But as David Willey reports from Amman, the pontiff hasn’t avoided controversy.

Pope Benedict has been treading an exceedingly careful path in order not to say or do anything in public likely to offend either his Muslim hosts or the Jewish authorities who will be his hosts in Jerusalem next week. But even so there has been some carping. Earlier in the day the Pope talked of inseparable bonds between the Catholic Church and the Jewish people. Some clerics in Jordan reacted angrily. Others remarked that the Pope failed to remove his shoes when he visited the mosque in accordance with Muslim custom.

South Africa’s new President Jacob Zuma has warned that his country can’t escape the global recession and that it faces difficult economic times with jobs being lost. Speaking after being sworn in as the fourth president since the end of apartheid, Mr. Zuma promised to do his utmost to improve the lives of all South Africans.

“ We make a commitment here and now, before the eyes of the world, that for as long as there are South Africans who die from preventable diseases, for as long as there are workers who struggle to feed their families, for as long as there are communities without clean water, decent shelter or proper sanitation, we shall not rest.

The army in Chad says it has inflicted what it called a decisive defeat on rebels in the east of the country after two days of fighting. Officials say 220 rebels were killed and 120 taken prisoner. 21 soldiers are reported to have been killed. Our BBC correspondent in Chad says skirmishes were continuing at the town of Goz Beida.

World news from the BBC

A British soldier who lost the use of both legs after a rocket attack in Iraq has completed the London Marathon, 13 days after he started. Major Phil Packer was hugged and cheered as he finished the race. He completed the 42 kilometer course on crutches, defying doctors who told him he would never walk again.

A former leader of the Anglican Church George Carey says the moral authority of the British parliament is at its lowest level in living memory, because of the row over allowances claimed by politicians. In an interview with a British newspaper, Lord Carey who is Archbishop of Canterbury for 11 years, spoke of a culture of abuse. He denounced what he called the clawing greed of members of parliament who claim taxpayers’ money for items such as barbecue sets and bathrobes at a time of financial crisis for the nation.

The authorities in central California say they are struggling to contain the wildfires raging there. The fires broke out on Tuesday and have since been rapidly spreading along the Californian coast. Peterburgh reports from Los Angeles

At least 80 homes have been destroyed as the rapidly moving fire eats through tinder-dry bush on the outskirts of Santa Barbara. The blaze is about 10% contained, but the authorities are warning that a further 23,000 people should be ready to leave their homes at a moment’s notice. The fire is raging along a five-mile long front above the coastal community. The Santa Barbara county sheriff Bill Brown says the cause of the blaze is impossible to predict.

The police in Sri Lanka say they have arrested three British television journalists on charges of tarnishing the image of the Sri Lankan security forces. A police spokesman told the BBC the journalists were detained in the eastern city of Trincomalee. They have been reporting on the Sri Lankan government’s battle against Tamil Tiger rebels for the London-based Channel 4 News.

That’s the latest, BBC News