BBC news 2009-05-12 加文本

BBC 2009-05-12


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BBC News with Mary Small

The American Defense Secretary Robert Gates has replaced the top US commander in Afghanistan. Mr. Gates said new thinking was needed about the conflict there. At a news conference Mr. Gates who visited Afghanistan last week confirmed that he had appointed General Stanley McChrystal to lead the NATO and American campaign against the Taliban. Jonathan Beale reports.

Robert Gates said that with a new strategy and mission in Afghanistan, it was also time for new military leadership. General McChrystal was in charge of Joint Special Operations in Iraq. His forces were involved in the capture of Saddam Hussein and the killing of Al-Qaeda’s leader in Iraq Abu Musab al-Zarqawi. Pentagon sources have told the BBC that he will be better suited to fighting a complex war. General McKiernan was seen as brilliant but a more conventional military commander.

The United States military in Iraq says five of its troops have been shot dead by a fellow American soldier at a base in Baghdad. The attacker has been detained but there's been no word on why he opened fire. The incident happened at a clinic for soldiers suffering from stress.

President Obama has welcomed what he called Iran's humanitarian gesture in releasing Roxana Saberi, an Iranian-American journalist imprisoned after being convicted for spying. Mr. Obama had personally appealed for Miss Saberi's release. The Justice Ministry in Teheran said it was a gesture of Islamic mercy. Kim Ghattas reports from Washington.

A US official said the release was the result of public pressure by the US. He described it as a positive sign but added it was not seen here as a grand gesture signaling a new era. The official insisted that no deals were made with the Iranians to secure Miss Saberi's release. The US and Iran don't have diplomatic ties. Messages about Miss Saberi were sent to Iran mostly through the Swiss embassy in Teheran which handles US interests there.

Millions of children across Mexico have returned to their classrooms following a nationwide school closure to prevent the spread of swine flu. Many people were still wearing surgical masks as they entered disinfected school buildings. Researchers in London have published the first detailed analysis of the global spread of swine flu. They say initial estimate showed that the virus is much more infectious than seasonal flu. Our science correspondent Pallab Ghosh reports.

Seasonal flu normally infects one in ten people, so far swine flu has infected a third of the people that have come into contact with the disease. This confirms that millions of people across the world are likely to become infected. The estimate of the proportion of people is likely to kill though is less clear. The study suggests that this might be anything from four in a thousand to fourteen in a thousand. All this confirms what health experts have suspected that we are seeing the early stages of a global pandemic.

World News from the BBC

The US space shuttle Atlantis has blasted off from Cape Canaveral on what the American space agency NASA says is one of its most dangerous and difficult missions yet. The astronauts will also install new cameras, enabling the telescope to see further than ever before. It's the first mission to the Hubble Telescope since the shuttle Columbia disintegrated on its descent back to earth in 2003. Matt Mcgrath reports.

This 11-day trip will be the final shuttle visit to the 19-year-old Hubble Space Telescope. And with five spacewalks planned, each lasting up to seven hours, it will also be the most challenging servicing mission. NASA says this trip is particularly risky as the shuttle Atlantis will be flying at a very high orbit of 560 kilometers. In this regional space, there's a greater chance of being hit by debris.

The British Prime Minister Gordon Brown has said sorry after revelations about MP's expense claims which have caused public outcry. He told a news conference he wanted to apologize on behalf of politicians of all parties. He said politicians had a responsibility to serve the public, not themselves.

Two journalists of a private newspaper in Zimbabwe have been arrested, the editor of the Zimbabwe Independent Vincent Kahiya and its news editor Constantine Chimakure. Their lawyer said that they had been charged with publishing a falsehood with the intention of lowering public confidence in law enforcement agencies. The charge’s related to an article which named police and security agents allegedly involved in the abduction of human rights activists from Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai's MDC Party.

The Venezuelan Foreign Minister Nicolas Maduro has accused the private television channel Global Vision, the only pro-opposition channel remaining in Venezuela of carrying out media terrorism aimed at destabilizing the country. Mr. Maduro was referring specifically to the channel's coverage last week of a moderate earthquake.

BBC News.

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