BBC news 2009-05-21 加文本

BBC 2009-05-21


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BBC News with Ian Perten.

An inquiry commission by the Irish government into the abuse of children at institutions run by the Roman Catholic Church in the Irish public has uncovered a catalogue of sexual, physical and emotional abuse stretching back decades. The report found that the church employed known sex offenders and did nothing to stop them abusing children. David William reports.

The Catholic Primate of All Ireland, Cardinal Sean Brady reacted promptly to the publication of what’s a devastating report by calling it a shameful catalogue of cruelty and neglect. But there’s been no official comment at all so far from the Vatican to the detailed allegations against church officials in the report. The problem of sexual abuse of children by priests and members of Catholic religious orders is limited neither to Ireland or to Europe, but it's remarkable that the compilers of the report published in Dublin were able to consult Vatican documents rarely available to outsiders.

In what’s being seen as a setback for President Barack Obama, both houses of the US Congress have now voted to deny funding for the closure of the Guantanamo Bay detention facility. Correspondents say legislators voted overwhelmingly to make sure detainees held at Guantanamo would not be transferred to the United States. From Washington, John Donaldson reports.

President Obama has said he wants to close Guantanamo by next January. But Senators voted 90 to 6 against transferring prisoners to the United States. The House of Representatives has already also rejected the plans. There are still 240 prisoners held at Guantanamo, but what to do with them is the question. President Obama will now have to review his plans. But the administration is insisting the January deadline for closure will be met.

A bomb has exploded in the Iraqi capital Baghdad killing at least 34 people and injuring more than 70. Security official said the blast occurred near a restaurant in the mainly Shia Muslim Shula District in the northwest of the city. Natalia Antelava has the details.

All victims are civilians and police say that the number of casualties is likely to rise. In the last few days, several similar explosions targeted crowded teashops across the capital, but this is the biggest attack this month. In late April, a suicide bomb in the same area of Baghdad killed more than 60 people. Both the Iraqi government and the Americans say that these are isolated incidents. They do not undermine their recent security gains. But many here feel the security situation is deteriorating.

Football and in the last ever Uefa Cup final, Shakhtar Donetsk of Ukraine have beaten the German side Werder Bremen by 2 goals to 1. The Brazilian Jadson scored the winner in extra time. Their victory in Istanbul, Turkey makes Shakhtar the first Ukrainian side to win the competition which will be renamed the Europa League next season.

World News from the BBC.

A coalition of international rights groups is calling for the United Nations to investigate allegations of child abductions from camps in Sri Lanka accommodating those displaced in the recent fighting. The coalition says it has verified reports of disappearances from camps around the town of Vavuniya in the north. It alleges that Tamil paramilitary groups affiliated to the government have unfettered access. A military spokesman denied the claims.

The east African regional body IGAD has called on the UN Security Council to impose an air and sea blockade on Somalia in an effort to cut the flow of arms and military assistance to Islamic militants there. Thousands of civilians continue to flee the capital Mogadishu where the militants are battling against the transitional government.

Two members of the British House of Lords have been suspended for six months for offering to push through amendments to laws-being-debated in return for cash payments from businessmen and other clients. The two Lords Peter Truscott and Thomas Taylor were caught after boasting of their influence to a journalist.

Scientists investigating why people with Down's Syndrome rarely get most types of cancer say their research may help in the search for new treatments for the disease. The researchers who published their findings in the journal Nature say they hope further study of the unique genes will review ways to fight the tumors. Torrin Douglas has the details.

People who have Down’s have a third copy of a particular chromosome-- chromosome 21 which most people only have two of. And that third copy gives them extra versions of more than 200 different genes. Now using stem cells developed from human skin and mice genetically engineered to have their own version of Down's Syndrome, the researchers have pinpointed which of these extra genes helps to protect against cancer tumors.

That's the BBC News.