BBC news 2009-05-26 加文本

BBC 2009-05-26


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BBC News with David Legg

The United Nations Security Council has condemned North Korea's latest nuclear weapon test, describing it as a clear violation of its resolutions. The unanimous condemnation came less than 24 hours after North Korea confirmed that it had exploded another nuclear device. Vitaly Churkin of Russia is president of the Security Council.

The members of the Security Council voiced their strong opposition to and condemnation of the nuclear test conducted by the Democratic People's Republic of Korea, which constitutes a clear violation of Resolution 1718. The members of the Security Council have decided to start work immediately on a Security Council resolution on this matter in accordance with the Security Council's responsibilities under the Charter of the United Nations.

The French Ambassador said the resolution should include further sanctions against North Korea. The Japanese Ambassador said members should adopt it unanimously. Hours before the Security Council meeting, the American President Barack Obama described the North Korean nuclear test as reckless. Speaking in Washington, Mr. Obama said the international community must take action against the blatant violation of international law.

The authorities in Brazil say that almost 380,000 people still can't return home because of floods during the past few weeks. The government has released more than 435 million dollars in aid for the flood victims. From Sao Paulo, here's Gary Duffy.

While waters have receded in some parts of the north and northeast of Brazil, extensive flooding is still causing havoc and misery for many residents. Nearly 400,000 children are said to be missing out on classes, either because roads are blocked, classrooms are underwater, or schools have been used as shelters for the homeless. The situation is said to be most critical in the state of Amazonas, where 25 percent of all pupils are said to be affected by the situation. There has been a warning that bad weather could persist for another two weeks.

Ruth Padel, the first woman to be appointed as professor of Poetry at Oxford University has resigned after just ten days in office. It follows reports that Ruth Padel had alerted journalists to sexual harassment allegations against her main rival for the post, the Nobel laureate Derek Walcott. Here's our arts correspondent David Sillito.

Support for her had begun to drain away when it was revealed that she had before the elections spoken to journalists about her main rival Derek Walcott. She had passed on details of previous allegations of sexual harassment that had been made against him. It was a letter-writing campaign about those allegations and the media coverage that then ensued that had led to him withdrawing. Ruth Padel said she had had nothing to do with the campaign and had acted in good faith, but now felt she could not take up her post.

This is the World News from the BBC.

Six men have been arrested in Northern Ireland after a Roman Catholic man was beaten to death by what police suspect was a militant Protestant gang. Witnesses in Coleraine said the men had been targeted by more than 20 supporters of the Rangers' football team who just become league champions in Scotland. Another man was seriously injured.

More than 40 Ethiopians accused of trying to overthrow the government have again been remanded in custody after spending more than a month in detention without charge. The men allegedly planned to assassinate government figures and blow up public utilities to provoke demonstrations. More than 100 relatives and supporters gathered outside the courtroom in Addis Ababa. Our correspondent Elizabeth Blunt was there.

The families are quite upset. The ones from better connected and more educated families, some of them now have got lawyers. They are trying to find out why they can't see the prisoners, they are only on remand. The judge has simply said it is your constitutional right, just go and ask the prison. The prison has referred them to another office and to another office, and none of them have seen the people who have been held since the day of their arrests.

Cyclone Aila, which has made landfall in southwestern Bangladesh, is now sweeping westwards towards Calcutta in India. Wind speeds of 70 to 90 kilometers per hour have been reported. Weather forecasters are predicting that coastal areas will be hit by waves about two meters higher than normal. Several hundred thousand people in Bangladesh and northeastern India have already been evacuated to temporary shelters.

Members of the French National Football team will have their names written in Braille on their backs when they play Nigeria next month. It is part of celebrations of the 200th anniversary of the birth of Louis Braille who invented the script system used by blind people. He himself went blind at the age of three. Some of the football jerseys would be sold at auction to raise money for blind charities.

BBC News.


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