BBC news 2009-05-27 加文本

BBC 2009-05-27


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BBC News with Jonathan Izzard.

California’s Supreme Court has upheld a ban on marriages between couples of the same sex. However, it’s also ruled for the ban shouldn't apply retrospectively to the 18,000 couples who were married after June, 2008 when gay marriage was legal. Peter Bowes reports from Los Angeles.

Last November, California voters passed an amendment to the state's constitution defining marriage as being between a man and a woman. Gay rights campaigners argue that the ban on same-sex marriage was put on the ballot paper improperly and change the law to such a dramatic degree that it needed the approval of state legislators. The Supreme Court rejected that premise and ruled that the decision of the electorates should stay in force. A large crowd of demonstrators outside the court house in San Francisco voiced their anger at hearing the news.

The United States is working to build the unified response to what's being seen as North Korean defiance over its nuclear program. The American Secretary of State Hillary Clinton has been speaking to her counterparts in Russia, China, Japan and Australia after North Korea tested a powerful nuclear device and fired several missiles from its territory. Our state department correspondent Kim Ghattas reports.

Washington is pushing for a strong UN Security Council response that will make clear to North Korea there are actual consequences to its actions. US officials again repeated Pyongyang would have to pay a price if it continued on the path it was on. The Obama administration said it was pleased so far with the very swift and decisive response from the international community, including from Russia and China. But it's still unclear what sort of measures might be taken now, whether North Korea respond to them and how far China is willing to go in pressuring North Korea with which it shares a border.

Researchers have predicted the significant increase in a number of young people with diabetes, particularly in China and India over the next 15 years. Electron Neil Smith has more on the findings published in the Journal of the American Medical Association.

The study says trends of diabetes in Asia are influenced by everything from genetic and cultural differences to smoking and rates of urbanization. But its most startling findings relate to age and weight while in the west type 2 diabetes are often seen as a consequence of diet, age and obesity. Researchers say those affected in Asia are relatively young and less likely to be struggling with weight gain. Citing figures from the International Diabetes Federation, researchers say while people from Japan to Pakistan generally have lower rates of fat. They can have similar or even higher prevalence of diabetes than in the west.

The UN Security Council has voted unanimously to extend the mandate to the African Union peacekeeping mission in Somalia for 8 months and to provide more stable financing. The British Ambassador to the UN said this would cost between 200 and 300 million dollars. The Council also urged member states to fund and provide training for the Somali military and police so that they can play a greater role in providing security.

World News from the BBC.

An investigation by the Human Rights Commission in Afghanistan into an American air strike earlier this month says 97 civilians, many of them children were killed. These figures contradict the figures supplied by the American military who said 20 to 30 civilians may have been among up to 90 people killed during a battle in the southwestern province of Farah.

President Obama has officially nominated the Appeals Court Judge Sonia Sotomayor to fill the vacancy on the US Supreme Court. If confirmed by the Senate, she will be the first Hispanic person to serve. Mr. Obama described Judge Sotomayor as an inspiring woman who possessed a wealth of experience. She will be the second female judge in the current Supreme Court and only the third woman judge in the court's history. Correspondents say Judge Sotomayor has been a judge for longer than any other justice confirmed to the Supreme Court in the past 70 years.

A survey of consumers in the United States suggests that people are beginning to feel more confident about the state of the economy. The monthly consumer confidence index jumped to its highest levels for 8 months. From New York, Greg Walt reports.

The figures indicate that people are feeling a bit better about their personal financial prospects. And they triggered a big rise in share prices on Wall Street. But it doesn't mean that US shoppers have suddenly returned to their free spending ways. Unemployment continues to rise and other figures out today showed that house prices remain a depressed levels.

The Governor General of Canada Michaelle Jean has helped to butcher and eat a seal in what's being perceived as a demonstration of solidarity with seal hunters. Ms. Jean who is touring the Canadian arctic used a traditional Inuit knife to help gulp the animal then ate a raw slice of its heart which she said was delicious. She refused to say whether her actions have been a direct response to a proposed European Union ban on the import of most Canadian seal products. A spokesperson for the EU’s Environment Commissioner refused to comment on the Jean's actions saying they were too bizarre to acknowledge.

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