BBC news 2009-05-30 加文本

BBC 2009-05-30


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BBC News with Marian Marshall

President Obama has announced plans to protect the United States from cyber attacks. He said America was particularly vulnerable to such threats because it was so dependent on its computer networks, such as the ones that run the stock exchange and air traffic control. Securing them, Mr. Obama argued was now a national security priority

Given the enormous damage that can be caused by even a single cyber attack, ad hoc responses will not do, nor is it sufficient to simply strengthen our defenses after incidents or attacks occur. Just as we do for natural disasters, we have to have plans and resources in place beforehand, sharing information, issuing warnings and ensuring a coordinated response.

The German government is meeting to discuss plans for the takeover of the carmaker Opel by the Canadian company Magna. The deal emerged from talks between Magna and Opel's American parent company General Motors. Financial support from the government is necessary for the agreement to go through. Earlier the Italian company Fiat long seen as the front-runner said it was pulling out of the talks. From Berlin, here is Steve Rosenberg.

Locked away in a luxury hotel by the Brandenburg Gate, Magna and GM bosses talked and tried to iron out their differences. If they failed to agree a deal, there would be no meeting at the German Chancellor's office and no financial assistance from the German government. By evening, Magna and GM announced they had reached a preliminary agreement over investment in GM's European operations. And if the blueprint meets with Berlin's approval, that could pave the way for a vital package of emergency aid for GM Europe, courtesy of the German government.

Car workers' unions in the United States have agreed to a range of concessions with General Motors in an attempt to save as many jobs as possible. They've accepted a decision to freeze pay, end bonuses, and cut health benefits to retired employees. They've also agreed not to strike until 2015.

One of the most famous American record producers Phil Spector has been sentenced to 19 years' imprisonment for murdering a woman in his Los Angeles home six years ago. The victim Lana Clarkson had been shot in the mouth. Prosecutors said she was the last in a series of women Phil Spector had threatened with guns. Rajesh Mirchandani reports.

Phil Spector sat motionless in court in Los Angeles, his eyelids drooping slightly as the sentence was read out. There were few surprises. Before sentencing, the victim's mother Donna gave a statement to the court, saying: "My beautiful daughter, I miss you so." Phil Spector's work as a music producer influenced millions. He invented the Wall of Sound production style and created some of the most memorable pop hits of the 1960s for acts like Tina Turner, the Ronettes and the Righteous Brothers. But his glittering career has been overshadowed by his crimes. His lawyer says they will appeal the conviction.

World News from the BBC

American officials say they detected activity at a North Korean missile site which could indicate the country is preparing another long-range missile test. The site is the same one from which previous long-range missiles had been launched. On Friday, Pyongyang also fired a short-range missile off its east coast.

The Peruvian Foreign Minister Jose Antonio Garcia Belaunde has defended the decision by his government to grant political asylum or refugee status to four leading opposition politicians from Bolivia and Venezuela. The two countries have sharply criticized Peru for the action. However in a BBC interview, Mr. Garcia Belaunde said that the Peruvian authorities had applied the strictest international legal standards before granting the four legal protection.

The Hezbollah Movement in Lebanon has suggested that it will seek Iranian military help for the army if the alliance it leads wins parliamentary elections next month. The Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah said current military aid from the United States wasn't giving the Lebanese army the right weapons for countering what he called the threat from Israel. He made the pledge in a speech commemorating the 9th anniversary of the withdrawal of Israeli troops from Lebanon. Mocking the US military assistance to Lebanon, he described it as useless in the face of Israeli threats.

So US Vice President Biden brought us a few tanks and cannons and trucks. What good are these? Who’s prepared to supply the Lebanese army with weapons? I’ll show you, elect the opposition and I’ll show you.

The official Iranian news agency IRNA says gunmen have opened fire at the campaign headquarters of President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad in the southeastern city of Zahedan. It said three people had been injured in the attack, one of them a child. A bomb explosion in a mosque in Zahedan killed at least 25 people on Thursday. Correspondents say the region has seen a series of clashes between police and drug smugglers.

BBC News.