BBC news 2009-06-26 加文本

BBC 2009-06-26


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Reports from Los Angeles say that the pop star Michael Jackson has been rushed to hospital. The star who’s 50 years old is due to start a series of comeback concerts in London in July. Details of his condition are not known. Rogers Mirchandani is in Los Angeles.

The Los Angeles fire department has confirmed paramedics were called to Michael Jackson's luxury home in the Bel-Air area of the city at around lunch time Los Angeles time. Officials say the patient there was not breathing and that medical procedures were performed to revive him in the ambulance on the way to hospital in west Los Angeles. They would not say if the man was revived and they would not confirm his identity, but the BBC strongly believes it is the pop star.

A US celebrity website has said that Michael Jackson has died but this can not be confirmed independently.

The main opposition leader in Iran Mir-HosseinMousavi says he will not give up his campaign to overturn the result of the recent presidential election. In a statement on his website the first in four days he called on his supporters to continue protesting but urge them to avoid confrontation. Jeremy Bowen reports from Tehran.

Mr. Mousavi has not been seen in public since last week. Today’s statement was his first since Sunday. He calls on his supporters to continue to protest within the law. Opposition gatherings are banned but he points to a clause in the constitution that allows non-violent protest. On his website Mr. Mousavi says the election was a fraud and blames the violence on what he calls the fraudsters. That is a not so well attack on the leadership of this country including the supreme leader Ali Khamenei, for Iran it’s a very defiant statement.

Foreign Ministers of the G8 are gathering in the Italian city of Trieste for the first high level meeting of leading western countries since the election-related violence began in Iran. The Italian Foreign Minister Franco Frattini said that the gathering would adopt a firm and clear position.

The Untied States has confirmed that it’s sent weapons to Somalia’s beleaguered transitional government. The US State Department said the shipment went ahead after the United Nation’s Security Council agreed to grant an exemption to its arms embargo against Somalia. Will Ross reports.

A letter from the Untied States’ deputy permanent representative to the United Nations requested an exemption to the arms embargo on Somalia. It's stated America’s intention to provide the transitional federal government of Somalia with 19 tons of ammunition and additional weapons. A US state official confirmed to the BBC that arms had been sent and he said the intention was to ensure Somalia’s transitional government had the resources to confront extremists. Pro-government forces in Somalia have been fighting against rebels believed to have links to Al-Qaeda.

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Hundreds of troops have been deployed in the capital of the Central American state of Honduras in an escalating dispute of a constitutional reform. The left wing president Manuel Zelaya said he’d defy the Supreme Court and go ahead with the referendum on Sunday that could pave the way for his reelection to a second term in office. He said the court only served the interests of the rich and the powerful.

The United Nations Cultural Agency UNESCO has dropped the German city of Dresden and the Elbe River Valley from its list of world heritage sites. The move follows a decision to build a motorway bridge across the river. Our Berlin correspondent Tristana Moore reports

The city council in Dresden was warned several yeas ago that it might lose its prestigious world heritage title because of plans to build the new bridge. Environmental campaigners argue the four-lane road bridge will destroy the beautiful landscape of the Elbe valley famous for its rolling meadows and splendid palaces. Officials of UNESCO had suggested the authorities should build a tunnel under the river Elbe instead of the bridge but the authorities decided to go ahead with plans to build the controversial bridge claiming it would help reduce traffic congestion in the city center.

The American Actress Farrah Fawcett has died. She was 62 and had been suffering form cancer. Ms Fawcett was best known for her role in a television series about a trio of glamorous female detectives Charles Angeles. She became a pop culture icon with millions of women emulating her flamboyant hairstyle. In the 80s Ms. Fawcett turned to more serious roles and won a claim and award nominations for her performances.

The police in northern England have praised the honesty of a member of the public who handed in a lost rug sack containing the equivalent of 16,000 dollars in cash. The bag was found by a resident on a street in a town in the Lake District. Its owners a Dutch couple was said to be very relieved. It’s understood there was even an undisclosed sum as a thank you.

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