BBC news 2009-07-06 加文本

BBC 2009-07-06


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BBC News with Sue Montgomery

A plane carrying the deposed Honduran President Manuel Zelaya has left Washington, apparently en route to his home country, despite warnings from the interim authorities that they won’t allow the plane to land. It’s possible his aircraft will instead head for the neighboring state of El Salvador. Stephen Gibbs has just sent this report from the Honduran capital, Tegucigalpa.

Interim president Micheletti has called for Honduras’s neighbors to show restraint as this crisis escalates. He said that he had information that there had been some Nicaraguan troop movements at the border without going into specifics. The government here is indicating that it believes that President Zelaya’s convoy planes will land in neighboring El Salvador. At Tegucigalpa airport, thousands of those who support President Zalaya have attempted to form a welcoming party, but a security corps on and around the area has prevented most from getting through.

The US Vice President Joe Biden has hinted that the Obama Administration will not try to restrain Israel if it decides a military action to eliminate any nuclear threat from Iran. Mr. Biden said the US cannot dictate to another sovereign country what it can or can’t do. George Stephanopoulos of ABC Television asked Mr. Biden three times whether the US government would stand in Israel’s way.

Israel can determine for itself as a sovereign nation what’s in their interest and what they decide to do relative to Iran and anyone else. (Whether we agree or not) Whether we agree or not, they are entitled to do that. Any sovereign nation is entitled to do that, but there is no pressure from any nation that’s going to alter our behavior as to how to proceed. Joe Biden

Chinese state media say three people have been killed and more than 20 injured during protests in the mainly Muslim western region of Xinjiang. Reports say the demonstrators were ethnic Uighurs who make up the majority in the region. Here’s Steve Jackson.

State media say police rushed to restore order in Xinjiang’s capital Urumqi after protesters attacked passers-by and set fire to vehicles. Official reports said the three people killed were Han Chinese, who make up 90% of China’s population, but are in the minority in Xinjiang. Although the reasons for the demonstration are unclear, tensions between Uighurs and Han Chinese in the region are never far from the surface. Many Uighurs resent Beijing’s rule and the Chinese authorities have blamed Uighur separatists for a rise in violence there last year.

The latest fighting in the Somali capital Mogadishu has spread to areas around the presidential palace. Reports say insurgents fired artillery shells towards the palace, where peacekeepers with the African Union have a base. Presidential guards retaliated with heavy artillery fire, hitting a residential area and killing 12 civilians.

BBC News

The head of the Iranian judiciary has ordered the prosecution of people who cooperated with websites and foreign satellite television stations that reported unrest following the disputed presidential election, a circular said the growth of what were called “anti-regime media outlets” needed to be confronted.

On the eve of his meeting in Moscow with President Obama, the Russian President Dmitry Medvedev has expressed hope that agreement can be reached on a new Nuclear Disarmament Treaty and on Missile Defense. Mr. Medvedev said the two issues were connected, but with restraint and compromise, agreement could be reached on both. A White House official told reporters the two leaders were likely to announce progress on arms control.

The Bulgarian Socialist Party of the outgoing Prime Minister Sergey Stanishev has admitted defeat in the country’s parliamentary election. After 1/3 of the vote’s been counted, the main centre-right opposition GERB Party is in the lead by a wide margin, while failing to gain an outright majority. The GERB leader, the Mayor of Sofia Boiko Borisov said he expected to become Prime Minister and his party to lead the nation.

The Swiss tennis player Roger Federer has won the men’s singles final at Wimbledon, to record his 15th Grand Slam title, the greatest number in the history of men’s tennis. He won an epic 5-set encounter against Andy Roddick of the United States, which lasted more than 4 hours. Federer came through a nail-biting 5th and final set. The victory gives him a record 15th title in the four big tournaments, known as the Grand Slams. Afterwards, he described what it was like to hold the trophy.

“I don’t know, funny for some reason, because I was here last year and I didn’t have it, but it feels great, you know, of course it was a crazy match, you know, it was an unbelievable end, and my head’s still spinning, you know, but it’s an unbelievable moment in my career.”

BBC News.