BBC news 2009-07-08 加文本

BBC 2009-07-08


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BBC News with Jonathan Izzard

A star-studded musical tribute to Michael Jackson has been staged in Los Angeles before 17,000 ticket-holders and watched live by millions more as TV stations around the world cleared their schedules. Dozens of friends and international celebrities paid tribute to the singer in words or music, his daughter Paris called him "the best father you could ever imagine". David Willis reports from Los Angeles.

As expected, there was little mention of Michael Jackson's often controversial past. This was a deeply moving tribute to the singer's considerable musical legacy. The ceremony began with the arrival of the casket born by his four brothers, the surviving members of the Jackson Five, each of whom wore a single white sequent glove, tears streamed down brother Jermaine's face later as he sang "Smile though your heart is breaking "said to be Michael Jackson's favorite song. The finale involved all the participants including Smokey Robinson and Lionel Richie singing "Heal the world' followed by a surprised statement by Michael Jackson's 11 year-old daughter Pairs who said simply that he was the best father ever.

The United Nation's Refugee Agency says there has been a huge exodus of people from the Somali capital Mogadishu, because of an escalation of fighting between the government and Islamist insurgents. Mark Doyle reports.

The civilian population is terrorized, an MSF official said, adding that in the past two weeks the number of dead and wounded had drastically increased. Many of the over 200,000 people to have fled the latest fighting in recent weeks have taken refuge along a road that leads from Mogadishu to the town of Afgooye. Around a half a million people are living along that roadside in flimsy shelters made of sticks and plastic.

The American Secretary of State Hillary Clinton has confirmed that the Costa Rican President Oscar Arias will serve as the official mediator in the crisis in Honduras. Mrs. Clinton called on all sides to refrain from violence. James Coomarasamy reports from Washington.

Secretary Clinton made her announcement after a private meeting with the ousted Honduran President Manuel Zelaya, who was shuttled between Washington and Central America since being deposed last month. She said that all parties had agreed that the Costa Rican leader would serve as a mediator, a role he’d played in previous regional conflicts in which he’d earned a Nobel peace prize in 1987. Mrs. Clinton urged all sides in Honduras to find a peaceful solution to the current crisis, saying she was pleased that Mr. Zelaya had agreed not to force his way back into the country as he had tried to do unsuccessfully at the weekend.

The Upper Chamber of the British Parliament has rejected a motion to make it legal to help terminally ill people travel outside the country for "assisted suicide". More than 100 British people have traveled to Switzerland where organizations legally helped them to commit suicide. The law in England and Wales states that assisting a suicide is punishable by up to 14 years in prison.

World News from the BBC

People in Indonesia begin voting soon in a presidential election. Opinion polls show the current President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono to be the favorite. He says he's brought stability and growth to Indonesia after the turmoil flamed 1990s when President Yudhoyono was forced from power. The country’s former president, Megawati Sukarnoputri and the Vice-President Jusuf Kalla are the other challengers.

The Chinese authorities have re-imposed the night-time curfew in Urumqi, the capital of Xinjiang province following a second day of serious rioting by local Uighurs and a show of force by Han Chinese. More than 150 people have died in the unrest. Quentin Sommerville reports from Urumqi.

China began the day saying it had the city under control, but a surprise interruption to a government tour showed that claim to be false. Afterwards, the authorities said order had been restored. But only an hour later, there were more protests. Ethnic harmony and stability are watchwords for China's leadership. But there has been little of either on display here in Xinjiang. After days of violence and threats, Uighurs and Han Chinese have never been further apart. It will take more than the additional troops arriving here tonight to bring the people who share the city back together.

The President of Iran Mahmoud Ahmadinejad has again said that the country's recent elections were free and fair, speaking on Iranian state television, Mr. Ahmadinejad described them as the freest elections to be held anywhere, adding that they set an example to the world. He said Iran's enemies were upset by what he described as the epic turnout of the polls. Our BBC correspondent says that Mr. Ahmadinejad may face a hostile Parliament when he comes to present his new cabinet.

President Obama has urged the Russian people to join Americans in burying the antagonism of the Cold War. Addressing business school graduates in Moscow on the second day of his visit, he said the days when big powers could treat other countries like chess pieces were long gone, and both nations would prosper from cooperation.

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