BBC news 2009-07-09 加文本

BBC 2009-07-09


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BBC News with Mike Cooper

Leaders of the G8 leading industrialized countries meeting in Italy have agreed to try to limit global warming to no more than 2 degrees Celsius by the year 2050. The summit also pledged to aim for much larger cuts in carbon emissions. They want developed nations to reduce them by 80% by 2050, and the rest of the world to commit itself to 50% cuts. Here is James Robbins.

G8 countries are convinced they have given a clear lead. President Obama has joined Gordon Brown and others agreeing the aim of restricting global warming to no more than 2 degrees Celsius. How that can be guaranteed is unclear, but the most developed nations are also setting themselves an ambitious goal for emissions cuts by 2050. The next step, talks with the largest emerging economies tomorrow, including China and India. And India is already saying the year 2050 is too far off. Very difficult negotiations still lie ahead.

A congressional report in the United States has disclosed that undercover government investigators were able to smuggle bomb-making materials past security checkpoints into federal buildings over the last 12 months. It comes as the Senate Homeland Security Committee holds a hearing into failings of the Federal Protective Service. John Domason reports.

This report makes pretty embarrassing reading. It says at ten different buildings including the offices of a senator and a congressman, undercover investigators were able to smuggle in bomb-making equipment, once inside they were able to assemble their bombs and walk around freely. The report also flagged up the problem of security guards falling asleep on the job. And in an incident where one guard accidentally fired his gun into a bathroom mirror while practicing pulling it out of its holster. On one occasion, a security officer even didn't notice he sent a baby through an X-ray machine.

The Communist Party chief in Urumchi in China Xinjiang province says the situation there is under control following the recent rioting in which more than 150 people died. The party boss Li Zhi blamed the riots on groups within the Muslim Uigur and Han Chinese communities. Troops have been deployed in Uigur districts of the city. Here is Quentin Sommerville.

Several thousand paramilitary troops took up positions surrounding the Uigur neighborhood. With machine guns and riot gear, they formed a long green line between both sides in this ethnic conflict. But even they weren't able to stop vigilante group of Han Chinese attacking Uigur men. That part of town remains surrounded tonight, but in the rest of  Urumchi, the curfew has been lifted. This city is more peaceful than it has been in days, but it still remains divided.

The International Monetary Fund says the world economy is beginning to pull out of recession, but it says there are still problems in financial markets and banks and that the developed economies are unlikely to resume growth until next year. But it says the uNPRecedented efforts in economic and financial policies have proved a stabilizing factor.

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