BBC news 2009-08-04 加文本

BBC 2009-08-04


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BBC News with John Jason.

The Bank of America has agreed to pay 33 million dollars to settle accusations by the US government over billions of dollars of bonuses paid out last year by its investment on Merrill Lynch. Bank of America took over Merrill Lynch to save it from collapse in the deal backed by American taxpayers' money. John Bithry reports.

Bank of America had promised its shareholders that no bonuses will be paid to bankers at Merrill Lynch without its express permission. It’s agreed to buy the struggling investment bank in September. On the same weekend that talks to save Lehman Brothers from collapse failed. Like Lehman, Merrill Lynch was brought to its sneeze by debt links to the US housing market that became toxic and lost its value. But after Merrill was rescued by BOA, it went ahead and paid its staff 3.6 billion dollars in bonuses anyway. Shortly afterwards Bank of America was forced to go to the government for billions of dollars in extra taxpayer’s support, and the revelation of the payments caused a public outcry.

The American Ford motor company says its sales rose in July, the first rise in 20 month. Overall the increase was 2% but retail sale of its main car brands Ford, Lincoln and Mercury were 9% higher than the same month last year. Analysts say some of the increase was due to the popular US government subsidies being offered for those who trade in old cars.

A Judge in Los Angles has awarded permanent custody of Michael Jackson's three children to the singer's mother. From Los Angles Peter Bows has the details.

Katherine Jackson who is 79 was the only person formally to petition for custody of her son's three children. Michael Jackson said in his will that he wanted his mother to care for Prince Michael, Pairs and the youngest Prince Michael II who’s often referred to his blanket. The nature mother of the two eldest children Debbie Row has been given visitation rights. The Judge also granted Katherine Jackson a family allowance from the singer's estate to help meet the cost of bringing up the children. The dollar amount was not revealed in court.

An outbreak of tribal violence in south Sudan has left at least 185 people dead, most of them women and children. Officials in Jonglei state said gunmen from the Murle tribe launched a dawn raid on the rival group the Nuer, overwhelming a small detachment of troops that was guarding their camp. They said 12 soldiers were among the dead. The commissioner of the area Goi Jooyul Yol told the BBC the gunmen set out to inflict a high number of casualties. We’ve voiced over his words due to the bad quality of the line.

The attack was well organized and planned and there was a lot of reconnaissance before the attack because they knew exactly who they were targeting and they are people who are really organized. And I’m really alarmed and shocked to find out that even the soldiers with guns could not resist their attack.

You are listening to World News from the BBC.

The Mexican authority say they've arrested a drug trafficker who they believed is the largest exporter of synthetic drugs to the United States. The man Miguel Angel Beraza was detained during a raid on a family ceremony at a church in the western city of Michoacan. He is thought to be a leading member of a drug cartel known as the Michoacan Family which recently launched a major offensive against federal forces in western Mexico.

A 20 degree drop in temperatures has helped fire fighters to contain forest fires on La Pama in Spain's Canary Islands. The fires which began later on Friday led to 4,000 people being evacuated. The strong winds that were fanning the flames have now also eased.

A British rower has become the first woman to row solo across the India Ocean. Sarah Outen arrived on the island of Mauritius after rowing almost 5,000 kilometers since setting off from the western coast of Australia in early April. She braved ten-meter waves in shark-infested waters to become both the fastest and the youngest person to make the crossing. Miss Outen said she was finding it hard to adjust to being back on land.

I'm sitting in a room at the moment that my boat is the same too. It's crazy. I'm sitting on a sofa and this is about the biggest of my cabin. Your walking around is a bit of abnormality. I'm not very good at walking. I can stand up but I have to bit of hold on to things to walk. It's like I've been at the beers all night or something. I’m a bit wobbly.

A play is opened in Northern Ireland with both of the actors and the audiences of just 5, all crammed into the back of a taxi. Two Roads West concerns the violent 30-year-struggle between Protestants and Roman Catholics, known locally as the travels. It was written by a former IRA supporter, Laurence McKeown and it is the story of a woman returning to Northern Ireland after a 40-year absence. The taxi takes around many of the hot spots of the conflict. It lasts for an hour, but can take a little longer depending on the traffic.

BBC News.