BBC news 2009-08-05 加文本

BBC 2009-08-05

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BBC News with David Legg.

The North Korean leader Kim Jong-il has ordered the release of two American journalists who were jailed after crossing into North Korea from China in March. The announcement came during a surprise visit to Pyongyang by the former US President Bill Clinton who's now left the country. Kim Ghattas reports from Washington.

Bill Clinton's surprise mission to North Korea appears to have been successful. He met the two American journalists Laura Ling and Euna Lee in what was described as a very emotional meeting. And the country's leader Kim Jong-il has now granted the two women a special pardon and ordered their release. The White House described Mr. Clinton's trip as a private mission. But media reports in Washington suggested that the Obama administration approved the mission which had been secretly planned for weeks.

The Columbian President Alvaro Uribe has left for a 7-nation tour of South America to try to reassure his neighbors about plans to station more US troops in Columbia. He's currently in Peru and will also stop in Brazil and Chile which express concern about the enhanced US military presence on the continent. The Columbian military says that American forces could have a role at seven air, naval and army bases under the agreement currently being negotiated.

The Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi has been criticized by his own daughter over his alleged encounters with a number of young women. Barbara Berlusconi says there should be no distinction between the private and public lives of political leaders. David Willey reports.

Asked about her reaction to her father's attentions to a teenage Neapolitan would-be model, Barbara Berlusconi said she was shocked. “I have never frequented elderly men”, she said. “I have no experience of such psychological ties.”  Barbara Berlusconi's mother Veronica is seeking a divorce from Mr. Berlusconi after learning of her husband's relationship with an underage Neapolitan called Noemi Letizia. Mr. Berlusconi habitually dismisses all reports of his sexual dalliances as untrue or tries to laugh them off.

Georgia has dismissed a groundless provocation at an announcement that Russia has put its troops on high alert in the breakaway Georgian region of South Ossetia. Moscow said it acted after reports of shooting from the Georgian side of the boundary with South Ossetia. From Tbilisi, Tom Esslemont reports.

The Georgian Deputy Foreign Minister Giga Bokeria said Russia was escalating the situation by action and by rhetoric. He said that Russia's latest claim was alarming because Georgia had come under fire from the South Ossetian side of the boundary on Monday night. In a move to find evidence for the reported attacks, the 225 European Union monitors are spending more time keeping watch along the boundary, but so far have been unable to find evidence for any of the claims. This, in their eyes, appears to be more of a war of words than anything else.

This is the World News from the BBC.

The Nigerian President Umaru Yar'Adua has ordered an investigation into last week's uprising by Islamist militants, including the controversial killing of the leader of the sect Mohammad Yusuf. The president ordered his security adviser to conduct the inquiry, after allegations that the police had summarily executed Mr. Yusuf following his capture by the army.

The American Secretary of State Hillary Clinton is in Kenya at the start of an 11-day tour of seven African nations. She'll discuss trade and is likely to challenge African leaders to tackle corruption. From Nairobi, our correspondent Will Ross.

Last month, US President Barack Obama visited Ghana and laid down a challenge for the continent and its leaders. He made it clear that if Africa wanted to be treated fairly on the international stage, it had to get its own house in order. The Secretary of State is likely to repeat that call and nowhere would it have more relevance than in Kenya where some of the senior politicians have been accused of instigating election-related violence and of attempting to evade justice. Hillary Clinton's trip will also focus on two current conflicts: Somalia, which is too dangerous for her to visit and the Democratic Republic of Congo.

The Indian government has asked UNICEF, the United Nations Children's Fund to stop distributing millions of dollars of nutrition aid to children because it had been done without permission. An official said the agency had not informed the government about importing a high energy relief treatment for severely malnourished children. UNICEF says children with acute malnutrition face the risk of imminent death.

The jackpot of Italy's national lottery has reached over 166 million dollars, breaking Italian records and becoming the second highest amount ever offered in Europe. Ahead of tonight's SuperEnalotto draw, people from neighboring countries cross the border to place bets on what the winning combinations of numbers might be.

BBC News.