BBC news 2009-08-13 加文本

BBC 2009-08-13


Download Audio

BBC News with Jonathan Izzard.

The BBC has learned that a Libyan man convicted of the 1988 Lockerbie bombing is likely to be released from a Scottish prison next week on compassionate grounds. Abdelbaset Ali al-Megrahi has terminal prostate cancer. Steve Jackson reports.

Abdelbaset Ali al-Megrahi is serving a life sentence in jail for blowing up a Pan Am airliner over the Scottish town of Lockerbie, killing 270 people. But the BBC has now learned that preparation is being made to free him and return him to Libya by the end of next week in time for Ramadan. The Scottish government has yet to make a formal order for Mr. al-Megrahi's release but is expected to do so within days. Freeing him is likely to be a controversial move with the US attorney general and many relatives of those who died in the bombing fiercely opposing his release.

Georgia has strongly condemned the visit by the Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin to its breakaway region of Abkhazia just a year after the two countries fought a brief war over the territory. Mr. Putin promised to spend 500 million dollars next year on military bases in Abkhazia and on fortifying the territory's border with Georgia. Richard Galpin reports from the Abkhaz capital Sukhumi.

The Russian prime minister was given a hero's welcome here by relatives of those killed in the first war with Georgia in the early 1990s, people calling him a guardian angel and thanking him for Russia's military intervention last year which crushed Georgia's hopes of regaining control of its breakaway regions. A top advisor to the Abkhaz government said Abkhazia had no choice but to get help from Russia. Just like in Georgia's, other breakaway region of South Ossetia, Moscow has now taken full control of security here.

The American Secretary of State Hillary Clinton continuing her African tour has asked Nigeria to take a firmer line on corruption and on strengthening democracy. Mrs. Clinton, who's been meeting senior figures from the government and political parties, offered American help to implement electoral reform in Nigeria.

We strongly support and encourage the government of Nigeria's efforts to increase transparency, reduce corruption, provide support for democratic processes in preparation for the 2011 elections.

The authorities in the Chinese capital Beijing have reportedly ordered hotels and residence there not to give lodging to people trying to petition the central government about local grievances. Reports from Hong Kong said the measure is to be enforced for two months.

The police in Sri Lanka say they're to round up all the street children in the capital, Colombo, to ensure that they go to school. A police spokesman said the children would be brought to Magistrate’s Courts if parents or guardians could be traced, they too would be summoned. The official said that if the children's families couldn't afford to send them to school, the government would fund it. The authorities expect most of the operation to be over in a few days which the BBC correspondent in Colombo describes as an ambitious target.

World News from the BBC.

The United States central bank, the Federal Reserves says it will keep interest rates close to zero for an extended period. It said it wanted to ease the effects of recession despite signs of recovery in the economy. Greg Wood reports from New York.

The Federal Reserve believes that the US economy has entered a new phase, whereas two months ago it thought the activity was continuing to decline, albeit at a slowing pace. It now detects signs that the economy is leveling out. In other words, things are not getting worse. Household spending has stabilized and companies are rebuilding their stocks of goods, but this is not yet a recovery. Jobs are still being lost, incomes are growing sluggishly and credit remains tight.

A court in the United States has ordered the software giant Microsoft to pay more than 290 million dollars in damages to a Canadian firm i4i for violating a patent. A district court in Texas also barred Microsoft from selling any products that contain the patented technology, including versions of its popular word processing software Word. The patent, relates to the use of a programming language called XML. Microsoft said it would appeal against the judgment.

In some of the strongest criticism to date, the Roman Catholic Church says it feels mortified by revelations surrounding the private life of the Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi. An editorial in the Italian Bishop's Conference Newspaper says the church has sent clear signals about its unease. Mr. Berlusconi's political party relies heavily on the support of Catholic voters.

The acclaimed opera singer Dame Kiri Te Kanawa said she was retiring. Dame Kiri, who is 65, said the strain of performing was becoming too intense. She will be singing for the last time in Germany next April. Dame Kiri started singing popular music in New Zealand in her late teens and gained attention as a classical singer when she won an opera contest in 1963. Her career blossomed after she moved to London to study.

BBC News.