BBC news 2009-08-14 加文本

BBC 2009-08-14


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BBC News with Fiona MacDonald.

One of the opposition presidential candidates in Iran, Mehdi Karroubi, has alleged that some of the people detained after the disputed election last month have been tortured to death in prison. Andrew Bolton has more

The claim by Mehdi Karroubi, one of the defeated presidential candidates, comes after he said that a number of prisoners both male and female had been raped. He’s called for the formation of an independent committee to review evidence in a calm atmosphere. The Iranian authorities have denied the rape allegations but have admitted that abuses have taken place. One detention center was ordered to close. Analysts say the Iranian opposition is using the issue to continue attacking the government without directly questioning the election victory of President Mohammed Amadinajad.

A long-running battle between two famous German carmakers has ended with the largest Volkswagen agreeing to buy a 42% stake in the sports car unit of Porsche. The two companies will complete a complex merger by 2011. With the details, here is our business reporter Theo Leggett.

The merger plan is complex but allows Porsche to retain its independence within an integrated group. The Porsche and Piech families which currently control Porsche will together remain Volkswagen’s biggest shareholder. But it’s not yet clear whether they will hold a majority stake. The German state of Lower Saxony is expected to retain a significant holding and will continue to hold a veto over key decisions taken by the board, while new investment to reinforce the group’s finances is expected to come from the Middle Eastern Emerald of Kasa.

The finance ministers of Germany and France have hailed figures which show the two countries have unexpectedly returned to growth after a year of recession. The German and French economies each grew by 0.3% in the 2nd quarter of this year, confounding forecast that they’d continue to shrink. The French Finance Minister Christine Lagarde told the BBC why she thought that France had fared better than expected.

Our banking system has been slightly more stable and more solid than in other places. Number two, we certainly launched a policy of NO.1 reforms NO.2 re-launch growth as much as we could and we started quite early on, particularly in respect to the automotive sector. And I think that that particular part was extremely helpful.

The United Nations Security Council has expressed serious concern at the imposition of a further period of house arrest on the Burmese pro-democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi. The council’s statement which called for the release of all political prisoners in Burma came after two days of debate. Earlier, the European Union extended its sanctions on Burma. The EU said that the judges involved in Ms. Suu Kyi’s sentencing will be subjected to asset freezes and bans on travel to EU countries.

World News from the BBC

Gunmen in the southern Russian region of Dagestan have shot and killed four police officers and seven civilians. The attackers opened fire on a police checkpoint, a nearby sauna. Islamist rebels have been blamed for an upsurge in violence in Dagestan and the neighboring regions of Ingushetia and Chechnya.

The executive board of the International Olympic Committee has recommended that golf and rugby sevens will be the new sports in the 2016 summer games. The decision was made at a meeting of the IOC board in Berlin. Rugby sevens is a faster seven-a-side version of rugby. Golf has not been played at the Olympics for more than 100 years. The boarders also confirmed that women’s boxing will be part of the London Olympics in 2012. James Pearce reports.

After years of campaigning, finally the decision of women’s boxing had wanted, the chance to compete alongside the men at London 2012. Women have boxed at an Olympics once before back in 1904, but after that they were banned from competing anywhere for most of the 20th century let alone at Olympics. But times change, until today, boxing was the only summer Olympic sport that didn’t allow women to compete. The decision to reverse that policy is another boost for a fast developing sport.

One of the American pioneers of the electric guitar Les Paul has died at the age of 94. Les Paul made his name contributing to the first solid body electric guitars, the instruments that created the distinctive sound of rock and roll. One of his designs that gifts Les Paul was a favorite of the greatest rockers of the 20th century, including Van Morrison, Keith Richards, Pete Townshend and Eric Clapton.

Europe’s biggest lottery draw has disappointed millions of ticket holders after no one picked the winning six-number combination. Italy’s SuperEnalotto pot now rose to 194 million dollars. The jackpot hasn’t been won since January, despite being drawn three times a week.

 BBC News.