BBC news 2009-08-27 加文本

BBC 2009-08-27


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BBC News with Neil Nunes.

Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei has said he does not believe that the leaders of the post-election protests in the country were knowingly part of any plot by foreign powers. The BBC Iran Analyst Kasra Naji reports that his statement appears to be aimed at the hardliners who have been demanding the arrest of leaders of the opposition.

The hardliners have been increasingly calling for the arrest of the top leaders of the opposition including a former President Ahaba Rason Joni. They accused him of being part of the so-called Velvet Revolution instigated by Iran’s enemies, including the US and Britain. Now Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei has sought to restrain his followers. There are signs that the recent short trials of some of the reformist politicians and journalists in which they have been allegedly confessed to be in part of the foreign plot are pushing Iran into more uncertainty.

The Sri Lankan military has described as a fabrication of video clip allegedly showing its soldiers killing prisoners during the final stages of the conflict with the Tamil Tigers rebels. An army spokesman said the rebels were known to dress in military uniforms and they were probably to blame. The video shows a man in army uniform shooting a naked man who’s bound and blind-folded with the bodies of several others nearby. The clip was supplied by a group called Journalists for Democracy in Sri Lanka. The Sri Lankan High Commissioner to Britain Nihal Jayasinghe told the BBC that government forces were not behind the shootings.

“The Sri Lankan army never engaged with the Tamil civilians. Our fight was against the terrorists. We do not know who the killers are or those people who are wielding the gun. We do not know who they are.”

One of Nigeria’s top banking executives on the run from police for more than a week has handed herself in. Cecilia Ibru who was Chief Executive of Oceanic Bank has now been questioned over a variety of fraud and other charges. She was one of five top bankers dismissed as anti-corruption police started investigating the missing billions of dollars which brought the Nigerian banking system to the verge of collapse. Our correspondent Caroline Duffield reports now from Lagos

In Nigeria’s press, Cecilia Ibru is referred to as the First Lady of Banking. She’s famous for her big personality, her attendance of lavish parties and for her trademark pearls. The newspapers here have been full of stories that she lent her nanny over 60 million dollars. For the last week, she has been on the run from police. They declared her wanted for credit market manipulation, insider trading, money laundering and fraud. On Wednesday, she walked into the headquarters of the fraud police and gave herself up.

World News from the BBC.

Tributes have poured in from across the United States and the world for the veteran American Senator Edward Kennedy who was died from brain cancer, aged 77. Among them, President Obama described him as the greatest Senator of modern times, and the former Irish Prime Minister Bertie Ahern praised his contribution to the Northern Ireland peace process. Reports say his funeral will take place on Saturday and he will be buried in Arlington National Cemetery, alongside his assassinated older brothers, President John Kennedy and Senator Robert Kennedy.

The latest election results from Afghanistan show President Hamid Karzai has widened his lead. The latest figures released by the election commission show Mr. Karzai has 44% while his main rival Abdullah Abdullah has 35. From Kabul here is Ian Pannell.

“With 17% of all votes counted, Hamid Karzai appears to be extending his lead over Dr. Abdullah. However this is still a small fraction of the overall count and these figures will undoubtedly change. The country’s election commission claims to release results on a daily basis and it will take some time for a fuller picture to emerge. The election has been beset by allegations of fraud and corruption and concerns about a low voter turnout, raising questions about how credible the process has been. There are also fears that supporters of the losing candidates could take to the streets if they feel that the election has not been legitimate.”

The British broadcaster Channel 4 says it’s dropping its ground-breaking reality TV programme Big Brother after next year’s series. The format for big brother filming a group of people locked in a house for several weeks was launched in the Netherlands ten years ago but became a global phenomenon after spreading to Britain and beyond it. The BBC's media correspondent says the program changed television, turning ordinary people into celebrities.

That is the latest BBC News.