BBC news 2009-09-05 加文本

BBC 2009-09-05


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BBC News with David Austin.

The White House said it’s gravely concerned about reports that civilians were among 90 people killed in an attack by NATO-led aircraft in Afghanistan. Local officials said up to 30 civilians had been killed. The Afghan President Hamid Karzai said targeting civilians in any form was unacceptable. And the NATO-led forces have expressed their regret. Chris Morris reports from Kabul.

Two fuel tankers were hijacked by the Taliban last night in the province of Kunduz. A few hours later the tankers were destroyed by a NATO air strike. NATO said it believed only insurgents were in the area when the attack took place. But several sources in Kunduz say both Taliban fighters and civilians were among the dead. President Karzai expressed deep sorrow for the loss of Afghan compatriots. And the NATO Secretary General Anders Fogh Rasmussen said an investigation is underway.

The Chinese authorities say five people have been killed in the unrest in the city of Urumqi this week. Almost 200 people died in July in fighting between Muslim Uighurs and Han Chinese. The latest protests were triggered by reports of a series of stabbings by people armed with hypodermic syringes. Michael Bristow reports from the city.

Riot police armed with batons, shields and rifles fanned out across the city at first light. After two days of demonstrations, the authorities seemed intent on preventing further protests, but that warning went unheeded. Tempers flared and there were clashes between protesters and the riot police. Tear gas was used. The Minister for Public Security, Meng Jianzhu, has now arrived in Urumqi. He says he wants to restore order as soon as possible.

The rate of unemployment in the United States has hit a 26-year high. However, analysts say the number of job losses was lower than expected and suggest that labor market conditions might now be stabilizing. Our Washington correspondent Kevin Connolly reports.

The news from America’s labor market remains bad and the economists are left to quarry what nuggets of encouragement they can from the observation that the rate at which is getting worse is slowing down. The most widely used measure of unemployment now stands at 9.7%, its highest level since 1983. But while 216,000 workers lost their jobs in August, that does compare well with the early stages of this recession when unemployment rose by as much as 700,000 in a single month.

The authorities in Sierra Leone say they are closing down nearly 50 health clinics in the capital Freetown because they say they are stuffed by people with little or no medical training. The Deputy Health Minister said people had been killed in botched operations, and that inappropriate treatment was given to patients. He said many of those working in the clinics were foreigners. Sierra Leone’s health care system was badly damaged during the 11 years of civil war that ended in 2002.

This is the World News from the BBC.

There’s been more violence in Gabon as the constitutional court confirmed the election of Ali Ben Bongo as the country’s new president with 41% of the vote. About 50 people were arrested in the city of Port Gentil overnight during unrest following the announcement of the election result. Ali Ben Bongo succeeds his father Omar Bongo who died in office after more than 40 years in power.

The Obama administration has expressed its concern over reports that Israel looks set to approve the construction of hundreds of new buildings for settlers in the occupied West Bank. It said the plans were inconsistent with the commitment to restart peace negotiations. Paul Adams reports from Washington.

The White House Press Secretary Robert Gibbs said the Obama administration regretted reports of Israel’s plans to approve additional construction in West Bank settlements. But for all the apparent frustration, it’s still widely believed that President Obama plans to issue an invitation to the Israeli and Palestinian leaders for a three-way meeting later this month. Sources familiar with intensive, behind-the-scenes discussions have told me they still expect to see Israel announcing a settlement’s freeze in return for a number of concessions from moderate Arab states.

Iraq has begun deploying thousand of extra police on its border with Syria as tensions between the two countries continue to rise. Baghdad accuses Damascus of harboring militants who they say have carried out a spate of bombings in Iraq. A local police chief said there was proof of Syria’s involvements and / reinforcements have been ordered by the Prime Minister. Syria has called Iraq’s accusations immoral.

Yemen says it will suspend its military offensive against Shiah rebels in the north of the country if the rebels agreed to do the same. The statement on the ruling party’s website said this was to allow aid agencies into the area. This week, the government rejected the rebel group’s offer of a truce prompting the rebels to threaten a war of attrition.

That’s the latest BBC News.