BBC news 2009-09-06 加文本

BBC 2009-09-06


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BBC News with David Austin.

The British Chancellor of the Exchequer Alistair Darling has said G20 finance ministers have agreed to continue to use government spending to boost their economies. Mr. Darling said the ministers from the world’s 20 leading economies meeting in London decided to maintain stimulus measures until economic recovery was better established. He said the job of safeguarding the world economy was not yet done.

Financial markets are stabilizing and the global economy is improving, but we do remain cautious about the outlook for growth and jobs. We agreed that we would continue to implement our necessary support measures, including monetary and fiscal policies, consistent with price stability and long-term fiscal sustainability until recovery is secured.

The G20 finance ministers have also agreed plans for controlling the way bankers’ bonuses are paid. But they failed to back French and German plans for an upper limit on bankers’ pay. The United States and Britain said it would be unenforceable. Our business correspondent, Nils Blythe reports.

The finance ministers have agreed on the need for global standards on the structures of bankers’ pay, so bonus payments must be spread over several years with an opportunity to claw back money if the bank’s fortunes deteriorate. On limiting the total amounts paid out, the ministers have passed on the problem to the Financial Stability Board, a new international organization of regulators and central banks. The FSB has been asked to explore possible approaches to the issue and that process is likely to continue long after the international leaders have held their summit meeting in Pittsburgh in just under three weeks time.

The authorities in Macedonia say at least 15 people are now known to have died when a boat carrying dozens of tourists sank in a lake. Witnesses said the vessel went down in a matter of seconds. Mark Lowan reports.

The rescue effort is continuing into the evening in Lake Ohrid, the site of an accident called “an enormous tragedy” by the Macedonian authorities. Divers are still searching for more bodies trapped in the wreckage under water. A definitive cause has not yet been established, but the aging vessel was severely overcrowded. It’s thought the majority of those killed were Bulgarian. The political ramifications of the disaster are now being felt. Macedonia’s minister of transport has resigned for what he called “ethical reasons”. Mark Lowan reporting.

There have been further clashes in Gabon between security forces and people protesting against the recent election of Ali Ben Bongo as president. Demonstrators in the main industrial city of Port Gentil attacked public buildings and those belonging to the French oil company Total. They accused France, the former colonial power, of helping to fix the election. A number of people are reported to have died in three days of violence since Ali Ben Bongo was declared the winner succeeding his father Omar Bongo.

World News from the BBC.

Seven men have been freed from prison on the Caribbean island of Grenada after serving sentences for the 1983 coup that led to a US invasion. The former Deputy Prime Minister Bernard Coard and six others were greeted by cheering relatives on their release. They were the last of 17 coup plotters arrested after the invasion. The group was convicted of murdering the former leftist Prime Minister Maurice Bishop.

Reports from Yemen say clashes are continuing between government forces and Shiah Muslim rebels in two northern provinces Saada and Amran. There’s been no word on casualties partly because communications in the area have been severely disrupted. The latest violence followed a brief truce. Here is our Middle East reporter Yolanda Neil.

Aid workers in Yemen say that people got their hopes up when a ceasefire was declared between government forces trying to re-impose central authority in the north of the country and Shiite Muslim rebels from the Zaydi sect. The truce was intended to help aid organizations deliver urgently needed food and medical supplies, but in the end it did not hold. According to United Nations’ estimates, 35,000 Yemenis have been displaced in the past three weeks of fierce fighting centered in the province of Saada. Many are now living in makeshift camps.

The Spanish Prime Minister Jose Luis Rodriguez Zapatero says he is ready to send more troops to Afghanistan. Mr. Zapatero said the Defense Minister would probably ask Parliament to send about 200 extra soldiers. About 1,200 Spanish troops are currently serving in Afghanistan.

More than 4,000 hearing impaired athletes and officials from around the world have gathered in Taiwan for the 21st Deaflympics. The tournament which is sanctioned by the International Olympic Committee opened with a ceremony in the capital Taipei. China boycotted the Deaflympics opening ceremony, but Chinese athletes are expected to take part.

That’s the BBC News.