BBC news 2009-10-01 加文本

BBC 2009-10-01

BBC News with David Legg.

A powerful earthquake near the Indonesian Island of Sumatra has killed dozens of people and left large numbers trapped under rubble. The quake triggered a landslide that blocked roads and cut power and telephone lines. From Jakarta, Karishma Vaswani reports.

The earthquake hit just after 5 o’clock in the evening. Thousands of people rushed out of their homes and offices in panic in Padang, the capital of Sumatra, and the city closes to the epicentre. The powerful tremors caused schools, hospitals and hotels to collapse, part of the roof of the airport came down. A landslide wiped out many houses. The Indonesian vice president says thousands of people are trapped under the rubble and he thinks the death toll is likely to rise.

A major relief operation is under way on the South Pacific islands of Samoa and American Samoa which were hit by a tsunami. Emergency officials said planes carrying medical personnel, food, water and other supplies were heading to the stricken islands. They said tens of thousands of survivors were in desperate need of help in villages that were inundated by waves triggered by a powerful earthquake under the ocean. More than 100 people were killed.

A senior American official has confirmed that he had talks with a minister from Burma’s military government, the first dialogue of that level for more than a decade. The US Assistant Secretary of State for East Asia Kurt Campbell said he met U Thaung on Tuesday in New York. Our state department correspondent Kim Ghattas reports.

Kurt Campbell described his two-hour long meeting with the Burmese minister as formal, careful and very respectful. He said that he had made very clear to the Burmese what is expected of them for this new dialogue to continue. At the top of the list, human rights and the treatment of opposition leader Aung San Su Kyi. Washington is also concerned about nuclear proliferation and Burma’s ties with North Korea. Mr. Campbell said that it was Burma that had made the first step towards dialogue but he added it remained unclear precisely why.

The International Criminal Court in The Hague has declared that it intends to prosecute those most responsible for the post-election violence in Kenya last year. The court had been waiting to see whether the Kenyan authorities would themselves take action after more than 1,300 people were killed in the worst scenes of violence since independence. From Nairobi, Will Ross reports.

The prosecutor at the International Criminal Court or ICC, Luis Moreno-Ocampo, has called for a three-pronged approach. He will prosecute those who bear the most responsibility for the post-election violence. These are likely to include prominent politicians and businessmen. Luis Moreno-Ocampo wants other perpetrators to be tried in Kenya and offence to be examined via the recently established Truth and Reconciliation Commission.

This is the latest World News from the BBC.

The military leader of Guinean Captain Moussa Dadis Camara has called for a government of national unity and United Nations investigation into the shooting of large numbers of civilians at a rally on Monday. The move follows international condemnation of the incident. Here is our West Africa correspondent Caspar Leighton.

Captain Camara has clearly sensed the need to make a gesture reconciliation after his presidential guard killed more than 150 people on Monday. In calling for a UN-backed inquiry, he has opened up to the strongly critical international community. The call for a government of national unity is an olive branch to his domestic critics, or that he is not yet clear is whether the opposition would take part in the government that included Captain Camara, or whether even he wants to be included. Capitan Camara took power last December after the death of the long-term President Lansana Conte and has set a presidential election for next year. The central demand of the opposition is that he rule himself out of running for president.

Four executives of the internet company Google have gone on trail in Italy accused of breaking privacy laws. The case revolves around a video posted online which showed a teenager with Down’s Syndrome being bullied. Italian prosecutors say Google broke the law by allowing the film to be uploaded without the consent of those involved.

The top give banks in Britain have decided to implement new rules on the payment of bonuses. The rules were agreed that the G20 meeting in Pittsburgh earlier this month. In a statement, the five banks said it was right that banking staff should be paid appropriately for sustainable long-term performance.

The former President of Peru, Alberto Fujimori, has received a further jail term after pleading guilty to charges of corruption and phone-tapping. The six-year term will be served alongside three earlier sentences including a 25-year term imposed this year for human rights abuses.

BBC News.