BBC news 2009-10-13 加文本

BBC 2009-10-13


Download Audio

BBC News with David Legg.

The United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization says food production will have to increase dramatically over the next 40 years to feed the world’s growing population. It says climate change and fewer people working on the land will only make things worse. From Rome, here is Duncan Kennedy.

The world’s food pantry is not filling fast enough. That’s the conclusion given by the United Nations Food Agency in a report to a two-day conference on food security. It says that food production will have to rise by 70% above current levels to feed the estimated nine billion people who inhabit the earth by mid-century. That’s around 2.3 billion more people than today. The UN says even if governments scale up agriculture investments, there could still be 370 million people suffering from famine in 2050.

A French physicist at the Cern laboratory in Geneva which houses the giant particle accelerator has been charged with membership of a terrorist group. The scientist, who has his family connections with Algeria, was detained on Thursday. Our security correspondent Frank Gardner reports.

The prospect of a French nuclear physicist having alleged links to al-Qaeda has sent alarm bells ringing in counter-terrorism circles. The 32-year-old scientist, a devout Muslim of Algerian origin, has been working on the Large Hadron Collider at Cern near Geneva. But officials there stressed that he had no access to dangerous materials nor is he suspected of targeting that high-tech installation. Instead, months of covert surveillance have led officials to accuse him of discussing other possible targets in France with al-Qaeda’s violent North African wing.

The capital of Guinea in West Africa has been brought to a standstill by the first of two days of mourning called by trades unions for the people killed during an opposition demonstration two weeks ago. Human rights group say more than 150 people were shot dead by the security forces. Caspar Leighton reports.

Most people in Conakry stayed at home today while riot police with tear gas canisters patrolled the streets. Unions branded the action as a break to mourn those killed in a shockingly brutal repression of descent. But the effect is that of a general strike. The leadership has tried a difficult balancing act for the past two weeks. On one hand, it won’t accept blame for what happened and says only 57 demonstrators died. On the other hand, it has tried to join in the grief, labelling it a national tragedy. The military’s approach to today's action follows the same vein, it says it supports the mourning but it has warned people not to demonstrate in the streets.

The British Prime Minister Gorden Brown has agreed to repay nearly 20,000 dollars in parliamentary expenses after an independent review found that many members of parliament had abused their expense claims over the past few years. Mr. Brown said he will return the money and has urged others to follow his lead.

World News from the BBC.

A car bomb has killed more than 40 people in the Swat Valley in Pakistan, a region the Pakistani army had declared largely free of insurgents after an offensive against the Taliban. Military officials said the car was driven into a convoy of troops as it passed through a busy market in the town of Alpurai, killing mostly civilians.

The Indian capital Delhi has been warned that it still faces a major challenge if it’s to be ready to host the next year’s Commonwealth Games. The Commonwealth Games Federation chief Michael Fennell last month criticized the Indian organizers, saying construction delays were posing a serious threat to the games. From Delhi, here is Sanjoy Majumder.

After spending several days inspecting the venues of next year’s Commonwealth Games, Mike Fennel said that he still believes that Delhi could host a great event, but he warned time was its enemy. Many of the facilities that are being built for the games have missed their deadlines, and Mr. Fennell said there could be no more slippages. Now he’s announced that international experts with experience in organizing large sporting events will be brought in to assist Indians in a number of areas such as logistics, ticketing and operations.

The World Health Organization says it will start distributing swine flu vaccines to around 100 poorer countries in the next few weeks. The agency says the tens of millions of doses of the vaccine are being donated by three pharmaceutical companies. The virus has killed at least 4,500 people to date.

The Uruguayan Congress has approved a bill granting transsexuals the right to legally change their gender and register under a new name. The measure is the latest in a series of liberal laws approved by the centre-left Uruguayan government. The moves have been strongly opposed by the Roman Catholic Church and the opposition conservatives. Correspondents say the measures could also contribute to a loss of votes for the governing left-wing Broad Front Party in the general election later this month.

And that’s the latest BBC News.