BBC news 2009-10-20 加文本

BBC 2009-10-20


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BBC News with Michael Poles.

A UN spokeswoman says the Afghan President Hamid Karzai has pledged to fully respect the constitutional order in the dispute over the results of the presidential election. Mr. Karzai’s comments were made in a telephone call with the Secretary General Ban Ki-moon. The US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton says she expects a resolution to the election dispute in the coming days. Barbara Plett reports.

The UN spokeswoman said Ban Ki-moon urged Hamid Karzai to respect the constitutional process and the Afghan president promised to do so. But UN officials said the proof of that pledge would be seen in action taken by the Independent Election Commission, a body appointed by Mr. Karzai. So far it has not accepted the findings of a UN-backed fraud panel that has thrown out a third of Mr. Karzai’s votes, appearing to set the stage for a second round runoff. Hillary Clinton says she is hopeful a resolution to the disputed presidential election will be in line with the constitutional order and she expects Mr. Karzai to announce his intentions shortly.

The Pakistani army says its forces have moved deeper into the mountainous region of South Waziristan as its offensive against Taliban and al-Qaeda militants continues. An army spokesman said troops had inflicted heavy casualties, but the Taliban said they’d killed many more soldiers than the army's admitting.

United States has announced a new policy on Sudan saying it will actively engage for the Khartoum government instead of isolating it. The American Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said the engagement would hinge on the end of the conflict in Darfur, the implementation of a peace agreement with the south and the guarantee that Sudan would not be a safe haven to terrorists. Sudan called the announcement a positive step. More from Kim Ghattas in Washington.

The Obama administration will now actively engage all players in Sudan, but it will have no dealings with the President Omar al-Bashir who’s been indicted by the International Criminal Court for crimes against humanity and war crimes committed in Darfur. Another new element is what the special envoy for Sudan Scott Gration called "an integrated approach" that focuses not only on Darfur, but on the overall stability of the country through the implementation of a peace agreement between north and south.

Astronomers have announced the discovery of 32 new planets orbiting stars outside our solar system. The scientists told a conference in Portugal that the planets ranged from five times the mass of Earth up to five times that of Jupiter, the largest planet in the solar system. Matt * reports.

This latest discovery means more than 400 planets have been found outside our solar system, as yet there are none that appear able to sustain life, but the finding means that there are many more places in the universe where life could exist. Based on the new data, it’s believed as many as 40% of stars, like the sun, may have planets that orbit them. The findings were made using special equipment on a telescope at the European Southern Observatory in Chile.

World News from the BBC.

The head of the UN’s nuclear watchdog, the International Atomic Energy Agency says talks with Iran about its nuclear programme have started well. Mohamed ElBaradei said most of the technical issues had been discussed. From the IAEA in Vienna, Bethany Bell sent us this report.

Iran’s ambassador to the IAEA Ali Asghar Soltanieh backed up Mr. ElBaradei’s remarks, but gave no further comment. Earlier, statements in the Iranian media suggested that Iran is not ready to send its enriched uranium abroad. Under the deal, the fuel would be refined further in France and Russia and then returned to Iran for medical purposes such as cancer treatment. Tehran would get the fuel it needs and international powers would get a guarantee that some of Iran’s uranium stockpile would not be used for nuclear weapons.

Police in northwestern France have arrested a suspected senior member of the Spanish Basque separatist organization ETA. The Spanish Interior Minister said the suspect, Aitor Elizaran Aguilar, was the political chief of ETA and responsible for links between the rebels and political activists. Another ETA suspect was also arrested. Both were armed.

A European Union investigation has found Sri Lanka in breach of international human rights laws. The finding could mean Sri Lanka lose its preferential trade tariffs in its biggest market. EU officials said their 12-month inquiry into the conflict between the Sri Lankan government and Tamil Tiger rebels found evidence of police violence, torture and breaches of child labour laws.

Rescuers are trying to free dozens of construction workers who are trapped in the rubble of a multi-storey building that collapsed on the outskirts of the Kenyan capital Nairobi. According to reports, up to 50 workers were on the site of the 5-storey building when it gave away. One person is confirmed dead, and Kenyan Red Cross officials say at least 15 people were severely injured. There’ve been a number of calls for stricter building regulations in Kenya following similar collapses in recent years.

And that’s the BBC News.