BBC news 2009-10-30 加文本

BBC 2009-10-30

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BBC News with Kathy Clugston.

President Obama has welcomed the turnaround in the US economy which is expanding for the first time in a year. It grew at an annual rate of 3.5% between July and September. The US Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner announced the figures to congress.

Business and consumer confidence has improved substantially since the end of /the/ last year. House prices are rising. The value of American savings have increased substantially. Americans now are saving more and we are borrowing much less from the rest of the world. Consumers are just starting to spend again. Businesses are starting to see orders increase, exports are expanding. And these improvements are the direct result of the tax cuts and investments that were part of the Recovery Act and the actions we’ve taken to stabilize the financial system and unfreeze credit markets.

European Union leaders meeting in Brussels are split over how much money to offer developing nations to cope with climate change ahead of United Nations conference on the issue in Copenhagen in December. The Swedish prime minister, who is chairing the meeting, called on EU leaders to pledge a fixed amount to encourage other rich nations such as the United States and Japan to do the same. But Poland’s Finance Minister Jacek Rostowski told the BBC a third of EU member states thought the proposals were unfair

We are willing to pay, but we should be paying on the basis of a key which takes our ability to pay into account. And it is not just about Poland, it’s a coalition of nine countries and there are countries there like Bulgaria and Latvia which are considerably poorer than Brazil and which would be expected to help Brazil in its adjustments to climate change.

And we’ve just heard that the European Union leaders have agreed on the wording of a deal intended to ensure the adoption of the Lisbon Treaty on EU reform. The deal could secure the backing of Czech President Vaclav Klaus who has yet to sign the treaty by giving the Czech Republic an opt-out from the EU’s Charter of Fundamental Rights, similar to one already granted to Britain and Poland.

The Russian-operated ship which mysteriously disappeared for three weeks in the summer has been handed over to Malta where the ship is registered. The ship, the Arctic Sea, disappeared on its way from Finland to Algeria with the cargo of timber and was eventually found off the Cape Verde islands. The Russian authorities say it was hijacked by pirates. Madeleine Morris has more.

Questions and conspiracies over the Arctic Sea still abound. The most gripping theory is that the vessel was carrying weapons to Iran and the alleged piracy incident was to cover up an arms deal gone sour. Russia has always strongly denied the ship was carrying weapons and the theory has numerous other flaws. But with the crew of the ship under a strict gagging order and no details of the investigation yet revealed, speculation is still rife.

Madeleine Morris.

World News from the BBC.

The Pakistani army says it is making good progress in its offensive against Taliban and al-Qaeda fighters in South Waziristan, a tribal area regarded as the main sanctuary for Islamic militants outside Afghanistan. Security officials said troops were closing in on a stronghold of Uzbek fighters, ally to the Pakistani Taliban near Kani Guram. But there is no independent confirmation.

The man credited with creating the internet exactly 40 years ago says he didn’t expect to develop a dark side. In a speech marking the anniversary, Professor Leonard Kleinrock said the culture in the early days was one of trust, but a dark side had grown in the form of computer attacks, identity theft and fraud. He said in hindsight he and his team should have installed stronger protection against this.

The Indian child stars of the Oscar winning film Slumdog Millionaire are in danger of losing the money from a trust fund set up on their behalf because they are missing too much school. The trust administrator Noshir Dadrawala blamed the children’s busy schedule. The children’s parents have promised to make sure the young stars attend school from now on.

Manchester United has asked the Football Association to overturn the yellow card shown to one of its Brazilian players Fabio da Silva because his twin brother Rafael should have been booked instead. Our correspondent Steve Wales explains how the confusion arose.

These two Brazilian twins, 19 years old, they are remarkably similar. The only way their teammates tell them apart is that one of them, Fabio, is married, so therefore wears a wedding ring. So you can understand how referee Chris Foy got it wrongly. Barnsley player who was fouled in the game, Jamal Campbell-Ryce was running between the pair of them, found himself in a da Silva twins sandwich, and to be honest, it was a toss-up as to which one of them clicked him on his way to the ground and referee Foy showed the wrong one the yellow card.

Steve Wales reporting.

BBC News.