BBC news 2009-10-31 加文本

BBC 2009-10-31


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BBC News with Michael Poles.

European Union leaders have ended a summit with an agreement to contribute to the huge sums required by developing countries to combat climate change. The EU estimates that governments worldwide would need to fund as much as 74 billion dollars a year by 2020. From the summit in Brussels, Jonny Dymond reports.

This summit was never going to agree on an overall figure that Europe would put on the table at Copenhagen. Diplomats all agreed that that would be a foolish negotiating tactic, but there the agreement ended. Britain, the Swedes and the European Commission wanted some indicative figure to take to Copenhagen; others wanted no figures at all. Poorer EU states wanted to know whether there was going to be help from richer ones. In the end compromise was found. In the summit conclusions, the EU suggests a figure of between 32 and 74 billion dollars for the total annual global public contribution to developing nations by the year 2020.

Indians living deep inside the Amazon Rainforest have found the survivors of a plane which crashed on Thursday. Military aircraft with 11 people on board came down in northwestern Brazil. Our correspondent Gary Duffy reports from Sao Paulo.

The single-engine Cessna plane was carrying health officials from the government agency which looks after the welfare of indigenous tribes. The Brazilian authorities said the plane along with several surviving passengers and crew was found deep in the rainforest by members of the Matis tribe. The survivors were to be taken by helicopter to a nearby airport, where they were to be met by relatives. The plane came down in one of the largest Indian reservations in the country, which is home to several tribes, some of which have had only limited contact with the outside world.

Congress in Honduras has been handed an agreement which could result in a return of the ousted President Manuel Zelaya. The document has been signed by representatives from Mr. Zelaya's team and his political rival, the interim President Roberto Micheletti. It sends out plans for the power-sharing government with presidential elections to go ahead its plan in November.

The British-based oil company BP has been fined a record 87 million dollars by safety regulators in the United States. They said BP had failed to correct safety hazards at a refinery in Texas, where 15 people died in an explosion four years ago. Here's Mark Gregory.

A six-month investigation by the US regulator found BP had failed to address safety concerns raised by the refinery explosion. Inspectors uncovered hundreds of violations of an agreement the company had signed to deal with the hazards. BP said it was disappointed by the regulator's decision to impose a record fine. The company has previously paid 50 million dollars in penalties to settle a criminal investigation into the explosion and two billion dollars to compensate victims.

World News from the BBC.

Pirates in Somalia have issued a ransom demand of seven million dollars for the release of a British couple kidnapped from their yacht off the coast of East Africa. From Nairobi, Will Ross reports.

The pirates have been holding discussions for several hours in Harardhere on the Somali coast. They were trying to agree how much money they wanted for the release of Paul and Rachel Chandler. Then one of the pirates made a phone call to the BBC. He said the ransom had been set at seven million dollars. In previous cases, the pirates have begun negotiating with an extremely high figure and then settled for far less. It's not clear who is likely to pay. Relatives say the Chandlers, who have both retired in their 50s, are not wealthy. And while the British government is involved in efforts to secure their release, it has a policy of not paying ransom.

United Nations refugee agency says that an unknown number of internal refugees in Yemen have been killed or wounded during an exchange of fire between government forces and Shiite rebels in the north of the country. The UNHCR says the incident happened at Al Sam camp on the outskirts of the regional capital, Saada. Its sources say a rocket or mortar landed in the camp, where some 500 people fleeing the fighting have taken refuge. Women and children were among the victims.

The Philippines has been struck by a powerful typhoon, the fourth storm hit the country in less than a month. It's made landfall in the eastern part of the country, and is now spinning towards the capital Manila, where some districts are still submerged after the typhoons which struck in early October.

A 13-year-old Dutch girl has been stopped by a court from sailing around the world on her own. Laura Dekker wants to become the youngest person to sail solo around the world, but the judge ruled she was too young to make the trip even though her parents had given their support. She's been put into the care of child care services until her school year ends in July.

And that's the latest BBC News.