BBC news 2009-12-26 加文本

2009-12-26 BBC

BBC News with Nick Kelly.

The Vatican says it’s impossible to protect the Pope from attacks such as the one on Thursday night, when a young woman evaded security and attacked him at the Christmas Eve mass at St. Peter's Basilica. The Pope was unhurt and has carried on with his Christmas duties. From Rome, David Willey reports.

The problem of providing effective security for the head of the Roman Catholic Church without cutting him off from his flock is a difficult challenge for his Vatican team of security advisors. Federico Lombardi, the official Vatican spokesperson, told reporters it was unthinkable to create an uncrossable wall between the Pope and his Catholic flock. The Pope uses a specially built armored vehicle covered with bullet proof glass, the Pope Mobile, at open-air audiences in St. Peter Square when the weather is fine and when he goes on tour abroad. But when he is moving about inside his own sovereign territory, the Vatican City state, he walks or travels around in a normal limousine.

United State has condemned a video released by the Taliban of an American soldier they captured in Afghanistan in June. The family has called for his freedom. Imtiaz Tyab reports.

The US military has described the video which features 23-year-old Bowe Bergdahl as a horrible act which exploits a young soldier, adding the decision to release the footage on Christmas Day as cruel. In the video, Private Bergdahl attacks US leaders for their treatment to Muslims in Iraq and Afghanistan, and warns the US it’s no match for the Taliban. Well it’s not clear when the footage was shot, the US military has said it would continue its search for the solider. Private Bergdahl disappeared in southeastern Paktya province on June 30th and is the first US soldier to be captured in Afghanistan since the US-led invasion in 2001.

Pakistani fighter jets have targeted suspected militant hideouts in the Arakzai tribal agency southwest of Peshawar, killing at least ten people. Officials say that those killed were militants, but witnesses said the bombs destroyed the house of a tribal chief, killing three women and four children. The army believes many Taliban commanders are hiding in the area.

The leader of the worldwide Anglican Church, the Archbishop of Canterbury, Rowan Williams, has used his Christmas sermon to criticize the damaging effects of modern life on children. He said they were being forced to grow up too quickly.

“We shall test you relentlessly in schools. We shall bombard you with advertising, often highly sexualized advertising. We shall worry you about your prospects and skills from the world goal. We shall do all we can to make childhood a brief and rather regrettable stage on the way to the real thing which is independence.”

The Archbishop also said that in countries wrapped by civil war, children are often abducted and turned into killers.

World News from the BBC.

A blizzard has forced scores of churches in the United States to cancel services. The snow and freezing rains also caused travel chaos to millions of people across a huge sway of the country. At least 18 people have died this week as a result of the treacherous weather conditions. Jane Moore has the details.

The storm deposited snow and ice across the mid-section of the United States, forcing some highways and airports to close.Thousands of people were left stranded as they attempted to travel to celebrate Christmas with their friends and families. Some churches were forced to cancel their Christmas services. The southern city of Texas was covered in three inches of snow, the first time the city has had more than a trace of snow on Christmas day since 1926. A state of emergency has been declared in Texas, South Dakota, Oklahoma and Minnesota.

Thai police say that the five crew members of a cargo plane that was found to be carrying tons of arms when it was seized at Bangkok airport two weeks ago have been ordered to be detained for a further 12days while the authorities carry out more investigations. The ultimate destination of the air craft has been the subject of speculation with Sri Lanka and Iran among them. But the pilot has now said that the plane was heading for Ukraine. It was carrying rocket-propelled grenades, explosives and missile components among other arms. The plane was seized after a flight from North Korea.

And Queen Elizabeth in her Christmas message has expressed sadness at the number of British soldiers killed while fighting in Afghanistan. 106 have died there this year, the highest annual total since the Falkland conflict in 1982. And focusing on the Commonwealth, the Queen said that with its billion population under the age of 25 and its political, racial and religious diversity, the Commonwealth remained a strong force for good.

BBC News.