BBC news 2010-01-01 加文本

2010-01-01 BBC

BBC News with Sue Montgomery.

The American Central Intelligence Agency has made its first comment on the biggest loss of life within its ranks for more than 25 years. The CIA head, Leon Panetta, said the seven personnel killed in Afghanistan on Wednesday had died protecting the United States from terrorism. They were killed in a suicide attack at a base in southeastern Khost province. From Washington, Kevin Connolly.
The CIA acknowledged its dead in a formal letter to all its staff from the director, Leon Panetta. They lost their lives, he said, close to danger and far from home. The officials who died inhabited a world of secrets. And for now at least their names are not being released and no details are being provided of their mission of their remote Forward Operating Base (FOB) Chapman. But the CIA in Afghanistan gathers intelligence and operates the unmanned drone aircraft used to target Taliban leaders. It was, at Mr. Panetta's letter, the hard work that must be done to protect the country from terrorism.

The authorities in Nigeria say that the Nigerian man, who has been charged with trying to blow up the American airliner over Detroit on Christmas Day, had begun his journey in Ghana. The Information Minister Dora Akunyili said the man, Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab, had flown to Lagos from Accra. She told the BBC he'd spent less than half an hour in Nigeria before boarding another flight to Amsterdam bound for Detroit.
“He arrived in Nigeria on the 24th and the scanning of his passport on entry to Nigeria was done at exactly 20:08. And the scanning of his passport as he was checking in to go to Amsterdam was done at 20:35 which means that he spent less than 30 minutes in Murtala Muhammed Airport before boarding the aircraft to Amsterdam.”
Meanwhile, President Obama, who has strongly criticized the American intelligence agencies for not stopping the alleged bomber, is receiving preliminary reports today.

A new free trade area to rival both the European Union and the North American Free Trade Area comes into operation on January 1st. It will consist of China and six founding members of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations -- Indonesia, Malaysia, Singapore, Thailand, the Philippines and Brunei, the largest trading area in terms of population in the world. The agreement will see the elimination of tariffs on 90% of traded goods. Here's our economics correspondent, Andrew Walker.
Removing most tariffs, taxes on imports will reduce the cost of trade, and is likely to lead to an expansion of cross-border commerce between the countries concerned. Chinese manufacturers will gain, and so will Southeast Asian exporters of raw materials. Those countries are also likely to gain access to cheaper materials and components from China. But there have been warnings from Southeast Asia that some industries are not ready to compete with China and those jobs will be lost.

World News from the BBC.

A US judge has dismissed all charges against five security guards from the Blackwater company suspected of killing unarmed civilians in Iraq. The judge said the Justice Department had overstepped its limits and used evidence it was not allowed to. The guards are suspected of killing unarmed civilians in a controversial incident in Baghdad in 2007, where they worked as contractors for the US military.

A gunman has shot dead five people outside the Finnish capital Helsinki before apparently committing suicide. Four of the victims died when he opened fire in a crowded supermarket. * has the details.
The incident began on Thursday morning when the gunman killed four workers at a busy supermarket in Espoo. Later, the police found the 5th body in a flat nearby. It was that of the killer's estranged partner. She also worked at the supermarket, and the police have described her as the main target, and there are indications that the other victims were killed because of their links with her. The gunman's body was later found in another flat. He was named as 43-year-old Ibrahim Shkupolli, a Kosovo-Albanian who had lived in Finland for several years.

The United Nations says it's withdrawing some of its international staff from Pakistan for at least six months for security reasons. UN officials said only non-essential staff would be moved out and operations to aid people displaced by fighting or refugees would not be affected. At least 11 UN staff have been killed in Pakistan this year.

The celebration of a new year will have an extra dimension for revelers in many parts of the world. They'll be treated to a rare blue moon. The event is defined as the 2nd full moon to a calendar month, nothing to do with the colour. The last New Year’s Eve blue moon was in 1990, and it won't happen again until 2028. This New Year’s Eve blue moon will be visible in the United States, Canada, Europe, South America and Africa. It appears on New Year’s Day in Asia and Australia.

BBC News.