BBC news 2010-01-09 加文本

2010-01-09 BBC

BBC News with Ally Macue.

An armed gang has attacked buses carrying the Togolese national football team on the border between Congo Brazzaville and Angola. At least six members of the squad were hurt and some of the injuries are described as serious. The team was travelling to Angola for the Africa Cup of Nations which begins on Sunday. Alex Capstick reports from Angola.

It's now believed the incident took place at the border between Congo and Angola, one of the players on the bus said they had just entered Angola when a group of armed gunmen opened fire. He said they were under their seat s for 20 minutes trying to avoid the bullets. The bus driver has been killed, but is not clear how many others have been injured. The Minister for Cabinda said rebels carried out the attack. The separatist group FLEC say they did it. The Togo Football Federation has failed to inform the organizers they were travelling overland to Cabinda with no security.

The Nigerian man accused of attempting to blow up an American airliner on Christmas Day in the United States has pleaded not guilty in his first appearance in court. Mr.Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab has been indicted on six charges, including the attempted murder of the 290 passengers and crew on the airliner. Our correspondent Matthew Price was in court in Detroit.

Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab walked into court with a slight lame, perhaps as a result of injuries he sustained, perhaps because of the leg irons he was wearing. When he was called to the bench by the judge, he spoke softly. He was asked if he was on any medication and said he had taken painkillers. When asked if he had seen the copy of the indictment and understood the charges against him, he said "Yes, I have," then, "Yes, I do." His lawyer told the judge he was entering a plea of not guilty to all the charges against him.

A judge in Argentina has ordered the reinstatement of the head of the Central Bank Martin Redrado and blocked attempts by President Cristina Fernandez de Kirchner to use fund reserves to pay the national debt. Candace Piette reports from Buenos Aires.

Minutes after the news broke , television reports showed Mr.Redrado arriving by car and entering the Central Bank building. He had refused to resign despite a decree issued by the president on Thursday signed by her entire cabinet accusing him of misconduct. Earlier, the judge suspended a separate decree that sought to establish a debt to payment fund for the foreign exchange reserves.  For her part, President Cristina Fernandez has argued that the foreign reserves are needed so the country doesn't have to borrow money on the international markets at high interest rates.

There have been renewed attacks against migrant workers in the southern Italian town of Rosarno where the shooting of two people led to rioting on Thursday. Later reports say two more migrants have been shot and wounded by unknown gunmen. Thursday's riots described as the worst racial unrest Italy has seen in years broke out after a group of white youths shot African workers with an air rifle.

World News from the BBC.

The Portuguese parliament has passed a law that allows same-sex marriage, making the staunchly Rome Catholic country the sixth in Europe to do so. The Prime Minister Jose Socrates said the law would put right and justice that had caused unnecessary pain. However, it doesn't allow lesbian and gay couples to adopt children unlike same-sex marriage or partnership laws in some other countries.

There has been a further decline in a number of people in work in United States. Figures from the US Labour Department show that 85,000 jobs were lost in December. The White House has described the figures as disappointing. Later, President Obama announced tax credits worth 2.3 billion dollars for companies working on clean energy projects. He said this would help to create 17,000 more jobs.

Indian Railways has finally sacked an Assam's separatist militant 29 years after he last turned up for work. The militant Paresh Barua joined the railway as a station porter in 1978. A year later, he joined the rebels. Jason Caffrey reports.

Paresh Barua has been described as one of India's most wanted man and blame d for dozens of bomb attacks and killings in Assam. But nobody noticed he was still on the payroll at Indian Railways until last year. When the company realized Mr. Barua was still an employee, it issued an notice asking him to appear before the railway authorities by the 6th of January. When he failed to show up, he was fired. A railway spokesman confirmed he had finally been removed from his job and said a notice has been put up in the railway station where he'd worked.

The Ivory Coast and Chelsea striker Didier Drogba has been voted African Footballer of the Year by BBC listeners. It's the first time he's won the award. Didier Drogba has scored several crucial goals for its club in the English Premiership this season and he led Ivory Coast to qualification for this year's World Cup in South Africa.

BBC News.