BBC news 2010-01-21 加文本

2010-01-21 BBC

BBC News with Nick Kelly.

President Obama has said his proposed health care legislation won't be debated in the Senate until the newly elected Republican senator from Massachusetts has taken his seat. In an interview with the American television channel ABC, Mr. Obama said the people of Massachusetts had spoken and the Republican candidate Scott Brown had to be part of any discussion on health care. He gave this reaction to the result.

"Here's my assessment of not just the vote in Massachusetts but the mood around the country. The same thing that swept Scott Brown into office swept me into office. People are angry and they're frustrated not just because of what's happened over the last year or two years but what's happened over the last eight years."

The Republican victory means that Democrats have lost their super majority in the Senate. The 60 votes to ensure legislation is passed.

The United States is sending 4,000 more military personnel to Haiti to try to reach those survivors from last week's earthquake who've yet to receive aid. US marines have been landing heavy equipment and other supplies near the epicenter of the earthquake to the west of the capital Port-au-Prince. The Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said essentials were reaching Haiti despite difficulties.

"Food, water, medical supplies and other essential aid continue to flow into the country, and relief workers are operating around-the-clock to deliver more aid more quickly to more people. There are significant challenges -  devastated infrastructure, limited transportation options, security concerns, but we are making real progress every day."

A study by a Canadian research team says the number of people killed in the conflict in the Democratic Republic of Congo may be just half that previously thought. The Human Security Report Project says a figure of almost 5.5 million since 1998 in a previous study was flawed. They say it doesn't take into account the people who would have died without the war.

The Afghan government and its international partners have agreed to increase the country's security forces by more than 100,000 by the end of next year. The decision comes ahead of a conference in London at the end of the month which will aim to boost international support for Afghanistan. Martin Vennard has more.

Such a large increase in the Afghan security forces will come as a challenge for the government and its international supporters. Up to now, the Afghan police and army have suffered from a lack of funding, equipment and reliable recruits. Under the plan, the number of troops and the army would increase by some 70,000 to more than 170,000. The number of Afghan police officers would rise by about 40,000 from the current level of more than 19,000. President Obama has said he wants to begin withdrawing American forces from July 2011 with Afghans playing a greater role in providing their own security.
Martin Vennard.

You are listening to the World News from the BBC.

Clashes in central Nigeria have left hundreds of people dead with Christian and Muslim rioters burning down buildings and attacking places of worship. The army has established control of Jos where the fighting erupted on Sunday. But there have now been attacks in the town of Pankshin. The security forces are enforcing a 24-hour curfew in Jos.

Twenty-three prisoners have been killed during a battle between rival drug gangs at a prison in Mexico. Officials said that the fighting broke out between inmates and new arrivals during breakfast at the prison in the northern state of Durango. The state has become a battleground between the Sinaloa cartel, which controls drug routes to the United States along the west coast of Mexico, and the rival Gulf cartel from the other side of the country.

Pope Benedict has summoned the heads of the Roman Catholic Church in Ireland back to the Vatican to discuss recent revelations of widespread child abuse by Irish priests. From Rome, Duncan Kennedy has this report.

A Vatican spokesman said Pope Benedict would meet the bishops in mid-February to discuss the Ryan and Murphy reports. They were published last year. The Murphy inquiry uncovered systematic abuse of children by priests in the Dublin area stretching back 30 years. The Murphy report detailed abuse against thousands of children in orphanages and schools. A number of bishops have resigned in Ireland following their publication. Pope Benedict has already had one meeting with senior church figures where he expressed his indignation.

And in Germany, the international terminal at Munich airport has been reopened after a security alert when a man, whose laptop computer was being checked for explosives, ran off with it. Security equipment had indicated there might have been explosives in the computer. The terminal was evacuated and more than 1,000 police officers searched for the man, but didn't find him. All the passengers then had to go through security again before the police gave the all clear.

BBC News.