BBC news 2010-02-21 加文本

2010-02-21 BBC

BBC News with Deborah Mackenzie

In what's being seen as a significant step towards peace in Darfur, the Sudanese government has signed a temporary ceasefire agreement with Jem, one of the main rebel factions. The other main rebel group has so far refused talks with the government. James Copnall reports from Khartoum.
The deal is believed to include a temporary ceasefire and a framework agreement for future talks. The Sudanese President Omar al-Bashir said the death sentence against the Jem fighters convicted of attacking Omdurman had been quashed and 30% of them had been released as a goodwill measure. The exact details of the agreement are not yet clear, but the fact it has been signed is a significant step forward in the peace process in Darfur. United Nations estimates that 300,000 people have died in Darfur, but the Sudanese government puts the figure at 10,000.

NATO officials have issued reassurances about the alliance's operations in Afghanistan amid uncertainty about the future of the Dutch military contribution. The coalition government collapsed after the two largest parties failed to agree over a NATO request to extend the deployment of the Dutch military contingent. Jonny Dymond reports.
The collapse of the Dutch government early on Saturday following many hours of coalition talks makes the return of the Dutch NATO contingent from Afghanistan a near certainty. Nearly 2,000 Dutch troops currently serve in the central Afghan province of Uruzgan. Its governor Asadullah Hamdam told the BBC that the Dutch presence was vital in providing security, training police and reconstruction. A spokesman for the NATO secretary general acknowledged the difficulty of maintaining public support for operations in Afghanistan.

Officials on the Portuguese island of Madeira say more than 30 people have been killed in floods and mudslides caused by a violent rainstorm. The airport on the island has been closed, and people have been advised to remain indoors. Sarah Rainsford reports.
Torrential rain and high winds have wrecked havoc on Madeira where flooding and landslides have killed and injured dozens of people. Video images from the island popular with tourists show torrents of water raging through the streets and smashing over flood barriers. Trees have been brought down, bridges and roads washed away. One woman was killed when the roof of her house caved in. Local rescue services say they are overwhelmed by calls for help.

One of the main Sunni political blocks in Iraq, the National Dialogue Front, has said it's pulling out of next month's parliamentary elections. It's calling on other political parties to withdraw as well, saying the political process is being manipulated from abroad. The leader of the National Dialogue Front, Saleh al-Mutlaq, is one of a number of parliamentary candidates in Iraq who have been barred from standing for election by a Shia-dominated commission. Senior figures in Washington have said the commission is being influenced by Iran.

World News from the BBC

Cuba has reacted angrily to a meeting between a visiting United States delegation and Cuban dissidents. It accused the US of being provocative and of meddling in Cuba's internal affairs. US envoys met a group of government opponents in Havana after holding talks with government officials on the problems of Cuban migration to the United States.

The former American Secretary of State Alexander Haig has died in hospital in Baltimore. He was 85. Alexander Haig served three Republican presidents and tried unsuccessfully to run for the office himself. His was a military as well as a political career. He was NATO commander for five years in the 1970s.

The British Prime Minister Gordon Brown has denied claims that he once hit one of his advisers and swore at others. The allegations are published in a British Sunday newspaper. Asked about them during a television interview, Mr Brown said repeatedly that he had never hit anybody in his life.

A Turkish film has won the top award at the Berlin Film Festival - Honey by director Semih Kaplanoglu tells the story of a boy whose father disappears. The veteran film director Roman Polanski won the best director prize as Steve Rosenberg reports.
Twenty films were battling it out for the Berlin Film Festival's top prize - the Golden Bear. In the end, the jury chose the Turkish film Bal or Honey by director Semih Kaplanoglu. It tells the story of a 6-year-old boy Yusuf whose father works as a beekeeper in the forest. When his father disappears, Yusuf slips into silence. The Silver Bear award for best director went to Roman Polanski for his political thriller, The Ghost Writer. Roman Polanski wasn't in Berlin to receive his award.
That report on the veteran film director Roman Polanski was by Steve Rosenberg.

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