BBC news 2010-04-03 加文本

2010-04-03 BBC

BBC News with David Austin

Pope Benedict's personal preacher has compared criticism of the Pope over the way the Church has dealt with sex abuse allegations to what he called the "collective violence" suffered by the Jews. In his Good Friday sermon in St Peter's Basilica in Rome, Father Raniero Cantalamessa quoted from a letter from his Jewish friend who had said the accusations reminded him of the "most shameful aspects of anti-Semitism". Here is our Rome correspondent Duncan Kennedy.

The comments were made in the presence of Pope Benedict by one of his inner circle. Whether the Pope knew about it in advance? "We don't know. We don't know this sort of things". Hard to imagine that it wasn't raised beforehand with Pope Benedict that these comments were going to be coming and expressed the kind of opinion that many, many of his inner circle, many, many of his supporters believe that the Pope is getting a hard time because of all this allegation and scandal about priestly sexual abuse. But in no way in their view is Pope Benedict involved what they say is that he was not part of the cover-up; he was part of the clean-up in all of this.

A short time ago, the Vatican spokesman said the remarks did not represent the Church's official position and drawing such parallels could lead to misunderstandings. There've been angry reactions from Jewish groups and those representing abuse victims.

The United States has announced it'll begin profiling US-bound passengers to improve airline security. The Department of Homeland Security said travellers would be picked up for further screening depending on how closely they matched intelligence on potential terrorist threats. Adam Brooks reports.

The specifics of these new measures remain mysterious. But they may involve things like analysing an individual's travel record and matching it against current intelligence, all before that individual boards a plane. Reportedly the US government will give more information to airlines and foreign security staff to use at check-in, and the DHS said that passengers flying to the US may notice more random screening, more checks for traces of explosives and more advanced imaging technology.

President Obama has said the United States will continue to increase pressure on Iran over its nuclear program. In an interview with the American TV network CBS, he said Iran was becoming increasingly cut off from the international community.

"The regime has become more isolated since I came in office. Part of the reason that we reached out to them was to say, 'You've got a path. You can take a path that allows you to rejoin the international community, or you can take a path of developing nuclear weapons capacity that further isolates you'. And now we are seeing them further isolated. Over time, that is going to have an effect on their economy."
President Obama's comments were broadcast after Iran's chief nuclear negotiator Saeed Jalili said during a visit to China that major western powers needed to stop threatening Tehran over the nuclear issue.

World News from the BBC

The spokesperson for the Hamas administration in Gaza Ayman Taha has said that the Islamic movement is trying to keep attacks on Israel by militants under control. He was speaking hours after Israel warned of more military action if the Palestinian rocket fire did not stop. Overnight, Israeli planes bombed a number of targets in the Gaza Strip. Britain and France have urged both sides to exercise restraint.

There has been a breakout from a prison in the northern Iraqi city of Mosul. Police said the 23 prisoners who escaped included some suspected insurgents. They are reported to have got out through a hole they've made in a wall.

The Attorney General of Pakistan Anwar Mansoor Khan has resigned, saying that the government is not cooperating after the Supreme Court ordered him to reopen a money-laundering case against the President Asif Ali Zardari. On Thursday, Mr Khan said the law ministry was not providing the documents he needed to get the case reopened in Switzerland. Earlier this year, the court ordered the authorities to restart  cases against several politicians which were dropped as part of an amnesty in 2007. From Islamabad, Aleem Maqbool reports.

Asif Ali Zardari, who's accused of having taken millions of dollars in kickbacks during the time his late wife Benazir Bhutto was prime minister, still has presidential immunity from prosecution. But the Supreme Court insists corruption investigations into his financial affairs must continue. It is undoubtedly putting pressure on an already strange relationship between Pakistan's president and its judiciary. The resignation of the attorney general puts that relationship under the spotlight even more.

A leading Senegalese imam has condemned a huge statue due to be unveiled on Saturday in the Senegalese capital Dakar, calling it a monument of shame. The statue which cost 28 million dollars is the brainchild of the President Abdoulaye Wade. It features a giant man, woman and child and will be taller than the Statue of Liberty in New York.

And that's the BBC News.