BBC news 2010-04-07 加文本

2010-04-07 BBC

BBC News with Kathy Clugston

The United States has announcedfar-reaching changes to its defence policy, saying it'll only usenuclear weapons under extreme circumstances. President Obama said thechanges were a significant step in a world where the threat no longercame from conflict between countries, but from rogue states and violentextremists. Kim Ghattas in Washington has the details.

When it comes to nuclear weapons, the main objectives of the Obama administration can be summarized like this - reduceAmerica's reliance on nuclear warheads, but improve the arsenal ofnon-nuclear defences. At the same time, Washington wants to focus oncombating nuclear proliferation, making it tougher for terroristgroups or rogue states to acquire weapons of mass destruction. Thedocument is carefully worded. It limits the use of nuclear weapons, butcarves out exceptions to use them against countries that break therules, in other words, countries like North Korea and Iran.

The White House has announced thatPresident Obama will have a bilateral meeting with his Chinesecounterpart Hu Jintao during a security summit in Washington next week.Relations between the two countries have been tense recently, withdisagreements over Taiwan, Tibet and China's currency policy.

Militants in Iraq have blown up a numberof apartment blocks across the capital Baghdad, killing at least 35people and injuring many more. An unknown number of people were trappedin the rubble of the collapsed buildings. The explosions hit mainlyShiite areas. From Baghdad, Jim Muir reports.

The aim of these coordinated attacks wasevidently simply to kill and harm ordinary people in their homes. Thelatest attacks have kept up the pattern of a particular theme beingchosen for the targets. Last year, it was government buildings; inJanuary, some of the big hotels; this Sunday, it was foreign embassies; and now, ordinary residential buildings. The fact that most of them were in mainly Shiite areas indicates the insurgents, presumed to be Sunni militants, may again be trying to trigger a spiral of sectarian violence as happened four years ago.

At least 75 members of the Indianparamilitary forces have been killed by Maoist rebels in the centralIndian state of Chhattisgarh. The hundred-strong patrol was attacked in a remote area of Dantewada. Chris Morris reports.

This is the worst ever attack on theIndian security forces by the rebel army known as the Naxalites whotake their inspiration from the revolutionary teachings of Chairman Mao. A large patrol of federal paramilitary troops wasambushed at dawn by hundreds of heavily-armed insurgents. The ambushwas followed by further strikes against rescue teams andreinforcements, involving landmines and sustained gunfire. India's HomeAffairs Minister P Chidambaram said the attack showed the brutality and savagery that the rebel army was capable of.

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Large swathesof the Brazilian state of Rio de Janeiro are under water afterprolonged torrential rains. Dozens of people have been killed. Paulo Cabral reports from Sao Paulo.

Landslides caused by heavy rain are toblame for most of the deaths in Rio de Janeiro. The shanty towns offavelas are often built precariously on hillsides overlooking the city.Almost every year, a number of houses collapsed during the rainy season.But this time, the numbers are more dramatic. Rescue teams are working aroundthe clock, searching for a number of people still unaccounted for.President Lula da Silva has told people in high-risk areas to leavetheir homes without delay.

The Organization of American States has rebukedChile over a court ruling six years ago in which a woman lost custodyof her children because she was living with her lesbian partner. TheOAS said the ruling was a violation of human rights. In 2004, Chile's Supreme Court ordered the woman Karen Atala to hand over her three daughters to her estranged husband.

The main party in southernSudan, the SPLM, has said it will boycott Sunday's elections in mostareas of the north. The SPLM had already announced that it wouldwithdraw from the presidential election and polls in the region ofDarfur. Correspondents say this latest announcement is anothersignificant blow to the elections which had already been hit bywidespread accusations of fraud. Most of the main opposition parties inSudan are withdrawing from the elections.

Protesters have retaken the regional government headquarters in the Kyrgyz town of Talasjust hours after being forced out by riot police. The unrest wassparked off by the arrest of an opposition leader. Nationwide protestsare planned for tomorrow to demand the resignation of PresidentKurmanbek Bakiyev. The protesters are also angry about corruption andnepotism.

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