BBC news 2010-05-01 加文本

2010-05-01 BBC

BBC News. This is Mike Cooper.

A huge oil slick in the Gulf of Mexico is washing a shore in the American state of Louisiana as a massive operation to contain the spill got this place. Strong winds are pushing the oil over boom set up to protect fragile wetlands and three other states are also threatened with  environmental disaster. The Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano said the oil giant BP, which operates the rig responsible for the spillage, had to do more to tackle the crisis.

"We continue to urge BP to leverage additional access to help lead the response in this effort because it's clear that after several unsuccessful attempts to secure the source of the leak, it's time for BP to supplement their current mobilization as the slick of oil moves towards shore."
BP says its response is the biggest ever mounted and it's using every available technology to stop the flow of oil.

The American Secretary of State Hillary Clinton has said she expects indirect talks between Israel and the Palestinians to resume next week. Mrs Clinton said the US special envoy, Senator George Mitchell, would be traveling to the region. Kim Ghattas reports.

The last proximity talks were launched in March. They lasted about 24 hours. Then Israel announced it was building further housing in its Jewish settlement in occupied East Jerusalem, and both the Americans and the Palestinians were incensed. Now Hillary Clinton has announced she expected those indirect talks to resume next week. The State Department spokesperson PJ Crowley also said if Palestinians felt comfortable that conditions were acceptable for talks to begin. But it's unclear what promises the US has made to the Palestinians to guarantee there will be no further unilateral Israeli actions that undermine the process.

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Tens of thousands of opposition supporters in Albania have rallied in the center of the capital Tirana, saying they'll stay there in protest at alleged ballot-rigging by the government in last year's elections. From Tirana, our correspondent Mark Lowen reports.

A sea of protesters waving Socialist party flags have gathered here in Tirana, walking from the central square to the prime minister's office where the party leader will address the faithful. Banners accusing the prime minister of fraud and of damaging the economy lined the routes. The participants are calling for the ballot boxes from last year's elections to be reopened, something the governing Democrats have refused. After months of the Socialists boycotting parliament, Albania is facing serious political deadlock, damaging its hopes of moving forward towards European Union membership.

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The Prime Minister of Greece George Papandreou has urged the country to accept economic austerity measures to avoid financial meltdown. The country is in discussions over a multi-billion-dollar rescue package as Malcolm Brabant reports from Athens.
Since this economic crisis began, George Papandreou has been forced to squeeze Greece with two bulks of belt tightening. He's not ready to announce the full details of the third and biggest program of austerity measures, but in parliament he gave a clear warning that the pain he's about to inflict is going to hurt. The trades unions have already been briefed on the new measures which are believed to include more tax rises, job cuts, reduced pensions and a three-year wage freeze for the public sector. It's also likely that the retirement age will rise to 67 from the current general average of 53 years old.

A former French Interior Minister Charles Pasqua has been given a one-year suspended jail sentence for corruption while in office between 1993 and 1995. He was convicted of benefiting from funds embezzled from a state agency that exports police equipment abroad. The 83-year-old senator, who maintained his innocence throughout, said he would appeal.

Officials in Pakistan say a human rights activist and former intelligence officer has been found shot dead in North Waziristan close to the border with Afghanistan. Police say a note attached to the body accused the man Khalid Khawaja of spying for the United States. In recent years, Mr Khawaja had campaigned for the release of dozens of people who'd allegedly been taken into unofficial custody in Pakistan.

Police in Bangladesh say more than 10,000 garment workers have protested in the capital Dhaka to demand higher minimum wages. Police used batons against the demonstrators who threw stones and blocked roads. The protesters say they don't believe the labor minister will honor promises to substantially raise wages within three months. The workers want the minimum wage increased to 72 dollars per month.

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