BBC news 2010-05-26 加文本

2010-05-26 BBC

BBC News with Jim Lee.

North Korea has announced it's cutting off all relations with South Korea. The decision comes after sharply increased tension between the two countries following the sinking of a South Korean navy ship in March. Jonathan Marcus reports.

Within a matter of days, relations between the two Koreas have returned to the freezer. The diplomatic goal now will be to ensure that a renewed cold war on the Korean peninsula does not generate into a hot conflict. North Korea's announcement that it's breaking off all ties with the South comes after an independent report showed that the South Korean warship sank last March was destroyed by a torpedo. South Korea has already broken off most economic ties between the two countries and is pursuing the matter at United Nations.

The head of the International Monetary Fund Dominique Strauss-Khan says the European debt crisis is the main risk to global economic recovery. But at the same time, he said he believed there was no threat to the euro. His comments follow sharp falls on global stock markets.

The Italian government has approved a 29-billion-dollar package of budget cuts to help reduce the country's fiscal deficit. The package includes pay freezes for civil servants and cuts in health spending. Here is Duncan Kennedy.

The program of savings had been expected, but the numbers are still large and will make life uncomfortable for millions of Italians. The cuts will mean a pay and recruitment freeze for jobs in the public sector, a delay in retirement for state workers, reduce funds to local government and a further attempt to stop tax evasion. Italy's budget deficit stands just under 5% of GDP. The aim is to get it below the European Union's target of 3%. One government source said this would be tough with heavy sacrifices. A shopper at a northern Italian market said "They cut, cut and cut. What then? I don't know," he said.

Police in Jamaica say 27 people have been killed in the capital Kingston in clashes between the security forces and supporters of an alleged drugs lord. The majority of those killed are civilians. Gunfights erupted as police and soldiers searched the Tivoli Gardens district, looking for Christopher Coke who's wanted in the United States. From Kingston, Matthew Price.

Those living in the neighborhoods affected speak of bodies on the streets, of being unable to treat the injured. Officials suggest they are close to taking full control of the area from gunmen allied to an alleged drugs lord who the US wants extradited. Christopher Coke a.k.a Dudus is accused of being responsible for trafficking drugs and arms across the Americas. He's seen by his supporters as a protector, a champion of the poor, it’s how he maintains control. Jamaica's prime minister gains much of his support from Dudus himself. Politics and the gangs here are intertwined, making it hard to see where this will lead.

World News from the BBC.

The UN Security Council has voted unanimously to withdraw a UN force from Chad and the Central African Republic by the end of this year. The force, numbering more than 3,000 troops, will pull out in stages. It was deployed in 2009 to protect hundreds of thousands of displaced Chadians and refugees from the Sudanese province of Darfur.

A senior American official has told the BBC that President Barack Obama is to request an extra 500 million dollars to bolster the security on the US border with Mexico. Up to 1,200 National Guard troops are to be sent to the border. Paul Adams reports.

Administration officials say the extra troops will provide intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance support for existing law enforcement officials, as well as help with counter-narcotics and training. The extra funds will be used to increase the number of federal officers working on the border as part of what one official described as a multi-layered effort to target illicit networks trafficking in people, drugs, illegal weapons and money. A Democratic congresswoman from Arizona Gabrielle Giffords said the White House was doing "the right thing". "Washington," she said, "had heard the message of Arizonans."

A memorial service has been held for the 11 workers who were killed in the oil rig explosion in the Gulf of Mexico a month ago. The explosion fractured in an undersea well, triggering the massive oil leak now washing onto the Louisiana and Alabama coastline. The service in Jackson Mississippi was organized by Transocean, the company that owned the Deepwater Horizon rig.

The social networking company Facebook has confirmed it will change its privacy settings after growing criticism that users were losing control over their personal information. The company hasn't released any details yet, but says simpler settings will start to be released to more than 400 million users worldwide from Wednesday. Last December, Facebook changed its default privacy settings, allowing profile information to be shared with the wider web.

BBC News.