BBC news 2010-06-12 加文本

2010-06-12 BBC

BBC News with Julie Candler.

The 2010 Football World Cup has begun in South Africa with the host nation playing an exciting and entertaining opening game against Mexico which ended in a one-all draw. South Africa scored the tournament's first goal. Within the past hour, the second game, France versus Uruguay has ended in a goalless draw as Martin Fookes reports.

Even the sending-off of Uruguayan substitute Nicolas Lodeiro with nine minutes to go could not produce a victory for France who perhaps paid the price for coach Domenech's overly cautious team selection. He left Thierry Henry and Florent Malouda on the bench for 70 minutes. The best opportunity for the French came in the first five. Sidney Govou tried to steer Ribery's low cross into the corner of the net but missed the target badly. Diego Forlan was always a threat for Uruguay, but they will be happy with the repeat of the goalless draw these teams played at the same stage of the 2002 World Cup.

Earlier, a spectacular opening ceremony in Johannesburg included a tribute to the six African teams that qualified for the competition, the first World Cup to be held in Africa.

More than 40 people have been killed and more than 600 injured in fighting which continued throughout Friday between Kyrgyz and ethnic Uzbek citizens in the second city of Kyrgyzstan, Osh. Some people have been trapped at the city airport because it's too dangerous to go into town. The violence, with many buildings set on fire, is the worst since the overthrow of President Kurmanbek Bakiyev. Rayhan Demytrie reports from Osh.

Tensions have remained high in southern Kyrgyzstan since a mass uprising in the April which ousted the country's President Kurmanbek Bakiyev. The interim government has been struggling to restore order here. Southern Kyrgyzstan is home to a large ethnic Uzbek community, and there have been fears that lawlessness could spark an ethnic clash. Kyrgyzstan is a small but strategically important country which borders China in the east. It is also home to both Russian and US military bases. The American base near the capital Bishkek is vital for the US operations in Afghanistan.

Gunmen in Mexico have killed 19 people in a drug rehabilitation centre in the northern city of Chihuahua. The men arrived at the unit on Thursday night, and dragged out a group of patients at gunpoint before shooting them. From Chihuahua, Inma Gil reports.

Eyewitnesses say the victims were made to line up and shot by members of the heavily-armed gang. Nineteen men were killed and four were injured at the Christian Faith and Life Centre, a treatment facility for recovering drug addicts. Over the last two years, this sort of attack has become relatively frequent in the border town of Ciudad Juarez, some 350 kilometres from Chihuahua city, but this is the first time to have taken place in the state capital. Authorities believe that drug cartels are exploiting these rehab centres to recruit young members.

World News from the BBC.

Police say 16 people have been killed in flash floods in Arkansas in the United States. Local rivers in a rugged mountainous area rose sharply after 15 centimetres of overnight rain. A police spokesman said an unknown number of people were still missing.

The BBC has learned that the oil giant BP is planning to suspend payment of its next dividend to shareholders. However, no announcement is expected to be made until some time after talks with President Obama on Wednesday. The company has been under intense pressure from the US government since the massive explosion and oil spill on a rig in the Gulf of Mexico in April.

The European Commission wants to cut funds to EU members which do not meet its strict budget rules in order to avoid another debt crisis similar to that in Greece. Speaking in Berlin, the President of the EU executive Jose Manuel Barroso said that without sanctions the European Union's response to the world finance crisis would not be credible. Oana Lungescu reports.

There is a new awareness in Europe, said Mr Barroso, that rules haven't been respected and that is putting at risk our collective economic future. To avoid another Greek crisis, he made clear that countries that failed to meet strict budget rules should be punished by cutting their access to EU funds including farm subsidies. That could prove a strong incentive for countries like Greece and Spain whose farmers receive billions from Brussels. It could also increase pressure on France, the biggest recipient of EU farm aid, to take more convincing measures to balance its budget.

Japan says its Ikaros spacecraft has successfully unfurled a solar sail out in space after launch of the mission last month. Its aim is to test the principle of using sunlight as an efficient means of propulsion away from the effects of gravity, so the sails work by harnessing particles of light from the sun and converting the energy into propulsive force without the need for chemical fuels.

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