BBC news 2010-09-15 加文本

BBC news 2010-09-15

BBC News with Nick Kelly.

An American woman freed on Tuesday after more than a year in an Iranian jail has thanked all those involved in her release. The woman, Sarah Shourd, said her priority now would be to work for the release of her two companions who’re still in prison in Iran.

“It’s a huge relief for me and I want to thank every country, every official and individual that’s involved in this process. I feel myself I have a huge debt to repay the world for what it’s done for me, and my first priority is to help my fiancee Shane Bauer and my friend Josh Fattel to gain their freedom because they’re not deserve to be in prison any more.”

Ms Shourd was arrested last year with two other Americans and accused of espionage after crossing the Iranian border while hiking in Iraq. She’s now left Iran.

The United States says the Israeli and Palestinian leaders have held a serious discussion about core issues of the conflict between their peoples. The US envoy George Mitchell said the two sides had reiterated their intent to approach the negotiations in good faith. He said the common goal was two states for two peoples, and that Washington would place its full weight behind the negotiations. The American Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, who also took part in the talks, expressed optimism that progress could be made. The Palestinians say they’ll walk out later this month if Israel fails to renew a partial freeze on Jewish settlement building in the occupied West Bank.

The Italian authorities have seized nearly $2 billion worth of suspected mafia assets in what officials called “the biggest ever haul of its kind”. They belong to a Sicilian businessman, Vito Nicastri, who’s accused of links to the notorious Cosa Nostra mafia group. From Rome, here’s Duncan Kennedy.

The man, who police have named as Vito Nicastri, is a 54-year-old entrepreneur. Investigators say they’ve seized assets belonging to Mr Nicastri worth $1.9 billion. The assets include more than 40 companies, hundreds of acres of land in Sicily and elsewhere, luxury villas and cars, and a 14-metre catamaran. Italy’s Interior Minister Roberto Maroni described it as “the largest ever seizure of mafia assets”.

The wife of one of the miners trapped underground in Chile has given birth to a baby girl. Her husband, Ariel Ticona, has asked his wife to name the girl Esperanza - Spanish for “hope”. Gideon Long sent this report.

Elizabeth Segovia gave birth to baby Esperanza shortly after midday on Tuesday. Doctors say the child weighed 3 kilos and measured 48 centimetres long, and that both mother and baby were doing well. The footage of the birth will be sent down to Ms Segovia’s husband, Ariel Ticona, who is now being trapped with another 32 miners for 40 days ever since a rock collapse at the San Jose mine. The couple had planned to call their daughter Carolina, but changed the name to Esperanza.

World News from the BBC.

The Afghan central bank has taken over the country’s largest private financial institution, the Kabul Bank, after rumours about its solvency led to thousands of people queuing to withdraw their savings. Depositors became worried when reports circulated of large losses. The Kabul Bank is responsible for paying the salaries of a quarter of a million government employees. From Kabul, Quentin Sommerville.

Afghanistan’s central bank has come to the rescue of the failing Kabul Bank by taking direct control of its affairs. The central bank governor, Abdul Qadir Fitrat, says that a number of the bank’s senior directors have already been sacked or being investigated. According to some reports, the bank may have losses in the region of $300 million. Its directors are being criticised for a lack of transparency in the bank’s operations and for making risky investments in the Dubai property market.

The price of cotton in international markets has risen to its highest level in 15 years. Cotton for delivery in October has been trading in New York at over 94 cents a pound. Export restrictions in India, as well as floods in other major producers like Pakistan, have all contributed to the rise in prices. A BBC correspondent says this is welcome news for producers, but not for the textile industry.

The Czech authorities have stopped the Internet company Google from expanding its Street View mapping feature in the country. Street View provides Internet users with panoramic views of streets using photographs collected by Google. There’ve been complaints about it in a number of countries, with opponents saying it’s a breach of privacy.

And the governing body of world football, FIFA, is looking into allegations that a fake Togolese team played a match against Bahrain earlier this month. Bahrain won three-nil and said they were surprised by the poor quality of the Togolese players. Both countries are now investigating the circumstances under which the match took place, with suggestions that an agent pretending to represent Togo arranged the game.

And that’s the latest BBC News.