BBC news 2010-09-23 加文本

BBC news 2010-09-23

BBC News, this is Mike Cooper.

Senior American security officials say the threat to the United States from al-Qaeda and its affiliates has grown more complex. At a Senate hearing, they said the number of home-grown plots had increased in the past year. The Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano said militants were increasingly planning smaller-scale and more frequent attacks than before.

"The threat of terrorism is constantly evolving, and over the past years it has become more and more diverse. It has diversified in terms of sources, it has diversified in terms of tactics, it has diversified in terms of the targets being considered."

Following the capture of French hostages in Niger and Nigeria, the national carrier Air France is taking extra precautions in five African states to protect ground and air staff. France says it will take every measure to try to rescue seven employees captured last week by al-Qaeda from a French uranium mine operation in Niger.

A group of the United Nations-appointed experts has delivered a damning assessment of the Israeli commando raid on a Gaza-bound aid flotilla in May, which ended in the deaths of nine pro-Palestinian activists. The UN Human Rights Council’s fact-finding mission said the Israeli military had used "disproportionate force". Here’s Will Davis.

The report says a series of violations of international law were committed by the Israeli forces during the interception of the flotilla and during the detention of passengers in Israel prior to their deportation. The Israeli government issued a stern rebuttal even before it was published. A terse statement from the Israeli foreign ministry said that Israel was conducting its own independent inquiry and, because of what it described as “the biased approach“ of the UN Human Rights Council, Israel saw no reason to cooperate with it.

The Indian Foreign Minister SM Krishna has told the BBC his country is taking very seriously the wide-spread concerns over security and facilities at the Commonwealth Games due to open in 11 days’ time. There’s been a catalogue of problems with the final preparations in Delhi, leading some major competitor countries to reconsider their compared participation, but Mr Krishna said everything would go to plan.

"Let me assure you as the minister for foreign affairs that as far as security for the athletes and security of the Games are concerned, we are not making any compromises. We will see to it that full security is provided for every athlete so that the Commonwealth Games would go on successfully.”

Two men have been lynched in northern Mexico after allegedly trying to kidnap a 17-year-old girl. Police freed the teenager and detained three men suspected of involvement in her kidnapping, but locals snatched them and beat them up. An official said police managed to get the kidnap suspects into their patrol car, but the residents blocked their path. The official said two of the suspects died from their wounds.

I’m Mike Cooper with World News from the BBC.

As Moscow hosts an international conference among the Arctic, the country’s top official on the region has told the BBC that national interest comes first and Russia intends to expand its control over the northern polar seabed. At the same time, a Russian minister told the conference that Russia would prove its claim to more than a million square kilometres up to the North Pole. The area is thought to contain huge reserves of oil and gas.

The Vatican says the decision by Italian prosecutors to place two top officials of the Vatican Bank under investigation over money laundering allegations is due to a misunderstanding that should be reclarified quickly. The bank’s president and its chief executive were placed under investigation on Tuesday, and millions of dollars of bank funds were frozen. From Rome, here’s David Willey.

The Vatican daily newspaper says that from the beginning of this year, the special department had been set up under the chairmanship of a senior Vatican cardinal to liaise with international authorities combating money laundering. The Vatican Bank which technically operates outside the EU, as Vatican City is a sovereign independent state, intends to follow the example of Italian banks in preventing the transfer of funds for the purposes of crime and terrorism.

Government forces in Tajikistan have launched an offensive against militants being blamed for an attack last weekend in which 25 soldiers were killed. State media said the former Islamic opposition warlord was behind the attack. A government spokesman said five insurgents were killed and one detained during Wednesday’s offensive.

The hit pop star, Wyclef Jean, says he no longer plans to run in Haiti’s presidential election. His candidacy was vetoed by the Haitian authorities last month, because he didn’t meet all the formal residency requirements. Wyclef Jean was born in Haiti but has spent most of his life in the US. His announcement ends speculation that he might contest the decision.

BBC News.