BBC news 2010-10-01 加文本

BBC news 2010-10-01

BBC News with David Legge.

The government of Ecuador has declared a state of emergency amid growing unrest. The announcement came after air force personnel took control of the international airport near the capital Quito in protest at new government austerity measures. They sided with thousands of police demonstrating against changes to the bonus system for public servants. Will Grant reports.

The state of emergency declared by the government of Rafael Correa is an indication of how serious the protests have become. After a group of military personnel took control of the country's main airport, and police officers held protests in Quito and other major cities, Mr Correa clearly believes the measure will help bring the unrest to an end. Mr Correa himself was attacked with a tear gas canister on the streets of the capital as he tried to appeal for calm. Elsewhere, the Peruvian government announced it was closing its border to neighbouring Ecuador and Correa's close ally Hugo Chavez used his Twitter site to warn of what he said was “an attempted coup”.

The United States says it was closely monitoring the situation. The European Union's foreign policy chief Catherine Ashton called for calm and expressed support for Ecuador's government.

The Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh has appealed for calm after a court decided that control of a highly disputed religious site should be split between Hindus and Muslims. Under the ruling, Hindus will get 2/3 of the site in the town of Ayodhya. The Hindu nationalist party, the BJP hailed the court decision as a step towards building a grand temple on the site. But Muslim litigants said they'd appeal to the Supreme Court. From Delhi, Mike Wooldridge.

All the signs other than this will not be the end of the long-running legal action to resolve the question of who owns the site of Ayodhya where in 1992 Hindu zealots destroyed a 16th century mosque and it triggered riots that killed 2,000 people. Hindu groups are now talking about going to the Supreme Court to continue pressing their claim to the entire disputed site. Muslim groups, the same.

NATO's international military force in Afghanistan has confirmed that one of its helicopters entered Pakistani airspace on Thursday during an incident in which Pakistan says three of its soldiers were killed. NATO said the helicopter was pursuing armed insurgents and opened fire in self-defence. Pakistan called the incident a violation of its sovereignty. Its Deputy High Commissioner to Britain Asif Durrani said NATO had made a serious error.

"In this present case, three soldiers were killed and three others were injured. So it means that a genuine mistake on the part of the NATO. One they violated our airspace, and secondly they killed our soldiers. "The French government says televised images of seven hostages kidnapped by al-Qaeda in Niger two weeks ago are authentic.

France said it was an encouraging sign that they were still alive. Pictures of those taken, five of whom are French nationals; one from Togo and one from Madagascar were aired by the Arabic television channel al-Jazeera.

World News from the BBC.

A fresh landslide in southern Mexico has killed at least 16 people. Houses were buried under rubble in the town of Amatan in Chiapas state. Rescue teams are looking for several missing residents.

The authorities in the United States have arrested the roommate of a student who killed himself after a film of him having sex with another man was broadcast live on the Internet. His roommate anda friend were accused of invasion of privacy for their alleged role in the filming. From Washington, Iain MacKenzie reports.

Tyler Clementi was in his own dormitory room at Rutgers University in New Jersey. However it was far from private. A live webcam was streaming everything that happened onto the Internet. When he found out about the broadcast, the 18-year-old killed himself. Gay rights campaigners in the United States have seized on the case, saying
it shows the hostility towards homosexuality felt by many young people.

President Obama's powerful Chief of Staff Rahm Emanuel is reported to be on the brink of resigning. He's widely expected to announce on Friday that he is leaving the administration to run for mayor in his home city of Chicago. Mr Emanuel is credited with a big role in bringing about Mr Obama's election victory two years ago.

British police have apologized for installing more than 200 surveillance cameras in predominantly Muslim areas of the city of Birmingham. The cameras, some of them hidden, were set up without any consultation because of concern about Islamist militancy. The head of West Midlands Police said he was deeply sorry about the excessive intrusion into people's lives and the negative impact on relations with local communities.

One of the last surviving stars of Hollywood's Golden Age Tony Curtis has died. He was 85. Curtis began his career in the 1940s, and appeared in more than 100 films. Perhaps most memorably opposite Marilyn Monroe, in the cross-dressing comedy “Some Like It Hot”.

BBC News.