BBC news 2010-10-25 加文本

BBC news 2010-10-25

BBC News with Jerry Smit

The number of people who've died in a cholera epidemic in Haiti has risen to more than 250. Health experts believe that 3,000 people have been infected. Laura Trevelyan reports from the town of Saint-Marc, the centre of the cholera outbreak.

The Haitian authorities say that fewer deaths and new cases were reported over the past 24 hours, which suggests the outbreak could be stabilising. However, at St Nicholas hospital in Saint-Marc, the centre of the outbreak, doctors said they were seeing about the same number of new cases today as they did yesterday. Fears remain that the disease could still spread to the crowded camps on the outskirts of Port-au-Prince, where those made homeless by January's earthquake are still living.

The Supreme Court in Iraq has ordered the new parliament to reconvene, saying its earlier decision to suspend itself indefinitely was unconstitutional. Since the general election in March, the Iraqi parliament has met only once, when it suspended its session until politicians agreed on the formation of a new government. A BBC correspondent in Baghdad says the court's decision is expected to oblige the parliament to meet again, but it's unlikely to break the political deadlock over top government jobs.

Italian authorities have offered to delay the opening of a new rubbish dump in Terzigno, near the city of Naples, if protests against the dump are halted. But the mayors of several nearby towns where refuse is piling up have rejected the compromise, saying they want the new dump proposal to be shelved altogether. Duncan Kennedy reports.

There have been skirmishes for days between police and protesters over an existing dump, which residents say is hazardous, and plans to open a new one, which they say is too close. Now the Italian government has moved to reduce tensions by saying the new dump will be put on hold and the existing site cleaned up. It's also offered compensation. This has been politically embarrassing for the Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi, who came to power two years ago, promising to solve Italy's waste disposal problems, especially in the south.

A leading Nepalese climber, who's scaled Mount Everest 19 times, is missing after an avalanche hit a group he was guiding on a smaller Himalayan peak. The agent in charge of the expedition says Chhewang Nima's experience and survival skills means he could still be alive. Here is Joanna Jolly.

The Nepalese mountaineer was fixing ropes near the summit of a 7,000-metre peak, Mount Baruntse, on Saturday when an avalanche hit. Another Sherpa, who was behind Chhewang Nima, reported that he was blown over the side of the mountain by the force of the snow. A rescue helicopter was sent to the scene but was unable to take off from the mountain's base camp because of high winds. Another attempt will be made on Monday to reach the side of the mountain where the climber is believed to be.

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New clashes have been reported in Guinea, where the second round of the presidential election has been postponed indefinitely because of clashes between supporters of the two candidates. Several people are said to have been injured and shops looted in the city of Kissidougou. However, most of the country has remained calm since Saturday when the two candidates appealed for violence to cease.

A memorial service has been held at the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan on the 50th anniversary of a space disaster in which more than 70 people died. The accident happened when Soviet Union tried to test a new rocket. Marcus George reports.

In Russia, 24 October is known as the "black day" for space exploration. It was on this day 50 years ago when the launch of a prototype rocket known as the R-16 went seriously wrong. The rocket exploded on the launch pad, burning alive and asphyxiating engineers, designers and officials. Official files on the disaster described how many were vaporised in the huge fireball. Soviet authorities immediately imposed a blanket ban on reports, and the papers were only declassified in the 1990s.

The President of Afghanistan Hamid Karzai has indicated that he may amend a ban on the use of private security contractors due to come into force by the end of the year. Some US-funded aid projects have said they are making plans to scale back their work or even pull out of Afghanistan completely if the ban goes ahead in December. The Afghan government says the contractors lack accountability.

A unique collection of songs and stories from India, recorded in the early 20th century, has been made public for the first time and is available for free download. The recordings, made by British colonial officers, were part of a huge archive of Indian languages. It was designed to teach future British civil servants the dialects of the Indian regions in which they would work.

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