BBC news 2010-11-07 加文本

BBC news 2010-11-07

BBC News with Jonathan Wheatley

A record ransom has been paid to Somali pirates in exchange for a South Korean tanker. About $9m was paid for the Samho Dream, which was seized in April while carrying oil from Iraq to the United States. In a separate move, nearly $3m was paid for the Golden Blessing, a Chinese-owned chemical tanker registered in Singapore. Somali pirates are holding at least 25 other ships. Kevin Mwachiro reports.

The Chinese tanker has already been released and is reported to be under Chinese naval escort to safer waters. It had been in pirate hands since April, anchored off the coastal town of Hobyo in central Somalia. The ship's 23 crew members are said to be in good health. It's reported that the South Korean tanker with its cargo of oil and 24 crew will be released later in the day.

Pope Benedict has criticised what he called the return of anti-church attitudes in Spain during his first day of a visit to the country. He said Spain was experiencing a drive towards secularisation like that seen in the 1930s.

"This clash between faith and modernity, both very lively, is happening again today in Spain. For the future of the faith, it is this meeting, not a confrontation, but a meeting between faith and secularism, which has a central point in Spanish culture. In this regard, I am thinking of all the main Western countries, but especially about Spain."

The comments are a reference to the civil war era, during which Republican forces killed thousands of priests and nuns and burnt churches.

Several airlines have suspended flights to the Indonesian capital Jakarta because of fears that volcanic ash spewing from Mount Merapi could damage aircraft engines. Some international flights have been diverted to other airports, although domestic flights appear largely unaffected.

The government of Haiti says more than 500 people are now known to have died in the current cholera epidemic. Serious flooding caused by Hurricane Tomas has raised fears that the disease will spread. Our correspondent Laura Trevelyan is in Haiti's second biggest city, Leogane, where flooding remains a serious problem.

We've just arrived in Leogane. Now this town was 90% destroyed by the earthquake in January, and now the main roads are flooded. It's flooded almost to my knee. And what's happened is that people living in the camps that were set up for the earthquake survivors, those camps are now flooded, and so for the second time in a year, people have been made homeless. Not only is Haiti trying to recover from the earthquake, deal with the cholera outbreak, and now the aftermath of the hurricane.

A strike by BBC journalists is in its second day. Members of the National Union of Journalists are protesting at changes to their pensions. The BBC says it won't be improving its final offer to staff.

World News from the BBC

The 2,000-year-old House of the Gladiators in the ruins of ancient Pompeii in southern Italy has collapsed. Pompeii, a Unesco World Heritage Site, was destroyed by an eruption of Mount Vesuvius back in 79 AD. David Willey now reports.

No one was injured in the collapse which occurred at dawn and was discovered by guards when they arrived for work. The area was closed to tourists. The building excavated from the volcanic ash, which destroyed Pompeii in 79 AD, was damaged by Allied bombs during the Second World War. Part of it was covered by a heavy modern concrete roof built in the 1950s, which was weakened by water infiltration.

President Barack Obama on a 10-day tour of Asia has announced $10bn worth of trade deals with India. The White House says the deals will help support more than 50,000 jobs in the United States.

Burma is holding its first general election for 20 years on Sunday. The military, which has ruled Burma for almost 50 years, has called the elections. But the main opposition party, the National League for Democracy, led by the Nobel laureate Aung San Suu Kyi, is boycotting them. And candidates supporting the military are expected to win most of the seats. The British ambassador in Burma, Andrew Heyn, told the BBC he didn't think the elections were a sign of real change.

"There's nothing in these elections themselves that could give us grounds for optimism. That doesn't mean we turn our backs and walk away. We continue to press for progress after the elections, and if that progress happens, we will of course welcome it. But in and of themselves, these elections don't mark a step for progress."

Sports news now: Williams driver Nico Hulkenberg took pole position for the Brazilian Grand Prix. The four main championship hopefuls will line up right behind Hulkenberg in this season's penultimate race. In football, Manchester United secured a late win over Wolves in the Premier League.

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