BBC news 2010-11-24 加文本

BBC news 2010-11-24

BBC News with Marion Marshall

The United Nations Secretary General Ban Ki-moon has joined South Korea and several major powers in a strong condemnation of North Korea's shelling of a South Korean island, which killed several soldiers and injured dozens of people. South Korea's President Lee Myung-bak ordered the army to retaliate with missile strikes in the event of further North Korean attacks. The US State Department described the shelling as a stunning provocation. From the UN, here is Barbara Plett.

Ban Ki-moon said the artillery attack was one of the gravest incidents since the Korean War ended in 1953. He condemned it and called for immediate restraint. In a telephone call, he conveyed his concerns to the current president of the Security Council, the British ambassador Mark Lyall Grant. Mr Lyall Grant told reporters he was in touch with council members about what to do next. No country has formally requested an emergency session, and the UN will wait to hear what South Korea might want from such a meeting. But North Korea's deputy ambassador said this was something that should be discussed by the two Koreas and not by the Security Council.

Defence analysts in Washington say the insurgency in Afghanistan is growing in strength and that levels of violence have reached new highs. In a report to Congress, the analysts say combat incidents have increased threefold since 2007. From Washington, Kevin Connolly reports.

The Pentagon assessment makes sobering reading. It depicts an enemy which has the support of Iran and continuing access to safe havens along the Pakistan border. The Western allies have something like 150,000 troops in Afghanistan, around two thirds of them American. The enemy they are fighting emerges from the Pentagon report as resilient, adaptable and sophisticated. The report says the Taliban is drawing strength from a belief among the Afghan people that Nato forces will soon leave the country, clearing the way for a Taliban victory.

A report from the United Nations Environment Programme suggests voluntary pledges on cutting carbon emissions have been so ineffective that global temperatures could double to 4C. That's twice the figure most governments see as leading to dangerous levels of global warming. More from Richard Black.

Researchers have been calculating what pledges are likely to mean in terms of a global temperature rise. They conclude that even the most optimistic reading of the pledges suggests they are not enough to prevent temperatures rising beyond levels that most governments consider dangerous. A rise of up to 4C over the course of this century is feasible. The UN is putting an optimistic slant on the figures, saying they represent a good first step, but many would argue that scientific understanding of climate change means the time for first steps is long gone.

Financial markets across much of the European Union have fallen significantly, reflecting continued concern over the economic future of countries such as Spain and Portugal as well as the already troubled Ireland and Greece. The value of the euro fell against the US dollar by more than two cents.

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Researchers in the United States say a pill already used to treat HIV patients reduces the risk of new infections in gay men by 44%, more if the pill is taken regularly. In what they are calling a major advance, the scientists found the drug, Truvada, could help to dramatically curb male-to-male HIV transmission. Dr Anthony Fauci at the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases called the results encouraging but said more work needed to be done.

"This has been done in men who have sex with men. We need to know if we get similar results in women as well as in heterosexual men, which we have every reason to believe we will. We need to get a long-term view of were there any toxicities. We didn't see anything that was significant, but we need to follow that for a long period of time."

Now it may seem a lot for a 34-year-old personal computer, but one of the first Apple computers has been sold by the fine art auctioneers Christie's in London for over $130,000. The Apple I was launched in 1976 when the firm's founder Steve Jobs began selling it from his parents' garage. Rory Cellan-Jones was at the auction.

The Apple I doesn't look like a computer to the modern eye. It was sold without a casing, a power supply, a screen or a keyboard, and you are expected to assemble it yourself. But the product designed by Apple's co-founders, Steve Jobs and Steve Wozniak, marked the beginning of the personal computing era. After seeing the Apple I go for roughly 300 times its 1976 price, Steve Wozniak said he'd never imagined that computers would now do so much.

The Polish-born actress Ingrid Pitt has died in London at the age of 73. She was best-known for her work in cult 1970s horror films like The Wicker Man and Countess Dracula - roles, she said, you could get your teeth into.

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