BBC news 2010-11-26 加文本

BBC news 2010-11-26

BBC News with Gaenor Howells

Police in the Brazilian city of Rio de Janeiro have deployed armoured vehicles in a poor area of the city to stem a wave of violence that's killed at least 30 people in recent days. The minister for public security said six vehicles carrying heavily armed police had been sent to Vila Cruzeiro in the north of the city. Clashes erupted there five days ago between the security forces and suspected drug traffickers. Officials say the violence involved gang members who'd been expelled from other areas of Rio de Janeiro. A police captain taking part in the operation said they were determined to stop the violence.

"This resistance will end sometime, but we don't know how long it will take. Yet while criminals insist on not accepting our presence, we will continue, and we have enough resources to stay for a long time."

The European Commission has announced a ban on the use of the chemical Bisphenol-A in plastic baby bottles. There has been international concern over its use for some time, with Canada declaring Bisphenol-A toxic in September. Here is Elettra Neysmith.

The commission is acting on fears that Bisphenol-A (BPA) harms children. Scientists say the chemical can interact with our hormone systems in such a way that it affects healthy growth and body function and immune response. BPA is one of the most widely produced chemicals worldwide, among its uses, resins for food packaging and polycarbonate baby bottles. A study for the Center for Disease Control found that babies fed this way were the most exposed to the chemical, consuming up to 13 micrograms of BPA each day per kilogram of body weight.

A United Nations report says amphetamine-type stimulants now provide the major illicit drug threat in much of South and East Asia. The UN says the highly addictive stimulants have supplanted heroin, opium and marijuana, and pose a serious challenge to law enforcement. The report says political instability in Burma has helped make it the prime regional source of methamphetamine with loose control over its borders, making it ideal for drug production and trafficking.

Three teenage boys who were drifting in the Pacific Ocean for more than seven weeks have been found alive. The boys from the island of Tokelau disappeared in a small boat in early October. They were presumed dead after search planes found no trace of them. A fisherman from New Zealand, Tai Fredricsen, told the BBC how he found them off the coast of Fiji nearly 1,500km away.

"One of my crew members was standing on watch at the time, and he noticed something floating on the horizon. And as we drew closer, we realised it was a small craft, we realised there were people inside this craft. There was no mainland or any real islands around. So we drew up to them, and I did ask them if they needed any help, and their reply was a very ecstatic yes."

World News from the BBC

Turkey has called on the Israelis to halt actions which, it says, have put the Middle East in danger. Speaking in the Lebanese capital Beirut, the Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan said his country would not remain silent if Israel used aircraft, tanks and cluster bombs against the people of Lebanon or Gaza. Turkey was once Israel's ally, but ties deteriorated recently.

Prosecutors in Poland say a Swedish neo-Nazi leader has confessed to ordering the theft of a sign from the World War II Auschwitz death camp, which was stolen in February. Three Poles have already been convicted over the theft, and two others have been charged. The infamous sign with the German phrase "Work Sets You Free" was found shortly after the theft cut into three pieces.

President Dmitry Medvedev says Russia wants to set up new foreign naval bases to extend the navy's global reach. Mr Medvedev said Russia currently supported its fleets with supply ships, something he said was expensive and completely inefficient. He said Russia would need to assure any partner countries that a new base would also enhance their own security.

The European football authority Uefa has charged the coach of Real Madrid, Jose Mourinho, with unsporting conduct amid allegations that he ordered some of his players to get themselves deliberately sent off. Four players have also been charged. Here is our sports news reporter Alex Capstick.

The allegations stem from a Champions League match between Real Madrid and Ajax Amsterdam on Tuesday. The Spanish side won 4-0, but two of their players, Xabi Alonso and Sergio Ramos, were dismissed after they picked up second yellow cards for time-wasting. For that, they get an automatic one-match ban, but the game they'll miss doesn't matter. Real Madrid have already qualified as group winners. Jose Mourinho has been charged with ordering the players to be red-carded, so they could start with a clean slate when the knock-out stage of the competition begins in February.

BBC News