BBC news 2010-11-28 加文本

BBC news 2010-11-28

BBC News with Sue Montgomery

Tens of thousands of people have marched through Dublin in protest at the Irish government's austerity programme. The government plans to raise taxes and cut public spending in an attempt to reduce massive debt. The president of the Irish Congress of Trade Unions, Jack O'Connor, told a rally that it was wrong for the government to be reducing the national minimum wage as part of the cuts.

"Isn't it annoying me that after all they've done, after all the bankers and speculators have done, after the way they've brought us to our knees, that our government's just now going to fix the problem? And they are going to fix the problem by cutting the national minimum wage on the lowest-paid, most vulnerable people in the country."

South Korea and the United States are about to begin joint military exercises amid heightened tension in the wake of North Korea's artillery attack last week on a South Korean island. North Korea has described the exercises as a provocation, which could lead to the brink of war. Chris Hogg reports from Seoul.

The United States says these are defensive exercises designed to deter North Korea from launching further attacks across its border with the South. Military sources in Seoul say planning for the war games began before North Korea's deadly attack on a South Korean island last week. The intensity of the live fire and bombing drills will now be stepped up, though. The US aircraft carrier, the George Washington, and four other US navy vessels will be joined by South Korean destroyers, patrol vessels, frigates, support ships and anti-submarine aircraft.

Fishing nations have agreed a reduction of 600 tonnes in the quota for Atlantic bluefin tuna, which are threatened by overfishing. The International Commission for the Conservation of Atlantic Tuna's agreed to cut next year's catch to 12,900 tonnes. Here is Sam Wilson.

Conservation groups say the stock of bluefin tuna in the Atlantic and the Mediterranean is close to collapse, but attempts to agree on reduced catches so the tuna can rebuild their numbers have consistently failed. The fishing lobby is powerful, and bluefin meat highly priced, so every year boats cast their vast nets into the Atlantic to scoop up tonnes of tuna as they come together to spawn. Scientists say at current catch levels, there's a good chance tuna numbers will fall to a level where they can't regenerate. Campaigners say a 5% cut in quotas will do little to protect a fish in desperate trouble.

Brazilian police have told drug traffickers taking refuge in one of Rio de Janeiro's most violent slums to surrender to avoid a bloodbath. Hundreds of soldiers and police officers have surrounded the area where many gang leaders have been hiding after days of bloody clashes.

World News from the BBC

A Somali-born American teenager has been arrested in the United States as he tried to detonate what he believed was a van packed with explosives at a crowded pre-Christmas gathering. Mohamed Osman Mohamud, who's 19, was arrested in the city of Portland, Oregon by FBI agents, who'd spent six months preparing an elaborate sting operation.

The captain of a British nuclear-powered submarine that ran aground during sea trials last month has been relieved of his command. Angus Crawford reports.

HMS Astute is Royal Navy's most powerful attack submarine. She's more than 300 feet long and carries both torpedoes and cruise missiles. But on 22 October, she ran aground close to the Isle of Skye. She was stranded for several hours but floated free as the tide rose. It's thought she was then damaged after colliding with a tug sent to help. The vessel returned to base for repairs which, it's reported, may cost millions of pounds.

Police in Ivory Coast have shot dead at least three people during protests against a curfew imposed ahead of a presidential run-off election on Sunday. The protests broke out among youths in Abidjan, in an area regarded as a stronghold of the opposition candidate, Alassane Ouattara.

The Indian billionaire Mukesh Ambani has moved into what's thought to be the world's most expensive private home. Mr Ambani, who owns the petrochemical giant Reliance Industries, is India's richest man, according to Forbes magazine. Here is Nidhi Dutt.

Described by guests as "Taj Mahal of the 21st century", Mukesh Ambani's new home, Antilia, dominates the skyline of India's financial capital. The 27-storey building towers over sprawling slum areas, home to around half of Mumbai's population. The world's most expensive private home reportedly has six floors of parking, multiple swimming pools, a cinema and panoramic views of the city and the Arabian Sea.