BBC news 2010-12-13 加文本

BBC news 2010-12-13

BBC News with Neil Nunes

At least six American soldiers have died in a suicide attack in Afghanistan. They were at a checkpoint near Kandahar when a vehicle laden with explosives was detonated. US forces have been engaged in a three-month offensive against the Taliban in the surrounding area. From Kabul, here's Paul Wood.

The small van packed with explosives was driven into a checkpoint jointly manned by the Afghan army and American troops. According to one eyewitness, the wall of a mud compound then collapsed, burying a number of the American troops. This attack brings to almost 700 the number of foreign troops killed so far in 2010, by far the bloodiest year in the nine-year campaign by international forces in Afghanistan.

Iranian politicians have criticised Britain's ambassador to Tehran for drawing attention to concerns about human rights in Iran. They accused the ambassador Simon Gass of breaching diplomatic protocol. They called for his expulsion and for Iran's ties with Britain to be downgraded. Jon Leyne has this report.

Britain's ambassador to Tehran Simon Gass highlighted what he said were a series of abuses in Iran. In a post on the embassy website to mark International Human Rights Day, nowhere were human rights under greater threat than (in) Iran, he said. And he highlighted the case of the human rights lawyer, Nasrin Sotoudeh, who faces trial for acting against national security. In response, one Iranian MP said the ambassador should learn the diplomatic code of conduct; another MP highlighted what he said was suppression of university students in London in recent days.

British police have arrested a 21-year-old man suspected of causing criminal damage to the national war memorial, the Cenotaph. A man was photographed swinging from the British flag at the Cenotaph in London last week during protests against higher university tuition fees. The suspect is thought to be Charlie Gilmour, the son of the guitarist, David Gilmour, from the band Pink Floyd. He has apologised for his actions.

The Sri Lankan cabinet has abolished the Tamil version of the country's national anthem, saying it must be sung now only in the language of the Sinhalese majority. The Tamil version had been in use mainly in the north and east where most Tamils live. Here's Marianne Landzettel from our South Asia desk.

President Mahinda Rajapaksa said to have a version in Sinhala and Tamil was a shortcoming that needed to be rectified. Everyone should think of Sri Lanka as one country. The decision comes 18 months after the civil war ended with the defeat of the Tamil Tiger rebels, who fought for an independent Tamil state. The Tamil anthem was an exact translation of the Sinhala version, sung to the same tune, and had been in use since Sri Lanka gained independence in 1948.

World News from the BBC in London

A study by Canadian scientists says people in Africa are brimming with clever and cheap ideas to solve health problems but rarely get the support they need to make them a success. The scientists say it's not just a question of money, as Simon Ponsford reports.

When it comes to health innovations, says the study, Africa's got talent. The trouble is many of the brightest ideas are left languishing in the labouratory. In Ghana, for example, there's a simple test to diagnose a parasitic disease that's prevalent across Africa and a herbal medicine for malaria; Nigeria has an effective drug for tackling sickle-cell anaemia. But such innovations have not been nurtured and have failed to become commercial products. Homegrown scientists and entrepreneurs have the answer, says the study. With the right backing they could save millions of African lives.

An exit poll in Kosovo indicates that the Democratic Party led by the Prime Minister Hashim Thaci is ahead of its rivals in Sunday's parliamentary elections, but the poll also suggested that Mr Thaci was unlikely to win an overall majority. The election was the first since Kosovo and its ethnic Albanian majority declared independence from Serbia almost three years ago. Election officials said barely any votes were cast in Serbian areas of the north.

Some of the Chilean miners rescued in October after two months trapped underground have arrived in England to watch a football match. They are guests of Manchester United for their Premier League game against Arsenal on Monday. Ed Thomas reports.

Even after an 18-hour journey, there were plenty of smiles when the miners got off the plane. Tonight the miners had dinner with Sir Bobby Charlton at Old Trafford. Tomorrow they'll meet Manchester United players before watching the game from a director's box. How life has changed for the men who used to earn $800 a month at the San Jose mine!

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