BBC news 2011-02-02 加文本

BBC news 2011-02-02

BBC News with Marion Marshall

The Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak is addressing the nation on state television. His speech comes as American officials confirm that President Obama has told Mr Mubarak not to run for re-election. From Washington, Paul Adams reports.

It's yet to be announced publicly, but American officials have confirmed that President Obama has told the Egyptian leader that neither he nor his son should seek election in September's presidential vote. This was the message conveyed to Hosni Mubarak by the former American diplomat Frank Wisner. It's not clear what sort of administration the White House would like to see managing the situation in Egypt until September, or whether the White House really believes Mr Mubarak should even try to hold on that long.

President Mubarak has criticised the protests, saying what began as a civilised phenomenon turned into a violent event controlled by political cowards. The US call for Mr Mubarak to stand down came after a huge demonstration took place in Cairo, the biggest since the current unrest began. Hundreds of thousands of people flooded Tahrir Square, demanding Mr Mubarak's resignation. As night fell, the crowd began to thin, but our correspondent in Cairo Jim Muir says it's clear many are planning to spend the night out despite the curfew which is theoretically in place.

They are out there, and you can hear them right now, chanting slogans basically saying the people want Mubarak to go, and that is their position. Now of course this is the hard core with them now especially night has fallen. It's several hours after dark, and it's actually very cold and windy here, but there are still tens of thousands of people out there. It's probably about a third of the peak of the crowd.

The Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has said that any Egyptian government must respect the country's long-standing peace treaty with Israel. Mr Netanyahu's office issued a statement emphasising its support for democratic reforms in Egypt, but expressing concern that these may be exploited by hostile groups. The statement made comparisons with Iran, where a revolution deposed the pro-American Shah to make way for an Islamic Republic.

The Palestinian authority has said it will hold local elections, a move that correspondents say is aimed at averting any echo in the Palestinian territories of the popular uprising in Egypt. From Jerusalem, here's Jon Donnison.

There have been no Palestinian elections, local or otherwise, since Hamas won a parliamentary vote in 2006. That victory eventually led to a bitter and violent split between the Islamist movement which controls Gaza and its secular rival Fatah in power on the West Bank. The local elections announced today still might end up being meaningless as Hamas responded by suggesting it wouldn't take part. The move is being seen as an attempt to prevent similar frustrations building up to those recently seen in Tunisia and Egypt. Meanwhile, King Abdullah of Jordan dismissed his entire cabinet following anti-government protests.

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Swiss police say a care worker has admitted 114 cases of sexual abuse, involving mainly disabled children and young adults. The man, who hasn't been identified, worked in eight care homes in Switzerland and one in Germany. The abuse took place over almost 30 years. Imogen Foulkes reports.

The case came to light in April last year when two care home residents told their parents about abuse. The 54-year-old care home worker then confessed to 114 cases, most of them physically or mentally handicapped boys, but some, the children of care home colleagues, the youngest just a year old. Swiss police, who only went public with the case today, say the man was methodical in selecting his victims, often choosing those who were unable to speak.

Switzerland says it's blocked funds held by the former Haitian leader Jean-Claude Duvalier, who returned to Haiti last month after 25 years in exile. His Swiss bank accounts have been frozen under a new law that could see millions of dollars given back to Haiti. Meanwhile, the United Nations human rights office has offered to help Haiti prosecute crimes, including murder and torture, committed during Mr Duvalier's rule.

Reports from Moscow say that Russian ground controllers have failed to establish contact with a military satellite after its launch into space on Tuesday. A senior Russian military officer was quoted by the Interfax news agency as saying that the satellite has entered an incorrect orbit and that efforts to restore radio communication haven't yet succeeded.

More details on President Mubarak's speech in Egypt: he said some politicians had refused dialogue and he was addressing what he had to say to the Egyptian people directly. He said his first responsibility was to bring about calm and ensure a peaceful transition to whoever was chosen at the elections in September. He said he didn't intend to stand again and asked for a peaceful transition before the next election.

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