BBC news 2011-03-08 加文本

BBC news 2011-03-08

BBC News with Julie Candler

President Obama says the US and its Nato allies are still considering a military response to the situation in Libya where he said the people were facing unacceptable violence. But Russia says it's opposed to any military intervention. Nato is engaged in what its Secretary General called 'prudent planning'. While Britain confirmed it was working to secure a Security Council no-fly zone resolution. More from Kim Ghattas in Washington.

President Barack Obama twice used the word 'potential' when talking about military options. It’s clear Washington is not keen on the idea of a no-fly zone, but there is increasing talk of one. And in the end, it’s likely the United States will go along with it if there is clear international consensus and a UN security resolution. The White House has also made clear nothing had been taken off the table, including the possibility of arming the rebels in Libya.

Libyan rebel forces in the oil town of Las Ranuf have lost territory to forces loyal to Colonel Gaddafi after a day of sustained attacks by land and air. A series of air strikes targeted the town and reports say at least 20 people were killed. John Simpson is in the town.

For a time, it looked as though a quick attack by Colonel Gaddafi's men would clear the rebels out of Las Ranuf, but there was no sign of any movement from the Gaddafi forces. Instead, a Russian-built fighter bomber from Colonel Gaddafi’s air force came over and bombed the crossroads where the rebels had set up their guns. The bomb missed, but more rebels headed back down the road after that. Eventually though, reinforcements started arriving from Benghazi and other eastern towns and the danger passed, but air force planes dropped bombs further down the road to try to stop the reinforcements arriving.

President Obama is reintroducing military trials at the Guantanamo Bay detention centre. Mr Obama said that allowing military tribunals to resume was one of several steps he was taking, in his words, to 'bring terrorists to justice'. Steve Kingstone is in Washington.

It's a pretty devastating U-turn by the Obama administration. You recall that just two days into office, Barack Obama signed an executive order, putting a halt to military tribunals, investigating a review process of Guantanamo Bay and the president said that CIA should close that prison facility down within a year, so by January of 2010. Of course that didn’t happen and what we are now seeing is the completion of that U-turn, the Obama administration going back to square one, saying 'Ok, we will re-open the process whereby military tribunals can take place at Guantanamo Bay.'

World News from the BBC

The newly-appointed interim government in Tunisia has dissolved the secret police, a key demand of pro-democracy protesters who ousted President Zine El Abidine Ben Ali in January. The notorious state security apparatus was blamed for many human rights abuses. The new government has retained most key ministers from the previous interim administration, but a number of new appointments have been made.

A young Mexican woman who gained worldwide attention last year when she took over as police chief in a town plagued by drug-related violence has been sacked for abandoning her post. Marisol Valles was hailed as Mexico’s bravest woman in October when she became head of public security in the border town of Praxedis G. Guerrero. Ignacio De Los Reyes reports.

Marisol Valles, a 20-year-old criminology student, became police chief in a town when nobody else was willing to take the job. Her appointment six months ago made her a sensation worldwide. But the mayor of Praxedis Guerrero said she hasn’t come back to work since last Wednesday, when she took personal leave to take care of her baby. Local activists told the BBC that Mrs Valles and her family had fled to the United States after receiving threats of kidnapping.

The Sri Lankan military has built a new divisional headquarters on a former Tamil Tiger graveyard. The cemetery, which contained the bodies of about 2,000 Tamil Tiger fighters, had earlier been flattened. An army official told the BBC that the site was owned by the government and had been allocated to the military. He didn’t mention the site's previous use in a report of Friday’s opening ceremony on his website.

The toy manufacturer Mattel has closed its flagship Barbie store in Shanghai just two years after it opened to much fanfare. The pink-theme, six-floor emporium was launched in a drive to attract Chinese consumers at a time when the famous doll faced declining sales in the West. But analysts said sales to Chinese consumers were poor.

BBC News