BBC news 2011-03-09 加文本

BBC news 2011-03-09

BBC News with David Legge.

Forces loyal to the Libyan leader MuammarGaddafi have intensified their assault on rebel-held towns, using tanks,artillery, and air power. About 50 government tanks were reported to haveattacked Zawiya near the capital Tripolifrom where Wyre Davies reports.

We understand from at least two trusted sourcesinside the town of Zawiyathat there has been heavy fighting in the town. One man told us by telephonethere were at least 50 government tanks attacking Zawiya and that there werebullets flying in all directions. The same man, a trusted BBC contact,described the town as having been torn down to ashes. Another witness from therebel-held town just 50 kilometres to the west of Tripoli said, in his own words, “Zawiya hasbeen wiped from the earth.”, and that several people including children hadbeen killed. The Libyan government insists that its troops are not killing civilians,and are only taking up defensive positions around towns like Zawiya.

In eastern Libya,pro-Gaddafi forces are reported to have shelled the oil town of Ras Lanuf.

The UN refugee agency says hundreds ofthousands of people in Ivory  Coast have been displaced by the fightingbetween supporters of the two men claiming to be president. The UNHCR says thatover the last three months up to 300,000 have left their homes in Abidjan.

The International Criminal Court has issuedsummonses for six suspects in its investigation into post-election violence in Kenya in 2008.The six are accused of murder, deportations, and persecutions. Will Rossreports.

This decision means the trial of the six prominentKenyans is now almost inevitable. It’s not clear if the six Kenyans will showup at the court in The Hague– a lot is at stake. Those accused of bearing the most responsibility for thepost-election violence include the son of Kenya’s founding president, UhuruKenyatta. He’s now both the deputy prime minister and the finance minister. Alsoto be issued with the summons is Francis Muthaura, the secretary to the cabinetand an extremely close ally of the current President Mwai Kibaki.

The biggest insider trading trial in morethan a decade has started in New  York. Raj Rajaratnam, the Sri Lankan founder of the hedgefund company Galleon, is accused of making more than 45 million dollars in illegalprofits from insider information on stock market trades. Caroline Hepkerreports from New York.

Sri Lankan-born Raj Rajaratnam was for atime worth more than 1 billion dollars, a prominent hedge fund boss. But he hasbeen accused of using well-placed contacts to cream corporate information thatconstitutes insider trading. The illegal tips supposedly relate to companiesfrom IBM to Intel and Goldman Sachs. Mr Rajaratnam denies the accusations. Over100 potential jurors in the case appeared in court on Tuesday. The trial couldmark a major shake-up in the hedge fund industry.

World News from the BBC.

The world’s biggest oil producer, Saudi Arabia, says world oil supplies remainsufficient to meet demands, despite the loss of production caused by the crisisin Libya.The Saudi Oil Minister Ali al-Naimi said rising oil prices were due mostly tospeculation.

Direct talks to try to end one of Europe’s most intractable disputes are taking placebetween representatives of the Serbian and Kosovan governments. The negotiationsin Brussels are the first between the two sidessince Kosovo unilaterally broke away from Serbia three years ago. From Belgrade, Mark Lowenreports.

Belgrade rejects the declaration of independence of its cherished southerNPRovince, but for Kosovo, its independence status is final. Now, in an effortto break the deadlock, the European Union is leading the first direct talksbetween the parties in Brussels,using the incentive of an eventual EU membership to goad both sides towards ahistoric compromise. Solving the Kosovo conflicts will be a long and arduousprocess, and while neither side will change its position on the fundamental issueof independence, success in this dialogue will go some way towards helping bothSerbia and Kosovo leave their troubled past behind and move towards their goalof European integration.

Some of Brazil’sbiggest former football stars have played a match in Chechnya against a team captainedby the controversial Chechen President Ramzan Kadyrov. Mr Kadyrov scored twicein the match in Grozny,but his team lost 6-4 to a Brazilian all-star selection, including Bebeto and Romario.

French police have found 25 million dollars’worth of stolen jewellery hidden in a drain outside Paris. Detectives found 19 rings and threesets of earrings concealed in a plastic container set into a cement mould at ahouse outside the French capital. Investigators believe many of the items werestolen from the luxury Harry Winston boutique in Paris in a raid in 2008.

BBC News.