BBC news 2011-03-26 加文本

BBC news 2011-03-26

BBC News with Iain Purdon

Thousands of people have demonstrated in cities and towns across Syria, calling for more freedom. In the southern city of Deraa, protesters said at least 20 people were reported to have been killed when shots rang out after a statue of the former President Hafez al-Assad was set alight. The Syrian authorities prevented journalists from entering Deraa. Lina Sinjab sent this report from Damascus.

Heavy gunfire was heard in Deraa following an attempt by protesters to destroy a statue of the late President Hafez al-Assad. They were chanting for freedom and criticising Maher al-Assad, the brother of President Bashar al-Assad and the head of the presidential guards. Meanwhile, there are more reports of protests across the country, most significantly in the city of Hama that was attacked by the government of the late Hafez al-Assad in the 1980s. Despite the violence and bloodshed, it appears that Syrians are losing their fear of their rulers.

Several other countries in the region have also seen mass protests. In Yemen, tens of thousands of people took part in peaceful demonstrations both for and against the government in the capital Sanaa. The President Ali Abdullah Saleh addressed a crowd of his supporters.

"We don't want power, but we need to hand power over to safe hands, not to sick, resentful or corrupt hands. We are ready to leave power but only for safe hands chosen by the people. Our people has the final word in choosing its leadership."

In Jordan, fighting broke out when supporters of the monarchy threw stones at demonstrators demanding political reform. And in the Gulf kingdom of Bahrain, pro-democracy demonstrators held several short rallies before they were broken up by police using tear gas.

France and Nigeria have presented a draft resolution to the UN Security Council, calling for sanctions against Laurent Gbagbo, who's refusing to relinquish the presidency in Ivory Coast. The resolution also bans the use of heavy weapons around the city of Abidjan. Tom Lane reports.

Nigeria and France are the two countries pushing hardest for this resolution. However, what is most interesting about the proposed text is what it does not say. Ever since the council authorised the use of force in Libya, some have asked whether it will do the same for the Ivory Coast. This text does not do that, though diplomats here have called on the beleaguered UN peacekeeping force in the country to adopt what they call a "more robust posture".

The Jesuit religious order in the United States has agreed to pay more than $160m to victims of sex abuse. Almost 500 Native Americans and Alaska natives have been abused by the Catholic priests at schools in five states in the northwest. The Jesuits also agreed to send written apologies to their victims. One of their lawyers said that some of them had waited nearly 40 years for the settlement.

World News from the BBC

Officials from the United Nations Environment Programme have held a news conference high in the Himalayas to underline the dangers still facing the ozone layer from carbon compounds known as HCFCs. Their chemical cousins CFCs, which were used in refrigerators and aerosols, have already been phased out. But HCFCs are still in use mainly in air conditioners and building materials.

The Conservative minority government in Canada has lost a no-confidence vote in parliament, a move that will trigger the fourth federal election in seven years. Lee Carter reports from Toronto.

Nobody was surprised by the result of this vote in the Canadian parliament. The no-confidence motion simply confirms the conclusions of a group of MPs that on Monday found the minority Conservative government of Prime Minister Stephen Harper in contempt of parliament for failing to provide the estimated costs for a number of spending programmes. Having led two minority governments, Mr Harper is hoping his party will win a majority. Coming from behind in the opinion polls, former author and broadcaster Michael Ignatieff will fight his first election as leader of the main opposition Liberal Party.

A number of BBC radio services are coming to an end. They include the BBC Caribbean Service, which began in 1939, one of the oldest services the BBC has provided in English. It's the last of five language services being shut down by the BBC because of cuts in government funding. Mandarin Chinese and Azeri language broadcasts on radio also stopped today. A number of World Service programmes in English are ending, including Europe Today, which has made its final broadcast.

Airport workers in Spain have voted to call off strike action threatening to paralyse the country's airports over the Easter holiday. Trade union members of the Spanish national airport operator said they'd reached agreement with the government over job security and conditions.

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