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BBC news 2011-04-10 加文本
BBC news 2011-04-10
BBC News, this is Mike Cooper.
The British embassy in Ivory Coast's main city of Abidjan has been evacuated because of the fighting between forces loyal to the two bitter rivals for the presidency. The building is near the residence of Laurent Gbagbo, who refuses to step down as president. From Abidjan, here's Mark Doyle.
When bullets started coming through the windows of the British embassy and a mortar round landed in the garden, one of those working there said they decided to call it a day. A skeleton staff of two British diplomats and 16 local employees were evacuated on Saturday. They were brought out in a convoy of United Nations armoured personnel carriers. It's understood the French army which has a large base in Abidjan also helped facilitate the evacuation. A number of foreign embassies have now shut down in Abidjan as the war being fought right in the middle of the city intensifies.
In a separate development, the UN confirmed that mortar rounds apparently fired by Mr Gbagbo's troops had targeted the Golf Hotel, where his opponent Alassane Ouattara is based.
Votes are being counted in Nigeria's parliamentary elections which had been postponed for a week because of a lack of readiness. There were pockets of violence with two suspected bombs going off at election centres in the northeastern state of Borno, where a local politician was also shot dead. Early indications suggest the ruling People's Democratic Party is losing many seats to a range of opposition parties.
Hundreds of anti-government protesters are reported to have been hurt in the Yemeni capital Sanaa a day after similar clashes in the city of Taiz. This report from our Yemen correspondent who we're not naming for security reasons.
The area of central Sanaa, where the clashes are taking place, is blocked off by army trucks, and many streets around it are guarded by men with sticks - supporters of President Ali Abdullah Saleh. Doctors say that there are hundreds of people that have been brought into the hospitals, many of them suffering from the effects of tear gas. At least a dozen have gunshot wounds.
Egypt's interim military government has announced plans to replace some of the country's provincial governors appointed by the former Hosni Mubarak. It's being seen as a concession to protesters demanding faster change. From Cairo, Yolande Knell reports.
Tensions have been growing between the military and reformists. A mass rally on Friday attracted the biggest crowd seen in Tahrir Square for weeks, with complaints raised that Mr Mubarak, his family and several close associates have not been charged with corruption. When several hundred demonstrators remained in the square overnight, violence followed as the military moved in to try to enforce a night-time curfew.
Libyan forces loyal to Colonel Gaddafi are battling opposition fighters for control of the eastern town of Ajdabiya. Government forces shelled the town, and there was fighting at close quarters for several hours. The rebels say they are still in charge, but there are reports of continued fighting.
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A member of parliament in Syria, Naser Hariri, has condemned the security forces for shooting dead 20 protesters in the city of Deraa on Friday and called for an investigation.
"I say that the blood of the fallen will forever be a mark of shame on the foreheads of those who gave the orders and those who killed the honourable youths. What took place in Deraa was a misconduct on the security forces' part. And if such forces had a sound political judgment, Deraa would not be where it is now."
Mr Hariri said there would be no end to what he described as a bloodbath without the personal intervention of the Syrian President Bashar al-Assad.
Cuba and Venezuela have condemned a United States court's decision to acquit a veteran anti-communist militant, Luis Posada Carriles. A Cuban official called the outcome a shameful farce. Venezuela said it was an act of theatre staged to protect a known terrorist. The court cleared Mr Posada Carriles of lying to US immigration officials.
The celebrated American film director Sidney Lumet has died at his home in Manhattan. He was 86. The films he's made were nominated for more than 50 Oscars. They included the courtroom drama 12 Angry Men as well as Serpico, Network and Fail-Safe. Six years ago, he received an honorary Oscar for a lifetime's achievement in film. He spoke to the BBC in 1991.
"I respond to a script or an idea completely instinctively. Don't analyse it. Don't try to fit into a preconceived notion of what I want. And then after a number of years, I can look back and I say 'Oh, that's what I was interested in at that time.' Quite obviously the whole justice system involved me enormously, and I don't know why."
Tens of thousands of European trade unionists have demonstrated in the Hungarian capital Budapest. The protesters oppose tough austerity measures imposed by many governments.
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