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BBC news 2011-04-23 加文本

2011-04-23来源:BBC

BBC news 2011-04-22

The standoff between the protesters in Syria and the government has escalated to new levels of violence. There were demonstrations in towns and cities throughout the country, with people demanding everything from the release of political prisoners through to the overthrow of the president. Despite the lifting of the state of emergency, the security forces were deployed in large numbers ahead of Friday prayers. And when the protests began, in many places they used force. Video phone images coming out of Syria show many confrontations in which live ammunition was used, sometimes resulting in casualties.

The interesting thing is that I'm not quite sure whether you can hear me, but we seem to be having some technical problems at the moment. We heard most of but not all of a report from Beirut there by Owen Bennett-Jones on the story that human rights groups tell us that more than 70 people were killed in Syria when security forces opened fire on protesters in towns and cities right across the country.

Now the head of the American armed forces, Admiral Mike Mullen, has said that coalition air strikes against Libyan ground troops have reduced their capability by more than 30%. But he said military operations in Libya were moving towards stalemate. One of the leading American advocates of military intervention, Senator John McCain, was in the opposition-held city of Benghazi, from where Peter Biles reports.

Senator John McCain was taken first to Benghazi's Liberation Square, where he received an enthusiastic welcome from local activists. He saw the photographs on display there of the hundreds of Libyans who've disappeared and have been missing since the uprising began in February. He welcomed the deployment of armed drones but said Nato still needed more American air support in order to protect civilians. Senator McCain also called for wider political recognition for the Libyan opposition.

The President of Ivory Coast, Alassane Ouattara, has ordered troops from all sides of the country's conflict to return to barracks. Mr Ouattara, who recently won a power struggle with his rival Laurent Gbagbo, said law and order would be maintained by the police. There were clashes on Thursday in the main city Abidjan between different armed groups loyal to Mr Ouattara. The BBC correspondent there says these groups, some of them undisciplined, are perceived as a threat by civilians.

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The French presidency says it's considering suspending the Schengen accord, which allows the free movement of people between most European Union countries. The move is in response to the influx of thousands of migrants fleeing the upheaval in Libya and Tunisia. From Paris, Hugh Schofield reports.

Italy has recently granted temporary permits for some 20,000 Tunisians who fled to the island of Lampedusa. Most of these migrants are now trying to exercise what they see as their rights under Schengen to come to France. The French government says that this is not acceptable. Its suggestion about suspending Schengen is a dramatic and highly controversial attempt to force the debate.

Amid allegations of possible electoral fraud, the United States has said it's seeking an explanation from the Haitian authorities about a number of results in recent legislative elections there. In a statement, the US embassy in Haiti said the country's electoral commission needed to explain why a number of candidates won seats in the final results when they hadn't been leading in preliminary counts.

The President of Yemen, Ali Abdullah Saleh, has addressed a cheering crowd of supporters in the capital Sanaa, telling him he welcomes power transfer proposals by the Gulf Cooperation Council. Plans they put forward on Thursday suggest that the president resign and hand over power to his vice president within a month.

Pope Benedict has become the first head of the Roman Catholic Church to take questions from the public in a television programme. The first question of the prerecorded interview was from a seven-year-old Japanese girl traumatised by the recent earthquake. She asked the Pope why it was necessary to be so afraid. He told her he had no answers, but he said his prayers were with all Japanese children who were suffering. Pope Benedict also spoke about other subjects including Iraq and urged the Iraqi authorities to protect the Christian minority there.

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