BBC news 2011-05-02 加文本

BBC news 2011-05-02

BBC News with John Jason

Angry crowds have attacked diplomatic buildings in the Libyan capital Tripoli in response to reports that one of Colonel Gaddafi’s sons was killed in a NATO airstrike. The Italian and American embassies along with the UN mission were also targeted. The British embassy was completely burnt out, prompting the government in London to expel the Libyan ambassador. The British Foreign Office Minister Alistair Burt defended that decision.

Protecting diplomatic premises is a fundamental in relations between nations. It’s governed by the Vienna Convention. And the government there is responsible for the safety of those premises. It is a very strong breach of international protocol and it's an example of other breaches of international protocol which the regime has been involved in. So it is entirely right and appropriate that the Libyan ambassador is expelled.

Libyan state television has shown footage of what it says are the bodies of those killed in the NATO airstrike including Colonel Gaddafi’s youngest son Saif al-Arab Gaddafi. Some on the rebel's side have expressed scepticism. Christian Fraser was shown the bomb site.

The moment of impact. In all, three rockets were fired in quick succession into this villa close to Colonel Gaddafi's military compound. Today state television produced footage of four shrouded bodies said to be those of Saif al-Arab, Colonel Gaddafi's youngest son, and three of the leader's grandchildren. It is hard to imagine anyone could have survived this attack that the government is claiming Colonel Gaddafi was there with his wife, but escaped.

The late Pope John Paul II has been beatified before a crowd estimated at more than a million gathered at the Vatican. Pope Benedict proclaimed his Polish predecessor who died six years ago a 'blessed of the Roman Catholic Church', the last step before sainthood. It was the largest gathering in Rome since Pope John Paul's funeral. A BBC correspondent says the huge turnout was a morale-booster for the Church which has been scarred by paedophile priest scandals in many countries. 

Hundreds of thousands of Cubans have shown their support for recently-approved economic changes with huge May Day rallies in Havana and other cities. Last month President Raul Castro announced a series of changes that will allow Cubans to buy and sell their homes and entrepreneurs to set up small businesses and hire labour. The authorities insist that the changes are not a return to capitalism.

French search teams say they've found the data recorder from an Airfrance jet that crashed off the coast of Brazil in 2009. Robots capable of operating four kilometres below the ocean surface were used to find the recorder which is said to be in good physical condition. Last week, they located casing that held the recorder. They still haven't found the second unit with voice recordings. The plane went down while travelling from Rio de Janeiro to Paris, killing all 228 people on board.

World News from the BBC

Government ministers in Germany have attempted to reassure workers that their pay isn't about to be undercut by immigrants from Eastern Europe. In interviews with with best-selling newspapers, several promised tighter monitoring of paying conditions. On Sunday, Germany finally opened its jobs market to people from former Communist countries that joined the European Union in 2004. Steven Evans reports from Berlin.

On the day the barriers finally came down, a string of ministers promised to protect German workers from cheaper labour, even as employers say the economy needs outsiders to do skilled work. What employers don't say but unions fear is that firms also want unskilled workers at lower rates of pay.

Tens of thousands of Sri Lankans have used May Day rallies to reject a United Nations report released last week, calling for both sides in the country's civil war to be investigated over possible war crimes. The report said government shelling killed tens of thousands of civilians. Anbarasan Ethirajan reports from Colombo.

The rally in the capital Colombo was supposed to mark Workers' Day. But during the march, pro-government supporters shouted slogans and carried placards, denouncing the UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon and the UN Human Rights

Commissioner Navi Pillay. The Sri Lankan government has rejected the UN report, saying it is fundamentally flawed. And by organising this huge rally, the Sri Lankan leaders seem to be sending out a defiant message to the UN that they have the strong backing of the people.  

One of Britain's best-loved sporting personalities, the former boxer Sir Henry Cooper, has died. He was 76. Henry Cooper, a former British heavyweight champion, was perhaps best known in the ring for his devastating left hook and for his famous knockdown of the American Muhammad Ali, then known as Cassius Clay, in 1963. After retiring from the ring, Henry Cooper went on to establish a career in media work.

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