BBC news 2011-05-17 加文本

BBC news 2011-05-17

BBC News with Jonathan Izard

A judge in New York has denied bail to the head of the International Monetary Fund, Dominique Strauss-Kahn, who's now facing seven charges including the attempted rape of a hotel chamber maid. Judge Melissa Jackson said Mr Strauss-Kahn was a flight risk and should be kept in detention. He has denied the charges. He was detained on Saturday on an Air France plane minutes before it took off for Paris. Michelle Fleury was outside the court today.

Originally, we heard that the police had charged him with three particular charges: criminal sexual act, attempted rape and unlawful imprisonment; but now they've actually added four more charges. The most serious of those carries a penalty of up to 25 years. This, of course, they say is arising out of what they believe is more evidence, more physical evidence they have. Now you may recall Dominique Strauss-Kahn, the arraignment, his appearance before a judge was actually delayed because he went to a hospital for a physical examination, so clearly police feel they have more evidence as a result of that.

Mr Strauss-Kahn has been seen as a respected and effective leader of the IMF and an important partner for European leaders. He had helped organise rescue packages for struggling countries in the eurozone.

The chief prosecutor of the International Criminal Court says he's asked judges to issue international arrest warrants for the Libyan leader Colonel Gaddafi, his son Saif al-Islam and his intelligence chief Abdullah al-Sanussi for crimes against humanity. The prosecutor, Luis Moreno-Ocampo, said he had a lot of evidence against the three men, as James Robbins reports.

Luis Moreno-Ocampo said more than 1,200 documents and 50 interviews with key insiders and witnesses provided evidence that Colonel Gaddafi had personally ordered attacks on unarmed Libyan civilians. They were attacked in their homes, shot during demonstrations or when leaving mosques. Mr Ocampo said others were victims of the shelling of funeral processions. The Libyan government says it is ignoring the prosecutor's announcement and does not recognise the jurisdiction of the International Criminal Court.

The American billionaire property magnate, Donald Trump, says he won't run for the United States presidency in 2012. Mr Trump, who's well-known for his role in a reality television show, announced that he will not seek the Republican nomination to challenge President Obama despite weeks of unofficial campaigning. Paul Adams reports from Washington.

After a political tease that's lasted several weeks, Donald Trump finally decided he was not ready to leave the private sector. Making his announcement, the businessman with the outsized ego and eccentric hairdo said he still believed he could win the general election. He may be the only person in the country who genuinely believes it. But someone who was in with a chance, Mike Huckabee, has also decided not to run. This deprives the Republican field of a strong socially conservative candidate and adds to the impression that the party is struggling to come up with a viable contender capable of taking on the president.

World News from the BBC

In the latest effort to eradicate child sex abuse in the Roman Catholic Church, Pope Benedict has told bishops around the world to report promptly all priests suspected of paedophilia to local police. Bishops have also been given a year to draw up detailed plans to fight abuse and help victims. A BBC's correspondent at the Vatican says that since widespread reports of abuse first emerged, the Church has often appeared more interested in protecting priests than punishing those responsible.

In Egypt, the wife of the former president has agreed to hand over assets to the state after being detained on Saturday as part of a corruption investigation. Suzanne Mubarak, whose husband Hosni was forced to stand down following huge pro-democracy demonstrations, will surrender a villa in Cairo and some $3m held in bank accounts.

A man who managed to survive a gruesome massacre in Guatemala has given details of his ordeal at the hands of a suspected Mexican drug cartel. The farm worker said the gang members arrived at his ranch on Saturday and demanded to see the landowner. When the peasants refused to cooperate, the gangsters bound their hands and hacked at them using machetes. At least 27 were beheaded. The survivor pretended to be dead until help arrived.

The American space shuttle Endeavour has lifted off for the International Space Station on its final mission. The blast-off was watched by Gabrielle Giffords, the US congresswoman shot in the head in January. Her husband Mark Kelly is the shuttle commander. Andy Gallacher was at the launch.

The space shuttle Endeavour blasted off into the bright morning sky as a cheer went up across the Kennedy Space Center. An estimated half a million people lined the beaches, roads and bridges across Florida's space coast to catch one final glimpse of the spacecraft. When Endeavour returns to Earth, it will be sent to a museum in California, leaving only one working space shuttle. Atlantis is due to launch in July, one last mission for a space programme that's lasted for 30 years.

That report from Andy Gallacher

That's the latest BBC World Service News.