BBC news 2011-05-23 加文本

BBC news 2011-05-23

BBC News with John Jason

The security forces in Pakistan have been fighting a lengthy battle with militants who attacked a naval base in the city of Karachi overnight. Around a dozen well-armed attackers entered the base, setting off explosives. Eleven people are reported to have been killed, and a number have been taken hostage, including Chinese military staff. The Pakistani Taliban say they are responsible. Fighting is continuing in one part of the base, where the authorities say they've surrounded the militants. From Karachi, Shoaib Hasan reports.

Flames can be seen in the distance, and intermittent gunfire continues as troops battle the militants inside. Security officials told the BBC that several gunmen stormed the heavily-guarded Mehran naval air base late in the evening in central Karachi. Their first targets were aircraft parked on the tarmac and equipment in nearby hangers. Eyewitnesses say the militants used rocket-propelled grenades to damage and destroy several warplanes. These include the Pakistan army's premier anti-submarine attack jet - the US-made P-3C Orion. At least two of these multi-million-dollar aircraft were set ablaze.

Gulf Arab states have suspended their efforts to negotiate a power transfer deal in Yemen after President Ali Abdullah Saleh refused to sign it. The deal was meant to pave the way for Mr Saleh's resignation after months of pro-democracy protests in Yemen. State television reported that President Saleh would only sign it in the presence of opposition leaders. At one point, Western and Arab diplomats trying to mediate a solution were airlifted from the United Arab Emirates embassy in Sanaa after it was surrounded by armed supporters of the president.

The United Nations Security Council has called on the northern Sudanese army to withdraw from positions it has taken in the disputed region of Abyei on the border with southern Sudan. The south said the capture of Abyei was an act of war. The United States special envoy to Sudan, Princeton Lyman, described the escalation as "extraordinarily dangerous". The medical charity MSF said some 20,000 people had fled following the clashes in Abyei. Southern Sudan is due to become independent in July.

The governing Socialist party in Spain has suffered a crushing defeat in local and regional elections after a campaign dominated by protests against high unemployment. The Prime Minister Jose Luis Rodriguez Zapatero said the Socialists had been punished for three years of economic crisis, but he said he would not bring forward a general election due next year.

"The new local governments that come out of these elections will face very tough economic conditions for everyone. And we all, the government of Spain and the local governments, must contribute to help Spain recover the living standards the country deserves."

World News from the BBC

The former President of Honduras, Manuel Zelaya, who was ousted and forced into exile in 2009, has signed an agreement with his successor which will allow him to return home. Mr Zelaya and the Honduran President Porfirio Lobo smiled and shook hands as they signed the agreement in the Colombian city of Cartagena.

The top prize at the Cannes Film Festival in France, the Palme d'Or, has been won by The Tree of Life, directed by Terrence Malick. The best actress award went to Kirsten Dunst for her performance in Lars von Trier's film Melancholia. Von Trier was thrown out of the festival last week for joking that he was a Nazi. Kirsten Dunst briefly alluded to the row in her acceptance speech.

"Thank you so much to the jury. This is an honour that is a once-in-a-lifetime thing for an actress. And thank you to the Cannes Film Festival for allowing our film to still be in competition. And I want to thank Lars for giving me the opportunity to be so brave in this film and so free."

A new study suggests the Inca civilisation in the Peruvian Andes may have owed part of its success to llama droppings. Research by the French Institute of Andean Studies suggests the Incas flourished after they began using llama dung for fertilizer. James Read reports.

In the 15th century, the Incas ruled the biggest empire South America had ever seen, but their fabulous cities of gold had humble origins. Research conducted in the Inca heartland in Peru suggests their civilisation emerged partly as the result of an extraordinary agricultural development nearly 3,000 years ago. Samples of mud and pollen taken from a lake suggest llama dung, used as fertilizer, helped the ancient people of the Andes make the transition from hunter-gathering to farming. Centuries later, it allowed the Incas to farm maize in the high mountains, providing a grain surplus that let their civilisation take off.

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