BBC news 2011-05-31 加文本

BBC news 2011-05-31

BBC News with Iain Purdon

The Fifa president Sepp Blatter has denied that world football is in crisis. At a news conference in Zurich, he acknowledged that Fifa was in difficulties but insisted it could solve its problems by itself. He was speaking for the first time since two senior executives were suspended as inquiries continue into bribery allegations.

"Football is not in a crisis. When you have seen the match, the final match of the Champions League, then you must applaud, and you see what the game is, what is fair play on the game, what is good control of the game. We are not in a crisis. We are only in some difficulties, and these difficulties will be solved, will be solved inside our family."

Earlier, the Fifa secretary general Jerome Valcke confirmed he had sent an email which appeared to suggest that Qatar bought the right to host the 2022 World Cup. Qatar has denied any wrongdoing.

The South African President Jacob Zuma has left Libya after holding talks with Colonel Gaddafi about the conflict there. It's not known exactly what was discussed nor whether there was any agreement. A previous ceasefire proposal made by the African Union last month was rejected by Libyan rebels and Nato because it didn't call for Colonel Gaddafi to leave power. Andrew North reports from Tripoli.

President Jacob Zuma's visit was billed as a last chance for a diplomatic solution to the Libyan crisis. But just hours after arriving, he was on his way back to the airport, without making any statement, and there's been no word of any progress. He did meet Colonel Muammar Gaddafi, but neither Libyan officials nor(neither...or...是错的) South African diplomats have given details of their discussions. It's thought there will be a statement from President Zuma once he returns to South Africa, but the manner of his departure does not suggest he's made a breakthrough.

A further eight Libyan senior army officers have defected from the forces supporting Colonel Gaddafi. They're now in Italy. They said they were among 120 military personnel who had left Libya over the past days.

The lawyer for the former Bosnian Serb military commander Ratko Mladic says he's filed an appeal against his transfer to The Hague war crimes tribunal to face charges of genocide. Mark Lowen is in Belgrade.

The son of Ratko Mladic, Darko, has until now updated waiting journalists regularly about his father's condition on leaving the war crimes court. But today, he told reporters he didn't want to make a public comment in the presence of his children, the grandson and granddaughter of Ratko Mladic, who visited the war crimes suspect in custody for the first time. Mladic's lawyer has now posted an appeal against Mladic's extradition to The Hague by mail rather than filing it in person. It's a way of buying a little more time for his client, who he claims is too sick to be transferred to the international tribunal to stand trial for genocide and other war crimes.

World News from the BBC

A judge in Spain has ordered the arrest of 20 military officers from El Salvador for the killing in 1989 of six Jesuit priests and two women. The priests, five of whom were Spanish, their housekeeper and her daughter were shot dead by soldiers during El Salvador's civil war.

Kenya has failed to halt an investigation of the International Criminal Court into violence that killed more than 1,000 people after elections in 2007. Judges at the court ruled against the Kenyan government's request to declare the case inadmissible. Earlier, ICC officials arrived in Nairobi to discuss a witness protection programme for the case against six senior Kenyans accused of organising the violence.

President Obama has nominated General Martin Dempsey as chairman of the joint chiefs of staff, the most senior post in the American armed services. President Obama described General Dempsey as one of America's "most respected and combat-tested generals". Jonny Dymond reports from Washington.

General Dempsey's most recent combat command was in Iraq. He led the 1st Armoured Division as it struggled with the early years of the anti-American insurgency in Baghdad. He is understood to be wary of high-tech projections of future military needs. His experience in counter-insurgency has led him to place a premium on boots on the ground. But his biggest challenge may be more prosaic. Defence consumes around 20% of the federal budget. From across the political spectrum, there is a demand for cuts. After a decade of generous budgets, the US military is going to have to do with less.

The Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi has suffered a setback in local elections in his hometown Milan. Mr Berlusconi's party candidate for mayor was defeated by her opponent Giuliano Pisapia, who will become Milan's first left-wing mayor in almost two decades.

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