BBC news 2011-06-07 加文本

BBC news 2011-06-07

BBC News with Gaenor Howells

Syrian state television is reporting the deaths of at least 120 security personnel in a series of battles with hundreds of gunmen in the northwestern town of Jisr al-Shughour. There have been no independent or Syrian opposition reports from the town, which is close to the Turkish border. Western journalists are barred from Syria. Jim Muir sent this report from Beirut in neighbouring Lebanon.

In a dramatic series of urgent flashes, Syrian state TV said hundreds of gunmen who took over the town of Jisr al-Shughour had committed what it called "a real massacre". It said there were massive casualties when the security headquarters was overwhelmed; others died when security forces were ambushed on their way to reinforce the town. Many government buildings were attacked and burnt with further casualties. If the government's account is true, it's by far the biggest number of security forces killed in any single incident since the uprising began in March.

The American Secretary of State Hillary Clinton has repeated that the United States believes there should be an immediate transition of power in Yemen away from President Ali Abdullah Saleh. Mr Saleh is at present in Saudi Arabia, being treated for injuries after his compound in Sanaa was attacked on Friday. At a news conference in Washington, Mrs Clinton said the departure of President Saleh would benefit the Yemeni people.

"We think an immediate transition is in the best interests of the Yemeni people because the instability and lack of security currently afflicting Yemen cannot be addressed until there is some process that everyone knows is going to lead to the sort of economic and political reforms that they are seeking."

Saudi officials say progress is continuing on a deal brokered by the Gulf Cooperation Council for President Saleh to step down, which until now he's refused to implement.

Dozens of doctors and nurses in Bahrain who treated injured anti-government protesters earlier this year have appeared in court, charged with attempting to topple the kingdom's monarchy. The 47 defendants appeared behind closed doors in a special security court in Manama.

Officials in Germany say they still can't prove definitively the cause of the deadly E. coli outbreak, which has killed more than 20 people, despite the announcement on Sunday that they were almost certain it came from a farm producing bean sprouts in the state of Lower Saxony. Results from half of the samples tested so far at the farm have proved negative. Guenael Rodier is director of communicative diseases at the World Health Organisation. He said it was proving difficult to find the source.

"There are a number of quite pretty decent threads which have been followed up. We will test it a couple of days before all the lab result and all the epidemiological data will help us to track down the culprit. But at the moment, it's thrived with a lead, but we are working on this lead, and except it's not the right one we look for. The efforts are on track like any investigation."

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The United Nations mission in Sudan says there's been more fighting in the oil-rich region of South Kordofan, close to the border with southern Sudan, which is due to become independent next month. No details are available, but witnesses say there's been heavy shooting in the state capital Kadugli. South Kordofan holds most of northern Sudan's oil reserves.

The authorities in Kenya have for the first time begun a process of screening more than 1,600 senior police officers in an effort to weed out corruption. The vetting process by Kenya's Anti-Corruption and Public Service Commission[s] has started in the north and west of the country, and will take place in the capital Nairobi next week. Transparency International has consistently ranked Kenya as having the most corrupt police force in East Africa.

The former head of the International Monetary Fund, Dominique Strauss-Kahn, has appeared in court in New York, charged with sexually assaulting a chamber maid at a luxury hotel last month. He faces up to 25 years in prison if he's convicted. Michelle Fleury reports.

A large crowd was gathered outside the courthouse where Dominique Strauss-Kahn made his first appearance since he was released from jail and placed under house arrest. Mr Strauss-Kahn pleaded not guilty to charges that he sexually assaulted a maid at the Sofitel Hotel in New York. The former head of the International Monetary Fund, once seen as a likely French presidential candidate, has denied wrongdoing, and his lawyers have indicated that he may argue the encounter was consensual. The next court date is set for 18 July in what's likely to be a lengthy legal process.

China's top tennis official has called for the country's state-run sports system to be reformed following the success of Li Na at the French Open on Saturday. Li Na, the first Asian player to win a Grand Slam singles title, has seen her best form since opting out of the state-run system in 2008.

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