BBC news 2011-06-12 加文本

BBC news 2011-06-12

BBC News, this is Mike Cooper.

The head of al-Qaeda in East Africa, Fazul Abdullah Mohammed, has been killed. Somalia's transitional government said DNA tests confirmed his death in a shootout in the capital Mogadishu earlier this week. The United States has welcomed the news, as Tom Burridge reports from Washington.

There seems to be no doubt from officials in Washington that Fazul Abdullah Mohammed is dead. The US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said his death was a "significant blow" to al-Qaeda and its operations in East Africa. The coordinated bombings of two US embassies in Dar es Salaam and Nairobi were(was口误) the most deadly attack on American government assets abroad in recent years. So the killing of the man accused of planning it will be seen by the United States as an important moment in its fight against terrorism.

Turkey says more than 4,000 Syrians have fled across the border to escape violent repression by the Syrian army of anti-government protests. The Syrians are fleeing from the town of Jisr al-Shughour and the area around it. An eyewitness told the BBC what he'd seen on Friday.

"What's happened in the village: the tanks were firing from a distance. They destroyed the village, and they sent their army to calm the village. They moved from one village to another, hunting the wounded-down and killing everything, including cattle and sheep."

A BBC correspondent at the Turkish border says two official refugee camps are now overflowing and a third is being built. Syrian state television says its troops are moving into Jisr al-Shughour.

Reports from Yemen say nine soldiers have been killed fighting Islamic militants in the south. The state news agency says 21 al-Qaeda militants were also killed in the province of Abyan. The Yemeni President Ali Abdullah Saleh long claimed that only he could tackle the challenge of al-Qaeda. He's in Saudi Arabia undergoing treatment for injuries he received in last week's attack on his compound.

Two bombs have exploded in northwestern Pakistan, killing at least seven people and injuring many others. Reports say the blasts ripped through the market area in the city of Peshawar. The explosion took place close to midnight local time. Islamist militants in Pakistan have been increasing their attacks since Osama Bin Laden was killed in a US raid last month.

Pope Benedict has addressed 2,000 people from European nomadic communities, traditionally known as Gypsies. He urged them to turn over a new page in what he called their "painful" history. Here's David Willey.

Groups of Gypsies have come from eastern and central Europe, from France, Germany and Ireland as well as from other parts of Italy to meet the Pope. "You've remained without a homeland," the Pope said, "recalling the often difficult relations with the societies in which you live." The city authorities in Rome have several times destroyed Gypsy encampments, but the Catholic Church now goes out of its way to help provide charitable aid for Gypsy families.

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The United Nations in Afghanistan says last month was the worst for civilian casualties for at least four years, with 368 civilian deaths as a result of their current conflict. The UN said insurgents were responsible for more than 80% of the deaths, and pro-government forces for 12%.

South Africa's President Jacob Zuma has delivered a eulogy at the funeral of the anti-apartheid activist, Albertina Sisulu, calling her a "national heroine". He was speaking at the 40,000-capacity stadium in Soweto, where Mrs Sisulu's coffin had been brought by military generals for an elaborate service.

"We are proud to be associated with Mama Albertina Nontsikelelo Sisulu. We are bidding farewell to a national heroine who produced many cadres of the liberation movement and shaped our political thought."

Earlier, the former President of South Africa, Nelson Mandela, described Albertina Sisulu as "one of the greatest South Africans".

Thousands of people have attended the funeral in Kenya of the Olympic marathon champion, Sammy Wanjiru, who died last month after falling from a balcony. Investigations are still continuing into the circumstances of his death. Police have said that Wanjiru died either by accident or by suicide after his wife found him with another woman.

China is reported to have given the go-ahead for a revival of commercial horse racing, which was long banned as immoral and capitalist. State media said the races would be held weekly in the central city of Wuhan, which was a major racing venue before the Communist takeover. Gambling is prohibited outside the enclaves of Hong Kong and Macau. But the reports say people will be able to win small prizes in a convoluted process described as a guessing game. Previous attempts to relaunch racing in China have failed, and the official position remains ambiguous.

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