BBC news 2011-06-17 加文本

BBC news 2011-06-17

BBC News with Jonathan Wheatley

The euro has fallen sharply on the international money markets because of concern about the debt crisis in Greece, where fresh austerity measures have still not gone through parliament. The euro hit a new low against the Swiss franc, and since Wednesday it's fallen by more than three cents against the dollar. Here's our economics correspondent Andrew Walker.

Political indecision lies behind these latest jitters in the financial markets. There's the lack of parliamentary approval in Greece for new austerity measures intended to reduce the government's borrowing needs. There's also the failure of other euro area governments and the European Central Bank to agree on the terms for providing further financial support as Greece tries to stabilise its debts. They do agree that further help beyond the $150bn already promised is needed, but there are different views about the contribution that private lenders to Greece should make.

The married American congressman Anthony Weiner, who sent sexually explicit messages to several women, has resigned. There had been calls for him to go since he admitted sending a photo of himself in underpants to a teenager. At a rowdy news conference, the Democrat politician, who'd previously refused to stand down, apologised for his mistakes and the embarrassment he had caused.

"I hope to be able to continue the work that the citizens of my district elected me to do to fight for the middle class and those struggling to make it. Unfortunately the distraction that I have created has made that impossible. So today I am announcing my resignation from Congress."

Al-Qaeda has vowed to continue what it called its holy war against the United States, Israel and their allies under its new leader Ayman al-Zawahiri. He was the second-in-command to Osama Bin Laden, who was killed in an American raid in Pakistan last month. Here's our security correspondent Frank Gardner.

Al-Qaeda's new leader is already a familiar face. Dr Ayman al-Zawahiri, who turns 60 this Sunday, worked hand in glove with Osama Bin Laden for years, giving him strategic vision, encouraging him to "think global" and to hit the West where it hurt. Today, he faces the challenge of trying to prove al-Qaeda's relevance to the millions casting off dictatorship around the Middle East. And as an Egyptian, there are questions over whether he can command full allegiance from the group's Saudi and Yemeni members.

An American government spokeswoman said it barely mattered who was running al-Qaeda because its ideology was bankrupt.

The Libyan Prime Minister Baghdadi al-Mahmoudi has told a Russian envoy that Colonel Gaddafi's departure from power is a red line that cannot be crossed. The envoy was sent to Libya by the Russian government to try to end the conflict. Meanwhile, Spain has expelled the Libyan ambassador to Madrid for what it called activities incompatible with his diplomatic status. Libyan diplomats in most European Union capitals have either been expelled or have defected to the rebels.

World News from the BBC

A bomb has exploded outside Nigeria's national police headquarters in the capital Abuja, killing a number of people. The device is in a car that tried to join a convoy escorting a senior official into the headquarters. The car was spotted and diverted into the police building's car park, where it exploded. The Nigerian police believe the Islamic militant group Boko Haram is behind the bombing.

China says corrupt officials have siphoned more than $100bn out of the country since the middle of the 1990s. The figure appears in a report by the central bank. The Chinese prime minister has warned that corruption is the government's greatest danger. From Beijing, here's Martin Patience.

The report estimated that since the mid-1990s, up to 18,000 officials had either fled China or gone into hiding. They are estimated to have stolen $123bn. That's almost $7m for every official. According to the report, top destinations for high-ranking officials included the US, Canada and Australia. Lower-level officials tended to flee to neighbouring countries, such as Mongolia or Russia.

Forensic experts in France will on Friday start the process of identifying the remains of 104 bodies salvaged from an Air France jet which crashed over the Atlantic two years ago. The bodies were hauled up from a depth of almost 4,000 metres after a lengthy search of the seabed. The process of identification will be based on DNA or dental records.

An international conservation group says efforts to save a rare desert animal known as the Arabian oryx have been a major success. The Arabian oryx is a large antelope with two long horns, native to the Arabian Peninsula. It was hunted almost to oblivion last century, but after a programme to breed the animals in captivity and release them into the wild, the species is no longer endangered.