BBC news 2011-06-22 加文本

BBC news 2011-06-22

BBC News with Iain Purdon

Protesters in Greece are again gathering outside parliament as the Prime Minister George Papandreou's government prepares for a critical vote of confidence one hour from now. They are shouting slogans against austerity measures and the political classes in general. Malcolm Brabant reports from Athens.

All the indications are that George Papandreou will win his vote of confidence with a handful of seats to spare. Rebel Socialist MPs who forced him to reshuffle his cabinet have started to come off the fence and say that they will endorse the new cabinet. The big difference for some is the elevation to deputy prime minister and finance minister of Evangelos Venizelos, the effective leader of the Socialist old guard. One prominent dissenter, Nikolas Salagiannis, said the reshuffle had generated a slim hope.

The former US ambassador to China, Jon Huntsman, has announced his intention to become the Republican Party candidate in next year's presidential election. He told his supporters hard decisions had to be taken to reduce America's public debt. From Washington, here's Paul Adams.

In blustery weather with the Statue of Liberty as a backdrop, Jon Huntsman entered the presidential fray with a bleak warning about the country's direction. For the first time in American history, he said, one generation was passing on to the next a country less powerful, compassionate, competitive and confident. Mr Huntsman has yet to spell out what solutions he's proposing. He also has some hurdles to overcome. Until recently he served President Obama, and his views on civil partnerships and putting a price on carbon will be difficult for many Republican voters to accept.

The American Secretary of State Hillary Clinton says she supports a campaign by Saudi women to win the right to drive. Mrs Clinton praised the courage of dozens of women who drove through Saudi streets last week in protest against current restrictions.

"What these women are doing is brave, and what they are seeking is right, but the effort belongs to them. I am moved by it, and I support them, but I want to underscore the fact that this is not coming from outside their country. This is the women themselves seeking to be recognised."

A campaign group, Saudi Women for Driving, said their challenge to the authorities was inspired by the wave of protests sweeping through the Arab world.

The International Organisation for Migration says it's evacuating thousands of Ethiopian migrants who've been trapped in Yemen. It says it's already repatriated 275 Ethiopians, some of whom had gunshot wounds. Yemen has seen months of unrest as President Ali Abdullah Saleh refuses to bow to pressure from protesters to step down. Two Somali migrants were killed in the capital Sanaa last month. Yemen has long been a major transit point for illegal migration from the Horn of Africa.

World News from the BBC

Reports from Syria say at least seven protesters have been killed in clashes between pro- and anti-government demonstrators in the cities of Homs and Deir al-Zour. Activists say Syrian security forces attacked opposition demonstrators. Reports suggested a 14-year-old boy was among those killed. Earlier, Syria's state television broadcast images of rallies supporting President Bashar al-Assad.

The Pakistani army has detained a brigadier at army headquarters in Rawalpindi for alleged links with a banned Islamic hard-line group, Hizb ut-Tahrir. An official said Brigadier Ali Khan was facing an internal military investigation. Here's Shahzeb Jillani.

The brigadier comes from a family of soldiers and having served 32 years in the Pakistan army was due to retire in July. His family said that after the killing of Osama Bin Laden in a US raid, Brigadier Khan had criticised the Pakistani top brass in an internal session. The next day, his lawyer says, Brigadier Khan went missing. More than six weeks on, the army has admitted that he's been in their custody, undergoing interrogation for his alleged connections with extremists. His family says they'll go to court to secure his release.

Russia has released secret documents challenging the widely held view that the Nazi attack on the Soviet Union in the Second World War took the government in Moscow by surprise. The papers show that the Soviet leader Joseph Stalin ignored dozens of Soviet intelligence reports warning him about an imminent invasion despite a non-aggression pact between Berlin and Moscow.

A controversial statue of Alexander the Great has been erected in the Macedonian capital Skopje despite protests from neighbouring Greece. The Macedonian government commissioned the bronze monument as part of its efforts to claim the region's heritage. Greece objects strongly to Macedonia, a mainly Slavic nation claiming the ancient name and culture, and has blocked Macedonia's entry into Nato and the European Union.

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