BBC news 2011-06-27 加文本

BBC news 2011-06-27

BBC News with Marion Marshall

Rebels in western Libya say they are consolidating positions on the approaches to the capital Tripoli. The rebels are now battling with Colonel Gaddafi's forces just 50km outside the capital, from where Mark Doyle reports.

The rebel frontline in this part of the country is a series of simple defences - mounds of earth to protect the rebels from incoming fire. In the distance, I can hear the boom of artillery and the loud rattle of automatic weapons. There's the occasional background rumble of aircraft, Nato jets flying overhead. The rebels in this area fought their way down from their strongholds in the western Libyan mountains in early June. They say they are on their way to Tripoli, but Colonel Gaddafi's men are resisting this opposition advance strongly.

The Chinese Prime Minister Wen Jiabao has said China will lend a helping hand to European countries experiencing financial difficulties. During a visit to Britain, he told the BBC that China had increased its investments in government bonds from some EU countries, demonstrating Beijing's continuing confidence in the eurozone. He also acknowledged that China's massive trade surplus was bad for global stability.

"We've set ourselves the goal of tackling the financial crisis that we need to achieve strong, balanced and sustainable growth in the world. To achieve this goal, China will play its part. At home, we are going to further stimulate domestic demand, and we are going to reduce our foreign trade surplus and our reliance on exports."

Rival groups of demonstrators gathered outside a Chinese-owned car factory in Birmingham that Mr Wen was visiting.

The authorities in Somalia have pardoned six foreigners convicted of bringing more than $3m into the country to pay off a pirate ransom. A spokesman for the transitional government said the men, from Britain, the United States and Kenya, had been freed for what he described as humanitarian reasons. The men were last week given sentences of up to 15 years in prison. The ransom money was confiscated by the government.

Fifteen associates of the former President of Ivory Coast, Laurent Gbagbo, have been charged with forming armed groups, economic crimes and undermining the state. Ivory Coast's new President Alassane Ouattara has promised to bring to justice those responsible for post-election violence, which left more than 3,000 people dead. From the main city Abidjan, John James reports.

These are the first official charges brought so far and include seven ministers from the Gbagbo government as well as the former governor of the West African central bank, who allegedly helped the former president access frozen state bank accounts. Mr Gbagbo himself has yet to be charged and remains under house arrest in the north of the country. The new government has promised to end impunity. But so far, only pro-Gbagbo supporters have been arrested, despite the findings of a UN Human Rights Council report earlier this month that both sides had committed atrocities.

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A court in Zimbabwe has freed a government minister, Jameson Timba, who was arrested on Friday on suspicion of undermining the authority of President Robert Mugabe. A judge ruled that the police had no justification for arresting Mr Timba, who was accused of calling Mr Mugabe a liar. Mr Timba is a member of the Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai's MDC party, which is part of Zimbabwe's power-sharing government.

Israel has warned journalists to travel with a flotilla of boats trying to break Israel's blockade of Gaza that they could be banned from working in Israel for 10 years. Foreign journalists in Israel said the warning raised serious questions about press freedom. The flotilla, which will carry pro-Palestinian activists from more than a dozen countries, is planning to set sail this week.

A group of computer hackers, known as Lulz Security, say they are disbanding after targeting official American websites, such as the CIA and the US Senate. Tom Burridge sent this report from Washington.

Through a statement posted online, the group, which claims to have six members, said after 50 days its mission of cyber exposure and disruption was over. In a parting shot, the group released documents [that] they said included confidential material taken from Arizona's police department and the US telecoms giant AT&T. Little is known about LulzSec. In the murky world of hacking, their motives for disbanding are unclear. But after rival hackers claimed to have released information to help track them down and police in Britain arrested a 19-year-old man in connection with LulzSec's hacking, this small publicity-seeking group might have started to fear that their game was up.

One of the great clubs of South American football, River Plate, has been relegated from the Argentine first division for the first time in their 110-year history. Needing to win by two clear goals to escape dropping to the country's "B" league, River managed only a 1-1 draw. The match had to be abandoned amid chaotic and violent scenes.

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