BBC news 2011-07-03 加文本

BBC news 2011-07-03

BBC News with Nick Kelly

President Assad of Syria has dismissed the governor of the city of Hama a day after it staged one of the biggest demonstrations yet against his rule. Lina Sinjab reports from Damascus.

The governor of Hama is believed to be at least partially responsible for the violence that left many dead last month, and the decision to dismiss him seems to be an attempt to appease popular anger, but the violence is continuing. Human rights activists say 24 people were shot dead during protests on Friday when hundreds of thousands are believed to have taken to the streets. Opposition groups in Syria say they see no way out of the crisis unless the army and security forces leave cities and towns, and peaceful demonstrations are allowed.

There have been several demonstrations in Bahrain following the formal opening of talks between the Sunni authorities and the Shia-dominated opposition. At one demonstration, protesters opposed to the talks chanted for the Bahraini monarch to step down. The talks follow months of anti-government protests, in which more than 30 people have been killed. Mike Wooldridge reports.

There's been strong pressure including from the United States, which bases the US Navy's Fifth Fleet in Bahrain, for reconciliation talks between the island nation's Sunni monarchy and the opposition. At the opening session today of what the government's calling a "national dialogue", the parliament speaker said the talks would have no preconditions and there'd be no ceiling on the demands that could be raised by delegates. The main opposition Shia bloc joined in at the last moment after a protracted debate, but it's demanding changes in the way the prime minister is appointed and the release of all those detained in the government's crackdown on protest.

The African Union says its members will not cooperate with the International Criminal Court in carrying out the arrest warrant against the Libyan leader Colonel Gaddafi. At the end of a summit in Equatorial Guinea, the African leaders said that the warrant seriously complicated their efforts to find a political solution.

The leader of the Lebanese militant Shia group Hezbollah, Hassan Nasrallah, has rejected the criminal indictments of four of its senior members who are accused of assassinating the country's former Prime Minister Rafik Hariri. Mr Hariri and 22 others were killed by a massive bomb in 2005. From Beirut, Owen Bennett-Jones reports.

Hassan Nasrallah gave his reaction to the tribunal's arrest warrants in a televised address. He rejected outright the tribunal's findings, criticising various members of the organisation's staff as being biased, corrupt and linked to the CIA. He complained that no serious attempt had been made to investigate whether Israel was behind the assassination. Leaks from the tribunal suggest it's relying mainly on mobile phone evidence to accuse the Hezbollah members. The Lebanese government now has 30 days to arrest the four men. But Hassan Nasrallah said they would not be detained, not even in 300 years.

World News from the BBC

The former Brazilian President Itamar Franco has died in hospital in Sao Paulo from complications from leukaemia. He was 81. Mr Franco, who'd been vice president, took over the presidential role in October 1992 when the then President Fernando Collor de Mello was facing impeachment proceedings. Mr Franco remained in the post until January 1995 at a time of hyperinflation and widespread economic problems.

The Greek authorities have arrested the captain of a boat that was due to carry activists to the Gaza Strip. The boat, called the Audacity of Hope, is part of a flotilla planning to take humanitarian aid to Gaza in order to challenge the Israeli blockade of the Palestinian territory. Greece has banned ships heading to Gaza from Greek ports. The Audacity of Hope attempted to sail from Perama, near Athens, on Friday night.

Finance ministers from the group of countries that use the euro have approved the latest tranche of emergency help for the Greek economy. They are to release about $17bn in urgent aid in the next two weeks to help Greece meet payments on its huge debts and avoid bankruptcy. Earlier this week, the Greek parliament passed tough austerity measures demanded by the European Union and the International Monetary Fund, despite angry protests on the streets of Athens.

And the Czech tennis player Petra Kvitova has won the women's singles final at Wimbledon, her first appearance in a Grand Slam final. She defeated the Russian Maria Sharapova, a former Wimbledon champion, in straight sets. From Wimbledon, here's the BBC's Richard Flemming.

When Petra Kvitova sent down the winning ace to claim the Wimbledon ladies' singles crown, she claimed numerous firsts. It was her first Grand Slam title from what was her first appearance in a Grand Slam final; she was the first player from the Czech Republic since Jana Novotna in 1998 to win this most precious of tennis titles, and she was the first left-handed player to raise the Venus Rosewater Dish for 21 years, the last being compatriot Martina Navratilova.

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