BBC news 2011-07-22 加文本

BBC news 2011-07-22

BBC News with Marion Marshall

European leaders have reached agreement at an emergency meeting in Brussels on a new bailout for Greece in an effort to prevent the eurozone debt crisis from spreading. The European Union President Herman van Rompuy said the programme would be financed by the EU, the IMF and the private sector. He insisted that Europe would defend its currency.

"Today, ladies and gentlemen, with all these decisions we have shown that we will not waver in the defence of our monetary union and our common currency. Final remark: when European leaders say that we will do everything what is required to save the eurozone, it is very simple. We mean it."

The package is reported to be worth more than $200bn. Interest rates for loans to Greece are to be reduced and their duration will be extended. Mr van Rompuy said private sector involvement in emergency measures would be restricted to Greece.

Some news just in, the BBC has learnt that a senior journalist at the Sun newspaper, which is owned by Rupert Murdoch's media group, has been sacked in connection with phone hacking. It's not clear whether the journalist previously worked for the now defunct News of the World, which is at the heart of the hacking scandal here in Britain.

Syrian security forces are reported to have intensified their operation against anti-government protesters in the country's third biggest city Homs. A Syrian human rights activist told the BBC that government forces have killed at least two people. Owen Bennett-Jones reports from Beirut.

The protesters and the security forces in Homs are locked in a protracted and violent battle of wills. For days now, residents have been saying that they are frightened and stuck in their homes, listening to gunfire outside. On the streets, there are checkpoints and a heavy security presence as the authorities seek to arrest protest organisers. It seems that some of the violence in Homs has been sectarian with the city's Sunni and Alawite communities clashing. Both the government and opposition accuse each other of encouraging sectarian violence.

Nato says it's investigating how its computer network was hacked. A group of international hackers calling themselves Anonymous said they had breached Nato security and downloaded hundreds of confidential documents. The cyber attack comes days after 21 suspected members of Anonymous were arrested in the US, Britain and the Netherlands. Caroline Hawley reports.

According to Anonymous, its hackers have now laid their hands on one gigabyte of restricted data. The documents they posted online don't appear to contain information that will concern Nato too much. But a Nato official condemned any leak of classified documents, saying they could potentially endanger security. A splinter group of Anonymous has previously hacked the website of the CIA and of Britain's Serious Organised Crime Agency. Taunting Nato on Twitter, Anonymous says it has more of what it calls the organisation's "delicious data".

Caroline Hawley

World News from the BBC

The President of Malawi, Bingu wa Mutharika, has rejected calls to step down despite the deaths of 18 people in two days of anti-government riots. In an address to the nation, President Mutharika said nothing would be solved by violence and that he would talk to the opposition. A BBC correspondent in the capital Lilongwe says government buildings have again been attacked.

Pakistan has accused the United States of conducting a "slander campaign" against it. It was responding in a foreign ministry statement to the recent arrest of an American of Pakistani origin, Syed Ghulam Nabi Fai. Mr Fai has been charged with illegally lobbying the US government and a failing to register with the authorities as the agent of a foreign government. He denies any wrongdoing.

The governing body of world football, Fifa, says it fears that young players from poorer nations are being trafficked by criminal gangs to fix matches. Fifa's head of security, Chris Eaton, said they were groomed to help fix matches in the future. Here's our sports reporter Alex Capstick.

Chris Eaton is in charge of Fifa's attempts to control the scourge of match-fixing. He suspects young footballers from poorer nations are being targeted by criminal gangs. He describes a situation in which the players and their families are approached at international junior tournaments. They are promised deals with clubs in Europe and Latin America. In exchange, they are expected to comply when asked to alter the outcome of games. He says the betting rings are well-funded and have long-term plans.

Queen Elizabeth's second son Prince Andrew is to step down from his job as Britain's special representative for trade and investment. The prince has been compromised recently by his friendships with controversial figures. He came in for particular criticism for his association with an American businessman convicted of sex offences against a girl under the age of consent. Buckingham Palace said Prince Andrew would still undertake trade engagements in keeping with normal practice by members of the royal family.

BBC News