BBC news 2011-09-06 加文本

BBC news 2011-09-06

BBC News with Iain Purdon

The British Prime Minister David Cameron has said he hopes an independent inquiry will get to the bottom of new allegations about close ties between the British and Libyan intelligence services. He said it was important that the inquiry should reveal any malpractice and remove any stain on Britain's reputation. Naomi Grimley reports.

David Cameron admitted there were questions about whether the British security services had been complicit in the illegal transfer of terror suspects to Colonel Gaddafi's Libya, so he's now asking an existing inquiry into the treatment of Guantanamo Bay detainees to broaden its brief and look at the latest allegations too. But the prime minister told members of parliament they should not rush to judgment. He urged them to remember the situation after the 9/11 attacks when intelligence agencies were trying to track down groups connected to al-Qaeda.

The International Committee of the Red Cross says the authorities in Syria have for the first time given its delegates permission to visit Syrian prisoners. The president of the ICRC, Jakob Kellenberger, said Red Cross employees had met detainees in the central prison in Damascus on Sunday.

There have been angry scenes in and outside the Cairo courtroom where the trial has resumed of the ousted Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak on charges of ordering the killing of demonstrators. The judge halted proceedings several times after scuffles between defence and prosecution lawyers, as well as families of people killed during the demonstrations. From Cairo, Bethany Bell.

Protesters, both pro- and anti-Mubarak, demonstrated at the gates of the complex where the trial was being held. Stones were thrown, and riot police responded with a heavy hand. Live cameras have now been banned from the trial, and some of the protesters don't believe justice is being done. Inside court, during a recess, someone raised a photo of the former president. There were scuffles, and the picture was burnt.

European stock markets have seen sharp falls with banks taking the brunt of the losses. Shares in Paris, Frankfurt and London fell as concerns grew about high government debt in some eurozone countries. The current slide in markets began on Thursday in New York. Here's Andrew Walker.

Bank shares were hit especially hard. Deutsche Bank fell by 10%. It's one of a number of European financial institutions facing legal action brought by the US authorities over mortgage-based assets, which had a central role in the financial crisis. There were wider concerns about the eurozone's government debt problems with renewed worries about Italy and Greece. The market also experienced the after-effects of Friday's very weak data on the American labour market, which suggest an increased risk that the US might suffer another recession.

World News from the BBC

President Obama has appealed to the opposition Republican Party to back his plans to boost the US economy ahead of a major speech on Thursday. Speaking at a Labor Day rally in Detroit, the president said he would announce measures to get America back to work, including starting a major road and bridge building programme. He said he hoped congressional Republicans would support him.

A court in Paris has ruled that the trial of the former French President Jacques Chirac will go ahead in his absence after doctors said he was suffering from memory lapses and was too unwell to attend. The judge said that Mr Chirac could be represented by his lawyers. He faces charges of illegal party funding during his time as mayor of Paris.

A senior Iranian police officer has accused counter-revolutionaries of being behind a recent wave of water fights in public places. The acting head of police, General Ahmad Radan, accused the organisers of trying to break customs and vowed that those responsible would be put on trial. Sebastian Usher reports.

Photos on Facebook show young Iranians laughing as they level shiny water guns at one another in public parks. The girls are wearing chadors, the boys T-shirts and jeans. Many are soaking wet. The pictures present a very different image of Iran not only from the way it's usually portrayed in the West, but also how the religious authorities there want it to be seen. The sight of young Iranians of both sexes mingling and play-fighting challenges taboos, and by implication the religious leadership that enforces them.

Officials in the Nigerian city of Jos say 16 people have been killed since Sunday in two nearby villages. The killings are the latest in a week of disturbances during which more than 100 people have died. Police in the city fired tear gas and live ammunition to disperse protesters, who demanded that the security forces take action to stop the violence. Jos has suffered ethnic and religious disputes for more than a decade.

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