BBC news 2011-09-14 加文本

BBC news 2011-09-14

BBC News with Sue Montgomery

Official figures released in the United States, the world's largest economy, show that the income of the average household fell last year and that more Americans than ever are living in poverty. Paul Adams reports from Washington.

Yet again, figures which show that the economic recovery is not being felt by America's less advantaged citizens. African Americans and Hispanic communities are disproportionately affected, as are the less well-educated, the young and people living in the south. It's probably the decline in median income, down 2.3%, that'll worry politicians most since the battle for middle-class votes will be vital in next year's presidential election. The figures come just as President Obama hits the road trying to sell a $450bn jobs package. He faces an uphill struggle.

Taliban fighters have carried out a series of attacks in the Afghan capital Kabul, including the district where foreign embassies are located. Quentin Sommerville reports from Kabul.

In the heart of Kabul's embassy district, a Taliban rocket lands in one of the city's busiest streets. The target was the US embassy. There staff were told to take cover. On the streets, Afghan police fired at the attackers who'd taken refuge in a high-rise building. In the west of the city, another two suicide attackers detonated explosives outside a police station. A third was killed as he tried to make it into the airport. A jail run by the intelligence service was also a target. The Nato-led mission's headquarters came under attack too. Yet again, the insurgents are demonstrating that they can hit the Afghan government and its allies even in one of the most heavily fortified parts of the city.

The new director of the CIA, David Petraeus, says al-Qaeda's core operation has been weakened, but the United States faces a long-term threat from the network's supporters around the world. Mr Petraeus said that heavy casualties among the leadership of al-Qaeda had weakened the network in Pakistan and Afghanistan.

"The CIA assesses that 10 years after the 9/11 attacks, the United States continues to face a serious threat from al-Qaeda and its worldwide network of affiliates and sympathisers. Of significance though, heavy losses to al-Qaeda's senior leadership appear to have created an important window of vulnerability for the core al-Qaeda organisation in Pakistan and Afghanistan. Exploiting that window will, however, require a sustained focused effort.

The International Criminal Court is being asked to investigate Pope Benedict and three senior cardinals over their alleged failure to prevent child sex abuse by Roman Catholic priests and punish those responsible. A complaint filed by a New York-based legal charity which represents some of the victims argues that rape and sexual violence constitute crimes against humanity. The court hasn't commented.

World News from the BBC

Algeria has passed wide-ranging reforms of the media, ending a state monopoly on broadcasting. The government said the move was part of a package of reforms announced by President Abdelaziz Bouteflika in April this year. Algeria has witnessed waves of popular demonstrations in line with other countries in North Africa and the Middle East. Journalists will no longer face imprisonment for libel but will be issued with fines instead.

The prosecutor's office in Paris says it has opened an inquiry into allegations that the former French President Jacques Chirac accepted money from African leaders when he was in office. The prosecutor's office said its financial division would question the French lawyer who made the allegations, Robert Bourgi, who has said he was the go-between in the transactions. Mr Chirac has denied the allegations.

A rush hour collision involving a bus and two trains in the Argentine capital Buenos Aires has killed at least nine people and left more than 200 injured, some of them seriously. Footage from closed-circuit television cameras show the bus trying to cross a level crossing with the barrier half-closed when a train smashed into it.

The British artist Richard Hamilton, who was the pioneer of pop art in the 1950s, has died at the age of 89. During his career, he produced paintings, prints and sculptures but will be best remembered for his collages, as Keith Adams reports.

The work that brought Richard Hamilton to prominence in 1956 was Just What is it That Makes Today's Homes So Different, So Appealing? The collage shows a scantily clad body builder holding a lollipop bearing the word "pop". His work's elevation of popular culture inspired Andy Warhol and earned him his reputation as the father of pop art. Another well-known piece is his cover of the White Album by the Beatles, simply the band's name embossed on a white square.

Keith Adams reporting.

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