BBC news 2011-09-23 加文本

BBC news 2011-09-23

BBC News with Jonathan Wheatley

The most senior American military officer Admiral Mike Mullen says the militant Haqqani group, which has carried out a series of recent attacks in Afghanistan, is an arm of Pakistan's intelligence service. Admiral Mullen told US senators that Haqqani operatives planned and conducted the recent assault on the US embassy in Kabul with the support of the Pakistani intelligence. Pakistan has rejected the allegations. The BBC's Adam Brooks says the Pentagon has been talking tough.

In Admiral Mullen's testimony before Congress today, he says Pakistan has chosen to use violent extremism as an instrument of policy. Pakistan is using proxies, and that's a reference to these groups that have their roots back in the Afghan war against the Soviet Union. Pakistan still uses these groups, the Americans believe, as an instrument of policy in the region to increase their leverage, and America seems now to be tackling that brawl of Pakistani strategic vision head-on.

Libyan fighters from the National Transitional Council are celebrating in the desert town of Sabha, having taken control of the town from pro-Gaddafi forces there. Sabha was one of the last main pro-Gaddafi strongholds and was seen as a potential hiding place for the colonel and his inner circle, but so far there's been no sign of him there. Two other Gaddafi strongholds - Bani Walid and Sirte - are still offering strong resistance.

Fighting is spreading in the capital of Yemen, Sanaa, between military forces for and against President Saleh, shattering a fragile ceasefire. At least six people are reported to have been killed. Eyewitnesses said snipers shot dead two women in the central square, where anti-government activists have been holding months of protests.

In his speech at the United Nations General Assembly, the Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad has launched a fierce attack on Western policies and values, prompting delegations from 36 countries to walk out. Mr Ahmadinejad said "arrogant powers" threatened anyone who questioned the Holocaust and the 9/11 attacks.

"By using their imperialistic media network, which is under the influence of colonialism, they threaten anyone with sanctions and military action - anyone who questions the Holocaust and the 9/11 event."

Well, the British Prime Minister David Cameron has told the UN that events in the Arab world show that the organisation needs new ways of working to spread democracy. He said the Arab Spring presented a massive opportunity to spread peace and security.

"We have a responsibility to stand up against regimes that persecute their people. We need to see reform in Yemen, and above all, on Syria, it is time for the members of the Security Council to act. We must now adopt a credible resolution threatening tough sanctions."

You're listening to the World News from the BBC.

Stock markets around the world have fallen sharply after warnings about the economic outlook. The leading European markets all fell about 5% with London's FTSE 100 index seeing its biggest one-day fall since March 2009. Shares in New York were down nearly 4% at one point. Christine Lagarde, the head of the International Monetary Fund, called for more political leadership. She said the stakes were high in the eurozone debt crisis.

"It's not only about economics; it's not only about finance; it's also about a political, collective destiny amongst countries that have spent centuries fighting with each other and which are determined to stay together."

The BBC has learnt that South African intelligence officers have foiled a third attempt to assassinate the former Rwandan chief of staff, Kayumba Nyamwasa. Two plots to kill the general failed last year after he fled to South Africa, having fallen out with the Rwandan President Paul Kagame. Sources close to General Nyamwasa say the latest plot involved shooting dead his entire family. Rwanda has denied being behind the plot.

The police in Zambia say two people have died in violent demonstrations about the slow pace of vote counting in this week's presidential election. Rioting broke out in two towns in the northern Copperbelt province, a stronghold of the opposition candidate Michael Sata.

Scientists at the Cern laboratory in Geneva say they've measured subatomic particles travelling faster than the speed of light - a result that appears to contradict one of the fundamental laws of physics. The speeds were detected in neutrinos fired from Geneva to another laboratory 700km away. The researchers admit they are baffled by the result and have asked others to independently verify their measurements. If confirmed, the discovery would overturn part of Albert Einstein's theory of relativity.

BBC News