BBC news 2011-10-01 加文本

BBC news 2011-10-01

BBC News with Marion Marshall

President Barack Obama has confirmed that one of al-Qaeda's most influential figures, the American-born cleric Anwar al-Awlaki, has been killed in Yemen. He said Mr Awlaki had taken a leading role in planning and directing efforts to murder innocent Americans and the US would remain vigilant against terrorist threats.

"Make no mistake, this is further proof that al-Qaeda and its affiliates will find no safe haven anywhere in the world. Working with Yemen and our other allies and partners, we will be determined, we will be deliberate, we will be relentless, we will be resolute in our commitment to destroy terrorist networks that aim to kill Americans."

US and Yemeni officials earlier said Mr Awlaki's convoy was attacked by an American drone. The latest operation is also reported to have killed three other militants. Frank Gardner reports.

It was the briefest of statements by the Yemeni government this morning that announced the biggest blow to al-Qaeda since the killing of Osama Bin Laden in May. Possibly the organisation's most inspirational cleric and ideologue in the Middle East, Anwar al-Awlaki, has been killed in an air strike in a joint US-Yemeni operation. It follows a controversial executive order signed by President Obama last year to hunt down and kill al-Awlaki, who was a US citizen. Using the Internet, al-Awlaki encouraged his followers to attack Western targets. He's been blamed for inspiring US army major Nidal Hasan to kill his fellow soldiers in Texas.

The Afghan President Hamid Karzai says he's suspending efforts to talk to the Afghan Taliban and will focus instead on dialogue with Pakistan in efforts to bring security to the country. Jill McGivering reports.

President Karzai told religious leaders in Kabul that if Afghanistan wanted to pursue peace talks, its only dialogue partner was Pakistan. He couldn't talk to the Taliban leader Mullah Mohammed Omar, he said, because he couldn't be found and neither could the Taliban Council. "Therefore," he added, "we cannot talk to anyone but to Pakistan." It's the clearest statement yet that the Afghan government may abandon its attempts at political dialogue with the Taliban. The recent murder of Afghanistan's main negotiator Burhanuddin Rabbani threw its policy into chaos.

The United Nations war crimes tribunal for Rwanda has convicted two former ministers for complicity in the 1994 genocide, but has freed two others. The two jailed ministers were each sentenced to 30 years in prison. Will Ross reports.

There were extraordinary scenes in court as two former Rwandan ministers were sent to prison for 30 years whilst their cabinet colleagues celebrated being set free. The health minister in 1994 Casimir Bizimungu and the foreign minister Jerome-Clement Bicamumpaka are amongst the most senior officials to be acquitted of genocide. The judges ruled that Justin Mugenzi and Prosper Mugiraneza had been part of the government decision to remove the prefect of the city of Butare, who had been opposed to the ethnically driven killings.

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The oil giant Exxon Mobil says gunmen have attacked a ship supplying an oil platform off the coast of Nigeria and abducted one of its workers. In 2006, militants campaigning for a greater share of oil wealth began a wave of attacks against foreign oil companies, kidnapping workers and targeting pipelines.

London's leading shares index, the FTSE, has registered its worst quarterly trading figures for nine years. Hundreds of billions of dollars have been wiped off shares in the past three months. Stocks in France and Germany have also fallen in value by more than 25% since the end of June.

Paris is launching an electric car rental scheme similar to its pioneering self-service bike-hire fleet. Two hundred and fifty vehicles will be available at stands around the city. Christian Fraser has been sampling one.

It's electric, it's silent and it's available from December across Paris - Autolib, a fleet of help-yourself petrol-free cars designed to introduce commuters to a new greener technology. It's a public private initiative costing Paris 250 million euros. The mayor hopes it will help cut 22,000 cars by 2010 from the already congested streets. Visitors who want a daily subscription will need a credit card, a driving licence and a good deal of courage to negotiate the notorious Paris traffic.

The American hip-hop pioneer Sylvia Robinson has died aged 75. She set up the influential Sugar Hill Records in 1979 and produced hip-hop's first commercially successful single Rapper's Delight with the group, the Sugar Hill Gang. Robinson also co-wrote Grandmaster and Melle Mel's anti-drugs anthem White Lines. She died of heart failure in New Jersey.

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