BBC news 2011-10-03 加文本

BBC news 2011-10-03

BBC News with Marion Marshall

Thousands of Libyans have been fleeing from the city of Sirte, one of the last strongholds of Colonel Gaddafi's forces, under a temporary ceasefire. The city has been under siege for weeks, but Gaddafi loyalists have continued to offer fierce resistance. Jonathan Head is outside Sirte.

A mass of cars crowded around two petrol tankers parked beside the road leading west from Sirte. Hoses were hurriedly pushed into petrol tanks, each car getting a few litres, enough to get them away from the besieged town. They were packed with possessions and with people. These are mostly Gaddafi supporters, and they seemed very stressed. "I don't understand what's happening," said Ismail. "There were shells and bombs exploding all around my house. We had to leave." With the exodus picking up, transitional government forces hope they can finally take the town.

The Afghan government says the killer of the former President Burhanuddin Rabbani was a Pakistani citizen and that the plot itself was organised from inside Pakistan. Mr Rabbani, who was attempting to mediate between the Afghan government and the Taliban rebels, was assassinated by a suicide bomber almost two weeks ago.

The head of the interim military government in Egypt has said the ousted President Hosni Mubarak never asked the army to fire on protesters. Field Marshal Hussein Tantawi, who was Mr Mubarak's defence minister, said he had testified before God and told the truth. Sebastian Usher has more.

A strict media blackout was imposed before Field Marshal Tantawi's appearance at Mr Mubarak's trial on 24 September. His testimony was seen as potentially a crucial element in the trial where the gravest charge against the former president is that he ordered troops to fire on protesters. Mr Mubarak could face the death penalty if found guilty. Now in a speech in an official ceremony, Mr Tantawi has said nobody ever asked the army to open fire.

The authorities in northern Nigeria say at least 19 people have died in violence in a village in Zamfara state. Eyewitnesses said about 150 people raided the village. Jonah Fisher reports from Lagos.

As people emerged from their homes, they were either hacked to death or shot. One witness whom the BBC spoke to in hospital said his house was targeted first and that he saw both his granddaughter and his daughter-in-law killed. Zamfara state's police commissioner said it was his belief that the attackers were a group of armed robbers seeking revenge. They had apparently been targeted by vigilantes from Lingyado a month ago. Both soldiers and police have now been dispatched to the area in an effort to prevent further reprisals.

It's emerged in Yemen that a government warplane bombed its own troops in the south of the country on Saturday, killing at least 18 soldiers. Other unconfirmed reports speak of higher casualty figures, but official state media deny the incident took place.

World News from the BBC

The Syrian opposition has announced that it's formed a national council to present a united common front against President Assad. At a meeting in Istanbul, opposition leaders said their goal was to build a new democratic Syria. The announcement came as both government and opposition sources said the town of Rastan had been retaken by government forces.

Basque separatists in Spain have launched a new political party to campaign for pro-independence votes in next month's general elections. The new coalition, named Amaiur, will fill the political void left by Batasuna, which was banned in 2003 because of links with the armed separatist group Eta. Spain's courts will have to decide whether to let Amaiur compete in the elections.

There have been protests across the Pakistani province of Punjab over power cuts, which now last up to 18 hours a day. Over the weekend, technical problems in several electricity plants made the situation worse. Here's Marianne Landzettel.

Power cuts in Pakistan are frequent, but over the past two days most parts of Punjab have had virtually no electricity at all. Protesters burnt tyres, blocked roads and pelted buses with stones before being dispersed by police with baton charges. Business leaders say production in all industries has ground to a halt. Some hospitals are running short of fuel for generators, and Pakistani government officials say the power cuts are aggravating an outbreak of dengue fever. They say even the energy supply for emergency units cannot be guaranteed.

Scientists have disclosed further details about a giant hole in the protective ozone layer above the Arctic that matched the size of those found regularly over Antarctica. They say the hole, lasting several months earlier this year, meant that people in parts of northern Europe and Mongolia were potentially exposed to higher than normal levels of ultraviolet light, which can lead to skin cancers and cataracts.

BBC World Service News.