BBC news 2011-10-07 加文本

BBC news 2011-10-07

BBC News with Jonathan Izard

President Obama has urged eurozone leaders to act fast to resolve their debt crisis, saying it poses a threat to America's faltering economic recovery. Mr Obama said Europe's economic uncertainty was the biggest headwind currently facing the United States.

"Uncertainty around Greece and their ability to pay their debts runs on - in the capital markets - on, you know, the debt that many of these southern European countries have been facing as well as Ireland and Portugal, all that's put severe strain on the world financial system."

Mr Obama said he spoke frequently with the French and German leaders and was convinced they and their European colleagues understood the urgency of the situation.

New measures have been announced in Europe to tackle the threat posed by the debt crisis and stalling economic growth. The European Central Bank is offering unlimited loans to banks for as much as a year in order to stave off a possible credit crunch. The Bank of England says it's going to pump another $116bn into the British financial system to boost economic activity.

Anti-corruption investigators in Nigeria have arrested three former state governors for alleged crimes of embezzlement. They are accused of fraud involving hundreds of millions of dollars of public funds. Jonah Fisher reports from Lagos.

When added together, the alleged frauds committed by the former governors of Ogun, Oyo and Nasarawa state[s] come to a staggering 101 billion naira - that's $615m. The EFCC, the body which fights corruption in Nigeria, said the men had during their time in office abused state contracts, embezzled funds and diverted government money for their personal use. They are likely to appear in court in the next few days to respond to the charges.

Lebanese officials say Syrian troops have entered Lebanon and shot dead a Syrian man living in a border area. The incident follows an incursion earlier in the week by Syrian tanks. The Lebanese Prime Minister Najib Mikati said the two countries were holding consultations about the issue. Jim Muir reports from Beirut.

The latest incident took place in a very remote part of Lebanon's eastern Bekaa Valley, where the border with Syria is porous and not even clearly defined. Lebanese security and government officials said Syrian troops entered Lebanese territory and opened fire, killing a Syrian citizen who was named as Ali al-Khatib. He was reported to be a farmer married to a Lebanese woman and living in the area. There was no immediate explanation as to why he should have been targeted. But coming after a brief armoured incursion nearby by Syrian tanks earlier in the week, it's reinforced fears that Syria's internal problems may spill further into Lebanon.

Thousands of Israeli Arabs have demonstrated in southern Israel against a plan to move them from their villages. The authorities approved a plan last month to vacate 36 Arab communities that Israel does not recognise. The protesters accuse the government of seeking to build homes for Jewish people on their land.

World News from the BBC

The French President Nicolas Sarkozy has said Turkey should accept responsibility for the genocide of more than a million Armenians during the collapse of the Ottoman empire. Speaking on a visit to Armenia, Mr Sarkozy said collective denial was unacceptable and Turkey should look its history in the face. Turkey insists that those who died in 1915 were casualties of war, not victims of a deliberate campaign of genocide.

Reports from North Korea say children in areas of the country hit by heavy flooding earlier this year are severely malnourished. Pictures showing children in a rural hospital and orphanage have been published by Reuters television, which was invited in by the North Korean government to report on the situation.

The Pakistani Supreme Court has told political parties they should cut their links with criminal gangs in Karachi, which have been responsible for more than 1,000 deaths this year. The court warned that gangs had inflicted unimaginable brutality and were threatening to plunge the city into chaos. It said criminals had succeeded in infiltrating political parties. From Karachi, Shoaib Hasan reports.

Most of the observations made by the Supreme Court in its findings don't come as a surprise, but they do reaffirm the fact that the senseless and increasingly brutal killings have been carried out with official complicity. While the Supreme Court held all political parties responsible, it stated the MQM political party was especially at fault. The MQM controls Karachi and is one of the main partners in the ruling coalition. It denies all such allegations and says it has been victimised for its liberal anti-establishment views.

Police in the Chilean capital Santiago have used water cannon and tear gas in clashes with students demanding education reform. The students called the protest after talks with the Chilean government on reforming the education system, which they say is unequal and underfunded, broke down on Wednesday. The campaign for free public education is now in its fourth month.

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