BBC news 2011-10-09 加文本

BBC news 2011-10-09

[BBC] News with Fiona MacDonald

Forces of the interim authorities in Libya have encountered stiff resistance from the Gaddafi loyalists as they renewed their attack on the centre of the city of Sirte, one of the last pro-Gaddafi strongholds. Commanders said they've come under heavy sniper fire from rooftops in fierce street fighting. Our correspondent Jonathan Head is just outside the city.

The volunteer fighters on the government side have found it hard to keep up the momentum of the attack they launched against the centre of Sirte. Some units withdrew from their most forward positions overnight after encountering fierce resistance by well-armed Gaddafi loyalists. But they say they've held most of their gains and are massing again to renew the offensive. They've had problems coordinating their advances, and some of the nearly 200 casualties they suffered on the first day were caused by their own forces either through accidents or through firing on each other. Civilians have continued to leave the town in small numbers, terrified by their ordeal and by what now awaits them, although pro-government fighters have tried to convince them they will be well treated.

The President of Yemen, Ali Abdullah Saleh, has said he will leave power in the coming days. In a speech shown on state television, Mr Saleh said he wasn't hungry for power, but he gave no precise date for standing down. From Cairo, here's Bethany Bell.

This isn't the first time President Saleh has said he's ready to resign. He's made similar promises in the past, only to reject them at the last moment. Now however, he says he's ready to step down within days. But the president made no mention of a transition deal brokered by Gulf Arab states, and many Yemenis are deeply sceptical.

The British Prime Minister David Cameron has become directly involved in questions about the working relationship between his Defence Secretary Liam Fox and a close friend, Adam Werritty. Mr Cameron says he wants to see the initial findings of a report into the relationship by Monday. From Westminster, Robin Brant reports.

David Cameron's intervention means that Liam Fox won't now have to wait two weeks before the investigation that he ordered comes back with conclusions. It's been confirmed his 34-year-old former flatmate organised and attended a meeting in Dubai last June between the defence secretary and a group of businessmen from the defence industry. That's in spite of the fact that Mr Werritty has no formal role at Britain's Ministry of Defence nor in the ruling Conservative Party.

The New Zealand navy has sent four ships to help break up an oil spill that's threatening one of the country's most spectacular coastlines. The slick is coming from a container ship which ran aground on a reef about 12km from the Bay of Plenty, which a BBC correspondent describes as one of New Zealand's environmental jewels. Planes and helicopters spraying chemicals from the air have so far failed to break up the slick, and the oil has already started to damage wildlife.

World News from the BBC

State media in Egypt says the military government has amended an election law, which reserved a third of the seats in parliament for independent candidates. It's an apparent concession to political parties, which have threatened to boycott forthcoming elections over the issue. They'll now be able to contest those seats. The three-round elections for parliament begin next month.

Two men suspected of involvement in a series of bomb attacks at stores belonging to the Swedish furniture group Ikea have been arrested in Poland. Adam Easton has more from Warsaw.

Police arrested the two 39-year-old suspects who are both from the Polish coastal city of Gdynia, in northern Poland. They are believed to be behind a spate of bombings between May and September at Ikea stores in France, Belgium, the Netherlands, Germany and the Czech Republic. The homemade bombs caused stores to be evacuated, and witnesses likened the explosions to the sound of firecrackers. Following the latest attack in Prague, police say the men contacted Ikea and threatened further bombings unless they were paid $8m.

The United States military is reported to be investigating a computer virus that has infected the systems that control its fleet of unmanned drone aircraft. The technology magazine Wired said the virus had not stopped drone flights over Afghanistan and other conflict zones, and no classified information was thought to have been lost, but it said the virus had resisted repeated efforts to wipe it out. Armed drones have become America's weapon of choice in its fight against militants.

Georgia says negotiations with Russia over Moscow's hope of joining the World Trade Organisation have ended in failure. The talks were arranged after Georgia threatened to use its position as a WTO member to veto Russia's application. A Georgian minister, Sergi Kapanadze, said his country would not agree to Russian membership unless Moscow made concessions regarding Abkhazia and South Ossetia, two breakaway regions of Georgia supported by Russia.