BBC news 2011-12-15 加文本

BBC news 2011-12-15

BBC News with Gaenor Howells

President Obama has welcomed home some of the last US troops to return from Iraq to mark the end of nearly nine years of America's combat role in the country. Mr Obama was speaking at Fort Bragg in North Carolina. He said he wanted to convey the gratitude of the American people to their military and described the moment as historic.

"One of the most extraordinary chapters in the history of the American military will come to an end. Iraq's future will be in the hands of its people. America's war in Iraq will be over."

Mr Obama praised the soldiers' courage and professionalism in a war that he said had come with the heavy cost in dead and wounded. Kim Ghattas reports.

This was a war that Barack Obama never wanted, and now he's brought it to a close. As a state senator, he had called the Iraq war "dumb". As a commander in chief, he had to pay tribute to the sacrifices of his troops. He told them their fighting and dying had not been in vain. It had led to what he said was this moment of success. They were leaving behind a country that was not perfect, but Iraq, he said, was now stable, led by its own people.

The value of the euro has fallen to its lowest level against the US dollar since January - at less than $1.30. European stock markets have fallen too with analysts saying the main cause was continuing uncertainty over how effective the European Union summit last week would turn out to be in solving the economic crisis. Here's our business reporter Mark Gregory.

Markets appear to be signalling that last week's deal between European Union governments to tackle the eurozone debt crisis isn't enough. Investors fear the deal lacks substance and that some governments won't stick to the terms. Above all, they are concerned that the deal which creates a new fiscal framework doesn't address the current emergency. For that, they want somebody - probably the European Central Bank - to stump up unlimited funds to bail out the most indebted governments.

The German Chancellor Angela Merkel says she can't stress highly enough the significance of the course the eurozone countries have now decided to follow towards a fiscal union. She told the German parliament the process would take years and there'd be setbacks along the way, but the end result would be a stronger Europe. Mrs Merkel said she was sorry Britain refused to go along with the new plan, and she emphasised the importance of Britain in Europe.

Human rights activists say the Syrian army killed at least 17 people across the country on Wednesday, at least 10 of them in the central Hama region. For the second day in a row, Syrian army defectors also targeted soldiers in retaliation for the killing of civilians. Eight troops died when a military convoy was attacked on the outskirts of Hama.

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More than 50 people have died in the Indian state of West Bengal after drinking contaminated illegally brewed alcohol. Over 100 others are being treated at a hospital in Calcutta, many of them in a serious condition. The alcohol was sold in a small liquor shop in the village of Sangrampur, about 70km from Calcutta. Four people have been arrested. Infuriated residents attacked a number of liquor shops and breweries in the area.

Time magazine has named The Protester as its Person of the Year. The US-based magazine said in 2011, the protesters didn't just voice their complaints, they changed the world. Farhana Haider reports.

***本段省略***

An appeal court in London has ordered the British government to free a Pakistani man who's been held without charge for more than eight years. The man, Yunus Rahmatullah, was captured by British troops in Iraq in 2004, but they handed him over to the Americans, who transferred him to Afghanistan and have been holding him there ever since. Human rights lawyers hailed the court order as a historic victory although it's not binding on the United States.

The world footballing body Fifa is considering plans to offer low-cost tickets to the 2014 World Cup in Brazil in exchange for guns handed in as part of an amnesty. The Brazilian justice minister said it was keen to use what he called the power and universal draw of football to highlight its disarmament campaign.

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