BBC在线收听下载:第32届全英音乐奖在伦敦举行

BBC news 2012-02-22

BBC News with David Austin

Syrian opposition activists say more than 80 people have been killed by government forces mainly in northern Syria on Tuesday. About 30 died during the heavy bombardment of the city of Homs. Jim Muir reports from Beirut.

It was a relentless bombardment. For well over two hours, shells and rockets - several hundred of them - smashed into Baba Amr, where activists say some houses were reduced to rubble. It wasn't clear whether this was the prelude to a big ground offensive. The government has said the action at Homs will continue until all pockets of what it calls "armed terrorists" are wiped out.

The Red Cross has called on the Syrian government and rebels to agree to a daily ceasefire to allow medical supplies in to the worst-affected areas and to get civilians out.

The Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez says he's going to have a further operation for cancer months after he announced that he had beaten the disease. The left-wing leader, who's governed Venezuela for 13 years, is standing for re-election in October. From Caracas, here's Sarah Grainger.

After several rounds of operations and chemotherapy last year, President Chavez had insisted he'd beaten cancer and was fully recovered. Rumours that that was not the case began to surface over the weekend, prompting the president to address the issue during a public event on Tuesday. He admitted he'd recently travelled to Cuba for medical consultation. Doctors there had found a new lesion in the same area as the president's previous tumour. Surgery to remove the growth will take place in the coming days.

At least nine people have been killed in clashes in Yemen, where elections have been taking place for a new president to replace Ali Abdullah Saleh, who was in power for 33 years. Yemen's Vice-President Abed Rabbo Mansour Hadi is the only candidate. The violence followed a call for a boycott of the vote by separatists in southern Yemen. But the BBC's Rupert Wingfield Hayes in the capital Sanaa says voting in much of the country has been peaceful.

The election officials say so far at this polling station, roughly 45% to 50% of the registered voters have come. There's obviously no question over who people are voting for; there's only one candidate. But that isn't really the point. This election isn't about really choosing a new leader; it's about putting a seal on the 33-year rule of President Ali Abdullah Saleh.

Greek police say a stock of weapons discovered at the Libyan embassy in Athens has been handed to them on the orders of the Libyan government. Police say the arsenal appears to have been amassed by officials loyal to the former Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi. When Libyan diplomats found the weapons, they notified their government and were told to give them to the Greek authorities. Greek anti-terrorism officers are examining the hoard.

This is the World News coming to you from the BBC.

Greek government ministers are discussing how to implement emergency legislation needed as part of the eurozone bailout package agreed in the early hours of Tuesday. After returning from negotiations in Brussels, the Finance Minister Evangelos Venizelos said his heavily indebted country had avoided, as he put it, the "nightmare scenario". But he said much work remained to extricate Greece from its economic crisis. Mark Lowen reports from Athens.

It took weeks of missed deadlines and crisis talks in Athens, and hours of high-stakes negotiations in Brussels, but finally Greece has been spared the nightmare of imminent bankruptcy and departure from the euro. The country has secured its bailout and much needed breathing room with a 130bn loan. At least half of the debt Greece owes to private creditors will be written off, around 100bn, but Athens has tough demands placed upon it in return. It must accelerate reforms, cutting thousands of public sector jobs, and slashing the minimum wage and pensions.

The former Nigerian President Olusegun Obasanjo is in Senegal in an effort to mediate in the country's political crisis. Protests are continuing against President Abdoulaye Wade's decision to stand for a third term in this weekend's elections. Earlier, police fired tear gas to disperse hundreds of demonstrators who'd converged on the centre of the capital Dakar. The musician Youssou N'Dour, who's not been allowed to run for the presidency, joined the protesters in the biggest rally.

The 32nd Brit Awards ceremony is taking place in London. Among the early winners was Adele, who was named best British female artist. Adele's album 21 reached the top of the charts around the world. Her success at the Brits follows her achievement at this year's Grammys, where she won six awards. The American singer and songwriter Bruno Mars won the award for best international male solo artist. Rihanna won the best international female artist for the second year running.

And that's the BBC News.