BBC在线收听下载:欧盟将规定董事会女性人数

BBC news 2012-03-14

BBC News with David Austin

President Obama has said he's taking China to the World Trade Organisation over its export quotas on rare earth minerals so the US gets a fair deal in the global economy. The European Union and Japan have also filed complaints over the quotas. Here's Jonny Dymond.

China has a near stranglehold on the production and export of rare earths - minerals that are vital to the manufacture of high technology goods from mobile phones to wind turbines. For the past couple of years, those exports have been restricted and have become more expensive as China has tightened export quotas - something it says it does for environmental reasons. Now in what is the first joint filing of its kind, the US, the EU and Japan have complained to the World Trade Organisation - the first step before bringing formal litigation.

The Supreme Court in Argentina has ruled that women who have an abortion after being raped will no longer be prosecuted. Under Argentine law, abortion is permitted only in cases where the mother's life or health are at risk, or if the woman is deemed, as the law puts it, "of feeble mind". Vanessa Buschschluter reports.

The ruling is based on a case brought in 2010 by a 15-year-old girl. The girl, who'd become pregnant after years of sexual abuse by her stepfather, has sought permission from a court to have an abortion. The operation was carried out, but only after weeks and weeks of legal wrangling. The Supreme Court's decision, which was unanimous and can't be appealed against, means women who end the pregnancy stemming from a rape cannot be prosecuted, nor can the doctors who carried out the abortion.

The British Prime Minister David Cameron has arrived in the United States at the start of a three-day visit. His talks with President Obama are expected to focus on Nato's role in Afghanistan, the situation in Syria and Iran's nuclear programme. Their meeting takes place amid heightened tension in Afghanistan following last weekend's killing of 16 civilians by an American soldier.

African Union mediators say a breakthrough has been made in talks between Sudan and South Sudan. The two countries have agreed in principle on demarcating their common border. Each country will also accord freedom of movement to citizens of the other state. However, major disagreements on issues, such as oil, remain. James Copnall reports from Khartoum.

The framework agreement initialled by negotiators from both countries provides for what it's called the four freedoms. Citizens of the other state should now have freedom of residence, freedom of movement, freedom to undertake economic activity and freedom to own property. This could be a huge relief to the more than half a million South Sudanese who still live in Sudan. There has been growing concern about them with less than a month to go until the end of a grace period to regularise their status in Sudan. The negotiators have also come to an agreement to demarcate both countries' common border, which will be the longest in Africa.

World News from the BBC

A public bus has been attacked by gunmen in Ethiopia, and 19 people were killed. At least eight other passengers were injured in the attack near the town of Bonga in the western Gambella region. The motives of the gunmen are not clear.

There are reports of continued fighting in and around the Syrian city of Idlib, close to the border with Turkey. Opposition groups said at least 10 government soldiers were killed in an ambush by rebel fighters, and at least four civilians died in shelling by the Syrian army. Idlib has been largely in the control of rebels in recent months. The United Nations refugee agency has meanwhile said that 230,000 Syrians have fled their homes since the start of the uprising last year.

The European Parliament has backed calls for a quota system to increase the representation of women in corporate boardrooms if voluntary national measures fail to achieve success. The European Commission has already said it may put forward a proposal for quotas later this year. From Brussels, Chris Morris reports.

Only about 12% of board members at large listed EU companies are women. The EU wants to increase that to 40%, but progress has often been slow. Now the European Parliament has backed the idea that mandatory quotas should be imposed if the current pace of change doesn't accelerate. Some European countries already have quotas with penalties for companies which fail to comply, but there is also substantial opposition to the idea of introducing Europe-wide legislation on this issue.

Chris Morris

Polls are taking place in the southern American states of Mississippi and Alabama in the latest round to choose a Republican candidate to challenge President Barack Obama in November. Mitt Romney is the current front-runner in the Republican race with Rick Santorum, his closest rival. The third-placed candidate, the former House of Representative Speaker Newt Gingrich, has said he hopes to increase support in his southern heartland.

That's the BBC News.