BBC在线收听下载:奥巴马政府任命其缅甸大使

BBC news 2012-05-18

BBC News with Julie Candler

The United States has eased some restrictions on investment in Burma because of the political reform process there, but the Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said American sanctions were only being suspended conditionally. The European Union has already taken similar action on its sanctions on Burma. Mrs Clinton, who was speaking after talks with the visiting Burmese Foreign Minister Wunna Maung Lwin, also announced the appointment of the first US ambassador to Burma for 22 years. Here's our State Department correspondent Kim Ghattas.

The Obama administration has appointed Derek Mitchell, its Burma envoy, as an ambassador to the country. Mrs Clinton said restrictions will be eased on US investments in the impoverished, isolated country. She called on American companies to invest in all sectors of the Burmese economy but to do so responsibly. American sanctions on Burma will be suspended conditionally, not completely lifted. Mrs Clinton said the laws would stay on the books as an insurance policy. An arms embargo remains in place. Washington wants to make sure that steps towards democracy in Burma are irreversible.

The social networking company Facebook has priced its initial share offer at $38 per share, making the value of the company more than $100bn. Shares are expected to soar when trading begins in New York on Friday. The offering would raise as much as nearly $18.4bn for the company and existing shareholders. Facebook has grown into the world's largest social network with 900 million users.

The trial of the former Bosnian Serb military commander Ratko Mladic for war crimes has been suspended just as prosecutors have begun to present evidence relating to the Srebrenica massacre. They alleged that Ratko Mladic orchestrated the massacre of more than 7,000 Muslim men and boys in the Bosnian town in 1995. But the hearing had to be halted when the prosecutors acknowledged that they had failed to make 7,000 pages of evidence available to the defence. A spokesperson for the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia, Nerma Jelacic, outlined how the presiding judge would proceed.

"Right now, the judge will consider the prosecution's submission. He will also consider the defence request. They did request six months in their motion of Tuesday. And they will decide how much of an impact this disclosure error will have and how long a delay it will warrant."

Shares in Spain's fourth largest bank Bankia have fallen sharply amid unconfirmed reports that customers have been rushing to withdraw their savings. At one point, they were down by more than 28%. Bankia, which was part-nationalised a week ago, denied Spanish media reports that it had lost more than $1bn of deposits in recent days. A BBC correspondent says there are fears the bank will need to raise more capital.

World News from the BBC

The head of Syria's main opposition body, the Syrian National Council, says he will resign amid growing criticism and rifts within the group. Burhan Ghalioun said he'd step down once a replacement was found. Jonathan Head reports.

Only two days after he was re-elected as president of the Syrian National Council, Burhan Ghalioun has offered to resign. He said he wasn't leading the SNC for any personal gain and did not want to be a cause for division. This follows a threat to withdraw from the SNC by one of its biggest factions, the Local Coordination Committees - a network of activists operating inside Syria. They accuse the SNC leadership of incompetence.

Supporters of a presidential candidate in Egypt have responded to calls by the Muslim Brotherhood to form a human chain as they campaign ahead of next week's elections. They are trying to form a chain spanning a distance of 1,200km, the longest in the world.

Officials in Honduras say inmates have taken control of a prison in the city of San Pedro Sula. At least one person was killed and 10 injured when prisoners opened fire on each other on Wednesday. Guards have surrounded the prison, but are said to be trying to "avoid a bloodbath".

The American pop star Donna Summer has died at the age of 63. Her family said the singer died in Florida after a battle with cancer. From Los Angeles, Peter Bowes reports.

Donna Summer dominated the charts in the 1970s and 80s. She was known as the queen of disco, and her music defined the era. This was one of her biggest hits. Other songs like MacArthur Park and She Works Hard for the Money were also hugely successful. Donna Summer won five Grammy awards and had more than 30 No. 1 singles and albums. She was still performing until recently and had been working on a new album. She leaves a legacy of some of the 20th century's most memorable pop hits.