BBC在线收听下载:奥运火炬抵达英国本土

BBC news 2012-05-19

[BBC News with] Iain Purdon

There's been a roller-coaster day of trading in shares in the social networking site Facebook after one of the world's biggest ever business floatations. Facebook shares jumped by more than 10% within minutes of making their stock market debut on New York's Nasdaq exchange, but they later dropped back to close just 23 cents above their initial offering price. Mark Gregory reports from New York.

Widespread predictions that Facebook shares would soar in value on the first day's trading turned out to be wrong. The shares rose just 23 cents - a gain of about 0.5% - after a volatile session. It's early days yet, but this won't be seen as a good start. It could suggest investors don't believe that Facebook is really worth the $104bn its opening valuation set.

World leaders are gathering for talks in the United States expected to be dominated by the crisis in the eurozone. President Obama, the host of the G8 summit at Camp David, has already said he wants to focus on measures to promote growth. That policy is shared by the new French President Francois Hollande, who's had his first meeting with Mr Obama. Paul Adams reports from Washington.

This was President Obama's first opportunity to take the measure of the new French leader. He said he was looking forward to discussing what he called a responsible approach to fiscal consolidation coupled with a strong growth agenda. For his part, Mr Hollande said as he has before that growth must be a priority. But if the two leaders sounded similar notes on the global economy, the subject of Afghanistan revealed differences. Mr Hollande repeated his election pledge to withdraw combat troops by the end of this year. Mr Obama said it was important that the allies maintained their efforts to build security in Afghanistan.

Syrian activists have posted videos online showing, they say, uNPRecedented protests in the city of Aleppo. There have been demonstrations across Syria in support of students at Aleppo University, where security forces have carried out violent raids. Jonathan Head reports.

Aleppo is Syria's largest city, its main commercial centre. There have been protests there since last year but not on the scale seen elsewhere in Syria, and President Assad's authority has seemed secure. But the demonstrations this week have been much bigger. Activists say today's were the largest they've ever seen in Aleppo involving people from many different backgrounds. It is possible a threshold has been crossed in Aleppo and that President Assad will face mounting opposition from its inhabitants. That would be a blow to his prestige and perhaps to his hold on power.

Thousands of Bahrainis have held a rally outside the capital Manama against a plan for union between Bahrain and Saudi Arabia. They held banners saying "Bahrain is not for sale". They are angry at what they see as an attempt by Saudi Arabia to exert more control on Bahrain.

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The UN nuclear agency has announced that its Director General Yukiya Amano will travel to Tehran on Sunday following signs of progress in talks over Iran's nuclear programme. The IAEA, which has been unable to carry out full inspections in Iran, wants to investigate possible military aspects of its nuclear activities. Iran says its programme is for peaceful purposes.

President Obama says dozens of private companies have promised to give more than $3bn to help feed people living in poverty in Africa. Speaking in Washington, Mr Obama said nations and corporations needed to step up to the challenge of feeding the poor. Duncan Bartlett has more details.

In a major speech on food security, President Obama says there's no reason why Africa can't feed itself and asserted it was a moral, economic and security imperative to address the issue of hunger. He announced a new project to encourage private companies to share the financial burden of fighting hunger and malnutrition. Agribusiness giants like DuPont, Monsanto and Cargill are among the firms which have pledged $3bn to fund programmes to help farmers produce more food. Local African companies have signed up too.

Three Irish republican dissidents in Northern Ireland have been charged with a series of terrorist offences, including conspiracy to murder and cause explosions. The men, members of the Republican group known as the Real IRA, were arrested in security operations in the town of Lurgan near the Northern Irish capital Belfast. The Real IRA is one of several hard-line republican groups opposed to the peace agreement signed in 1998.

The Olympic flame has arrived on British soil ahead of the games in London which get underway in July. The flame, carried inside a lamp, was aboard a plane from Athens. It arrived at a naval airbase in Cornwall. On Saturday, the Olympic torch relay begins at Land's End with a 70-day journey to the opening ceremony.

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