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BBC news 2012-06-02

BBC News with Kathy Clugston

In one of its strongest resolutions, the United Nations Human Rights Council has authorised a UN investigation into mass killings in Syria last week. More than 100 people, including many children, died in the violence in the city of Houla. Imogen Foulkes reports from Geneva.

The decision to investigate the Houla killings and to publicly identify those responsible is a clear sign that the violations in Syria will, in the long term at least, end up at the International Criminal Court in The Hague. Karen Pierce is a UK's ambassador in Geneva.

"[The] killing of 49 children has rightly shocked the delegations here as it's shocked people around the world. And the idea of publishing findings and naming people is to hold them to account and to let them know that they will be held to account."

Russia, China and Cuba all voted against the resolution, claiming it was biased because it referred to the deaths in Houla as the work of pro-regime elements.

President Francois Hollande of France has said the only way out of the crisis in Syria is the departure of President Bashar al-Assad. After talks with his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin, he called for UN sanctions against Syria, but Mr Putin cast doubt on the effectiveness of sanctions and said Syria's rebels had also killed civilians.

There have been sharp falls in share prices in the United States and Europe following a weak official report on the US jobs market. Earlier figures had confirmed signs of a slowdown in China. Here's our economics correspondent Andrew Walker.

United States business did manage to create some new jobs last month, but not enough to keep up with a growing population. It could be a sign that the recent upturn in the labour market is faltering. A survey of industrial values in China confirmed earlier evidence that the sector is slowing. Europe's problems are hardly news, but further market pressure on Spanish government debt added to the gloom. At the same time, interest rates on the debts of the United States and Germany fell. They are seen as safe investments so that fall in rates is a sign of financial market nerves.

Voters in the Irish Republic have backed a European treaty drawn up in response to the eurozone crisis. Just over 60% of those voting approved the agreement. Here's Mark Simpson.

It was the result most politicians in Ireland and Europe desperately wanted - an Irish yes to the new fiscal treaty. Ireland's Prime Minister Enda Kenny called it a vote for hope.

"The ratification of this stability treaty would also mean that Ireland and other eurozone countries can now put in place good housekeeping rules aimed at ensuring that responsible budgeting becomes the norm throughout Europe."

The treaty imposes strict new deficit limits, but it also guarantees access to the new EU rescue fund - the European Stability Mechanism.

World News from the BBC

A judge in the American state of Florida has suspended the bail granted to a neighbourhood watch volunteer who's been charged with killing an unarmed black teenager, Trayvon Martin. The judge said the accused, George Zimmerman, had deceived the court by saying he had no money when in fact he had access to more than $100,000. He has pleaded not guilty to murder and says he acted in self-defence.

Police in Canada have identified the victim of a grisly murder as a 33-year-old Chinese student named Jun Lin. They think he was killed and dismembered at a Montreal apartment by an actor in pornographic films, Luka Rocco Magnotta, with whom he was having a relationship. The murder investigation began on Tuesday when police found a human torso in a suitcase behind Mr Magnotta's home. Montreal police commander Ian Lafreniere gave more details.

"On the crime scene, we did find some body parts also, but it's not over, we're still missing parts. I know it might look very graphic to tell you this, but there are still some parts that we're missing at this moment."

There's now an international warrant for Luka Rocco Magnotta's arrest.

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One of the most senior Sri Lankan Buddhist monks in Britain has been jailed for sexually abusing a child 35 years ago. Venerable Pahalagama Somaratana was sentenced to seven years in prison. He was cleared of charges of rape in another case.

Members of the German national football team have visited the former Nazi death camp in Auschwitz in southern Poland. The players and officials toured the site, where more than a million people were murdered by the Nazis, and laid a wreath at the nearby Birkenau camp. The visit took place a week before the start of the European Football Championship in Poland.

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