BBC news 2012-06-14 加文本

BBC news 2012-06-14

BBC News with Jonathan Wheatley

Crowds have gathered in central Moscow for the first big rally by the opposition since Vladimir Putin was inaugurated as president in May. The organisers are calling for fresh elections. Our correspondent Damien McGuinness reports from among the demonstrators.

It's a colourful mixed-up crowd of tens of thousands of anti-government protesters. From here, I can see communists, pro-Western liberals, gay rights activists. The only thing that really unites them all is their intense dislike of President Putin and their conviction that the Kremlin is unfairly trying to stamp out dissents by introducing harsh fines for unsanctioned protests and by raiding the homes of opposition leaders.

There are reports of further unrest in the Burmese coastal state of Rakhine, where several people have been killed in clashes between Muslims and Buddhists. Security forces have been sent in to try to quell the violence, which was triggered by the recent rape and murder of a Buddhist woman. Anne Buzbee of our Asia desk reports.

Gunfire has been heard and buildings set on fire with residents from both sides of the religious divide fleeing their homes. A state of emergency was declared on Sunday, but it seems that troops sent in are struggling to keep order. At least seven people have been killed since Friday, but some reports say many more have died. The unrest was sparked by the rape and murder of a Buddhist woman and the subsequent killing of 10 Muslims apparently in retaliation.

The international envoy Kofi Annan says the fighting in Syria is escalating alarmingly with sectarian violence on the increase and spilling over into Lebanon. Mr Annan's spokesman said UN monitors in Syria had confirmed that the army was using helicopter gunships against opposition fighters. He said Mr Annan was pushing countries with influence in Syria to put irrevocable pressure on the two sides to stop the killing. The British government said military intervention was not being considered and Syria should not be thought of in terms of another Libya.

A town in southern Yemen that became a stronghold for al-Qaeda militants has been recaptured by the army. The militants who occupied the town of Jaar more than a year ago withdrew during the night after fighting intensified.

The Church of England has warned of a serious clash with the British government over its plan to legalise gay marriage in England and Wales. Robert Pigott now reports.

The Church said that by opening marriage to gay couples, an institution defined for centuries as exclusively between a man and a woman would have its meaning hollowed out and be reduced to the level of a content-free consumerist agreement. It insisted that the age-old idea of marriage as being for procreation and the requirement for it to be consummated would not apply to same-sex marriage. The Church claimed that separate religious and civil marriages would therefore be created with differing understandings of their purpose and character.

World News from the BBC

The Prime Minister of Kenya, Raila Odinga, has asked the European Union's anti-piracy task force to help capture the Somali port of Kismaayo, the main stronghold of the Islamist militia al-Shabab. Mr Odinga said the aim was for African Union forces, which include more than 4,000 Kenyan troops, to reach Kisamaayo by August. The mandate of the EU task force was recently expanded to allow for land attacks against pirates.

An Australian woman has won a 32-year fight to prove that her baby daughter was killed by a wild dog. A coroner ruled that the child, Azaria Chamberlain, was carried off by a dingo from a camp site. Her mother, Lindy, was convicted of her murder in 1982, but later released when some of the baby's clothes were found in a dingo den nearby. Lindy Chamberlain-Creighton gave her reaction outside the coroner's court in Darwin.

"Obviously, we're relieved and delighted to come to the end of this saga. We live in a beautiful country, but it is dangerous. And we would ask all Australians to be aware of this, and take appropriate precautions and not wait for somebody else to do it for them."

The Prime Minister of Turkey, Recep Tayyip Erdogan, has said the country's schools are to be allowed to teach the Kurdish language for the first time. Mr Erdogan described the move as historic. Turkey has a large Kurdish minority and is fighting Kurdish separatist rebels in the southeast.

The United Nations secretary general has praised Sri Lanka for its progress on some key aspects of child welfare. He said the authorities had made serious efforts to trace thousands of children who were earlier recruited as fighters by the Tamil Tiger rebels. UN children's agency Unicef recently described as remarkable the progress made by Sri Lanka in child health and education since the end of its long-running civil war three years ago.

BBC News