BBC在线收听下载:葡萄牙政府宣布减赤增税方案

BBC news 2012-10-04

BBC news with Jerry Smit.

Turkish artillery unit has fired on Syria for the first time since the Syrian conflict began 18 months ago. It came after a mortar bomb fired from inside Syria killed 5 Turkish citizens. James Reynolds reports from the Turkish-Syrian border.

It is not immediately clear what Turkey was intending to hit. It comes in response to the killing earlier in the day of five Turkish civilians in the town of Akcakale. A mother and three of her children were among the dead when a shell landed. Over the past year, the government of Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan has strongly supported the Syrian opposition. But at the same time, Mr. Erdogan has not wanted his country to fight Syria directly, but the killing of Turkish civilians along the border may have made him reevaluate it that policy.

Nato has described the Syrian action as a flagrant breach of international law and said it stood by Turkey - a Nato member.

At least 31 people have been killed and dozens injured in a series of huge bomb explosions in the Syrian city of Aleppo in an area controlled by government forces. A local reporter at the scene told the BBC that there were four car bombs, two of them exploded near a police officer's' club in a hotel tearing off its facade .

Riot police in the Iranian capital Tehran have clashed with hundreds of people including many currency traders protesting against the government's failure to stop the value of the Iranian rial from plunging to record lows. Police dispersed a crowd of official money changers who gathered outside the central bank.

The French government has proposed a new anti-terrorism law that will allow authorities to prosecute citizens who attend militant Islamist training camps abroad. The move come six months after Mohamed Merah a French national killed seven people in a shooting spray in and around Toulouse. He claimed to have attended al-Qaeda style camps in Pakistan and Afghanistan. Christian Fraser reports from Paris.

The French authorities were criticized for failing to prevent Mohamed Merah's attacks. His links with foreign Islamists were known to the intelligence services as earlier as 2009. The government says the threat is still at a very high level, and this new policy is essential to combating the threat. By the new year, terrorism related crimes committed abroad will be punishable here in France. French citizens found to be attending training camps overseas could face up to 10 years in prison. And the changes will also allow the authorities to monitor the internet and telecommunications data of suspects thought to be running extremists' websites.

The FBI in the United States has appeal to the public for help in locating a wanted US citizen and terrorism suspect who has allegedly sought military training overseas in how to kill American soldiers. It is offering a $50,000 reward for information leading to the arrest of Ahmad Abousamra now is thought to be in Syria.

World news from the BBC.

With a little over a month before American voters go to the polls, President Barack Obama and his Republican challenger Mitt Romney hold their first presidential debate today in the swing state of Colorado. Polls show that the race remains close nationwide but that President Obama is leading in most the important battleground states. Jonny Dymond reports from Washington.

Barack Obama and Mitt Romney have spent days preparing for this one and half an hour debate, consuming briefings, practising attack lines and sparring with proxies. Half of the debate will be on the economy, healthcare and government will take up the rest of the time. With Barack Obama maintaining a slim lead in opinion polls and criticism of Mitt Romney's campaign and style increasing, the pressure is on Mr. Romney to make a strong impression.

The Portuguese government has announced a series of tax increases aimed to reducing its budget deficit. Income tax will rise by an average of 2 percentage points and there will be new taxes on the capital gains , tobacco and luxury goods. The measures replaced controversial social security reforms that were dropped after massive street protests last month.

A Maoist leader in Nepal Prachanda has launched a new tourist trail which offers hikers the chance to see hideouts and routes used by insurgents during the country's civil war. Surendra Phuyal has the details from Kathmandu.

Trekking activities in Nepal are generally confined to the Everest, Annapurna and Langtang regions. The new guerrilla trekking trail stretches across several districts of western Nepal where the country's Maoist rebels were based during the decade-long conflict that ended in 2006. With the new trail introduced, officers hope that local entrepreneurs will be encouraged to build basic infrastructures such as hotels and lunges in the area.

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