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BBC news 2012-10-20

BBC News with Sue Montgomery.

The head of intelligence for Lebanon's national police and security forces has been killed in a huge car bomb explosion in Beirut. Wissam al-Hassan was among at least eight people killed by explosion in the heart of the mainly Christian Ashrafiya district. Mr. Hassan lead the investigation that implicated Syria, in the bombing that killed the former Prime Minister Rafik Hariri in 2005. Wyre Davies in Beirut has more.

After a long period of relative calm, this is the first big bomb attack in the Lebanese capital in four years, but many had feared something like this would happen sooner or later, and that Lebanon would be inevitably dragged into the conflict in neighboring Syria. Some Lebanese political leaders have already accused the Assad regime in Syria of being behind the attack. The danger now is not only that there may be more attacks, but also the tensions will grow between Lebanon's many armed and political groups.

The United States has invited Burma to observe a major military exercise in neighboring Thailand in a clearer sign yet for improving relations between the two countries. Burma has yet to respond the offer. Jonathan Head has more.

Renewing ties with the Burmese army forces is a far more delicate issue for the United States in its recent decision to end economic sanctions. There are still serious concerns about the army's treatment of civilians in conflict zones and over its commitment to democratization, but the US appears to be ready to take that gamble. Thai officials say that Burmese officers will be invited to attend next year's Cobra Gold military exercise, which involves thousands of troops from the US, Thailand and other countries from the region.

The United Nations and the African Union are planning to open permanent offices in the Malian capital Bamako to coordinate actions in the north of the country which has been taken over by Islamist forces. The announcement was made at a meeting in Bamako where international leaders are discussing the crisis. The UN Security Council last week adopted the resolution paving the way for international military intervention in the north.

A member of the British government has resigned after failing to shake off accusation his sworn at a police officer. The Conservative Minister Andrew Mitchell admitted in his resignation letter that used bad language towards officers.

Robert Sin reports.

Andrew Mitchell has alleged of sworn police officers at the gates to Downing Street and called them plebs after they refused open the gates for his bike last month. The incident leads the cause for Mr. Mitchell's resignations and accusations that was evidence of the government dominated by the upper classes and its arrogant attitude to everyone else. Over the last few weeks that seen Mr. Mitchell survive the barrage of criticism from within his own party, from the opposition and from the media. But Mr. Mitchell has clearly decided his continuing presence is an embarrassment to the Prime Minister David Cameron.

World News from the BBC

Police in Britain have widened their investigation into alleged child sexual abuse involving Jimmy Savile, one of the BBC's former star television presenters. Savile who died last year at the age of 84, has become the central of numerous pedophile allegations. Angus Crawford reports.

After two weeks of gathering information, officers now say they've identified more than 200 potential victims and 400 leads. Today Scotland Yards stated that it moved from assessment phase to a formal criminal investigation involving living people. The head of the team said he'd been astounded by the public response which have appeared to have uncovered what he called alleged abuse on an uNPRecedented scale. The children's charity the NSPCC has said it now believes Jimmy Savile may have been one of the most prolific sex offenders it has ever encountered.

The ministry of health in Uganda has warned an outbreak of the deadly Marburg virus in the southwest of the country. Officials said four people in one family in Kabale district are believed to have already died from the highly infectious hemorrhagic fever, two other members of the same family are in hospital.

In the first piracy trial in Germany for hundreds of years, a court in the northern city of Hamburg has convicted ten Somalians have attempting to hijack a German-flagged ship off the coast of Somalia two years ago. The men aged between 20 and 50 were sentenced to between two and seven years in prison.

Police in the Dominican Republic are investigating the death of a German citizen in a shootout involving what they called a dangerous doomsday sect. Two German men and women were arrested in the northern seaside town of Sosua after gun battle with police on Wednesday. The Dominican Republic police seized rifles and grenades from the house and also found a body of a force member of the German group called the Academy for the Future of Health.

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