BBC在线收听下载:科学家发现海地一场霍乱源自联合国驻地

BBC news 2013-02-22

BBC News with Jonathan Izard.

The detective leading the Oscar Pistorius murdering inquiry has been replaced after it emerged that he himself faced seven charges of attempted murder dating back two years. Mr. Pistorius, the Paralympics sprint champion, denies murder saying he shot his girlfriend Reeva Steenkamp thinking she was an intruder at his home. Andrew Harding reports from Pretoria.

Detective Hilton Botha was back in the spot light today for all the wrong reasons, the man who yesterday insisted Oscar Pistorius was a murderer and a flight risk was dramatically dropped from the investigation. National Police Commissioner Riah Phiyega said Mr. Botha had been charged with attempted murder for a shooting incident in 2011. For that reason, I have decided to assign this very important matter, this very important investigation under the leadership and stewardship of the divisional commissioner of detective services  Lieutenant-General Moonoo. A decision on whether to grant Mr. Pistorius bail is expected on Friday.

The United Nations has formally rejected a claim for the compensation of victims of a cholera outbreak in Haiti that scientists have traced to a UN base there. Barbara Plett reports from the United Nations in New York.

In a terse statement, the spokesman for the UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon said the damages claim was not receivable under a convention that grants the United Nations immunity for its actions. Families of the victims are demanding millions of dollars in compensation, accusing the UN of introducing the disease to Haiti. The UN has never admitted responsibility despite mounting evidence that the epidemic was caused by poor sanitation at a peace-keeping camp. A lawyer for the cholera victims told the BBC that UN immunity could not mean impunity and said the case would now be pursued in a national court.

The former president of Haiti Jean-Claude Duvalier has failed to appear in court in Port-au-Prince for a hearing about human rights abuses during his rule in the 1970s and 80s. Mark Doyle reports.

The courtroom in the Capital Port-au-Prince was packed, relatives of victims seeking justice, lawyers in black robes, human rights observers and journalists. But the 61-year-old "Baby Doc" Duvalier, that name from the past which Haitians can never forget, didn’t turn up. At the last minute, he filed an appeal in another court which his lawyer said excused him from what would have been the first time he'd ever faced his victims in public. A well-known Haitian human rights lawyer said Duvalier is trying to control the justice system like he did when he was a dictator.

Three British men have been found guilty of planning a series of attacks that prosecutors said could have been bigger than the London Bombings of 2005. Irfan Naseer, Irfan Khalid and Ashik Ali, all from Birmingham in central England, intended to explode eight rucksack bombs in crowded areas across the country.

World News from the BBC.

The United Nations Nuclear Agency the IAEA says Iran has begun installing next generation equipment at one of its nuclear plants. Iran insisted that its activities are peaceful. International talks on its nuclear program are due to resume next week. Bethany Bell reports from Vienna.

The IAEA’s latest report on Iran says advanced centrifuges have been installed at Natanz nuclear plant. There is a concern in the West that could speed up Iran’s production of the material that could be used in a nuclear bomb. The agency also says it's concerned that extensive changes have taken place in recent weeks at the Parchin military site. The IAEA suspects explosive tests relevant to nuclear weapons may have taken place there in the past, a charge Iran denies.

Police in Singapore said that the suspect, alleged to be the central figure at an International football match-fixing ring, is helping them with their investigations. Tan Seet Eng, also known as Dan Tan, is wanted by the Italian authorities and has been linked with numerous fixed football games around the world. He denies any wrong doing. Earlier a Slovenian man, believed to be associated with Mr. Tan, surrendered to the Italian Police.

The Catholic Church in Germany says it will allow its hospitals to give the morning-after-pill to women who have been raped. However, Germany bishops said that the pill would be given only to prevent pregnancy not to induce abortion. The decision comes after a public outcry over the refusal by two church-run hospitals to provide a morning-after-pill to a raped victim.

Three people have been killed and several injured in Las Vegas during a late-night car chase and shooting on the city’s famous boulevard. Police say shots were fired at a Maserati sports car from a Range Rover, causing the Maserati to crash into a taxi in what witnesses described as a fire ball. The driver and passenger in the taxi and the sports car driver died. It is the third violent incident this year on the Las Vegas Strip.

BBC News.