BBC在线收听下载:奥巴马首次访问以色列并发表演讲

BBC news 2013-03-22

BBC news with Iain Purdon.

The most prominent Sunni cleric supporting the Syrian government has been killed by a bomb blast at a mosque in central Damascus.  Mohammed al-Buti died along with 40 other people in what Syrian state television said was a terrorist suicide attack at the Iman mosque. Sebastian Usher reports.

Doctor al-Buti became a hate figure for those within his own Sunni community fighting a protesting to overthrow President Bashar al Assard. A well-respected religious figure in his 80s, his adherence  to the Assad dynasty dates back decades. As the anti-Assad protests erupted two years ago, he was a forceful voice telling his fellow Sunnis to stay loyal to the president. He continued with that message at his Friday prayers and on TV. His death is a new blow to the heart of President Assad's power, which has already seen the death or desertion of many of its leading Sunni supporters, who had once given it legitimacy.

President Obama has warned Israel it can only endure as a Jewish and democratic state if there's an independent and viable Palestine. In a major speech during his first visit to Israel, Mr. Obama said the country was at a crossroad and must reverse an undertow of isolation. He said peace was the only path to lasting security for Israel.

Given the march of technology, the only way to truly protect the Israeli people over the long term is through the absence of war, because no wall is high enough, and no Iron Dome is strong enough and perfect enough to stop every enemy that’s intent on doing so from inflicting harm.

The Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan has given a cautious welcome to a call by the jailed Kurdish militant leader Abduallah Ocalan  for a ceasefire with Turkish forces in the southeast of the country. Mr Ocalan has told his PKK fighters to lay down their arms and withdraw from Turkish soil, raising hopes for an end to an 30-year conflict that's caused tens of thousands of lives. With more, here's James Reynolds.

Recep Tayyip Erdogan described the PKK leader's declaration as a positive development. But what really matters, said the Prime Minisiter, is the extent to which it actually implemented. Mr Erdogan added that if the PKK ceased its armed actions, then the Turkish military would do the same. But three decades of conflict do not end with a single declaration. It's not immediately clear when the retreat of thousands of PKK fighters from Turkey to the mountains of northern Iraq will take place. Nor is it clear whether or not the PKK would automatically choose to disarm.

The authorities in the Dominican Republic have announced the arrest of 35 soldiers and police officers following an investigation into drugs smuggling. The National drug control agency said four French nationals had also been arrested.

World news from the BBC.

The Cypriot government has submitted a bill to parliament giving the finance minister or the governor of the central bank the right to impose capital controls on the island's troubled banks. The central bank governor Panicos Demetriades said the legislation was needed to avoid the collapse of banks, particularly that of the country's second largest bank, the Cyprus Popular Bank. Withdrawals from its cash machines have now been limited and all the island's banks remained closed.

Italy is sending two marines, at the center of a diplomatic row, back to India for trial. The two marines are charged with murdering two Indian fishermen off the Indian coast. India has allowed them to return to Italy last month on a temporary basis to vote in the country's election. However, when they failed to fly back to India for trial, the Italian ambassador, who guaranteed their return, was barred from leaving the country. The marines, who were guarding a tanker, say they mistook the fishermen for pirates.

The United Nations has, for the first time, set up a commission of inquiry to human rights abuses in North Korea which, it says, may amounts to crimes against humanity. Here's Charles Scanlon.

For a long time, the US and its allies have been reluctant to press North Korea on its human rights record. But Washington now appears to be running out of patience with North Korea. It helped push for the establishment of a commission of inquiry at Geneva following an UN report that accused North Korea of torture, food deprivation and the use of vast labor camps to detain political prisoners. The step could eventually lead to action of the International Criminal Court. North Korea's representative at Geneva responded immediately and angrily, saying it was a political move carried out by hostile forces.

Finally, the last surviving climber from the team that made the first successful ascent of Mount Everest in 1953, George Lowe has died. He was 89.

BBC news.