BBC在线收听下载:美国就康州火车相撞事故展开调查

BBC news 2013-05-19

BBC News with Kathy Clugston

Gunmen in Pakistan have killed a senior member of Imran Khan's Movement for Justice Party outside her home in the city of Karachi. Zahra Shahid Hussain was shot twice in the head. The killing took place on the eve of a fiercely contested partial re-run of the votes in Karachi following last Saturday's election. Shahzeb Jillani reports.

Zahra Shahid Hussain was 60 years old. She was the senior vice-president of Imran Khan's party. Initial reports suggested that it may have been a case of robbery. But later we are hearing that the gunmen try to snatch home a mobile phone of hers and then shot her in the head at a close range, which gives rise to suspicion that this was actually a targeted attack. It was a murder. Imran Khan has been quick to point a finger at MQM party, which dominates Karachi's politics. MQM has denied any involvement.

The authorities in Ivory Coast have arrested a militia leader accused of participating in one of the worst massacres during post-election violence in 2011. Human rights groups say Amade Oueremi's fighters executed hundreds of supporters of the former President Laurent Gbagbo in the western town of Duekoue. Our Africa editor Richard Hamilton reports.

Amade Oueremi was detained in a village close to a national park where he'd been based for more than 20 years. Some reports suggested he turned himself in. Human rights groups had criticized the new government's failure to arrest Mr. Oueremi, saying that it showed it was not pursuing justice against both sides in the conflict. Around 3,000 people were killed in Ivory Coast after Laurent Gbagbo refused to acknowledge that his rival Alassane Ouattara had won a presidential run-off. Mr. Gbagbo is currently awaiting trial at the International Criminal Court.

The Nigerian military says it has arrested 65 Islamist militants as it continues its operation in the northeast of the country. There's been no independent confirmation. Will Ross is in Abuja.

The Nigerian military says 65 people were apprehended as they try to reach the town of Maiduguri. All the men were described in the statement as terrorists. In some areas of Maiduguri, which has a strong Boko Haram presence, the army has now extended the night-time curfew to 24 hours. The BBC has also received reports of civilians fleeing remote towns of Borno state as a result of the military offensive. They've been arriving in towns on the Cameroonian border.

Syrian state television says a powerful explosion has hit the capital Damascus. There're reported to be a number of casualties caused by the blast in the northern neighborhood of Ruken Al Deen. And reports from Syria say the father of a deputy Foreign minister Faisal Mekdad has been kidnapped in the southern province of Daraa. Government and opposition sources said the man in his 80s was abducted from his village.

World News from the BBC

There's been a fourth day of deadly attacks across Iraq with at least 11 people killed. In one of the worst incidents, gunmen broke into the house of an anti-terrorism police officer in Baghdad and killed five people including the officer and his sleeping family. At least eight policemen were meanwhile abducted in western Iraq.

A team of federal investigators in the United States has started trying to establish the cause of Friday's accident involving two commuter trains in the state of Connecticut. More than 60 people were injured when the two packed trains collided head-on outside New York City in the evening rush hour. The Connecticut senator Richard Blumenthal said the number of injuries could have been much greater.

"The damage's absolutely staggering. The sides of cars are torn away like ribbons of cloths. Tons of metal tossed around like toy things. Insides of the cars are shattered. And I can say I feel that we are fortunate that even more injuries were not the resolve of this very tragic and unfortunate accident."

A Saudi Arabian climber has become the first woman from her country to conquer Mount Everest. Raha Moharrak reached the summit of the world's highest mountain on Saturday as part of a four-person team. Miss. Moharrak said she hoped her climb would encourage other Saudi women to new achievements.

"Being the first was less important than inspiring someone else to be the second", She said.

And tonight in Malmo Sweden

"Welcome to the grand finale of the Eurovision Song Contest 2013."

The Scandinavian country is hosting the televised pan-European extravaganza for the fifth time. Bookmakers are tipping neighboring Denmark's favorite among the 26 finalists with Russia, Ukraine and Norway also among the top contenders. The entries include an Armenian rock song written by a guitarist from the rocker Black Sabbath.

BBC News