BBC在线收听下载:沙特更改“周末”时间以求更多经济机会

BBC news 2013-06-24

BBC News with Jerry Smit.

Doctors treating the former South African President Nelson Mandela say his condition has deteriorated in the past 24 hours and is now critical. The news came in a statement issued by the South African presidency. The revered 94-year-old former leader has spent the past sixteen days in hospital in Pretoria being treated for a recurrent lung infection. President Jacob Zuma visited Mr. Mandela at the hospital this evening and spoke to his medical team. The presidential spokesman Mac Maharaj told the BBC about Mr. Mandela's condition. The President Zuma says the doctors are doing everything possible to get his condition improved and are ensuring that Mandela is well looked after and is comfortable. 'He is in good hands,' says President Zuma. The doctors say that over the past 24 hours, there has been a decline and they have described that as critical as received from previous descriptions they give us which weas serious.

Edward Snowden, the former US intelligence contractor wanted by Washington on espionage charges is spending the night at an airport in Moscow after arriving from Hong Kong. Reports say he's got a ticket to fly to Cuba on Monday, and the Ecuadorian government says he's asked for asylum in Ecuador. The US State Department says Mr. Snowden's passport has been revoked and he should not be allowed to travel internationally. Mike Rogers, the chairman of the House of the Representatives intelligence committee, said Mr Sonwden's actions had already had security implications. He has taken information that does not belong to him - it belongs to the people of the United States - he has jeopardized our national security. Clearly the bad guys have already changed their ways. Remember, these were counterterrorism programs essentially; and we've seen that bad guys overseas, terrorists who are committing and plotting attacks on the United States and our allies have changed the way they operate. We've already seen that.

The army in Egypt as warned it will not allow the country to descend in what it called uncontrollable conflict. The head of the arm forces, General Abdel-Fattah al-Sisi, he is also the Defense Minister, made the warning ahead of rallies against President Mohammed Morsi due next weekend and after demonstrations in support of the president. Khaled Ezzelarab is in Cairo. When the Defense Minister says that the army will not allow an attack on the will of the people, this phrase is usually used by President Morsi and his Islamist allies to indicate the majority that they have won in several elections. However, the Defense Minister said that the army will not remain silent as the conflict slides into uncontrollable conflict, and that everyone should reach a compromise and this is being interpreted by Morsi's opponents as pressure on the president to reach a grand bargain with his opponents.

World News from the BBC

At least 13 people have been killed in a bus crash in Montenegro. The Interior Minister said seven of the 32 injured were in a critical condition. He said the bus from the Romania had plunged off a bridge into a ravine. The nationalities of the victims have not been announced.

Thousands of protesters have turned out in the Bulgarian capital Sofia for a tenth day of protest calling for the Prime Minister to step down. The demonstration comes just months after the previous administration was toppled. Nick Thorpe reports. Many eves of young protesters taking to the streets of Bulgaria each evening are those who brought down the previous centre-right government in February. The Prime Minister last week tried to appease the anger of the public with a package of moves to alleviate poverty. He also cancelled several controversial appointments and promised to start work on a better electoral law, but despite soaring summer temperatures, the crowds continue to gather each evening in large numbers demanding the government‘s resignation.

Around 20 gunmen in Pakistani security force uniforms have shot dead ten people, most of them foreigners in an attack on a remote base camp in the foothills of Nanga Parbat. The killers blindfolded the climbers and shot them in the head. Other mountaineers in the area are being evacuated by helicopter. The Pakistani Taliban say they ordered the attack to revenge the death of a senior commander in a US drone strike. A Sunni militant group has also claimed responsibility vowing to continue attacks on foreigners.

Saudi Arabia is changing its official weekend to Friday and Saturday. In a decree announcing the change, King Abdullah said it was needed to address lost opportunities. Saudi businessmen immediately welcomed the move as good for the economy. Saudi Arabia had been the only gulf Arab States to maintain a working week of Saturday to Wednesday following a similar shift by Oman last month.

BBC News