BBC在线收听下载:美国最高法院判决支持同性恋婚姻 奥巴马表示欢迎

BBC news 2013-06-27

BBC News with Nick Kelly

The Egyptian President Mohammed Morsi has warned that political polarisation is threatening democracy in the country. In a nationwide television address to mark his year in office, Mr Morsi admitted he had made some mistakes. He promised to introduce immediate and radical reforms in state institutions. Our correspondent Aleem Maqbool has this assessment.

He started with a very conciliatory tone. He even made, acknowledged making mistakes. He spoke very softly and he said Egyptians shouldn’t accuse each other and within a few minutes, he was doing exactly that—he was accusing old regime figures; he was naming individual politicians; he named a judge; he named a journalist; he talked like all of these people conspiring against him. So I think those protests that are planned over the weekend are going to be as big as a lot of people anticipated.

President Obama has welcomed the United States Supreme Court ruling which quashed a law that discriminated against same-sex couples. In a landmark ruling, the judges struck down the defence of Marriage Act, a law that denied federal recognition of same-sex marriages. The historic ruling means that legally married gay, men and women in the 12 states where such unions are permitted, are now entitled to claim the same federal benefits as opposite-sex married couples. The two couples which brought that case celebrated the decision outside the court. Before turning to hug and kiss his partner, Paul Katami told the crowd that marriage was the natural next step in their relationship.

"We want to join the institution of marriage not to take anything away, but to strengthen it, and to live up to its ideals. So today is good day. Today I finally get to look at the man that I love and finally say ‘will you please marry me?’"

About 40,000 people have marched towards the football stadium where Brazil have played Uruguay in the semi-finals of the Confederations Cup. Thousands of police have assembled outside the stadium in the city of Belo Horizonte. The BBC’s Alastair Leithead was there.

Thousands of people are making their way from the centre of Belo Horizonte—a long snaking line toward the football stadium. Although mostly organised through social media, those leading the march urged the crowd to make sure the demonstrations peaceful. Thousands of police have assembled near the stadium to make sure the march doesn’t interfere with the game or the fans. The crowds are demanding what they’ve been since the protest began-- more government spending on things like education and health, more accountability and a crackdown on corruption.

Some news just in. The South African President Jacob Zuma has cancelled a planned visit to Mozambique after visiting the former President Nelson Mandela in hospital. President Zuma said Mr Mandela remained in a critical condition.

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The Venezuelan revolutionary known as Carlos the Jackal has lost his appeal against a life sentence in France. He was jailed for orchestrating a series of bombings in France three decades ago. From Paris, Hugh Schofield.

On the closing day of the month-long trial, the man known as Carlos took his own defence, delivering a four-hour speech, in which he described himself not as a terrorist but a revolutionary. Yes, his organisation had killed hundreds of people, he said, but not the 11 who died in the four bomb attacks in France in 1982 and 1983. The prosecution’s case has always been that Carlos carried out the attacks in order to blackmail the French government into releasing two of his accomplices. But no fresh evidence was produced by Carlos to disapprove the charge, so it is no surprise the court upheld the original conviction.

Police in the United States has charged the American football player Aaron Hernandez with murder. Hernandez was a rising star player with the New England Patriots. His arrest follows the discovery of the body of Odin Lloyd, a 27-year-old semi-professional footballer. He had been shot near Hernandez‘s home in Attleborough in Massachusetts.

And there’s been an astonishing day of tennis at the Wimbledon Championships. The former champion Roger Federer has been defeated by Sergiy Stakhovsky of Ukraine, who ranks 116 in the world. Stakhovsky spoke to the BBC after the match. He acknowledged the odds have been against him.

"I am incredibly happy. Well, when you play Roger Federer at Wimbledon, it’s like you are playing two persons. First you play Roger Federer, and then you play his ego and on the centre court of Wimbledon where he is historical, I will say. So that’s like playing two against one.”

Another former champion Maria Sharapova has been knocked out of the tournament and seven players forced to withdraw because of injury. The most high-profile was the women’s second seed Victoria Azarenka, who injured herself in her opening match.

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