BBC在线收听下载:巴基斯坦俾路支省发生7.8级地震

BBC news 2013-09-25

BBC News with Jonathan Izard.

The Kenyan president Uhuru Kenyatta has announced the end of the siege of a shopping mall in Nairobi by Islamist militants. In a live television address, he declared three days of mourning. He said 61 civilians and 6 members of the security forces have died. Five militants have been killed and 11 other suspects have been arrested. Mike Wooldridge reports from Nairobi.

President Kenyatta reviewed that his security forces concluded their operation at the Westgate shopping center. Three floors of the building collapsed and he said several bodies were trapped within the rubble including those of militants. But above from this, his address was sparing in detail in accounting for the fate of all those who carried out the attack and of their hostages. He did say that intelligence reports had suggested a British woman and two or three Americans may have been involved in the attack. These could not be confirmed at present he said, but forensic investigations were underway to determine the nationalities of all those involved.

The White House has said a much anticipated meeting between President Obama and the new Iranian president Hassan Rouhani will not take place. From the United Nations in New York, Bridget Kendall reports.

After all the speculation, the historic meeting is off. President Obama turned up at the UN lunch for world leaders where it was thought the two might meet but president Rouhani did not appear. An Iranian TV channel said it was because alcohol was served. UN officials said the Iranian president never confirmed he would attend and U.S. officials claimed they had offered to arrange a meeting on the margins of the summit. But in the end the Iranian said it was too complicated given the political dynamics back in Tehran.

Earlier, in his speech to the UN, President Obama said he was encouraged by Mr. Rouhani's more moderate stance since said the diplomatic approach to settling the dispute over Iran's nuclear program must be tested. In remarks made after President Obama's speech, the Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said that the world should not be fooled by Iran's soothing words. He has ordered the Israeli diplomats to leave the assembly when Iranian president starts speaking. The French president Francois Hollande in his address in the assembly said he expected Iran to make concrete gestures showing that it's serious about renouncing its military nuclear program.

A powerful earthquake of 7.8 magnitude has hit southwestern Pakistan in the province of Balochistan. About 50 people have been killed and dozens injured. Shahzeb Jillani reports from Karachi.

The quake struck in a remote and sparsely populated district of Awaran in Balochistan Province. Officials say a large number of mostly mud-brick houses have collapsed. Emergency has been declared and rescue teams get intense and medical supplies are said to be on their way to Awaran. Balochistan is Pakistan's biggest province in terms of area; it is also Pakistan's most impoverished and lawless region. The province along with neighboring Iran is prone to earthquakes.

World News from the BBC.

A leading pro-democracy activist in Swaziland has told the BBC he will bring change to his country after being elected to parliament. Jan Sithole became one of 55 MPs after standing as an independent in last week's elections. Political parties were not allowed to take part. Swaziland's king Mswati is Africa's last and absolute monarch and rules by decree.

Former Pope Benedict has spoken out in public for the first time since his surprised retirement in February. In a letter published in the Italian press, he responses to a challenge to his beliefs by an atheist. But he also addresses his handling of the child abuse scandal denying any cover-ups. He says priests are no more inclined to be guilty of child abuse and any other sectors of the society. When Pope Benedict stepped down, it was understood that he would retreat to a life of contemplation and keep out of the public eye.

The Russian authorities have begun investigating a group of Green Peace activists for alleged piracy, a charge that carries a jail term of up to 15 years. The environmental campaigners were detained on board, their ship, the Arctic Sunrise, after two of them tried to climb onto a Gazprom offshore platform in a protest against oil drilling in the Arctic. A spokesman for Greenpeace Dmitry Archimonov condemned the detention of its members.

“Currently they're been unlawfully held by the Russian authorities, they have no means of communicating with relatives, with us or with their lawyers. Their means of communications were taken away from them and they're restricted in their movements aboard the ship. They're under armed guard which effectively means they have been unlawfully held for five days.”

The United Nations says Peru has become the world's main producer of coca leaves despite a small drop in the area under cultivation. According to a report by the UN office on drugs and crime, coca plantations in Peru covered 60,000 hectares last year, 20% more than the previous top producer Colombia, where crop extermination policies have been very successful.

BBC World Service News.