BBC在线收听下载:马尔代夫取消总统选举首轮投票结果

BBC news 2013-10-08

BBC News with Stewart Macintosh

The Afghan President Hamid Karzai has accused Nato forces of failing to bring stability to the war-torn nation. In an interview with the BBC, Mr Karzai said the Nato campaign had caused a lot of suffering in Afghanistan. Mr Karzai also said he was also personally talking to the Taliban and urging them to contest forthcoming elections. Here’s our diplomatic correspondent James Robbins.

He’s presided over this period in which he’s critical of Nato and American forces in particular. Nevertheless, he agreed, of course, the negotiated terms through force agreements with those very powers who have been in his country so long and the Taliban question is also pretty inconsistent because it was he who raised questions about the American-sponsored talks with the Taliban earlier this year. He’s often quite quick-thought in his dealings, so I think a very mixed message people will judge quite carefully, quite cautiously.

Teachers’ protests in Brazil have ended in violent confrontation on the streets of Rio de Janeiro and Sao Paulo. The city centre in Rio was packed with more than 10,000 people marching peacefully. But as it got dark, some protesters threw fire bombs at public buildings and riot police responded with teargas. A protest in Sao Paulo in support of the teachers in Rio also ended in violent confrontation with the police after many banks which had been striking for more than two weeks were ransacked by hooded protesters. 

The Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper says he’s reviewing his country’s financial support for the Commonwealth because of human rights abuses in Sri Lanka. He said the government there had yet to investigate allegations of atrocities in its war against Tamil Tiger rebels. Lee Carter reports from Toronto.

Stephen Harper had a long list of reasons why he remains disturbed by the human rights situation in Sri Lanka. They include reported jailings and intimidation of political leaders and journalists, harassment of minorities and reported disappearances. Sri Lanka’s envoy to Canada immediately disputed Mr Harper’s comments, but they are bound to win approval within Canada’s large community of Sri Lankan Tamils, many of whom fled conflict and turmoil back home.

The head of Bolivia’s coca control and industrialisation agency has been arrested over accusations of the illegal sale of coca leaves, extortion and abuse of power. Will Grant reports.

Among the charges against Luis Cutipa, the head of the government’s agency for coca control, is that he illegally diverted some 45 tonnes of coca leaves through his family and other contacts to sell on the black market. He also stands accused of having overcharged coca growers for the official license they need to produce coca and of having falsified documents to obtain his position. Mr Cutipa has appeared in front of the state prosecutor to hear the charges against him. He denies any wrongdoing.

World News from the BBC

A federal court in the American state of Missouri has jailed a businessman for 14 years for supplying funds to al-Qaeda. Khalid Ouazzani, who’d pleaded guilty three years ago, had faced up to 65 years in prison for bank fraud, money laundering and conspiracy to support terrorist group. In a plea bargain, he explained how he borrowed money for his business interest, but sent it to Dubai where he bought and sold an apartment giving the profits to al-Qaeda alongside other funds.

The Supreme Court in the Maldives has annulled the results of the first round of presidential elections held last month and ordered a fresh vote. It followed a petition by Qasim Ibrahim, the candidate who came third. Charles Haviland reports.

Two weeks ago the Supreme Court ordered a delay to the presidential election runoff. Now the entire electoral process has been annulled. By four votes to three, the Supreme Court accepted a petition from the third-placed candidate who said more than 5,000 votes in the first round were tainted. The court ruling flies in the face of observers from India, the Commonwealth, the EU and the US, who had all praised the conduct of the first round.

A Saudi Arabian preacher, who was accused of torturing his five-year-old daughter and beating her to death apparently because he believed she’d lost her virginity, has been sentenced to eight years in prison and 600 lashes. The case of Fayhan al-Ghamdi made headlines around the world earlier this year when it was suggested that a Saudi court might let him walk free.

A family feud in Australia between one of the world’s richest women and two of her estranged children over a multi-billion dollar trust will come up for hearing before a court on Tuesday. Two of Gina Rinehart’s children claim she refused to give them their share of the family fortune which is worth more than US$4bn. Mrs Rinehart denies allegations of misconduct.

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