BBC在线收听下载:英国首相称政府继续封杀斯诺登的消息

BBC news 2013-10-29

BBC News with Jerry Smit.

Two senior members of the Islamist group Al Shabab are reported to have been killed by a drone strike in southern Somalia. One of them is said to be Al Shabab's leading expert on suicide missions. Our east Africa correspondent Gabriel Gatehouse reports.

Local residents told the BBC a missile struck a car as it was traveling near Jilib on the road from Mogadishu to Kismayo. They spoke of two bodies being brought to the town which is controlled by Al-Shabab. A senior official in the Kenyan military confirmed that a strike had taken place, but could not say who's behind that attack. The Kenya army captured Kismayo a year ago, and continues to battle Al Shabab militants nearby. Earlier this month, US Navy Seals mounted an amphibious raid on a nearby town. They failed to capture or kill their target who's reported to be a senior Al Shaba operative connected to a number of alleged terror plots in Kenya.

The United States government has defended its intelligence gathering program in Europe but acknowledged that it may have to change its methods. The White House spokesman Jay Carney said surveillance helped keep Americans and their allies safe. He admitted that recent disclosures had caused diplomatic tension, but said intelligence was not used to promote the economic interest of the US.

If we are going to keep our citizens and our allies safe, we have to continue to stay ahead of these changes. And that's what our intelligence community has been doing. It's extraordinarily well. At the same time, with new capabilities we recognized that there need to be additional constraints on how we gather and use intelligence.

The British Prime Minister David Cameron has said the government may act to stop newspapers publishing further leaks from the fugitive US intelligence analyst Edward Snowden. Mr. Cameron was speaking in parliament. Our British political correspondent Rob Watson has more.

This is the toughest line yet from the prime minister. David Cameron urged Guardian and other newspapers to use what he called common sense and good judgment, but warned that if not, the government might have to step in.

I don's want to have to use injunctions or denotices or the other tougher measures. I think it's much better to appeal to newspapers sense on social responsibility. But if they don't demonstrate on social responsibility, it would be very difficult for government to stand back and not to act.

Denotices are issued to newspaper editors and broadcasters, requesting them not to publish or air stories on specific subjects for reasons of national security. Rob Watson.

A search has been called off for more than 30 migrants missing in the desert to northern Niger. The group are thought to have died of thirst after the vehicle carrying them to Algeria broke down. The bodies of 5 people, a woman and 4 girls were found earlier this month. Tens of thousands of African migrants cross the Sahara Desert every year on their way to Europe via North Africa.

World News from the BBC.

A man in Chile has been sentenced to life in prison for the murder of a gay man who was attacked in a park in the capital Santiago. Three others were jailed for between 7 and 15 years. Gideon Lawn reports.

The murder of Daniel Zamudio horrified Chile, and prompted legislators to past within weeks an anti-discrimination law that had languished in parliament for the previous 7 years. Mr. Zamudio was beaten unconscious in a park. His assailants carved swastikas into his skin, burnt him with cigarettes and smashed one of his legs with a rock. According to graphic court testimony released earlier this month, they then urinated on his body. Mr. Zamudio, who was 24, died in hospital 3 weeks later.

The international Syria envoy Lakhdar Brahimi is visiting Damascus for the first time in almost a year in an attempt to win support for a peace conference due to held in Geneva next month. United Nations sources told the BBC that Mr. Brahimi would meet President Bashar al-Assad during his 3-day trip. Lisa Dusatt reports.

Lakhdar Brahimi hasn't been to Damascus since last December. Disappointed by President Assad's political proposals and by disagree in opposition ranks, the UN envoy has focused his efforts on getting Moscow and Washington to narrow their differences. Now a Geneva two conferences has planed, the first formal talks between the warring sides. Mr. Brahimi has had meetings  in capitals across the region and this return to Damascus suggests he believes there is now something to talk about. But there reports that the conference will be postponed again.

Brazil has announced plans to manufacture a low-cost measles and rubella vaccine for export to developing countries. Brazil's top medical facility will receive a grant from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation to produce around 30 million doses of the vaccine a year until 2017. The serum is expected to be the cheapest available in the market.

BBC News.