BBC在线收听下载:乌克兰东部的战争仍在蔓延

BBC news 2015-02-11

BBC News with Sue Montgomery

President Obama has confirmed the death of an American aid worker who was held hostage by Islamic State militants in Syria for 18 months. He said the killers of Kayla Mueller would be brought to justice. Gary O'Donoghue reports from Washington.

Islamic State had already said that Kayla Mueller was killed in an Jordanian air strike last Friday, but the White House spokesman Josh Earnest said it was not possible to be specific about how and when she died. In reference to the claims from IS he said the United States did not believe there were any civilians in the area in which the air strikes had taken place. What's become clear is that over the weekend Kayla Mueller's family received information from IS, which the intelligence services here analysed and which allowed them to conclude that she was dead.

A White House spokesman has said that the United States is not coordinating its military strikes in Syria with the government of President Bashar al-Assad. He was reacting to comments made by the Syrian leader in a BBC interview. More from Barbara Plett Usher in Washington.

Officials from the White House, State Department and National Security Council all denied the US was coordinating any aspect of its air campaign with the Syrian government. They said Washington had simply informed Syria's UN ambassador when the strikes against Islamic State militants were about to begin in September and warned Damascus to stay out of the way. Mr Assad also said there was no direct cooperation, but he told the BBC he was getting general information about the campaign through third parties including Iraq. The State Department spokeswoman Jennifer Psaki played down the significance of such a bad channel, saying she wasn't surprised that Iraq had relations with its neighbours.

US officials say the United States is closing down its embassy in Yemen and is asking Turkey or Algeria to look after its interests in the country. Embassy employees said they had been told that ambassador would leave by Wednesday. But a US State Department spokeswoman refused to comment. Last month Houthi Shia rebels tightened their military control on the capital Sanaa.

In eastern Ukraine fighting has spread to the government-controlled eastern city of Kramatorsk, where the Ukrainian military headquarters has been shelled. Four soldiers died, and at least eight civilians were killed in nearby residential areas. Separatists denied shelling the city. A spokesman for the European security organisation, the OSCE, Michael Bociurkiw told the BBC that a build-up of heavy weaponry was continuing in the run-up to peace talks scheduled for Wednesday.

"What our monitors are seeing are many unmarked vehicles, many unmarked convoys, tanks, armoured personnel carriers that are heading towards cities like Donetsk. So definitely not only that build-up of heavy weaponry but that indiscriminate shelling, that is taking such a huge toll on the civilian population."

World News from the BBC

The Greek financial minister has made a defiant speech in parliament ahead of the confidence vote which is due to take place shortly and before Wednesday's bailout talks with European creditors. The minister Yanis Varoufakis said he was not seeking a confrontation with the rest of Europe but wasn't excluding one either. The newly-elected parliament is expected to endorse the government's plans to renegotiate the terms of Greece's bailout.

The heir to the British throne Prince Charles has raised the case of the jailed Saudi Arabian blogger Raif Badawi during a meeting with the new Saudi king. Prince Charles held informal talks before and during a lunch meeting with King Salman in the capital Riyadh. Mr Badawi has been sentenced to 1,000 lashes and 10 years in prison for insulting Islam.

The football Premier League has announced a 70% increase in the amount that broadcasters will pay to televise live matches in Britain. It's reached a deal with two companies, Sky and BT Sport, worth a record $7.8bn over three years. Here's our business editor Kamal Ahmed.

In terms of a division between Sky and BT for live football on television, the announcement today was not much of a surprise. In terms of the money paid though, it is a shock. The high cost reveals how important live football has become for paid television. Football fans will be concerned that the high price paid will mean higher costs to watch football. The Premier League will be celebrating. More cash from the broadcasters means more cash for Premier League football clubs and the stars they pay to employ.

A camera that's not been seen in public since it was used in space to record the first moon landing has gone on display at a museum in the United States after it was discovered by Neil Armstrong's widow. The camera from the Apollo 11 mission was found as she cleared a cupboard at her home in Ohio.

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