BBC在线收听下载:委内瑞拉关闭边境 切断反对派外援物质

BBC news with Jonathan Izard.

The Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro says he is closing the border with Brazil to prevent the delivery of foreign aid by the opposition which he sees as a provocation. The Brazilian government said it was storing food and medication donated by the US in Pacaraima on its Venezuelan border and the nearby city of Boa Vista.

Police in the US city of Chicago have said the African-American actor Jussie Smollett exploited the pain of racism by staging a racist homophobic attack to promote his career. Mr. Smollett denies filing a false police report. Police say he paid two Nigerian brothers to carry out the attack. At a court hearing, the judge said 100,000 dollars for his bail.

Burundi has threatened to pull all 5,000 of its peace keepers out of Somali if the African Union insists on 1000 of them leaving the country by the end of this month. Salaries of the peace keepers are paid by the western governments which play an important economic role.

One of the organizers of this week's Vatican child abuse conference Cardinal Oswald Gracias faces the possibility of criminal charges in India over ignoring a complaint about sexual abuse of a young boy by a priest. The victim’s family has come to court, saying the cardinal should be tried for not informing the police when allegations were brought to him.

Catalan separatists in the northeast of Spain are holding demonstrations to support 12 leaders who went on trial last week on charges of rebellion and sedition. Several thousands turned out to the regional capital Barcelona, waving Catalan flags.

The authorities of Nigeria say the President Muhammadu Buhari is to leave the country on Sunday two months before he’s due to take part in presidential elections. The 81-year-old no longer speaks in public, but he is still expected to win the April election.

And a Japanese space probe has begun to ascend towards an asteroid after a three-and-half-year journey from earth. The Hayabusa-2 craft will try to collect rocks from the surface of the asteroid called "Ryugu" in the first mission of its kind ever attempted.
BBC news.