朱莉·坎德勒為你播報BBC新聞。
在俄羅斯聖彼德堡舉行的G20峰會結束時,有關敘利亞的分歧仍然很大。總統普京說,參加峰會的大多數領導人都反對對阿薩德動武,他重申自己的看法,即這樣的干預是對國際法的違反。
“只有在需要進行自衛時,才可能使用武力來對付一個主權國家,但敘利亞並未對美國構成威脅。就像昨天參與談論的一位參與者昨天說的那樣,根據聯合國法令,那些單方面採取行動的人違反了國際法。”
總統奧巴馬說,就餐時大家一致認為應該支持對化武使用採取行動,大多數人認為總統阿薩德對上月的化武使用負責。
“在聖彼德堡,來自歐洲、亞洲和中東的領導人齊聚一起,表示必須支持針對化武使用的國際準則,認為阿薩德政權使用這些武器對付本國人民,因此必須對此作出強烈反應。”
11個國家譴責敘利亞使用化學武器,稱證據明確表明大馬士革政府對此負責。包括10個參加G20峰會的國家等國聯合聲明稱,化武的使用使得各地人們的安全度下降。聲明簽署國稱支持聯合國安理會採取有力行動,全世界不能等待只能導致更多痛苦的不斷的失敗。
在澳大利亞舉行以經濟、移民和有爭議的碳稅為主導話題的競選活動後,有關大選的民調就開始了。民調顯示,托尼·阿博特領導的中間右派反對聯盟領先于總理凱文·拉德的勞工党,後者已經執政6年。但拉德尚未放棄。
“因此我向每個人表示,走出去戰鬥吧,戰鬥吧,戰鬥吧!”
阿博特則努力避免給人留下自滿的印象。
“是的,這是一種預感,但今晚沒有預感,而是木已成舟。”
兩位候選人都承諾加強本國的避難尋求者政策。
美國蒙大納州一名法官承認在審判一名強姦犯時過於寬容,他目前被告知不能修改判決。一名前教師因強姦14歲的學生而被法官G陶德·鮑格判刑一個月,這名學生後來自殺,該判決引發強烈抗議。這位法官曾說過,這位學生當時和老師一樣能控制局面,他也因這番言論受到批評。隨著怨言越來越多,法官鮑格下令進行聽審以重申這場判決,但蒙大納最高法院判定他不能單方面這麼做。
這裡是BBC新聞報導。
哥倫比亞總統胡安·曼努埃爾·桑托斯說,在哥倫比亞人民批准任何結束50年武裝衝突的協議之前,Farc叛軍都可以保有武器。桑托斯說,在和平協定通過公投得到最終批准前,沒人能指望叛軍放下武器。他說,一旦在古巴的談判達成協議,就必須實施立即停火。批評者稱在哥倫比亞最大叛軍組織放棄武器之前不應該舉行任何公投。
美國間諜機構稱,由於前美國情報承包商愛德華·斯諾登洩露檔,他們的工作可能受到基於這些檔的媒體報導的影響。凱蒂·沃森在華盛頓報導。
國家情報局主任的辦公室說,情報機構尋找辦法來抵消其敵人的活動,這並不出奇,否則就無法開展自己的工作。就在一天前,美國衛報和紐約時報稱美國和英國情報機構正進行研究,希望獲得破壞能獲取諸如網上銀行等網站的技術的辦法。美國情報機構稱洩密事件加上公眾爭論會破壞情報工作的。
辛巴威當局逮捕了涉嫌用氰化物毒藥殺死40多頭大象的嫌犯,這些動物是在萬基國家公園被殺的,其象牙已被砍去。辛巴威公園當局發言人說,這是被盜獵大象最多的單個事件。
美國研究者開始對一種針對皮膚癌的疫苗植入進行人體臨床試驗。該植入物有指甲大小,被安置在皮膚下,能重新設定病人的免疫系統,從而破壞癌變黑色素瘤細胞。這項技術2009年在小白鼠身上成功試驗,接受兩個劑量疫苗的小白鼠的腫瘤顯示完全消退。
BBC新聞。
BBC News with Julie Candler
Divisions over Syria remain as wide as ever at the end of G20 summit in the Russian city of St Petersburg. President Putin said most leaders at the summit were opposed to military action against President Assad, and he restated his belief that such intervention would be a breach of international law.
“The use of force against a sovereign state is possible only if self-defence is involved, but Syria doesn’t pose a threat to the United States. And second, under the mandate of the United Nations, as it was said yesterday by one of the participants of our discussions, those who act unilaterally violate international law.”
President Obama said there had been unanimity around the dinner table that the convention against the use of chemical weapons should be upheld, and that most people believe President Assad had been responsible for their use last month.
“Here in St Petersburg leaders from Europe, Asia and the Middle East have come together to say that the international norm against the use of chemical weapons must be upheld and that the Assad regime used these weapons on its own people, and that as a consequence, there needs to be a strong response.”
Eleven countries have condemned the use of chemical weapons in Syria and said evidence clearly indicated that the government in Damascus had been responsible. In a statement, the countries including ten of those which attended the G20 summit, said the use of chemical weapons diminished the security of people everywhere. The signatories said that while they supported strong action by the UN Security Council, the world could not wait for endless failed processes that would only lead to increased suffering.
Polls opened shortly in Australia’s general election after a campaign dominated by the economy, immigration and a controversial carbon tax. Opinion polls put the centre-right opposition coalition led by Tony Abbott ahead of Prime Minister Kevin Rudd’s Labor Party, which has been power for six years. But Mr Rudd has not given up.
“So what I’d say to each and every one of you is to get out there and to fight and to fight and to fight.”
For his part, Mr Abbott has been trying to avoid sounding complacent.
“Yes, there is a sense of anticipation, but there is no sense here tonight that this is a done deal.”
Both candidates have vowed to toughen up the country’s policies on asylum seekers.
A judge in the US state of Montana who admitted he’d been too lenient when sentencing a man for rape has been told he can’t modify the sentence. There was an outcry after Judge G Todd Baugh sentenced an ex-teacher to a month in jail for raping a 14-year-old student who later killed herself. The judge had also faced criticism for his remarks that the girl was, as he put it, as much in control of the situation as the teacher. As anger mounted, Judge Baugh ordered a hearing to review the sentence, but the Montana Supreme Court has ruled that he cannot unilaterally proceed with it.
World News from the BBC
The Colombian President Juan Manuel Santos has said that the Farc rebels will be allowed to keep their weapons until any agreement to end five decades of armed conflict is ratified by the Colombian people. Mr Santos said no one could expect the rebels to give up their weapons before a peace accord gets final approval in a referendum. He added that an immediate ceasefire would be implemented once a deal was reached in talks underway in Cuba. Critics of the process have said a referendum should not be held until Colombia’s largest rebel group disarms.
American spy agencies have said their work is likely to be damaged by the latest media revelations based on documents from the former US intelligence contractor Edward Snowden. With more details, here’s Katy Watson in Washington.
The Office of the Director of National Intelligence said it shouldn’t come as a surprise that intelligence agencies look for ways to counteract activities by their enemies; otherwise, they wouldn’t be doing their job. The comments come a day after UK newspaper, the Guardian, and the New York Times reported that American and British intelligence agencies had developed ways of cracking the technology for secure sites such as internet banking. US intelligence said the leaks, while adding to the public debate, could also damage intelligence efforts.
The authorities in Zimbabwe have arrested five people suspected of killing more than 40 elephants with cyanide poison. The animals were killed in Hwange National Park and had their tusks removed. A spokeswoman for the Zimbabwean parks authority said it was the largest number of elephants poached in a single incident.
Researchers in the United States are starting human clinical trials of a vaccine implant which targets skin cancer. The implant, the size of a fingernail, is placed under the skin and re-programmes a patient’s immune system to destroy cancerous melanoma cells. The technique was trialled successfully in mice in 2009 after the mice that received two doses of the vaccine showed complete regression of their tumours.
BBC News