2010-04-09 BBC
BBC News with Jonathan Weekley.
The Kyrgyzstan President Kurmanbek Bakiyev has refused to admit defeat after his political opponents dissolved parliament and demanded his resignation. Latest reports from the capital Bishkek say there was heavy shooting as night fell. From Bishkek, Richard Galpin now reports.
After the bloodshed yesterday, this morning the main leaders of the opposition announced they've taken control of the country, forming a temporary government and dissolving parliament. But at a news conference here in the capital, they admitted there were concerns that the president was trying to rally his supporters in the south of the country in order to fight back. The opposition wanted him to resign immediately, but Mr.Bakiyev has told BBC he has no intention of quitting and still considers himself to be president.
There are growing fears that many people have died in a massive landslide in Brazil which engulfed more than 50 houses in the shanty town near Rio de Janeiro. Around 200 people lived in the houses. Greg Morsbach has more.
A massive mud and rubble crashed down from a hillside onto the houses in the shanty town in the Rio suburb of Niteroi. It was nighttime when it happened, many families would have been at home. A nursery is among the buildings buried under the mud. A resident said around 20 children were usually looked after there. The settlement of Morro do Bumbo was built on top of a disused rubbish dump. Rescue teams at the scene say they have come across pockets of toxic gases caused by decomposing waste. This is what has been slowing down their work.
The United States and Russia has signed a historic treaty that will cut their nuclear arsenals by about a third. President Obama and the Russian leader Dmitry Medvedev signed the deal at a ceremony in Prague. It's the biggest scraping of nuclear arms since the Cold War ended 20 years ago.
The United Nations' ambassadors of six world powers have opened talks in New York on possible new sanctions against Iran over its refusal to halt uranium enrichment. China is joining the United States, Britain, France, Russia and Germany in the discussions about Iran's nuclear programme which Tehran insists is for peaceful purposes. From the UN in New York, Bob Replate now reports.
The Chinese ambassador Li Baodong told reporters that these were important negotiations as he entered the building where the meeting is being held. Publicly, China still hasn't dropped objections to a new round of sanctions against Iran, but it has now joined the conversation on a possible UN resolution. Russia is also reluctant, but the Russian President Dmitry Medvedev has said the Security Council may have to take action. Speaking in Prague, he stressed that Russia would favor only smart sanctions with specific targets that didn't hurt the Iranian people. Diplomats say the ambassadors will be discussing US proposals to target Iran's powerful revolutionary guards as well as toughing existing measures against Iran's shipping and banking sectors.
World News, BBC.
A High Court in the Bangladeshi capital Dhaka has ruled that women working in educational institutions should not be forced to wear any form of veil or other Islamic face covering. The court in the predominately Muslim country said that it was a woman's personal choice and that if she was compelled to wear a veil, this would amount to a violation of fundamental rights.
Scientists say that `an analysis of two world preserved ancient skeletons unearthed in South Africa show they represent a previously unknown species of prehuman or hominid. The bones from an adult woman and a male juvenile date back almost two million years. And were found in cave at the Malapa World Heritage Site outside Johannesburg two years ago. One of the scientists said the discovery opened up a new chapter in the history of humankind.
The death has been announced of Malcolm McLaren, a British impresario best known for discovering and managing the punk band the Sex Pistols. He died in New York on Thursday, aged 64. Natasha now reports.
In pop, fashion and his personal life, Malcolm McLaren quoted and thrived on controversy. In the 70s with his partner, the fashion designer Vivienne Westwood, he set up a shop in the King's Road in London which he provocatively named Sex. The shop created the luck of Punk and the Sex Pistols provided the sound track with McLaren wiping up a media storm to ensure their success. He managed other bands, such as New York Dolls and had hit records of his own, with Buffalo Gals and Double Dutch.
Tiger Woods has returned to competitive golf after a five-month break, following a sex scandal. The world's NO.1 golfer struck his first ball on Thursday at the Masters Championship in Augusta, Georgia. Woods had taken time off after emersion November last year that he had a string of affairs. The scandal has damaged his reputation and costed him millions of dollars in lost sponsorship earnings.
BBC News.