2010-04-25 BBC
BBC News with Zoe Diamond
The head of the International Monetary Fund says Greece has nothing to fear from the organization. At a news conference in Washington, Dominique Strauss-Kahn said the IMF was trying to provide Greece with the advice and resources necessary to help with its debt problem. Andrew Walker reports from Washington.
Mr Strauss-Kahn was responding to a Greek journalist who said the Greek public are demonizing the IMF that they fear things will be worse with IMF involvement. The agency has a reputation for requiring borrowing countries to make deep cuts in popular government spending programs. Mr Strauss-Kahn said the Greek people should think of the IMF as a cooperative organization where the countries of the world work together to help those in trouble by providing resources and advice on behalf of the international community.
Anti-government protest leaders in Thailand say they fear security forces will now move against their fortified encampment in the capital Bangkok. They expressed their concern after the Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva rejected a deal to resolve Thailand's long-standing political crisis. The red-shirted demonstrators who've occupied parts of Bangkok for weeks have said they'd call off their protests if Mr Abhisit dissolves parliament within 30 days.
The British government has confirmed that Britain has been ordered to pay back nearly 600 million dollars to Iran over a 1970s weapons' deal. The order came from an arbitration court in The Hague. Greg Morsbach reports.
In the 1970s, Iran's last monarch, the Shah, went on a spending spree for military hardware. But when he was overthrown in the Islamic Revolution, the new rulers didn't want the tanks and canceled the arms' order. Then, they took Britain to court to reclaim the down payment. Britain argued that Iran had entered a binding commercial agreement, but it lost that case. The compensation money for Iran is now sitting in bank accounts waiting to be withdrawn. But it's unlikely the cash will be released as long as Iran is subjected to European sanctions because of its nuclear program.
The former leader of a secretive sect in Chile has died in prison while serving a 20-year sentence for torture and abusing dozens of children. He established the Colonia Dignidad sect in the southern part of Chile. Will Grand has more details.
A former medic in Hitler's army, Paul Schaefer, fled child abuse charges in Germany in the 60s. Having settled in Chile, he established the notorious Colonia Dignidad. Rumours circulated of what went on inside the tightly-controlled community with defectors suggesting a cult-like dedication to Schaefer. However, Colonia Dignidad was protected by General Pinochet and the head of his intelligence services Manuel Contreras. He was arrested in Argentina in 2005 and sent back to Chile where at the age of 83 he was sentenced to 20 years in prison for child abuse.
This is Zoe Diamond with the latest World News from the BBC in London.
The Mexican government has joined civil rights groups in the United States to criticize tough new laws against illegal immigrants in the American border state of Arizona. The Foreign Minister Patricia Espinosa said Mexico would do everything it could to defend the rights and the dignity of Mexicans in Arizona. The new law allows police to check the identity of anyone who may suspect of being an illegal immigrant. The State Governor Jan Brewer said the law would strengthen border controls.
"There is no higher priority than protecting the citizens of Arizona. We cannot sacrifice our safety to the murderous greed of drug cartels. We cannot stand idly by as kidnappings and violence compromise our quality of life."
Demonstrators in the Ukrainian capital Kiev have protested against the decision to extend the lease on a base serving Russia's Black Sea Fleet. The former Prime Minister Yulia Tymoshenko, who led the protest, called on parliament to block the deal when it comes up for ratification. David Stern reports from Kiev.
Yulia Tymoshenko, now an opposition leader, called the treaty an unprecedented step of national treason and shame. The deal was announced last week after the Ukrainian and Russian presidents met in the eastern Ukrainian city of Kharkiv. It permits Russia's Black Sea Fleet to keep its base in Sevastopol for at least another 25 years after the current lease expires in 2017 with an option to extend another five years. In return, Kiev will receive a 1/3 discount on the gas it buys from Moscow. The rally on Saturday was small but indicated that not all Ukrainians were pleased with their country's abruptly improved relations with Russia.
Thousands of people in Madrid and more than a dozen other Spanish cities have rallied in support of a prominent judge Baltasar Garzon who's known internationally for indicting Osama bin Laden and the former Chilean leader Augusto Pinochet. The Spanish Supreme Court has charged the judge with abuse of office. Judge Garzon has denied any wrongdoing.
BBC World (News)