2010-04-27 BBC
BBC News with David Legge
The President of Sudan Omar al-Bashir has been declared the winner of this month's presidential election, the country's first multi-party poll for nearly a quarter of a century. In the semi-autonomous south, Salva Kiir won the presidency. The election paves the way for a referendum in the south next January on its independence. James Copnall has more.
President Omar al-Bashir's 68% share of the vote was sizable rather than crushing, considering his two main challengers boycott it. His party sees the victory as a popular rebuke to the International Criminal Court which indicted President Bashir for alleged crimes against humanity committed in Darfur. But opposition parties and some local observers had said the polls were massively fraud and rejected the results. Now the focus turns at next January's referendum in which southerners will vote on possible independence.
German Chancellor Angela Merkel has warned Greece that it has to be prepared to accept tough economic measures for several years to come if it's to get its finances back in order. However, she said Germany felt an enormous obligation to the stability of the euro and would help. There had been some concern that her government might block financial aid as there's a key regional election in Germany on May 9. Steve Rosenberg reports.
Surveys show that most Germans balk at the idea of their country paying for the profligacy of another country, albeit a fellow EU member state. Germany is one of the founding fathers of the euro, the common currency which was supposed to unify Europe. But according to one newspaper here today, 90% of Germans now want Greece out of the Eurozone. It's likely though that Berlin will put a rescue package in place but don't expect to see too much money flow in Greece's way before May 9.
The leader of Poland's main opposition party Jaroslaw Kaczynski says he will run in a snap presidential election in June. The election was called after the death of the president, Mr Kaczynski's twin brother Lech, in a plane crash in Russia earlier this month. Jaroslaw Kaczynski leads the conservative Law and Justice party.
European foreign ministers have reached agreement on setting up a diplomatic service for the European Union. The ministers want to give the EU a stronger voice on the world stage, and the diplomatic service would eventually have missions in 136 countries. The plans will now go to EU heads of governments and the European parliament for approval. The EU foreign affairs chief Catherine Ashton said the service would bring together European institutions.
"Europe needs an external action service because that will help us to build a distinct 21st century European response. It will be a service that will bring together the European institutions. It will bring together in a joined up way our response to the issues that we face in the world and promote comprehensive policies."
World News from the BBC
Some news just in, reports from Washington say the former leader of Panama, Manuel Noriega, has been extradited to France after serving a 17-year sentence in the United States for drug trafficking. Mr Noriega was arrested after the US invasion of Panama in 1989. He's also been convicted by a French court in his absence on money-laundering charges.
The President of Mexico Felipe Calderon has condemned a new law in the American state of Arizona to crack down on illegal immigrants. He described it as racial discrimination and the violation of human rights. The law was enacted in the border state last week, giving police new powers to stop suspected illegal immigrants.
The Governor of California Arnold Schwarzenegger says the Hollywood sign is safe. Enough money has been raised to ensure the lands surrounding the famous sign can't be built on. There had been plans for four luxury homes on the site, but Mr Schwarzenegger said a donation from Hugh Hefner of Playboy magazine would allow a trust to buy the property for 12.5 million dollars. David Bamford reports.
Governor Schwarzenegger confirmed that the giant Hollywood letters overlooking Los Angeles had been spared from disappearing behind urban sprawl at the hands of property developers. The saviours of the day, a fund raising drive and the 900,000-dollar donation from none other than the founder of Playboy magazine, Hugh Hefner , enough to buy up the land and turn it into a park. The governor said the sign will continue to welcome dreamers, artists and like him Austrian body-builders for generations to come.
The oil company BP is using four robot submarines to stop oil leaking into the Gulf of Mexico from a sunken rig almost a kilometer and a half below the surface. Around 16,000 litres of oil a day is flowing from the platform which sank after an explosion last week. BP has warned that if the submarines can't activate the machine which will shut off the oil flow, it could be months before the leak was stopped.
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