BBC news 2010-10-22
BBC News with Julie Candler
The African Union has called on the United Nations Security Council to give backing to an air and naval blockade of Somalia. The AU's commissioner for peace and security, Ramtane Lamamra, told the Security Council such action would prevent arms transportation and the movement of militants. From the UN headquarters in New York, Barbara Plett reports.
The AU envoy called on the council to authorize a much larger African peacekeeping force in Somalia, up to 20,000 troops and nearly 2,000 police. Crucially, he urged the UN to make sure they have enough money and resources. Fewer than 8,000 soldiers have been deployed so far, and they are badly paid and equipped. Mr Lamamra also asked the council to impose a naval blockade and no-fly zone over Somalia to prevent the entry of foreign fighters and weapons for armed groups. The current president of the Security Council, Ugandan ambassador Ruhakana Rugunda, said the requests were legitimate but would need to be studied further.
Peace activists in Israel say Jewish settlers are building new homes in the occupied West Bank at four times the rate they were before the government began its partial freeze at the end of last year. Peace Now group said work had begun on between 600 and 700 new housing units over the past month. A Palestinian spokesman said the new figures were alarming and showed Israel wasn't serious about the peace process, but the Israeli government spokesman Mark Regev said the building should not affect the final outcome of the talks.
"Israel wants to proceed to move forward in the peace process, and all the difficult issues, all the core issues of the conflict are on the table, including the sensitive issue of settlements. In the interim, the limited construction underway will in no way impact upon the final contours of a peace agreement."
A Belgian skydiver, Els Clottemans, has been sentenced to 30 years in prison for murdering her love rival by sabotaging her parachute. The victim was sent plummeting to her death as both women took part in a jump with their instructor, with whom each was romantically involved. Belgian prosecutors showed how Clottemans had cut the cords to the main and reserve chute of her rival.
The head of the BBC World Service Peter Horrocks says some of its language services will have to close as a result of budget cuts and funding changes, but he couldn't yet say how many or which ones. Mr Horrocks said the World Service would have to save 25% of its current costs over four years and suggested a number of areas that could be considered for efficiency savings.
"Those choices will involve, among a number of examples, cutting further programmes from the English schedule, reducing our distribution costs significantly, cutting parts of some services entirely, for instance, losing both the programming and distribution costs where short-wave audiences have become too small. And we also intend to close some language services."
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The European Court of Human Rights says Russia acted illegally in allowing the Moscow city authorities to ban gay pride marches in the capital. It said the city had violated the right of assembly and discriminated against the organisers because of their sexuality. The gay activist Nikolai Alexeyev who'd brought the case said the ruling had important implications for other groups in Russia.
"Today, a really crushing defeat was dealt to the prohibitive policies of the Moscow authorities over the last five years. It's a total defeat, and now the new Moscow authorities should admit that something has to be changed in their attitude towards sexual minorities."
Health officials in Haiti say an outbreak of diarrhoea has killed about 50 people in the north of the country. Local hospitals have been overwhelmed by hundreds more suffering high fever, vomiting and acute diarrhoea. Doctors are testing people for cholera.
A prominent Cuban dissident given a human rights award by the European Parliament says the honour could make his campaign for greater political freedom more difficult. Guillermo Farinas told the BBC that the Cuban government usually increased attacks on dissidents as they'd become more well-known, but he dedicated his award to the struggle of the Cuban people.
"I accept this prize not for me but for the Cuban people, for the prisoners who are in jail, for the opposition in the streets, for the exiled who feel nostalgia for their homeland that they have had to leave. This prize is for all the democratic men and women all over the world who with their denunciations and solidarity have forced the Cuban government to ease off and take our brothers out of prisons."
An earthquake with a magnitude of 6.9 has struck off the coast of the Baja California peninsula, in northwestern Mexico. There were no immediate reports of damage or injuries.
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