BBC News with Jerry Smit
The Burmese authorities have acknowledged that more than 80 people have been killed in the whole villages and parts of towns burnt down in ethnicviolence between Buddhists and Muslims in the western state of Rakhine. Human Rights Watch released satellite pictures of a coastal town which it said showed that an entire neighborhood inhabited largely by Muslim Rohingyas have been destroyed. Our reporter in Rangoon CU says government troops intervene swiftly in Rakhine.
This time, the government is even more decisive than the previous time, because apparently they deploy more forces relatively quickly, and in a matter of few days, the situation is incontrol. So in that sense, probably, you know the government is taking action quicker than the last time.
There has been more violence in Syria on what should have been the second day of a truce to mark the Muslim holiday of Eid al-Adha. James Reynolds reports from near the border.
Syria's holiday truce appears to have been buried by continuing violence. On this second day of the promised ceasefire, opposition activists say that the government has carried out an airstrike and fired mortar attacks in Damascus. Syrian state TV also reports a car bombexplosion in the eastern city of Deir Ezzor. The international envoy Lakhdar Brahimi had hopes that ceasefire might eventually be followed by talks and concessions , but neither side wants to give ground , each may still feel that it can win the conflicts by force alone.
More than 20 people have been killed and many injured in two separate car bombings in Baghdad. The blasts were apparently aimed at Shia worshippers on the second day of the Muslim holiday of Eid al-Adha. A bomb attached to a minibus carrying Iranian pilgrims to a shrinein Baghdad exploded killing at least five people. Another bomb targeted a market in a Shia neighborhood north of the city.
The former Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi who's been given a jail sentence for taxfraud has threatened to withdraw his freedom party's parliamentary support for the unelected government of Mario Monti. David Willey reports.
Mr Berlusconi out of the political picture since his resignation nearly a year ago is on the war path again. Clearly angry at Friday's conviction after a long drawn-out trial on charges ofmassive tax fraud . He launched strong attacks on the judiciary for portraying him falsely as a person with a particular attitude for crime. He also attacked Monti's government for what he called fiscal extortion of the Italian people during the Euro zone austerity crisis.
Reports quoting the military in Guinea-Bissau say the army has arrested the alleged leader of a failed coup attempt two weeks ago. The name of the suspect is captain Pansau N'Tchama who was said to have returned from Portugal early this month where he was receiving military training.
World News from the BBC
The World's biggest platinum producer Anglo American platinum has agreed to reinstate the 12,000 South African miners sacked for taking part in an unofficial strike. Dozens of people have been killed in strike-related violence in the mining sector. In the latest incidents, police on Saturday fired tear gas and rubber bullets at a group of platinum miners who were trying toblock a union rally.
Intensive preparations are underway on the American east coast for the arrival of HurricaneSandy. More than 40 people were killed when the hurricane cross the Caribbean. As ZoeConvey reports from Washington, the hurricane is expected to develop into a superstorm as it joints with two other powerful weather systems.
It would be bad enough if America was expecting the arrival of the hurricane, insteadmeteorologists are predicting that three weather systems are said to collide. It will hit cold airheading south from Canada and a wintry storm coming from the American west, that will giveSandy more energy. But that doesn't mean the superstorm will be in a hurry. What's worrying the experts is that it could sit for several days on the coast bringing misery to New England in the north all the way down to Virginia in the south and spreading as far west of Ohio.
The Hurricane could hit the eastern US coast sometime on Monday or Tuesday. The US Navy has ordered all ships based at the Norfolk naval base in Virginia to sea, to ride out the approaching storm.
Thai police have discovered 16 tiger cubs caged in the back of a truck after its driver failed to stop at a checkpoint. The driver who said he was paid $500 to deliver the cubs to the borderwith Laos faces charges of illegal possession and trafficking of an endangered species. Correspondents say Thailand is a hub of the international black market in animal parts, frequently used in traditional east Asian medicines.
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