Nelson Mandela's birthday

18 July, 2007 - Published 16:04 GMT   Nelson Mandela's birthday

Nelson Mandela is using the occasion of his 89th birthday today to launch a new organisation of former world leaders that is to tackle some of the world's most pressing problems. This report from Peter Greste: Listen to the story Respect for the wisdom of elders is a deeply embedded African tradition and it is a concept that seems to be at the heart of this latest initiative to bring together some of the world's highest profile retirees. Arguably, the world's most respected elder statesman, Nelson Mandela, is to mark his eighty ninth birthday by introducing the elite group of international leaders. The idea originated with British entrepreneur Richard Branson and musician, Peter Gabriel, who wanted to create a world council of elders to take on big issues such as AIDS and global warming. According to a statement from the organisers, the group will contribute their wisdom, independent leadership and integrity in addressing some of the world's toughest problems. It is a big idea with powerful people behind it. Although it's not yet clear who will serve on the council, among those attending the launch will be South Africa's retired Anglican archbishop, Desmond Tutu, former UN Secretary General Kofi Annan, the former US president Jimmy Carter and the former president of Ireland, Mary Robinson. There is no shortage of moral authority there but the former leaders have also long since left the real levers of power behind them. Peter Greste, BBC, Johannesburg Listen to the words

Japan hit by earthquake

Learning English - Words in the News   16 July, 2007 - Published 10:13 GMT   Japan hit by earthquake

An earthquake has struck north-western Japan. The national broadcaster NHK reported that hundreds of buildings in the Niigata area had been destroyed. More than two-hundred-and-sixty people were injured and two were killed. This report from Keith Adams: Listen to the story The earthquake, which measured six-point-eight on the Richter Scale, hit Japan's north west coast on Monday morning. In the city of Kashiwazaki, residents described being violently shook. Officials there say 2,000 people were evacuated from their homes. The city's modern buildings, as elsewhere in the earthquake-prone country, are built to withstand tremors, but the older, mostly timber buildings were reduced to rubble. Of most concern though, was the damage to the Kashiwazaki nuclear power station. But Yasuhisa Shiozaki, the Chief Cabinet Secretary, said there was no immediate danger. "At the nuclear power plant, the third, fourth and fifth reactors automatically shut down. There is a fire at the transformer building outside the main reactors, but we have confirmed that there was no nuclear leak." As aftershocks continued to hit, the Prime Minister Shinzo Abe announced he'd cancel election campaigning in southern Japan and head to the area. Richard Lloyd Parry, a journalist for The Times, told the BBC he clearly felt the earthquake in Tokyo, some 250 kilometres away. "I'm on the third floor of a concrete building, and it was like being on a ship at sea for about forty seconds or so, and the utility poles, the wires outside the window were all shaking. Over in Niigata prefecture, and especially in Kashiwazaki where most of the damage occurred, it must have been really something, I mean, people there say they couldn't stand up, it was like being on a storm-tossed boat." Japan sits on four tectonic plates and is well prepared against its frequent earthquakes. An earthquake in Kobe in 1995 killed more than 6,000 people. The last major quake in Tokyo hit in 1923 and killed 142,000. Keith Adams, BBC Listen to the words