BBC news 2008-12-10 加文本

The streets of the Greek capital Athens have become calmer after several days of riots. A candle-lit vigil has been held outside parliament following the funeral of a 15-year-old boy who was shot dead by police on Saturday. The Trade Union Movement has refused to call off a general strike planned for Wednesday. Malcolm Brabant reports from Athens.(WWw.hxen.net)

The Prime Minister Costas Karamanlis has spent the day talking to the president and the opposition party leaders, apparently trying and failing to reach a consensus over how to restore order. He accused the rioters of being the enemies of democracy. The main Socialist opposition leader George Papandreou has called on Mr. Karamanlis to resign and call elections. The left is determined to topple the conservative administration.

The World Bank has predicted that the global economic slowdown means international trade will fall next year for the first time since 1982. It believes the decline will be just over two percent. The Bank argues that this reduction in trade will hurt poorer countries most as they tend to rely on their exports of commodities to richer nations. It also suggests that there would be a sharp drop in investment between countries.

A United Nations special investigator on human rights has said Israel’s blockade of the Gaza Strip is a massive violation of International Humanitarian Law. Professor Richard Falk said Israel was allowing in barely enough food to avoid famine and disease. Laura Trevelyan reports.

The UN rapporteur has aroused Israel’s anger before, but his latest criticisms are probably his strongest yet. He described Israeli blockade of the Gaza as “a siege in full fury” and said its collective punishment to Palestinians amounted to a crime against humanity. Mr. Falk went on to say that the International Criminal Court should consider indicting Israeli leaders for possible violations of International Criminal Law. There was no immediate comment by Israel but it’s dismissed previous statements by Mr. Falk as offensive and unbalanced.

The Governor of the American state of Illinois, Rod Blagojevich, has been charged with corruption. A federal prosecutor Patrick Fitzgerald said Mr. Blagojevich had been involved in a corruption crime spree.

We acted to stop that crime spree. The most appalling conduct Governor Blagojevich engaged in, according to the complaint file today or unsealed today, is that he attempted to sell the Senate seat, the Senate seat he had the sole right under Illinois to appoint to replace President-elect Obama.

The BBC Washington correspondent says Barack Obama is not close to the governor and is unlikely to be damaged by the affair. Mr. Blagojevich has been released on bail.

Negotiations are continuing in Washington on a deal that will provide billions of dollars in aid to the US car industry. The Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid said he hoped the bill would be voted on by as early as Wednesday.

This is World News from the BBC.

A senior defense official in Britain has said British forces should begin their pullout from Iraq next March. Britain has more than 4,000 troops in Basra but plans to withdraw them over the next year if Iraqi elections in January pass off peacefully. Caroline Wyatt reports.

British Prime Minister Gordon Brown has indicated that almost all British troops should be out of Iraq by the middle of next year. The eventual withdrawal of all, but a few hundred British forces who may remain to continue training the Iraqi security forces should free up more helicopters and intelligence assets for the campaign in Afghanistan. Defense sources said the Taliban have been quick to adapt their tactics with increased use of improvised explosive devices. The US is planning a big increase in forces in Afghanistan in the new year, and it's hoping that its NATO allies will follow suit.

The authorities in Mexico have announced that a leading police official has been shot dead in the capital Mexico City. The official Victor Hugo Moneda was killed late on Monday outside his home. He was reportedly investigating the activities of several criminal groups. The authorities did not say whether they believed his death was related to the wave of drug-related murders that has claimed the lives of more than 5,000 people so far this year in Mexico.

The United Nations Children’s Fund, UNICEF, has begun delivering clean water by truck to the Zimbabwean capital Harare where cholera is spreading. The city’s water supply was interrupted ten days ago because of a lack of purifying chemicals. A UN official said three public hospitals in Harare had been closed since the epidemic began.

Somali pirates holding a Ukrainian ship loaded with tanks say they stopped an attempt by the captive crew to escape. One of the pirates said the hostages had tried to overpower their guards and take control of the vessel. He said mostly Ukrainian crew risked serious punishment. The vessel was hijacked in September. It’s one of more than a dozen being held by Somali pirates.

BBC News.