BBC news 2009-01-09 加文本

BBC News with Nick Kelly.

The American President-elect Barack Obama has outlined in more detail his plan to lift the country out of recession. Speaking two weeks before he takes office, Mr. Obama stressed the urgency of taking action now before more Americans lost their jobs. In a plan which is likely to cost some 800 billion dollars, he said he would give out tax cuts and create new jobs by repairing roads, bridges and schools. He urged Congress to pass the massive spending package.

“I have moved quickly to work with my economic team and leaders of both parties on an American Recovery and Reinvestment Plan that will immediately jump-start job creation and long-term growth. It's a plan that represents, not just new policy, but a whole new approach to meeting our most urgent challenges.”

In another sign of how the economic downturn is affecting Americans, new figures showed that people cut back their borrowing in November by the biggest amounts since records began 65 years ago.

The United Nations Security Council is meeting about now to discuss the conflict in Gaza. Reports from Arab sources at the UN say that after several days of negotiations, a compromised draft resolution on the crisis has now been agreed in principle. Earlier, UN officials said they were suspending aid deliveries in the Gaza Strip after a UN convoy was hit by an Israeli shell, killing at least one person. Palestinian medical staff say more than 760 people have been killed in Gaza since Israel first attacked two weeks ago. Bethany Bell reports.

The humanitarian situation in Gaza is getting worse. The United Nations says it is suspending its aid operations there after a truck driver in the UN convoy was killed. A spokesman said there'd been a number of Israeli attacks on UN installations and that the suspension would go on till the safety of UN staff could be guaranteed. The Israeli army says it's investigating the incident. An Israeli government spokesman said Israel fully supported the work of UNWRA (United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East) and other aid agencies in Gaza, and would do what was needed to facilitate their activities.

The latest attempt by the European Union to resolve the dispute between Russia and Ukraine that's blocked gas supplies to Europe has ended with no clear-cut outcome. Russia demands that Ukraine accept Russian observers on its territory. The dispute has left many in Europe facing freezing weather with no central heating. The Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin accused the Ukrainian authorities of corruption.

This is evidence of a high degree of corruption among the authorities. It seems to me that in today’s circumstances they are fighting not so much for the gas price, but for an opportunity to keep in place one or another middleman in order to use the dividends for their own private purposes, for themselves to get richer, for the purposes of obtaining the necessary financial resources for future political campaigns. 

World News from the BBC.

Here in Britain, the Bank of England has cut interest rates to just 1.5%, the lowest ever level in an effort to boost the struggling British economy. In Germany, the government is partially nationalizing one of the country’s biggest banks-- Commerzbank.

A court in Italy has sentenced the former executive of the Italian football club, Juventus, to 18 months in jail over a corruption scandal that rocked top-flight football in Italy. Luciano Moggi was found guilty of intimidating players into joining his son Alessandro's sports management agency, GEA, using threats and violence. Alex Capstick has more.

GEA was run by Luciano Moggi’s son Alessandro, who was given a 40-month sentence. The long running trail involved a host of famous witnesses, including the national team coach Marcello Lippi and the current England coach Fabio Capello. The 18-month sentence falls well below the 6-year term the prosecutors in Rome had asked for, and Luciano Moggi may not go to jail at all because under Italian law, sentences less than two years for first time offenders are rarely served.

Turkey’s Chief of Staff, General Ilker Basbug, has held unscheduled talks with the Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan after dozens of suspected coup plotters were arrested, among them three retired generals. They are allegedly connected to Ergenekon, a shadowy ultranationalist and secularist group that supposedly wants to overthrow the Islamist-leaning government. (www.hxen.net)

And a doctor in the United States is divorcing his wife and demanded that she pay him 1.5 million dollars for the kidney he donated to her. Richard Batista says the kidney transplant eight years ago saved the life of his wife Dawnell. His lawyer said that although in theory he was applying for the return of the  kidney, he simply wanted to be paid what it was worth. Mrs. Batista said she'll put her side of the story to a judge within the next few days.

BBC News.