BBC news 2009-08-31 加文本

BBC 2009-08-31


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BBC News with Michael Poles.

The man almost certain to be Japan’s next Prime Minister Yukio Hatoyama says his party’s apparent landslide-victory in the general election was due to public anger with politics during a crippling economic recession. The exit polls suggested the Democratic Party of Japan will overwhelm the governing Liberal Democrats who’ve enjoyed more than half a century of almost unbroken power. Roland Buerk reports from Tokyo.

The leader of the Democratic Party of Japan Yukio Hatoyama hailed their victory in the election as a revolution. He is a wealthy heir to an industrial and political dynasty. One of his grandfathers founded Bridgestone Tyres. The other was Japan’s prime minister in the 1950s. The Democratic Party of Japan has promised radical change. They pledged to expand the welfare state and more than that, to curb the power of the bureaucracy which they say has dominated governments for too long.

The former Prime Minister of Israel Ehud Olmert has been indicted on 3 counts of corruption. The charges against him date back to a time before he became prime minister, when he was mayor of Jerusalem and then Trade and Industry Minister. Tim Frank reports from Jerusalem.

Mr. Olmert is accused of unlawfully accepting envelopes stuffed with cash from an American businessman, of granting favors to a former business partner and a double-billing Israeli charities for overseas travel expenses. He is the first former prime minister in Israel to face criminal charges. If convicted, he could face years in prison. Recently two former cabinet ministers were sentenced to several years in jail for bribery and embezzlement. Mr. Olmert has utterly rejected all allegations of wrongdoing.

There's been a setback for the German Chancellor Angela Merkel in regional elections a month before voters choose a new federal parliament. The Christian Democrats, the CDU have lost their majority in Saarland, state on the French border. A similar outcome is likely in Thuringia in the east, but the CDU is expected to continue in government in Saxony. From Berlin, here’s Tristana Moore.

The CDU suffered massive losses in the states of Saarland and Thuringia. And the party lost its absolute majority. There were big gains for the Post-Communist Left Party in the state of Saarland on the French border and it looks like the left party may even be able to enter the regional parliament. Frank Walter Steinmeier who’s running against Chancellor Merkel in September’s election said the race was still wide open; while his party would be celebrating on Sunday night, the conservatives were forced to admit they suffer a painful defeat.

President Amadinejad of Iran has defended his choice of cabinet ministers at the start of a vetting process in parliament. MPs have criticized some candidates for lacking experience. Two thirds are new to the cabinet. The president urged MPs to approve all 21 including three women, the first to be nominated to cabinet post since the Islamic Revolution. Parliament is due to vote on the nominees by Wednesday.

World News from the BBC.

Vote counting has started in Gabon after elections to choose a successor to President Omar Bongo who died in June. He’d been in power for 41 years. Polling stations in parts of the country are still open and some opened late and with turnout high, voters formed long queues. In the capital Libreville the atmosphere was described as tense throughout the day. The favorite to win the election is the late president’s son Ali Bongo. Official results are expected for several days.

The Tibetan spiritual leader the ** Lama is visiting Taiwan. He was invited by the pro-independence opposition to tour areas devastated by Typhoon Morokot. Shortly after arriving in an airport near Taipei the ** Lama said his trip was non-political.

“Sometimes I have some political agenda otherwise, wherever I go, no political, only spiritual and education and now this time humanitarian. “

The Taiwanese government has sought to distance itself from the visit. And President Ma Ying-jeou who blocked his previous attempt to visit the island won’t be meeting the ** Lama. China has condemned the trip but the analysts say it's unlikely to lead any sanctions against Taiwan’s government.

Scientists in Israel say they've developed a way to test people’s breath for signs of lung cancer. They’ve devised a censor which they say an 86% of cases picked up tell-tale molecules linked to the disease. They hope it could lead to cheap portable breath test devices that family doctors could use to detect an illness that often isn't diagnosed till it's too late to cure. Lung cancer kills more people than any other type of cancer.

At the motor racing, Kimi Raikkonen of Ferrari has narrowly won the Belgian Grand Prix after a race long duel with Giancarlo Fisichella from Force India. This morning Indian-owned team which has never previously won a place on the podium had already upset the formbook when Fisichella took pole position in qualifying.  Sebastian Vettel of Red Bull was third.

And that’s the latest BBC News.