BBC news 2009-11-04 加文本

BBC 2009-11-04


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BBC News with Julie Candler.

The former Bosnian Serb leader Radovan Karadzic has appeared at the Yugoslav war-crimes tribunal in the Hague for the first time since the start of his trial. Mr Karadzic listened calmly as the prosecution urged the court either to force him to attend or to proceed without him. Mr Karadzic, who denies charges including genocide over his role in the Bosnian War, repeated his demand for more time to prepare his case. Peter Bowes was at the court.

The former Bosnian Serb leader was defiant and unyielding. He said he didn’t want to boycott the trial but he didn’t want to take part in something which he said had been bad from the start. He just needed more time. He told the court he’d only had five months to prepare, and was snowed under by two million pages of evidence in all. The next trial hearing planned for tomorrow has been cancelled, while the judges decide how to proceed after today’s submissions.

The Czech President Vaclav Klaus has signed the Lisbon Treaty reforming the European Union, removing the last obstacle to its coming into force. A Czech court earlier ruled the treaty did not conflict with Czech law. Rob Cameron reports.

Vaclav Klaus has been one of the most vocal and most vociferous opponents of the EU’s Lisbon Treaty, but on Tuesday he gave up the fight. Mr Klaus said he expected the ruling of the constitutional court, even though he believed the court was biased and confrontational. He said he was convinced the Czech Republic had now ceased to be a sovereign state. Last to gasps of surprise from reporters, he said he’d signed the Lisbon treaty at three o’clock Prague time. His long battle is over and the EU’s beleaguered treaty of reform finally becomes law.

The Vatican and the Italian government have both reacted angrily to a ruling by the European Court of Human Rights that crucifixes shouldn’t be displayed in Italian classrooms. The court judgment came after a complaint from a parent about her children’s school. Here is Duncan Kennedy in Rome.

The judges decided that the display of crucifixes in state schools restricted the right of parents to educate their children according to their own principles. They also said that crosses restricted the right of children to believe or not to believe. The decision has caused widespread anger among conservative politicians in Italy and the Catholic Church. A Vatican spokesman said the ruling was received with shock and sadness. He added that it was wrong and myopic to try to exclude the crucifix from the world of education.

The German Chancellor Angela Merkel has called on the United States to take the lead alongside Europe in fighting climate change. She told the US Congress that China and India would be more likely to accept binding obligations at the Copenhagen Summit next month if Europe and the US set an example. Mrs Merkel is the first German leader to address Congress for more than 50 years.

World News from the BBC

The United States has accused North Korea of going back on previous commitments over its assertion, that it’s produced a further batch of material for a nuclear bomb. The American said it was also a violation of United Nations resolutions. North Korea said it had reprocessed 8, 000 spent nuclear fuel rods and added the material to its weapons stockpile.

Police in Indonesia say they’ve released two leading anti-corruption officials whose detention had caused a public outcry. The officials say charges of bribery brought against them are fabricated by the police in an attempt to undermine Indonesia’s powerful Anti-Corruption Commission.

The powerful American investor Warren Buffett has made his biggest ever deal by acquiring one of the United States largest rail companies. He called it a bet on the future of the US economy. Mark Gregory reports.

Warren Buffett’s investment company Berkshire Hathaway is buying a 77% stake in Burlington Northern which runs railways in 28 US states. Mr Buffett’s firm already owns the rest of the shares. The Texas-based rail operator makes most of its money from carrying freight. The freight side of the US rail network has recently undergone a revival after decades of seemingly unstoppable decline. Warren Buffett, currently ranked as the world’s second richest man, is famous for his business acumen. Where he treads, other investors may well follow.

The British government is to invest nearly 50 billion dollars of extra capital in two of the country's biggest banks as part of a major shakeup of the banking industry. The money is going to Royal Bank of Scotland and Lloyds Banking Group, which have both agreed to sell off hundreds of high street branches to allow more competition. The two banks were bailed out with billions of dollars in state aid during the financial crisis last year.

BBC News.