BBC news 2009-12-07 加文本

BBC 2009-12-07

BBC News with Michael Poles.

Leading United States officials have said the American military will continue its presence in Afghanistan for a number of years despite beginning to withdraw in 2011. In a series of media appearances, officials stressed that the date should be seen as the beginning of handing over responsibility to Afghan forces. Imtiaz Tyab reports from Washington.

Speaking on a Sunday morning political chat show, the Defense Secretary Robert Gates said that despite President Obama’s plan to begin withdrawing the troops from the region in July, 2011, the US was likely to maintain a significant military presence in Afghanistan for a number of years. The Defense Secretary said the pullout date was set to underline the urgent need for the Afghans to speed up recruiting and training soldiers and getting them into the field. The comments followed criticism from opposition Republicans, who say announcing a withdrawal date send a dangerous signal to insurgents.

Clashes have broken out in the Greek capital Athens on the first anniversary of the killing of a teenager by police. Demonstrators threw stones at riot police who fired teargas. There were similar clashes in the city of Thessaloniki. From Athens, Malcolm Brabant.

Last December, after the alleged murder of Alexander Grigoropoulos, the conservative government ordered the police to take a passive stance and allow protesters to give rein to their fury. The result in damage to city centers across the country was so extensive that it helped to convince Greek voters to kick out the conservatives. The new socialist government is determined not to repeat the same mistake and ordered the police to crack down on any violence. Officers corralled demonstrators into restricted areas and denied them the chance to run amok. Snatch squads on motorbikes roamed the streets and carried out a number of arrests.

Earlier, the mother of the teenager killed last year had called for calm. The killing sparked more than two weeks of rioting.

The second round of voting in Romania’s presidential election has ended with both candidates claiming victory. Exit polls suggested the narrowest of leads for Mircea Geoana, the Social Democrat over Traian Basescu who’s been the president for the past five years. From neighboring Hungary, Nick Thrope reports.

The result of this election is still too close to call. Three exit polls suggest a narrow lead for Mircea Geoana, the head of the Social Democrats by between one and three percent. But their predictions are based on the voter research up to 5:00, four hours before voting stations finally closed. During the first round two weeks ago, there was a last minute flurry of voting. And estimates suggest turnout will be higher than the 54% who turned out then. Votes from Romanians abroad could also influence the outcome.

Some news just in. The Iraqi parliament has approved a new electoral law, ending weeks of political uncertainty. However, correspondents say that even with the new law, it’s not clear if a parliamentary election can take place in January as planned.

BBC News.

The government of Somalia has sacked the heads of the army and the police, days after a suicide bombing in the capital Mogadishu that killed more than 20 people including three government ministers. Officials said President Sharif Ahmed wanted to develop a new strategy to counter an armed insurgency by Islamist militants.

Voting has ended in the general election in Bolivia, in which President Evo Morales is open to win a second term as president and consolidate his socialist party’s control of Congress. Mr. Morales says he needs more time to implement his sweeping social programs. However, Opposition leaders have blamed him for the recent rise in cocaine production. From La Paz, Andres Schipani reports.

"After almost four years of harsh political polarisation, Bolivia’s President Evo Morales seems to be sailing toward a landslide victory in these presidential elections. Mr. Morales won sweeping victories in a recall vote in August last year and take constitutional referendum in January due to votes from the country’s poor indigenous majority. His main opposition contender Manfred Reyes Villa has accused Mr. Morales of being totalitarian. But these accusations have not dented his popularity."

Medical officials in Morocco said the military leader of Guinea, Captain Moussa Dadis Camara, is doing well after undergoing surgery for bullet wounds. Doctors said Captain Camara had received treatment for trauma to the cranium. Captain Camara was shot on Thursday by a military aide who has now gone into hiding.

United Nations Climate Chief Yvo deBoer says he is hoping for a clear and ambitious deal to combat the global warming at the Copenhagen Climate Conference that begins on Monday. He called for a strong, long term response that will become a turning point. Mr. deBoer said the chances of success have been boosted because many countries had announced targets for cutting their emissions of greenhouse gases. The vast majority of scientists agreed that these emissions are heating the planet to dangerous levels.

And that’s the latest news from the BBC.