BBC news 2009-12-10 加文本

BBC 2009-12-10

Britain has announced strict measures to curb bankers’ bonuses. There will be a one of fifty percent tax on all payments over 40,000 dollars. The move follows criticism of sizable bonuses banks are planning to pay while receiving government aid. An official of the British banker association Angela Knight said she’s concerned by the decision.

When it comes to the broad issues of pay in bonuses, we’d already doubted with that. We put it into regulation that contracted bonuses could be differed for two three years paid on consistency of performance only and the majority of that bonus of its earned would be paid in shares. So this is the last piece which is on bonus and probes put together it is what we were saying that we’ve gone further than any other of the major countries around the world.

A British Muslim man has been convicted by a court in London of conspiracy to murder of thin connection with a plot aimed at bringing down passenger jets. The man, Adam Khatib, was accused of working with Abdullah Ahmed Ali, who was sentenced in September for plotting to bring down at least 7 flights using liquid explosives. Two other men were convicted of lesser charges.

Had it succeeded, the plot would’ve been on the scale of the 9.11’s attack, seven trans-Atlantic flights would’ve blown up in midair in a stream of suicide attacks. Two months ago, a group of British Muslims was convicted of planning the attacks. Now two more men have been found guilty of helping them, and another of possessing terrorist materials. Adam Khatib was convicted of conspiracy to murder for helping to make the bombs which would be hidden inside drinks bottles.

One of the United States most senior generals has told Congress that the situation in Afghanistan is likely to get worse before it gets better. General David Patraeus said the situation was similar to Iraq before the troop surging 2007. But general Patraeus warned that progress in Afghanistan would probably be slower than it was in Iraq.

Violence likely will increase initially, particularly in the spring as the weather improves. Moreover as the Afghan government with international encouragement and assistance moves to combat corruption and abuses of power. The result likely will be increased reporting on those problems and greater turmoil within the government as malign actors are identified and replaced.

General Patraeus has also said he hoped to improved coordination with Pakistani forces across the border.

A Pakistani born American citizen charged in connection with last year’s attacks in the Indian city of Mumbai has pleaded not guilty in his first court appearance in Chicago. United States authority arrested the man, David Coleman Headley, in October over his alleged role in plotting attacks against Danish newspaper. Mr Headley is accused of receiving training from the Pakistani militant group Lashkar-e-Toiba.

World News from the BBC.

Several thousand Jewish settlers have been protesting outside the official residence of the Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu against his decision to free construction in West Bank settlements. The protesters accused Netanyahu of giving in to US pressure over the 10 months halt on new residential building. Earlier the Israeli Foreign Minister said he believed the settlers had the right to defy the freeze as long as they stayed within the law.

Egypt has begun building a massive mettle fence along its frontier with the Gaza Strip in an effort to cut across border smuggling. The project has been shown in secrecy but intelligence sources have told the BBC the wall will be 10km long and will extend 18m underground. Christian Frazer reports from Cairo.

The week’s local farmers have noticed more activity at the border. Trees were being cut down. But very few of them were aware that a barrier was being built and that’s because this barrier has been hidden deep underground. It’s made of super strength steel but it extends 18m below the surface. We are told it was manufactured in the United States. It fits together in similar fashion to a jigsaw and it’s been tested to insure its bomb proof. It can’t be cut, it can’t be melted. In short, it’s impenetrable.

The Iraqi Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki has removed the head of the security forces in Baghdad following the devastating bomb attacks that killed more than 120 people on Tuesday. Reports say the security chief General Abboud Qanbar would be replaced by his deputy. The announcement came after renewed criticism of Mr al-Maliki over the bombings.

The social networking website Facebook has introduced new procedures to give its users more control over private information they posed on the internet. A new software will now require users to specify who should be allowed to see a picture or a message. A BBC correspondent says the move is aimed at preventing material reaching the wrong people.

BBC News.