BBC news 2009-12-22 加文本

2009-12-22 BBC

BBC News with Jonathan Weekley.

Reports from Iran say the security forces have clashed with opposition supporters after the funeral of one of the country’s most influential dissident figures, Grand Ayatollah Montazeri. Reformers’ websites reported that the car of the Iranian opposition leader Mir Hossein Mousavi was attacked by men on motorbikes after attending the funeral. Jon Leyne reports from London.

For the government, the funeral of Grand Ayatollah Montazeri turned into a demonstration they were powerless to prevent. Opposition leaders called for a major show of solidarity to mourn the death of one of the most outspoken clerics in Iran. They were greeted with a crowd stretched as far as eye could see. The funeral itself passed off peacefully, but then the crowd gathered outside the most important shrine in Qom broke into anti-government chanting. Opposition websites reported clashes between opposition supporters and government forces, but it was not clear how extensive they were.

The United Nations has described the killings of dozens of civilians by the security forces in Guinea in September as crimes against humanity. The UN findings confirmed that 109 people were dead or missing after the incident in Conakry and says President Moussa Dadis Camara bears direct responsibility. Here is Barbara Plett.

The report says the brutal suppression of the opposition rally was a widespread and systematic attack carried out by security and militia forces, including the Presidential Guard. It says there are reasonable grounds to conclude that this may constitute crimes against humanity and that the President and military leader Moussa Dadis Camara bears direct criminal responsibility for the violence. It recommends that the International Criminal Court conduct investigation, that sanction be imposed on the main perpetrators and that the victims be compensated.

The British government says it’s been told by China that it will execute a British citizen sentenced to death on Tuesday next week after it rejected the man’s appeal. Campaigners say Akmal Shaikh would be the first European Union citizen to be executed in China in 50 years. The British Prime Minister Gordon Brown has urged China to spare Mr. Shaikh’s life. Danny Shaw reports.

Akmal Shaikh who’s been in custody in China for more than two years was found guilty of carrying a suitcase containing 4 kilograms of heroin. Mr. Shaikh asked the People’s Supreme Court of China to quash his conviction, but the appeal was turned down and he now faces the prospect of execution next week on December 29th. Akmal Shaikh who has married with 3 children claims that he was duped into carrying the drugs by someone who said they’d help him find work in a nightclub.

A BBC investigation has found that many of the Romanian orphans who came to international prominence in the 1990s after the end of communist rule are still in institutional care and living in appalling conditions. The report uncovered widespread evidence of neglect. The Romanian government says it is committed to upholding the rights of those with disabilities.

World News from the BBC.

For the first time in British politics, the leaders of the main parties have agreed to appear in a series of live televised debates during next year’s general election campaign. The Labor Prime Minister Gordon Brown and the opposition leaders David Cameron of the Conservatives and Nick Clegg of the Liberal Democrats will meet in three peak-time programs, each aired by a different broadcaster. Rob Watson reports.

Voters will now get a chance to see the three party leaders going head to head on television in a way they’ve never done before. This is exciting new territory for both voters and broadcasters. Unlike in the US for example, the political parties here are not allowed to advertise on television even during the short election period. But before everyone gets too carried away, the evidence from presidential debates in the US suggests they are rarely decisive to the outcome of the election.

United Nations Secretary General Ban Ki-moon has described the Copenhagen Climate Summit as a success despite widespread criticism that it was a failure. His comments came after Britain blamed China, Sudan and several Latin American countries for blocking any agreement on setting targets for cutting greenhouse gas emissions.

Colombia has denied spying on Venezuela using an unmanned aircraft built using American technology. The allegation was made on Sunday by the Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez. The Colombian Defense Minister told reporters that Colombia had no access to such machines. He joked that perhaps Venezuelan soldiers had seen Father Christmas’ sleigh flying overhead and confused it with the spy plane.

The Argentinean striker Lionel Messi has been named the World Player of the Year by football’s governing body FIFA. Messi has helped the Spanish team Barcelona to secure a host of honors in the last year, including the Champions League trophy and the Spanish league title.

And that’s the latest BBC News.