BBC news 2010-01-05 加文本

2010-01-05 BBC

BBC News with Debora MacKenzie.

A number of foreign embassies in Yemen remain closed or have restricted public access as the caution against possible attacks by Al-Qaeda linked militants. The closures were initially announced for a day or so, but the American Secretary of State Hilary Clinton now says the US embassy will remain closed until security conditions permit. From Yemen, here is Johnathan Head.

There were more armed police on the road leading to the main airport in Sanaa this morning and heavily fortified American embassy remained closed along with the British and French missions. The government here believes that it foiled a lot of plots to detonate multiple car bombs outside western targets last month. But not all the plotters were caught. It responded quickly to the demands for action, reporting an operation this morning in which two militants were killed, that simply increasing attacks on suspected Al-Qeada cells is a risky strategy.

Nigeria says it unjust for the United States to subject travellers to the US on flights from Nigeria to special scrutiny before boarding. The measures followed the alleged attempt by a Nigerian national to mount a suicide bombing on a plane approaching Detroit on Christmas Day. Mark Doyle reports from Nigeria.

The Nigerian Information Minister Dora Akunyili told BBC it was unfair to stigmatize the whole of Nigera's population because the actions of one man. She stressed fact that Umar Farouk Abdulmatallab had not been trained or recruited by Al-Qaeda inside Nigeria. Nigerians in general outraged that their country had been portrayed in some circles similar to failed states, such as Somalia.

A human rights group in Saudi Arabia has demanded an official explanation of a report that a leading rights activist in his 70s has been tortured in detention. In an open letter to King Abdullah, the group says it has information that the former judge Suliman Al-Rashid has recently been subjected severe physical and psychological torture.

The tallest building in the world has opened in Dubai. The Burj Dubai which is 828 metres around twice the height of New York Empire State Building. Construction began at the height of Dubai's economic boom, but it's opened in the wake of financial crisis.
Share and commodity prices around the world have risen following news of improved manufacturing output in the United States and China. Andrew Walker reports.

Most stock markets have taken encouragement from news that China's manufacturing industry expanded last month at its fastest rate since April 2004. There was also a boost for European and US shares from reports that American manufacturing grew in December for the fifth consecutive month. Commodity prices also gained from the news. But there was also a reminder of the severity of the recent global recession. The Singaporean economy declined quite sharply in the final quarter of last year after six months of renewed growth.

This is Debora MacKenzie with the latest world news from the BBC.

Belarus has warned it might cut electricity supplies to Russia's westernmost region Kaliningrad if the two countries can't reach agreement in their current negotiations about oil deliveries. The disagreement centers on the amount of tax Belarus should pay on oil which it refines then exports. So far, Russia is still sending oil to Belarus, both for domestic use and on which shipment, but analysts say the dispute is a factor in oil prices rising.

Two train drivers and six other transport ministry employees have been jailed in Egypt for the manslaughter of 18 people killed in a train crash October. The busy passenger service ran into the back of stationary train south of Cairo. Sentences handed down range from 3 to 7 years.

President Jacob Zuma of South Africa has married his third current wife in a traditional Zulu ceremony attended by leading politicians as well as local people in traditional dress. He had already married 36-year-old Thobeka Mabhija in a civil ceremony. In all, Mr. Zuma has had five wives but one died and he divorced from another. Karen Allen reports.

Jacob Zuma formalized his marriage to Thobeka Mabhija who's already been seen with him during a number of public engagements. Wearing traditional Zulu dress, the couple danced and celebrated their union in front of guests strewn from the world business and politics. President Zuma embracing of polygamy has endeared him to a large numbers of South Africans. But some voices from the church and women's groups expressed concern about what signal they’ve sent out, given South Africa's high HIV rates.

In Malaysia, dozens of unmarried Muslim couples may face charges of sexual misconduct after being arrested by Islamic morality police. Officers in the western state of Selangor raided hotels in the early hours of new year's day detaining unmarried Muslims who were sharing rooms. The latest Sharia code forbids unmarried men and women from being alone in private.

BBC News.