BBC news 2010-02-25 加文本

2010-02-25 BBC

BBC News with Mary Small

The president of Toyota, the world's biggest carmaker, has made a lengthy and public apology to Congress in the United States over a series of mechanical faults affecting millions of vehicles. Akio Toyoda admitted that during the company's rapid expansion its priorities had become confused.

"Toyota's priority has traditionally been the following - first, safety; second, quality; third, volume. These priorities became confused. And we are not able to stop, think and make improvements as much as we were able to before. We pursued growth over the speed at which we are able to develop our people and our organization, and we should sincerely be mindful of that.

"The Cuban President Raul Castro has expressed regret over the death of a leading dissident after a long hunger strike. Orlando Zapata died on Tuesday after refusing food for 85 days. Michael Voss reports from Havana.In an uNPRecedented statement, Cuba's President Raul Castro said that he regretted the death of Orlando Zapata following a hunger strike in jail. But the Cuban leader went on to say that it was all the fault of the United States and that no one is tortured in Cuba. The 42-year-old dissident was jailed in 2003 as part of a large-scale Cuban government crackdown on opposition groups. According to the unofficial Cuban Human Rights Commission, about 30 dissidents have been detained over the past 24 hours in an attempt to stop them attending Mr Zapata's funeral.

The Nigerian government says Vice President Goodluck Jonathan will continue to lead the country despite the return of President Umaru Yar'Adua after three months in hospital in Saudi Arabia. The president flew home in secret and hasn't yet to have been seen in public. His long absence caused a power struggle in Nigeria, Africa's most populous nation and a major oil exporter. From Abuja, Caroline Duffield reports.

It is the first public official confirmation that President Yar'Adua is back and that the acting President Goodluck Jonathan will continue to oversee affairs of state in the meantime. Nigeria's political elite have been consumed by a power struggle for months. Yar'Adua loyalists wanted to keep the president in power; others argued that he was too ill to govern. President Yar'Adua and his advisers have suffered political damage and a loss of trust. He will need every ounce of his strength to convince people he is well enough to return to running the country.

Police in Dubai say they have identified 15 more suspects in the killing of a senior Palestinian militant last month, taking the number of those thought to be involved to 26. Police said the new suspects used British, French, Irish and Australian passports and flew to Dubai from six European cities and Hong Kong.

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President Omar al-Bashir of Sudan says his government has released nearly 60 rebels from the Darfur region following Tuesday's ceasefire agreement with the Justice and Equality Movement or Jem. In a speech in Darfur, President Bashir said the war was over and the battle for development would now begin. The Sudanese government and Jem are due to sign a final peace accord next month, but so far other Darfur rebel factions are not involved in the deal.

The head of the Protestant Church in Germany Margot Kaessmann has resigned after she was caught drink-driving. It's only six months since she became the first woman leader of Germany's 25 million Protestants. From Berlin, here is Steve Rosenberg.The bishop was stopped by police on Saturday night and breathalyzed after she went through a red light. Prosecutors in Hanover said she had been completely unfit to drive with a blood alcohol level more than three times the limit. Speaking today in Hanover, Margot Kaessmann admitted she had made a big mistake. "My heart," she said, "told me that I cannot stay". When she was consecrated in 1999, Margot Kaessmann was at the age of 41, Germany's youngest bishop.

An oil spill thought to have been started deliberately is threatening Italy's longest river, the Po. Officials said the pollution first entered tributary on Tuesday when tanks were opened at an oil depot in the town of Villasanta. Firemen, environmental workers and volunteers are trying to prevent the oil flowing further downstream.

Staff at a Swiss bank, who were given supposedly bad investments to punish them for poor performance, have enjoyed an unexpected reversal of fortune, seeing the value of the assets rise by more than 70%. The Credit Suisse workers received five billion dollars worth of bad assets, known as toxic debt, in place of bonuses after their bank suffered huge losses last year. It was supposed to make them share in the consequences of their bad decisions. Instead, the assets outperformed many safer investments.

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