BBC news 2010-12-26 加文本

BBC news 2010-12-26

BBC News with Nick Kelly

The United Nations refugee agency says 14,000 Ivorians have fled to neighbouring Liberia to escape the violence that followed last month's disputed presidential election in Ivory Coast. Peter Miles has the details.

A spokes[wo]man for the UNHCR told the BBC it had so far counted 14,000 refugees from Ivory Coast in Liberia. Most of them came from villages in the west of the country, and the vast majority were supporter[s] of Alassane Ouattara, the presidential contender backed by the international community. The spokeswoman said the refugees had been walking for days to escape a situation they feared could explode into violence and the flow was continuing. Meanwhile, the incumbent President Laurent Gbagbo is clinging on in defiance of growing international calls for him to hand over power.

President Obama has led international condemnation of a suicide bombing in Pakistan which killed at least 40 people and injured another 60. The bomber, reported to be a woman, attacked a large gathering of displaced people in the town of Khar, in Bajaur district in the northwestern tribal region. The victims, who mostly belong to a tribe opposed to the Taliban, had been waiting for United Nations food rations. Mr Obama said the United States would strongly support Pakistan's efforts to ensure peace, security and justice for its people. Pakistani helicopter gunships backed by artillery later killed 40 suspected insurgents in the neighbouring region of Mohmand.

The second rise in interest rates in China in just over two months is coming into effect as the government steps up its fight against inflation. Here's Vivien Marsh of our Asia Pacific desk.

A brief statement on the website of the People's Bank of China said the one-year lending and deposit rates would go up by a quarter of a percentage point. Inflation is at its highest level in more than two years, and taming it is at the top of Beijing's policy agenda. Over the past two years, loans have been easy to come by as China rebounded quickly from the global economic crisis. But the new tightening indicates the sensitivity of inflation in a society in which poor families spend up to half their incomes on food.

Twelve Somalis have been arrested in Rotterdam in the Netherlands on suspicion of involvement in terrorist activities. Geraldine Coughlin reports from The Hague.

Prosecutors said in a statement that the tip-off from the Dutch security service reports that a number of Somalis were planning to carry out a terrorist attack in the Netherlands relatively soon. A telephone shop and four houses in Rotterdam were searched by around 20 armed police officers, as well as two motel rooms in a village in the south of the country, but no weapons or explosives were found.

There's been a strong earthquake measuring 7.6 near to the western Pacific nation of Vanuatu. There are no reports of damage or injuries so far. The quake triggered a tsunami warning in the region. It was later cancelled.

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The Nigerian President Goodluck Jonathan says his government will do all it can to bring to justice the perpetrators of Friday's bomb blasts in the city of Jos. The authorities say 32 people were killed and more than 70 were injured in a series of explosions.

The spiritual head of the Anglican Church, the Archbishop of Canterbury Rowan Williams, has accused the wealthy of failing to share the pain caused by the financial crisis and spending cuts. Delivering his Christmas Day sermon, Dr Williams said that with hardship ahead for so many, confidence was low, and it would grow only if there were more signs of solidarity. In her traditional Christmas speech, Queen Elizabeth has focused on sport as a unifying force. Delivering her speech at Hampton Court Palace on the Thames, she said sport and games were a powerful way of engendering team spirit, building communities and bringing people from different backgrounds together.

President Obama has urged Americans to support US troops and their families during the Christmas holiday period. In his weekly address, Mr Obama was joined by his wife Michelle, who said Americans didn't need to be experts on military life to make a contribution. Rajini Vaidyanathan reports from Washington.

The Christmas message comes at the end of a busy week for the president, which saw him score key legislative victories - the Senate approved a nuclear arms treaty with Russia and the president won his battle to repeal the military's ban on openly gay and bisexual service members. But Mr Obama faces a challenging year ahead with his party losing control of the House of Representatives and the economy struggling to get back on track.

And Sri Lanka has released 100 former Tamil Tiger rebels to mark Christmas Day. It's the latest group to be freed from the camps where they'd been held since the Tamil Tigers were defeated by government forces last year. The government says 5,000 former rebels are still being held. But international human rights groups and the media haven't been given access.

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