BBC news 2010-12-28 加文本

BBC news 2010-12-28

BBC News with Iain Purdon

The American Secretary of State Hillary Clinton has strongly condemned the new conviction of one of Russia's best-known business tycoons, the former oil magnate Mikhail Khodorkovsky. Already in prison for tax evasion, Mr Khodorkovsky was found guilty of stealing about $27bn worth of oil and laundering the proceeds. Mrs Clinton said the case raised serious questions about selective prosecution and the rule of law. An opposition leader, Boris Nemtsov, said the decision was politically motivated.

"What is happening here has no relation whatsoever to law, humanity or justice. The judge is the person who will make public the political decisions primarily of one citizen, Vladimir Putin, who is suffering from an acute form of Khodorkovsky phobia. He needs to get treatment."

But the head of the foreign affairs committee in the Russian Duma, Konstantin Kosachev, rejected the suggestion that the verdict had been politically motivated.

"The only way of making the justice is to let it go through the court, and the process is really very much politicised from all sides, but the only option is to accept the decision made by the court as it is the case in any legal state."

The African Union has asked the Kenyan Prime Minister Raila Odinga to lead its efforts to resolve the political stalemate in Ivory Coast. The crisis was sparked by the refusal of the incumbent President Laurent Gbagbo to cede power to the man internationally recognised as having won last month's presidential election, Alassane Ouattara. As John James reports from Abidjan, the atmosphere remains tense.

A general strike called by political parties that back Alassane Ouattara was announced late on Sunday night and initially changed little here on the ground. This evening local time, the taxis and buses were starting to go on strike, and workers are rushing home early to avoid getting caught out. The atmosphere is tense. Everyone fears a military intervention in the coming weeks.

Meanwhile, supporters of Alassane Ouattara have peacefully taken over the Ivory Coast embassy in Paris. The move came after France, the former colonial power, recognised Mr Ouattara's proposed envoy as the legitimate ambassador.

Heavy snow and high wind continues to cause widespread disruption across a large area of the northeast of the United States as some of the worst weather in recent years sweeps across the region. Jonny Dymond reports.

It's not just the scale of the snow that has thrown the northeast coast into transport chaos, it's also the speed of it. In a matter of hours, 30, 40, in one place almost 75cm of snow fell. Six states have declared a state of emergency. In New York, all three airports remain closed. Some passengers spent hours on board grounded planes only to disembark and spent an uncomfortable night in the terminals.

World News from the BBC

There's been a double suicide bomb attack on a provincial government compound in the town of Ramadi, about 100km west of Baghdad. Officials said around 15 people were killed and dozens injured when a minibus exploded, closely followed by a suicide bomber on foot.

Iraq's new oil minister says oil output has reached its highest level for 20 years. The current output, at least 2.6 million barrels a day, still falls short of the three million barrels a day the country was producing in the late 1980s. Here's our business reporter Alex Ritson.

Iraq's oil industry has struggled for many years, despite the fact that the country has the fourth largest reserves of crude in the world. Production has been seriously hampered by military operations, paramilitary attacks, international sanctions and the lack of investment in infrastructure. But its fortunes may finally be starting to turn. Over the last two years, 15 oil and gas deals have been done with international companies to exploit the country's reserves. The aim is to raise daily output to around 12 million barrels a day within the next six years.

Nine men in Britain charged in connection with an alleged plot to attack targets in London in the run-up to Christmas have been remanded in custody. The suspects, aged between 19 and 28, are from the English Midlands, South Wales and London. They were arrested in raids a week ago. They were charged with conspiracy to cause explosions and preparing acts of terrorism. They'll appear in court again next month.

The Indian government has launched a research and conservation project into salt-resistant plant species or halophytes. Experts say much agricultural land is being lost through the inflow of seawater in coastal areas and the rising salinity of river water. The research station on the coast of the southern state of Tamil Nadu is to explore the agricultural use of salt-resistant plants.

BBC News