BBC news 2011-01-18 加文本

BBC news 2011-01-18

BBC News with Marion Marshall

The Prime Minister of Tunisia, Mohamed Ghannouchi, has named the ministers in the interim government intended to fill the vacuum left by the overthrow of President Ben Ali. Six ministers stay on in their posts, despite street protests in the capital against the retention of members of the former regime. Three opposition politicians are given cabinet seats. The new government was swiftly rejected by a spokesman for the Tunisian Labour party, Hammal Hammam, who told the BBC's Arabic service it was too similar to the old one.

"The government was enlarged to include some opposition elements, those which are officially recognised and some independent personalities. This is no more than a facelift for the previous regime. The best response are the kind of demonstrations that took place today across Tunisia, the ones that said no to this government even before it was announced."

The Tunisian Interior Minister Ahmed Friaa, who retained his post, said 78 people had been killed there since the start of the unrest which has so far cost the country more than $2bn.

A prosecutor investigating the assassination of the former Lebanese Prime Minister Rafik Hariri has submitted a draft indictment against suspects in the killing. It follows an investigation by the United Nations tribunal on Lebanon set up to try to identify who was responsible for Mr Hariri's death in 2005. The indictments will go before a pretrial judge who will decide how to proceed. From Beirut, here's Jeremy Bowen.

This is the first indictment the tribunal has issued. Leaks suggest that the person or people whose names are on the indictment they haven't been revealed are members of Hezbollah, the Shia Muslim group that is the most powerful military force in Lebanon as well as a political and social movement. Hezbollah left the national unity government last week, causing its collapse. It wants Saad Hariri, now reduced to interim prime minister and also Rafik Hariri's son and political heir, to cut Lebanon's links with the tribunal. So far, he's refused to do that, causing another surge of talk about disorder and even civil war.

International human rights groups have called for the prosecution of the former Haitian leader Jean-Claude Duvalier, who returned to his homeland on Sunday after 25 years in exile. Mr Duvalier, also known as "Baby Doc", said he'd come back to help the people of Haiti following last year's devastating earthquake. James Read reports.

"Baby Doc" Duvalier's surprise return to Haiti has prompted an immediate and strong reaction. Human Rights Watch said he should face justice for the alleged killing and torture of thousands of people during his 15-year rule. Amnesty International said the Haitian authorities had an obligation to prosecute him for crimes against humanity. There's been no public response from Haiti's government which is grappling with a crisis over disputed presidential elections. Under Haiti's constitution, no citizen can be banned from the country.

World News from the BBC

The trial has begun in Cuba of a number of people accused of being responsible for the deaths of 26 patients in a psychiatric hospital in Havana a year ago. The accused include the hospital director and several doctors. The deaths from hypothermia during a cold snap exposed failings in Cuba's free public health system, which the communist government hails as one of the main achievements of its rule.

A member of the British House of Lords has gone on trial accused of submitting false expense claims for more than $17,000. Lord Taylor of Warwick resigned from the Conservative Party after he was charged last year with false accounting, which he denies. The prosecution alleged he'd made claims on the basis of falsified travel expenses.

Italian prosecutors are accusing the Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi of providing a series of apartments for use by young women in exchange for sex. Prosecutors are seeking authorisation to search properties linked to Mr Berlusconi. It's part of an investigation into allegations that he paid for sex with a belly dancer known as Ruby when she was 17, below the legal age for a prostitute. They both deny having had a sexual relationship.

Scientists in the United States have warned that new varieties of grape need to be developed to secure the future of wine-making. Nearly all types of grape in use today belong to one species, meaning that they are vulnerable to the same diseases. Richard Black has the details.

Researchers from Cornell University in the US have analysed the genomes of more than 1,000 individual vine plants. They've identified bits of DNA that are linked to various traits, including acidity, sugar content and disease resistance. Writing in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, they say that using this information should make it far easier to create new grape varieties that are resistant to disease; if we are lucky, they might even result in better tasting wines.

Richard Black

BBC News