BBC news 2011-01-19 加文本

BBC news 2011-01-19

BBC News with Iain Purdon

The new unity government in Tunisia appears to be in danger of falling apart just a day after it was formed. At least three ministers, all with strong trade union links, have already resigned, and others are threatening to go. Our correspondent Wyre Davies is in Tunis.

Barely a day after the interim unity government was announced, it was in real danger of collapse as three ministers from Tunisia's labour movement withdrew. The junior ministers and their supporters said they could not be part of an administration in which several members of the former authoritarian government had been given prominent positions. As more pro-democracy protests in Tunis and across the rest of the country again turned violent, a stable transition to open and democratic government is by no means certain.

The former Haitian leader Jean-Claude Duvalier, also known as "Baby Doc", has been detained by police two days after his surprise return to Haiti after 25 years in exile. Earlier, the Haitian authorities said they were going to question him to determine whether he should be prosecuted for stealing from the treasury. Andy Gallacher reports.

Jean-Claude Duvalier has been at the Karibe Hotel in Port-au-Prince since his surprise return to Haiti on Sunday. Dozens of Haitian police officers have been posted both inside and outside the building, and it's reported that the former dictator met with senior judicial figures on Monday night. Now he's been taken into custody by the police, but it's not clear whether Mr Duvalier has been arrested or if he'll be charged with any crimes. Eyewitnesses say the 59-year-old wasn't in handcuffs. Mr Duvalier, or "Baby Doc" as he's also known, was forced into exile in 1986 following a mass uprising.

The Chinese President Hu Jintao has arrived in Washington at the start of a four-day visit. He'll meet President Obama on Wednesday. Mr Hu's trip comes at a time of growing tensions between the US and China over trade, monetary and strategic issues. In particular, Washington wants Beijing to do more to allow its currency, the yuan, to rise against the dollar.

A Polish investigation into the plane crash last year in Russia that killed the Polish President Lech Kaczynski and 95 others has accused Russian air traffic controllers of failing to warn the pilots the aircraft was off course. An official Russian inquiry last year said the pilots were under psychological pressure from passengers to land despite the bad weather. Adam Easton reports.

Polish investigators said air traffic controllers, acting under considerable pressure because of the bad weather, made a number of errors as the president's plane approached the military airstrip in dense fog last April. They said at one point the control tower told the pilots the plane was on track when in fact it was well off course. The Russians also gave the crew incorrect weather and visibility information, and a crucial height warning too late, the Polish side said.

World News from the BBC

The chairman of an official British inquiry into the circumstances surrounding the invasion of Iraq eight years ago has expressed disappointment that notes of conversations between Tony Blair and George W Bush about Iraq won't be declassified. Sir John Chilcot said publication of key extracts of the communications between the then British prime minister and US president would have illuminated Mr Blair's position at critical points.

Police in Mexico say they have arrested a leader and founding member of the notorious Zetas drugs gang. The suspect Flavio Mendez was detained in the southern state of Oaxaca. Mr Mendez is accused of controlling the traffic of drugs and illegal migrants in southeastern Mexico.

Some news just in: a vote by the parliamentary colleagues of the Irish Prime Minister Brian Cowen on his leadership has ended in Dublin. The result of a secret ballot is expected to be announced shortly. They were voting into decide whether to retain him as party leader and therefore prime minister. Critics say even if he remains prime minister, he's lost the support of the country.

Finally, three bottles of Scotch whisky which were encased in Antarctic ice for more than 100 years have been returned to Scotland for analysis and found to be in good condition. Colin Blane reports.

It was a remarkable discovery. A conservation team, restoring a hut left behind by the polar explorer Ernest Shackleton, found five crates abandoned after his unsuccessful expedition to the South Pole in 1907. Two cases labelled Mackinlay's whisky were cut from the ice. The spirits inside preserved in the cold and dark. Researchers in New Zealand warmed the bottles gently over several days. The whisky was too valuable to be returned to Scotland on a commercial flight, and instead, three bottles were flown by private jet.

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