BBC news 2011-11-08 加文本

BBC news 2011-11-08

BBC News with David Austin

There's growing concern that the financial turmoil that's gripped Europe and brought Greece to the brink of catastrophe is now threatening the eurozone's third largest economy Italy. Borrowing costs for the Italian government have soared because of fears it may be unable to repay its massive debts. The renewed pressure has led the Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi to reject further calls to resign. From Rome, Alan Johnston reports.

It was a day of extraordinary political tension here. There had been reports that Prime Minister Berlusconi's support was ebbing away and that he could no longer command a parliamentary majority. At one point, there was even a rumour that Mr Berlusconi was going to resign within hours, but he quickly moved to deny this. He insists that he has all the parliamentary support he needs to continue to govern Italy.

At least one person has been shot dead and several injured in the Liberian capital Monrovia at an opposition rally on the eve of a disputed presidential election run-off. The gunfire began when Liberian riot police clashed with opposition supporters outside their party headquarters. The BBC's Jonathan Paye-Layleh has been to the scene.

I saw the body of a boy in his 20s lie in a pool of blood. He was shot in the head. And beside him were about three to four persons who were also shot in the legs, and they were screaming in pain.

Liberia's deputy opposition leader, the former football star George Weah, said the second round of the election on Tuesday should now be called off.

"People die, and people are wounded. We don't know what [is] going to happen tomorrow if these people are not happy. So I think with the best interest of the country, the election need to be postponed, and they need to see why - because we were shot at - they need to investigate that because it's unconstitutional."

Mr Weah's party had already called for a boycott, saying problems from the first round have not been corrected.

A report to be published later this week by the United Nations nuclear agency, the IAEA, is expected to provide the most detailed charges to date that Iran is trying to build nuclear weapons. Diplomats who've seen the IAEA's findings say that it contains a telling chain of evidence which proves that Iran's nuclear programme has a military dimension. Iran says its nuclear programme is for peaceful purposes only. James Reynolds has this report.

The IAEA has yet to publish its report, but enough leaks have emerged to build up a picture of what will be in it. For the first time, the agency is expected to document in detail the various steps that it believes Iran is taking to acquire the capability to build nuclear weapons. One media report suggests that Iran has built computer models of a nuclear warhead; another says that Iran has used a large steel container for nuclear arms-related explosives tests.

James Reynolds reporting

World News from the BBC

Court officials in Los Angeles say the jury in the trial of Michael Jackson's doctor on charges of involuntary manslaughter has reached a verdict. Doctor Conrad Murray has been on trial for the past six weeks, accused over the death of Jackson in 2009. Peter Bowes is awaiting the verdict in California.

The jury reached its verdict on the second day of deliberations. Doctor Conrad Murray faces up to four years in jail if he's found guilty of involuntary manslaughter. He's been accused of giving Michael Jackson a lethal dose of the powerful anaesthetic, propofol. The decision of the seven men and five women will be read in open court and televised around the world.

The Chinese artist and government critic Ai Weiwei says thousands of his supporters have donated money to help him pay a tax bill of $2.5m. So far he's received more than $0.75m, much of it through Internet and bank transfers. Ai Weiwei told the BBC it was amazing to receive such gestures of solidarity.

The international militant known as Carlos the Jackal has gone on trial in Paris in connection with bomb attacks on trains in France in the 1980s that killed 11 people. He described himself in court as a professional revolutionary but denies the charges. Carlos, who's also known as Ilich Ramirez Sanchez, is already serving a life sentence in France for the murder of two policemen. A BBC correspondent says the man, once mythologised as the quintessential terrorist, is now a rather chubby, dapper man in late middle age.

A survey of Roman Catholic priests in Austria has found that a majority of respondents believe that reforms to the Church are urgently needed. The survey of 500 local clergy commissioned by the Austrian Broadcasting Corporation found that two thirds felt that there was a dramatic split between the Church and what was termed modern culture. More than half said they supported the idea of women priests.

Those are the latest stories from BBC News.