BBC news 2011-11-25 加文本

BBC news 2011-11-25

BBC News with Jonathan Izard

State media in Egypt are reporting that a former prime minister, Kamal Ganzouri, has provisionally agreed to form a new government after talks with the ruling military council. If he takes the job, Mr Ganzouri would still be accountable to the military council, which has rejected calls to step down immediately. Youssef Taha has this profile.

Kamal Ganzouri served as Egypt's planning minister from 1982 under former President Hosni Mubarak. In 1996, he became the prime minister, a position which he held for under four years when he fell out with his boss, who accused him of mismanaging the country's economy. Mr Ganzouri's cabinet introduced some economic liberalisation measures. Many Egyptians still view him as an official who was not corrupt. He was nicknamed the "minister of the poor" because of his way of looking after the interests of people in low income.

Parliamentary elections are due on Monday despite the past week's clashes between protesters and security forces.

The Arab League has given Syria 24 hours to agree to allow an observer mission into the country or face sanctions. Arab foreign ministers meeting in Cairo said that if Syria refused, the league's economic arm would meet on Saturday to vote on sanctions. These could include stopping flights to Syria and freezing the country's assets. However, the ministers stopped short of endorsing a call by the French foreign minister for humanitarian corridors to help aid reach civilians.

Libya's new transitional government has been sworn in at a ceremony in the capital Tripoli. Ministers promised to remain faithful to the objectives of the revolution that overthrew Colonel Gaddafi. The new Prime Minister Abdurrahim al-Keib said they were looking forward to leading the country until the elections due in a few months.

President Ali Abdullah Saleh of Yemen has condemned an attack today in the capital Sanaa which left at least five people dead and many wounded. He's ordered an investigation into the violence, which took place one day after Mr Saleh signed a deal to step down. Gunmen loyal to him opened fire on thousands of protesters who object to Mr Saleh being given immunity from prosecution. Under the accord, Mr Saleh hands over power to his deputy.

The Indian cabinet has approved its biggest economic reform in years: the opening up of the country's vast retail market to foreign supermarkets. The move paves the way for companies such as Wal-Mart, the world's biggest retailer, to gain access to India's lucrative retail sector which is worth an estimated $450bn a year. The move had been bitterly opposed by millions of small traders who fear they'll be put out of business by the retail giants. Dharmendra Kumar is a spokesman for a lobby group which opposes foreign investment in India.

"It's a threat to the grass roots sector which caters for poor consumers; and it's also a threat to their supply sources, to the smaller markets and smaller farmers. So it would be dangerous for the established retail sector if it's not regulated properly."

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The prosecution in the war crimes trial of the former Bosnian Serb leader Radovan Karadzic has called its first witness from the Srebrenica massacre. The witness, who can't be named, told how he and other men were taken to a school gymnasium where men opened fire on them. The witness survived and escaped with another man. Prosecutors are trying to prove that Radovan Karadzic was responsible for genocide. He denies the charges.

The authorities in Trinidad and Tobago have made several arrests after uncovering what they describe as a national security threat against the Prime Minister Kamla Persad-Bissessar. She is expected to address the nation later on Thursday. James Read of our America's desk reports.

Trinidadian police have so far given few details of the threat to the prime minister, but local media are speaking of an assassination plot against Ms Persad-Bissessar and some of her ministers. Those detained are reported to include two former soldiers. Trinidad and Tobago has been under a limited state of emergency since August because of a surge of violent crime linked to drugs gangs. In 1990, more than 20 people died in the Caribbean nation when a local Islamist group tried to seize power.

The Mexican authorities have found more than 20 bodies in three abandoned vehicles in the western city of Guadalajara. Some of the bodies were gagged with their hands tied. A message purported to be from a drugs cartel was left with them. With more, here's Ignacio de los Reyes in Mexico City.

The bodies were recovered early in the morning by the police under the Millennium Arches, one of the most known landmarks in Guadalajara. They were abandoned in three vehicles on one of the busiest roads of the city. Although groups like the Sinaloa cartel have operated in Guadalajara for years, it is still considered one of the safest destinations in Mexico, and it hasn't been as affected by the violence of the drugs war as other large cities like Monterrey or Acapulco.

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