BBC news 2011-12-11 加文本

BBC news 2011-12-11

BBC News with Iain Purdon

Demonstrators across Russia have called for a rerun of last weekend's parliamentary elections, which were officially won by the party of the Prime Minister Vladimir Putin. The biggest protest was in Moscow, where about 50,000 people gathered on a square. Many waved flags and carried white carnations. From Moscow, Steve Rosenberg reports.

Not since the fall of the Soviet Union have so many Russians taken to the streets to take on their leader. In the middle ages, Bolotnaya Square was a place for executing criminals. Today tens of thousands of Muscovites came here to accuse the authorities of committing a crime: stealing their votes. They demanded a rerun of the parliamentary election and the resignation of Vladimir Putin. It was a diverse crowd: there were communists, ultra-nationalists and Western-leaning Russian liberals. But for today at least, they were united in their condemnation of government.

The South Africa[n] government, which is hosting a United Nations climate change conference, says agreement has been reached on many key issues. However, the South African draft text does not specify a legally binding deal. From Durban, here's Richard Black.

Ministers spent about four hours locked in a small crowded room, aiming to find common ground. According to the South African host government, they did it. But others are not so sure. The EU and many countries that are vulnerable to climate change have been fighting for a road map leading to a new legally binding global agreement as soon as possible. Sources indicate that the South African draft text does not specify a legally binding deal and envisages the agreement coming into force only after 2020. That's far too late for small island nations in the Pacific and Caribbean who fear inundation by rising seas.

There are reports from Peru that the Prime Minister Salomon Lerner has offered his resignation. Mr Lerner had been the campaign manager to the President Ollanta Humala, who took office in July. He was recently involved in a failed attempt to negotiate an end to protests that have stalled Peru's biggest foreign investment - the Conga gold mining project.

Hundreds of supporters of the former leader of Ivory Coast, Laurent Gbagbo, have staged a protest outside the International Criminal Court in The Hague. Protesters complained about the former president's transfer to the court last month.

"We are here to tell Gbagbo that his people are with him. We are here for him, and we'll be coming here. I'm telling you (as) so far as they (would) maintain him here, we'll be coming here."

Mr Gbagbo faces charges of crimes against humanity in connection with post-election violence.

World News from the BBC

Zimbabwe's 87-year-old President Robert Mugabe says it will be an act of cowardice for him to retire ahead of elections expected to be held next year. Closing his party's annual conference, Mr Mugabe condemned the current power-sharing government as a "monster" which should be buried. The conference passed resolutions endorsing Mr Mugabe as its presidential candidate in spite of reports that he is suffering ill health.

Police in the Congolese capital Kinshasa say they've shot dead four people since the disputed results of the presidential election were announced on Friday. The opposition leader Etienne Tshisekedi has refused to accept the official results, which gave a clear victory to President Joseph Kabila. From Kinshasa, here's Thomas Hubert.

Sporadic gunfire continued to echo around the capital Kinshasa and in the central city of Mbuji-Mayi on Saturday. In both cities, voting for the opposition was strong, and many people here say they feel the election result has been manipulated. Amid strewn rocks, broken glass and burnt-out tyres, angry residents of a Kinshasa suburb accused the security forces of attacking them, killing young men and looting homes and shops. The police chief has said the situation in Kinshasa and Mbuji-Mayi is under control, but he has acknowledged that since the election result was announced, his men have shot four people dead in Kinshasa.

Syrian activists say at least 12 people have been killed by the security forces. France has said the Syrian people must be saved and has voiced concern that government forces are about to attack the city of Homs - a major centre of opposition to President Assad.

A lunar eclipse, which occurs when the Earth casts a shadow over the Moon, has been visible in parts of the world. Sky-watchers in Australia, Asia and North America witnessed the spectacle, which is the last lunar eclipse to take place till 2014. In places, indirect sunlight illuminated the Moon, turning it a dramatic shade of red.

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