BBC news 2011-12-13 加文本

BBC news 2011-12-13

BBC News with Marion Marshall

The British Prime Minister David Cameron has defended his decision to veto a new European treaty aimed at strengthening the eurozone, saying he did so to protect Britain's national interest. He said he'd genuinely sought agreement at last week's summit but couldn't get the safeguards he wanted to protect the financial sector. But the Deputy Prime Minister Nick Clegg, who wasn't in the Commons to hear Mr Cameron, says differences between them remain and the coalition had to work together to re-engage with Europe to protect jobs.

"The prime minister and I clearly do not agree on the outcome of the summit last week. I've made it very clear that I think isolation in Europe, when we are one against 26, is potentially a bad thing for jobs, a bad thing for growth and a bad thing for the livelihoods of millions of people in this country."

President Obama and the visiting Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki have laid wreaths at Arlington National Cemetery on the outskirts of Washington, where many of the almost 4,500 Americans killed in Iraq are buried. Speaking at the start of a week which will mark the final withdrawal of American troops from Iraq, Mr Obama said America was leaving with its head held high and would never abandon its allies and interests there.

Defence officials in Pakistan have told the BBC that they are considering demanding millions of dollars in annual taxes and charges on Nato trucks and fuel tankers. The vehicles pass through Pakistan en route to Afghanistan. Jill McGivering reports.

Many in Pakistan are still furious about last month's Nato air strikes close to the Afghan border, which killed at least 24 members of its security forces. For Nato, the overland route through Pakistan is a key part of supporting operations in Afghanistan. Now Pakistan's defence officials have introduced a new factor: cost. They say that until now the transit permission has been verbal and informal, but it may be time, they say, to negotiate a formal agreement.

A Russian billionaire, Mikhail Prokhorov, says he'll challenge the Prime Minister Vladimir Putin in the presidential election in March. Mr Prokhorov said the uNPRecedented anti-government protests that have been held in recent days were a sign that Russian people were becoming more alert.

"Society is waking up. And no matter whether we want it or not, those authorities who fail to establish a dialogue with society, I think they will soon have to go. Therefore, a serious change is happening in the world, and a new sort of person is emerging, I would say, due to the development of the Internet, and communications between the authorities and society are becoming closer."

Mr Prokhorov said he was targeting Russia's growing middle class. The BBC Moscow correspondent says there's deep mistrust of the super-rich in Russia, so it's unclear how much support he'll have.

World News from the BBC

Member states of the International Criminal Court have chosen a Gambian lawyer, Fatou Bensouda, as its new chief prosecutor. She was elected by consensus at a meeting at the United Nations in New York. All the ICC's current investigations are in Africa, but several of its leaders have complained that Africa has been unfairly targeted. Anna Holligan reports from The Hague.

She's been working as a deputy for the last seven years. Now Fatou Bensouda is preparing to take on the highest role within the International Criminal Court. Speaking at the UN Assembly of State Parties in New York, she thanked her colleagues for having faith in her abilities and promised to continue working to achieve the court's ambition of ending impunity for the most serious crimes against humanity. The new chief prosecutor has already stated she will not change the established approach of going after war criminals regardless of where they come from.

The parliament in Tunisia has elected a new president. The former opposition leader Moncef Marzouki from the secular Congress for the Republic party was appointed. It follows parliamentary elections in October after the uprising in Tunisia which ousted its former long-standing leader Zine al-Abidine Ben Ali in January this year.

A 93-year-old Belgian-Congolese nurse who saved hundreds of wounded American soldiers during World War II has received a belated award for valour from the US army. Augusta Chiwy volunteered to help at a medical centre at the height of the Battle of the Bulge in the town of Bastogne.

The International Amateur Boxing Association says allegations of corruption involving Azerbaijan and the 2012 Olympics are groundless. It said the claims in a domestic BBC television programme relied heavily on hearsay and were unsupported by any credible evidence. It was alleged that Azerbaijan had been guaranteed two boxing gold medals at London 2012 in return for $10m investment. The BBC said it stood by its investigation.

BBC News