BBC news 2011-12-26 加文本

BBC news 2011-12-26

BBC News with Neil Nunes

There's been widespread international condemnation of the Christmas Day bomb attacks in Nigeria that have killed almost 40 people. Thirty-five people were killed in the first bomb blast at a Roman Catholic church near Abuja; four others died in attacks elsewhere in the country. Brenda Marshall has this report.

Describing the attacks as "senseless violence", the White House offered condolences to those who had lost loved ones and help for Nigeria to bring those responsible to justice. Political leaders in Britain, France, Germany and Italy decried the attacks as "cowardly". The Vatican called the bombings absurd "terrorist violence" that inflamed hatred. The president of the Christian Association of Nigeria condemned them as "barbaric". The militant Islamist group Boko Haram, which is locked in a violent struggle with the Nigerian authorities, said it carried out the attacks.

The American Vice-President Joe Biden has called the Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki to discuss recent violence and political turmoil. Tensions have increased in Iraq since an arrest warrant was issued against the Sunni Vice-President Tariq al-Hashimi over allegations he had run hit squads - charges he strongly denies. Shahzeb Jillani reports.

Mr Biden's phone call to the Iraqi prime minister on Christmas Day followed an earlier conversation he had with the Kurdish leader Massoud Barzani. Washington is keen to ensure Iraq's national unity government survives recent tensions. Along with a spate of attacks in the capital Baghdad, in which 60 people were killed last week, Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki's dispute with his Sunni coalition partners has created a major crisis. There are growing fears that with last American soldier gone from Iraq, the country could descend into an all-out sectarian conflict.

Sudan says fighting is continuing in a region near north Darfur where government forces have killed a key rebel leader, Khalil Ibrahim, and 30 of his fighters. A spokesman for the rebel group, the Justice and Equality Movement, admitted their leader was killed in an air strike on Friday. A spokesman for the Sudanese army, Lieutenant al-Sawarmi Khaled, said Mr Ibrahim had died from his wounds.

"The battle was fought on Thursday, and the armed forces were able to destroy this group. Some managed to escape whilst others were injured. Amongst those injured seriously was the leader of the renegade movement. He was fatally wounded during the battle, but he did not die at the time."

Thousands of people have again taken to the streets of the Yemeni capital Sanaa. The protest was against the killing of at least nine people on Saturday alleged to have been shot by security forces who fired on demonstrators demanding that the immunity from prosecution granted to the outgoing President Ali Abdullah Saleh be revoked.

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At least 12 people have been killed after a boat capsized in a lake in the southern Indian state of Tamil Nadu. Reports said the boat was carrying 25 people on a scenic tour of the lake near the state capital Chennai.

The former Pakistani cricketer and opposition politician Imran Khan has addressed tens of thousands of his supporters in Pakistan's biggest city Karachi. Mr Khan demanded strong measures to tackle corruption and called for a change in Pakistan's political culture. Our correspondent Aleem Maqbool was at the rally. He told us about Mr Khan's chances of success.

The question keeps coming up as to whether he has the practical solutions to back up all of this rhetoric. And I still think for a lot of Pakistanis, he hasn't answered a lot of those questions. But for the crowds here today, who are frankly euphoric, I mean they really see that this is suddenly a man who could be a future leader.

Police in the northern Afghan city of Taloqan say at least 19 people have been killed in a bomb explosion. Many more people are said to have been injured. The bombing was carried out during a funeral. A senior police official said a suicide attacker targeted a member of parliament, Mutalib Beg, who was killed in the blast.

Queen Elizabeth has focused on the importance of families and friendship in her Christmas message, which was broadcast as her husband, the Duke of Edinburgh, recovered in hospital from a heart operation. She said it was in hardship that people found strength from their families and in adversity that new friendships were formed.

A choir of wives of British soldiers serving in Afghanistan has topped the British singles chart to take the Christmas No. 1 spot. The song Wherever You Are was written using excerpts from letters sent between military couples.

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