BBC news 2012-01-05 加文本 讲解翻译

BBC news 2012-01-05

BBC News with Mike Cooper

The French Foreign Minister Alain Juppe says the European Union is on track to impose an embargo on Iran's oil exports. The Iranian government gains half its revenue from the export of crude oil. Here's James Reynolds.

The EU is going after Iran where it really hurts. It's targeting Iran's oil exports. France's Foreign Minister Alain Juppe has told a news conference that he hopes the EU will impose an embargo on Iran's oil exports. The move is expected to be announced at an EU foreign ministers' meeting to be held in Brussels at the end of January. These potential new measures target oil, which is at the heart of Iran's economy. Iran's state gets more than half of its revenue through the export of crude oil. At the moment, the EU buys around 17% of Iran's oil exports. If Europe does stop buying, Iran will have to turn to countries in Asia, and those countries will demand a discount.

The German President Christian Wulff says he won't resign despite a scandal that's put him under intense pressure to do so. Mr Wulff had already apologised for failing to disclose a loan he'd received from a businessman's wife, but the scandal then deepened, as Steve Evans reports from Berlin.

President Wulff's role is symbolic, but as the head of state he does represent the nation. The allegation was that firstly he borrowed 500,000 from a businessman's wife and kept it secret when asked, and secondly that he threatened the newspaper that revealed the loan with what he'd called criminal consequences for the journalist involved. On prime time television, he said the call to the paper was a mistake, but he added "I have not violated any law either now as president or before." When asked whether he would resign, he responded bluntly "No."

The Minnesota congresswoman Michele Bachmann has pulled out of the race to be the Republican Party candidate in this year's US presidential campaign. Mrs Bachmann polled just 5% when Republicans in Iowa voted on Tuesday for their preferred candidates. The Iowa caucus was won by the closest of margins by the former Massachusetts governor Mitt Romney. From Iowa, Paul Adams.

Michele Bachmann said she had decided to stand aside, but insisted she would continue to fight against what she called the socialist agenda of President Barack Obama. For months, Michele Bachmann's fortunes have waned. The defection of her Iowa campaign chief and her dreadful showing in Tuesday's caucuses made this decision all but inevitable. Despite a brief moment as a front-runner last summer, she has never really stood the remotest chance of being nominated. Her departure removes one hard-line Christian conservative from the field and leaves it more open for other candidates, including Rick Santorum, who appealed to evangelical voters. But the race now moves to the northeastern state of New Hampshire, where Mitt Romney, the winner here by just eight votes, stands a good chance of notching up a second early win.

World News from the BBC

President Cristina Fernandez of Argentina is awake and recovering after surgery for thyroid cancer. Her spokesman said the operation was successful with no complications. Supporters gathered outside the hospital in Buenos Aires applauded the news. Ms Fernandez is expected to remain in hospital for at least three days.

A court in Indonesia has found a teenage boy guilty of stealing a pair of worn-out sandals in a case that's caused outrage across the country. Hundreds of people piled up old sandals outside the courtroom in protest against the decision to prosecute the 15-year-old boy. He could have faced five years in prison for the offence, but the judge instead ordered him to be sent home for counselling by his parents.

British detectives investigating the racist murder of the black teenager Stephen Lawrence say new information has come to light that may help them convict more suspects. On Wednesday, two white men who were found guilty of the 1993 killing were sentenced for a crime which the judge said had scarred the nation. Matt Prodger reports.

In front of a packed and tense courtroom, Mr Justice Treacy told Gary Dobson he would serve a minimum of 15 years and two months while David Norris, because he was younger at the time of the murder, would spend at least 14 years and three months in prison. The judge listed a number of aggravating factors which had increased the sentences above a 12-year starting point. He said there was a degree of premeditation in the murder; it was a racist crime driven by hatred; it involved a gang of like-minded attackers who knew a lethal weapon was being carried, and the victim was completely blameless.

Thousands of people who bought tickets to see synchronised swimming at the London Olympics later this year have been asked to return them. In what's been described as a human data error, 10,000 tickets were sold for seats that didn't exist. The people who bought the tickets have been offered seats at alternative events instead.

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