BBC在线收听下载:委内瑞拉总统已抵古巴进行第四次手术

BBC news 2012-12-11

BBC news with Marion Marshall.

The former head of the International Monetary Fund, Dominique Strauss-Kahn, and a hotel maid who accused him of attempting to rape her have reached a settlement in a civil case. The announcement end an episode that cost him his job and his hopes of becoming French president, it's not clear how much he paid, as our correspondent Laura Trevelyan reports.

Well, the agreement itself is confidential, so we don't know the figure that the two parties settled on. Dominique Strauss-Kahn himself was not here in court, but Nafissatou Diallo was. She spoke briefly to reporters she thanked everyone around the world who had supported her and that was it. And really this case remains something of a mystery. We still don't know what happened in that Hotel Sofitel back in May, 2011 when the then head of the IMF Dominique Strauss-Kahn had a sexual encounter with Nafissatou Diallo. Prosecutors here in New York dropped that case because they decided that Nafissatou Diallo had what they called “credibility issues”.

The Egyptian President Mohamed Mursi has given the army temporary power to arrest civilians in the run-up to Saturday's referendum on a controversial new constitution. Opponents says supporters of Mr. Mursi planned to demonstrate on Tuesday. The BBC Cairo correspondent says the move will increase fears among some Egyptians that the country is slipping back to authoritarian rule.

The former Libyan Prime Minister al-Baghdadi al-Mahmoudi has gone on trail in the capital Tripoli. Mr. al-Mahmoudi is the fourth senior official from the Gadaffi era to be prosecuted in Libya. From Tripoli, Rana Jawad reports.

The former Prime Minister al-Baghdadi al-Mahmoudi appeared in court with two co-defendants, who are managers of a company overseen by one of the late Colonel's most prominent sons, Saif al-Islam Gaddafi. The judge announced several charges against the three men. They included acts that led to the unjust killings of Libyans as well as the abuse and funnelling of almost $25 million in public funds to personal accounts in Tunisia. But it’s alleged that some of these transfers provided logistical supports for Colonel Gadaffi's forces during the war.

The British Bank Standard Chartered is to pay $327 million to settle (the) claims that it violated American sanctions on Iran, Burma, Libya and Sudan. The bank has been fined by the US Federal Reserve. Ben Thompson reports.

The bank is accused of breaching sanctions for more than a decade and hiding over 60,000 transactions worth more than $250 billion. Regulators say the bank traded with several countries including Iran and Sudan that are subject to sanctions that prohibit the transfer of money to and from the US. The bank has admitted sidestepping those regulations by removing vital information that would have flagged up the pavements for investigation.

BBC news.

The former Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlosconi has reacted angrily to perceived criticism from foreign politicians and the media about his decision to seek another term as an Italian leader. Mr. Berlosconi said he had always been a convinced supporter of Europe and comments about him were offensive, not so much to him personally but to the free choice of Italians. Fresh elections were expected early next year after the current Prime Minister Mario Monti said he would resign.

The main opposition party in Ghana says it's considering legal action to annul President John Mahama's victory in the presidential election on Friday and Saturday. The election commission said Mr. Mahama had won 50.7% of the vote, enough to avoid a run-off against Nana Akufo-Addo, Aquizi Sapong is in Accra.

The opposition party's leadership will be meeting tomorrow Tuesday to weigh its options, amongst them is going to court to challenge the election result because they have been told by the electoral commission chairman that he will be wish be half that of option going to court. But after that meeting tomorrow we will know what they are going to do next. In fact similarly four years ago when they lost the election to John Atenmails, the coincident the court option and we build upon and skew down.

South Africa has signed a deal with Vietnam to try to prevent rhino poaching. The agreement includes conservation, protection, increase law enforcement and information sharing between the two countries. Rhino horn prices have soared as demand has increased in Asia where it is used for traditional medicine. More than 600 rhinos have been killed in South Africa this year, nearly double the 2010 figure.

The Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez has arrived in Cuba for his fourth cancer operation, having spoken openly for the first time about handing over to a possible successor. Before leaving, Mr. Chavez urged his ministers not to give in to speculation while he was away.

BBC news.