African leaders urge Gbagbo to step down

12-29-2010 08:30 BJT

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Meanwhile, West African leaders have delivered a final ultimatum to Cote d'Ivoire's incumbent President Laurent Gbagbo: step down, or face military force to oust you.

The three Presidents later met with the opposition leader, Alassane Ouattara, and the head of the UN mission in the country. Then they headed to Nigeria to report back to ECOWAS's chairman, Goodluck Jonathan.

The Western African delegation is led by presidents from Sierra Leone, Cape Verde and Benin. They held a three-hour meeting with Gbagbo in Abidjan on Tuesday.

Cote D'Ivoire's incumbent leader has been in power for a decade, but has so far shown no interest in stepping aside despite international calls for him to go.

The 15-nation regional bloc ECOWAS has threatened to use "legitimate

force" if Gbagbo does not relinquish power. Nigeria has the strongest army in the region and is expected to play a major role if any operation is launched to oust him.

Opposition leader Alassane Ouattara's camp has been confident in recent days that such help is coming.

Meanwhile, both the African Union and ECOWAS have suspended Abidjan's membership, and the World Bank has halted loans. Gbagbo and his family also face increasing travel bans.

Some analysts feel an ECOWAS mission in Cote d'Ivoire would entail a

full-scale invasion, causing numerous civilian casualties.

Other Africans living in the country have expressed their own concerns.

Liberian Refugee, said, "We are asking for security. If we can, if there is a possibility for us to leave this place and be secure somewhere else, we will be OK. But we are not prepared to go to Liberia now and this is why were are here ."

Cote d'Ivoire has been mired in a political stalemate and deadly violence since its presidential run-off in November. Both Gbagbo and opposition leader Alassane Ouattara, widely seen as having won the contest, have both been sworn in as president.

Weeks of violence have left at least 173 people dead, though the UN says the toll could be much higher.

The French government says its forces will protect French citizens in Cote D'Ivoire, but won't be making any decisions about a possible military intervention.

Russia opens probe into airports chaos

12-29-2010 08:37 BJT

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Russian President Dmitry Medvedev has ordered prosecutors to investigate a logjam at Moscow's airports, which has stranded thousands of passengers.

The President wants to know whether transport law has been broken during the chaos.

Freezing weather and power cuts left more than 200 flights delayed at Moscow's two largest airports---Domodedovo and Sheremetyevo---over the last three days, stranding several thousand passengers in airport terminals without information.

Many passengers spent the night there, complaining about Russian airline Aeroflot.

Sbetlana Sazhena, Stranded Passenger, said, "It is the second day that I am here, there is literally no one to ask any question, they are simply hiding."Prosecutors have opened an investigation into the massive delays aimed to "protect the rights of passengers".

Domodedovo resumed operations Monday after getting a back-up power supply, but thousands of people still had to wait to board delayed flights.

Russia's aviation agency chief says that it will take another two to three days to normalize transport at Domodedovo and that priority is being given to passengers stuck since Sunday.

Russia is not the only country which has faced extreme disruption this month. Thousands of flights have been cancelled across Europe and North America due to the severe winter weather.

Final Khodorkovsky judgment due

12-29-2010 08:37 BJT

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Former Russian oil tycoon Mikhail Khodorkovsky's defense lawyers say the judge hearing his case will deliver his final judgment before the end of the year.

Earlier, Russia's Foreign Ministry hit back at claims by western powers about the fairness of his trial and conviction.

Mikhail Khodorkovsky and his business partner Platon Lebedev have spent a second day in a Moscow court as the judge continued reading the verdict.

It is a lengthy summary of the 20-month trial, which, in Khodorkovsky's lawyer's words, could keep him behind bars for several more years.

Vladimir Krasnov, Platon Lebedev's Lawyer, said, "What was pronounced were several pages of the long verdict referring to 1998, and now, as I understand, they are reading the pages for 1999; and so they will read the years 2000 and the following three years. And they informed us of their intention to finish pronouncing the verdict before the end of this year."

That case was seen by some as a punishment for challenging the Kremlin's economic and political power, in part by funding parliamentary opposition parties.

The two former oil tycoons were found guilty by Moscow court on charges of large-scale theft by an organized group and attempts to legalize stolen property. Their lawyers say they will appeal the guilty verdict.

Khodorkovsky is nearing the end of an eight-year sentence after being convicted of tax fraud in 2005. In 2009, when their first trial had nearly ended, Khodorkovsky and Lebedev, were returned from Siberia's Chita region to Moscow to face a second trial of embezzlement.

The second verdict has drawn criticism from European countries and the US as being politically motivated. The US says the case will have "a negative impact on Russia's reputation for fulfilling its international human rights obligations", adding that the United States will monitor the appeal process.

But the Russian foreign ministry says the case involves serious charges of tax evasion and money laundering, crimes which are punishable in any country. It criticized the attempts of several western countries to exert pressure on the cases, saying the action is "unacceptable".

Iran warns west to cooperate over nuclear program

12-29-2010 08:30 BJT

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Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad says the Western power's hostile policies could harm further talks over the country's nuclear program.

Ahmadinejad made the warning in a speech from the northern Iranian city of Karaj, just before Iran and the permanent members of the UN Security Council plus Germany, prepare to begin another round of talks next month to resolve the dispute.

Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, Iranian President, said, "Today the west only have two choices; the first choice is the continuation of the previous path: to make comments against us, pass resolutions and impose sanctions. Its result is clear in advance. They could not prevent us from going on when we were not nuclear, let alone now that we have become nuclear. So that road is closed. Their second path is cooperation with the Iranian nation and recognition of the rights of the Iranian nation."

Train fire in Israel injures 80

12-29-2010 08:56 BJT

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A fire has broken out on a train in the central Isreali town of Shfayim. 80 people have been injured, including one who is in serious condition.

Most of the passengers suffered minor injuries, including cuts, bruises and smoke inhalation, as they managed to escape burning carriages.

Israel Railways said the fire started in the rear engine, probably due to a fuel leak.

14 children die in transport accident

12-29-2010 08:35 BJT

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Any accident involving young children is especially heartbreaking for the families and the local community. 14 families are now asking tough questions of what went wrong, and what hindered the rescue.

They were only half a kilometer away from the classroom.

But for the 20 students, crammed into a three wheeled motorcycle truck, their fate was already sealed.

Song Chunhua, local villager, said, "I heard a very loud noise, and screaming. I looked back, and saw a three-wheeled vehicle plunge into the creek."

Shoes, bags, and other school supplies are scattered across the creek.

One local villager says he was the first to rush to the scene.

Yan Changjiu, said, "It's too cold. I can't swim. So I used tires to get there."

More villagers came, jumping into the freezing water to help rescue the students.

A three-wheeled motorcycle truck, taking 20 primary children to school, plunged into a creek on Monday morning, leaving 14 dead and 6 injured.

Built for agricultural use, the vehicle was modified to hold people. Draped with tarp, an iron door was bolted at the vehicle's rear, trapping its passengers.

Wang Yuanjun said, "We couldn't open the door. It was completely blocked. So I ran to a clinic for knife and cut it open. People were busy pulling the kids out."

More than 70 medical staff were sent to the scene.

Rescued students were rushed to hospitals.

Five hours after the tragedy, the three-wheeled vehicle was finally lifted out of the creek.

Questions are now being raised, about how 20 children were crammed into such a tiny space everyday, as they travelled to school.

Review corruption cases in 2010

12-29-2010 08:30 BJT

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This year, several officials faced trial in connection with corruption scandals.

53-year-old Huang Songyou was the former deputy head of the Supreme People's Court, the country's top judicial body. He worked his way up from his position as a judge in the High People's Court in Guangdong Province. He retained his senior position for six years until 2008, when he was detained for taking bribes.

In March 2010, Huang Songyou was sentenced to life in prison, after receiving nearly four million yuan in illegal payments. He was also found guilty of embezzling funds, while serving as a judge in Guangdong.

52-year-old Dong Yuejun was not so high-ranking as Huang. He was the former assistant to the general manager of the state-owned China International Telecommunication Corporation. But Dong's case stands out - he is accused of taking one of the largest sums of money in recent years. He stole 580 million yuan of public money, and took millions more in bribes.

Dong went to trial at Beijing No.2 Intermediate Court in July this year. No verdict has yet been reached.

Meanwhile, 50-year-old Luo Yaping was sentenced this year. The former director of a district land and resources bureau in Fushun city, Liaoning province, received the death sentence in December. She was found to have taken bribes totaling more than a hundred million yuan. China's media has dubbed Luo the country's top female corrupt official.

Editor:Zhang Jingya |Source: CNTV.CN