Mahmoud Ahmadinejad's car auction gets '$1m bid'

2 January 2011 Last updated at 00:12 GMT

The white 1977 Peugeot 504 has sky-blue seats and less than 37,000km on the clock

A 33-year-old car owned by Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad that has been put up for auction has reportedly attracted an offer of $1m (£640,000).

Ahmad Esfandiari, head of Iran's welfare agency, was quoted by Iran's Irna news agency as saying that the bid had come from an Arab country.

Proceeds from the sale of the Peugeot 504 will go to a fund for homes for disabled people and to needy women.

Bidders have one month to submit offers for the car.

Earlier, officials had said they hoped the car would fetch more than the $2,000 (1,500 euros; £1,300) such cars usually sell for in Iran.

The sale comes at a time when Mr Ahmadinejad's government has cut food and energy subsidies, raising the cost of living substantially.

Veteran Hong Kong activist Szeto Wah dies

2 January 2011 Last updated at 12:41 GMT

Mr Szeto was a well-known critic of the Chinese regime

One of Hong Kong's most influential campaigners for democracy and human rights, Szeto Wah, has died after a long battle with cancer, aged 79.

He was a leading campaigner for the victims of Beijing's 1989 crackdown on protesters at Tiananmen Square.

Known as Uncle Wah, he was also a voice for mainland dissidents jailed by the Chinese government.

Originally a teacher, he started his political career as a leader of one Hong Kong's largest teachers' unions.

Along with others, he organised the Hong Kong Alliance in Support of Democratic Movements in China, which he headed until his death, and which routinely criticised Beijing for human-rights abuses.

A core member of the leading Democratic Party, he served as a legislator for almost 20 years.

The chief executive of Hong Kong, Donald Tsang, said Mr Szeto would be "dearly missed".

"Passionate about China and Hong Kong, Mr Szeto Wah was devoted in promoting democracy. Upright, industrious and unwavering in the pursuit of his ideals, Mr Szeto earned great respect from across the community," he said.

Chavez and Clinton shake hands amid diplomatic tension

2 January 2011 Last updated at 10:10 GMT

Mrs Clinton and Mr Chavez had an apparently amicable encounter in Brasilia

Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez and US Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton have shaken hands in an apparently amicable encounter at a time of tension between the two countries.

They chatted and smiled at the inauguration of Brazil's new president.

Last week, Venezuela refused to accept the nomination of the new US ambassador to Caracas because of comments he made against the country.

Washington then revoked the visa of the Venezuelan ambassador to the US.

Mr Chavez later described his encounter with Mrs Clinton as a pleasant one.

"We greeted each other," he told reporters at Brasilia's airport. "She had a very spontaneous smile and I greeted her with the same effusiveness."

Mr Chavez has not responded to the US government's decision to revoke the visa of Ambassador Bernardo Alvarez.

The two countries have long had reduced contacts due to the antagonism fed by Mr Chavez's condemnations of the US and by the US state department's criticisms of democracy in Venezuela, observers say.

Russia-China oil pipeline opens

2 January 2011 Last updated at 04:56 GMT

The pipeline runs between eastern Siberia and north-eastern China

The first oil pipeline linking the world's biggest oil producer, Russia, and the world's biggest consumer of energy, China, has begun operating.

The pipeline, running between Siberia and the northeastern Chinese city of Daqing, will allow a rapid increase in oil exports between the two countries.

Until now, Russian oil has been transported to China by rail.

Concentrated in western Siberia, Russia's network of pipelines for oil exports has so far run towards Europe.

Russia is expected to export 15m tonnes of oil through the new pipeline each year during the next two decades - about 300,000 barrels a day.

'New phase'

The project cost $25bn ($16bn) and was partly financed by Chinese loans.

Russia overtook Saudi Arabia as the world's largest oil producer in 2009.

China surpassed the US as the world's largest consumer of energy last year.

"The operation of the China-Russia crude oil pipeline is the start of a new phase in China-Russia energy co-operation," said Yao Wei, general manager of Pipeline Branch of Petro China, as he pushed a button near the Russia-China border to start the flow of oil.

Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin has said in the past that the pipeline would help Russia diversify its exports.

A second stage of construction on the pipeline is due to be finished by 2014. It will then span a distance of about 4,700 kms (2,900 miles).

iPhone alarms hit by New Year glitch

2 January 2011 Last updated at 12:10 GMT

Setting New Year single alarms was to no avail

A glitch on Apple's iPhone has stopped its built-in alarm clock going off, leaving many people oversleeping on the first two days of the New Year.

Angry bloggers and tweeters complained that they had been late for work, and were risking missing planes and trains.

Apple has acknowledged the problem and says it will be fixed by 3 January.

The reason has not been given but the glitch appears to affect single alarm settings on the Iphone 4 and earlier models with software updates.

A similar problem hit the iPhone alarm when the clocks went back in November, again causing many users to be late for work or for transport arrangements.

"We're aware of an issue related to non-repeating alarms set for January 1 or 2," Apple spokeswoman Natalie Harrison said in a statement quoted by Macworld.

"Customers can set recurring alarms for those dates and all alarms will work properly beginning January 3."

More than 1.7m people around the world had bought iPhone 4 handsets by June 2010, in what was the company's most successful product launch.

Spain's strict new anti-smoking rules take effect

2 January 2011 Last updated at 01:47 GMT

Anti-smoking rules introduced in 2006 let bars choose whether to ban smoking

A tough anti-smoking law has taken effect in Spain.

The ban - one of the strictest in Europe - outlaws smoking in all bars and restaurants. Smokers will also be prohibited on television broadcasts, near hospitals or in school playgrounds.

The law tightens anti-smoking restrictions introduced in 2006.

Spain has a strong cafe culture and the owners of bars and cafes have complained the law will hurt business.

The anti-smoking rules introduced in 2006 outlawed smoking in the workplace, but it let bar and restaurant owners choose whether or not to allow it. Most chose not to impose any ban.

Only large restaurants and bars were obliged to provide a smoke-free area.

Hotel, restaurant and bar owners have said they could face a 10% drop in trade with the new rules. The industry has already seen a sharp fall in sales due to Spain's economic problems.

But doctors argue the new legislation will help smokers give up.

Some 160 Spaniards a day die from smoking-related illnesses, four of them from passive smoking.

BBC News website readers in Spain have been sending in their comments

I'm Spanish and I'm a smoker, but I agree with some of these rules. I understand that it is quite annoying for a non-smoker to be in a pub or in a restaurant and find it difficult to breathe. Personally, I don't mind having to smoke outside a pub or a bar, basically because in countries such as England, Ireland and France people have been doing it for years and citizens have accepted it. It's me who decides to smoke and I have to go through some collateral damage if I want to respect non-smokers' right to breathe. But one rule that I find amusing is the prohibition of smoking in playgrounds (I have no objections as for hospitals). In theory, that would be OK if it weren't for the fact that adults who won't smoke in the playground so as not to damage their children, will do it at home, and who will supervise that? Veronica, Valencia

I'm delighted. Spain has an strong cafe culture, that's exactly why I'm expecting to be able to enjoy it from now on. Carmelo, Bilbao

This is only another page of liberties harassment, I don't see the problem if smokers are kept together standing and smoking in a cubicle at the airport. Our freedom is being battered, democracy is the government of majorities but it should also respect the minorities. Berto, Las Palmas

I am a Spaniard and I am currently in Spain. I am looking forward to this restriction taking effect. I do understand that people are free to choose whether to smoke or not... but, up to now smokers have enjoyed more freedom than non-smokers. Smokers benefit from public areas more than non-smokers, even when the highest percentage of the population are non-smokers. I have nothing to say if people want to smoke in their private places, in their home or car... I think it was Rousseau who said that your freedom in the community ends where my freedom begins. Inma, Sevilla

People in high places again making unpopular decisions. What gets me is this, they show us statistics but never proof, they tell us a ban such as this is to help people give up smoking but the sale of tobacco in the places where its use is banned goes on, just more control. In this town, like many, thousands of lorries pass through narrow streets and we all have to suffer the fumes. We all have a duty not to smoke near children that is logic more than law... But... going for a smoke. Tomas, Ermua, Basque Country

I am a passive smoker and I think it is a good law. The problem is the little bars and cafes. I don't like to eat in restaurants with a smoker near to me. In Europe people smoke in the street. I think smokers in Spain can smoke in the street. If they give up smoking, it will be better for them and Spanish society. Manuel, Figueres

I'm Spanish and I'm so happy for the new anti-smoking rules. Now it will be possible to enter any restaurant or bar without having to smell cigarettes all around. This is really good news. Since smoking was prohibited in some establishments in 2006 we have seen that in those restaurants where you can choose smoking or non-smoking area, the one which is always full of people is the non-smoking, that's the reason why I think that restaurants are not going to lose customers, people will just get used to it. Pilar, Lleida

Australian flooding claims first victim in Queensland

2 January 2011 Last updated at 04:07 GMT

The waters are still rising in the city of Rockhampton

A woman swept from the road in her car has become the first victim of widespread flooding in the Australian state of Queensland.

At least two other people have been reported missing.

More than 20 towns have already been cut off or flooded across an area larger than France and Germany, with more than 200,000 people affected.

In some areas waters are receding, but in Rockhampton - a city of 77,000 - they have yet to reach their peak.

The 41-year-old woman who was killed had been trying to cross the Leichhardt River on a causeway with one other car when both vehicles were swept away.

Analysis

Nick Bryant BBC News, Queensland

---

More than 20 towns and cities are facing the worst floods in living memory.

Rockhampton is the latest to be bracing itself for 9m floodwaters. The airport has been closed, a main highway has been shut and the local mayor is warning that more than 40% of the city could be flooded.

The Royal Australian Air Force has been brought in to deliver emergency accommodation for evacuated residents. Elsewhere, the rising waters have already inundated thousands of homes.

Police rescued eight people from the cars, but were unable to reach the woman. Her body was recovered later.

Costly damage

Rescue workers have also been searching for a man whose small fishing boat was swamped by flood waters in the mouth of the Boyne River, and for a swimmer who disappeared in the Fitzroy river, the Sydney Morning Herald reported.

There are fears that damage from the floods could cost billions of Australian dollars to repair.

Officials have warned that the mining, farming and tourism industries will all suffer.

Recovery efforts are beginning in some areas where flooding has subsided, including the severely affected towns of Emerald and Bundaberg.

Continue reading the main story

QUEENSLAND

• North-eastern Australian state
• Largely tropical climate
• Area: 1.73 million sq km (668,000 sq mile)
• Coastal regions, including Great Barrier Reef, designated World Heritage Site
• Mining and cattle ranching important inland

Residents are preparing to return home, though the towns of Theodore and Condamine, which were completely evacuated, remain empty.

In some areas, helicopters have been used to deliver supplies and food to cut-off householders.

Residents in Rockhampton have been leaving their homes for days as water levels continue to rise.

The mayor there, Brad Carter, has warned that about 40% of the city could be affected.

The airport has been closed to commercial flights, and roads into the city from the south and the west have been cut off.