Category: news

The Colombian government says it will relocate thousands of people left homeless by torrential rain and floods to properties seized from drug dealers.

Minister of the Interior German Vargas Lleras said the government had drawn up a decree that would allow flood victims to temporarily live on land confiscated from drug lords.

Hundreds of thousands of people have lost their homes in the worst floods in Colombia for four decades.

A state of emergency remains in effect.

‘Prime properties’

The Colombian government has passed a raft of measures to raise extra funds to finance the rehousing of those left homeless by the torrential rains and the floods that followed.

The government hopes the drugs-land rule will allow it to relocate some of them quickly and cost-effectively.

Under the new decree, land seized from drug traffickers can be used to build camps and shelters, whereas before it had to be used profitably, such as for agriculture or cattle-grazing.

Juan Carlos Restrepo, who heads the Colombian Anti-narcotics Agency, a government body that controls assets seized from drug traffickers, says these “narco lands” are perfect for housing flood victims.

“These are some of the best properties in the whole country, because the drug traffickers never bought inferior land,” Mr Restrepo told the BBC.

“Hardly any of it has flooded, because the narcos made sure to buy land far away enough from the flood plains,” he added.

He said some of the landholdings were huge and would allow the government to house many of those displaced by the rains.

Those relocated will not be able to take over the land for good.

But the government has promised it will let flood victims stay for as long as it takes for them to find more permanent homes.

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The US, UK and Germany have criticised the new six-year sentence imposed by a Russian court on former oil tycoon Mikhail Khodorkovsky.

Khodorkovsky, who is near the end of an eight-year term for tax evasion, has been told he will stay jailed till 2017 for embezzlement and money-laundering.

The US said the new sentence seemed to be an abuse of Russia’s legal system.

Russia has not yet responded, but previously rejected Western criticism of the guilty verdict as interference.

After the sentencing, US state department spokesman Mark Toner said Washington was concerned by the apparent “abusive use of the legal system for improper ends, particularly now that Khodorkovsky and [former business partner Platon] Lebedev have been sentenced to the maximum penalty”.

Later an unnamed senior US administration official, quoted by Reuters news agency, said the sentencing might complicate Russia’s expected entry to the World Trade Organisation in 2011.

German Chancellor Angela Merkel said she was “disappointed” by the sentence.

“The impression remains that political motives played a role in the trial,” she said in a statement.

And UK Foreign Secretary William Hague said he was deeply concerned and urged Russia “to respect the principles of justice and apply the rule of law in a non-discriminatory and proportional way”.

“In the absence of this the UK and much of the international community will regard such a trial as a retrograde step,” Mr Hague added.

Once seen as a threat to former President Vladimir Putin, he was found guilty along with Lebedev of stealing billions of dollars from their own oil firm, Yukos, and laundering the proceeds.

Their lawyers are expected to appeal but if Khodorkovsky does remain in jail until 2017, it will mean he does not return to society until well after the next Russian presidential election.

Some analysts have suggested he could otherwise pose a political threat to the Kremlin’s candidate in 2012.

Khodorkovsky and Lebedev were first arrested in 2003 and sentenced in 2005 for fraud and tax evasion.

On Thursday, the court in Moscow sentenced the two men to 14 years in prison, to run concurrently with the eight-year term handed down in 2005.

The term includes time served since the two men’s arrest.

Judge Viktor Danilkin had been reading the 800-page verdict out since Monday.

Khodorkovsky could “only be reformed by being isolated from society”, the judge said.

As sentence was passed, the defendant’s mother shouted at the judge: “May you and your offspring be damned!”

The two defendants themselves, however, are said to have reacted calmly to the decision.

Supporters have held rallies outside the courthouse to condemn Mr Putin and the Kremlin.

Defence lawyer Yury Shmidt told reporters that the sentence amounted to “lawlessness”.

He accused the Russian authorities “headed by Putin” of leaning on the justice system.

“Putin signalled to the court who today is the boss and who today decides Khodorkovsky’s fate and life,” he added.

Mr Putin referred to Khodorkovsky in a televised question-and-answer session last week, when he said he believed “a thief belongs in prison”.

The defence has argued that the charges were absurd since the amount of oil said to have been embezzled would be equivalent to the entire production of Yukos in the period concerned.

After tax police filed enormous claims for unpaid taxes against Yukos, Khodorkovsky’s old company filed for bankruptcy in 2006.

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The Canadian government introduces new rules that will force tobacco companies to place larger, more graphic warning labels on cigarette packs.

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The UN secretary general warns supporters of Ivory Coast incumbent Laurent Gbagbo that an attack on rival Alassane Ouattara’s HQ “could reignite civil war”.

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It’s been a busy year for news events around the world and you have helped to tell many of the big stories. In this round up of 2010, our reporter Nick Davis looks back at the contribution from our BBC News audience.

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At least two people are killed and 14 wounded in a series of attacks targeting Christians in the Iraqi capital, Baghdad.

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NI Water have warned it could be next week before all homes and businesses in Northern Ireland are reconnected.

Ministers in NI are to hold an emergency meeting to discuss how to help the 32,000 people still affected as it emerged that two hospitals have experienced supply problems.

South Tyrone Hospital in Dungannon has been relying on the NI Fire Service and bottled water.

Lagan Valley Hospital in Lisburn was without water for a number of hours.

Eighty villages and towns have been affected as pipes burst in the thaw.

Around 18,000 customers are still affected in the Belfast area, 5,000 in the eastern part of Northern Ireland and 8,000-9,000 in the western area.

Trevor Haslett, director of engineering at NI Water, said the situation in urban areas was improving and should be better by Friday afternoon.

However, he added: “It could be early next week before everybody is on supply.”

Mr Haslett said over a period of 12 hours the company suffered more burst service pipes than he could remember for 35 years.

The company has invested £150m in water mains over the past three years, replacing 1% of the system but in other parts of the UK almost double the amount of infrastructure had been replaced, he said.

“If NIW received more money for water mains we could increase the rate of renewal,” Mr Haslett said.

The company has admitted that substantially more people have been affected over the period of the shortages.

It said much of the extra 250m litres it has released into the system has already leaked out – some of its through its own own distribution system, but most because of damaged pipes on private property.

The Stormont Executive will discuss what further measures can be taken at a meeting on Thursday afternoon.

One man queuing for water in east Belfast said his water service has been interrupted since just after Christmas.

“It is just terrible, having to queue for water. It just should not happen,” he told the Associated Press.

NI Water, a state-owned company, which is the sole provider of water and sewerage services in Northern Ireland, said an unprecedented number of leaks caused by the thaw following the long period of freezing weather had been putting “big pressure” on its systems.

The thaw followed the worst snow in Northern Ireland in 25 years and record cold temperatures.

As temperatures rose, burst pipes drained reservoirs, forcing NI Water to turn off the tap to the 80 locations.

Some people have been without water for 12 days.

BBC Northern Ireland’s political editor Mark Devenport said there was recognition that NI Water’s engineers were struggling to deal with an unprecedented number of call-outs, but there was also general condemnation of the company’s inability to communicate better with its increasingly angry consumers.

The Stormont Executive has accepted help from Scotland and sent civil service staff to help out at NI Water’s call centre.

Minister for Employment and Learning Danny Kennedy said: “I think the public are looking for answers and there must be an immediate response from not only the Executive but also NI Water itself.”

The interim chairman of NI Water, Padraic White, admitted its response had been unsatisfactory.

Northern Ireland Secretary Owen Paterson said that while the Westminster government had a lot of pressures on its budget, it was also ready to help.

He said Northern Ireland’s infrastructure had suffered over the years and that changes were now needed.

NI Water is now operating water “black outs” where householders’ supplies are interrupted for a period of six to eight hours, then turned back on again.

Planned times for when supplies will be switched off, for a period of time, and then restored are indicated on the major incident page on its website.

Local councils are working to supply water and offer free showers to people without a mains supply and information is being provided on the NI Water website.

In a statement, the Utility regulator said the priority for the rest of this week was to let NI Water manage and restore supplies as a matter of urgency.

“We have asked for a meeting with NI Water early next week to discuss the company’s performance,” a spokesman said.

More information is available from the NI Water website, or telephone hot line: 08457 440088, on Ceefax 169 and BBC News Online.

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Micky Adams leaves Port Vale to take over as manager of hometown club Sheffield United.

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US politician Christine O’Donnell, who unsuccessfully ran for Delaware’s senate seat, denies claims she improperly used campaign funds.

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Olympic Marathon champion Samuel Wanjiru is charged with threatening to kill his wife by a court in Kenya.

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The judge at the second trial of imprisoned Russian oligarch Mikhail Khodorkovsky has ruled out a suspended sentence.

His former business partner Platon Lebedev likewise faces a new prison sentence, correspondents report.

“Khodorkovsky and Lebedev may only be reformed if they are isolated from society,” the judge’s verdict says.

The two men were convicted of fraud on Monday but the reading of the 800-page verdict has still to be completed.

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The Yemeni government begins freeing hundreds of northern Shia rebels as part of a peace deal, officials say.

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A Polish judge jails a Swedish man for 32 months for plotting the theft of the “Arbeit macht frei” Auschwitz entrance sign.

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A US aid worker is released from a prison in Haiti after a judge declines to charge him over allegations he kidnapped an infant from a hospital.

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A 65-year-old man has been arrested on suspicion of the murder of landscape architect Joanna Yeates.

Police said the man was arrested just after 0700 GMT at an address in Canynge Road, in the Clifton area of Bristol, where 25-year-old Miss Yeates lived.

Miss Yeates’ body was discovered on Christmas Day, eight days after she disappeared. She had been strangled.

The arrested man is understood to be her landlord, Chris Jefferies, who lives in a flat above hers.

Miss Yeates was last seen alive on 17 December, when she was seen on CCTV visiting an off licence and two supermarkets near her home.

Her boyfriend, Greg Reardon, with whom she lived, reported her missing two days later when he returned home from visiting family in Sheffield.

Miss Yeates’ body was found in Longwood Lane, in Failand near Bristol, by a couple walking their dogs.

Mr Jefferies is being detained for questioning at a police station within the Avon and Somerset force area.

A police spokesman said: “Detectives investigating Joanna’s murder are continuing to carry out forensic examinations, and are also continuing to appeal for anyone with any information that can help the enquiry to call the Operation Braid incident room.”

Police are removing a silver car from the street where Joanna lived and are also focusing on a second vehicle in the street.

Miss Yeates’ keys, mobile phone, purse and coat had been left behind at her flat and forensic examiners have said there was no sign of a forced entry or a struggle at the property.

Mr Jefferies, 65, reportedly told police he saw three people, one of whom he believed was the landscape architect, leaving the Victorian block of flats.

The retired public school teacher said he spotted the trio shortly after 2100 GMT on 17 December, not long after Miss Yeates arrived home alone, as he parked his car in the street.

Mr Jefferies reported the sighting to police who have confirmed they are examining the evidence.

But speaking outside his home yesterday, Mr Jefferies denied he had told police he saw Miss Yeates leaving with two unidentified people.

Miss Yeates is known to have left the Ram pub, on Park Street, at about 2000 GMT on the night she disappeared.

Police have issued CCTV images of her then visiting a Waitrose store on The Triangle, a Bargain Booze shop, and a Tesco Express near her flat.

She bought a pizza at the Tesco store but while the receipt was found at her flat, no trace has been found of the food or its wrapper.

Crimestoppers has offered a £10,000 reward for information leading to the arrest and conviction of her killer.

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