BBC News with Mary Small
The authorities in Pakistan have lifted a detention order on the former Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto hours after stopping her from leaving her home in Islamabad. The United States welcomed the decision and reiterated that it was important for what it called "moderate forces" to work together to restore democracy. Ms Bhutto had wanted to lead a rally in nearby Rawalpindi against the imposition of the emergency rule. Chris Morris reports from Islamabad.
It was a day of political drama as Benazir Bhutto tried repeatedly to leave her house, only to be turned back by the riot police. Outside small groups and her party workers turned up to shout slogans of support, before being frog-marched away. At one stage, Ms Bhutto reached a barricade close to the main road. From there she spoke to the media, calling again for General Musharraf to leave his post as head of the army and hold elections on schedule. Late in the evening, the authority announced that her detention order had been rescinded, but under emergency regulation, it could be re-imposed at short notice.
More details have been emerging about the fraud and conspiracy charges that have been leveled against the former New York police commissioner Bernard Kerik, who served as police chief under the then mayor of New York Rudolph Giuliani. The charges against Mr. Kerik were announced the news media by the US Attorney for the southern district of New York City Michael Garcia. "Today we announce the unsealing of an indictment, charging former New York City police commissioner Bernard Kerik with conspiring to receive over a quarter of a million dollars in free renovations from a contractor doing business with the city of New York, with tax crimes and with lying to the Federal Government.
Mr Kerik has pleaded not guilty on all counts. Correspondents say the case is likely to be a major embarrassment for Mr Giuliani, who is the front-runner for the Republican Party’s nomination as presidential candidate.
The Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper has announced an investigation into the country's former leader Brian Mulroney over his dealings with the German businessman Karlheinz Schreiber wanted on tax evasion and fraud charges. Mr Harper said the bribery allegations against the former Prime Minister couldn't be ignored. Lee Carter reports from Toronto.
Up until recently, the German businessman Karlheinz Schreiber has maintained that he had paid Mr. Mulroney more than $200,000 after the former Canadian Prime Minister stepped down in 1993. But in an affidavit on Thursday, Mr. Schreiber, who is currently challenging imminent extradition from Canada to face fraud charges in Germany. Now alleges that the payments were discussed before Mr. Mulroney left as Prime Minister. It was this key difference in the allegations that prompted the current Prime Minister Stephen Harper to act. Mr. Mulroney, who was Prime Minister between 1984 and 1993, denies the allegations against him.
World News from the BBC.
The governor of California Arnold Schwarzenegger has declared a state of emergency to help fight an oil spill from a container ship in San Francisco Bay. The accident happened when a container ship struck the bay bridge in thick fog on Wednesday. Peter Bowes reports from Los Angles.
50,000 gallons of oil leaked into the sea, causing a dense slick to disperse on the northern California coastline. There's been criticism that the initial response to the spillage was too slow. Governor Schwarzenegger's emergency order means additional resources will be released to fund the clean-up operation, in his words, without wasting a minute of time. It's the biggest oil spill that hit the region since 1996 when fuel leaked out of a ship that was under going repairs.
Somalia's presidential envoy Abudulah S. has defended that the tactics of the Ethiopian army who have been fighting insurgents in the capital Mogadishu. He told the BBC that the Ethiopians were only responding to attacks by the insurgents. More than 70 people are reported to have been killed. Ethiopian troops supporting the interim government have been engaging in fierce reprisal attacks aimed at rebels after the mutilated body of an Ethiopian soldier was dragged through the city streets on Thursday.
The Dow Jones stock exchange index in New York has fallen again, closing down almost 2%. It's finished the week down more than 4% while markets in Asia and Europe also closed heavily down on the past five days trading. Analysts say there remain expectations that banks face further losses in the US home loans market.
Reno has disclosed it's suspended an engineer who bought technical data with him from the MacLaren when he joined the Reno Formula One team more than a year ago. Reno said the man was suspended two months ago after officials found he loaded MacLaren drawings onto his database without the knowledge of anyone in authority.
Glossary
imposition n.
1. 征税，负担
double imposition 2. 复税
taxes and public imposition 3. 税收及政府课征
imposition of surcharge 4. 征收附加税
5. 强迫接受，过分的要求
It's an imposition to ask the workers to work sixteen hours a day.
要求工人每天工作十六个小时，真是太过份了。
listened to the telephone solicitor but resented the
imposition
听着电话游说者讲话但对其要求感到厌烦
frog-march vi: 反剪手前进
rescind vt.
1. 废除，取消；撤消，解除
rescind a contract
2. 取消合同
3. [古、主喻]扫除、删除