BBC News, I'm Michael Poles.
One of the main opposition leaders in Pakistan Nawaz Sharif has gone back on his previous intention to boycott next month's elections. A spokesman for Mr. Sharif's party said talks with the other opposition leader Benazir Bhutto had failed to reach agreement on a joint boycott. Ms Bhutto has made it clear she will contest the election despite serious objections. From Islamabad, Roland Buerk.
The announcement by the spokesman for Nawaz Sharif's PML-N appears to pave the way for the major parties to take part in Pakistan's parliamentary elections. Ahsan Iqbal told the BBC they would stand under protest. He said not to do so would leave the field clear for supporters of President Pervez Musharraf. Mr. Iqbal was speaking after a meeting of opposition leaders broke up with no agreement on a joint boycott. He said Nawaz Sharif's party's manifesto would be a single demand, namely the restoration of judges deposed by Pervez Musharraf to fend off possible challenges to his reelection as president while still army chief.
Heavy fighting continued into a third night for control of the southern Afghan town of Mushalaka which Afghan, U. S. and NATO troops are trying to retake from Taliban forces. The BBC correspondent in Kabul says the Taliban have been forced from their frontline positions and the Commander of international forces said the operation was going according to plan. A Taliban spokesman has said their aim is to inflict casualties before withdrawing.
African and European leaders meeting in Portugal have adopted a new strategic partnership agreement designed to forge common goals in the areas of security and democracy. But the two sides are unable to reach an agreement on trade, Mark Doyle reports from Lisbon.
The summit ended with commitment to an action plan which is hugely ambitious in scope. It covers ideas for ending armed conflict, increasing trade and respecting human rights. But there are massive challenges in all these areas: on peace, two planned peacekeeping operations in Sudan and Somalia are behind schedule; on trade, Africa has largely rejected European plans for more reductions in import taxes and on human rights, there was open conflict between Europe and the president of Zimbabwe Robert Mugabe who African leaders had insisted should attend.
A Canadian pig farmer Robert Pickton who is accused of being one of the country's most prolific killers has been found guilty of murdering six women. His trial on charges of murdering another twenty women has still to be scheduled. Ilyas Khan reports from Vancouver.
As the verdict was read, supporters of the family of the victims waiting outside the court cheered. Mr. Pickton now faces an automatic life sentence in prison. He can apply for parole in ten years. The ten-month trial heard from almost one hundred and thirty witnesses, considered thousands of pieces of forensic evidence and watched videos of interviews Mr. Pickton gave to the police. Mr. Pickton's lawyers argued that none of the evidence proved the farmer had murdered the women. But prosecutors said the evidence while circumstantial was more than enough to prove Mr. Pickton had been the murderer and the jury eventually agreed.
BBC News
There have been two shooting incidents at religious sites in Colorado in the western United States. Two people were killed when a gunman opened fire at a training center for missionaries in the state capital Denver early on Sunday. Just hours later at least four people were shot outside a church in Colorado Springs, about a hundred kilometers from the site of the first incident. Some reports speak of fatalities but this has not been confirmed.
Malaysian police have arrested a number of opposition activists who have been involved in a large demonstration in Kuala Lumpur a month ago calling for electoral reform. The arrests followed the detention earlier in the day of eight people at a lawyer's human rights protest. Correspondents said the Malaysian authorities had been anxious to halt any upsurging anti-government protest ahead of elections expected in the New Year.
The police chief of an Iraqi province has been assassinated in a roadside bomb attack south of Baghdad. The blast hit the convoy of major General Qais al-Mamouri, the police chief of Babil province near the town of Hilla. It is the latest in a number of attacks on security senior and political figures in southern Iraq. The Iraqi President Jalal Talebani said General al-Mamouri was a brave and loyal commander
The British Prime Minister Gordon Brown paying a pre-Christmas visit to British troops in southern Iraq has confirmed that responsibility for security in Basra province will be handed over to the Iraqi government within the next two weeks. Our correspondent Gitta Harry sent this report from Basra.
The Prime Minister landed under the cover of darkness paying his third visit to British troops here in Basra this year. Gordon Brown paid them the warmest tributes. He also insisted their mission had not been a failure. Why, because the Iraqi Prime Minister had just told him he was ready to take control of this province and that a formal handover could take place before Christmas. British troops will then formally change from performing what is known as a combat role to that of overwatch.
And that is the latest BBC News.
glossary
parole
n.
1. 誓言；（俘虏的）释放宣誓
2. [军] （卫队军官所用的）特别口令，特别暗号
3. 假释许可；假释出狱；临时入境许可
vt.
1. 使（俘虏）宣誓后释放
2. 准许（犯人）假释出狱；许可（外国人）临时入境
[短语]
1. break one's parole
违誓，企图违誓脱逃
2. on parole
（俘虏）得宣誓释放
3. out on parole
（女子）离了婚的
forensic adj.
1. 法庭的
The poor peasent's son worked his way through
difficulties and finally became a specialist in forensic
medicine. 那个贫苦农民的儿子历经艰难困苦，终于成为一名法医专家。
2. 公开辩论[讨论]的，论争的
forensic ability 辩才
n.
1. 辩论练习
2. [pl. ][用作单或复]辩论学，辩论术