BBC News with Ian Perdon
The Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez has called on governments in Europe and the America's to stop treating two left wing Colombian rebel groups, the FARC and ELN, as terrorists. He made the comments a day after the FARC released two hostages they've been holding for more than five years. James Ingham reports from the Venezuelan capital Caracas.
The successful release of two high-profile Colombian hostages has been a personal try-on for President Chavez. Despite being removed from official negotiations, he maintained contact with the FARC, which resulted in freedom for Clara Rojas and Consuelo Gonzalez. While they began recovering from their ordeal, catching up on lost years with their families, Mr. Chavez urged the world to change its view of the guerillas. "They're a true army," he said, "They have a political project and must be recognized."
The United Nations has warned that half a million people in Kenya will need aid in the weeks ahead as the country's political crisis intensifies. Earlier, the main opposition party announced it would be resuming its campaign of mass demonstrations from next Wednesday. Imogen Foulkes reports.
"The UN Children’s Organization UNICEF estimates one in three children under five were already malnourished before this crisis. Now with hundreds of thousands of displaced people with no jobs or income, the situation for many children could become critical. The World Food Program has begun distributing food to 33,000 people in the slums around Nairobi. A WFP spokeswoman said that at the moment supplies were getting through unhindered, but as the political crisis in Kenya continued the situation, she added, remained extremely volatile."
A court in New York has jailed the former American sprinter Marion Jones for six months for lying about using illegal performance-enhancing drugs and involvement in financial fraud. It completes a dramatic fall from Greece for Jones who captivated the world of athletics by winning three gold and two bronze medals at the Sydney Olympics. The sentence comes three months after Jones admitted that she took steroids before and after the Olympics and that she was involved in a check fraud scheme. She's already been stripped of her medals.
Doctors treating the former Indonesian president Suharto say his condition is very critical. The details were announced by his chief doctor Mardjo Subiandono. "This afternoon Suharto was in a highly critical condition. He lost consciousness. His breathing worsened. His blood pressure drops to 90 over 45. Medically speaking this was caused by multi-organ failure." Suharto who's 86 has been ill for some time. He was in power for more than 30 years before being forced out of office in 1998. He'd been charged with corruption but had repeatedly been found too ill to stand trial.
World News from the BBC.
A French Newspaper says Portuguese air traffic controllers have intercepted the message which outlines terrorism threats against targets in Paris, including the Eiffel Tower. The French Paper Le Monde said the message which is described as vague and confused was passed to French authorities after it was intercepted on short wave radio. The report said French security officials have noticed the increasing number of messages on the Islamist websites, describing possible terrorist attacks in France.
The former Beatle Ringo Starr has been performing in his home city of Liverpool to mark the start of its year as European capital of culture. An estimated 50,000 people gathered to hear Ringo sing on the roof of St. George's hall, the city's main concert venue. Liverpool shares the title of European capital of culture with the Norwegian town of Stavanger. Ringo Starr hoped that the city would regenerate parts of Liverpool which in the past has struggled with unemployment and poverty.
"I think it's really important. I mean, you know, Liverpool is a city so you've got both sides of the coin. It is Yin and Yang. And you know, yeah, there are some really nice posh restaurants, but you know, just two miles away. It's not so pretty. So I think it'll bring all of that into focus and who knows? I mean, I believe they are knocking the street I was brought up (in) down. And that's the end of it. You know, they'll build something else, let’s hope it’s better."
Meanwhile celebrations have also been taking place in the Syrian capital Damascus, which has been named the 2008 Arab capital of culture.
The former American football star O.J. Simpson has been taken into custody in Florida for allegedly violating the terms of his release on bail on armed robbery charges. He'll be taken to Las Vegas for a court hearing about the alleged breach. Simpson was arrested in September over allegation that he and several others robbed two dealers of sport memorabilia at gun point in a Las Vegas hotel room. He denies the charges and he is due to stand trial in April.
BBC News.