BBC News with Jonathan Wheatley
The man accused of killing 77 people in Norway last July has pleaded not guilty to acts of terror and (mass murder) at the opening day of his trial. Anders Behring Breivik admitted carrying out a bombing following a shooting rampage in and around the capital Oslo, but denied criminal responsibility. He said he was acting in (self-defence). Steve Rosenberg was at the court.
As the trial began, Breivik announced he was refusing to recognise the court's authority. Then prosecutors read out the names of his victims with details of their (horrific injuries). Breivik displayed no emotion. He stared down at a folder that contained a list of those he'd killed and maimed. It was only when the court was shown his YouTube video depicting him as a crusader against multiculturalism and Islam that Anders Behring Breivik appeared moved to tears.
The Spanish government has denounced what it called the "hostile" and "arbitrary" announcement by Argentina of plans to (nationalize) a Spanish-controlled oil company. The Argentine President Cristina Fernandez said she wanted her government to take a 51% stake in the company YPF, which had been privatised in the 1990s. Vladimir Hernandez in Buenos Aires has more details.
The announcement puts an end to weeks of (speculation) about whether the government would move to take back YPF. This uncertainty had been having a critical effect on the valuation of the Argentine oil company in the financial markets as its shares had lost at least 40% of its value since the start of the year. The Argentine President Cristina Fernandez de Kirchner said her government would now send a (draft bill) to congress to take over 51% of YPF, which in effect nationalises most of the shares owned by the Spanish company.
The board of the World Bank has chosen an American academic, Jim Yong Kim, as its new president despite an (unprecedented) challenge from a non-American candidate. Doctor Kim is an expert on health issues in the developing world. Andrew Walker reports from Washington.
Jim Yong Kim was a surprise choice when President Obama nominated him. His predecessors were all American, but they were either political figures or financiers. He is neither. What he does have is knowledge of (health problems), and that is an important part of the bank's work. For the first time there were other candidates, and they offered wider experience of economic development, which is the bank's main business. The American nominee can, however, expect support from Europe as a (long-standing) deal gives the bank to an American and the top job at the IMF to a European.
The United States has warned that heightened violence in Syria threatens the viability of sending 200 UN ceasefire monitors to the country. The warning from the American ambassador to the United Nations, Susan Rice, comes on the day an advance group of six monitors started work in Damascus. Opposition activists say (heavy shelling) by government forces has continued in Homs, and 30 people were killed.
World News from the BBC
