World News from the BBC

There's been a double suicide bomb attack on a provincial government compound in the town of Ramadi, about 100km west of Baghdad. Officials said around 15 people were killed and dozens injured when a minibus exploded, closely followed by a suicide bomber on foot.

Iraq's new oil minister says oil

output

has reached its highest level for 20 years. The current output, at least 2.6 million barrels a day, still

falls short of

the three million barrels a day the country was producing in the late 1980s. Here's our business reporter Alex Ritson.

Iraq's oil industry has struggled for many years, despite the fact that the country has the fourth largest reserves of crude in the world. Production has been seriously

hamper

ed by military operations, paramilitary attacks, international sanctions and the lack of investment in infrastructure. But its fortunes may finally be starting to turn. Over the last two years, 15 oil and gas deals have been done with international companies to exploit the country's reserves. The aim is to raise daily output to around 12 million barrels a day within the next six years.

Nine men in Britain charged in connection with an alleged plot to attack targets in London in the run-up to Christmas have been

remand

ed in custody. The suspects, aged between 19 and 28, are from the English Midlands, South Wales and London. They were arrested in raids a week ago. They were charged with conspiracy to cause explosions and preparing acts of terrorism. They'll appear in court again next month.