BBC News with Iain Purdon

The American Secretary of State Hillary Clinton has strongly condemned the newconvictionof one of Russia's best-known business tycoons, the former oil magnate Mikhail Khodorkovsky. Already in prison for tax evasion, Mr Khodorkovsky was found guilty of stealing about $27bn worth of oil and laundering the proceeds. Mrs Clinton said the case raised serious questions about selective prosecution and the rule of law. An opposition leader, Boris Nemtsov, said the decision was politically motivated.

"What is happening here has no relationwhatsoeverto law, humanity or justice. The judge is the person who will make public the political decisions primarily of one citizen, Vladimir Putin, who is suffering from an acute form of Khodorkovsky phobia. He needs to get treatment."

But the head of the foreign affairs committee in the Russian Duma, Konstantin Kosachev, rejected the suggestion that the verdict had been politically motivated.

"The only way of making the justice is to let itgo throughthe court, and the process is really very much politicised from all sides, but the only option is to accept the decision made by the court as it is the case in any legal state."

The African Union has asked the Kenyan Prime Minister Raila Odinga to lead its efforts to resolve the politicalstalematein Ivory Coast. The crisis was sparked by the refusal of the incumbent President Laurent Gbagbo tocedepower to the man internationally recognised as having won last month's presidential election, Alassane Ouattara. As John James reports from Abidjan, the atmosphere remains tense.

A general strike called by political parties that back Alassane Ouattara was announced late on Sunday night andinitiallychanged little here on the ground. This evening local time, the taxis and buses were starting to go on strike, and workers are rushing home early to avoid getting caught out. The atmosphere is tense. Everyone fears a military intervention in the coming weeks.

Meanwhile, supporters of Alassane Ouattara have peacefully taken over the Ivory Coast embassy in Paris. The move came after France, the former colonial power, recognised Mr Ouattara's proposed envoy as thelegitimateambassador.

Heavy snow and high wind continues to cause widespread disruption across a large area of the northeast of the United States as some of the worst weather in recent years sweeps across the region. Jonny Dymond reports.

It's not just the scale of the snow that has thrown the northeast coast into transport chaos, it's also the speed of it. In a matter of hours, 30, 40, in one place almost 75cm of snow fell.Six states have declared a state of emergency. In New York, all three airports remain closed. Some passengers spent hours on board grounded planesonly todisembarkand spent an uncomfortable night in the terminals.

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 oiloutputhas reached its highest level for 20 years. The current output, at least 2.6 million barrels a day, stillfalls short ofthe 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 seriouslyhampered 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 beenremanded 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.

The Indian government has launched a research and conservation project into salt-resistant plant species or halophytes. Experts say much agricultural land is being lost through the inflow of seawater in coastal areas and the rising salinity of river water. The research station on the coast of the southern state of Tamil Nadu is to explore the agricultural use of salt-resistant plants.

BBC News

1.conviction n.定罪;确信,信服,信念,判罪,证明有罪

2.whatsoever pron.无论什么

例句：All things whatsoever ye would that men should do to you,do ye even so to them.

你想别人对你怎样,你就怎样对人。

3.stalemate n.僵持状态,僵局,陷于困境,胶着状况

例句：The stalemate in the trade talks continues.

贸易谈判的僵持仍在继续。

4.cede vt.让给, 割让;放弃

例句：As a result of a series of European wars, Florida was ceded to England.

一系列欧洲战事的结果是佛罗里达被割让给英国。

5.legitimate adj.合情合理的; 合法的

例句：Sickness is a legitimate reason for asking for leave.

生病是请假的一个正当的理由。

6.initially adv.开始,最初,起初

例句：Feathers initially developed from insect scales.

羽毛最初由昆虫的翅瓣演化而来。

7.disembark vt.vi.(使)登陆〔上岸〕

例句：The viscount disembarked its passagers at the airport.

子爵号飞机在机场下客。

8.output n.产量

例句：Grain output reached a new high in the three years.

谷物产量达到三年中最高水平。

9.hamper vt.妨碍, 束缚, 限制

例句：Prejudice sometimes hampers a person from doing the right thing.

有时候, 偏见会妨碍人正确行事。

10.remand vt.送回,归还,还押

例句：The accused was remanded in custody for a week.

被告还押候审一星期。

1.The only way of making the justice is to let it go through the court, and the process is really very much politicised from all sides.

go through检查, 审查, 搜查

例句：They went through our luggage at the customs.

海关人员仔细检查了我们的行李。

完成, 做完

例句：Let's go through the exercises.

咱们把这些练习做完。

2.It's not just the scale of the snow that has thrown the northeast coast into transport chaos, it's also the speed of it.

it is that强调句型

it 引导的强调句型，通常形式为：It be 被强调部分 that/who 句子其他成分。这种强调句由普通陈述句转换而来，用来强调句子的主语、宾语或状语。例如：

It was Tom's mother that / who bought Tom a bicycle on his birthday.

是汤姆的妈妈在汤姆生日那天给他买了辆自行车。

It was yesterday that I met him. 我是昨天见到他的。

在此类强调句中需要注意的是：

1)不管被强调部分是单数还是复数，其前一律用it is / was 而不能用 they are /were

It is the teachers who teach me very well. 这就是教我教得很好的老师。

2)被强调部分指人时，被强调部分可用that /who来指代；被强调部分指物时，被强调部分后只能用that 指代

It is this house that has a beautiful garden. 就是这个房子有一个美丽的花园。

3)强调部分指时间和地点时，被强调部分只能用that 指代，而不能用when, where 等指代

It was yesterday that I entered the school. 我是昨天进的学校。

3.Some passengers spent hours on board grounded planes only to disembark and spent an uncomfortable night in the terminals.

only to只是为了，竟然……

例句：He went to church only to mock.

他去教堂只想嘲笑宗教。

Fascism served only to hasten its destruction.

法西斯主义只是加速了它的毁灭。

4.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.

fall short of不足,缺乏,达不到

例句：Now, our supply fall short of demand.

现在，我们的产品供不应求。