The Venezuelan parliament is discussing a law which would allow the President Hugo Chavez to rule by decree. If the delegates approve the move, Mr Chavez will be able to pass certain laws without the need to go through parliament. From Caracas, Will Grant reports.

What's known as the "enabling law" will give the president the right to rule by decree for, as he said on state television, at least six months and a maximum of 18. Mr Chavez says he needs the powers in order to fast-track decisions to help the tens of thousands of people made homeless by recent floods, the worst in Venezuela in 40 years. But opposition leaders say the president is using the flooding as an excuse. In the new session of parliament in early January, the opposition will have sufficient numbers to block new laws and projects. They say Mr Chavez is trying to bypass parliament and impose authoritarian rule.

Will Grant in Caracas.

Washington says it believes that North Korea is operating at least one more uranium enrichment site than Pyongyang has so far acknowledged. The South Korean Foreign Minister Kim Sung-hwan also said that he suspected that there were additional nuclear facilities in North Korea.

That's the BBC News.

伦敦一名法官准许维基解密网创始人阿桑奇(Julian Assange)有条件的获得保释。阿桑奇因为披露了外交文件而激怒了美国政府。然而，阿桑奇现在仍被拘留，因为瑞典检控官希望将他引渡到瑞典进行性侵犯指控的审讯而提起上诉。他否认自己做了错事。Maddy Savage报道。