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small businesses to major corporations. what can we do for you? >> and now "bbc world news." >> venezuelas president is right to rule by decree. the opposition says that this is a power grab. victims of bernie madoff set to recoup half of the money lost by the jailed finance year. president obama signed into law an extension of bush tax cuts. welcome to bbc news broadcasting to our viewers in america and around the world. president mugabe says that the power-sharing deal with this opposition has run its course.

the venezuelan parliament has voted to give the president hugo chavez special powers to deal with the aftermath of the floods. he will be able to pass laws by decree for 18 months. opposition groups have accused the president of trying to grab power. >> it is a decision that is outraging opposition parties. president hugo chavez given 18 months worth of decree powers. powers he says that he needs to deal with last month's deadly flood. his critics say the move will turn the country into a dictatorship. >> a preliminary vote went overwhelmingly in the president's favor. perhaps unsurprisingly, the final vote has now done so too.

a decision made by the national assembly dominated by loyalists from his socialist party. following september's elections here, the president's parliamentary supporters in the last few weeks in session. a new parliament will start sitting in january with more opposition mp's making it more difficult for hugo chavez to pass new laws. the fast-track powers now granted me is that he can rule by decree until mid 2012. >> earlier, i spoke to the americas editor who explains the significance of the new powers of president chavez. >> they are extremely significant, that means that he can rule directly without having to worry about what of the opposition in parliament says. a new parliament which is due to take office next month will have a much larger opposition representation which would have

been able to limit his power to pass laws. that one out of be the case. mr. chavez says his main priority would be to address the very real emergency caused by the worst range -- rains in a decade. he has made no secret of the fact that he will use his powers to deepen his social revolution and his effort to transform venezuelan society. >> a reelection campaign will take place in december of 2012, near the end of this power of tikrit. how will this affect that election process? >> mr. chavez having the power to rule by decree put him in a much stronger position to influence the vote in 2012. politics is very much polarized between supporters of mr. chavez and the opposition. that was reflected in the parliamentary vote. it was about 50/50. mr. chavez usually does better than his party so he is very

much the favorite but with the opposition effectively excluded from influence political policy, it will be difficult for them to make their mark politically. >> how do you think that this relationship will develop as these powers of tikrit continue? >> what it means that he can ignore congress and to govern without referring to it. that is why the opposition is so in rage. they see the timing of this is very cynical. they are really worried about that he will use these powers to take venezuela for the towards a communist dictatorship following the model of cuba. he will use the power to nationalize all businesses. he will make sure that he will not able to removed from power. >> the situation on the peninsula out is -- and there is

enormous about a potential for miscalculation. the envoy has acted as president obama as a troubleshooter. -- president obama's troubleshooter. he says that he should act with restraint. the trusty who was recovering funds from bernie madoff has made a multibillion-dollar discovery. he received $7.2 billion from the scheme. that means that roughly half of the money lost in this window will be -- lost in the fraud scheme will be given back. >> bernie madoff arrived in court from prison looking somber. the authorities have been trying to get back some of his ill- gotten gains which includes a

manhattan penthouse and other properties in palm beach, florida. his victims to claim that the bank's work implicit campaign for justice. now there is a florida businessman who has agreed to return more than $7 billion, about 1/3 of the money investors lost. >> this represents the largest forfeiture recovery in u.s. history. the settlement provides a significant measure of hope for the many victims of bernie madoff's crimes, crimes which were described as extraordinarily evil. the settlement is the most substantial to date in the ongoing effort to make the victims hold. >> the widow says that what she was confident that her husband was in no with implicit in the fraud, she was happy to repay the money. while it boost the recovery fund to nearly $10 billion, this

might not be bernie madoff's last day in court as authorities try to find the remaining cash. >> president obama has signed into law an extension of his predecessors huge tax cuts including those for the wealthiest americans. this ends months of bitter political wrangling between the president and his democratic party which wanted to make tax increases for the wealthy. >> here we go. >> a deceptively simple stroke of the pen but this was a hard-1 legislation. weeks of horsetrading produce a deal that no one loved but most could live with. >> there are some elements of this legislation that i don't like. there is some piece is that members of my party do not like. there is some that republicans here today don't like.

that is the nature of compromise. yielding on something each of us cares about to move forward on what all of us care about. >> the $858 billion deal includes a two-year extension to the bush tax cuts for all americans including the highest earners. an extension of jobless benefits for 13 months, and $400 billion in tax cuts and credit which end up boosting the economy. >> the motion is adopted. >> it looked like the very model of bipartisanship, roughly the same number of republicans and democrats voted for the bill but many did so with gritted teeth. democrats are furious that their own president has reneged on his promise to end the bush tax cuts. >> this gives away one at a $20 billion to the super rich. this bill will kill our children with a very little input or benefit at the moment.

>> this is so irresponsible it contradicts everything as democrats that we have been fighting for for generations. >> republicans are also uncomfortable with the deal. rather than cutting government spending, one of their primary goals, they have just added $850 billion to the deficit. the incoming speaker of the house defended the deal and insisted that his party would get back on message in the new year. >> in the beginning of january, the house will become the outpost in washington for the american people and their desire for a smaller and more accountable government. the president's agenda might be the agenda of washington but the agenda of this house will be the agenda of the american people. >> president obama is being called the comeback kid. a deal maker who is able to push his legislative agenda through

divided congress. to the left, this looks like a huge disappointment. ultimately, most americans would not care about the political hand wringing as long as they see some improvement in their own lives. >> zimbabwe's president has declared that the country's power-sharing government should not carry on. robert mugabe said that there should be elections early next year. he is also stressing -- threatening to seize foreign- owned businesses in response to western-backed sanctions. >> robert mugabe has been forced to share power and he still has the red carpet treatment with neal rights with his wife. this, the party's annual conference is certainly the last before elections. he sounded the death knell for the unity deal, a deal which brought former opponents together.

>> we agreed to work together in the global political agreement come as a compromise. knew that this would not be a permanent agreement. -- we knew that this would not be a permanent agreement. >> the combination of the two parties has been fraught with difficulty. promised electoral reforms are not in place and the expiration of the deal could not come soon enough for many here. the party faithful, this was once the promise of land that helped to secure votes. now, it is minerals and foreign assets. there is a planned to take majority shareholding some british and other foreign firms. if they fail to lift targeted sanctions and those close to him -- lift targeted sanctions

against the president and those close to him, they will seize firms. >> we will read the riot act to the british and others. unless you remove the sanctions, we will take 1%. >> -- we will take 100%. >> we are ready. there's nothing to stop us. we would like an inclusive government. we don't want to know about anything else. >> they are ready for the election? >> why. >> because they don't care about this kind of government. >> the president fired the starting pitcher -- pistol for the campaign and his and will be to recover some of the lost ground from last time around. they are now on an unstoppable mission. some people might think that sounds like a threat. >> the united states says that time is running out for the

president of the ivory coast to relinquish power and hand over to the man recognized as the winner of the presidential election. the main city remains tense. u.s. officials in charge of west african affairs say that washington was preparing a number of measures including a travel ban on the president and his family and a move to close of his finances. officials of pakistan say more than 50 people have been killed in a series of attacks by pilotless american aircraft or drums. they say that the dead are members of the pakistani taliban and militant supporters although this cannot be confirmed. the united states says that they are setting up a special panel to investigate the source of a cholera epidemic in haiti. some have planned this on u.n. peacekeepers from the paul. there's evidence that the peacekeepers brought choleric into haiti but studies have said

that middle east troops for the most likely source. you are watching "the bbc news," still to come. why hundreds of squatter families have that america's big is -- as their permanent home. -- latin america's biggest -- as their permanent home. the government temporary cap on non eu migrants coming to the u.k. has been declared unconstitutional. >> today's case was about foreign workers from the philippines. the government would like to cut the number of visas issued to regain control over the immigration system. this woman is a qualified care worker. a job that many british workers will not do.

so worried about restrictions, they have a court challenge. 28,000 skilled the general work visas are issued. in july, a cap of 24,100 pieces was set -- visas was set. a new cap will be permanently introduced of 21,000. the high court said that when the new immigration rules were drawn up, the actual interim figures were not clear making it easy for the home secretary to change them in the future. the gun against -- the government's immigration website did not say what the numbers would be. in long, there has been no limits for since july. >> there were no limits. these are actually on lawful. the decision to refuse them are unlawful and therefore those certificates will be reinstated

within -- by the u.k. border agency. >> home office officials hope not. they believe that new rules on precise limits could be drawn up within days. the judgment has noted the impact on the longer-term caps. -- has no impact on the longer- term caps. >> the president of venezuela has been granted to the right to pass laws by decree. the opposition says this is a power grab. victims of the disgraced businessman bernard madoff bern -- bernie madoff are set to recoup some of the money. some areas of the u.k. are experienced their heaviest snowfall in 8 generations. temperatures could fall as low as minus 20 degrees celsius. there has been chaos on the

roads across wales, northern ireland, scotland, and parts of england. more is on the way. >> north, south, east, west, almost every inch of northern ireland was covered in a thick blanket of snow. today, this part of the emerald isle turned completely white. getting to work was the ultimate uphill task with snow and ice causing havoc. some vehicles were simply abandoned. on a day when even the professionals at times struggled to cope. across northern ireland, 700 schools at the close. that is more than half of the total number. >> this is the worst. the kids enjoy it. >> this was the scene at belfast city airport on what is normally the busiest day of the week. nothing coming in, nothing going

out and nothing for passengers to do but wait to and wait. >> every other country in the world has snow. northern ireland comes to a standstill. >> 20 centimeters fell last night. it was a similar picture in the north and northeast of scotland. the police warned drivers to make only essential drivers. conditions in some parts of the u.k. for the worst imaginable. traveling by foot was not easy either. conditions were not much better in wales, particularly in the north and east. 30 centimeters of snow fell on high ground. >> i have been there for about an hour and a half and we have

had four or 5 inches of snow. >> all of the trucks are stuck. >> back in northern ireland, and dozens of christmas parties for cancelled this evening as those who made it to work just wanted to get home. the snowfall here was the worst for 25 years but tonight isn't looking much better. emergency weather warnings have been issued. this is for half of northern ireland. overnight snow is also forecast for wales and the southwest of england. in some places, it started already. >> the chinese prime minister is in pakistan for a three-day visit where he will sign billions of dollars worth of trade deals. he is expected to reassure pakistan that they are an important partner despite the growing partnership between

china and india. >> there is no diplomatic -- here, pakistan and china are close allies. they consider washington to only be a fair weather friend but china has always stood by their side. they're likely to be more convinced by that after this visit after the new trade deals. the oil and gas sector, i.t. and telecom, mining, and a nuclear power program are all likely to benefit further. they have been facing frequent gas and electric's -- and electricity shortages. maybe trade is the focus of this visit, historically the foundation of the relationship between the two countries has been military links. china has provided pakistan with military hardware but what does

pakistan have to give in return? they are offering themselves as a trade route. this would give chinese quicker access to valuable markets in the middle east and europe and an opportunity to build on that by developing industry in western china. >> the viability and the potential of this trade and energy is huge. china is certainly going to use this in 10 years. this will be very important for china. >> china has already invested heavily but this is still not fully functional. beijing will need more assurances about infrastructure and the security that will be provided if goods travel through pakistan. this is the pakistan-china friendship center which will be inaugurated by the prime minister during his visit. there are very few signs that

they will stop being friends any time in the near future. there is some recognition that pakistan has to do a bit more than offering up their strategic location and friendship if they're going to keep the chinese investing here. >> when it comes to investing in the future, a few things are as important than having a place to call home. for the people of the venezuela capital city, that is causing the loss that is quite a challenge. there is a housing shortage. >> this skyscraper was supposed to be -- billed as one of the tallest towers in south america, it was never completed after the company that owned it went bust in 1994. now hundreds of poor families have taken it over and they are building their homes inside of the structure.

this is the 20th floor and the views are what you expect from and expenses penthouse. this is no such thing. as you can see, the people are using what few resources they have to create simple housing high up from the chaos of the city. one such president is this woman who came to correct this in search of work and education for children. -- who came to caracas the in search of work and education. this is extremely dangerous, especially for her young child. >> it scares me. this is so dangerous and god only knows which could happen. this is so one safe. recently, a little girl fell 18 floors when and neighbor to occur i offer.

she felt her death. >> -- a little girl fell 18 floors when a neighbor took her eye off of her. >> this man took his -- this man changed his life and moved here. >> we all want to live in peace and harmony. we don't want of violence or drugs or bloodshed. none of this. we have installed plumbing and electricity and we are paying for everything legally said that if the date comes when the government tries to throw us out, we can show them that we have been trying to work in a legal framework. >> little by little the families have created social groups. the building is owned by the government who says they're working to resolve the issues of the illegal occupation. not everyone agrees with their

right to be here. the head of urban planning for the opposition sees the occupied tower block every day from her office window. >> for me, this is a symbol of anarchy, a symbol of lack of government and public inefficiency. there are several other buildings like this in caracas. they should have been auctioned, that would have been generating more employment. >> every day, the residents take another small step towards converting this into a home. without the proper safety controls, it will always be risky for the family moved there. given the chronic housing shortage, this is a risk they're willing to take. >> planting more on that story and the other stories we have covered on the bbc news website.

-- plenty more on that story and other stories we've covered. >> hello and welcome. >> see the news unfold, get the top stories from around the globe and click to play video reports. go to bbc.com/news to experience the in-depth, expert reporting of "bbc world news" online. >> funding was made possible by the freeman foundation of new york, stowe, vermont, and honolulu. newman's own foundation. the john d. and catherine t. macarthur foundation. and union bank.

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