http://192.168.2.6/music/20061014/1011.mp3

The United Nations Security Council has been quick to issue a strong condemnation of North Korea for announcing that it had tested a nuclear device. The Americans have circulated a draft resolution with 13 points calling for action against North Korea. The targeted sanctions include stopping countries' trading in any material which could be used to make weapons of mass destruction. Laura reports from the UN in New York.

This resolution is under chapter 7 of the UN Charter which means that ultimately military action could be taken to enforce it, although no countries advocating this at the moment. The Japanese, British and French support the US proposals. The question is whether the Russians and the Chinese who've long opposed sanctions against North Korea on the grounds that they'd be destabilizing can be persuaded to back these measures. Both countries have a veto on UN Security Council decisions. North Korea's ambassador says that even if the resolution is passed, it would be useless, and his country should be congratulated on this achievement.

China, one of a few countries with close links to Pyongyang, described North Korea's nuclear test as a brazen act and demanded a halt to any actions that might worsen the situation. President Putin of Russia said North Korea had done the huge damage to efforts to restrict the spread of nuclear weapons. Russia's ambassador to the UN Vitaly Churkin said there would be a strong reaction by the Security Council.

"We condemn the test, we demand that it will return to resume the non-proliferation and to the six-party talks. And that would be consulted in the Security Council. I think the North Koreans will be facing a very serious attitude on the parts of the Security Council and the entire international community".

And in the separate development, the Security Council has formally nominated the South Korean Foreign Minister Ban Ki-moon to be the next UN Secretary General. The 62-year-old is expected to be endorsed later this month by the General Assembly. He will succeed Kofi Annan who's held the post for ten years. Mr. Ban said North Korea's apparent nuclear test has prevented his nomination being a moment of joy.

The Chief Executive of the European plane manufacturer Airbus Christian Streiff has resigned just three months after taking the job. Mr. Streiff's departure comes a week after the company announced the deliveries of its new flagship aircraft the A380 superjumbo would be delayed by a total of two years. Mr. Streiff hasn't said why he resigned. F N reports.

Christian Streiff was appointed to solve the crisis which has engulfed the A380 program. In June the company admitted that the deliveries of the new aircraft were seriously behind schedule. But the true extents of those delays only became apparent last week when the company admitted that the airlines would have to wait two years longer than expected for the new aircraft. Mr. Streiff put forward plans for a major restructuring program, designing to save the company 2.5 billion dollars a year and make its production lines more efficient. The program was widely expected to involve significant job cuts. But analysts believe his action let him into conflict with managers of Airbus's parent company EADS.

You are listening to the world news from the BBC.

The leading Internet search company Google has said it's buying the video sharing website Youtube, combining two of the Internet's most popular brands. The price is 1.65 billion dollars. Google already has its own video sharing service and it's now acquiring the market leader. Youtube was set up less than two years ago and does not yet make a profit. But it says visitors to its site watch more than 100 million video clips per day.

A senior figure in the Palestinian movement Hamas has said he believes European states can be persuaded to deal with his party's government whether it recognizes Israel or not. Speaking to the BBC, Ahmed Youssef, an advisor to the Hamas Prime Minister Ismail Haniyeh, said he was convinced that European leaders would still talk to new Palestinian government. Our Gaza correspondent Allen Johnston reports.

At the core of Hamas's ideology is its refusal to accept that Israel has a right to the land that it sits on. Israel and West say that makes any hope of progress towards peace impossible. But it's clear that very senior Hamas figures believe that bowing to the west on the recognition issue is not necessary. In a BBC interview, a Hamas prime ministerial advisor Ahmed Youssef says he is convinced that European leaders including Britain's Tony Blair are keen to do business with any new Palestinian government even if it does not recognize Israel.

In what's being seen as a snub to western business, the Russian energy giant Gazprom has announced it will develop the huge natural gas field in the Barents Sea Shtokman on its own. The announcement came after Gazprom failed to reach an agreement on a partnership with a foreign company for the 20-billion-dollar project. Gazprom's Chairman told Russian television his company had not received satisfactory offers.

And that's the latest BBC world service news.