BBC 2007-05-08 加文本

BBC 2007-05-08


【电信用户1】在线播放和下载

Download mp3

The Turkish parliament has given initial approval to a constitutional change, which would allow the country's president to be elected by a popular vote. Currently, the president is elected by parliament itself. The governing party proposed the reform after its preferred presidential candidate, the Foreign Minister Abdullah Gul, was blocked by opposition politicians in parliament. Speaking to the BBC, Egemen Bagis, an adviser to the Turkish prime minister, criticised the actions of opposition parties in blocking his party's efforts to choose a new head of state. “It's almost impossible to have a presidential election within the parliament, so we want it to go to the people. As a political party, we would want our candidate to win, but if people of Turkey choose to elect another party's candidate, we would respect it as well because after all we are doing politics for the people of Turkey.”

One of the top officials of the World Bank says he is resigning because of the controversy surrounding the head of the organization, Paul Wolfowitz. The official, Kevin Kellems, said that current environment made it very difficult to advance the Bank's mission. Mr. Wolfowitz has been facing calls to resign over the way he handled a promotion and salary increase he arranged for his girl friend. Here is our economics correspondent Andrew Walker.
Kevin Kellems is one of the World Bank President's closest advisers. He had previously worked in the United States administration and was brought into the bank following the appointment of Mr. Wolfowitz as its president two year's ago. There have been complaints from the bank staff that he's surrounded himself with a small group of politically like-minded advisers. There are also complaints that the salaries some were paid, including Mr. Kellems , were overgenerous, although the bank committee did consider that issue and decided not to take further action.

The International Committee of the Red Cross is appealing for an extra $29 million to step up its humanitarian operation in Iraq. The ICRC warns that humanitarian assistance alone will never be enough because of the needs of the Iraqi people are immense. The ICRC Head of Operations for the Middle East Beatrice Megevand explained how the money would be used. “The main activities we intend to cover with these moneys are relief activities for both displaced and resident people or family passers for a hundred and thousand households to access to clean water to, as many people as possible, access to medical care by providing drugs, equipment and material to hospitals and medical centres.”

Palestinian leaders have been debating a new American security plan that would allow greater freedom of movement in the West Bank. In return it calls for an end to Palestinian rocket attacks on Israel. President Mahmoud Abbas said the plan included important steps towards achieving security and easing the suffering of the Palestinian people. But the proposals have already been rejected by the Prime Minister Ismail Haniyeh of Hammas. He says he would legitimise Israel's occupation of Palestinian territory and destroy resistance to it.

World News from the BBC.

An Israeli aircraft has fired rockets at a car travelling in the northern Gaza Strip near the town of Beit Hanoun. Palestinian officials say one person was wounded. Witnesses said two men jumped out of the car before it exploded.

The United Nations Commissioner for Human Rights, Louis Arbour, has made an appeal for the release of the BBC Gaza correspondent Alan Johnston who disappeared on the way home from his office in Gaza City eight weeks ago and is presumed kidnapped. Ms. Arbour said she had been distressed by Alan Johnson's abduction. “When I heard that he had been kidnapped, I was extremely upset. But now with the passage of time, I think I certainly share in their sentiments of his family and his friends and I join in their appeal to those who were holding him to release this very decent man.”

Thousands of people have attended a rally in central London to draw attention to the alleged exploitation of illegal migrant workers in Britain. There are an estimated half a million illegal immigrants in Britain and the campaign organizers say they constitute a new underclass. Janet Gelio reports.
Thousands have braved the rain to listen to speeches calling on the government to recognize the contribution of migrants. They say the reality is the Home Office can't deport them all and should offer an amnesty to illegal immigrants who've worked here for four years. But the call from these demonstrators is not likely to be heeded by the government which says an amnesty would put further pressure on public services that are already been squeezed.

The French President-elect Nicolas Sarkozy has spent his first day since winning Sunday's presidential election receiving messages of congratulation from leaders around the world and discussing the future shape of his government. One of Mr. Sarkozy's closest political allies Francois Fillon is expected to become Prime Minster when Mr. Sarkozy takes power later this month. Mr. Sarkozy has also indicated that he wants up to half of his ministers to be women.

BBC World News.