BBC news 2007-07-16 加文本

BBC 2007-07-16


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BBC World News with Pony Goudusy.

The United States says it fully supports Pakistan's renewed drive to crush Islamic militants in the northwest of the country. President Bush's national security advisor Stephen Hadley said the now defunct peace deal in the region hadn't worked as President Musharraf or the United States had wanted. He backed General Musharraf's decision to send more troops in. Mr. Hadley was speaking after more than sixty people were killed in Pakistan in three suicide bomb attacks over the weekend. Militant Islamists have called for a holy war to avenge the storming of a radical mosque in Islamabad last week. Pakistan's deputy minister of state for information Tariq Azam condemned the latest attacks.

"It is so sad two days of Pakistan. So many innocent people were losing their lives. They can not be Muslims because suicide is forbidden in Islam and certainly they cannot be Pakistanis. They are full determined that they can't get less in their whole lives they take."

The government in Malawi is calling on all its sexually active citizens to go for voluntary HIV tests. The authorities hope that million Malawians will volunteer to be tested and if necessary treated every year. Our southern Africa correspondent Peter Greste reports.

According to official figures about 14% of Malawians are HIV positive. But by the government's own admission, that is at best an educated guess. Now it's calling on every one of its sexually active citizens to be tested. That's in part so that it can get its statistics right but also to get treatment where it is needed the most. The week-long campaign is focused particularly on conservative rural communities that are usually beyond the reach of the state's health services. The Malawian government has identified the AIDS pandemic as one of its biggest challenges.

International mediators have been meeting in Libia in a fresh attempt to end the conflict in the Sudanese region of Darfur. The joint United Nations African Union Initiative is trying to persuade nearly a dozen rebel groups in Darfur to end their war with the Sudanese government. The two-day conference also aims to unify the various peace initiatives proposed by Sudan's neighbors. The UN envoy to Sudan Jan Eliasson called for a disciplined approach.

The veteran Israeli politician Shimon Peres has been sworn in as the country's ninth president. A former prime minister, foreign minister and Nobel Peace Prize laureate, Mr. Peres will serve a seven-year term. He succeeds Moshe Katsav who resigned in disgrace earlier this year after admitting several charges including sexual harassment. Speaking before he was sworn in. Mr. Peres spoke of his plans for the largely ceremonial post.

"The president is not an executive officer, is not a legislator, is not a judge, but is free to dream, to inspire, to elevate, to offer directions."

World news from the BBC.

The French foreign minister Bernard Kouchner says Lebanon's rival political groups have reopened dialogue after two days of talks in France. Mr. Kouchner who hosted the meeting said the ice had been broken between the Lebanese government and the opposition group Hezbollah. He said both sides promised to resolve their differences peacefully.

The leader of America's largest Roman Catholic Archdiocese Cardinal Roger Mahony of Los Angeles has apologized to the hundreds of people who were sexually abused by priests when they were children. Cardinal Mahony was speaking a day after the 508 victims reached a settlement with the church thought to be worth a total of 660 million dollars.

"Once again, I apologize to any one who has been offended, who has been abused in the Catholic Church by priests, by deacons, religious men and women or lay people in the church. It should not have happened and should not ever happen again."

Cardinal Mahony also said that from 2002, anyone entering the church underwent a criminal background check and children were being trained to interpret signs that someone might be grooming them for abuse.

Police in Britain say two men arrested in connection with the failed car bomb attacks in Glasgow and London in June have been released without charge. Hugh Williams reports.

The two men who have been freed were working at the Royal Alexander hospital in Paisley when police arrested them on July 2. Officers had until today to charge or release them or apply for more time to hold them. NHS Greater Glasgow says one of the men was on a short term clinical attachment which has now ended. He won't be going back to work at the hospital. A spokeswoman said the second doctor had been given leave following recent events. His future at the hospital is not yet clear.

And Brazil have retained the most prestigious prize in Latin American football, the Copa America, beating Argentina by three goals to nil in the final.

That's the latest BBC World News.

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Glossary:

defunct peace deal
adj. 不存在的，不起作用的，名存实亡的

Nobel Peace Prize laureate
诺贝尔和平奖获得者

archdiocese n.
由大主教archbishop管辖的地区