BBC news 2007-08-07 加文本

BBC 2007-08-07


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... end to the Taliban in Afghanistan. After two days of talks in the United States, President Karsai said the Taliban were a defeated force which no longer endangered his government. But he said Afghanistan and its allies had a duty to drive the militants from their mountain hideouts because they still posed a serious threat to civilians, a sentiment echoed by Mr. Bush. "It is the Taliban who surround themselves with innocent lives as human shields. The Taliban are the cold-blooded killers. The Taliban are the murderers. The Taliban have no regard for human life. "

The Iraqi government has suffered another political setback. Five cabinet ministers from the Iraqiya List of the former Prime Minister, Ayad Allawi, have said they will boycott meetings of the Shiite-led government in protest to what they say is its failure to end sectarian favoritism. Andy Gallagher reports from Baghdad.

This is another blow for an already fragile Iraqi government. Last week the Accordance Front, the largest Sunni-Arab bloc in the national unity government, withdrew six cabinet ministers. Now the Iraqiya List has withdrawn five of their ministers. For now it leaves the Iraqi administration with no Sunni representation. And it is a serious setback for any attempted reconciliation between the Shiite and Sunni factions.

A new suspected case of foot-and-mouth disease has been detected in southern England in the protection zone declared around the farm where the first outbreak was discovered last week. The chief veterinary officer for England said cattle at the second farm had shown signs of foot-and-mouth and would be slaughtered as a precaution. The environment secretary Hillary Benn said the measures put in place after the original outbreak were working.

"The fact that these new cases have been identified today potentially and the animals have been culled is precise because of the protection arrangements that we put in place. It was the surveillance team going round that noted what could be clinical signs of foot-and-mouth. The actions has been taken very, very swiftly. Uh, samples will be taken. We hope to have the test results tomorrow. So it shows the benefits of the firm measures we put in place to try to deal with this outbreak and to stop its spread. "

The Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert and the Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas have met in the West Bank town of Jaraco. Spokesmen for both sides said they discussed issues relating to the establishment of a Palestinian State and described the meeting as constructive. The BBC correspondent to the talks said that though there was no major breakthrough, the meeting was significant for being the first of its kind to be held on Palestinian controlled territory. The meeting was part of a series of talks expected to take place.

World News from the BBC.

Rescue efforts are underway in the American state of Utah to locate six miners who have been trapped inside a coal mine since it collapsed earlier Monday. Officials say there has been no contact with the miners so far. Our California correspondent David Willis sent this report.

The crew were thought to be about 450 meters below ground when the tunnel collapsed and roughly six kilometers from the entrance. It's not known what sort of breathing equipment they were carrying with them and a large rescue operation has now been launched. Seismologists initially thought that a magnitude four earthquake had occurred. So powerful was the impact of the collapse.

A judge in Trinidad has ordered the extradition of three men to the United States on terrorism charges related to an alleged plot to attack John F. Kennedy Airport in New York. The three from Trinidad and Guyana are charged with conspiring to cause death, serious bodily injury and extensive destruction.

One of the most important humanized skeletons ever discovered has been taken out of Ethiopia for a tour of American museums which is expected to last six years. The remains known as Lucy are more than three million years old. Ethiopia hopes to encourage tourism to what sometimes called the Cradle of Humanity. But some archaeologists say the remains are too fragile to be moved. The tour will start at the Houston Museum of Natural Science in Texas. The curator of anthropology, Dirk Van Tuerenhout, told the BBC why, despite the controversy, this exhibition should go ahead. "This exhibit covers more than Lucy. It covers six million years of prehistory and history. But in order for people to come to the exhibit and learn about Ethiopia with large, a star like Lucy will be very useful in bringing people to the exhibit, to the museum so that they can learn more about human evolution and also about the historic periods on which we will also cover in the exhibit. "

BBC World News.

Glossary

surveilance: n. careful watch kept on sb suspected of doing wrong.
veterinary: adj. of or for the disease and injuries of animals.