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BBC news 2007-11-21 加文本
2007-11-21来源:和谐英语
BBC 2007-11-21
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BBC News with Sue Montgomery
The British government has admitted that confidential personal details of nearly half the UK population have been mislaid. Bank and social security details for 25 million people were lost, when computer discs containing a copy of the information disappeared, while being sent from one government department to another. The British Chancellor of the Exchequer Alistair Darling said the government would learn from what he called a mistake.
The important thing now though is to make sure this does not happen again and we learn from this huge massive unforgivable mistake and make sure that we put into place proper procedures of protection the public. Mr. Darling also said there was no evidence that the information had fallen into criminal hands, but the opposition conservative Chair of the Public Accounts Committee Edward Leigh disagrees. It's appalling incompetence to lose these details; secondly they should never input the post, it wasn't registered, there was no tracking, no one is required to sign for it, never even arrived, so it's an appalling mismanagement, I will say almost criminal mismanagement of a tax office.
The United States has confirmed that the planned Middle East peace conference will be held in the city of Annapolis near Washington on Tuesday next week. Invitations have been issued to Syria and Saudi Arabia as well as to Israel and the Palestinians. From Washington Jonathan Beale reports:
The US has encouraged Arab nations to attend by promising to address all issues related to the Palestinian-Israeli conflict. Israel has already tried to prepare the ground by approving the release of hundreds of Palestinian prisoners and reiterating a commitment not to build new Jewish settlements in the West Bank. Expectations for the international conference are still limited, but the Bush administration says Annapolis will mark the beginning of the process to work out the many outstanding differences between Israel and the Palestinians.
The United Nations high commissioner for refugees says one million Somalis have been forced from their homes, nearly one tenth of the population. The UNHCR says entire neighborhoods in the capital are now empty. In the last two weeks almost 200,000 have fled because of a fighting between Islamic insurgents and government forces backed by Ethiopian troops. The UN special representative for Somalia Ahmedou Ould-Abdallah told the BBC that peace could be achieved.
''I think the present authorities are to plan to do whatever they can. The opposition is not opposed to dialogues. There is serious hope, but it has to be monitored. And all these analyses now negative have to be put in a positive manner in a new agenda, which I consider is feasible.''
Shares in America have fallen, and the dollar has hit a new low against the euro as uncertainty grows about the American economy. The further slide in the value of the dollar came on the day that the US central bank cut its forecast for economic growth.
This is the World news from the BBC.
The Supreme Court of the United States has agreed to rule on the constitutionality of a ban on handguns in the capital city. Private handguns have been banned in Washington for more than 30 years. But the Supreme Court justices have decided to review the ban after a Washington resident claimed that it violated his rights.
A white African leader, who declared unilateral independence from Britain in the 1960s the former prime minister of Rhodesia Ian smith, has died in Cape Town. Rhodesia became Zimbabwe in 1980. Peter Greste reports:
Ian Duncan Smith became prime minister of Rhodesia in 1964. The following year he made his unilateral declaration of independence and cast the country adrift. After a bitter 7-year bush war which ended in 1979, he was forced into elections that he lost to Robert Mugabe who has ruled ever since. President Mugabe's deputy information minister described Ian Smith as a man who brought untold suffering to millions of Zimbabweans and who would not be missed. The 88-year-old former prime minister died believing he'd been vindicated by Zimbabwe's current crisis with its massive inflation and unemployment.
The presidential election in Lebanon that was due to take place in parliament on Wednesday has been postponed for a fourth time. Although there has been no formal announcement, the postponement has been confirmed by the French Foreign Minister who is in Beirut trying to get Lebanese political factions to agree in a candidate. Political life in Lebanon has been paralyzed by a long-running standoff between the anti-Syrian parliamentary majority and the Hezbollah-led opposition.
The United Nations commissioner for human rights Louise Arbour has expressed alarm of the number of civilian casualties caused in Afghanistan by international forces. Ms. Arbour said there was no justification for the civilian deaths caused by anti-government forces and suicide bombers. A report by the international charity Oxfam said there were 12 hundred civilian deaths this year.
Background Knowledge
Ian Duncan Smith: 白人，1965-1979年任津巴布韦(Zimbabwe旧称Rhodesia)总理，在任期间单方面宣布从英联邦独立(此后并未得到国际承认，并受到联合国经济制裁)，并对黑人实行残酷的种族政策，经过7年游击战(7-year bush war)后被迫在1979年下台，次年黑人领袖Robert Mugabe上台，并改国名Rhodesia为Zimbabwe
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