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BBC news 2007-12-25 加文本

2007-12-25来源:和谐英语
BBC 2007-12-25


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BBC news with John Jason

President Bush and the Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan have been discussing the continuing conflict in northern Iraq between Kurdish rebels and Turkish forces. The telephone conversations between the two leaders came as the Turkey was warned by the government in the autonomous Kurdish region of northern Iraq to stop its air strikes aimed at Kurdish rebel positions. Vincent Dowd reports from Washington: Mr Bush spoke to Mr. Erdogan from the presidential Camp David retreat in Maryland. A spokesman said the two leaders discussed the importance of the US, Turkey and Iraq working together to counter the Kurdistan Workers' party the PKK. The PKK is considered a terrorist organization by Washington and Ankara as well as by the EU. Last month at the White House, Mr. Bush told Mr. Erdogan the US would share its intelligence to help Turkey fight the rebels based in northern Iraq.

Judicial authorities in Italy have issued arrest warrants for 140 former South American leaders and officials accused of the coordinated persecution of dissidents and left-wing opponents during the military governments of the 1970's and 80's. Under Operation Condor, the military governments of Chile, Argentina, Paraguay, Brazil, Bolivia and Uruguay exchanged information leading to the abduction and murder of thousands of people including Italian citizens.

Millions of Christians worldwide are celebrating or preparing to celebrate Christmas Day which marks the birth of Christ. Thousands of pilgrims gathered in front of the church of the Nativity in the occupied West Bank town of Bethlehem, the Biblical site of birth. Bethany Bell reports from Bethlehem: foreign visitors joined local Palestinians at the ancient church of the Nativity to hear the bells chimed at the midnight. Choirs from Hong Kong, Italy and America joined local musicians in Major Square to mark the birth of Christ in song from Handel's Messiah to Jingle Bells. The Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas, though a Muslim, attended midnight mass but not all Palestinian Christians were able to get here to Bethlehem because of Israeli restrictions on travel. As they celebrate their most relaxed Christmas in years, many Palestinians here are cautiously optimistic about the future but they all know how fragile the situation is.

A Colombian Senator acting as an intermediary with the FARC rebel group says the promised release of three hostages has been delayed. This was said to be due to Colombian troop movement near the Venezuela border where the expected release is to take place. The group has been holding hundreds of people, some as long as seven or eight years, hoping to be able to swap them for FARC members held in Colombian jails.

The security forces in Indian-administered Kashmir have killed three militants who took several hostages at a village south of Srinagar, the three men were said to be members of the Hizbul Mujahideen group, all the hostages survived.

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Power has been returned to many communities in the central United States hit by snow storms over the weekend. Snow, ice and high winds left at least eleven people dead and disrupted transport at one of the busiest times of the year. Warnings of severe weather are still in place, Justin Webb reports from Washington: Americans are used to winter storms, but this is huge even by local standards that its timing as families are trying to get home for Christmas could not have been worse. From Texas in the south to Wisconsin in the north getting about has become difficult and dangerous. There are at least two fatal motorway pile-ups, one involving thirty vehicles in the state of Kansas, and another further south in Texas where fifty vehicles including many lorries were caught up in the chaos, police warned people throughout mid-west not to drive if they could avoid this.

Gunmen in western Mauritania have shot dead four French tourists from the same family including two children, the father of the family was seriously injured in the attacked and taken by helicopter to a nearby hospital. The Police Chief in the town of Aleg close to where the incident happened said the tourists were shot in an attempted robbery. The family is reported to have stopped by the side of the road for a picnic when the three men approached demanding money.

The renowned jazz pianist and composer Oscar Peterson has died in his native Canada, he was 82. Rarhood Samul reports: Oscar Peterson was a highschool dropout in his native Toronto who blasted onto jazz scene in his twenties, earning a standing ovation at New york's Carnegie Hall in 1949. His driving 2 hand of playing was built on classic jazz piano styles and influenced generations of musicians. Although arthritis and a stroke later forced a change in his technique, Peterson continued performing, being awarded at the 1997 Grammy for lifetime achievement and an international Jazz Hall of Fame Award.

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standing ovation:起立鼓掌欢呼