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2008-01-31来源:和谐英语
BBC news 2008-01-31
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BBC News with David Legg.
The field of candidates for president to the United States has become clearer, following the results of the primary contest in the state of Florida on Tuesday. Two candidates have dropped out, the Democrat John Edwards and the Republican former mayor of New York, Rudy Giuliani. From Washington, Kim Ghattas reports.
In a rather light-hearted press conference, Rudy Giuliani announced he was dropping out of the race for the White House. He made his decision after trailing in third position in the Florida primary, on which he had bent all his hopes in a high-risk and very expensive strategy. With a laugh, he said he thought he had the qualities of a president, but that obviously voters had decided differently. He said that his longtime friend, John McCain, was the most qualified candidate to become the next commander-in-chief. He described the former Vietnam War prisoner as a hero, and said that the US could use a hero in the White House.
The US Central Bank, the Federal Reserve has cut its key interest rate by half of one percent to three percent to help stimulate America's flagging economy. Our economics correspondent Andrew Walker reports.
The Fed's move brings the cumulative rate cut to one and a quarter percentage in just over a week. Not since 1981 has the Fed made such a rapid reduction in interest rates. It's a stark indication of the Fed’s concern about the outlook. The underlying worry is the possibility that the US might be facing a recession. The risk was highlighted earlier by news of a sharp slowdown in economic growth in the final quarter of last year. In a statement explaining the decision, the Fed said that financial markets are still under stress and the problems in the housing business have deepened.
An Israeli government-appointed commission into the 2006 war in Lebanon has described it as a serious failure. The commission chairman, Eliyahu Winograd, said entering the war without a clear exit strategy had been a grave error. But he said the Prime Minister Ehud Olmert had acted in, what he thought, was the best interests of Israel. The opposition member of parliament, Yossi Beilin, from the left-wing Meretz party said those in charge during the war should not be in power.
"I believe that somebody who led Israel, during the days of this awful war in Lebanon, the one who is responsible for the death toll in these days can not and should not be the Prime Minister of Israel. One who witnessed what happened here during this war knows better than any other person that those who are responsible for the war should not continue and rule this country."
There’ve been major problems with Internet services in large parts of the Middle East and India, causing disruption to about 70% of the network in Egypt alone. The Egyptian Telecommunications Ministry said the problems were a result of an undersea cable being cut in the Mediterranean. In India, the Internet Service Providers Association was quoted as saying, there've been a 50% to 60% cut in bandwidth.
World News from the BBC.
The National Library in Denmark has announced that it will collect an archive of the cartoons of the prophet Mohammed that caused riots in some Muslim countries when they were published in Denmark two years ago. Spokesmen for a Danish Muslim Association said the decision sent a wrong signal to the Muslim world.
A security chief in Brazil has sought to reassure the public that police in Rio de Janeiro will deliver a safe carnival, after officers killed nine suspected drug traffickers in the city's slum areas. More than 4,000 officers will be deployed for the carnival which starts at the weekend. But dozens of senior military police officers are refusing to report for duty after the governor of Rio state sacked their commander. Gary Duffy reports from Rio.
The problems began at the weekend when the commander of Rio's military police, Ubiratan Angelo, allowed officers to stage a mass protest to complain about low pay and voiced his support for their demands. He was then dismissed by Rio's governor Sergio Cabral, who said permitting the demonstration to go ahead had been an act of insubordination. That decision caused widespread anger among senior police officers. At least 43 officials have now offered to resign. A new police commander has already been appointed and the governors accused the rebels of trying to stir up trouble.
The French President Nicolas Sarkozy and his girlfriend Carla Bruni are suing the Irish budget airline Ryanair for using a photograph of them to advertise cheap airfares without permission. Mr. Sarkozy is suing for a symbolic one Euro, while Miss. Bruni is asking for three quarters of a million dollars.
Post officials in Ivory Coast are struggling to deliver five years worth of letters and packages which have piled up since 2002, while rebellion in the north divided the country in two. With post offices reopened as a part of the peace process, sacks of letters are awaiting delivery in the rebel town of Bouake, among them there are invoices from companies which no longer exist.
Download Audio
BBC News with David Legg.
The field of candidates for president to the United States has become clearer, following the results of the primary contest in the state of Florida on Tuesday. Two candidates have dropped out, the Democrat John Edwards and the Republican former mayor of New York, Rudy Giuliani. From Washington, Kim Ghattas reports.
In a rather light-hearted press conference, Rudy Giuliani announced he was dropping out of the race for the White House. He made his decision after trailing in third position in the Florida primary, on which he had bent all his hopes in a high-risk and very expensive strategy. With a laugh, he said he thought he had the qualities of a president, but that obviously voters had decided differently. He said that his longtime friend, John McCain, was the most qualified candidate to become the next commander-in-chief. He described the former Vietnam War prisoner as a hero, and said that the US could use a hero in the White House.
The US Central Bank, the Federal Reserve has cut its key interest rate by half of one percent to three percent to help stimulate America's flagging economy. Our economics correspondent Andrew Walker reports.
The Fed's move brings the cumulative rate cut to one and a quarter percentage in just over a week. Not since 1981 has the Fed made such a rapid reduction in interest rates. It's a stark indication of the Fed’s concern about the outlook. The underlying worry is the possibility that the US might be facing a recession. The risk was highlighted earlier by news of a sharp slowdown in economic growth in the final quarter of last year. In a statement explaining the decision, the Fed said that financial markets are still under stress and the problems in the housing business have deepened.
An Israeli government-appointed commission into the 2006 war in Lebanon has described it as a serious failure. The commission chairman, Eliyahu Winograd, said entering the war without a clear exit strategy had been a grave error. But he said the Prime Minister Ehud Olmert had acted in, what he thought, was the best interests of Israel. The opposition member of parliament, Yossi Beilin, from the left-wing Meretz party said those in charge during the war should not be in power.
"I believe that somebody who led Israel, during the days of this awful war in Lebanon, the one who is responsible for the death toll in these days can not and should not be the Prime Minister of Israel. One who witnessed what happened here during this war knows better than any other person that those who are responsible for the war should not continue and rule this country."
There’ve been major problems with Internet services in large parts of the Middle East and India, causing disruption to about 70% of the network in Egypt alone. The Egyptian Telecommunications Ministry said the problems were a result of an undersea cable being cut in the Mediterranean. In India, the Internet Service Providers Association was quoted as saying, there've been a 50% to 60% cut in bandwidth.
World News from the BBC.
The National Library in Denmark has announced that it will collect an archive of the cartoons of the prophet Mohammed that caused riots in some Muslim countries when they were published in Denmark two years ago. Spokesmen for a Danish Muslim Association said the decision sent a wrong signal to the Muslim world.
A security chief in Brazil has sought to reassure the public that police in Rio de Janeiro will deliver a safe carnival, after officers killed nine suspected drug traffickers in the city's slum areas. More than 4,000 officers will be deployed for the carnival which starts at the weekend. But dozens of senior military police officers are refusing to report for duty after the governor of Rio state sacked their commander. Gary Duffy reports from Rio.
The problems began at the weekend when the commander of Rio's military police, Ubiratan Angelo, allowed officers to stage a mass protest to complain about low pay and voiced his support for their demands. He was then dismissed by Rio's governor Sergio Cabral, who said permitting the demonstration to go ahead had been an act of insubordination. That decision caused widespread anger among senior police officers. At least 43 officials have now offered to resign. A new police commander has already been appointed and the governors accused the rebels of trying to stir up trouble.
The French President Nicolas Sarkozy and his girlfriend Carla Bruni are suing the Irish budget airline Ryanair for using a photograph of them to advertise cheap airfares without permission. Mr. Sarkozy is suing for a symbolic one Euro, while Miss. Bruni is asking for three quarters of a million dollars.
Post officials in Ivory Coast are struggling to deliver five years worth of letters and packages which have piled up since 2002, while rebellion in the north divided the country in two. With post offices reopened as a part of the peace process, sacks of letters are awaiting delivery in the rebel town of Bouake, among them there are invoices from companies which no longer exist.
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