BBC news 2008-03-17 加文本

On the face of it, these election results don’t look too bad for the government. The opposition Socialists won only a very small percentage more of the votes than President Sarkozy’s right-wing party. But in losing major cities like Toulouse and Strasbourg, the UNP has lost some key power bases. And it may be more difficult now for the French leader to push through reforms.

The Brazilian army has discovered, what it says, is the first-known cocoa plantation and processing laboratory in the Amazon Basin. The find was made near Tabatinga close to the borders with the cocoa-producing countries of Colombia and Peru.Bawren Boon has the report. (wWw.hxen.net)

The Brazilian authorities were alerted to the site while examining satellite images of large clearings in the Amazon. They discovered a cocoa crop nearly ready for harvest, and a laboratory fully equipped to process the leaves into cocaine. A Brazilian army spokesman says he believes the cocoa plants may have been genetically modified to allow them to grow successfully in the local climate.

 World News from the BBC.

Tens of thousands of people have attended a peace concert on the border between Colombia and Venezuela designed to show unity between the people of the two neighboring countries after the worst regional crisis for years. Jeremy McDermott has this report from Colombia.

The Simon Bolivar Bridge that divides Colombia and Venezuela had a crowd washing-up against its pillars. Venezuelans and Colombians alike mingle on the frontier to listen to a galaxy of Latin and Spanish singers perform in what’s been called peace without frontiers. In an uNPRecedented event, the boarder came down as a mass of people moved from both nations to listen to Colombian artists like Juan and Carlos Vives, Venezuelan singer Ricardo Montaner, Juan Fernando Velazco of Ecuador, and two stars from Spain, Miguel Bose and Alejandro Sanz. Dozens fainted in the blazing sun of the afternoon but nothing dampened the spirit and exhilaration of the event.

The Albanian authorities investigating the site of Saturday’s multiple explosions at a munition's depot near the capital Tirana said at least nine people are known to have been killed and more than 200 injured. The government said more than 300 buildings were completely destroyed and at least 1600 others damaged by the series of blasts.(wwW.hxen.net)

Irish police have arrested 11 people including 4 BBC journalists under anti-terrorist legislation. In a statement, the BBC said the 4 journalists were working on an investigation for BBC Northern Ireland and had full editorial authority. It added that the others arrested knew that the BBC employees were journalists.

And briefly, the death has been announced in the United States of the head of Russian Orthodox Church overseas Metropolitan Laurus. He was 81…