BBC news 2008-04-14 加文本

BBC News with Jack Mackintosh

The head of the world bank Robert Zoellick has called for immediate action over rapidly rising food prices, unveiling what he called a new deal for poor countries. Mr Zoellick said wealthy nations must act quickly to give the UN World Food Program the $500 million it says it needs for its work alleviating hunger. Prices of two foods staples, wheat and rice, have doubled in the past year. Mr Zoellick spoke to a committee of finance and development ministers in Washington.

I came into these meetings underscoring the vital importance of launching a new deal for global food policy. Part of that new deal is meeting the immediate crisis in the needs of those who are now facing hunger, mal-nutrition and even starvation across the world. (www.hxen.net)

President Mwai Kibaki of Kenya and his political rival Raila Odinga have finally agreed a power sharing cabinet ending weeks of deadlock. The two leaders first agreed to share power in February after more than a thousand Kenyans died in violence sparked by disputed presidential election results. Adam Mynott reports from Nairobi

Live on national television and nearly six weeks after agreeing to share power, President Kibaki and his former rival and now ally in government authorized the makeup of a new unity administration. Raila Odinga, who is to be the new prime minister of Kenya, a post that didn't exist before, wanted a number of key ministries for his party but with the exception of local government. The key posts remain with President Mwai Kibaki's close followers. A consequence of the deal has been a very large, some would say, bloated administration, a forty cabinet ministers and fifty-two assistant ministers.

The speaker of the South African parliament Baleka Mbete has criticized the handling of Zimbabwe's elections. Ms. Mbete denounced the failure to publish the results of the presidential election more than two weeks after it was held. She described it as a case of democracy gone wrong and urged parliamentarians to vote to speak out about it. Correspondents say Ms. Mbete is one of the most powerful South Africans to make such critical comments which are in marked contrast to the more cautious approach adopted by president Mbeki.(wWw.hxen.net)

A vintage German train commemorating the thousands of Jewish children deported and murdered by the Nazis during the Second World War has arrived in Berlin. Thousands of people waited for several hours at the city's Ostbahnhof(Bahnhof:德语,火车站) to visit the exhibition on the train showing pictures and last letters from the youngest victims of the holocaust. One holocaust survivor Margot Kleinberger said the exhibition would improve visitors' understanding of the genocide.

"I think it is very important because it shows ,when I see the people who have come here, that there's a need to come to terms with the past"

The train of commemoration began its journey through Germany last November and it's due to arrive at Auschwitz in Poland on May 8.

World News from the BBC

Rebels in the Darfur region of Sudan say they have overrun a military base close to the border with Chad, killing a large number of Sudanese soldiers. The rebel Justice and Equality Movement said it shot down a helicopter during the raid in west Darfur, but the Sudanese military has denied this. The fighting came hours before the start of the day of international protests to mark five years of conflict in Darfur.

The main arms exporter in Serbia Jugoimport-SDPR has denied the report in the Europe Times newspaper that it has secretly negotiated a multi-million dollar arms deal with Iraq. The paper said the eight-hundred-million-dollar deal was struck in September last year without the knowledge of American commanders. It said there was no competitive bidding and that anti-corruption safeguards were sidestepped.

In Italy the first of two days' voting in the country's general election has ended. David Willey reports from Rome.

By the time the polls closed on the first of two days of voting, 62% Italians had cast their ballots. This is about 4% fewer than in the last general election two years ago. Polling booths open again at seven in the morning and stay open until three in the afternoon when counting begins. The election result should be clear a few hours later although the final result won’t be known until Tuesday. Former primary minister Silvio Berlusconi had a small lead over his rival Walter Veltroni when the last opinion polls were published two weeks ago.

President Bush's national security advisor has criticized leaders who planned to avoid the Olympic Games Opening ceremony in Beijing. Steven Hallry said that not attending would be a cop-out. He said US would continue to use quiet diplomacy to tackle human rights issues. The German chancellor Angela Merkel and the British Minister Gordon Brown have said they will not be at the opening ceremonies. President Bush said he plans to go to the Games this August but the White House hasn't stated whether he will attend the Opening ceremonies.

Vocabulary(special thanks to my consent)

1.overrun:to attack and defeat decisively, occupying and controlling the enemy's position; overwhelm.

2.bloated:swollen;excessively fat;much bigger than desired (figurative：a bloated organization臃肿的机构)

3.sidestep: to avoid

4.vintage: representing the high quality of a past time

5.cop-out: a failure to fulfill a commitment or responsibility or to face a difficulty squ