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BBC news 2008-06-17 加文本
2008-06-17来源:和谐英语
BBC 2008-06-17
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BBC News with Sue Montgomery.
A senior United Nations official says nearly half the population of Somalia is threatened with malnutrition. The head of the UN Humanitarian Office for Somalia, Mark Bowden, said more than two and a half million people were already in urgent need of aid and that could rise by another million in the coming weeks. Adam Mynott reports.
Somalia faces a worse crisis than Darfur, according to Mark Bowden who is responsible for coordinating humanitarian aid for the Horn of Africa country. He says a number of factors have come together. Appalling insecurity as rival militias continue to fight, successive droughts, skyrocketing food prices and the collapse of the Somali currency. Difficulties faced by aid agencies who are trying to get food into Somalia are extreme. And that task is made more difficult because fighting and violence has displaced a million Somalis from their homes.
The British government has announced that an extra 230 troops will be deployed in Afghanistan. It will bring the total number of British soldiers there to just over 8,000, most of them based in the southern province of Helmand. The British Defense Secretary Des Browne said new tactics by Taliban militants had provided new challenges. Our defense correspondent Caroline Wyatt reports.
British commanders remain upbeat about the military progress being made in Helmand Province with the Taliban now being held in a stalemate, even though its increased use of suicide bombs and roadside devices remains a threat. But it's clear British forces have been frustrated by the slow pace of civil reconstruction efforts. Improving daily life for Afghan villagers by providing basics, such as clean water and electricity, is seen essential to improve stability. (Www.hxen.net)
The UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon has unveiled a memorial in London to journalists around the world killed in the line of duty. In this sculpture, a single pillar of light rises a kilometer into the night sky from the roof of the BBC's headquarter's Broadcasting House. Mr. Ban said the memorial stood in tribute to fallen journalists.
"This monument stands in tribute to all those who have sacrificed their lives so that the rest of us could be informed. But it is also for those who survive, those who are out there right now risking their lives to report what they uncover in the face of deadly threats."
European Union foreign ministers have agreed to continue to ratify the Lisbon Treaty despite its rejection by Irish voters last week. At a meeting in Luxembourg, ministers reject suggestions that Ireland might be left behind, while other countries pressed on with integration. The Irish Foreign Minister said there was no threatening language or any sense of being marginalized. The British Foreign Secretary David Miliband said he would defend the principle that the treaty must be ratified by all member states.
World News from the BBC.
The NATO Secretary General Jaap de Hoop Scheffer says Ukraine's bid to join the alliance should not be influenced by any third party, an apparent reference to Russia's fierce opposition. Mr. de Hoop Scheffer was speaking in the Ukrainian capital Kyiv after talks with President Viktor Yushchenko.
"Decision-making in NATO is by the 26 allies and by them only, and that includes decision-making on getting Ukraine closer to NATO. Nobody else will take that decision but the 26 allies."
The Nigerian government has announced it's investigating the auction of oil exploration licenses in the last weeks of President Olusegun Obasanjo's administration. From Lagos, Alex Last reports.
Last year, oil exploration licenses were sold off for 600 million dollars just days before the then-President Obasanjo had to leave office. The question of this investigation is did anyone illegally benefit from the sale. It's the latest high-profile probe into the conduct of Mr. Obasanjo's administration. But the new government is also currently reviewing the whole oil and gas sector. Its vast revenues drive the economy but it's also the main source of patronage and corruption. Finding mucky dealings in the past is not difficult, really cleaning up the sector may be a bit harder.
In Romania, a dead man has been re-elected as mayor of the northeastern village of Voinesti. Residents knowingly voted for the man Neculai Ivascu, who had held the post for 18 years, preferring him to his living opponent. Mr. Ivascu died of liver disease just after voting began. One resident said he was aware of his death, but he didn't want change.
Germany have qualified for the quarter-finals of the European Football Championships after edging out the co-hosts Austria 1-0 in Vienna. Germany will now play Portugal in the last eight. In the day's other game, Croatia beat Poland for the same score in Klagenfurt. The Croats will meet Turkey in the quarter-finals.
BBC News.
Download Audio
BBC News with Sue Montgomery.
A senior United Nations official says nearly half the population of Somalia is threatened with malnutrition. The head of the UN Humanitarian Office for Somalia, Mark Bowden, said more than two and a half million people were already in urgent need of aid and that could rise by another million in the coming weeks. Adam Mynott reports.
Somalia faces a worse crisis than Darfur, according to Mark Bowden who is responsible for coordinating humanitarian aid for the Horn of Africa country. He says a number of factors have come together. Appalling insecurity as rival militias continue to fight, successive droughts, skyrocketing food prices and the collapse of the Somali currency. Difficulties faced by aid agencies who are trying to get food into Somalia are extreme. And that task is made more difficult because fighting and violence has displaced a million Somalis from their homes.
The British government has announced that an extra 230 troops will be deployed in Afghanistan. It will bring the total number of British soldiers there to just over 8,000, most of them based in the southern province of Helmand. The British Defense Secretary Des Browne said new tactics by Taliban militants had provided new challenges. Our defense correspondent Caroline Wyatt reports.
British commanders remain upbeat about the military progress being made in Helmand Province with the Taliban now being held in a stalemate, even though its increased use of suicide bombs and roadside devices remains a threat. But it's clear British forces have been frustrated by the slow pace of civil reconstruction efforts. Improving daily life for Afghan villagers by providing basics, such as clean water and electricity, is seen essential to improve stability. (Www.hxen.net)
The UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon has unveiled a memorial in London to journalists around the world killed in the line of duty. In this sculpture, a single pillar of light rises a kilometer into the night sky from the roof of the BBC's headquarter's Broadcasting House. Mr. Ban said the memorial stood in tribute to fallen journalists.
"This monument stands in tribute to all those who have sacrificed their lives so that the rest of us could be informed. But it is also for those who survive, those who are out there right now risking their lives to report what they uncover in the face of deadly threats."
European Union foreign ministers have agreed to continue to ratify the Lisbon Treaty despite its rejection by Irish voters last week. At a meeting in Luxembourg, ministers reject suggestions that Ireland might be left behind, while other countries pressed on with integration. The Irish Foreign Minister said there was no threatening language or any sense of being marginalized. The British Foreign Secretary David Miliband said he would defend the principle that the treaty must be ratified by all member states.
World News from the BBC.
The NATO Secretary General Jaap de Hoop Scheffer says Ukraine's bid to join the alliance should not be influenced by any third party, an apparent reference to Russia's fierce opposition. Mr. de Hoop Scheffer was speaking in the Ukrainian capital Kyiv after talks with President Viktor Yushchenko.
"Decision-making in NATO is by the 26 allies and by them only, and that includes decision-making on getting Ukraine closer to NATO. Nobody else will take that decision but the 26 allies."
The Nigerian government has announced it's investigating the auction of oil exploration licenses in the last weeks of President Olusegun Obasanjo's administration. From Lagos, Alex Last reports.
Last year, oil exploration licenses were sold off for 600 million dollars just days before the then-President Obasanjo had to leave office. The question of this investigation is did anyone illegally benefit from the sale. It's the latest high-profile probe into the conduct of Mr. Obasanjo's administration. But the new government is also currently reviewing the whole oil and gas sector. Its vast revenues drive the economy but it's also the main source of patronage and corruption. Finding mucky dealings in the past is not difficult, really cleaning up the sector may be a bit harder.
In Romania, a dead man has been re-elected as mayor of the northeastern village of Voinesti. Residents knowingly voted for the man Neculai Ivascu, who had held the post for 18 years, preferring him to his living opponent. Mr. Ivascu died of liver disease just after voting began. One resident said he was aware of his death, but he didn't want change.
Germany have qualified for the quarter-finals of the European Football Championships after edging out the co-hosts Austria 1-0 in Vienna. Germany will now play Portugal in the last eight. In the day's other game, Croatia beat Poland for the same score in Klagenfurt. The Croats will meet Turkey in the quarter-finals.
BBC News.
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