BBC news 2008-10-23 加文本

BBC News with Jerry Schmitt

The White House is bringing world leaders to Washington next month for a summit to discuss the global economic crisis. The governments of 20 developed and developing countries will assess the progress made so far in dealing with the collapse of credit and the falling values on world markets. The talks will take place shortly after the U.S. presidential election. The Democratic candidate for US president Barack Obama has welcomed the summit.

“On September 19th, I called for a globally coordinated effort with our partners in the G20 to stabilize the credit markets. I’m happy that today the White House announced a summit of the G20 countries that provides an opportunity to advance the kind of cooperation that I called for last month. America must lead and other nations must be part of the solution, too.”

The French President Nicolas Sarkozy said it would be the first in a number of meetings to rebuild the international financial system.

As the Washington summit was announced, stock markets around the world continue to slide. At the close of trading in New York, the Dow Jones index was down 5.5%. In London, the FTSE closed down 4.5%. In Brazil, shares fell by over 6%. And in an attempt to stabilize its currency, the central bank in Hungary has increased its interest rates by 3%.

Campaigners against global warming have been likened to creators of an intolerant new religion by the former Spanish Prime Minister Jose Maria Aznar. He said the smallest doubt as to the man-made origin of climate change is automatic cause for what he called "eco-excommunication". Mr. Aznar was speaking at the launch of a book by Czech Pr. Vaclav Klaus, who’s also questioned widely held climate change theories. * reports:

The former Spanish PM says he does not deny global warming, but rather questions the fact that so much money is being dedicated to combating it when the world is in economic crisis. Mr. Aznar said the champions of the climatic apocalypse had little or nothing to do with science, and like in the the Omoto “new” religion, they condemned to the public bonfire those who dare question their forecasts. After being voted out of public office 4 years ago, Mr. Aznar has continued to press his conservative views. Two years ago when Muslims around the world were angered by comments made by Pope Benedict-backed Islam, Mr. Aznar came to the Pope’s defense, and instead asked why Muslims had never apologized for the Moorish occupation of Spain. 

The former Archbishop of Cape Town Njongonkulu Ndungane has described poverty in South Africa as a state of emergency. He said that never before in the history of the country had so many people said “We have no food.” The archbishop challenged members of the government to go with him village by village to explain what they were doing for poor people.

World News from the BBC.

The Swiss government has expressed indignation at Germany’s call for the country to be included on a blacklist of tax havens. The foreign minister described as unacceptable comments by the German finance minister that Switzerland offered conditions inviting the German taxpayers to evade tax.

The first match in a series to decide the biggest prize in American baseball starts shortly in Florida. The best-of-7 series will be contested by two of the game’s outsiders, the Tampa Bay Rays and the Philadelphia Phillies. The Phillies has been champions only once before. The Rays had been one of the worst performers in their 11 years in major league baseball. As Alex Capstick reports:

Formed in 1998 as the Devil Rays, the club has always lost more games than it’s won. But after finishing last in 2007, a big change took place. The Devil was removed from the name, and the Tampa Bay Rays, as they are now known, are closing in on baseball’s biggest prize. The Tampa Bay Rays may have shared their loser’s reputation, but there’s plenty of incentives as they bid to become the best in the land. Never before has a team turned itself around from being on the bottom one season to world series champion the next.

Scientists in the United States say they have developed the ability to wipe out uncomfortable memories. In experiments with mice, researchers from the Georgia School of Medicine were able to eliminate memories without any damage to the animals’ brains. Matt McGrath reports: (Www.hxen.net)

Scientists of the Georgia School of Medicine in the United States said they have found a molecular mechanism that can rapidly remove specific memories. Working with mice, the researchers found that a particular protein has a crucial role in the formation of memories. Making the mice overproduce this protein while recalling a specific and painful event cause the memory to be completely eliminated. The scientists say that in the long term, it should be possible to develop a pill that wipes out traumatic and fearful memories in humans.

Matt McGrath,BBC News.