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BBC news 2008-12-05 加文本
2008-12-05来源:和谐英语
BBC 2008-12-05
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BBC News with Victoria Meakin.
America's embattled carmakers have gone to the Senate once again to secure an increased rescue package, but six hours of talks failed to produce an agreement. The chief executives of Ford, General Motors and Chrysler had originally requested 25 billion dollars and now say they need 34 billion dollars to keep their companies afloat. James Coomarasamy reports.
The CEOs have driven to Washington in their hybrid cars, bringing with them a message of urgency mixed with contrition. But despite presenting new restructuring plans described by Chrysler's boss as robust, realistic and green, a six-hour Senate hearing failed to produce a consensus about their requested loan of 34 billion dollars. Many senators remain skeptical about the plans on the table, and in some cases, about the CEOs who are due to enact them. The CEOs take their request to the House of Representatives on Friday.
The Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper has been allowed to suspend Parliament for more than a month to avoid a vote of no confidence that was expected to bring down his minority Conservative government. The main opposition parties have been united in their criticism of Mr. Harper's handling of the Canadian economy. But the Canadian Governor General granted permission for Parliament to be suspended or prorogued until January 26 . Mr. Harper said his priority, when Parliament resumed, would be to present a budget that would get cross-party support.
On my advice, the Governor General has agreed to prorogue Parliament. Last Friday, I asked Canadians to give us their opinions on the parliamentary situation. That feedback has been overwhelming and very clear. They want Canada's government to continue to work on the agenda that Canadians voted for, our plan to strengthen the economy.
Israeli security forces have stormed a building in the West Bank city of Hebron evicting about 200 Jewish settlers who had been occupying it in defiance of an Israeli court ruling. The building was cleared quickly but settlers later attacked both Israeli security forces and Palestinians who form the vast majority of Hebron's population. Reports said about 30 settlers and Israeli soldiers and several Palestinians had been injured. The Israeli Defense Minister Ehud Barak justified the deployment of security forces against the settlers.
Enforcing the state's rule over its citizens is the means of every democratic state. This means ensuring the implementation of the court's decisions and ultimately evacuating the building, and that's what' s been done.
Iran says it believes that 16 police officers abducted in June by a militant nationalist group have now all been killed. The Iranians say the police were seized by Jundal lah, a group which says it's fighting for religious, ethnic and economic rights for Iran's Baluch minority in the south east near the Pakistan border.
World News from the BBC.
As Europe struggles to cope with the global economic downturn, there's been a further round of big cuts in interest rates. The European Central Bank lowered its rate by 0.75 percent to 2.5 percent, the biggest cut it's ever made. The Bank of England dropped its rate to two percent; Sweden cut its to the same level.
A court in Morocco has sentenced a man to ten years in prison after convicting him of having links to the group that carried out the Madrid train bombings in 2004. The court charged Hicham Ahmidan, a Moroccan national, with belonging to the organization behind the bombings. From Rabat, James Copnall reports.
Hicham Ahmidan was sentenced to ten years in prison for what the prosecution called providing logistical support to the Madrid bombers. Mr. Ahmidan's finger prints were found in cars used by the bombers included his cousin. The prosecution had initially asked for a 20-year sentence. Mr. Ahmidan's lawyer Ali Ammar has filed an appeal. He said Mr. Ahmidan has already been found not guilty of belonging to a terrorist group and shouldn't be tried twice for the same offense.
The authorities in Mexico say they found the bodies of 13 people, the majority of them teenagers, in the northwestern state of Sinaloa, which is home to one of the country's most violent drug cartels. Each victim had been shot several times. The news comes a day after a leading newspaper, El Universal, reported that at least 5, 000 people had been killed in drug-related violence in Mexico so far this year, nearly double the number of similar deaths registered last year.(Www.hxen.net)
Sixteen American soldiers, who served in the US invasion of Iraq, have filed a lawsuit against the major defense contractor KBR, accusing it of having exposed them to toxic chemicals. KBR denies the allegation. The suit accuses the firm of having knowingly allowed the soldiers to be exposed to the cancer-causing chemical sodium dichromate while they were protecting an Iraqi water pumping plant.
Download Audio
BBC News with Victoria Meakin.
America's embattled carmakers have gone to the Senate once again to secure an increased rescue package, but six hours of talks failed to produce an agreement. The chief executives of Ford, General Motors and Chrysler had originally requested 25 billion dollars and now say they need 34 billion dollars to keep their companies afloat. James Coomarasamy reports.
The CEOs have driven to Washington in their hybrid cars, bringing with them a message of urgency mixed with contrition. But despite presenting new restructuring plans described by Chrysler's boss as robust, realistic and green, a six-hour Senate hearing failed to produce a consensus about their requested loan of 34 billion dollars. Many senators remain skeptical about the plans on the table, and in some cases, about the CEOs who are due to enact them. The CEOs take their request to the House of Representatives on Friday.
The Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper has been allowed to suspend Parliament for more than a month to avoid a vote of no confidence that was expected to bring down his minority Conservative government. The main opposition parties have been united in their criticism of Mr. Harper's handling of the Canadian economy. But the Canadian Governor General granted permission for Parliament to be suspended or prorogued until January 26 . Mr. Harper said his priority, when Parliament resumed, would be to present a budget that would get cross-party support.
On my advice, the Governor General has agreed to prorogue Parliament. Last Friday, I asked Canadians to give us their opinions on the parliamentary situation. That feedback has been overwhelming and very clear. They want Canada's government to continue to work on the agenda that Canadians voted for, our plan to strengthen the economy.
Israeli security forces have stormed a building in the West Bank city of Hebron evicting about 200 Jewish settlers who had been occupying it in defiance of an Israeli court ruling. The building was cleared quickly but settlers later attacked both Israeli security forces and Palestinians who form the vast majority of Hebron's population. Reports said about 30 settlers and Israeli soldiers and several Palestinians had been injured. The Israeli Defense Minister Ehud Barak justified the deployment of security forces against the settlers.
Enforcing the state's rule over its citizens is the means of every democratic state. This means ensuring the implementation of the court's decisions and ultimately evacuating the building, and that's what' s been done.
Iran says it believes that 16 police officers abducted in June by a militant nationalist group have now all been killed. The Iranians say the police were seized by Jundal lah, a group which says it's fighting for religious, ethnic and economic rights for Iran's Baluch minority in the south east near the Pakistan border.
World News from the BBC.
As Europe struggles to cope with the global economic downturn, there's been a further round of big cuts in interest rates. The European Central Bank lowered its rate by 0.75 percent to 2.5 percent, the biggest cut it's ever made. The Bank of England dropped its rate to two percent; Sweden cut its to the same level.
A court in Morocco has sentenced a man to ten years in prison after convicting him of having links to the group that carried out the Madrid train bombings in 2004. The court charged Hicham Ahmidan, a Moroccan national, with belonging to the organization behind the bombings. From Rabat, James Copnall reports.
Hicham Ahmidan was sentenced to ten years in prison for what the prosecution called providing logistical support to the Madrid bombers. Mr. Ahmidan's finger prints were found in cars used by the bombers included his cousin. The prosecution had initially asked for a 20-year sentence. Mr. Ahmidan's lawyer Ali Ammar has filed an appeal. He said Mr. Ahmidan has already been found not guilty of belonging to a terrorist group and shouldn't be tried twice for the same offense.
The authorities in Mexico say they found the bodies of 13 people, the majority of them teenagers, in the northwestern state of Sinaloa, which is home to one of the country's most violent drug cartels. Each victim had been shot several times. The news comes a day after a leading newspaper, El Universal, reported that at least 5, 000 people had been killed in drug-related violence in Mexico so far this year, nearly double the number of similar deaths registered last year.(Www.hxen.net)
Sixteen American soldiers, who served in the US invasion of Iraq, have filed a lawsuit against the major defense contractor KBR, accusing it of having exposed them to toxic chemicals. KBR denies the allegation. The suit accuses the firm of having knowingly allowed the soldiers to be exposed to the cancer-causing chemical sodium dichromate while they were protecting an Iraqi water pumping plant.
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