BBC news 2009-03-10 加文本

BBC 2009-03-10

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BBC News with David Legg.

President Obama has ended an eight-year ban on US federal funding for embryonic stem cell research. Mr. Obama promised that American research would now be free of political interference. Richard Lister reports.

Many scientists believe such cells may be manipulated to treat a range of ailments, but extracting them leads to the death of the embryo. President Obama said as a religious person he felt he had a calling to try to ease human suffering, but he also acknowledged the need for strict limits. He gave the National Institutes for Health four months to draw up guidelines on how to review requests for federal funding and ensure that cloning for human reproduction remains banned.

The United States says five Chinese ships harassed a US Navy surveillance vessel in international waters in the South China Sea, sailing dangerously close to it. The Pentagon said one of the Chinese boats came within a few meters of the US vessel which was unarmed and it responded by spraying fire hoses at the Chinese crew. Kevin Connolly reports.

Aggressive manoeuvring by ships of rival navies in sensitive international waters is not uncommon. At issue is the manner in which the US Navy says the Chinese vessels went beyond the usual boundaries in shadowing and harassing the Impeccable. At one point, one of its ships closed within five meters with its crew waving flags and broadcasting messages to the unarmed American vessel which responded by using a fire hose to drive off the Chinese flotilla. This may be an example of China testing the mettle of a new American administration, just as it did when it impounded an American spy plane immediately after George W. Bush took office.

The United Nations in Madagascar says it's giving protection to the opposition leader Andry Rajoelina who is involved in a long-running power struggle with the island's president that's led to widespread unrest. This follows a day of looting in the capital, Antananarivo. Gunfire was heard on the streets for several hours. The Malagasy army has called on the politicians to sort out their differences after weeks of violent demonstrations that have left more than 100 people dead. The UN and church groups have announced that a new round of peace talks will begin on Thursday involving the army and the police.

Workers at the Ford motor company in the United States have voted to accept a series of contract concessions aimed at helping the firm offset the effects of the global financial crisis. The agreement negotiated by Ford and the United Auto Workers trade union includes the freezing of wages and a series of cuts in benefits. Karen Nye reports from New York.

Ford is the one US carmaker that has not taken government bail-out money but it lost 14 billion dollars last year and posted a huge drop in sales last month. Ford's agreement could serve as a pattern for the other struggling carmakers in Detroit, General Motors and Chrysler who have taken billions in government aid.

World News from the BBC.

A civilian has been killed in a rocket attack on a British military base in the southern Iraqi city of Basra. British officials say that the base was near Basra airport but did not give any further details. It's the first time that the base has been attacked since December last year.

The British Prime Minister Gordon Brown has called for the interests of the world's poorest countries to be put at the center of the G20 summit in Britain next month. Speaking at a development conference in London, Mr. Brown said that global economic crisis threatened to reverse progress made. David Loyn reports.

Gordon Brown said that the uNPRecedented nature of the global financial meltdown had hit hardest the poorest people in the world and now threatens to return the world to protectionism and away from modernity itself. He said there was no way of dealing with the challenges of globalization, climate change or security without involving developing countries. It was an appeal to see problems as linked up in a world where the jobs of textile workers in Bangladesh and miners in Congo were as much threatened as those of steel workers in the United States and car workers in Britain.

The Zimbabwean Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai has said it's unlikely that foul play was involved in the car crash that killed his wife on Friday. He described the crash as an accident which unfortunately had taken the life of his wife Susan as well as injuring him. Mr. Tsvangirai was speaking at his home in Harare after returning from Botswana where he had treatment for his injuries.

Researchers say a chimpanzee at a Swedish zoo who hoarded stones so he'd throw them at visitors proves that apes can plan ahead as well as humans can. On numerous occasions, keepers at Furuvik Zoo have watched the chimp Santino gathering ammunition in the early morning directly facing areas where he knew crowds will be gathering later. He was also seen breaking up concrete to add to his stock of missiles.
 
BBC News. 

Glossary:

ailment: An ailment is an illness, especially one that is not very serious. =affliction

calling: a strong desire or feeling of duty to do a particular kind of work

draw up: If you draw up a document, list, or plan, you prepare it and write it out. =formulate

reproduction: A reproduction is a copy of something.

harass: If someone harass you, they trouble you or annoy you, for example, by attacking you repeatedly or by causing you as many problems as they can.

hose: a long rubber or plastic tube which can be moved and bent to put water onto fires, gardens etc

at issue: most important in what is being discussed

shadow: If someone shadows you, they follow you very closely wherever you go.

drive off: If you drive someone or something off, you force them to go away and to stop attacking you or threatening you.

flotilla: A flotilla is a group of small ships, usually military ships.

mettle: courage and determination to do something even when it is very difficult

modernity: the condition of being new and modern

foul play: foul play is criminal violence or activiy that results in a person's death.

hoard: If you hoard things such as food or money, you save or store them, often in secret, because they are valuable or important to you.(www.hxen.net)

break up: When something breaks up or when you break it up, it seperates or is divided into serval smaller parts.

impound: If something is impounded by policemen, customs officers or other officials, they officially take possession of it because a law or rule has been broken. =confiscate