BBC news 2009-03-12 加文本

BBC 2009-03-12


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BBC News with Roy Lamar.

The French President Nicolas Sarkozy has confirmed that France will rejoin the integrated command structure of NATO after an absence of more than 40 years. Speaking at a conference in Paris, Mr. Sarkozy said it was wrong that France, a founder member of NATO, was sending soldiers to Afghanistan but French generals had no say at NATO headquarters. Alex Sanford reports from Paris.

President Sarkozy said that there was no longer any reason for France to remain outside NATO‘s integrated military command structure. The time had come to return, he said, in the interests of both France and Europe. He criticized what he called the sterile anti-Americanism of those in France who sought to weaken transatlantic ties by pushing for a European defense initiative. France left NATO’s military command in the 1960s under Charles de Gaulle who was concerned about American influence. But President Sarkozy said that ever since the country had been moving gradually closer to playing a full role in NATO.

PThe NATO Secretary General Jaapde Hoop Scheffer welcomed President Sarkozy's announcement. The French Parliament will vote on the issue next week.

The German Chancellor Angela Merkel says the shooting rampage in southwestern Germany which left at least 16 people dead was an appalling and incomprehensible crime. Most of the young gunman’s victims were pupils and teachers at his former school in Winnenden near Stuttgart. Dominic Hughes reports.

It was around 9:30 in the morning when the 17-year-old gunman entered the Albertville secondary school and started shooting. Pupils left from the windows in a desperate bid to escape. At least nine children, eight of them girls and three teachers didn’t make it. The gunman then made his escape shooting dead a passer-by as he did so. 40 kilometers away, he was cornered in a car showroom. A shootout ensued which claimed the lives of a further two passers-by and left two police officers seriously injured. The teenage gunman was also shot and killed whether by police or by his own hand is not yet clear.

The US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton says the Americans have a range of options they can take if North Korea goes ahead with a widely anticipated long-range missile test. Mrs. Clinton did not elaborate on what the options were. North Korea insists it’s preparing to launch a satellite not a missile and said any attempt to shoot it down will result in war. Kim Ghattas reports from Washington.(www.hXen.com)

Washington has been warning North Korea against launching a long-rang missile for several weeks and Hillary Clinton has now issued a stern warning, telling Pyongyang that discussions were underway with allies to determine what the response would be if the test went ahead. But she seemed to indicate that the six-party talks on denuclearization would not be affected, saying the two issues were separate. Mrs. Clinton said Washington would like the missile issue to become part of the talks, adding she hoped those would resume as soon as possible.

The News from the BBC

New research presented to an international cimate conference in Denmark suggests that even a small rise in global temperatures would lead to much of the Amazon Rainforest being destroyed. The data suggests that three quarters of the rainforest would be lost if global temperatures rose by three degree Celsius and stayed there for 100 years or more. The Amazon supplies 20% of the world's oxygen.

President Barack Obama says he will call on other countries to stimulate their economies and sign up to more financial regulation during a meeting of the G20 leaders in Britain next month. Richard Lister Reports.

President Obama described the G20 summit as a critical meeting at a critical time. He said no matter what reforms the United State puts in place, a continuing deterioration in the global economy would set America back. With that in mind, he said he had two goals for the G20, to press for the concerted international action to jump-start the world economy and overhaul the regulations governing the financial industry. Although he didn’t criticize other nations directly, he made it clear he expected them to follow America’s lead in putting large-scale fiscal stimulus measures in place .

The global economic crisis has led to a sharp drop in the number of billionaires according to the latest annual survey by Forbes Magazine. The survey said there were now a third fewer billionaires worldwide, and of the 793 still on the list, 90% has seen their fortunes shrink on average by almost a quarter. 

A senior UN official says the organization’s anti-narcotics drive has backfired and failed to stop the growth of powerful gangs that are destabilizing countries. The head of the UN's Office on Drugs and Crimes said focusing on law enforcement at the expense of treatment had helped to enrich mafias which were now attacking West Africa and threatening Central America.

BBC World News.

Glossary:

sterile: a sterile argument or discussion does not contain any interesting new ideas.

rampage: When people or aniamls rampage through a place, they rush about there in a wild violent way, causing damage or destruction.

bid: A bid for something or a bid to something is an attempt to obtain it or do it. (JOURNALISM)

ensue: If something ensues, it happens immediately after another event, usually as a result of it. =follow

elaborate on: If you elaborate on something that has been said, you say more about it, or give more details.

set back: If something sets you back, or sets back a project or scheme, it causes a delay.

jump-start: To jump-start a system or process that has stopped working or progressing means to do something that will make it start making quickly or effectively.

backfire: If a plan or project backfires, it has the opposite result to the one that was intended.