BBC news 2009-06-06 加文本

BBC 2009-06-06


Download Audio

BBC News with Jerry Schmitt.

The British Prime Minister Gordon Brown has defied calls for him to stand down, insisting that he would in his words “fight on”. Mr. Brown has been reshuffling his cabinet after five more ministers resigned from his government on Friday and local elections resulted in big losses for the governing Labour Party. He acknowledges that Labour has suffered a painful defeat, but says the current political crisis fueled by the scandal over politicians’ expenses was a test of everyone’s nerves.

“Our party cannot lead or succeed by heeding the empty and expedient reactions of the hour. I’m certain of what is at stake, not just for Labour, but for Britain. Yes, it was a tough night, but we fight on for what we believe. I will not waver, I will not walk away, I will get on with the job, and I will finish the work.”

A former US State Department official and his wife have been indicted on charges of having spied for the Communist government in Cuba for nearly 30 years. The Justice Department said that the former official Walter Myers had full security clearance to access top-secret information and had been instructed to seek employment in the State Department. James Coomarasamy reports from Washington.

Walter Kendall Myers and his wife Gwendolyn were arrested in Washington on Thursday. They are alleged to have been recruited by the Cuban intelligence services in 1979 and to have passed information to them over a period of decades. The couple allegedly told an undercover FBI agent that they were known as agents 202 and 123, that they had personally met Fidel Castro and that Mrs. Myers’ preferred method of passing on secrets was to exchange shopping trolleys in a grocery store.

At least 30 people have been killed in confrontations between indigenous rights groups and police in the Peruvian Amazon, nine of those killed were police officers. The protesters were opposing government plans to open up their ancestral lands for oil and gas exploration. Dan Collyns reports.

The clash happened before dawn on Friday as Special Forces police moved in to remove the protesters who were sleeping by the side of the road, which they’ve been blockading. The indigenous protestors said the police fired tear gas and live ammunition from helicopters in what is by far the most violent clash in the protest so far. The Peruvian police reported several of their officers were killed when they were attacked by native protestors with firearms. Indigenous leaders say a greater number of protestors lost their lives and the toll is expected to rise.

The French government is sending a nuclear-powered submarine to the Mid Atlantic to help search for the wreckage of an Air France plane which disappeared off the Brazilian coast earlier this week. It’s also sending two deep-sea research submarines to look for the plane’s flight data recorders which are believed to be several thousand meters deep on the seabed.

You are listening to the World News from the BBC.

Security forces in Guinea Bissau have shot dead at least four people, including two senior politicians they accused of plotting a coup just over three weeks before presidential elections. A statement by the Interior Ministry said former Defense Minister Helder Proenca and the presidential candidate Baciro Dabo （are） died while resisting arrest, but according to Mr. Dabo’s security chief, he was asleep when men in military uniform burst into his house and killed him. A UN spokesman, Farhan Haq said Secretary General Ban Ki-moon was concerned about the spate of killings.

“These developments underscore once again the importance and urgency of conducting a thorough, credible and transparent investigation into the circumstances surrounding the assassinations in Guinea Bissau. The United Nations will be consulting with national authorities and International Contact Group on Guinea Bissau to explore what more needs to be done to end impunity and restore the respect for the rule of law in the country.”

The United States has dismissed Israel’s claim that it reached an understanding with the Bush administration, allowing it to continue to expand Jewish settlements in the occupied Palestinian West Bank and East Jerusalem. Secretary of State Hilary Clinton says there was no record of such an agreement.

A United Nations’ report says Iran has amassed more than 1300 kilograms of uranium which analysts say is well over the amount needed to make a single atomic bomb. The UN Security Council wants Iran to stop all uranium enrichment programs until the UN’s nuclear watchdog the IAEA can inspect the uranium development program.

The Twenty20 cricket World Cup has opened in England with a surprise defeat for the host team. They were beaten by four wickets by the Netherlands who are considered rank outsiders. The match kicked off 16 days of top-class cricket with 12 teams hoping to lift the trophy.

Words and Phrases

 Reshuffle： (also less frequent shuffle) 洗牌，改组

    v:to change around the jobs that a group of people do, for example in the British: The Prime Minister eventually decided  against reshuffling the Cabinet.

n: Cabinet reshuffle内阁改组

heed： 注意,留心

v  to pay attention to someone's advice or warning
　 If she had only heeded my warnings , none of this would have happened.

n  pay heed to sth/take heed of sth

 to pay attention to something, especially something someone says, and seriously consider it.
The government was taking little heed of these threats.
Tom paid no heed to her warning.

top-secret information：  绝密情报

Special Forces  特种部队 soldiers who have been specially trained to fight against guerrilla or terrorist group