BBC news 2009-06-23 加文本

BBC 2009-06-23

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BBC News with Joe Macintosh.

There have been more clashes in the Iranian capital Tehran between police and demonstrators protesting against the disputed presidential elections. Eyewitnesses described the center of the city as very tense. The opposition rally took place despite a warning by the Revolutionary Guard that protesters would face what it called a “revolutionary confrontation”. Foreign reporters are not allowed to cover unauthorized gatherings, or move around freely, but there are no controls over what they can say. Jeremy Bowen reports from Tehran.

Basij militiamen who are being used as street-level enforcers stood in groups armed with clubs; others rode around in packs on motorbikes. Witnesses said that earlier before the BBC source was there, police used batons and tear gas to break up a demonstration. There’s been unrest on the streets before in the 30-year history of the Islamic Republic of Iran, but what makes this crisis uNPRecedented is that it’s in parallel with a fracture in the ruling elite. For the last 30 years, Iran’s top leaders have disagreed with each other many times, but they’ve never taken their quarrels to the people like this.

Meanwhile, one of the defeated presidential candidates Mehdi Karroubi has called for a mourning ceremony to be held for the 17 people killed during demonstrations since the elections on June 12th.

A collision between two subway trains in the US capital Washington has killed at least four people. The city’s mayor, Adrian Fenty said many more passengers had been injured. A subway official John Catoe said that one train had stopped and when another train crushed into it from behind. James Coomarasamy reports from Washington.

The two trains collided on an over-ground stretch of the Washington metro system at around 5 p.m. during the evening rush hour. Images from the scene show one of the trains wedged underneath the other, part of one of its carriages completely crushed. Officials say they can’t yet confirm the cause of what they are calling a “mass casualty event”, or the number of people who were on board the trains. But as emergency crews continue to cut through the wreckage, it’s clear that dozens of people have been rescued. And apart from the deaths, several of the injuries have been described as serious.

Prosecutors in Mexico have arrested seven regional officials in connection with the deaths of 47 children in a fire earlier this month. It happened at a government-sponsored day-care center. Amelia San Pedro reports.

The attorney general of Northern Sonora State Abel Murrieta told a news conference that seven officials, all from the state’s finance department, were being charged with negligent homicide. The officials, he said, had a direct responsibility over the running of the warehouse next to the day-care center where the fire started. Investigators looking into the cause of the fire had found that there were no fire extinguishers or fire alarms in the warehouse which stored cars, tyres, and paperwork.

You are listening to the World News. It’s coming to you from the BBC in London.

The British House of Commons has elected a new Speaker following a scandal over MPs’ expenses. He is the Conservative MP John Bercow. He takes over from Michael Martin who became the first Speaker to be forced to resign in 300 years over his handling of the issue. // reports.

After three rounds of voting, John Bercow emerged as the new Speaker, seeing of nine other candidates. To the thunder of applause, he was then dragged to the Speaker’s chair as is the time-honored tradition. Addressing the House of Commons, Mr. Bercow thanked his colleagues for electing him and promised to be completely impartial. He also acknowledged the strength of the public’s anger over the expenses scandal, but he said he still believed the vast majority of parliamentarians were decent and honorable people.

The leading opposition parties in Venezuela have called on President Hugo Chavez to declare a national state of emergency to deal with the high level of violent crime in the country. The leader of the opposition UNT party Omar Barboza has accused Mr. Chavez of burying his head in the sand in the face of the increased violence. Amnesty International estimates there were some 14, 000 gun-related deaths in Venezuela in 2008.

Police in Paris say they’ve arrested at least 25 people in connection with the biggest jewel theft in French history which took place last year. They also recovered large amount of cash and weapons in two separate operations in and around Paris. The police said the robbery was carried out by four men who went to the famous Harry Winston store, pulled out guns, and made off with jewelry worth more than 100 million dollars.

The American singer Chris Brown has pleaded guilty to assaulting his former girl friend, the pop star Rihanna. He entered a guilty plea shortly before a hearing in Los Angeles at which Rihanna was due to testify. The R&B star was sentenced to five years probation and six months of community service.

And that’s the latest World News from the BBC.

Vocabularies

baton  n.指挥棒，警棍

collide  vi.碰撞，互撞；冲突，抵触

wreckage  n.(失事飞机等的)残骸；破坏，毁坏

negligent homicide 过失杀人

see off  为…送行

thunder of applause雷鸣般的掌声

probation  n.缓刑(期)，(以观后效的)察看；试用(期)