BBC news 2009-06-28 加文本

BBC 2009-06-28


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BBC News with Joe Macintosh

The family of the singer Michael Jackson is reported to have asked for a second autopsy as it seeks answers about his death two days ago in Los Angeles. The city's coroner said on Friday that his examination of Michael Jackson's body revealed no evidence of foul play. Police investigating the singer's death say Michael Jackson's doctor who was with him when he collapsed is not a suspect but they do intend to interview him thoroughly. In a statement published by the celebrity magazine People, the singer's father spoke of his family's grief. David Willis reports from Los Angeles.

Michael Jackson's family described his death as one of the darkest moments of their lives. It had left them speechless and devastated to a point where communication with the outside world seemed almost impossible at times. The statement ends by thanking his fans and urging them to continue to spread his message, carry on, so his legacy will last forever. The Jackson family is seeking its own independent post-mortem examination into the singer’s death in the hope of resolving a string of unanswered questions, chief among them, the role of Conrad Murray, the singer's personal physician, who was with Michael Jackson when he was taken ill.

The Iranian opposition leader Mir Hossein Moussavi has refused to support a plan by the Guardian Council, the highest electoral authority to hold a partial recount of the votes in the disputed presidential election. Mr. Moussavi said in a statement on his website that the best solution was a re-run of the poll. Catherine Utley reports.

The Guardian Council is due to give its definitive verdict on the poll result later on Sunday, but it's already said the vote was Iran's healthiest ever. Mr. Moussavi remains defiant though, still demanding that the entire vote be annulled. Limiting the recount to just some of the ballot boxes as the Guardian Council has proposed, would not, he said, regain the people's trust, neither would it convince public opinion about the results. The only compromise Mr. Moussavi would be prepared to accept, he said, was the review of the vote by an independent body.

Russia and NATO have agreed to resume military cooperation after nearly a year of difficult relations. The agreement came at a meeting in Greece of foreign ministers in the NATO-Russia Council. The NATO’s Secretary General Jaap de Hoop Scheffer said differences over Georgia still remained, a point illustrated by the Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov, who insisted it was up to Tbilisi to restore relations with Moscow.

My answer is quite simple. We never sever that relationship with Georgia, it was Georgia who severed diplomatic relations with Russia and it's up to Georgia to re-launch them again.

A federal appeals court in Argentina has ruled that some 70 Argentine army officers can be charged with the alleged torture of their own soldiers during the Falklands War between Argentina and Britain 27 years ago.

World News from the BBC

Foreign Ministers from the G8 group of industrialized countries meeting in Italy have welcomed America's plan to completely change its anti-drug strategy in Afghanistan. Until now US policy has focused on trying to eradicate the growing of poppies. But America's special envoy to Afghanistan, Richard Holbrooke told G8 ministers that the program had been an expensive mistake. Instead he said the focus would now be on encouraging Afghans to grow different crops. One delegate at the G8 meeting described the earlier eradication policy as a sad joke.

A man with joint Canadian-Sudanese citizenship has arrived back in Canada after being held in Sudan for 6 years. Abousfian Abdelrazik was accused of being an associate of al-Qaida. Mr.Abdelrazik was arrested while visiting his sick mother in 2003.While in prison, his passport expired and after his release he stayed at the Canadian embassy in Khartoum. The Canadian authorities have refused to issue new papers as Mr.Abdelrazik was on a United Nations air travel blacklist. However, a federal court in Canada ordered the government to allow his return.

A church pastor in the American State of Kentucky has held a special service where the congregation was invited to bring their guns. Pastor Ken Pagano said the gathering was intended to promote safe gun ownership and celebrate the right to bear arms. Steve Jackson reports.

As people arrived at the new Bethel Church in Louisville, their guns were checked to make sure none of them were loaded. Inside Pastor Ken Pagano told the gathering of a hundred or more that he wanted to send out a message that intelligent law-abiding citizens could own guns, too. Most people there kept their weapons in holsters, but Pastor Pagano himself was unarmed. His address was followed by a raffle in which the first prize was a hand-gun. Other church groups and peace-campaigners held a rival gun-free event at the same time.

1.post-mortem examination： 尸检

2. raffle:抽采售物

3. congregation: 会众