BBC news 2011-12-19 加文本

The rivalries threatening Iraqi stability have intensified with the country's most senior Sunni politicians coming under pressure from the Shia-dominated government. The crisis occurred just hours after the final American troops left the country. Jim Muir reports from Baghdad.
伊拉克逊尼派最资深政治家受到来自什叶派占主导的政府的压力，威胁伊拉克稳定局面的敌对状态由此加剧。这场危机发生在最后一批美国离开后数小时之后，Jim Muir从巴格达发回报道。

Two of the country's vice-presidents, Tariq al-Hashimi and Khodair al-Khozaei, were reported to have found themselves stuck at Baghdad airport after being refused permission to fly to the Kurdish north to see President Talabani. Another leading Sunni figure Deputy Prime Minister Saleh al-Mutlaq is the target of a move to have him impeached in parliament. The Iraqi parliamentary bloc led by Ayad Allawi, which represents most of the country's Sunnis, had earlier pulled out of parliament, accusing Prime Minister Maliki of monopolising power. It's a bitter political struggle with strong sectarian overtones. If it's not contained swiftly, there are fears it could plunge the country into an even deeper crisis.
据报道，伊拉克两位副总理Tariq al-Hashimi和Khodair al-Khozaei被困巴格达机场，此前他们不被允许飞往库尔德被捕看望总统塔拉巴尼。逊尼派另一位领导人副总理Saleh al-Mutlaq成为一次行动的目标，该行动试图在议会弹劾Mutla。Ayad Allawi领导的伊拉克议会集团代表该国多数逊尼派，早些时候，该集团退出议会，并指控总理Maliki专权。这是一场有强烈宗派色彩的政治斗争，如果不能快速解决，人们担心这场危机会使伊拉克陷入更深的危机。

Crowds of Palestinians waving flags are welcoming home 550 Palestinian prisoners being released by Israel. It's the second and final phase of a deal that ensured the freedom of the kidnapped Israeli soldier Gilad Shalit earlier this year. Here's Yolande Knell.
大批巴勒斯坦民众挥舞旗帜，欢迎从以色列被释放的550名巴勒斯坦囚犯。这是那场使被绑架的以色列士兵沙利特获得自由的交易的第二也是最后一阶段。下面是Yolande Knell报道。

There are street parties taking place in Ramallah and the West Bank and Gaza City to celebrate this release. But it doesn't carry as much drama as the first stage two months ago: most of the prominent Palestinian prisoners included in this exchange were freed then, and the Israeli soldier Gilad Shalit was seen in public for the first time in five years before he returned home to his family. Many of the Palestinians now being released from Israeli jails were serving light sentences.
在拉马拉、约旦河西岸和加沙市都举行了街头派对，庆祝囚犯获释。但这次获释，不如两月前第一批释放更有戏剧性。上次的释放仪式上，巴勒斯坦重要囚犯和沙利特均获释，五年来，人们首次在公众场合见到这名以色列士兵，随后沙利特回家与亲人重聚。这次在以色列监狱获释的大部分巴勒斯坦囚犯所受刑罚都较轻。

President Asif Ali Zardari has returned home to Pakistan nearly two weeks after he flew to Dubai for medical treatment. The reason for Mr Zardari's treatment has not been disclosed. The president's extended absence prompted speculation in Pakistan that he might resign.
扎里达尔总统约两周前飞往迪拜就医，如今他已返回巴基斯坦。扎尔达里先生的治疗的原因尚未披露。他久不露面引发巴基斯坦人猜测他可能会辞职。

Statesmen from around the world have led tributes to Vaclav Havel, the former Czech president who has died at the age of 75 after a long illness. Vaclav Havel led the peaceful uprising known as the Velvet Revolution, which brought an end to Soviet-style communism in Czechoslovakia in 1989. The Swedish Foreign Minister Carl Bildt called him "one of the greatest Europeans of our age". One of Mr Havel's lifelong friends, the Czech Foreign Minister Karel Schwarzenberg, described his qualities.
捷克前总统瓦茨拉夫．哈韦尔久病不愈身亡，享年75岁，来自世界各地的领导人都发去吊唁。1989年，瓦茨拉夫．哈韦尔领导了被称为“天鹅绒革命”的和平起义，结束了捷克斯洛伐克苏维埃共产主义。瑞典外长Carl Bildt称他为“我们这个时代最伟大的欧洲人”。捷克外长Karel Schwarzenberg是哈维尔的终生挚友，他这么称赞哈维尔的品质：

"He was a man who really fought for liberty. He was incredibly brave. Besides of that, he was a poet and a writer of distinction. And he was somebody [who] kept us principled, and that was important too. He was really an example [of] how a man should behave in the 20th century."
“他是真正为自由而战的人，他相当勇敢。除此，他还是一位诗人，一位出色的作家。他让我们坚持原则，这一点也很重要。他确实是20世纪人们应如何作为的样板。”

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The United Nations has warned that an impending humanitarian crisis in Yemen could turn it into another Somalia. The warning came as UN officials appealed for nearly $450m to help millions of Yemenis affected by food shortages. The country has been racked by months of protests against the government of President Ali Abdullah Saleh, who's agreed to step down in February next year.
联合国警告称，即将降临在也门的人道主义危机可能将之变成另一个索马里。联合国官员呼吁向缺少食物的数百万也门人提供4.5亿美元援助，数月来，反对总理萨利赫的抗议令该国负重不堪。萨利赫同意明年2月下台。

The defeated opposition leader in the Democratic Republic of Congo, Etienne Tshisekedi, says he will be sworn in as the country's president this week despite the Supreme Court upholding the election victory of the incumbent, Joseph Kabila. Last Friday, the court formally declared Joseph Kabila the winner with nearly 49% of the vote against just over 32% for Mr Tshisekedi.
刚果民主共和国反对党领袖Etienne Tshisekedi在选举中失败，但他宣布，尽管最高法院支持现任总统Joseph Kabila获胜，他还是要在本周宣誓就任该国总统。上周五，法院正式宣布Joseph Kabila以近49%的支持率打败只有32%支持率的Tshisekedi。

An oil drilling platform that sank off Sakhalin island in the Russian far east was hit by such strong waves that its life rafts were ripped away. The rescue centre in Vladivostok said empty rafts and rescue suits had been seen floating near the spot where the Kolskaya platform capsised. Fourteen people were rescued; 49 others are missing.
俄罗斯远东库页岛一架石油钻井平台发生沉没事故，救生筏被汹涌的海浪击中冲走。符拉迪沃斯托克救援中心称,空的救生筏和救生衣漂浮在克拉钻井平台倒塌附近，14人获救，另外49人失踪。

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