BBC在线收听下载:美国篮球运动员科林斯公开自己是同性恋

BBC News with Fiona MacDonald
The European Commission says it will bring in a two-year ban on some of the world’s most-widely used pesticides over fears they damage honey bees. After member states failed to agree on the issue, the European Union’s executive body said it would impose a moratorium on the chemicals. From Brussels, here’s Chris Morris.
欧洲委员会称，由于担心对蜜蜂造成伤害，他们将对世界上最广泛使用的一些杀虫剂实施两年的禁令。成员国针对该议题未能达成一致，欧盟执行机构称，他们将暂停这些化学物质的使用。来自布鲁塞尔，Chris Morris报道。

This proposal will ban the use on a variety of crops of three specific pesticides for two years, but several member states including the UK agree with many of the arguments of chemical companies, which argue that the science is inconclusive-- the results in laboratories have not been replicated in the field. No matter in the vote today there was no qualified majority for or against a ban. That means the European Commission has the power to impose a decision and it wants the ban to begin later this year.
这项提案将禁止一系列作物使用三种杀虫剂两年的时间，但是包括英国在内的一些成员国赞同许多化学公司的辩解，认为科学是不确定的——实验室里的结果并没有在农田中得到印证。无论如何，在今天的投票中，支持或反对该禁令都没有占据大多数。这意味着欧盟委员会有权作出决定，该机构希望禁令于今年晚些时候开始实施。

The United States has reinforced medical staff at its detention centre at Guantanamo Bay to handle the expanding hunger strike by prisoners. A military spokesman said about 40 nurses and medical staff were sent to the centre in Cuba at the weekend. He said 100 of the 166 detainees were now on hunger strike. Prisoners began the strike nearly three months ago over allegations that staff mishandled the Quran.
美国已经增加了关塔纳摩湾拘留中心的医疗工作人员，以应对囚犯不断扩大的绝食抗议活动。军方一名发言人称，周末期间共向古巴这个拘留中心派遣了40名护士和医疗人员。他表示，166名被拘留人员中的100人正在绝食。接近三个月前囚犯开始抗议，声称职员不恰当地处理可兰经。

Italy’s new coalition government has easily won a vote of confidence in the lower house of parliament. Earlier the prime minister, Enrico Letta, drew a standing ovation from most deputies after delivering his inaugural address to parliament when he revealed his plans to kick start Italy’s debt-laden economy. Mr Letta said he would go to Berlin and other major European capitals this week to lobby European Union partners to switch to more growth-oriented policies.
意大利新的联合政府轻松赢得议会下院的信任投票。此前，总理莱塔(Enrico Letta)在议会发表就职演说，披露了重启债台高筑的意大利经济的计划，赢得了大多数副手的热烈欢迎。莱塔表示，本周他将前往柏林和其他主要的欧洲国家首都，游说欧盟合作者采取更加促进经济增长的政策。

Local leaders in northern Ghana have announced the abolition of the ritual killing of babies with physical disabilities. Chiefs in the Upper East Region held a special ceremony to announce the banning of the practice, whereby disabled babies are said to be possessed by evil spirits and then killed. Elders who poisoned the babies have been given new roles, working to promote disabled children’s rights. The announcement was made by one of the village chiefs, Naba Henry Abawine Amenga-Etigo.
加纳北部当地领袖宣布废止把生下来就有残疾的婴儿杀死的习俗。东北地区首领举行了特别仪式，宣布禁止该习俗。在这些地方，身体有残疾的婴儿被认为鬼魂附体，因此被杀害。负责毒杀这些婴儿的长老们现在被赋予了新的使命，保护残疾儿童的权利。宣布废止该习俗的是当地村落一名领袖Naba Henry Abawine Amenga-Etigo。

"No child should suffer any form of abuse as a result of whatever circumstances he or she is born (with). The God produce life and only God who can take away life. So no child should be killed because they say the spirit child. That is not good.”
“任何一名儿童都不应该由于出生时的身体状况而遭受任何形式的虐待。上帝创造了生命，只有上帝能够夺走生命。所以，任何儿童都不应该被视为鬼魂附体而被杀害。这样是不对的。”

The clothing retailer Primark has said it’ll compensate some of the victims of a Bangladesh textile factory which collapsed, killing at least 380 people. Primark said it will help people who worked for its supply in the building. A Bangladeshi minister said his government has turned down offers of international help because it was confident it could handle the rescue operation.
孟加拉国一家纺织厂倒塌，造成至少380人死亡，服装零售商Primark表示将对一些受害者进行赔偿。Primark表示，它将帮助这栋大厦中为他们供货的工作人员。孟加拉国一名部长表示，政府拒绝了国际社会的援助，因为他们有信心处理救援事宜。

World News from the BBC
An American basketball player, Jason Collins, has come out as gay, the first active male athlete in a major US professional team sport to do so. Writing in a popular sports magazine, Mr Collins said he didn’t set out to be the first openly gay athlete, but since he was, he was happy to start the conversation. Alex Capstick reports.
美国篮球运动员贾森•科林斯公开宣布自己是一名同性恋者，这是北美职业体育史上第一次有现役运动员公开承认自己是同性恋者。在一份很受欢迎的体育画报中，科林斯写道，他从未打算成为第一个公开承认同性恋身份的运动员，但是事实却是如此，他很高兴能开始对话。Alex Capstick报道。

Never before has such a revelation come from the macho environment of elite sport in the US. Some have announced their sexual orientation after retirement, but Jason Collins is the first active player from the major basketball, American football, ice hockey and baseball leagues to do it. He’s been at the NBA for 12 seasons and has represented six teams. Among the messages of support, one from the former president Bill Clinton, whose daughter was at college with Jason Collins. He said it was an important moment for professional sports in the US and in the history of the lesbian and gay community.
以前美国充满大男子主义的体育界从未爆出这样的新闻。一些运动员在退役后曾宣布自己的性取向，但是贾森•科林斯是美国主要的篮球，足球，冰球和棒球联盟中宣部自己是同性恋的首位现役运动员。他已在NBA征战了12个赛季，代表6个球队。在支持他的声音中，其中一人是美国前总统克林顿，他的女儿与贾森•科林斯就读同一所大学。他表示，对于美国职业运动和同性恋历史来说，这是很重要的时刻。

The $1.3bn orbiting space telescope Herschel has run out of fuel and stopped working. Since its launch in 2009, the European satellite, the most powerful observatory of its kind, has captured thousands of images of galaxies in evolution, great vistas of billowing clouds of star dust. Operators at the European Space Agency always knew the telescope’s working life would be limited. They’ll run some final tests on the spacecraft in the coming weeks before allowing it to drift towards the Sun.
价值13亿美元的“赫谢尔”太空望远镜燃料告罄，停止工作。自2009年发射以来，欧洲航空局这颗最强大的天文卫星捕捉了银行系数千张照片和波涛翻滚的星团的壮丽景观。欧洲航天局的操作人员早已知晓这颗卫星的寿命即将结束。未来几周，他们将对这个航天器进行几次最后的测试，然后让其向太阳漂移。

Queen Beatrix of the Netherlands has given an emotional final address to her people a day before she abdicates in favour of her eldest son. Speaking on primetime television, the Queen said hereditary authority of itself did not give substance to a contemporary monarchy; rather, she said, this was earned through willing service to the country. Queen Beatrix praised her son Willem-Alexander, saying he was well-prepared to fulfil that role. Amsterdam has been decked out in orange, the colour of the Dutch monarchy.
荷兰女王贝娅特丽克丝在传位于长子一天之前发表了最后的感人讲话。女王黄金时间在电视台发表讲话，称世袭王权本身并不为当代王室提供资产；而是通过为国家服务而获得的。贝娅特丽克丝女王赞扬了她的儿子威廉•亚历山大，称他已做好充分准备来完成使命。亚历山大身穿荷兰王室的代表颜色，橙色服装登基。

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