BBC在线收听下载:剑桥大学开始研究青少年大脑的工作情况

BBC news 2013-05-15

BBC News with Nick Kelly

President Goodluck Jonathan of Nigeria has declared a state of emergency in three northeastern states in response to increased attacks by the Islamist militant group Boko Haram. In a national television address, Mr. Jonathan said the Nigerian army would take over security in Borno, Yobe and Adamawa states whilst state politicians would remain in their posts.

"The activities of the insurgents and terrorists have been reprehensible causing fear among our citizens and a near-breakdown of law and order in parts of the country, especially in North. We have taken robust steps to unravel and address the root causes of these crises, but it would appear that there is a systematic effort by insurgents and terrorists to destabilize the Nigerian states and test our collective resolve."

A BBC correspondent in Nigeria says it's the first time that President Jonathan has admitted the state is not in control of the whole country.

Russia says it has ordered the expulsion of an American diplomat in Moscow whom it accuses of being a spy. Russia's Federal Security Service named the man as Ryan Fogle. Steve Rosenberg reports.

Ryan Fogle had been working as a third secretary in the US embassy in Moscow. Russia's Federal Security Service, the FSB claims that was a cover and that the diplomat is a CIA agent. He was detained last night as he was allegedly trying to recruit a Russian intelligence officer. Russian television showed video of a man it's said was Fogle being led away and wearing a blond wig. The FSB seized other items including more wigs, a map, a compass, a pen knife, award of money and a letter offering one million pounds a year to the intelligence officer Fogle had allegedly been trying to recruit.

Officials from the European Union have raided the offices of several major oil companies as part of a probe into the suspected rigging of oil prices. The premises raided included those of Shell, BP and Norwegian company Statoil. Our business correspondent Mark Gregory has more.

Competition officials turned up unannounced to the offices of energy companies in three European countries. They were looking for evidence that the firms had submitted distorted data to price reporting agencies. The benchmark price is published by these agencies underpaying billions of dollars of transactions in the oil markets.

The US attorney general has said that the recent seizure of phone records at the Associated Press News Agency was prompted by a leak that had put the American people at risk. Eric Holder said it was possibly the most serious leak he had seen in nearly 40 years as a prosecutor. The phone records covered a period when AP investigated a CIA operation in Yemen to stop al-Qaeda bombing in an American - bound plane.

World News from the BBC

A four-story building has collapsed in northeastern Rwanda and dozens of people are feared trapped inside. About 50 people were in the building in Nyagatare which was under construction when it came down. Rwandan police say three are confirmed dead and more than 20 are injured.

European Union Finance Ministers have agreed to increase the EU budget for this year by 7.3 billion Euros. It comes just three months after governments negotiated a deal to cut future EU spending. Several member states including Britain are opposed to the extra funding which’s been seen as a political compromise. In the statement ministers said amount money will be used to support economic growth.

The European Court of Human Rights has told Switzerland that it must clarify its laws on assisted suicide. The ruling comes after an 82-year-old Swiss woman who was refused to assisted suicide took a case to the court. Imogen Foulkes has more.

Alda Gross is neither terminally nor chronically ill, but she is 82 and apparently wants to end her life before she becomes incapacitated. The Swiss assisted suicide organization EXIT refused her. The Swiss Supreme Court ruled against her. But now the European Court of Human Rights has found in her favour. Significantly, the court has not ruled that Mrs. Gross has the right to assisted suicide but that she has the right to know exactly what she can do under Swiss law and the confusion over the right to die could cause her and other Swiss citizens mental anguish.

And researchers said Cambridge University have begun the details study to understand the working of the teenage brain. By scanning the brains of 300 people between the ages of 14 and 24, they hope to identify how the wiring that controls impulsive and emotional behaviour changes as they get older. The findings may also explain why so many teenagers are moody.

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