BBC在线收听下载:美科学家发现太平洋鲑鱼大规模迁移的原因

BBC news 2014-02-07

BBC news with Jerry Smit

An apparently bugged conversation between two top US diplomats discussing Ukraine has been published online. In the recording, the Assistant Secretary of State Victoria Nuland and the US ambassador to Ukraine Geoffrey Pyatt talked about two opposition leaders, Klitsch, the former boxer Vitaly Klitschko and Yats thought to be Arseniy Yatseniuk.

“What do you think?”

“I think we are in play. The Klitschko piece is obviously the complicated electron here, especially the announcement of him as deputy Prime Minister. And you've seen some of my notes on the troubles in the marriage right now. So we're trying to get a read really fast on where he is on this stuff. But I think your argument to him, which you'll need to make, I think that's the next phone called you want to set up is exactly the one you made to Yats now. I'm glad you sort of put him on the spot in where he fits in this scenario. And I'm very glad he said what he said in response.”

“Good, So, I don't think Klitsch should go into the government, I don't think it's necessary, I don't think it's a good idea.”

A spokeswoman for the US State Department did not challenge its authenticity. A White House spokesman said the tape was posted on Twitter by a Russian official. It comes on the day a senior advisor to President Putin accused the United States of meddling in Ukrainian politics, and training the Ukrainian opposition. Sergey Lavrov said US interference gave Russia the right to intervene.

The United Nations says it's ready to deliver aid to the besieged Syrian city of Homs as soon as the safe passages agree between the government and rebel forces. A spokeswoman said the UN had agreed with the Syrian government that there will be a humanitarian pause in the embattled zone of the old city, allowing civilians to leave. There is not yet been any statement from the rebels.

A court in Egypt has ordered the retrial of 21 people sentenced to death in connection with an infamous football riot in Port Said in 2012. Clashes broke out after a match between the Cairo-based team Al Ahly and Al Masry of Port Said in the worst outbreak of violence in Egypt's footballing history. Ackan Mahan reports.

More than 70 people were killed, mostly visiting fans from Al Ahly who soon accused the Interior Ministry of plotting the attack and shutting the exit. They said they have been done in retaliation for the part of Al Ahly had played in the uprising that ousted Hosni Mubarak. In the intervening two years, the political climate has changed and now a retrial has been ordered.

The World Bank is to launch a one-billion-dollar project to map Africa's natural resource. It said the project known as the Billion Dollar Map would unlock the continent's unexploited mineral wealth using satellite imagery and geological service. A mining specialist working for the World Bank says there was an enormous amount of mineral wealth left to be discovered.

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Mexican police have found a mass grave for the at least 20 bodies in the troubled western state of Michoacan while vigilante groups began an offensive a month ago against the notorious Knights Templar drug cartel. A spokesman for the vigilante groups said the killings were a probably a revenge attack by the drug cartel.

Hundreds of people have gathered in the Malian capital Bamako to mark an international day of campaigning against female genital mutilation. Community leaders from 14 different ethnic groups in Mali vowed to abandon the practice. It’s estimated that more than 125 million women and girls have been subjected to the practice in Africa and the Middle East.

Scientists in the United States say they believe they've found out how pacific salmon perform one of the nature's greatest migrations. Rebecca Morelle reports.

Born inland in rivers and streams, pacific salmons swim for thousands of kilometers to reach the open ocean, only to return years later to the same freshwater sites where they spawn and then die. Now scientists have further evidence that the earth's magnetic field is helping the fish to make this epic migration. A team from the US found exposing the fish to different magnetic fields make them change the direction they were swimming in. The researchers say, this is because the Earth's magnetic field different intensity and angle depending on new position on the planets, and the salmon are using this information to establish where they are and where they need to go.

Police in the US city of Milwaukee said that the Stradivarius violin stolen by last week has been found in good condition. Police said the 300-year-old instrument was located in an attic after an anonymous donor offered 100,000-dollar reward for information to safely retrieve it. Worth millions of dollars, it was on loan to a concert violinist who was attacked by the robber with a stun gun as she left the concert hall.

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