BBC在线收听下载:美国将持续空中打击伊斯兰国恐怖分子

BBC news 2014-09-24

BBC News with Sue Montgomery.

America has said military strikes on Islamic State extremists marked the beginning of a sustainable and persistent campaign against the Islamic State Jihadists. Last night, five Arab nations were involved with the United States in waves of attacks on IS positions in Syria. President Obama said the Islamic militants would be denied a safe haven anywhere. Aleem Maqbool reports from Washington. “The Pentagon described the airstrikes in Syria as very successful, saying they targeted militant training centers, commander control facilities and storage hubs. Unverified reports from a Syrian rights group says at least 120 militants were killed both from Islamic State and an al-Qaeda affiliate, but also said there’ve been some civilian death. President Obama has been keen to stress it’s not America’s fight alone. And Arab States actively carried out some of the airstrikes in Syria. When asked how long this campaign could last, one American official said we should be thinking in terms of years.”

The United Nations Refugee Agency says it’s preparing for the arrival of several hundred thousand Syrian refugees in Turkey, as Islamic State militants are advancing on the border town of Kabani. Imogen Foulkes has more. “Dozens of villages across Syria’s Kurdish north are already deserted. Now Islamic State has approaching the major border town of Kabani, population 400,000. The UN is preparing for all of those people to flee into Turkey. Amid widespread reports of serious violations, including the deliberate killing of women and children, no one wants to risk waiting for Islamic State to arrive. Syria’s refugees already number more than 3 million. Now that could rise by another half million.”

President Obama has warned that the climate has changed faster than efforts have been made to address the problem. Speaking at a UN summit, he said the United States acknowledged its part in causing climate change and promised to do more to reduce carbon emissions. He said he had agreed with the Chinese Vice Premier that the two biggest polluters have the responsibilities to lead the fight.

The Vatican says it has arrested a former papal ambassador on suspicion of child abuse. It said Josef Wesolowski is under house arrest inside Vatican City. Here is David Willey. “The senior Vatican diplomat, who was recalled to Rome last year, was formerly charged by the Vatican’s chief prosecutor with sexual abuse of children in the Dominican Republic between 2008 and 2013. It’s the first time that such a senior predator has been arrested inside the Vatican. A Vatican spokesman said that for health reasons, he is not being held in the Vatican’s police cell, but he has been granted house arrest. He is expected to be tried late this year by Vatican tribunal.”

BBC News.

The Spanish government has withdrawn its controversial plans to limit the rights to abortion. The conservative Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy had wanted to have restrictions making it available only in case of rape and when there was a risk to the mother’s health. But he said the governing popular party had not been able to reach an agreement on the proposals. Abortion is currently freely available up to the 14th week of pregnancy.

The Iranian President Hassan Rouhani has said concluding a nuclear deal with western powers would expand the possibility for cooperation in different areas, such as regional stability and the fight against terrorism. Teheran and six western powers haven’t until the Nov 24 to see a long term agreement that would end sanctions on Iran.

The army in Sierra Leone has said the country’s borders with Liberia and Guinea have been sealed off in a bid to control the spread of Ebola. Troops have been stationed at all crossing points.

Television Microphones have picked up the British Prime Minister David Cameron saying that Queen Elizabeth was purring down the telephone line when he told her that Scotland had voted against independence from the United Kingdom in last week’s referendum. Ben Wright has more. “It’s none a written rule of the constitution conversations with the monarch should remain private and discreet. But as David Cameron stroke through the Bloomberg building in New York, talking to the company’s founder, he provided the glimpse of the relief felt by the Prime Minister and the Palace when Scotland voted no. Recalling that he had called the Queen to say “It’s all right”, Mr. Cameron then seemed to say she purred down the line. I have never heard someone so happy. The audio was caught on a TV microphone as Cameron followed the pair. Downing Street said it would not be commenting on the suggestion of purring.” Buckingham Palace has made it clear that the Queen would not comment on the question of Scottish independence. BBC News.