BBC在线收听下载:日本三菱公司向二战美国战俘道歉 曾强迫劳役

BBC news 2015-07-20

Hello, I'm Sue Montgomery with the BBC news.

The Japanese company Mitsubishi has made a landmark apology for using American prisoners of war as forced labor during World War II. A senior company executive Hikaru Kimura expresses remorse. The prisoners had been put to work in the firm’s mines. It is believed to be the first such apology by a Japanese company. One of the few surviving former US prisoners forced to work in Japan accpeted the apology. James Murphy, who is 94, said it was a glorious day for which he'd waited 70 years.

"I listened very carefully to Mr Kimura's statement of apology, and found it very very sincere, humble and revealing. And that is the first time that we've heard those words and they really touch you to heart with the thing."

The French President Francois Hollande has called for a fully-fledged government for the Euro Zone with a budget and a parliament. The comments came as Greek banks prepared to reopen on Monday for the first time in three weeks. From Paris, here's Hugh Schofield reports.

"President Hollande is writing in a Sunday newspaper in an article marking the 90th birthday of one of the fathers of the single currency Jacques Delors. Paying tribute to the former head of the Brussels’s Commission, the president said the Greek crisis showed once again the need for a tighter organization among the countries that have the euro. Supportors of the euros, such as Mr Delors, have always said it could only work with accelerated European unification. Critics have said that unification should have come first."

The Obama Administration has sent the United States congress the international agreement designed to prevent Iran from developing a nuclear weapon. Congress has 60 days to review the text of the deal which will lift sanctions on Iran in return for strict limits on its nuclear programme. The deal faces stiff opposition among many Republicans who control both Houses of Congress.

Craftsmen in Mali working for the United Nations have rebuilt the world renowned mausoleums in Timbuktu which were destroyed by Islamists three years ago. The mausoleums were shrines to the city’s founding fathers but the Islamists who occupied the north of the country in 2012 considered them idolatrous. The head of the UN cultural organization UNESCO Irina Bokova said the rebuilding of mausoleums is an important step for the country.

"I am very moved. I saw the destruction. I saw how attatched the community is to the mausoleums. They are part of their history, part of their identity. We are proud also to have supported the move towards peace and development."

World news from the BBC.

Sepp Blatter, the head of world’s football governing body FIFA has held talks with senior officials ahead of a planned meeting on Monday at which a day expects to be set for a leadership election. Mr Blatter announced last month that he would step down weeks after the dramastic arrest in Zurich of senior members of the organization as part of a US criminal inquiry into alleged corruption.

A British man who is convicted in the United States of helping to support Jihad groups on the Internet has returned to UK after being released form prison. Babar Ahmad was arrested in 2004 and extradited to the US in 2012. After long legal battle, he was sentenced to twelve and a half years in prison last year but was released after the court took he’s in British custody into account.

Police in Los Angeles are invesgating the discovery of a body in a swimming pool at the home of the Hollywood actress Demi Moore. From LA, David Willis.

"The body thought to be that of a 21-year-old man was discovered shortly before dawn this morning at the home Demi Moore bought with her former husband Ashton Kutcher. A party has been taken place there, although neither the actress nor any other three children are thought to have been present at the time. Report suggests the man may have fallen into the pool and be unable to swim. Demi Moore was once the highest-paid actress in Hollywood. Before Ashton Kutcher she was married to the film star Bruce Willis for 13 years."

A row has erupted over the closure of a public beach on the French Vallauris to allow King Salman of Saudi Arabia to holiday in private. Local officials in Vallauris have confirmed that the fence office strech the beach to insure the security of the king and the 400 people who are expected to travel with him. Beach users have expressed anger of the arrangements, complaining they have’t been consulted.

BBC news.