BBC在线收听下载:伊斯兰国或使用芥子气袭击伊拉克库尔德

BBC news 2015-08-16

Members of the Greek Parliament are meeting late into the night as they prepare the vote on the country's third international bailout. The Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras says he's confident he will win support for the deal which involves tax increases and spending cuts in return for loans of 85 billion euros. From Athens, Paul Adams.

"After many hours of committee discussion and procedural wrangling, the Greek Parliament has finally started debating the proposed bailout. In the hours beforehand, the mood was fractious and occasionally heated. On the eve of a major Greek holiday, Athens is the last place most MPs want to be, and they know they'll receive little thanks for passing a bill which commits Greece to stricker rules, higher taxes and fewer subsidies in return for the uncertain prospect of an end to the country's economic agony."

China has sent hundreds of chemical experts to the site of two huge explosions which riped apart an industrial complex in the port city of Tianjin. The blast at a warehouse storing toxic chemicals left more than 50 people dead and hundreds more injuried. Joe F in Beijing says it is still not clearly exactly what's at the site.

"We found reports there might be 700 tons of sodium cyanide near the warehouse, and that is a very very deadly compound. So in order to allow some of those victims to get answers, the government brought in around 200 specialist, chemical warfare soldiers, really to start accessing the area near the fire and to advise firefighters on what to do. You could understand there's quite a lot of residents' caution and even a little bit fear, more than 60 in hospital, a dozen are dead and almost 18, I think, are still missing."

Iraqi leadership has condemned the top American general for suggesting that the conflict in Iraq might lead to the country's break-up. General Raymond Odierno said partition might be the only solution. The spokesman for the prime minister Haider al-Abadi described the remarks as "ingorant and irresponsible".

Officials in the United States are investigating reports that Islamic State militant group used chemical weapons against Kurdish forces in northern Iraq. From Washington, Laura B reports.

"The United States National Security Council says they are treating the allegations very seriously. A defense official told the BBC it was plausible that mustard gas had been used against Kurdish forces in the north of Iraq. Earlier this week, Kurdish officials said 60 fighters had suffered breathing difficulties after being attacked by Islamic State militants. Mustard gas is a banned chemical weapon and can cause blisters, blindness and respiratory problems."

The Egyptian military says one of its planes has crashed the Libyan border while on a mission against Islamic militants. A spokesman said four people were killed in the crash.

World news from the BBC.

The former Cuban president Fidel Castro has published an open letter to the nation. In it, he makes no mention of Friday's reopening of the US embassy in Habana by American Secretary of State John Kerry. Instead, Mr Castro accuses US of owing Cuba millions of dollars because of the five-decade trade embargo.

Doctors in Paraguay say an 11-year-old girl who gave birth after being denied an abortion is doing well. The girl's stepfather has been charged with rape. Leonardo Rocha reports.

"The case caused huge controversy in Paraguay where most people are Roman Catholic and also across the world. The girl was only ten years old when she got pregnant. Her stepfather who's 42 denies any wrong doing. He is in jail awaiting trial. United Nations human rights officials and other groups such as Amnesty International said it was inhumane to force a child to give birth. But the Paraguayan Health Ministry rejected the requests for abortion reforms. It ruled there was no risk for the mother."

Scientists have been analysing data produced by a spacecraft which has for the first time followed a comet at its closest point to the sun. The European Space Agency said the Rosetta craft had achieved a fantastic milestone after traveling alongside the comet for 750 million kilometers.

The United States has handed a stolen Picasso painting to French officials nine months after it was found in a package labeled as a handicraft worth about 30 dollars. The painting called La Coiffeuse or The Hairdresser is valued at 15 million dollars.

New genetic test has confirmed that the fomer American president Warren Harding fathered an illegitimate child while in office in the 1920s. His mistress Nan Britton had been publicly vilified after making the claim in a best-selling book shortly after his death. Relatives of the former president sought out descendants of the dauther for DNA test which proved the link.

BBC news.