BBC在线收听下载:飓风洪水 德州50万灾民等待救助

BBC news 2017-08-30

BBC News with Elly Mecue.

Emergency officials in the United States say they expect nearly half a million disaster victims to seek assistance in Texas because of a catastrophic flooding caused by a huge storm. More than 30,000 people are already in temporary shelters. A BBC correspondent in Huston says parts of the city feel deserted. Motorways are empty, and schools and businesses closed. The Governor of Texas, Greg Abbott, said it was one of the largest disasters the US had ever faced. Petrol prices have risen to a two-year high on US market because of fears that supplies would be hit by the flooding. Many refineries and production facilities have been shut down.

The French President Emmanuel Macron has announced that European and African leaders meeting in Paris have agreed a plan to curb the flow of migrants across the Mediterranean. He said it would involve tackling people smugglers, promoting political dialogue in Libya and increasing aid to transit countries.

Major political parties in India have welcomed a court's decision to hand down a 20-year prison sentence to a religious figure for raping 2 of his followers. The judge described Gurmeet Ram Rahim Singh as a wild beast.

Two of Venezuela's main allies, Russia and China, have accused the United States of aggravating tensions in Venezuela by imposing new sanctions. The Foreign Ministry in Moscow said the measures were introduced just as street protests were easing.

Masked men in southern Chile have hijacked and burnt about 30 trucks belonging to a forestry company. The region has suffered decades of conflicts between the Mapuche indigenous communities and agriculture and forestry companies.

And scientists in Britain say they have discovered the remains of a fetus inside a fossil of a 200-million-year-old marine reptile. The 3-meter long ichthyosaur was found more than 20 years ago but remained unstudied until now.

BBC News.