BBC在线收听下载:西班牙国会大选社会党领先

Hello, I'm Debbie Russ with the BBC News.

Spain's Socialist Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez is preparing to form a new government after his party won the most seats in the general election. The Socialists did not secure a majority, so they will need the support of other left-wing parties. Our correspondent in Madrid, Guy Hedgecoe says that nevertheless, this is a good result for the party.

This gives Pedro Sanchez, the Prime Minister, a level of political credibility that he didn't have before, because before he had so few members of parliament that it was very difficult for him to govern. He was governing very much in a minority, and he was constantly under attack from the right-wing opposition. He now is leading the primary political force in parliament and that gives him a basis from which to form a new government.

Thousands of Afghan leaders are gathering in Kabul for the start of a traditional grand assembly, or Loya Jirga. The meeting has been convened to discuss the peace process with the Taliban. Sanjay Dascripter reports.

The Afghan President Ashraf Ghani has convened the Loya Jirga, inviting thousands of politicians, tribal leaders, religious scholars and rights activists to discuss ways to end the war. But several opposition leaders have decided not to participate, saying the four-day assembly is being used by President Ghani as a campaign platform as he seeks a second term. Officials from the United States and representatives of the Taliban have held several rounds of talks, but the insurgents have so far refused to include the Afghan government in the negotiations and rejected demands for the ceasefire.

Germany and France are hosting a meeting in Berlin today centering on stability in the West Balkans. The French presidency said it would focus on bringing Serbia and Kosovo back into dialogue after EU sponsored talks involving Serbia and its former province collapsed last year. Tension between the two neighbors also rose in November when Kosovo imposed a hundred percent tariff on goods from Serbia.

Scientists and diplomats from a hundred and thirty countries start a meeting in Paris today to examine a huge report on how human activity is crippling global biodiversity. They'll hear how a million species face extinction and how most UN targets to sustain biodiversity won't be met. The report will highlight how the threat to potable water and breathable air needs urgent addressing. It will also warn that continued soil damage will make it impossible to curb climate change. The head of the Intergovernmental Nature Panel, Professor Sir Robert Watson says governments must wake up to the fact that soil degradation and climate change are interlinked.

With degrading soils all over the world, there is absolutely no question that the governments of the world have focused on climate change far more than they focus on loss of biodiversity or land degradation. All three of these issues are equally important.

BBC news.