BBC在线收听下载:新加坡将全面禁止象牙交易

BBC News. Hello, I'm Jerry Smit.

The Australian government has announced a three-billion-dollar twenty-year spending program on defense equipment and training. The first stage includes five hundred million dollars for Australia special forces. Australia's Prime Minister Scott Morrison.

This is going to be a very important part of our commitment, the biggest single commitment to upgrading the capability of our defense forces since the Second World War. This forms part of our commitment to increasing defense spending to two percent of GDP, which is what we need to be doing to ensure that our Defense Forces are ready and fit and able and capable of being able to keep Australian safe in the 21st century.

As Indian administered Kashmir prepares to celebrate the Muslim festival of Eid al-Adha, media reports in Delhi speak of an ease in restrictions to allow movement for worshippers. The region's main city Srinagar remains under lockdown with no functioning telecommunication or internet after more than a week. The security clampdown follows protests over Delhi's decision to revoke Kashmir's special status. Rahul Tandon reports.

The Indian Foreign Secretary Vijay Gokhale said the authorities were trying to ease the restrictions across the region, but there was still serious concerns about the law and order situation. He added that most mosques were open and the prayers had taken place peacefully. But much of Indian-administered Kashmir remains in lockdown. There is no internet and the phone lines remain cut off and most of the large mosques were shut. The region is tense and hundreds of people, including local politicians, are in detention.

France has called for an inquiry into the activities of the disgraced American Financier Jeffrey Epstein. He was found dead in custody in New York over the weekend. The convicted pedophile was awaiting trial in New York on sex trafficking charges. French officials said the American investigation into Mr. Epstein's activities found connections with France, so it was essential for the country to look into them. Mr. Epstein is reported to have kept a luxury apartment in central Paris.

The authorities in Singapore have announced a ban on the domestic sale of elephant ivory and ivory products regardless of when they were acquired. The National Parks Board said the ban will take effect in two years' time.

The president of Turkmenistan Gurbanguly Berdimuhamedow has scorched widespread rumors that he may have died by opening a regional conference of Caspian Sea states. Video showed the sixty-two-year-old greeting the Russian Prime minister and four other top figures.

BBC news.