BBC News with David Austin.
The leaders of Britain and the United States have spent nearly three hours in talks in Washington. President Obama said they sawvirtuallyeye to eyeon every major challenge before them. The British Prime Minister David Cameron said they discussed the war in Afghanistan, sustained global economic recovery and the Middle East. But in a joint news conference, they faced questions about BP and the Lockerbie bombing, as Paul Adams reports.
The two leaders spoke withenthusiasmabout their close relationship in the wide range of common interests which bind their two countries. David Cameron and Barack Obama were peppered with questions about allegations that BP played a role in securing the release of the convicted Lockerbie bomber Abdelbaset al-Megrahi. Mr Cameron said he and the president had had what he called "a violent agreement" on the subject.He urged people not to confuse BP's responsibilities in the Gulf of Mexico with the Libyan bomber, but he said his government would look again to see if any further light could be shed on the whole affair.For his part, Mr Obama said he was confident the Cameron government would make sure the facts were known.
The British energy firm BP says it will sell businesses in Vietnam and Pakistan to help meet the costs of dealing with its oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico. These are the first major asset sales BP has announced since saying it would raise 10 billion dollars to pay for the spill.
A report by the International Energy Agency (IEA) says China hasovertaken the United States to become the world's top energy consumer. Vivien Marsh reports.
Provisional figures from the IEA indicate that China's energy consumption has doubled in a decade, fueled by a rising population and rapid economic growth. Last year, the figures show, it consumed about 4% more energy than the United States. And though China's ascent through the IEA rankings was faster than expected, it comes as American energy use isstagnating,with the US suffering much more than China in the global economic crisis. The average Chinese person still consumes just a fifth of the energy of an American. But as citydwellers become moreprosperous, future energy demands could be huge.
Cuba says it's ready to release more jailed dissidents in addition to the 52 whose release it announced earlier this month. The president of the Cuban National Assembly said they could remain in Cuba if they so wished. Michael Voss reports.
The 52 prisoners who are being freed are the last remaining opposition figures who were arrested during a major governmentcrackdownin 2003. But according to the unofficial Cuban human rights commission, there are more than 100 additional political prisoners on the island. None of them were included in the recent dealbrokered between the Cuban authorities, the Roman Catholic Church and the Spanish government. Now a senior Cuban official has indicated that the government is prepared to release the majority of these prisoners.
World News from the BBC.
An Afghan army soldier has killed two American civilians and a fellow soldier at a military base in northern Afghanistan. Several other people were wounded. The shooter was also killed, and an investigation is under way into the circumstances of the deaths. The incident happened during a routine weapons training session. Last week, three British soldiers were killed by a renegade Afghan soldier.
The British Defence Secretary Liam Fox has said that military spending plans inherited from the previous government are unaffordable. Dr Fox said the defence industry would have to find cost savings in existing contracts, or the government would cutprocurementprogrammes. Britain is reviewing its defence spending as part of a wider effort to reduce its budget deficit. Dr Fox said Britain wanted to maintain a strong defence industry, but the long-term prosperity of the companies involved depended on providing better value for money.
"We can't prepare for the threats that we might face in the future if we are constantly funding the legacy programmes of the Cold War. We can't have lots of flicks of different things doing the same thing, so we've got to become much more efficient. We can't carry the costs of unnecessary infrastructure and spares and training, so we've got to become much more efficient across defence."
Two French international footballers, Franck Ribery and Karim Benzema, have been put under formal criminal investigation over accusations that they'd paid for sex with an underage woman. Their accuser said she was less than 18 at the time of the alleged incidents. Under French law, paid sex with somebody under 18 isregarded asintercourse with a minor. Both players have denied any wrongdoing.
Two prisoners have escaped from a jail in Argentina which was using a dummy to man one of its guard towers. Prison staff said a lack of resources meant that only two out of their 15 guard towers were occupied at any given time. They had a football with a prison officer's cap in a third to create theillusionof an extra guard. The escaped convicts are still on the run.
That's the latest BBC News.
英国和美国领导人在华盛顿进行了接近三小时的会谈。奥巴马总统表示,在双方面临的几乎所有重大挑战中,双方意见都是一致的。英国首相卡梅伦表示,他们共同探讨了阿富汗战争,全球经济可持续的复苏和中东问题。但是在联合新闻发布会上,他们面临BP石油公司和洛克比空难的一些问题。Paul Adams报道。
两位领袖充满激情地谈到双方在存在共同利益的广泛领域内的亲密关系,共同的利益将两个国家联系起来。有指控称BP石油公司在说服释放洛克比空难爆炸者迈格拉希的问题上发挥了作用,卡梅伦和奥巴马为相关问题做好了准备。卡梅伦说,关于这个问题,他和奥巴马总统达成了强烈的认同。他敦促人们不要将BP在墨西哥湾石油泄漏中应该承担的责任与洛克比空难混为一谈。但是他表示,英国政府将会继续对整件事情进行调查。奥巴马总统表示,他相信卡梅伦政府将确保调查清楚事实真相。
英国石油公司表示,他们将出售在越南和巴基斯坦的企业,帮助支付处理墨西哥湾石油泄漏的费用。这是自BP宣布筹集100亿美元来支付石油泄漏费用以来宣布的首次重大的资产销售计划。
国际能源机构 (International Energy Agency,IEA)表示,中国已经超越美国成为世界最大的能源消耗国。Vivien Marsh报道。
来自IEA的临时数据显示,十年内中国的能源消耗量已经翻倍,主要是由于迅速增长的人口和快速发展的经济。数据显示,去年,中国消耗的能量比美国多4%。尽管中国在IEA的排名上升超过预期,而美国的能源消耗处于停滞状态,因为美国在全球经济危机中承受的打击比中国更加严重。普通的中国人消耗的能源量仍然只是美国人消耗量的五分之一。但是由于城市居住人口越来越多,未来的能源需求量将会非常巨大。
古巴表示,除了本月初宣布释放的52名政治犯之外,他们准备释放更多被囚禁的政见不同者。古巴国民大会主席表示,如果他们希望继续留在古巴,可以自便。Michael Voss报道。
被释放的52名政治犯是在2003年重大的政府镇压行动中被逮捕的最后的反对派人物。但是据非官方的古巴人权委员会所说,古巴岛上仍然有100多名其他的政治犯。这些人没有被包括在古巴官方,罗马天主教堂和西班牙政府达成的协议中。现在,古巴一名高级官员披露,古巴政府已经准备释放这些囚犯中的大部分。
BBC世界新闻。
一名阿富汗士兵在阿富汗北部的军事基地杀害了两名美国公民和一名士兵。其他几人受伤。开枪者被人已被击毙。目前正在针对死者的背景展开调查。事故发生在常规的武器训练过程中。上周,三名英国士兵被一名变节的阿富汗士兵杀害。
英国国防大臣福克斯(Liam Fox)表示,从前任政府继承来的军事支出计划是难以支付的。福克斯表示,国防行业必须在现有行业寻找可以节约的成本,政府也必须削减采购项目。英国正在重审国防支出,作为削减预算赤字的一部分。福克斯表示,英国希望保持强有力的国防行业,但是相关行业的长期繁荣依赖于提供更有价值的资金。
“如果我们继续为冷战的遗产筹集资金,我们将不能为未来面对的威胁做好充分的准备。我们不能动用不同的项目来完成相同的事情,所以,我们必须更加高效。我们不能将费用花费在不必要的基础设施和训练,所以我们必须在国防领域更加高效。”
法国足球明星里贝利(Franck Ribery)和班吉马(Karim Benzema)因被指控涉嫌与未成年少女进行性交易而接受正式的刑事调查。他们的指控者表示,在发生相关事件时,她还未满18岁。按照法国法律,与18岁以下未成年人进行性交易等同于嫖妓。两名球员均否认任何错误的行为。
在阿根廷,两名囚犯越狱逃走。该监狱使用稻草人来当预警。监狱管理人员表示,缺乏资源意味着在任何时候,15个保卫岗位只有2人守卫。监狱方面居然将狱警的帽子扣在足球上,用“稻草人”造成有多人值班的假象。越狱者仍然在逃。
以上就是最新的BBC新闻。
1.virtually ad.实质上,实际上,差不多,几乎
例句:The job was virtually completed by the end of the week.
到周末时这项工作差不多完成了。
2.enthusiasm n.热心,热情,热忱;极大(或强烈)的兴趣,入迷(about, for)
例句:The speech aroused the enthusiasm of the students.
那篇演说唤起了学生们的热情。
3.overtake vt.vi.追上, 赶上, 超过
例句:It's dangerous to overtake at a corner.
转弯时超车危险。
No one could overtake him.
没有人能超过他。
4.stagnate vi.停滞, 不流动, 不发展
5.dweller n.居民;居住者;栖身者
例句:a cave dweller
穴居者
6.prosperous adj.成功的, 繁荣的, 兴旺的
例句:It used to be a very prosperous town.
这个城镇过去很繁荣。
7.crackdown n.压迫,镇压,痛击
8.broker vt.以中间人等身份安排
9.procurement n.获得;采购;介绍
10.illusion n.错觉, 幻想, 错误观念
例句:The sun appears to go round the Earth, but it's an illu -sion.
太阳看起来好像绕着地球转, 但这只是个错觉。
1.President Obama said they saw virtually eye to eye on every major challenge before them.
eye to eye见解一致
2.He urged people not to confuse BP's responsibilities in the Gulf of Mexico with the Libyan bomber, but he said his government would look again to see if any further light could be shed on the whole affair.
confuse with把…与…混淆
例句:Don't confuse Austria and/with Australia.
不要把奥地利跟澳大利亚弄混淆了。
shed light on照亮,查明,说明,解释
例句:Can you shed light on this problem?
你能阐明这个问题吗?
3.Under French law, paid sex with somebody under 18 is regarded as intercourse with a minor.
regard as把...认作
例句:We regard dandelion as an emblem of hope.
我们把蒲公英看作希望的象征。
4.The British energy firm BP says it will sell businesses in Vietnam and Pakistan to help meet the costs of dealing with its oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico.
meet支付;偿付
例句:The cost will be met by the company.
费用将由公司支付。