BBC News with Jonathan Izard
Pope Benedict has urged Britain to stay faithful to its Christian roots even in an age of religious disbelief. On the first day of his state visit, Pope Benedict addressed tens of thousands of people at an open-air mass in the city of Glasgow. Colin Blane reports.
The pope used the open-air mass in one of Glasgow's largest parks, Bellahouston, to put forward a strong defence of Catholicism in the face of what he'd earlier called "aggressive secularism". The pope said some sought to exclude religious belief from public discourse, but it was, he said, a guarantee of liberty and respect. He had a particular message for young Catholics, telling them the temptations of drugs, money, sex and alcohol would not bring happiness; instead, they were destructive and divisive.
In earlier remarks, he acknowledged that church authorities were too slow in responding to revelations of child sexual abuse by priests.
The French President Nicolas Sarkozy has had sharp exchanges with the European Commission President Jose Manuel Barroso over France's expulsion of hundreds of Roma migrants. Mr Sarkozy confirmed reports that they had argued at a lunch for EU leaders in the wake of an earlier comparison made by an EU commissioner, Viviane Reding, between the expulsions and mass deportations during the World War II. Mr Sarkozy said the other European leaders had all agreed that those comments were outrageous.
"All the leaders and heads of the European states were shocked by the comments made by the vice president of the commission. I don't want to argue about this. Madame Reding has apologized for the very injurious comments she made, but all the heads of state without exception indicated that it was deeply shocking that someone should address themselves in such a manner with reference to the past, which deeply hurt all their compatriots."
Mr Barroso said that some excessive comments had been made, but it was now time to move beyond useless rhetoric.
Official figures in the United States suggest the number of Americans regarded as living in poverty increased by nearly four million in a single year between 2008 and 2009. The US Census Bureau says one in seven Americans is now poor. Mark Mardell reports.
The Census Bureau's figures for 2009 show for the third year in a row, poverty in the world's richest country is continuing to rise. The bureau says it's the most significant increase since 2004 and the sharpest jump in poverty since 1994. It indicates Americans of Asian origin are the richest, black people the poorest. It's hardly surprising that poverty was rising last year as the economic crisis continued to bite. More disturbing are figures that have been released today showing more American homes were repossessed last month than at any time since the financial crisis began.
The major industrialized countries have agreed to cancel Liberian government debts worth more than $1 billion. The decision was taken by the group known as the Paris Club which issued a statement welcoming Liberia's determination to implement measures to reduce poverty and aid economic growth.
BBC News
The new United Nations envoy for Somalia says that the international peacekeeping force there may need to be trebled to cope with what he calls the increased threat from insurgents. The troops for the African Union mission in Somalia are defending the transitional government from al-Shabab Islamist militants, who control much of the capital Mogadishu and have been linked to al-Qaeda. The envoy, Augustine Mahiga, told the security council that more troops were needed to stop foreign fighters and weapons getting into the country through the port of Kismayo which is under the control of al-Shabab.
The security forces in Mexico say they've killed 19 people in a seven-hour gun battle in the northeast of the country. The soldiers say they returned fire when they were attacked at an illegal roadblock 100km east of Monterrey.
The authorities in Burma are barring several areas of the country from taking part in the general election in November, a vote already described by critics as a sham. State media said polling would not take place in a number of townships in five states where, they said, the vote would not be free and fair. Vivien Marsh of our Asia Pacific desk reports.
It isn't clear exactly how many of Burma's several hundred constituencies have been erased from the vote, but they are in five states, mostly along the eastern and northern borders which are all home to armed ethnic groups. They have been resisting the Burmese government's attempts to bring them into a border guard force. Burma hasn't had a general election for 20 years. The last one was won by the pro-democracy party led by Aung San Suu Kyi, but the military authorities annulled the results.
A researcher at the Internet giant Yahoo has calculated the number of pi to its two-quadrillionth digit more than doubling all previous records. Pi is the ratio of a circle's circumference to its diameter. It cannot be expressed exactly as a fraction, and consequently its decimal representation never ends or repeats. The researcher calculated the number in 23 days using 1,000 computers.
BBC News
教皇本笃敦促英国即使在一个怀疑宗教的时代仍然继续忠实于固有的基督教根基。在对英国进行国事访问的第一天,教皇在格拉斯哥的露天弥撒中向数万民众讲话。Colin Blane报道。
在格拉斯哥最大的公园Bellahouston的露天弥撒中,面临此前所说的“极端世俗主义”,教皇坚定地为天主教辩护。教皇表示,一些人试图在公共讲话中排斥宗教信仰。但是他表示,必须保证自由和尊重。他向年轻的天主教徒传达了特别的信息,告诉他们毒品,金钱,性和酒精不会带来快乐,相反,只会带来破坏和分裂。
在此前的讲话中,教皇承认,教堂官方在对牧师虐童事件中的反应过于缓慢。
针对法国驱逐数百名罗姆人移民的问题上,法国总统萨科齐和欧洲委员会主席巴罗佐激烈地交换了意见。萨科齐证实了相关报道,在欧盟专员雷丁将这次驱逐与二战时期的放逐相提并论之后,在招待欧盟领导人的午餐上,两人发生争执。萨科齐说,其他欧洲领导人也赞同,这种评论确实令人愤慨。
“所有领导人和欧洲国家元首都对欧洲委员会副主席的评论感到震惊。对此我不想再做争辩。雷丁已经对她的所有伤害性的言论道歉,但是所有领导人无一例外地认为,他们感到非常震惊,居然有人以这样的方式谈到过去,这深深地伤害了所有的同胞。”
巴罗佐表示,确实存在一些过分的言论,但是现在不是争执无用的言语的时候。
美国的官方数据显示,2008年至2009年间,生活在贫困中的美国人的数量增加了接近400万。美国统计局表示,大约七分之一的美国人现在生活在贫困中。Mark Mardell报道。
统计局2009年的数据显示,在这个世界上最富裕的国家,贫困人口已经连续第三年出现上涨。统计局表示,这是自2004年以来最严重的增长,也是1994年以来贫困人口上涨最快的一年。数据显示,亚裔美国人是最富有的,黑人是最贫困的。由于经济危机袭击,去年的贫困状况恶化,这丝毫不令人惊讶。更令人担忧的是今天发布的数据,上月被收回的房屋数量超过自金融危机开始以来的任何时候。
主要的工业化国家一致同意取消利比里亚政府价值超过10亿美元的债务。这是巴黎俱乐部做出的决定。他们发表声明,对利比里亚实施消除贫困,援助经济增长的措施表示欢迎。
联合国驻索马里新任特使表示,为了应对来自反叛分子不断增加的威胁,国际维和力量必须增长到三倍以上。索马里非洲联盟军队正在保护过渡政府受激进组织青年党好战分子的袭击。据称,青年党与基地组织有关系,现在控制着首都摩加迪沙大部分领土。Augustine Mahiga告诉安
理会,必须派遣更多军队,防止外国战士和武器通过青年党控制的基斯马尤港口进入索马里。
墨西哥安全力量表示,在该国东北部长达七小时的枪战中,他们击毙了19人。士兵们表示,在蒙特雷东部100千米处一个非法路障他们遭遇袭击,随后立即还击。
缅甸当局禁止该国几个地区参加11月份举行的大选。这次投票已经被批评家描述为虚假的选举。国家媒体称,在五个州的部分城镇将不会举行投票。他们说,这些地方的投票不会是自由公平的。亚太地区记者Vivien Marsh报道。
缅甸的选民中具体有多少人被禁止投票并不清楚。但是分布在五个州,主要在东部和北部边境武装种族部落居住的地区。他们一直反抗缅甸政府试图将他们编入边境护卫队的努力。缅甸已经20年没有举行过大选。上一次选举由昂山素季领导的支持民主党派获胜,但是军事证据宣布该结果无效。
互联网巨头雅虎一名研究人员利用云计算将pi计算到小数点以后数千万亿位,远远超过以前所有记录的两倍。pi指的是圆周率,不能通过小数精确地表达,它的小数部分永无止境,也没有重复。这位研究人员利用1,000台计算机计算了23天的时间得出该数字。
1.exclude vt.拒绝,把…排除在外,排斥
例句:Closing the windows excludes street noises.
关窗使街上吵闹的声音不能进来。
2.destructive adj.引起破坏(或毁灭)的;破坏(或毁灭)性的
例句:It is the most destructive storm in 20 years.
这是20年来破坏性最大的一次风暴。
3.rhetoric n.华而不实的言语;花言巧语
4.hardly adv.几乎没有, 几乎不
例句:He could hardly see anything.
他几乎什么也看不到。
5.repossess vt.取回,收回
例句:They were in arrears with their mortgage, so their home was repossessed.
他们未按时还按揭贷款,所以房子被收回了。
Their house was repossessed when they couldn’t keep up their mortgage payments.
他们无力继续偿还按揭贷款,房子被收了回去。
6.determination n.决心;果断;坚定; 决定
例句:Firm determination moves mountains.
坚定的决心可以移山。
7.implement vt.实现,完成,履行(协定,承诺)
8.treble vt.vi.(使)成三倍
例句:Their profits have trebled in the last two years.
最近两年他们的利润增加了三倍。
9.roadblock n.路障
例句:Police have set up a roadblock on the road to London.
警察在通往伦敦的路上设置了路障。
10.resist vt.反对,制止
例句:He was helpless to resist the temptation.
他无法抵御诱惑。
11.annull v.使成无效;取消
12.calculate vt.vi.计算, 估计, 核算
例句:Have you calculated the result?
你算出结果来了吗?
I calculated that the trip would take two days.
我估计这段路程要走两天时间。
1.The pope used the open-air mass in one of Glasgow's largest parks, Bellahouston, to put forward a strong defence of Catholicism in the face of what he'd earlier called "aggressive secularism".
put forward提出
例句:He put forward a plan for the committee to consider.
他提出一项计划交由全体委员审议。
A suitable answer has already been put forward by the chairman.
一个合适的解决办法已由主席提出。
2.Mr Sarkozy confirmed reports that they had argued at a lunch for EU leaders in the wake of an earlier comparison made by an EU commissioner, Viviane Reding, between the expulsions and mass deportations during the World War II.
in the wake of尾随,紧跟,仿效
例句:Traders came in the wake of the conquering armies.
商人随着征服的军队而来。
3.Madame Reding has apologized for the very injurious comments she made, but all the heads of state without exception indicated that it was deeply shocking that someone should address themselves in such a manner with reference to the past, which deeply hurt all their compatriots.
without exception毫无例外地
例句:You must answer all the questions without exception.
你必须回答所有的问题。
with reference to关于
例句:I am writing with reference to your last letter.
我正就你上一次的来信作答。
4.The Census Bureau's figures for 2009 show for the third year in a row, poverty in the world's richest country is continuing to rise.
in a row连续不断地
例句:I beat you twenty times in a row.
我已经连胜了你二十次。
1.The decision was taken by the group known as the Paris Club which issued a statement welcoming Liberia's determination to implement measures to reduce poverty and aid economic growth.
参考翻译:这是巴黎俱乐部做出的决定。他们发表声明,对利比里亚实施消除贫困,援助经济增长的措施表示欢迎。
结构分析:这句话的主干是The decision was taken by the group known as the Paris Club.which issued a statement引导定语从句,修饰Paris Club。welcoming Liberia's determination是现在分词作后置定语,修饰statement。to implement measures是动词不定式做后置定语,修饰determination。
2.The envoy, Augustine Mahiga, told the security council that more troops were needed to stop foreign fighters and weapons getting into the country through the port of Kismayo which is under the control of al-Shabab.
参考翻译:Augustine Mahiga告诉安理会,必须派遣更多军队,防止外国战士和武器通过青年党控制的基斯马尤港口进入索马里。
结构分析:这句话的主干是:The envoy told the security council.that引导宾语从句,是告诉的具体内容。to stop表示目的。which is under the control of al-Shabab是定语从句,修饰Kismayo。
3.Mr Sarkozy confirmed reports that they had argued at a lunch for EU leaders in the wake of an earlier comparison made by an EU commissioner, Viviane Reding, between the expulsions and mass deportations during the World War II.
参考翻译:萨科齐证实了相关报道,在欧盟专员雷丁将这次驱逐与二战时期的放逐相提并论之后,在招待欧盟领导人的午餐上,两人发生争执。
结构分析:Mr Sarkozy confirmed reports是这句话的主干,后面的that引导的句子是reports的同位语。comparison between,将……和……进行对比。