BBC News with Jonathan Izard
Russian politicians have agreed a declaration which blames the Soviet dictator Joseph Stalin forpersonallyordering the Katyn massacre, in which thousands of captured Polish officers were shot by Soviet forces during the Second World War. The speaker of the Polish parliament said the move would help the foreign relations between the countries ahead of a visit to Poland next month by the Russian president. From Moscow, Richard Galpin.
A senior member of the Russian parliament described the resolution as a historic document, not just for relations with Poland, but also for Russia itself as it fights what he called the "falsification of history".For 50 years, Soviet leaders blamed the Nazis for the Katyn massacre.It was only in 1990 that Mikhail Gorbachev admitted the Soviet secret police had been responsible.
The United States has begun a diplomaticinitiativeto warn foreign governments about another potentially embarrassing release of documents by the whistle-blowing website Wikileaks. The organisation is planning to publish thousands of US State Department diplomatic cables. Steve Kingstone reports from Washington.
Wikileaks has not said when it will make these documents public, but the American government clearly believes the release isimminentand is preparing for the worst.Around the world, its embassies have been contacting other governments to give advance warning amid concerns that the diplomatic cables contain frank, private opinions and perhaps details of State Department sources within foreign governments.In London, the prime minister's spokesman said Downing Street had beennotifiedof the likely content butdeclined togive details. A State Department spokesman warned that the release would prove harmful to US interests and create tension in its relations with other governments.
Saudi Arabia says it's arrested about 150 people this year, most of them Saudi citizens, suspected of working for al-Qaeda. It said the men had planned to attack security officials and journalists. A Saudi official said the suspects belonged to cells with links to al-Qaeda in Yemen, Somalia and Afghanistan. About $600,000 are said to have been recovered from the men after their arrests.
The campaign group, Human Rights Watch, has accused the Moroccan authorities of beating and abusing people detained after a raid by its forces in the disputed Western Sahara. Itcalled foran immediate end to the reportedmistreatmentof up to 100 Sahrawis still being held following the raid on a protest camp. An eyewitness, Leila Leili, told what she had seen.
"I was there on 8 November just before dawn when everyone was still sleeping. Bulldozers and trucks started tobesiegethe camp. They were from the Moroccan army. Bulldozers started to invade the camp anddemolishtents without giving the people sleeping inside them a chance to get out. After that, we heard sounds of big bangs - artillery, bullets, tear gas. Everyone was fleeing in all directions."
World News from the BBC
The White House says President Obama has received 12 stitches in his face after being injured while playing basketball. The statement says Mr Obama wasinadvertentlyhit on the lip by an opposing player's elbow. The White House Medical Unit said the number of stitches used was high in order to reduce the size of any scar.
Border police in the US and Mexico have found a drug smugglers' tunnel linking the Mexican city of Tijuana with California. It's just two streets away from where police found a tunnel earlier this month, equipped with a rail system,ventilationand lights. Police said it was used for smuggling marijuana into the US. Local media are speculating the new tunnel could be even more sophisticated.
More has emerged about animpostorwho convinced intelligence officers in Afghanistan he was a senior Taliban negotiator and received thousands of dollars. The man claimed to be the top Taliban commander Mullah Mansour. Our security correspondent Frank Gardner reports.
As embarrassing internationalblunders go, this one is about as bad as it gets. For months, British, US and Afghan intelligence officers were all under the impression they were handling a top-level Taliban negotiator, a man named as Mullah Mansour, second in rank only to Mullah Omar, the Taliban leader. It's now emerged that the man is an impostor. He has since disappeared after pocketing large sums of money and being flown around the region by the Royal Air Force. Afghan officials say it's all the fault of MI6, Britain's Secret Intelligence Service who handled him. But British government sources say the man was introduced to British agents by the Afghan security service.
Tickets for a Dutch rock festival next year have beensnapped upwithin hours despite the fact that buyers had no idea who will be playing. Organisers were selling the tickets early to avoid a big tax increase on live performances, whichcomes into effecton 1 January. Fans who managed to secure one of the 45,000 tickets saved themselves $26 each. Well, let's just hope they'll be as pleased when they find out the festival's line-up.
BBC World Service News
1.personally adv.本人地;亲自地
例句:The owner of the hotel welcomed us personally.
这家旅馆的主人亲自欢迎我们。
2.initiative n. 主动性,主动精神,商业信函中用到这次一般是指的行动和计划
3.imminent adj.(通常指不愉快的事)即将发生的, 逼近的,临近的
例句:The black clounds show that a storm is imminent.
乌云预示暴风雨即将来临。
4.notify vt.通知, 告知, 报告
例句:When my guest arrives, please notify me.
我的客人到的时候, 请通知我。
5.besiege vt.包围; 围困; 围攻
例句:The enemy were besieged by us.
敌军被我们包围住了。
6.mistreatment n.虐待
例句:the physical mistreatment of children.
在身体上对儿童的虐待
7.demolish vt.摧毁; 推翻; 拆毁(尤指大建筑物)
例句:Terry Street was demolished a few years ago.
泰瑞街已在数年前拆掉。
8.inadvertently adv.漫不经心地;疏忽地
例句:I inadvertently passed this essay by.
我漫不经心地把这篇散文忽略过去了。
9.ventilation n.通风设备;通风方法
例句:The office has recently been refurbished and the ventilation system improved.
这间办公室最近重新修缮油漆过, 通风系统得到了改善。
10.impostor n.冒名顶替者;骗子
例句:This is not Doctor Malcolm, he is an impostor.
这不是马尔科姆医生, 他是骗子。
11.blunder n.(因无知、粗心等造成的)错误
例句:I saw that I had been guilty of a careless blunder.
我意识到自己因疏忽而酿成大错。
1.In London, the prime minister's spokesman said Downing Street had been notified of the likely content but declined to give details.
decline to谢绝,拒绝
例句:I decline to accept the end of man.
虽然我拒绝接受世界末日。
2.It called for an immediate end to the reported mistreatment of up to 100 Sahrawis still being held following the raid on a protest camp.
call for要求
例句:The letter calls for an investigation of the facts.
来信要求对这些事实进行调查。
3.Tickets for a Dutch rock festival next year have been snapped up within hours despite the fact that buyers had no idea who will be playing.
snap up抢购
例句:I snapped up the coat at that cheap price.
在价格便宜时我买下了这件大衣。
The kind of articles were quickly snapped up.
这种物品很快就被抢购一空。
4.Organisers were selling the tickets early to avoid a big tax increase on live performances, which comes into effect on 1 January.
come into effect(文件、合同)生效
例句:The contract will come into effect upon signature.
此合同将在签字后生效。
1.A senior member of the Russian parliament described the resolution as a historic document, not just for relations with Poland, but also for Russia itself as it fights what he called the "falsification of history".
not just but also是not only,but also的变形,不仅,而且。这句话的主语和谓语是:A senior member of the Russian parliament described,后面是描述的具体内容。
2.It was only in 1990 that Mikhail Gorbachev admitted the Soviet secret police had been responsible.
It was that强调句型
用“it引导”的强调句,又叫做分裂句,有下面几种情况
1)强调主语,例如:
It was she who had been wrong. 错的是她。
Was it that you broke the window? 是你打破窗户的吗?
But here it’s my word that counts. 但是在这里是我的话算数。
2)强调宾语或介宾
It was the President that Jean shot yesterday. Jean昨天枪击的是总统。
It was to me that she gave the money. 她那钱是给我的。
3)强调状语
It was on Monday night that all this happened. 这一切是发生在星期一晚上。
It was in Beijing that he lived ten years ago. 他十年前是住在北京的。
It was because he was ill that he didn’t go to school. 他是因病而没来上学的。
It was in a different way that they played the game. 他们比赛的方式是不同的。
It was not until 11 o’clock last night that my father returned. 我父亲昨夜直到11点才回来。
3.Around the world, its embassies have been contacting other governments to give advance warning amid concerns that the diplomatic cables contain frank, private opinions and perhaps details of State Department sources within foreign governments.
这句话的主干是:its embassies have been contacting other governments。to give advance warning amid concerns表达目的。that引导的是concerns的同位语从句。