BBC News with David Legge
The American government commission looking into the causes of April's huge oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico says the three main companies involved all made serious mistakes in the run-up to the disaster. The commission's co-chairman William Reilly said the three firms - BP, Transocean and Halliburton - shared a culture of complacency rather than safety. It was the final day of hearings before the panel reports back in January. Paul Adams is in Washington.
William Reilly didn't mince his words; the three companies were, he said, in need of top-to-bottom reform. The accident in April had been caused by what he described as a "sweep of bad decisions", with the companies apparently rushing to complete the well. Meanwhile, the former BP chief executive Tony Hayward has told the BBC that his company was "unprepared" for the oil spill and had made up its response day by day. Mr Hayward, who stepped down as CEO in October, said he resented his treatment at the hands of a hostile US media and said he might have done a better public relations job if he'd studied acting, not geology.
The cholera epidemic in Haiti has been declared a matter of national security after it spread to the capital Port-au-Prince. The health ministry gave details of the first case in the city. Greg Morsbach reports.A three-year-old boy from a poor shantytown is the first cholera patient in the capital. Apparently he'd not had any contact with people living in the countryside where the disease was first reported. That suggests that a new cluster of cases may now emerge in the capital. The authorities are taking no risks and are testing more than 100 people in Port-au-Prince who'd shown some symptoms of the disease. The health ministry fears that if cholera gets a foothold in the capital, the urban slums are likely to be hardest hit.
The European Commission has fined 11 airlines more than $1bn between them for fixing air cargo prices. The carriers include British Airways, Air France and Japan Airlines. Here is Mark Gregory.
The fines come after a four-year investigation that spanned both sides of the Atlantic. The airlines were accused of running a price-fixing cartel involving illegal collusion on air freight charges. Air France must pay the single largest penalty, with British Airways also fined more than $100m. The German carrier Lufthansa has not been fined as it provided the information that led to the investigation.
US defence officials say they have been unable so far to explain the sighting of an apparent missile vapour trail off the coast of California on Monday. A long condensation trail was filmed by a news helicopter arcing into the evening sky west of Los Angeles. The video shows the billowing trail apparently rising from the water. Pentagon spokesman said the cause was not clear.
World News from the BBC
A prison riot in northern Brazil has ended with 18 inmates killed after fellow prisoners took their warders hostage. A number of the men were decapitated by their own cellmates, their severed heads tossed out of the windows of the prison block. On Monday, a group of prisoners went on the rampage around the prison, killing rival gang members and capturing other guards at gunpoint.
President Barack Obama, who's currently in Indonesia, says progress is being made on ending the mistrust between Muslim countries and the United States. He said the relationship between the Islamic world and the West often dominated by fears of terrorism must expand beyond security issues.
"Security is important, but I want to make sure that we are interacting with a wide range of people on a wide range of issues. And I think by broadening the relationship, that strengthens it, it builds trust, creates more people-to-people contact. That will be good for our security, but it will also be good for the larger cause of understanding between the United States and the Muslim world."
Mr Obama also announced a wide-ranging partnership with Indonesia.
The latest round of talks aimed at breaking the deadlock in Iraqi politics has ended inconclusively. Negotiations are due to continue on Wednesday. Talks on forming a new government have been deadlocked since parliamentary elections in March.
Russia's parliament is to consider toughening punishments for attacks on journalists after two were badly beaten in recent days. MPs will debate a bill that would impose a sentence of up to 20 years for causing serious harm to journalists, the same as for state officials. The authorities in Moscow are allowing a rare public demonstration on Thursday in support of one of the journalists. But human rights groups say Russia is not doing enough to protect journalists. A newspaper editor crippled by an attack two years ago went to court on Tuesday accused of libel.
BBC News
对四月份墨西哥湾巨大的漏油事件进行调查的美国政府委员会表示,与此事有关的三家主要公司均犯下重大错误,导致这场历史性的灾难。该委员会联合主席威廉·雷利(William Reilly)表示,这三大公司——BP,跨洋公司和哈里伯顿公司的企业文化都崇尚自满,而不是安全。这是该调查小组追溯到一月份进行调查的听证会的最后一天。Paul Adams在华盛顿报道。
威廉·雷利(William Reilly)毫不吝惜言辞,他说,这三个公司需要彻底全面的改革。他说,四月份的事故是由“一系列错误的决定”造成的,很明显这些公司都急于完成油井的开凿工作。同时,BP前总裁托尼·海沃德(Tony Hayward)告诉BBC,他的公司没有对石油泄漏事件做好准备,得过且过。十月份辞职的海沃德表示,他对向美国媒体表现出的敌意非常懊悔,如果他研究的是行为而不是地质学的话,他应该做出更好的公关工作。
霍乱疫情蔓延到首都太子港之后,海地已经宣布霍乱为全国性的安全事件。卫生部长详细介绍了该城市第一个霍乱病例的情况。Greg Morsbach报道。
居住在一个贫穷的棚户区的一个三岁男孩是首都第一个霍乱病例。很明显,他从来没有和疫情最初出现的乡村地区的人们有过任何接触。这表明,首都地区可能已经出现新的类型的病例。当局不冒任何风险,正在对太子港表现出霍乱症状的100多人进行检测。卫生部长担忧,如果霍乱在首都立足,城市贫民窟将遭受最严重的打击。
11家航空公司因操纵航空货运价格而被欧盟处以超过10亿美元的罚款。这些航空公司包括英航,法航和日航。Mark Gregory报道。
罚款是根据对大西洋两岸进行的长达四年的调查。这些航空公司被指控相互之间非法勾结,操纵货运收费。法航面临单比最大金额最大的罚款,英航也被罚超过1亿美元。德国汉莎航空未被罚款,因为正是根据汉莎航空提供的信息,欧盟才对此事进行了调查。
美国国防官员表示,目前为止,他们仍然难以解释周一出现在加利福尼亚海岸的神秘导弹。一架新闻直升机拍摄到,一枚导弹拖着长长的烟雾划过加州洛杉矶的夜空。视频显示,这条烟雾般的尾巴是从水中升起的。五角大楼发言人表示,现在还不清楚造成这种现象的原因。
BBC世界新闻。
巴西北部一座监狱发生暴动,囚犯劫持预警作为人质,现在暴动已经结束,共造成18名囚犯死亡。其中一些囚犯被他们的狱友斩首,头颅被扔出监狱的窗户。周一,一些囚犯继续在监狱周围发动暴乱,杀害了敌对的团伙成员,持枪劫持了其他狱警。
奥巴马总统现在正在对印度尼西亚进行访问。他说,终止穆斯林国家和美国之间的不信任的工作已经取得了进展。他说,伊斯兰世界和西方国家之间的关系通常都被担心恐怖主义可能会扩散到安全问题以外的想法主宰着。
“安全问题当然非常重要,但是我想告诉大家,我们正在就更广泛的问题与更广泛的人群进行联系。我认为,通过拓展关系,通过加强联系,我们相互之间可以创造信任,创造越来越多的人与人之间的沟通。这对我们的安全来说是好的,但是对于更大的事业,美国和穆斯林世界之间的理解也是非常好的。”
奥巴马还宣布与印度尼西亚建立广泛的合作关系。
旨在终止伊拉克政治僵局的最新一轮的对话结束,没有取得决定性的结果。预期周三谈判将继续进行。关于组建新的政府的对话自三月份的议会选举以来一直陷入僵局。
近几天,两名记者遭到严重殴打之后,俄罗斯议会正在考虑加大对袭击记者的人的处罚力度。议员们将考虑一项法案,该法案将对给记者带来严重伤害的人判处最高20年的监禁,相当于袭击国家官员的罪名。莫斯科当局罕见地允许公众在周四举行示威行动,支持其中一名记者。但是人权组织表示,俄罗斯在保护记者方面采取的措施不足。两年前因遭遇袭击而残废的一名报纸编辑被控诽谤罪,周二出庭。
1.complacency n.满足,自满,得意
例句:Be modest in learning,for complacency is the enemy of study.
学习要虚心,自满是敌人。
2.sweep n.扫除,打扫,肃清,视野,范围,全胜
3.geology n.地质学
例句:He majors in geology.
他主修地质学。
4.shantytown n.以临时搭盖的陋屋为主的地区
5.cluster n.(果实、花等的)串, 簇,团,束
例句:She held a cluster of flowers in her arms.
她抱着一束鲜花。
6.foothold n.立足处(攀登时脚踩的地方)
例句:Climbers can strap sharp nails on to help get a foothold on a slippery slope.
登山运动员可以在靴子上捆上尖钉,这样有助于在很滑的陡坡上站住脚。
He found a secure foothold and pulled himself up.
他找到了一个稳固的踏脚处并爬了上去。
7.decapitate vt.杀头
例句:Jewish heroine who saved her people by decapitating the Assyrian general Holofernes
通过斩首亚述将军荷罗孚尼救了她的人民的犹太英雄
8.dominate vt.vi.控制, 支配, 统治,左右,影响
例句:The stronger man dominates the weaker.
强者支配弱者。
9.broaden vt.vi.使…变宽, 扩展
例句:The river broadens here.
河流在这里变宽了。
10.toughen vt.
vi. (使)变坚韧,(使)变顽固,使困难
例句:He needs plenty of hard exercise to toughen him up.
他需要充分的艰苦锻炼以增强体质。
1.The commission's co-chairman William Reilly said the three firms - BP, Transocean and Halliburton - shared a culture of complacency rather than safety.
rather than而不是
例句:They thus increased their annual grain production rather than diminished it.
他们这样增加了而不是减少了粮食年产量。
2.William Reilly didn't mince his words; the three companies were, he said, in need of top-to-bottom reform.
not mince his words直言不讳
例句:He does not mince matters his words.
他很直爽。
3.Meanwhile, the former BP chief executive Tony Hayward has told the BBC that his company was "unprepared" for the oil spill and had made up its response day by day.
make up弥补, 偿还
例句:Vitamin pills make up what you lack in your diet.
维生素丸可补充你食物中所缺乏的营养。
4.Mr Hayward, who stepped down as CEO in October, said he resented his treatment at the hands of a hostile US media and said he might have done a better public relations job if he'd studied acting, not geology.
step down退休, 辞职
例句:The manager had to step down on account of poor health.
那位经理由于身体不好, 只能辞职不干。
5.The authorities in Moscow are allowing a rare public demonstration on Thursday in support of one of the journalists.
in support of支持
例句:The judge quoted various cases in support of his opinion.
那位法官引证不同的案例以支持他的意见。