BBC News with Marion Marshall
Legal authorities havestepped upthe pressure on the founder of the website Wikileaks, Julian Assange, whose publication of secret diplomatic cables has angered Washington and other governments. In the United States, officials are searching the law books for ways of bringing prosecutions over the leaks. And in Britain, where Mr Assange has been in hiding, the authorities have received a European arrest warrant for him in connection with allegations of sexual assault in Sweden, which he denies. Mr Assange's lawyer Mark Stephens said his client was makingarrangements to meet British police voluntarily.
"Late this afternoon after close of business, I got a call from the police who said that they had received an extradition request from Sweden. Their request is to interview Julian Assange. He's not been charged with anything. And we're in the process of making arrangements to meet with the police by consent in order tofacilitatethe taking of that question and answer that's needed."
The United Nations is temporarily moving non-essential staff out of Ivory Coast following disputed presidential elections. Barbara Plett reports from New York.
The UN spokesman Martin Nesirky said some 460 non-essential staff members would be temporarilyrelocated to nearby Gambia and work from there. He said the bulk of the mission would continue to carry out its core tasks in Ivory Coast. The UN has nearly 10,000 peacekeepers in the country. The mission also had aspecificmandate to certify the outcome of the recent presidential vote. It endorsed provisional results which showed the incumbent Laurent Gbagbo had lost. But Mr Gbagbo refuses tostep down, and his adviser has warned that the UN representative could be expelled. However, Mr Nesirky said staff members were being relocated because of the generally volatile security situation and not because of any specific threats.
The American Secretary of State Hillary Clinton is meeting the foreign ministers of Japan and South Korea to discuss North Korea. The talks come after the North fired artillery shells at a South Korean island last month, killing four people. Mrs Clinton accused the North of provocation.
"This meeting takes place at a time of grave concern in Northeast Asia amid the provocative attacks from North Korea. We are committed to our partners, and we are committed to thepreservationof peace and stability in Korean peninsula."
In the past few minutes, the meeting about North Korea has ended. Hillary Clinton said China had a special role to play. She also repeated that for North Korea to enter negotiations, it must first cease what she called its provocative and belligerent behaviour.
The director of a high-security prison in Sierra Leone, Moses Showers, has been sacked after 26 inmates escapedin broad daylight. Announcing his dismissal, the vice president described him as a disgrace.
World News from the BBC
Officials in Haiti say more than 2,000 people are now known to have died in the cholera epidemic sweeping through the country. About 90,000 are reported to have contracted the waterborne disease. On Friday, the Secretary General of the United Nations, Ban Ki-moon, warned that the number of infections and deaths could be twice as high.
Unidentified attackers have set fire to a children's nursery school in the Mexican city of Ciudad Juarez apparently after its owners refused to payextortionmoney. A message was sprayed on the walls of the kindergarten, urging the owners topay up. Some teachers in the city have been threatened with attacks unless they hand over half their Christmas bonuses.
A high society family feud that's captivated France is apparently over. The row involving France's richest woman, the L'Oreal billionaire Liliane Bettencourt, grew into a political scandal when secret tapes led to allegations that she had made illegal donations to Nicolas Sarkozy's presidential campaign. Sam Wilson reports.
Liliane Bettencourt's daughter feared her mother was gradually handing control of the $20bn family estate to the society photographer Francois-Marie Banier. Among herextravagantgifts to him was an island in the Seychelles. The daughter Francoise took him to court, accusing him of exploiting her elderly mother's mental fragility. Secret tape recordings appeared to reveal tax evasion, political influence and illegal donations to the party of French President Nicolas Sarkozy. The scandal dominated the front pages in France for weeks. But now they say it's over - the photographer has been written out of the will; the court case has been dropped; and mother and daughter say they are united again.
The South African tourism ministry has said people who visited the country for the football World Cup this year spent more than $500m on hotels, food and clothing. The figure is afractionof the cost of staging the games. South Africa spent at least $4.5bn preparing for the tournament.
BBC News
1.arrangement n.安排,准备;整理,排列,布置
例句:She doesn't agree to this arrangement.
她不赞同这个安排。
2.facilitate vt.使便利, 减轻…的困难
例句:Tractors facilitate farming.
拖拉机使耕作便利。
3.relocate vt.vi.(尤指公司或工人) (使)搬迁,迁移
例句:They’ve relocated our bus-stop.
他们把我们的公共汽车站迁到另一个位置了。
Employees are reimbursed for any legal fees incurred when they relocate.
员工调往异地工作时,他们可以报销由此产生的所有法律服务费用。
4.specific adj.具体的, 特有的, 特定的
例句:We haven't fixed a specific date for our meeting.
我们会议的具体日期还没有定下来。
5.preservation n.保存, 保藏, 储藏, 保持
例句:The picture is in an excellent state of preservation.
这幅画保存得极为完好。
The police are responsible for the preservation of law and order.
警察负责维持法律与秩序。
6.belligerent adj.好斗的; 寻衅的; 挑衅的
例句:He had a belligerent aspect.
他有种好斗的神色。
7.extortion n.敲诈,勒索,逼取;被勒索的财物
例句:to stand trial for extortion
涉嫌敲诈而受审判
He was known for running a brutal extortion racket.
他因干过一起残忍的敲诈勒索而出名。
8.extravagant adj.奢侈的;挥霍的;铺张浪费的
例句:Don't be so extravagant, spend your money more carefully.
不要如此挥霍, 花钱要仔细点。
9.fraction n.小部分, 一点儿,碎片,片断
例句:The car missed me by a fraction of an inch.
那车子差一点儿就要撞到我了。
1.Legal authorities have stepped up the pressure on the founder of the website Wikileaks, Julian Assange, whose publication of secret diplomatic cables has angered Washington and other governments.
step up(使)增加, (使)加快速度
例句:The girl stepped up to school.
女孩子加快步伐去上学。
He has stepped up into the management of the firm.
他已升入公司的管理部门。
2.But Mr Gbagbo refuses to step down, and his adviser has warned that the UN representative could be expelled.
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。
3.The director of a high-security prison in Sierra Leone, Moses Showers, has been sacked after 26 inmates escaped in broad daylight.
in broad daylight在大白天,公开地
例句:The kidnapping occurred in broad daylight.
在光天化日之下竟发生绑架事件。
4.A message was sprayed on the walls of the kindergarten, urging the owners to pay up.
pay up全部还清, 付清
例句:My goods were lost in the fire and the insurance company will have to pay up.
我的货在大火中烧毁了, 保险公司将不得不赔偿。
Every club member must pay up his membership money before the end of the season.
每一位俱乐部成员必须在赛季结束以前缴清会费。