The American pharmaceuticals giant Merck has agreed to pay nearly $1bn and plead guilty to a criminal charge over the mis-marketing of the painkiller Vioxx.
The drug was withdrawn in 2004 after it was found to increase the risk of heart attacks and strokes. The criminal charge arose out of the fact that Vioxx had also been promoted as a treatment for
rheumatoid arthritis
before being officially approved.
BBC News
第二页:中英双语听力稿
The leader of Egypt's ruling military council has promised to bring forward presidential elections to next year. In a live television address, Field Marshal Mohamed Hussein Tantawi said next week's parliamentary elections will not be cancelled. He also offered condolences to the families of protesters killed over the past few days, but said the military had not fired a single shot on Egyptian citizens. From Cairo, here's Yolande Knell.
埃及执政军事委员会领导人承诺明年进行总统选举。陆军元帅穆罕默德·侯赛因·坦塔维称,下周的议会选举不会被取消。他还对过去几天内被杀的抗议者家属表示慰问,不过他说,军队没有对埃及平民发射一枪一炮。Yolande Knell在开罗报道。
The head of the armed forces council insisted that the military didn't aspire to power. He said it was committed to holding parliamentary elections on schedule from next Monday and that a new president would be elected sooner than expected by the end of June. He added that the resignation of the current interim cabinet had been accepted but that it would continue working until a new government was formed.