World News from the BBC
塔利班准备发动春季攻势 北约驻阿富汗部队做好准备“迎接”
NATO-led forces in Afghanistan say they're preparing for
a spate of
attacks by the Taliban in the coming days. The Taliban earlier issued a statement saying that its spring offensive, an annual surge in fighting, will start on Sunday. A spokesman for the Nato-led force, Brigadier General Josef Blotz, said the Taliban were trying to reverse NATO gains.
"We have brought in huge reinforcements in 2010, and we're able to change the strategic environment. We have taken away huge areas, for example in Kandahar, which is the homeland of the Taliban. And of course they will try to get that back, but they will fail."
数万名信众参加已故教皇约翰保罗二世宣福礼
Tens of thousands of pilgrims have joined a
vigil in central Rome on the eve of a ceremony to mark the beatification of the late Pope John Paul II. Among those addressing the gathering at the Circus Maximus park is a French nun, whose apparently miraculous recovery from Parkinson's Disease is part of the official reason for taking the penultimate step towards declaring the late Pope a saint. The leader of the Roman Catholic Church in England and Wales, Cardinal Vincent Nichols, said the move towards sainthood had been rapid.
"It is very unusual, but I think it's popular demand frankly, and it isn't the quickest process. There have been saints in the past who have been virtually declared saints by popular acclaim, and we saw even on the day of his funeral people saying this man was a saint, make him a saint now. Now that's not happened."