BBC News with Julie Candler
President Obama says the US and its Nato allies are still considering a military response to the situation in Libya where he said the people were facing unacceptable violence. But Russia says it's opposed to any militaryintervention. Nato isengaged inwhat its Secretary General called 'prudentplanning'. While Britain confirmed it was working to secure a Security Council no-fly zone resolution. More from Kim Ghattas in Washington.
President Barack Obama twice used the word 'potential' when talking about military options. It’s clear Washington is not keen on the idea of a no-fly zone, but there is increasing talk of one. And in the end, it’s likely the United States willgo along withit if there is clear internationalconsensusand a UN security resolution. The White House has also made clear nothing had been taken off the table, including the possibility of arming the rebels in Libya.
Libyan rebel forces in the oil town of Las Ranuf have lost territory to forces loyal to Colonel Gaddafi after a day of sustained attacks by land and air. A series of air strikes targeted the town and reports say at least 20 people were killed. John Simpson is in the town.
For a time, it looked as though a quick attack by Colonel Gaddafi's men would clear the rebels out of Las Ranuf, but there was no sign of any movement from the Gaddafi forces. Instead, a Russian-built fighter bomber from Colonel Gaddafi’s air force came over and bombed the crossroads where the rebels had set up their guns. The bomb missed, but more rebels headed back down the road after that. Eventually though,reinforcements started arriving from Benghazi and other eastern towns and the danger passed, but air force planes dropped bombs further down the road to try to stop the reinforcements arriving.
President Obama is reintroducing military trials at the Guantanamo Bay detention centre. Mr Obama said that allowing military tribunals to resume was one of several steps he was taking, in his words, to 'bring terrorists to justice'. Steve Kingstone is in Washington.
It's a pretty devastatingU-turnby the Obama administration. You recall that just two days into office, Barack Obama signed an executive order, putting a halt to military tribunals,instigatinga review process of Guantanamo Bay and the president said that CIA should close that prison facility down within a year, so by January of 2010. Of course that didn’t happen and what we are now seeing is the completion of that U-turn, the Obama administration going back to square one, saying 'Ok, we will re-open the process whereby military tribunals can take place at Guantanamo Bay.'
World News from the BBC
The newly-appointed interim government in Tunisia hasdissolved the secret police, a key demand of pro-democracy protesters who ousted President Zine El Abidine Ben Ali in January. The notorious state security apparatus wasblamed formany human rights abuses. The new government has retained most key ministers from the previous interim administration, but a number of new appointments have been made.
A young Mexican woman who gained worldwide attention last year when she took over as police chief in a town plagued by drug-related violence has been sacked for abandoning her post. Marisol Valles was hailed as Mexico’s bravest woman in October when she became head of public security in the border town of Praxedis G. Guerrero. Ignacio De Los Reyes reports.
Marisol Valles, a 20-year-old criminology student, became police chief in a town when nobody else was willing to take the job. Her appointment six months ago made her asensationworldwide. But the mayor of Praxedis Guerrero said she hasn’t come back to work since last Wednesday, when she took personal leave to take care of her baby. Local activists told the BBC that Mrs Valles and her family had fled to the United States after receiving threats of kidnapping.
The Sri Lankan military has built a new divisional headquarters on a former Tamil Tiger graveyard. The cemetery, which contained the bodies of about 2,000 Tamil Tiger fighters, had earlier beenflattened. An army official told the BBC that the site was owned by the government and had beenallocated to the military. He didn’t mention the site's previous use in a report of Friday’s opening ceremony on his website.
The toy manufacturer Mattel has closed its flagship Barbie store in Shanghai just two years after it opened to much fanfare. The pink-theme, six-flooremporiumwas launched in a drive to attract Chinese consumers at a time when the famous doll faced declining sales in the West. But analysts said sales to Chinese consumers were poor.
BBC News
奥巴马总统表示,利比亚人民正面临难以接受的暴力,美国及北约盟国正在考虑对当地形势作出军事回应。但是俄罗斯表示,他们反对任何形式的军事干预。北约正在进行其秘书长所说的“周密的计划”。英国证实,他们正在努力通过联合国安理会的禁飞区决议。Kim Ghattas在华盛顿报道更详细内容。
奥巴马总统谈到军事选择时两次用到“潜在的”这个词语。很明显,华盛顿并不热衷于禁飞区的想法,但是关于禁飞区的讨论已经越来越热烈。最终,如果达成国际共识,而且联合国安理会也通过决议,美国仍将赞同。白宫也已经明确表示,他们不排除任何可能性,包括武装利比亚反叛分子的可能性。
经过持续一天的陆空联合袭击之后,利比亚石油重镇拉斯拉努夫的利比亚反叛力量战败,阵地落入忠于卡扎菲上校的军队手中。该镇遭遇了一系列空袭,报道称,至少20人遇难。John Simpson在该镇报道。
曾有一段时间,卡扎菲上校部队的突袭似乎可以将反叛力量驱逐出拉斯拉努夫,但是卡扎菲的部队似乎没有行动的迹象。相反,卡扎菲空军力量一架俄罗斯制造的轰炸机轰炸了叛军安装机枪的十字路口。炸弹没有击中目标,但是之后越来越多的反叛力量退回道路上。不过最终,来自班加西和其他东部城镇的援军到达,危险的时刻终于过去。但是,空军飞机继续向路上投掷炸弹,企图阻止援军到达。
奥巴马总统再次提出关塔纳摩湾拘留中心的军事审判。奥巴马总统表示,允许军事法庭重新开庭是他采取的“将恐怖分子绳之以法”的几项措施之一。Steve Kingstone在华盛顿报道。
奥巴马政府的态度出现了非常灾难性的急速转变。你应该记得,奥巴马总统执政两天之后即签署行政命令,取缔军事法庭,启动对关塔纳摩湾的重审程序。奥巴马总统表示,CIA应该在一年之内将这座监狱设施关闭,也就是在2010年1月之前。当然,这项任务并没有完成,我们现在看到的是政府态度的转变。奥巴马政府又回到最初的状态,说“好的,让我们来重新开始这个过程,关塔纳摩湾可以开设军事法庭。”
BBC世界新闻。
突尼斯新任命的临时政府解散了秘密警察组织,这是1月份推翻总统本·阿里的支持民主派抗议者的关键要求之一。这个臭名昭著的国家秘密安全组织因多次践踏人权而受到批评。新政府保留了此前过渡政府的大部分关键人物,但是对一些职位也做出了新的委任。
去年,一名年轻的墨西哥女性接任了毒品有关的暴力泛滥的小镇的警察局长,引发了全世界的关注。现在,她因为擅离职守而被解雇。去年十月份,Marisol Valles成为边境小镇Praxedis G. Guerrero的警察局长,被誉为墨西哥最勇敢的女性。Ignacio De Los Reyes报道。
20岁的Marisol Valles是一名犯罪学学生,当无人愿意担任该小镇的警察局长时,她接受了该职位。六个月前,她的任命轰动了全世界。但是Praxedis Guerrero市长表示,她请假照顾自己的孩子,自上周三开始就没有返回工作岗位。当地活动积极分子告诉BBC,Valles和她的家人收到绑架的威胁后已经逃到美国。
斯里兰卡军队在前塔米尔猛虎组织的坟地建立了新的分区总部。该坟地共葬有大约2,000名塔米尔猛虎组织战士的遗骨,此前已经被夷为平地。一名军官告诉BBC,该地归政府所有,已经被分配给军队。周五,他发表在网站上的揭幕报告并没有提到这里以前的用途。
玩具制造商美泰公司关闭了在上海的芭比娃娃旗舰店,距离开设该旗舰店只有两年的时间。这座粉红色主题,六层楼的商贸中心是为了在这名著名的玩具在西方销量下降的情况下吸引中国的消费者。但是分析人员称,芭比娃娃在中国的销量非常低。
1.intervention n.介入, 干涉, 干预
例句:The government's intervention in this dispute will not help.
政府对这场争论的干预不会起作用。
2.prudent adj.审慎的; 有先见之明的; 判断力强的
例句:A prudent man saves part of his wages.
深谋远虑的人会将一部分工资存起来。
3.consensus n.(意见等)一致, 一致同意; 一致的意见; 共识(~(among sb)| ~(about sth)| ~(that))
例句:Can we reach a consensus on this issue?
我们能在这个问题上取得一致意见吗?
4.reinforcement n.援军;增援警力
例句:Our troops consolidated our position with reinforcements.
增援部队的到来巩固了我军的阵地。
5.instigate vt.煽动;唆使;鼓动
例句:It would not prove worthwhile to instigate a nuclear attack.
挑起核攻击最终是不值得的。
6.dissolve v.结束,解除(婚姻关系);终止(商业协议);解散(议会)
例句:The campaign dissolved.
这场运动结束了。
They dissolved their marriage.
他们结束了他们的婚姻。
7.sensation n.激动, 轰动;哗然;引起轰动的人(或事物)
例句:His unexpected success caused a sensation.
他出人意料的成功引起了轰动。
8.flatten vt.vi.变平;使(某物)变平
例句:to flatten a rough surface
把凹凸不平的表面弄平
The storm flattened the flimsy wooden huts that the villagers lived in.
风暴刮平了村民们居住的脆弱的木屋。
9.allocate vt.分配, 分派
例句:You must allocate the money carefully.
你们必须谨慎地分配钱。
把…拨给,划…归
例句:They allocated funds for the new school.
他们拨出专款修建这所新学校。
assign,distribute,divide,allocate这些动词均含“分配,分发”之意。assign指按照某种原则进行的硬性分配,也不一定是很公平的。
distribute通常指以整体或定量分为若干份来分配。
divide普通用词,侧重将某物分成若干份分配给他人,当某物一分为二时,含平均分配之意。
allocate主要指金钱、财产、权力或领土等的分配,着重分配的比例和专门用途。
10.emporium n.商场,商业中心,大百货商店
1.Nato is engaged in what its Secretary General called 'prudent planning'.
engage in参加; 从事; 忙于
例句:I have no time to engage in the debate.
我没时间参加辩论。
He engaged in a serious study of the problem.
他对这个问题进行了认真的研究。
2.nd in the end, it’s likely the United States will go along with it if there is clear international consensus and a UN security resolution.
go along with赞同,附和
例句:Do you go along with my opinion?
你同意我的意见吗?
3.It's a pretty devastating U-turn by the Obama administration.
U-turn(方针、政策等的)急速转变
例句:a government U-turn over plans to cut social security payments
政府在削减社会保障支出计划方面的重大转变
a U-turn on education policy
教育政策大变革
4.The notorious state security apparatus was blamed for many human rights abuses.
blame for因…怪罪, 责怪(某人)
例句:Don't keep blaming your little sister for your bad behavior.
不要总是把你的不良行为怪在你的小妹妹身上。
He blamed his brother for breaking the window.
他责备他兄弟打破了窗玻璃。