沙特皇储纳耶夫王子周末去世后，国王阿布杜拉任命同父异母的兄弟萨尔曼亲王为王位新继承人。声明表示，亲王将继续担任目前的国防部长一职。Sebastian Usher报道。

The appointment of the 76-year-old Prince Salman comes less than 24 hours after his predecessor Prince Nayef was buried. Prince Salman is seen as a conservative pragmatist with a warmer public profile perhaps than Prince Nayef whose main role was to enforce security. But he too, is one of the aging sons of the founder of the modern Saudi state King Abdul Aziz, as all the kingdom's leaders have been. Today's simple announcement has again postponed for potentially difficult but inevitable transition to a younger generation.

国王的继承人纳耶夫王子去世还不到24小时，国王就任命了76岁的萨尔曼亲王。与主要职责为加强安全的纳耶夫王子相比，萨尔曼亲王被视为一位保守的实用主义者，公众形象更为亲民。不过他也是现代沙特国创立者阿齐兹国王的一位年老的儿子，所有王国的领导人也都这样。今天的声明可能再次延迟将王位转给年轻一代，这个过程会有困难，但却是不可避免的。

A senior Vatican official has spoken of a fierce attempt to sow divisions between Pope Benedict and his closest associates. Cardinal Bertone, the Vatican secretary of state, was responding to the recent leaking of sensitive documents. Cardinal Bertone rejected suggestions that senior clerics were behind the leaks.