Portugal has become the second country after Greece to
ratify
two European Union treaties intended to stabilise the financial situation in the eurozone. The treaties, dealing with financial stability and budget discipline, are part of an EU pact signed in March. They'll come into force once they have been ratified by 12 countries. The Portuguese parliament approved the treaties with an overwhelming majority.
BBC News
第二页:中英双语听力稿
Members of the UN Security Council say they are finalising a draft resolution authorising an advance team of observers to travel to Syria to monitor the ceasefire there and the further implementation of the international peace plan. A spokesman for the UN envoy Kofi Annan said a group of observers was already standing by to board a plane to Damascus as soon as the resolution was passed. Barbara Plett reports from New York.
联合国安理会成员国称,已最终草拟了一道决议,授权一支观察团先遣队奔赴叙利亚,监督那里的停火情况,并进一步实施和平方案。联合国使者科菲·安南的发言人称,一批观察员已准备登机赴大马士革,只待决议通过即出发。Barbara Plett在纽约报道。
There's intense political pressure to get the observers into Syria. Kofi Annan's spokesman said about a dozen monitors are on standby waiting for a green light from the Security Council. But the Russian envoy here said the draft resolution to authorise the mission is too long and complicated. It was supposed to be a brief text to just get some boots on the ground, he said. Western diplomats say they need to spell out the details of the mandate even if it's for a small advance team. They also want to keep language criticising the government's human rights violations, which Russia wants to drop.