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听力文稿 ( Transcript )
The Prime Minister of Somalia's interim government Ali Mohamed Gedi has appealed for international help after an Islamist militia strengthened its hold over a large part of Somalia. Mr. Gedi, who leads a coalition of warlords said the capture by the Union of Islamic Courts of the strategic southern port of Kismayo took Somalia closer towards a conflict that would affect the whole region. Ethiopia has denied reports that it's sent troops into Somalia. Mr. Gedi said the area was being threatened by extremists.
It is an expansion of fundamentalists, terrorists in the region. It is not affecting, and they do not affect only Somalia, it will involve the whole region, the whole continent, and the world as well. Unless collective efforts are brought together by the international community, this new phenomenon cannot be stopped.
A federal judge in the United States has ruled that a lawsuit against tobacco companies accusing them of deceiving smokers into thinking that cigarettes labeled "light" were safer than regular brands can proceed as a class action. The ruling means that anyone who bought cigarettes labeled "light" or "lights" after they went on the market in the early 1970s can take part in the case which is seeking billions of dollars in damages. The defendants include several leading tobacco companies. The lead attorney in the action against the companies Michael D. Hausfeld said the customers thought light brands were a less risky option.
No one believed that these cigarettes were certified safe, but they were supposed to be and were believed to be safer or less hazardous than a regular cigarette.
A public inquiry into the 1985 bombing of an Air India plane off the coast of Ireland has started hearing testimony in the Canadian capital Ottawa. 329 people were killed in the bombing of flight 182 which had departed from the Canadian city of Montreal. The attack was carried out by Sikh extremists campaigning for a homeland in northern India. Only one person has ever been convicted of the plot and the trial of the 2 main suspects in Vancouver last year ended with acquittals.
You are listening to the World News from the BBC.
A United Nations inquiry into the killing of the Lebanese Prime Minister Rafik Hariri says a considerable number of new leads have been uncovered as to who carried out the attack. Mr. Hariri died in a bomb blast in Beirut in February 2005, which his supporters blamed on Syria. However, a report by the head of the UN inquiry Serge Brammertz, does not give any indication as to who actually ordered the killing. Our correspondent Jonathan Beale reports.
The UN team says in its latest report into the murder of Rafik Hariri that they believed that a suicide bomber had detonated the massive truck bomb that killed Mr. Hariri. The investigation has also uncovered more evidence of a link between Mr. Hariri's murder and 13 other attacks carried out in Lebanon. However, the team reports little progress in establishing who ordered the attack. Mr. Brammertz's predecessor, the German prosecutor Detlev Mehlis had pointed the finger of suspicion at Syrian security officials. Mr. Brammertz, though, says that cooperation from Syria remained generally satisfactory.
President Bush has appointed a delegation of American businessmen to visit Lebanon to see how best to help that country recover following the recent military onslaught by Israel. The United States has pledged more than a quarter of a billion dollars in assistance to Lebanon since the end of the month-long conflict which was sparked off by the capture of 2 Israeli soldiers by the militant Islamist movement Hezbollah in July. A BBC correspondent in Washington says the Bush administration is concerned that Hezbollah may gain influence through its reconstruction work.
The Japanese Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi is stepping down in the next few hours after more than 5 years in office. He's been one of the longest serving Japanese Prime Ministers. And as Chris Hogg reports from Tokyo, Mr. Koizumi's style has been a stark contrast to the men who filled the post in the past.
Junichiro Koizumi came to power promising to transform the country's political landscape. He said he would destroy his own party the LDP if that was what was needed to push through much needed reforms. With his flowing locks - so admired by many Japanese women, the Prime Minister, who is divorced and single offered the electorate a change from the grey men they had been used to. He was unconventional, but more importantly, straight talking. He knew how to communicate directly with the people using slogans and sound bites they understand.
The American football stadium which symbolized the suffering of New Orleans during Hurricane Katrina is reopening shortly. More than 30,000 people took refuge at the Louisiana Superdome during the disaster. The rock band U2 will perform before the New Orleans' Saints kick off their first home game since the hurricane hit in August last year.
Words and Expressions: class action - A class action is a legal case brought by a group of people rather than an individual. acquittals - Acquittal is a formal declaration in a court of law that someone who has been accused of a crime is innocent. onslaught - An onslaught on someone or something is a very violent, forceful attack against them.
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