英国新闻听力 奥巴马政府放弃欧洲导弹防御计划（在线收听）

President Barack Obama has announced that he's shelving the former President Bush’s plans for a missile defense system in Europe, a project that had become a major irritant in the relations between the United States and Russia. From Washington, here is Paul Adams.

President Obama says the new missile defense system will be stronger, smarter and swifter than its predecessor. The latest intelligence assessment suggested that Iran was concentrating its efforts on developing short- and medium-range missiles, not ones capable of hitting the United States. But faced with criticism that the administration is turning its back on missile defense in Europe and caving in to Russia. The Defense Secretary Robert Gates said such fears were misguided. The US had already held talks, he said, with Poland, and the Czech Republic about stationing land-based interceptors in Eastern Europe in the future.

Russia had objected to the plan to base a missile interceptor system close to its borders, calling it a threat to its security, but the Russian President Dmitry Medvedev has welcomed the US move to recast its missile defense plans as a responsible step.

"I discussed this question with the US President during our meetings in London and Moscow. We had agreed that Russia and the US would strive to cooperate in estimating the risks of missile proliferation in the world. The announcement by Washington demonstrates the good conditions for this sort of cooperation are now appearing.Czech and Polish government officials said that they’d been expecting the move but were surprised by the speed of it. European Union leaders and the NATO Secretary General welcomed the new plan.

The deputy commander of the African Union peacekeeping forces in Somalia, Major General Juvenal Niyonguruza, has been killed in Mogadishu. Eight other peacekeepers were killed when suicide bombers in two vehicles packed with explosives drove into the main UN compound. Mark Doyle reports.

The confirmation of the details of this devastating attack on African Union peacekeepers came from the Ugandan army which provides the commander and most of the troops for the mission in Somalia. There have been attacks on African peacekeepers in Somalia before where more peacekeepers were killed, but this incident may be seen as particularly serious because it took place right in the heart of the peacekeepers' compound, well away from the perimeter gates and struck at the headquarters of the most senior officers.

The government in Yemen says it’s launching a commission of inquiry into reports that up to a hundred local people died, when an air force plane bombed refugees sheltering on a mountainside in the northwest. Government officials say that they don’t use heavy weapons which could endanger civilians in their fight against the long running rebel insurgency in the north. Witnesses said the bomb hit the refugees as they were sheltering under trees and bushes.

A United Nations investigator says there's strong evidence to link the dumping of toxic waste in Ivory Coast three years ago with the subsequent illness of tens of thousands of local people and the deaths of 15 of them. The investigator said that people were still suffering sickness and the long-term consequences of the dumping near Abidjan have yet to be fully determined. The company responsible for the waste, Trafigura, denies any link between the dumping and the illness. But earlier lawyers representing some of those taken ill, said Trafigura was close to an agreement offering compensation for their suffering.

European football is testing a radical change in the way matches are refereed, with the use of the two extra officials in the new Europa League competition. The changes affect matches in the group's stage which is now under way. Alex Capstick reports.

For the first time in a European club tournament, the referee will have four assistants, two linesmen and two extra officials, one behind each goal to help make important decisions in the penalty area. It’s part of an experiment by UEFA, the game's governing body in Europe, which has refused to introduce video technology. The new officials will be expected to intervene when there is doubt over whether the ball has crossed the goal line and to clarify whether an offence has been committed or whether a player has tried to dupe the referee by faking a foul.

Lawyers representing an American man whose execution by lethal injection was called off after executioners failed to find a usable vein, say they will file / lawsuits to stop a second execution attempt. Romell Broom was convicted of the rape and murder of a teenager and was due to be put to death on Tuesday. After two hours and several failed attempts to insert the needle, the process was halted. It's reported that Mr. Broom’s veins have been damaged by years of heroin abuse. It’s the first time in US history that an execution attempt by lethal injection has had to be rescheduled.

奥巴马总统宣布搁置前总统布什的欧洲导弹防御系统计划。该计划一度刺激了美国和俄罗斯之间的关系恶化。华盛顿，Paul Adams报道。

奥巴马总统称，新的导弹防御系统比前总统的计划更加强劲，精细和迅速。最新的情报评估表明，伊朗将主要精力集中在短程和中程导弹的研发方面，其射程不能抵达美国。但是，新的计划遭遇批评，称奥巴马政府背弃了欧洲的导弹防御系统，向俄罗斯屈服。国防部长罗伯特-盖茨表示，这样的担忧是错误的。美国未来将在东欧部署导弹拦截基地，美国已就此与波兰和捷克共和国进行了对话。

俄罗斯曾反对在其边境附近建立导弹拦截基地的计划，称这威胁到俄罗斯的安全。但是俄罗斯总统梅德韦杰夫对美国的举动表示欢迎，并更改了俄罗斯的导弹防御计划以作回应。

“我们在伦敦和莫斯科举行会议时已经就这一点进行了讨论。我们一致认为，俄罗斯和美国应该在评估全球导弹扩散的风险方面增强合作。华盛顿方面的决定表明，进行这种合作的良好条件已经开始出现。捷克和波兰政府官员称，他们已经预料到该举动，但是为如此快的速度赶到惊讶。欧盟领导和北约秘书长均对新计划表示欢迎。”

非洲联盟索马里维和部队副指挥官，Juvenal Niyonguruza少将在摩加迪沙遇难。两名自杀式爆炸袭击者驾驶两辆装满炸药的车辆进入联合国建筑，造成另外8名维和人员死亡。Mark Doyle报道。

乌干达军队证实了非洲联盟维和部队所遭遇的灾难性袭击的细节信息。乌干达提供了索马里维和任务的指挥官和大部分军队。此前，索马里非洲联盟维和人员也遭受过袭击，维和人员伤亡更大，但是，该事件更加严重，因为此次袭击发生在维和人员建筑的中心，刚好在边门附近，袭击了大部分高级官员聚集的总部。

报道称，一架空军战斗机袭击了西北部山腰的难民庇护所，导致100名当地居民死亡。也门政府称其成立了调查委员会对该事件进行调查。政府官员称，他们在与北部反叛分子进行斗争的过程中并未使用可能危及平民的重武器。目击者称，难民在树林和树丛中避难时遭到炸弹袭击。

联合国一名调查人员表示，有力证据表明，象牙海岸倾倒有毒废物和后来的数十万当地居民患病，15人死亡有关。该调查员表示，人们仍然在遭受病痛之苦，阿比让附近有毒废物倾倒的长期后果尚未进行充分评估。为有毒废物倾倒时间负责的石油贸易公司Trafigura否认倾倒垃圾与患病之间存在联系。但是早些时候，代表一些受害者的律师表示，Trafigura即将与受害人达成协议，向受害人提供赔偿。

欧洲足联增加两名新的裁判，欧洲足球裁判规则正在经历根本改变。这些改变将影响欧洲联赛各球队的进程。Alex Capstick报道。

欧联杯比赛将首次出现四名助理裁判，两名边线裁判员，两名加时赛裁判，每个球门附近将有一名裁判，帮助在罚球方面作出重要决定。这是欧洲足球协会联盟试验的一部分，该管理机构拒绝引进视频技术。当球是否越过进球线存在疑问时，新的裁判将会介入，澄清球员是否犯规，球员是否试图欺骗裁判。

由于静脉出现问题，一名美国男子在接受注射死亡行刑时被叫停。这名男子的律师表示，他们将提请诉讼，要求停止第二次行刑尝试。Romell Broom犯有强奸和谋杀青少年的罪行，原本应于周二执行死刑。但是经过两个小时的尝试，行刑人员仍然无法插入注射器，行刑过程被迫中止。据报道，由于多年吸食海洛因，Broom的静脉已经被损坏。这是美国历史上首次出现注射死刑被迫改期的情况。