英国新闻听力 99（在线收听）

Iraq's first major elections since 2005 have passed off relatively peacefully. The Prime Minister, Nouri al-Maliki, said the vote for provincial councils was a victory for all. In Washington, President Obama described it as an important step. Jim Muir reports from Baghdad.

Only three incidents, minor by Iraqi standards, were reported from all around the country, probably less than on an average ordinary day. Iraqi officials were clearly relieved. They deployed thousands of security personnel to guard the polls and imposed a strict ban on the movement of vehicles. That ban was lifted before the voting had even ended. In Sunni areas where the turnout was a meager 2% in similar polls four years ago, voting was reported heavy. That's one of the big political changes these elections are expected to register.

The authorities in Egypt say they've begun to install cameras and motion sensors along its border with Gaza to try to stop weapon smuggling by Palestinian militants. Tighter surveillance of the tunnels between Egypt and Gaza is one of Israel's key conditions for maintaining the ceasefire that ended its offensive against Hamas. Ulan Nile reports from Cairo.

Egyptian security sources say that they've now begun to install the equipments along the 14-kilometre border. Experts from the United States are said to be involved. The hope is that the sensors will alert the authorities to any new tunnel construction and detect smuggling activity. Israel heavily bombed the Rafah border area during its military offensive in Gaza. But many underground passages are understood to remain intact. Smugglers have mainly used the tunnels to import goods made scarce by the Israeli blockade. Israel insists they've also been used to transfer weapons to Hamas.

A senior family planning official in China has warned of an alarming increase in the number of babies born with birth defects. Yang Fan from China's National Population and Family Planning Commission, said environmental pollution was the cause of the problem. State media reports him as saying that a child was born with physical defects every 30 seconds.

The Afghan government says it's setting up a new paramilitary force to patrol areas where the Taliban insurgency is most threatening. The Interior Minister, Mohammad Hanif Atmar, told a news conference that the force would be controlled by his ministry, but was being funded by the Americans.

"The Interior Ministry and its leadership is fully confident that these forces can play an important role in providing security for our people, security for the country's highways, security for our schools, and their children who are going to school. Neither the Interior Ministry nor the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan is in favour of establishing separate militia forces or arming militias at all

Mohammad Hanif Atmar.

World News from the BBC.

The two main centre-left parties in Iceland say they've won the necessary backing to form a new government. The coalition between the Left-Greens and the Social Democrats is expected to assume office on Sunday. It takes over from a centre-right coalition that left office following an unprecedented economic downturn which has seen the collapse of the country's currency.

A fire at a nursing home in the Komi Republic in northern Russia has killed at least 23 people. One local official was quoted as saying there was a delay in reporting the fire, and that the building was engulfed in flames when firefighters arrived at the scene. Reports say it took them up to two hours to bring the blaze under control.

More than 100 people across Italy are being investigated over allegations that they rigged traffic lights and vehicle monitoring cameras to levy tens of thousands of illegal motoring fines. Those under investigation include police officers and municipal officials. From Rome, Duncan Kennedy.

Called the T-Redspeed system, it's been an operation for two years in around 300 areas across Italy. A series of cameras linked to traffic lights capture 3D images of vehicles if they jump the lights or are speeding. It's believed more than a million drivers have been trapped by the system. But it's now claimed that the lights were rigged to change from yellow to red in three seconds instead of the regulation - five or six seconds. The fraud was uncovered by a senior police officer, who noticed an unusually high number of fines being issued.

The opposition leader in Madagascar, Andry Rajoelina, has told his supporters he's taking over running the country. He told a big anti-government rally in the capital Antananarivo that a request for the immediate resignation of the president would soon be filed in Parliament. However, the president has said he remains in charge and that the crisis will be defused by legal means. The Indian Ocean Island has seen a week of violent anti-government demonstrations.