英国新闻听力 法国法院驳回停止拍卖圆明园文物诉讼(在线收听

The United States Defence Department review of conditions at the Guantanamo Bay detention camp has recommended the detainees spend less time in isolation and be given more opportunities for social contact and recreation. The review says the camp complies with the Geneva Conventions, but it did find evidence supporting 14 allegations of misconduct by camp guards. James Coomarasamy has more.

The review suggests more recreational opportunities, more intellectual stimulation and perhaps group prayer. Its contents were made public as US Attorney General Eric Holder visited the detention center. He is assessing the camp's facilities and the cases of its remaining 250 or so prisoners, as he tackles the legal complexities of shutting the camp down within a year, as President Obama has ordered.

The first man to be released from Guantanamo since President Obama took office has arrived back in Britain where he is a resident. The former detainee Binyam Mohamed was seen briefly by police who said he faced no action from them. Mr. Mohamed, who is of Ethiopian origin, said he'd had to face torture and he accused Britain of complicity.

President Obama has confirmed that he intends to cut the US budget deficit by half by the end of his first term in office. He was speaking during talks at the White House with senior American politicians about ways of bringing the deficit under control. From Washington, here is Kevin Connolly.

Barack Obama's presidency has begun with a spectacular increase in spending and borrowing to fund what he calls a stimulus package which will cost more than 780 billion dollars. But his administration sees that bulge in spending as an extraordinary measure to meet the demands of an extraordinary moment in the depths of recession. And having won the first political battle of his presidency to get it signed into law, he is now trying to signal that he is also at heart a fiscal conservative. He says he wants to halve the budget deficit in the course of his four-year term from about 1.3 trillion dollars to 533 billion.

Share prices on the New York Stock Exchange have fallen to their lowest level for almost 12 years. The Dow-Jones Industrial Average was down by 3.4 percent at the close of trading.

The United Nations says it will strengthen its presence in the north of the Democratic Republic of Congo, as part of military operations against rebels of the Lord's Resistance Army. Our Africa editor Martin Plaut reports.

The UN is to send a new company of troops to the town of Dungu which has been at the heart of an area attacked by the Lord's Resistance Army. An attack helicopter and two transport helicopters will also help strengthen the UN presence in the area. UN operation in Congo, known as MONUC, has been criticized for failing to protect civilians from the LRA which killed and maimed more than 1,000 villagers in a series of brutal atrocities that began on Christmas Day.

Our Africa editor Martin Plaut reported.

World News from the BBC.

The Taliban in Pakistan have declared a unilateral ceasefire in their conflict with the security forces in the Bajaur tribal area, close to the Afghan frontier. A deputy leader of the movement said the decision had been taken in the best interests of the region and the nation. There has been no response yet from the Pakistani military which has been fighting the Taliban in Bajaur for several months.

The United States Federal Bureau of Investigation has announced that it has rescued 48 child prostitutes in a three-day operation involving state and local law enforcement agencies, over 570 people in 29 states were arrested. They've been charged with offences including child trafficking, prostitution, and solicitation. The operation was part of the Innocence Lost National Initiative which was launched in 2003.

A French court has rejected an attempt to halt the sale of two antique Chinese bronze artworks from the private collection of the fashion designer Yves Saint Laurent who died last year. A Chinese association wanted the items which were taken by British and French forces during the 19th century to be returned to Beijing. Alasdair Sandford has more.

The court ruled that there was nothing to justify withdrawing the two bronze relics from sale. The case was brought by a group called the Association to Protect Chinese Art in Europe. It said the rat's head and rabbit's head had been looted 150 years ago and wanted the French government to intervene to return them to China. A lawyer for the auctioneers, Christie's, says that the rare pieces will now go under the hammer on Wednesday.

The Indian government has set aside 2.5 billion dollars to fund preparations for manned space flights. The cabinet has yet to give final approval. A spokesman for India's space program said that scientists hoped to put two men into orbit in 2015. One Indian astronaut was sent into space 25 years ago but that was aboard a Russian craft.

And that's the latest BBC News.

Notes:

1. Christie’s: a well-known firm of London auctioneers, with a branch also in New York. It was started by James Christie in London in 1776 and now deals mainly with fine paintings, sculpture, furniture, etc. Its full name is Christie, Manson and Woods.

2: the depths of something: when a bad feeling or situation is at its worst level

e.g. She was in the depths of despair .

The country was recovering from the depths of recession .

美国国防部审查了关塔那摩湾隔离营的状况,建议将囚犯的隔离时间缩短,给他们更多的进行社会联系和娱乐的机会。审查认为该隔离营遵守国际惯例,但是发现了支持14起指控保安人员行为不当的证据。

这次审查建议给囚犯更多的娱乐机会、更多的智力激励,或许,更多的团体祈祷机会。当美国检察长Eric Holder参观该隔离中心时,审查内容被公开于众。他评定了隔离营的设施和大约250名仍被监禁的囚犯的案例,并处理这些案例的法律复杂性,正如奥巴马命令的那样,该隔离营将被关闭一年。

自奥巴马上台以来第一个从关塔那摩释放出的囚犯已经回到了居住地英国,警察简单地看了这位这位曾经的囚犯Binyam Mohamed,声称不会对其进行起诉。Mohamed是埃塞俄比亚裔人,声称自己曾被拷问,并起诉英国是同谋。

奥巴马总统确认,他将力图在首个任期结束前将预算赤字减半,他与美国高级政治家在白宫就如何控制赤字进行了会谈。

奥巴马一就任,就大增开支并为其所谓的高达7800亿美元的刺激方案借款。但是他的政府看得出,膨胀的开支是应对极端衰退这一特别时刻的特别措施。奥巴马已实现将其方案写成法律,他赢得了任总统以来首次政治战争的胜利,目前他试图发出这样的信号,即从心底里讲,奥巴马也是一个财政保守派。他说他想在四年任期内将预算赤字减半,即从1.3兆美元减到5.33万亿美元。

纽约证券交易所的股票价格跌至12年来的最低点,道琼斯工业平均指数在交易结束时跌了3.4%。

联合国声称将加大在刚果民主共和国北部的驻军,以对抗上帝反抗军(LRA)的叛乱。

联合国将在Dungu城新增一个连的兵力,这是上帝反抗军(LRA)攻击的核心地区。一家攻击型直升飞机和两家运输机也将被派前往加强联合国在该地区的军事力量。联合国驻刚果民主共和国维和部队,即MONUC,已因未能保护平民而受指责,LRA自圣诞节以来的暴行已使1000多村民死亡和残废。

塔利班组织已宣布在阿富汗边界的巴焦尔部落地区与维和军队实行单方面停火,该运动的副领导人声称,这一决定是为了该地区和国家的最大利益而做的。目前还没有收到巴基斯坦军队的回应,巴方军队已与塔利班在该地区作战了数月。

美国联邦调查局声称,它与州和地方法律实施机构在三天内救获了48名童妓,至少570人和29个州被指控。其罪名包括非法贩卖儿童、卖淫和教唆。这一救助行动是2003年发起的“失落的纯真-全国行动计划”的一部分。

一个法国法院驳回了试图停止出售两件中国青铜文物的诉讼,这两件文物是去年去世的时装设计师Yves Saint Laurent的私人收藏品。一个中国社团试图将这两件19世纪被英法联军夺走的文物返还给北京。

法院宣判,不能判定撤回出售两件青铜遗产的要求是正当的,该案件是由一个名叫欧洲保护中华艺术联合会的团体发起的,该联合会声称,鼠头和兔头是150年前被掠夺走的,希望法国政府出面干涉并将之返还中国。克里斯蒂拍卖行的一名律师说,这两件珍惜物品周三将被拍卖。

印度政府为载人航天飞行拨款25亿美元,机舱尚未得到最终认可。印度航空项目发言人声称,科学家希望2015年将两人载入太空。25年前一位印度航天员被送往太空,但是乘的是俄罗斯的航空器。

 

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