英国新闻听力 美国称中国船只骚扰美军“无暇号”（在线收听）

President Obama has ended an eight-year ban on US federal funding for embryonic stem cell research. Mr. Obama promised that American research would now be free of political interference. Richard Lister reports.

Many scientists believe such cells may be manipulated to treat a range of ailments, but extracting them leads to the death of the embryo. President Obama said as a religious person he felt he had a calling to try to ease human suffering, but he also acknowledged the need for strict limits. He gave the National Institutes for Health four months to draw up guidelines on how to review requests for federal funding and ensure that cloning for human reproduction remains banned.

The United States says five Chinese ships harassed a US Navy surveillance vessel in international waters in the South China Sea, sailing dangerously close to it. The Pentagon said one of the Chinese boats came within a few meters of the US vessel which was unarmed and it responded by spraying fire hoses at the Chinese crew. Kevin Connolly reports.

Aggressive manoeuvring by ships of rival navies in sensitive international waters is not uncommon. At issue is the manner in which the US Navy says the Chinese vessels went beyond the usual boundaries in shadowing and harassing the Impeccable. At one point, one of its ships closed within five meters with its crew waving flags and broadcasting messages to the unarmed American vessel which responded by using a fire hose to drive off the Chinese flotilla. This may be an example of China testing the mettle of a new American administration, just as it did when it impounded an American spy plane immediately after George W. Bush took office.

The United Nations in Madagascar says it's giving protection to the opposition leader Andry Rajoelina who is involved in a long-running power struggle with the island's president that's led to widespread unrest. This follows a day of looting in the capital, Antananarivo. Gunfire was heard on the streets for several hours. The Malagasy army has called on the politicians to sort out their differences after weeks of violent demonstrations that have left more than 100 people dead. The UN and church groups have announced that a new round of peace talks will begin on Thursday involving the army and the police.

Workers at the Ford motor company in the United States have voted to accept a series of contract concessions aimed at helping the firm offset the effects of the global financial crisis. The agreement negotiated by Ford and the United Auto Workers trade union includes the freezing of wages and a series of cuts in benefits. Karen Nye reports from New York.

Ford is the one US carmaker that has not taken government bail-out money but it lost 14 billion dollars last year and posted a huge drop in sales last month. Ford's agreement could serve as a pattern for the other struggling carmakers in Detroit, General Motors and Chrysler who have taken billions in government aid.

A civilian has been killed in a rocket attack on a British military base in the southern Iraqi city of Basra. British officials say that the base was near Basra airport but did not give any further details. It's the first time that the base has been attacked since December last year.

The British Prime Minister Gordon Brown has called for the interests of the world's poorest countries to be put at the center of the G20 summit in Britain next month. Speaking at a development conference in London, Mr. Brown said that global economic crisis threatened to reverse progress made. David Loyn reports.

Gordon Brown said that the unprecedented nature of the global financial meltdown had hit hardest the poorest people in the world and now threatens to return the world to protectionism and away from modernity itself. He said there was no way of dealing with the challenges of globalization, climate change or security without involving developing countries. It was an appeal to see problems as linked up in a world where the jobs of textile workers in Bangladesh and miners in Congo were as much threatened as those of steel workers in the United States and car workers in Britain.

The Zimbabwean Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai has said it's unlikely that foul play was involved in the car crash that killed his wife on Friday. He described the crash as an accident which unfortunately had taken the life of his wife Susan as well as injuring him. Mr. Tsvangirai was speaking at his home in Harare after returning from Botswana where he had treatment for his injuries.

Researchers say a chimpanzee at a Swedish zoo who hoarded stones so he'd throw them at visitors proves that apes can plan ahead as well as humans can. On numerous occasions, keepers at Furuvik Zoo have watched the chimp Santino gathering ammunition in the early morning directly facing areas where he knew crowds will be gathering later. He was also seen breaking up concrete to add to his stock of missiles.

奥巴马总统解除了胚胎干细胞研究禁令，该禁令已经实施八年。奥巴马保证，美国的研究不会受到政治的干扰。

许多科学家认为这样的细胞通过复制，可以用于对付多种疾病，但是提取干细胞就意味着杀死胚胎。奥巴马总统作为一名宗教信仰者，他感到内心有一种减轻人类疾病的呼声，但是他承认，需要对研究设置严格的限制。他给全国健康研究所四个月的时间来起草研究规范：如何审查联邦资金申请并确保禁止克隆人。

美国宣称在中国南海的国际水域，五艘中国船只骚扰了美国一艘海军测量船，前者危险地逼近后者。五角大楼宣称，其中的一艘中国船驶近这艘毫无装备的美国船只近数米处，后者拿起救火龙头喷向中国船员。

在敏感的国际海域富有侵犯性地操纵对方海军的船只并不常见，问题是美国海军行事的方式，它宣称中国海军越过边界线，遮蔽并骚扰了“无暇号”。有一点需要注意，其中的一只船与“无暇号”相聚五米远，船员挥动旗子，并向无武装的美国船只播放广播信号，而后者拿起救活水龙头驱走中国的小船队。这可能是中国想试探美国新政府的脾性，就像布什刚上任后，中国扣押了美国一架侦察机那样。

联合国驻阿达加斯加人员宣称对反对派领导人Rajoelina给予保护，他与该岛总统进行了长期的权力争斗，导致了大范围的动荡不安。首都安塔那利佛刚刚遭遇一天的大洗劫，大街上的炮火持续了几个小时。数周的暴力游行间，100多人死亡，马尔加什军方要求政治家们将各自证见的差异归类。联合国和教会组织宣称新一轮的和平对话将于周二开始，届时将有军队和警察参加。

美国福特汽车公司的工人同意签署一系列的妥协协议，以帮助公司弥补在全球金融危机中遭受的损失。这个由福特和全美汽车工人协会交涉的协议内容包括：冻结工资、裁掉一系列的福利。

福特是没有得到政府救市资金的汽车制造商之一，但是去年它损失了140亿美元，上月的销售额骤减。福特的这一协议可为底特律其他同样处于挣扎中的汽车公司提供榜样。

在伊拉克南部城市巴士拉，一平民在英国一军事基地被火箭袭击致死，英国官方称该基地在巴士拉附近，但是没有给出更多细节。这是自去年十二月来该基地首次被袭击。

下月将在英国举行G20峰会，为此，英国首相布朗呼吁要将全世界最贫困国家的利益置于峰会讨论的核心。在伦敦举行的发展会议上，布朗认为全球经济危机已经使经济倒退了。

布朗说，空前的全球金融风暴对全世界最贫困国家的打击最严重，目前这一威胁已经使全世界回到使用贸易保护主义并偏离现代作风上去了。他说，没有发展中国家的合作，就不可能解决全球化带来的挑战，无法解决气温变暖和安全问题。他呼吁各国看到世界问题间的关联，孟加拉国纺织工人和刚果矿工在工作上面临的威胁，一点不比美国钢铁工人和英国汽车工人面临的威胁少。

津巴布韦总理茨万吉拉伊表示，周五杀死妻子的汽车事故不可能与不道德的行为有关。他认为这次夺走妻子性命并使自己受伤的碰撞只是个事故，茨万吉拉伊是在哈拉雷的家里发表讲话的，他刚从波扎那回来，在那里他接受了治疗。

瑞典动物园的一只黑猩猩能够储藏石头，以便可以扔向游客，研究人员由此认为猿能像人那样做事之前进行计划。有很多次，Furuvik动物园的管理人员发现，黑猩猩Santino一大早就在收集石头，放在它认为人群会聚集的地方的径前方。人们还看到他打碎水泥块，来增加自己的“武器”储备。