英国新闻听力 阿富汗将进行第二轮总统选举（在线收听）

Western leaders have welcomed the acceptance by Afghanistan's President Hamid Karzai of the decision to hold a run-off presidential election against his main rival Abdullah Abdullah. President Obama said Mr Karzai’s agreement to the run-off was an important step in ensuring a credible electoral process.

"President Karzai as well as the other candidates, I think, have shown they have the interests of the Afghan people at heart. This is a reflection of a commitment to rule of law and an insistence that the Afghan people’s will should be done."

The vote will be held on November the 7th. Mr. Karzai’s election rival Abdullah Abdullah said he hoped the lessons of the first round had been learned and voters would be able to have a free and fair poll.

"The process has been a protracted process and this is almost two months after the elections that we have, but it will strengthen the faith of the people on the democratic process."

The government-backed election commission accepted that the cancellation of fraudulent first round votes had taken Mr. Karzai below the percentage required for an outright victory in August's ballot.

A Taliban commander has told the BBC that the group carried out double suicide attacks on the International Islamic University in the Pakistani capital Islamabad. At least four people were killed and many more injured in the attacks. The commander said that all of Pakistan was now a war zone. The Interior Minister Rehman Malik said the attackers had proved themselves to be neither friends of Islam nor friends of Pakistan.

The West African group Ecowas has suspended Niger after President Mamadou Tandja went ahead with Tuesday’s parliamentary election. The group had called on Mr. Tandja to postpone the election indefinitely and start negotiating with the opposition.

The Ecowas's director of political affairs, Abdel Fatau Musah said the organization would now impose full sanctions on Niger.He said Niger faced further repercussions.

"Once the sanctions are imposed on Niger, the Niger file is going to be transferred to the African Union which is obliged to adopt similar measures vis-à-vis in Niger, and it will not end, it might end up at the level of the UN Security Council, you know, which means you have Niger which is going to be completely outside the international community."

President Obama has urged the Iraqi Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki to secure the passage of a draft election law through the Iraqi parliament as failure to do so could delay the upcoming January elections. Mr. al-Maliki, who is in Washington for a conference aimed at encouraging international investment in Iraq, said he was determined to get the electoral law passed in time. Mr. Obama met the Iraqi leader at the White House and restated the United States’ intention to withdraw all American combat troops from Iraq by next August.

The Republic of Congo has signed an agreement to lease 2,000 square kilometres of land to South African farmers. The Congolese Agriculture Minister Rigobert Maboundou said the deal with the South African farming union would bring expertise to the country and reduce its dependence on food imports.

The United States has given five million dollars worth of military equipment to Mali to help the security forces combat Islamist insurgents. The equipment includes military vehicles, communication devices and clothing. The American ambassador to Mali said security was a growing concern as the Islamist group al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb had this year taken a number of hostages and beheaded a British citizen.

The head of the UN’s nuclear watchdog Mahammed ElBaradei says progress at talks between Iran and world powers on the deal which could help ease fears about the Iranian nuclear program is slower than expected. The talks are due to resume on Wednesday. Bethany Bell reports from Vienna.

Mr. ElBaradei said he still hoped an agreement would be reached at the Vienna talks. But he said the progress had been slower than he expected. The Americans and the Iranians met directly for talks but few details were released. On the table, a plan is to send much of Iran’s enriched uranium to France and Russia to be refined for use in a research reactor in Tehran. But Iran has objected to France being part of the deal and may also be reluctant to send its uranium abroad.

The constitutional commission of the Nicaraguan Supreme Court has voted to allow the country’s President Daniel Ortega the right to seek re-election for second consecutive term in 2011. The court’s constitutional commission which consists mainly of judges loyal to Mr. Ortega's left-wing Sandinista party found that the law barring consecutive terms was invalid. Correspondents say that the ruling still needs the approval of all 16 Supreme Court justices.

阿富汗总统卡尔扎伊同意与他的主要竞争对手阿卜杜拉进行二次总统竞选角逐，西方世界领导对该决定表示欢迎。奥巴马总统表示，卡尔扎伊同意进行二次角逐是确保选举过程可信性的重要一步。

“我认为，卡尔扎伊总统和其他候选人都已经表明，他们把阿富汗人民的利益放在心中。这反映了他们对法律规则的遵守，并且坚持了阿富汗人民的意愿。”

投票将在11月7日进行。卡尔扎伊的选举竞争对手阿卜杜拉表示，他希望能够吸取首轮选举的教训，投票者能够进行自由，平等的投票。

“这次选举过程非常漫长，现在，选举已过去两个月的时间，但是这会增强人们对民主程序的信念。”

政府支持的选举委员会赞成，取消充满舞弊行为的首轮投票使得卡尔扎伊的支持率不足以在八月份的投票中获得完全的胜利。

一名塔利班指挥官告诉BBC，塔利班分子在巴基斯坦首都伊斯兰堡的国际伊斯兰大学实施了两次爆炸袭击。至少4人在袭击中死亡，多人受伤。该指挥官称，现在整个巴基斯坦都是战区。内政部长马利克表示，袭击者自己证明了既不是伊斯兰世界的朋友，也不是巴基斯坦人的朋友。

继尼日尔总统马马杜·坦贾(Mamadou Tandja)继续进行周二的议会选举之后，西非组织西非经济共同体(Ecowas)暂停尼日尔成员国资格。该组织曾经呼吁坦贾延迟选举，并开始与反对派进行协商。Ecowas经济事务负责人Abdel Fatau Musah表示，该组织将会对尼日尔实行全面制裁。他说，尼日尔将会面临更进一步的反映。

“一旦对尼日尔实施制裁，尼日尔的卷宗将被转移到非洲联盟，而非洲联盟也将对尼日尔采取类似措施，这还不是结束。最终将到达联合国安理会，你知道，这意味着尼日尔将被完全孤立在国际社会之外。”

奥巴马总统敦促伊拉克总理马利基确保议会通过选举法草案，否则，将会延迟即将到来的1月份选举。目前马利基正在华盛顿参加会议，试图鼓励国际社会增加对伊拉克投资。他表示，他决心及时通过选举法案。奥巴马在白宫会见了这位伊拉克领导人，重申了美国在明年八月份之前撤出所有美国作战部队的决定。

刚果共和国签署协议，租赁2,000平的土地给南非农民。刚果农业部长Rigobert Maboundou表示，与南非农业联盟之间的协议将会为南非带来专门技术，减少其对食物进口的依赖。

美国向马里提供了价值500万美元的军事装备，帮助安全力量对抗伊斯兰反叛分子。这些设备包括军用车辆，通讯设备和服装。美国驻马里大使表示，由于今年伊斯兰马格利布地区基地组织绑架了几名人质，并将一名英国公民砍首，对该地区安全形势的担忧越来越重。

联合国原子能监测机构领导穆罕默德·巴拉迪(Mohamed El Baradei)表示，伊朗和世界大国之间针对其核项目的会谈取得进展，减轻了人们对伊朗核项目的担忧。但是比预期要慢。按照计划，会谈将在周三继续进行。Bethany Bell在维也纳报道。

巴拉迪说，他仍然希望能够在维也纳会谈中达成协议。但是他说，进展要慢于预期。美国和伊朗直接会面进行对话，但是没有透露相关细节。会谈中提出计划，将伊朗大量浓缩铀运往法国和俄罗斯进行提炼，以供应德黑兰反应堆研究之用。但是伊朗拒绝法国作为协议的一部分，可能也不愿将铀运往国外。

尼加拉瓜最高法院宪法委员会投票允许国家总统丹尼尔·奥尔特加(Daniel Ortega)有权在2011年竞选连任。该法庭宪法委员会大部分是忠于奥尔特加左翼Sandinista党派的法官。他们发现，组织奥尔特加竞选按连任的法律已经失效。记者称，该裁决仍然需要最高法院所有16名法官通过。