CNN 2008-03-27

（单词翻译）

Good afternoon. I’m Naamua Delaney at the CNN Center in Atlanta. Here’s a look at what’s happening NOW IN THE NEWS.

 Clashes in and around Baghdad and Basra of the last two days have left at least 58 people dead, according to Iraqi officials. The areas are strongholds of radical¹ anti-American Shiite cleric Muqtada al-Sadr. He says he’s ordered his Mehdi Army to obey a ceasefire, but Shiite militant² groups are ignoring it. Iraqi authorities say they are battling followers³ of al-Sadr in Baghdad and Basra. A US command insists troops are targeting armed criminals and terrorists, not members of al-Sadr’s movement.

  Three Americans are seriously injured following attacks on Baghdad’s heavily fortified⁴ Green Zone. A US embassy spokeswoman says the three are US government officials. They were hurt by indirect fire, the term used for the rocket, mortar⁵ and artillery⁶ attacks on the area in recent days. The embassy also says a US government employee in Baghdad has died of wounds received in the weekend attack.

It is a happy ending for a little girl trapped in a well in India. A short time ago, a man emerged from the scene in New Delhi with the two-year-old in his arms. She has spent 27 hours trapped inside a narrow well. Her name is Vandana and she fell 45 feet into the uncovered well while playing last night. She’s now being checked out at the hospital.

 French President Nicolas Sarkozy and his model-turned-singer wife Carla Bruni-Sarkozy were given the royal treatment during the trip to London. The pair received a formal welcome from Queen Elizabeth II and Prince Philip before enjoying a carriage ride to Windsor Castle. Sarkozy hopes the two-day visit will create a new era of trust between the nations. The trip marks the first state visit by a French President in 12 years.

 Many scientists are sounding a new alarm over melting ice at the South Pole. These pictures are from Antarctica’s largest ice shelf. Scientists say they watched as 220 square miles of ice collapsed⁷ in the matter of hours last month. Now a block the size of Connecticut looks like it’s ready to break up. The British Antarctic Survey says the Wilkins Ice Shelf lost 6% of its surface in just a decade. And many scientists warn what’s happening at the earth’s poles is a sign of climate changes coming to the rest of the world.

 All those are the headlines at this hour. Stay with CNN for more on these stories and the other news of the day.