英国新闻听力 苹果公司第一季度盈利上升15%（在线收听）

The American Secretary of State Hillary Clinton has said the situation in Pakistan poses what she described as a mortal threat to the security of the United States and the world. She also criticized Pakistan's judicial system, saying it was corrupt and didn't extend its power into the countryside. Richard Lister reports from Washington.

These were strong words from the Secretary of State. She accused the Pakistani government of abdicating its responsibility in the Swat Valley region by conceding to demands from the Taliban. The government allowed Sharia law to be imposed there earlier this year after failing to suppress a two-year offensive by armed extremists in the region. The Swat Valley is only about 100 kilometers from Islamabad. A report suggests the Taliban are trying to expand the area under their control.

The United Nations Security Council has called on the Tamil Tiger rebels in Sri Lanka to lay down their arms immediately and allow the UN to help evacuate civilians caught in the conflict. Speaking on behalf of the council, after an informal meeting in New York, its president, the Mexican ambassador, Claude Heller, branded the Tigers a terrorist movement and said they should join a political process to end the conflict.

"The Security Council members strongly condemn the LTTE, a terrorist organization, for the use of civilians as human shields and for not allowing them to leave the area of conflict. We demand that the LTTE immediately lay down arms, allow a UN assisted evacuation of the remaining civilians in the conflict area, and join the political process in order to put an end to the conflict.”

The International Monetary Fund has again downgraded its forecast for the world economy. It’s predicted a decline of 1.3% this year and a continued rising unemployment. The IMF's chief economist Olivier Blanchard said things were very bad, but said without recent government action to boost spending and tackle the banking crisis, they could’ve been catastrophic.

"Fiscal policies have made a gigantic difference. Our estimate is that if there had been no fiscal stimulus across the world, world growth in 2009 would be somewhere between 1.5% and 2% less than what we predicted. Therefore we would be in the middle of something very close to depression."

The American technology company Apple has reported a rise in its quarterly profit of 15% despite the global economic downturn. Apple's net income from January to March exceeded market expectations at more than 1.2 billion dollars. Sales were up nearly 9% with the iPhone selling twice as well as a year ago. Although sales of the Macintosh computer range were down.

World news from the BBC.

Votes are now being counted in South Africa's general election where a high turnout and a shortage of ballot papers and boxes in some areas meant polling stations have to stay open well into the evening. Election passed off peacefully with no reports of political violence or intimidation. Peter Biles reports from Pretoria.

The Independent Electoral Commission said people have flocked to the polls. This caused long queues and in places there was a shortage of ballot papers and ballot boxes. It caught officials by surprise. The Electoral Commission announced that anyone still standing in the queue when polling stations having been due to closed in mid-evening would be allowed to vote. The first results were announced before midnight. But it will be some time yet before a clear trend emerges. The Electoral Commission is still predicting a high turnout, perhaps in the region of 80%.

United Nations Secretary General Ban Ki-moon has said it's too dangerous to send UN peacekeepers to Somalia and that it could exacerbate the armed conflict there. Mr. Ban advised the UN Security Council to reject an immediate deployment of UN troops. Instead, he called for more support for African Union peacekeepers who're already in the capital Mogadishu. Mr. Ban said the UN should aim eventually to send its own peacekeepers to Somalia.

The Turkish's Foreign Ministry says Turkey and Armenia have made solid progress towards reconciliation and have agreed a roadmap on normalizing ties. The mass killing of Armenians by Ottoman Turks during Word War I remains a highly sensitive issue with Turkey resisting widespread calls for it to recognize the killings as genocide. The issue has held up Turkey's attempt to join the European Union.

Scientists in Canada say a fossil they found helps to understand how seals developed from land-based mammals. The animal which they've named Pujilla darwini lived about twenty million years ago. It appears to have been able to move easily on land and in water, so the scientists call it a walking seal.

美国国务卿希拉里表示，巴基斯坦局势已对美国和全世界的安全造成所谓的“致命威胁”。她还批评了巴基斯坦的司法体系，声称已经腐败，其威力未能延伸到农村。

国务卿言辞强烈，她谴责巴基斯坦政府对塔利班政府的要求让步，放弃了在史沃特谷地的责任。政府未能镇压住武装极端分子在该地区两年之久的叛乱，不得不在今年早些时候允许在该地区实施伊斯兰法律。史沃特谷地距伊斯兰堡仅有100公里。有报道说，塔利班试图控制更多的地区。

联合国安理会要求斯里兰卡猛虎叛乱组织放下武器、允许联合国帮助困于冲突中的平民撤离。在纽约召开一场非正式会议后，联合国驻墨西哥大使克劳德.埃莱尔称猛虎组织为恐怖行动，并表示将联合起来利用政治手段结束这场危机。

“安理会成员国强烈谴责恐怖组织-泰米尔伊拉姆猛虎解放组织（LTTE），因为他们拿平民做人盾，不许他们离开冲突区。我们要求LTTE马上放下武器，允许联合国帮助冲突区剩余的平民撤离，加入政治进程以结束冲突。”

国际货币基金组织（IMF）再次不看好世界经济前景。预言今年全球经济将下降1.3%，失业率仍会上升。IMF首席经济学家Olivier Blanchard说，形势很糟，但是如果没有政府最近解决银行业危机的举措，危险将是灾难性的。

“财政政策已经发生了重大变化。我们估计，如果不在全世界范围内实施财政刺激政策，2009年全世界的经济增长速度将在1.5%到2%之间，比我们之前预计的要低。因此，局势可能是萧条。”

美国苹果科技公司报道说，尽管处于全球经济衰退时期，其季度盈利上升15%。一到三月份苹果的净收入超过市场预期，超过12亿美元。销售额上升9%， iPhone机销售量是去年的两倍。尽管，Macintosh机销量有所下降。

南非正在清点大选选票，一些地区由于投票率很高，投票用纸和盒子紧缺，选票点不得不一直开放到晚上。选举秩序良好，没有报道有政治暴力或胁迫事件发生。

独立选举委员会说，人们纷纷涌向投票点。他们排起长长的队伍，有的地方投票用纸和投票箱紧缺。这让官方感到吃惊。选举委员会通知那些仍在投票点排队的选民，原定于午夜关闭的投票站延长开放时间，彼时仍可投票。选举初步计票结果在午夜之前公布。但要看到明显的趋势走向，仍需一定时间。选举委员会预测会出现高投票率，且可能出现在已达80%的地区。

联合国秘书长潘基文表示，向索马里派联合国维和部队太危险，可能会加剧那里的武装冲突。潘基文建议联合国安理会驳回联合国部队紧急部署的安排。相反，他呼吁对已经驻扎在首都摩加迪沙的非洲联盟维和部队给予更多支持。潘基文说，联合国的最终目标应是派自己的维和部队去索马里。

土耳其外交部表示，土耳其和亚美尼亚已在和解方面取得一定进步，就实现关系正常化达成一项“路线图”。一战期间土耳其杀害大量亚美尼亚人，土耳其人普遍反对将这次杀戮视为种族屠杀，该事件至今仍是高度敏感的问题，并使土耳其试图加入欧盟的步伐举步维艰。

加拿大科学家声称发现一个化石，这有助于帮助揭秘海豹如何从陆地哺乳动物进化而来。这个被他们命名为 Pujilla darwini的动物生活在大约20百万年前。看来这种动物已能轻易地在陆地和水域间走动，所以科学家称之为“行走的海豹”。