英国新闻听力 巴基斯坦斯瓦特河谷发生巷战（在线收听）

Intense street fighting is reported in the main town of Pakistan's Swat Valley, Mingora, as the Pakistani military embarks on the critical phase in its efforts to retake control of the northwest of the country from spreading Taliban insurgency. An army spokesman Major General Athar Abbas said troops had entered Mingora earlier in the day, killing 17 militants and clearing parts of the town. But he said he expected the operation to be slow because there were up to 20,000 civilians still trapped in the town. Thousands of people have fled to neighboring districts. This man described his journey.

"Our homes were destroyed. We left behind our cattle and our properties. We walked all the way and had to walk for two days over the mountains. We had to wait for 24 hours and checked out as there was a curfew and we have nothing to eat."

The Taliban has contested the military's casualty figures.

The US military in Afghanistan says American and Afghan forces have made one of the biggest drug seizures since foreign troops arrived in the country eight years ago. The drugs included opium, poppy seeds, morphine, heroin and hashish and large quantities of chemicals used for processing the drugs. Sarah Rainsford reports from Kabul.

There had been reports of heavy fighting in Majar in southern Afghanistan for several days. Now a statement from the US military says 60 insurgents have been killed there and Afghan-US coalition troops have seized more than 90,000 kilograms of narcotics, that's described as a record haul. The vast majority of the world's opium is produced in southern Afghanistan and the trade in drugs is a crucial source of funding for the Taliban.

The UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon has visited the military-run camp in Sri Lanka, holding about 170,000 people displaced by the army's final assault on the Tamil Tiger rebels. Mr. Ban said he was saddened and humbled by what he saw there and urged the Sri Lankan authorities to let the aid agencies in. Our BBC correspondent accompanying him says that in one area 74,000 people were crammed onto land meant to hold half that number.

Some hospitals in North America are reporting shortages of nuclear materials used to diagnose patients after the Canadian authorities closed a reactor because of a leak of heavy water. The reactor is one of only four in the world that produce medical radioactive isotopes. Canada has asked South Africa and Australia for help. Lee Carter reports.

The Canadian nuclear reactor at Chalk River, Ontario is the largest single supplier of isotopes in the world. It was shut down a few days ago because of a water leak. Now authorities are predicting that it will be at least a month before the reactor will be back in service. The Canadian nuclear facility is more than 50 years old and a similar shutdown over safety concerns in 2007 led to a global shortage of isotopes. Already some North American hospitals are reporting shortages of the radioactive material.

World news from the BBC

The Eritrean Information Minister Ali Abdu has dismissed the African Union as inept and toothless after it called on the UN Security Council to impose sanctions on Eritrea. The AU says Eritrea has supplied weapons to militias in Somalia opposed to the transitional government. The Eritrean government denies this. Minister Abdu told the BBC his country has now suspended its membership of the AU.

In Britain a row over MP's exploiting their expenses is continuing. The spiritual head of the Anglican Church Archbishop Rowan Williams has warned what he called the systematic humiliation of British politicians could damage democracy. His comments came as more MPs were forced to explain their expenses claims.

Nearly 500 soldiers have been confined to barracks at a military academy in Spain after several cadets contracted swine flu. Spain's Ministry of Health said there were 11 confirmed cases of the virus at the site and further 50 suspected cases. From Madrid, Steve Kingston reports.

The Spanish government is seeking to downplay fears about swine flu at the Hoyo de Manzanares Military Academy on the outskirts of Madrid. It says the cadets diagnosed with the virus have shown only mild symptoms and responded well to treatment and that nearly 460 other cadets without symptoms have been confined to barracks for a week, purely as a precaution. But there remains a big question mark over what caused this outbreak. It seems none of those undergoing treatment had traveled to Mexico, prompting concerns that the virus may have been contracted and then passed on within Spain.

And a woodworker whose simple practical handmade wooden furniture sits in some of the most prestigious museums in the United States and in the White House has died at the age of 93. Sam Maloof, the son of Lebanese immigrants became famous for his chairs, cradles and other practical furniture which stressed usefulness before artistry.

据报道，巴基斯坦斯瓦特河谷主要城镇Mingora发生激烈巷战，当时，巴基斯坦军方正着手准备重新夺取塔利班分子蔓延的东北部地区的关键阶段。军方发言人Athar Abbas少将称，军队在当天早些时候已经进入Mingora，击毙14名好战分子，肃清了城镇的一部分。但是他说，活动将会非常迟缓，因为仍有20,000多名平民被其中。数千人已逃到邻近地区。这名男子描述了他的遭遇。

“我们的家被毁坏了。我们丢掉了我们的家畜和财产。我们一路步行，走了两天才翻越那些高山。我们必须等待24个小时，符合要求后才能离开，因为那里实行宵禁令，我们没有任何吃的东西。”

塔利班分子正在努力时军方伤亡数字上升。

美国驻阿富汗军队称，美军和阿富汗军队联合缴获了自外国军队抵达阿富汗以来最大宗毒品。这些毒品包括鸦片，罂粟，吗啡，海洛因，大麻和大量制造毒品的化学物质。Sarah Rainsford在喀布尔报道。

有报道称阿富汗南部的Majar发生了长达几天的激战。现在，美军发表声明称有60名叛乱分子被杀，阿富汗美国联合部队缴获了90，000多千克麻醉毒品，这创立了最高纪录。世界上大多数的鸦片都产自阿富汗南部，毒品交易是塔利班分子的关键资金来源。

联合国秘书长潘基文访问了斯里兰卡军队设立的难民营。在军队向塔米尔猛虎组织发起的总攻中有170,000人被迫转移，目前安置在难民营中。潘基文说，在那里看到的景象使他非常伤心和沮丧，敦促斯里兰卡官方允许救助机构入境。陪同他前往的BBC记者说，还有74,000人被隐藏到地面，将数字减少了一半。

由于加拿大官方因重水泄漏关闭了一个核反应堆之后，北美一些医院相继报道用来诊断病人的核物质短缺。世界上仅有四座核反应堆生产医疗放射性同位素，这是其中之一。加拿大目前向南非和澳大利亚求助。Lee Carter报道。

位于安大略湖Chalk River河的加拿大核反应堆是世界上单个最大的同位素供应者。几天前，由于重水泄漏被关闭。现在，官方预测至少要一个月之后核反应堆才能重新服务。加拿大核设施已经超过50年之久，在2007年处于安全考虑对其关闭时引起了全球同位素短缺。目前，北美一些医院已经报告了放射性物质短缺。

非洲联盟要求联合国安理会对厄立特里亚实行制裁以后，信息部长Ali Abdu抨击非洲联盟笨拙，无能。非洲联盟称， 厄立特里亚向索马里叛乱分子提供武器反对过度政府。厄立特里亚政府对此予以否认。Ali Abdu部长说，厄立特里亚目前已经停止了非洲联盟的会员资格。

在英国，议员过度报销丑闻案仍在继续。英国国教教堂总教主圣歌总长Rowan Williams警告说，英国政治家集体性的耻辱会毁坏民主。由于更多议员被要求对其费用报销做出解释，他发表了此评论。

在西班牙，由于几名军官学校学生被怀疑感染猪流感，大约500名士兵被限制在军事学院的军营内。西班牙卫生部长称，该地点已有11名确诊病例，另外还有50个疑似病例。马德里，Steve Kingston报道。

西班牙政府试图降低马德里郊区Hoyo de Manzanares军事学院对猪流感的担忧。政府称，被诊断感染甲型流感病毒的人只是表现出了轻微的症状，对治疗措施有良好反应。其他460名没有症状的学生被隔离在军营内一个星期，纯粹是为了预防。但是这次猪流感暴发的原因仍然是一个疑问。似乎正在接受治疗的人没有一个去过墨西哥。这引发人们担心流感病毒已经变异并传播到了西班牙。

一名木工艺家去世，享年93岁。他制作的简单的手工家具摆放在美国一些很有权威的博物馆甚至白宫之内。Sam Maloof是一个黎巴嫩移民的的儿子，他制作的椅子，摇篮和其他实用家具更加注重实用，而不是艺术性。