英国新闻听力 伊朗释放被关押抗议者（在线收听）

Troops in Nigeria have been shelling the headquarters of a radical Islamist group, which is accused of being behind three days of violence across five northern states, which has left at least 100 people dead. The army is concentrating its attacks on the town of Maiduguri, the capital of Borno State. The Nigerian President Umaru Yar'Adua said the unrest would be brought under control.

"We are going to continue the security surveillance all over the northern states, to fish out any remnants of these elements and deal with them squarely and promptly, and I want to assure this nation that this type of things, this administration, and I am sure consequent administrations to come will not tolerate any armed insurrection."

The Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmedinejad is reported to have ordered the release of all remaining detainees arrested during protests against the result of last month's presidential election. Earlier on Tuesday, officials announced the release of more than 140 protesters from Evin prison, after a visit by a committee of MPs. Our correspondent Jon Leyne has the details.

The issue of political detainees has become a focus of criticism of the Iranian government. Even MPs who normally support the president have strongly attacked the conditions on which they're held. For the first time since the disputed election, the Iranian government is giving some ground. The supreme leader has ordered the closure of the Kahrizak Detention Centre. Now President Ahmedinejad is reported to have ordered the swift release of all detainees. The opposition will be skeptical of the change of heart. Though there are many relatives of prisoners desperately anxious to be reunited with their loved ones.

President Obama's choice to fill the vacancy in the U.S. Supreme Court now seems certain to be confirmed after the Senate Judiciary Committee voted to approve Judge Sonia Sotomayor's nomination. Ms. Sotomayor would become the Supreme Court's first Hispanic justice, and only the third woman to serve in the role. Senator Lindsey Graham was the only Republican on the committee to support Sonia Sotomayor's nomination.

"This is the first Latino woman in the history of the United States to be selected for the Supreme Court. Now that is a big deal, I would not have chosen her but I understand why President Obama did."

Bank of America has agreed to pay nearly one hundred million dollars to the Italian food firm Parmalat to end a five-year legal dispute related to the company's collapse in 2003. The settlement still needs to be approved by a U.S. court. Parmalat's failure was one of Europe's biggest financial scandals. Bank of America is accused of having contributed to Parmalat's bankruptcy by helping the company conceal some of its debt.

Police in South Africa have fired rubber bullets at demonstrators in an unofficial settlement outside Johannesburg amid another day of unrest in the country. The residents of the settlement Thokoza had barricaded a road with burning tyres during a protest against poor living conditions. Municipal workers have been on a second day of a strike that's brought out 150,000 union members in support of a pay claim.

Armed men have killed eight security guards during a bank robbery in central Baghdad. The robbers got away with several million dollars and police believe they were militants getting funds for their operations. Later, in a Shiite area of Baghdad, a bomb hidden on a motorbike killed at least eight people.

Justice officials in Italy have ordered the evacuation of a newly-built hospital in Sicily, after tests showed it could collapse in an earthquake. More than 20 local officials and managers of the company that built the complex in Agrigento, are being investigated for allegedly supplying substandard construction materials. David Willey reports.

The public hospital in Agrigento in Sicily took 20 years to build at a cost to the Italian taxpayer of over fifty million dollars. When it finally opened five years ago, rats had eaten through electric cables and there was a blackout including in operating theatres involving costly repairs. The stability of the structure is suspect, because concrete supplied by local contractors was mixed with too much sand and not enough cement in order to increase builders’ profits.

U.S. investigators have raided the home and office of Michael Jackson's personal doctor in Las Vegas. Police and drug enforcement officials searched the premises of Doctor Conrad Murray as part of a manslaughter investigation into the singer's death. Doctor Murray who was with Michael Jackson when he died, has not been named as a suspect by the authorities and police say he's cooperating with their inquiries.

尼日利亚军队炮击激进伊斯兰组织总部。该组织被控在北部五个州发动了连续三天的暴力活动，造成至少100人死亡。军队将进攻集中在Borno州首府Maiduguri镇。尼日利亚总统亚拉杜瓦称动荡局面将被控制。

“我们将继续对北部各州进行安全监督，搜索任何暴乱分子残余势力，与他们速战速决。我向国家保证，我们现在及以后的政府绝对不允许这种事情发生，绝对不能容忍这类武装叛乱的出现。”

据报道，伊朗总统艾哈迈迪－内贾德已下令释放上月总统选举之后的抗议活动中逮捕的所有人员。周二早些时候，在议会委员会探访之后，官员宣布从Evin监狱释放140多名抗议者。我们的记者Jon Leyne报道了详细信息。

政治拘留者的问题成为伊朗政府受批评的焦点。甚至一向支持内贾德的议员也强烈攻击目前的形势。自有争议的总统选举以来，伊朗政府首次作出一些让步。伊朗最高领袖哈梅内伊下令关闭Kahrizak拘押中心。据报道，总统艾哈迈迪－内贾德下令迅速释放所有被拘留者。反对派对他们的态度转变持怀疑态度。然而，许多被关押着的亲属急切的等待与亲人团聚。

参议院司法委员会投票通过索托马约的提名之后，奥巴马总统用来填补美国最高法院空缺的人选似乎已经确认。索托马约将成为最高法院第一位西班牙法官，是担任此职位的第三名女性。Lindsey Graham参议员是司法委员会支持索托马约的提名的唯一一名共和党人。

“这是美国历史上第一位被选为最高法院法官的拉美女性。这是一件大事，如果是我，可能不会选择她。但是我理解奥巴马总统的选择。”

美国银行已经同意向意大利奶制品公司帕玛拉特支付接近1亿美元的赔偿金，以了结2003年帕玛拉特倒闭案相关的欺诈指控。该解决方案需交由美国法院通过。帕玛拉特的倒闭是欧洲最大的金融丑闻。美国银行因为帮助该公司隐藏一些债务而被指导致帕玛拉特的破产。

南非约翰内斯堡城外一所非官方住宅区内再次发生动乱，警察向示威者发射橡胶子弹。Thokoza住宅区的居民抗议恶劣的生活环境，用燃烧的轮胎阻塞了道路。该市工人进行了第二天的罢工，大约150,000名工会人员支持一份工资要求。

巴格达中部发生银行抢劫案，武装犯罪贩子杀害了八名安保人员。抢劫者携数百万美元巨款潜逃，警方称应该是好战分子为其活动筹集资金。随后，巴格达什叶派社区一枚藏在摩托车上的炸弹爆炸，造成至少8人死亡。

意大利司法官员下令西西里岛一所新建医院所有人员撤离，因为此前的测试表明这栋大楼可能在地震中倒塌。20多名当地官员，以及负责建筑Agrigento这所医院的公司经理被指控提供未达标准的建筑材料，目前正在接受调查。David Willey报道。

西西里岛Agrigento这所公立医院花费了20年的时间，耗费了意大利纳税人5000多万美元资金。当终于在五年前开始运营的时候，老鼠已经吃掉了电线，必须进行灯火管制，并进行了成本高昂的维修。该建筑的稳定性受到质疑，因为为了增加建筑商的利润，当地承包商提供的混凝土混合了太多沙子，而没有足够的水泥。

美国调查人员在拉斯维加斯搜捕了迈克尔·杰克逊私人医生的家和办公室。警察和药物执行官员将对Conrad Murray对调查作为对杰克逊之死误杀调查的一部分。迈克尔·杰克逊去世的时候，Murray医生就在旁边，没有被当局和警察列为嫌疑人。他们说，Murray医生对他们的审讯非常配合。