英国新闻听力 世界各地向爱德华-肯尼迪致敬（在线收听）

Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei has said he does not believe that the leaders of the post-election protests in the country were knowingly part of any plot by foreign powers. The BBC Iran Analyst Kasra Naji reports that his statement appears to be aimed at the hardliners who have been demanding the arrest of leaders of the opposition.

The hardliners have been increasingly calling for the arrest of the top leaders of the opposition including a former President Ahaba Rason Joni. They accused him of being part of the so-called Velvet Revolution instigated by Iran’s enemies, including the US and Britain. Now Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei has sought to restrain his followers. There are signs that the recent short trials of some of the reformist politicians and journalists in which they have been allegedly confessed to be in part of the foreign plot are pushing Iran into more uncertainty.

The Sri Lankan military has described as a fabrication of video clip allegedly showing its soldiers killing prisoners during the final stages of the conflict with the Tamil Tigers rebels. An army spokesman said the rebels were known to dress in military uniforms and they were probably to blame. The video shows a man in army uniform shooting a naked man who’s bound and blind-folded with the bodies of several others nearby. The clips were supplied by a group called Journalists for

Democracy in Sri Lanka. The Sri Lankan High Commissioner to Britain Nihal Jayasinghe told the BBC that government forces were not behind the shootings.

“The Sri Lankan army never engaged with the Tamil civilians. Our fight was against the terrorists. We do not know who the killers are or those people who are wielding the gun. We do not know who they are.”

One of Nigeria’s top banking executives on the run from police for more than a week has handed herself in. Cecilia Ibru who was Chief Executive of Oceanic Bank has now been questioned over a variety of fraud and other charges. She was one of five top bankers dismissed as anti-corruption police started investigating the missing billions of dollars which brought the Nigerian banking system to the verge of collapse. Our correspondent Caroline Duffield reports now from Lagos.

In Nigeria’s press, Cecilia Ibru is referred to as the First Lady of Banking. She’s famous for her big personality, her attendance of lavish parties and for her trademark pearls. The newspapers here have been full of stories that she lent her nanny over 60 million dollars. For the last week, she has been on the run from police. They declared her wanted for credit market manipulation, insider trading, money laundering and fraud. On Wednesday, she walked into the headquarters of the fraud police and gave herself up.

Tributes have poured in from across the United States and the world for the veteran American Senator Edward Kennedy who was died from brain cancer, aged 77. Among them, President Obama described him as the greatest Senator of modern times, and the former Irish Prime Minister Bertie Ahern praised his contribution to the Northern Ireland peace process. Reports say his funeral will take place on Saturday and he will be buried in Arlington National Cemetery, alongside his assassinated older brothers, President John Kennedy and Senator Robert Kennedy.

The latest election results from Afghanistan show President Hamid Karzai has widened his lead. The latest figures released by the election commission show Mr. Karzai has 44% while his main rival Abdullah Abdullah has 35. From Kabul here is Ian Pannell.

“With 17% of all votes counted, Hamid Karzai appears to be extending his lead over Dr. Abdullah. However this is still a small fraction of the overall count and these figures will undoubtedly change. The country’s election commission claims to release results on a daily basis and it will take some time for a fuller picture to emerge. The election has been beset by allegations of fraud and corruption and concerns about a low voter turnout, raising questions about how credible the process has been. There are also fears that supporters of the losing candidates could take to the streets if they feel that the election has not been legitimate.”

The British broadcaster Channel 4 says it’s dropping its ground-breaking reality TV programme Big Brother after next year’s series. The format for big brother filming a group of people locked in a house for several weeks was launched in the Netherlands ten years ago but became a global phenomenon after spreading to Britain and beyond it. The BBC's media correspondent says the program changed television, turning ordinary people into celebrities.

伊朗最高领袖哈梅内伊称，他不相信总统选举过后的抗议活动是外国势力阴谋的一部分。BBC伊朗问题分析家Kasra Naji报道称，哈梅内伊的声明似乎是针对强硬派。强硬派一直要求逮捕反对派领袖。

强硬派要求逮捕反对派高层人物的呼声越来越大，其中包括前总统Ahaba Rason Joni。他们指控Ahaba Rason Joni是伊朗的敌人煽动的所谓天鹅绒革命的一部分，其中包括美国和英国。现在，伊朗最高领袖哈梅内伊寻求限制其追随者。在最近对一些改革派政治家和记者的审讯中，他们被指招供了自己是外国阴谋的一部分。这些审讯使伊朗的形势更加不确定。

最近一段视频剪辑片段显示，在于塔米尔猛虎组织冲突的最后阶段，一些士兵杀害囚犯。斯里兰卡军队称，视频纯属编造。军方发言人称，众所周知，塔米尔反叛分子经常身穿军队制服行凶，他们应该受到指责。该视频显示，一名身穿军装的男子射杀一名被捆绑并蒙眼的裸体男子，附近还有其他几人的尸体。该视频由斯里兰卡记者民主组织提供。斯里兰卡驻英国高级委员Nihal Jayasinghe告诉BBC，政府军队没有策划这些射杀事件。

“斯里兰卡军队从来都没有与塔米尔平民接触。我们的战争是反抗恐怖分子的。我们不知道凶手是谁，也不知道持枪者是谁。我们不知道那些人是谁。”

尼日利亚潜逃一周多的银行主管向警方自首。尼日利亚海洋国际银行(Oceanic Bank International）首席执行官和常务董事伊布鲁(Cecilia Ibru）正在就一系列诈骗和其他指控接受审讯。她是反腐警察开始调查导致尼日利亚银行系统濒于崩溃的几十亿美元时被解雇的5名高级银行家之一。我们的记者Caroline Duffield在拉各斯报道。

在尼日利亚新闻界，伊布鲁被称为银行界第一夫人。她以独特的个性，参加奢华的派对和名牌珠宝而著称。这里的报纸竟然大幅报道她借给自己的保姆6000万美元。过去的一周，她一直在潜逃。警方称，她因操作信用市场，内部交易，洗钱和诈骗等罪行被通缉。周三，她走进诈骗警方总部自首。

美国和世界各地的人们纷纷向经验丰富的美国参议员爱德华-肯尼迪致敬。爱德华-肯尼迪因脑癌去世，享年77岁。其中，奥巴马总统称在他为现代最伟大的参议员。前爱尔兰总理Bertie Ahern称赞他为北爱尔兰的和平进程做出了巨大贡献。报道称，葬礼将于周六举行。爱德华-肯尼迪将被葬在阿灵顿国家公墓，与他被暗杀的兄弟约翰·肯尼迪和参议员罗伯特·肯尼迪葬在一起。

阿富汗总统选举最新结果显示，现任总统卡尔扎伊优势增大。选举委员会公布的最新数字显示，卡尔扎伊目前获得的选票为44%，而他主要的竞争对手阿卜杜拉支持率为35%。

“现在已经统计了17%的选票，卡尔扎伊相对阿卜杜拉的优势扩大。然而，现在统计的仍是一小部分选票，数字毫无疑问还会变化。阿富汗选举委员会声称将每天公布计票结果，而最终结果将需要一定的时间。由于有人指控选举诈骗和腐败以及担心投票率低等问题，选举曾经遭受围攻，这引发人么对选举过程诚信度的质疑。还有担心称，如果有人感觉选举不合法，落选候选人的支持者可能会举行抗议活动。”

英国广播第四频道宣布在明年的系列之后将取消其真人秀Big Brother节目。十年前，荷兰big brother节目拍摄了一些人被锁在房间里长达几周的时间，但是该节目传播到英国之后成为全球现象。BBC媒体记者称，该节目改变了电视，使普通人成为明星。