英国新闻听力 英国发现1.4亿年古老蜘蛛网（在线收听）

The American Secretary of State Hillary Clinton has been holding a day of separate talks with Israeli and Palestinian leaders, but there's been no sign of any progress on resuming Middle East peace negotiations. Both sides refused to give any ground on the contentious issue of Israeli settlement building in the occupied territories. Our State Department correspondent Kim Ghattas is traveling with Mrs. Clinton.

A flying visit for Hillary Clinton to the Middle East but an essential one. She held talks first with the Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas in Abu Dhabi, and then came to Jerusalem to meet Israeli official here. Her visit comes after several weeks of political turmoil. Mrs. Clinton was probably not looking for a breakthrough, but she did want to make sure that the progress keeps moving forward even at a snail's pace instead of sliding backwards. But there is no sign for now that either the Palestinians or the Israelis are ready to compromise on their position.

President Hamid Karzai's challenger in the Afghan presidential elections Doctor Abdullah Abdullah is expected to announce on Sunday whether he will take part in a run-off vote. There's been persistent speculation that Doctor Abdullah is planning to pull out of the contest next weekend because of a row over electoral fraud. President Karzai has rejected Doctor Abdullah's demand that a number of election officials who presided over the first round be dismissed following widespread allegations of corruption.

Three of the politicians who played key roles in the fall of the Berlin Wall in November 1989 and the transformation of Europe two decades ago have met at a ceremony in Berlin to mark the occasion. The former American President George Bush Senior, now 85, praised his former Soviet counterpart Mikhail Gorbachev for what he called his steadfastness in the face of immense challenges.

"Today we have a fuller appreciation of tremendous pressure Mikhail faced in that pivotal time. And through it all he stood firm which is why he'll also stand tall when the history of our time in office is finally written."

The Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak has addressed his ruling National Democratic Party as speculation grows that his son Gamal is being groomed to succeed him, but the president gave no hint about any plans he may have for the succession. Yolande Knell reports from Cairo.

"Just for you" is the slogan of this year's NDP conference. And President Mubarak laid out his party's plans for much needed improvements to health care, education and transportation, hoping to please ordinary Egyptians. His party is sensitive to opposition claims it is elitist and that the success of its recent economic reforms have failed to help the poor. Still though this hour-long speech contained no clue to the answer of the biggest question dominating the Egyptian political scene, who will succeed Mr. Mubarak in office.

Yolande Knell reporting.

The diplomat who will lead a United Nations inquiry into last month's violence in Guinea says he hopes to turn over a new page in the country's history. In a BBC interview Mohamed Bedjaoui, an Algerian former judge of the International Court of Justice, said he hoped to shed light on a shooting of protesters in the capital Conakry and ensured that those responsible were brought to justice. Human rights groups say that more than 150 people were killed when troops fired on the anti-government demonstration. Guinea's military government says only 57 people died.

Scientists in Britain say one of the oldest known examples of a spider web has been discovered in amber deposits found on the southern coast of England. Writing in the Journal of the Geological Society, the researchers say the amber dates back 140 million years. Jason Caffrey reports.

The amber containing the ancient spider's web was unearthed near Britain's southcoast by 2 enthusiasts hunting for dinosaur fossils. Scientists from Oxford University say it's the earliest known example of a spider's silk web. The spider that spun the preserved threads which are just 1 millimeter long was closely related to the modern garden spider. Researchers say it left small sticky droplets along the thread to catch pray, but it was the droplets themselves which became trapped inside amber resin which oozed out of a prehistoric tree along with insect droppings and microbes which date from the age of dinosaurs.

Dozens of police officers are being deployed in the American city of Boulder, Colorado, to stop an unusual Halloween party. The annual event, which is known as the Naked Pumpkin Run, involves people stripping off, putting a hollowed pumpkin over their heads and running naked through the city centre. Last time some 150 people turned out. However this year the police have vowed to arrest them for indecent exposure. Civil rights groups say many of those arrested could end up on the register of sexual predators, normally reserved for convicted child molesters and rapists.

美国国务卿希拉里·克林顿与以色列和巴勒斯坦领袖举行了一天的单独会谈，但是没有迹象表明恢复中东和平谈判取得任何进展。在有争议的以色列定居点建设问题上，双方均拒绝做出让步。我们的国务院记者Kim Ghattas与希拉里同行。

希拉里·克林顿飞往中东进行访问是必须的。她首先在阿布扎比与巴勒斯坦总统阿巴斯进行了会谈，随后前往耶路撒冷会见以色列官员。她的出访发生在政治混乱几周之后。希拉里可能没有寻求获得任何突破性进展，但是她确实希望保证能够继续取得即使是非常缓慢的进展，而不是停滞不前。但是现在没有任何迹象表明巴勒斯坦或者以色列准备对其立场作出妥协。

预期阿富汗总统卡尔扎伊的竞争对手阿卜杜拉将在周日宣布是否参加二次角逐的投票。关于阿卜杜拉是否会因为选举欺诈而退出下周末举行的选举一直存在猜测。阿卜杜拉曾要求解雇第一次选举中导致大规模欺诈的选举官员，而现任总统卡尔扎伊拒绝了该要求。

在1989年柏林墙的倒塌和20年前的欧洲变革中起到关键作用的三位政治家在柏林参加了纪念仪式。现年85岁的前美国总统布什称赞前苏联领袖戈尔巴乔夫面临巨大挑战时的坚定不移。

“今天我们更加充分地认识到了戈尔巴乔夫在那个关键时期所面临的巨大压力。在经历所有这些压力时，他一直顽强屹立，这就是为什么在书写我们这一代的历史时他一直巍然屹立的原因。”

埃及有人猜疑总统之子Gamal将继任总统之位，随着这种猜疑不断滋长，总统穆巴拉克向执政党民族民主党发表讲话。但是他没有透漏任何关于继任的计划。Yolande Knell在开罗报道。

“只是为了你”是今年民族民主党会议的标语。总统穆巴拉克宣布了其党派对亟需改进的医疗教育和交通方面的计划，希望取悦埃及普通民众。反对派声称自己才是精英，最近经济改革的成功并没有帮助穷人。民族民主党对这种说法非常敏感。然而，长达一小时的总统讲话并没有回答埃及政界最为关心的问题，谁将接任穆巴拉克成为总统。Yolande Knell报道。

领导联合国小组对上月几内亚发生的暴力事件进行调查的外交官表示，他希望该国历史能够翻开新的一页。在BBC的采访中，前国际正义法庭阿尔及利亚法官Mohamed Bedjaoui表示，他希望能够弄清上月几内亚首都科纳克里安全力量向抗议者开枪事件，确保相关责任人被绳之以法。人权组织称，军队向反政府示威人群开枪导致150多人死亡。而几内亚军事政府则表示死亡人数只有57人。

英国科学家称在英格兰南部海岸的一枚琥珀中发现最古老的蜘蛛网。在地质学社会期刊中，研究人员称，该蛛网有1.4亿年的历史。Jason Caffrey报道。

这枚包含古老蜘蛛网的琥珀由两位寻找恐龙化石的热心人在英国南部海岸附近发现。牛津大学科学家称，这是最古老的蜘蛛网样本。该蛛网只有1mm长，这种蜘蛛与现代的花园蜘蛛没有太大差异。研究人员称，蜘蛛在蛛网上留下黏膜，用于捕获猎物，但是正是由于黏膜才使得这个蛛网被困在史前树木分泌的松香中，与昆虫和微生物一起形成琥珀。这个琥珀可以追溯到恐龙时代。

数十名警察被派往科罗拉多州波尔德地区，制止一场异常的万圣节派对。这个一年一度的盛事为“南瓜裸奔”，人们脱去衣服，头上顶着挖空的南瓜在市中心裸奔。上次有150多人参加。然而，今年警方宣誓以不恰当暴露罪逮捕他们。民权组织称，许多被逮捕者可能被控性犯罪，这种罪名通常是留给虐童者和强奸犯的。