英国新闻听力 中国-东盟自由贸易区正式启动（在线收听）

The American Central Intelligence Agency has made its first comment on the biggest loss of life within its ranks for more than 25 years. The CIA head, Leon Panetta, said the seven personnel killed in Afghanistan on Wednesday had died protecting the United States from terrorism. They were killed in a suicide attack at a base in southeastern Khost province. From Washington, Kevin Connolly.

The CIA acknowledged its death in a formal letter to all its staff from the director, Leon Panetta. They lost their lives, he said, close to danger and far from home. The officials who died inhabited a world of secrets. And for now at least their names are not being released and no details are being provided of their mission of their remote Forward Operating Base (FOB) Chapman. But the CIA in Afghanistan gathers intelligence and operates the unmanned drone aircraft used to target Taliban leaders. It was, at Mr. Panetta's letter, the hard work that must be done to protect the country from terrorism.

The authorities in Nigeria say that the Nigerian man, who has been charged with trying to blow up the American airliner over Detroit on Christmas Day, had begun his journey in Ghana. The Information Minister Dora Akunyili said the man, Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab, had flown to Lagos from Accra. She told the BBC he'd spent less than half an hour in Nigeria before boarding another flight to Amsterdam bound for Detroit.

“He arrived in Nigeria on the 24th and the scanning of his passport on entry to Nigeria was done at exactly 20:08. And the scanning of his passport as he was checking in to go to Amsterdam was done at 20:35 which means that he spent less than 30 minutes in Murtala Muhammed Airport before boarding the aircraft to Amsterdam.”

Meanwhile, President Obama, who has strongly criticized the American intelligence agencies for not stopping the alleged bomber, is receiving preliminary reports today.

A new free trade area to rival both the European Union and the North American Free Trade Area comes into operation on January 1st. It will consist of China and six founding members of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations -- Indonesia, Malaysia, Singapore, Thailand, the Philippines and Brunei, the largest trading area in terms of population in the world. The agreement will see the elimination of tariffs on 90% of traded goods. Here's our economics correspondent, Andrew Walker.

Removing most tariffs, taxes on imports will reduce the cost of trade, and is likely to lead to an expansion of cross-border commerce between the countries concerned. Chinese manufacturers will gain, and so will Southeast Asian exporters of raw materials. Those countries are also likely to gain access to cheaper materials and components from China. But there have been warnings from Southeast Asia that some industries are not ready to compete with China and those jobs will be lost.

A US judge has dismissed all charges against five security guards from the Blackwater company suspected of killing unarmed civilians in Iraq. The judge said the Justice Department had overstepped its limits and used evidence it was not allowed to. The guards are suspected of killing unarmed civilians in a controversial incident in Baghdad in 2007, where they worked as contractors for the US military.

A gunman has shot dead five people outside the Finnish capital Helsinki before apparently committing suicide. Four of the victims died when he opened fire in a crowded supermarket. * has the details.

The incident began on Thursday morning when the gunman killed four workers at a busy supermarket in Espoo. Later, the police found the 5th body in a flat nearby. It was that of the killer's estranged partner. She also worked at the supermarket, and the police have described her as the main target, and there are indications that the other victims were killed because of their links with her. The gunman's body was later found in another flat. He was named as 43-year-old Ibrahim Shkupolli, a Kosovo-Albanian who had lived in Finland for several years.

The United Nations says it's withdrawing some of its international staff from Pakistan for at least six months for security reasons. UN officials said only non-essential staff would be moved out and operations to aid people displaced by fighting or refugees would not be affected. At least 11 UN staff have been killed in Pakistan this year.

The celebration of a new year will have an extra dimension for revelers in many parts of the world. They'll be treated to a rare blue moon. The event is defined as the 2nd full moon to a calendar month, nothing to do with the colour. The last New Year’s Eve blue moon was in 1990, and it won't happen again until 2028. This New Year’s Eve blue moon will be visible in the United States, Canada, Europe, South America and Africa. It appears on New Year’s Day in Asia and Australia.

美国中央情报局首次针对其25年来遭受的最严重的打击发表评论。CIA局长里昂·帕内塔里昂·帕内塔(Leon Panetta)表示，周三在阿富汗遇难的7名CIA特工为保护美国免受恐怖主义袭击而遇难。这7名特工在阿富汗东南部Khost地区某军事基地发生的自杀式爆炸袭击中牺牲。Kevin Connolly在华盛顿报道。

在局长里昂·帕内塔里昂·帕内塔(Leon Panetta)致所有职员的正式信函中，CIA承认了7人的死亡。他说，这7名特工在远离家乡的危险境地殉职。牺牲的官员居住在一个充满秘密的世界。至少到目前为止，还没有披露7人的姓名和关于他们在查普曼前进作战基地任务的任何细节。但是阿富汗CIA负责搜集情报，并操纵用于锁定塔利班头目的无人机。帕内塔信中说，他们的工作是保护美国免受恐怖主义袭击。

尼日利亚官方表示，被指控圣诞节当天在底特律对美国航班实施爆炸的尼日利亚男子开始加纳之旅。信息部长Dora Akunyili表示，阿卜杜勒-穆塔拉(Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab) 曾从阿克拉飞往拉各斯。她告诉BBC，阿卜杜勒-穆塔拉在尼日利亚逗留不到半小时之后登上从阿姆斯特丹飞往底特律的另一架航班。

“他在24日抵达尼日利亚，20:08分进行了入境护照扫描。随后，他在20:35进行护照扫描，办理阿姆斯特丹的航班登机手续。这意味着他在默塔拉·穆罕默德国际机场逗留了不到半小时的时间即登上阿姆斯特丹的另外一架航班。”

奥巴马总统强烈谴责美国情报机构未能防止爆炸未遂事件。现在，奥巴马总统已收到初步报告。

1月1日，对抗欧盟和北美自由贸易区的新的自由贸易区开始运营。该贸易区包括中国和东盟基础成员国——印度尼西亚，马来西亚，新加坡，泰国，菲律宾和文莱。从人口数量方面来讲，这是世界最大的贸易区域。按照该协议，90%的贸易货物将免除关税。下面是我们的经济记者Andrew Walker的报道。

免除大部分进口货物的关税将降低贸易成本，也可能促进区域内各国跨边境商业的扩大。中国制造商和东南亚原材料出口这都将从中受益。这些国家也可能从中国获得更加便宜的材料和零部件。但是东南亚各国也非常警惕，一些行业并未做好与中国进行竞争和大量失业的准备。

黑水公司(blackwater)5名安保人员涉嫌在伊拉克杀害手无寸铁平民，一名伊拉克法官驳回了对他们的所有控诉。这名法官称，司法部门超越了自己的限制，并采用了不允许使用的证据。2007年，巴格达发生了有争议的冲突，这些保卫人员涉嫌杀害手无寸铁的平民。这些保卫人员是美国军方的签约人员。

一名持枪分子在芬兰首都赫尔辛基外枪杀了5人，随后自杀。持枪者在一个拥挤的超市内开火，4名受害者当场死亡。....报道详细信息。

该事件始于周四早上，持枪分子在Espoo一个拥挤的超市枪杀了4名工作人员，随后，警方在附近的公寓中发现了第五具尸体，此人是持枪者分手的情侣，也在该超市工作。警方称她是主要目标，有迹象表明，其他几名受害者被杀是因为与她有关系。随后警方在另外一个公寓发现了持枪者的尸体。持枪者是43岁的Ibrahim Shkupolli，是科索沃-阿尔巴尼亚人，已在芬兰居住了几年时间。

联合国表示，出于安全原因，部门国际工作人员将从巴基斯坦撤出至少六个月的时间。联合国官员表示，只有非必要的人员暂时撤出，救助流离失所人群和难民的行动不会受到影响。今年，已有至少11名联合国工作人员遇难。

在庆祝新年的同时，对于世界各地的庆祝者来说有着另外的意义。他们将欣赏到蓝月亮，是指在公历一个月里出现的第二个满月，而并非蓝色的月亮。上次在新年夜出现蓝月亮是在1990年，而下次将直到2028年才出现。美国，加拿大，欧洲，南美和非洲可以观察到今年的蓝月亮。该现象在亚洲和澳大利亚发生在新年当天。