英国新闻听力 美国防部提出废除同性恋服役禁令（在线收听）

The Defence Department in Washington has announced a review of how to lift a ban on openly homosexual people serving in the US military. The Obama administration says the current policy is harming military effectiveness by driving key personnel out of the armed services. From Washington, Kevin Connolly.

The policy known as "don't ask, don't tell" emerged as a compromise in the early 1990s, permitting gay men and women to serve in the American military but preventing them from doing so openly. As attitudes towards gay rights in America have steadily evolved, the compromise has begun to look a little dated. President Obama promised in his State of the Union address to move towards repealing the measure. And while there is still resistance among some senior military officers, the Defence Secretary Robert Gates told the Senate Armed Forces Committee that he wanted to see change.

A big air attack in Pakistan by American pilotless planes has killed at least ten militants near the Afghan border. The United States has stepped up drone attacks since a suicide bomber killed seven CIA personnel in eastern Afghanistan at the end of December. Jonny Hogg reports.

Pakistani security sources say that at least ten al-Qaeda and Taliban fighters were killed in the American drone attack, the latest and largest in a series of such operations in recent weeks. They say the unmanned aircraft fired 18 missiles at various targets in North Waziristan, on the border between Pakistan and Afghanistan. This strike comes amid continued confusion as to whether a senior Taliban leader, Hakimullah Mehsud, died in a similar attack in January.

Ukraine and Russia have publicly accused each other of spying. The incident comes just two weeks after a Russian ambassador returned to Ukraine following an absence of five months and less than a week before the second round of the Ukrainian presidential election. James Rodgers has more.

Ukraine says that the five alleged Russian spies were caught with a camera concealed inside a pen, other espionage equipment and 2,000 dollars, a reported bribe for a Ukrainian contact. The head of Ukraine's security service says the five were trying to obtain military secrets. Four of them have been expelled from Ukraine, while the fifth has been detained. Russia's security service, the FSB, has confirmed the detention but denied the Ukrainian version of events. The FSB said its actions were a response to the recruitments of Russians by the Ukrainian security services.

A leading British medical publication, the Lancet, has formally retracted a study it published 12 years ago, suggesting a link between the measles-mumps-rubella vaccine, MMR, and autism. Britain's General Medical Council said the author of the report, Doctor Andrew Wakefield, had been dishonest and irresponsible. The study had caused a large drop in the number of children receiving the vaccine, as many parents believed it was unsafe.

The American airline Continental and five men have gone on trial in France over the crash of a Concorde supersonic airliner outside Paris, which killed 113 people ten years ago. They are accused of manslaughter after an official report said that during take-off the Concorde hit a piece of metal, which had fallen off a Continental plane. All those charged deny any wrongdoing.

The United Nations has warned of a potentially volatile situation in Haiti after gunmen attacked a food convoy. There are also reports of violence and looting inside the camps set up to house the survivors of last month's devastating earthquake. From Port-au-Prince, here is Nick Davis.

The medical needs of Haitians hurt in the earthquake exactly three weeks ago continues to be an ongoing issue. The long-term treatment of the injured and the job of health care teams (are) made more difficult by sporadic outbursts of gang violence in some parts of the city. The UN reports that a food convoy has been attacked and the Haitian police are increasing their patrols. The threat of gang violence has been blamed by the US military for delays in aid distribution in neighborhoods like Cite Soleil. In the past, it was a notorious area with hundreds killed during the political instability five years ago.

The head of national intelligence in the United States has described the recent reports of cyber attacks on Google in China as a wakeup call. Speaking in a Senate Intelligence Committee hearing, Dennis Blair said malicious activity was occurring on an unprecedented scale with extraordinary sophistication. He said neither the US government nor the private sector could fully control or protect the country's information infrastructure.

The nominations for next month's Academy Awards have been announced in Hollywood. The science-fiction epic “Avatar” and the Iraq war drama “The Hurt Locker” have been nominated for nine Oscars each, including the category “Best Film”.

华盛顿国防部宣布评审怎样取消对同性恋士兵服役的限制政策。奥巴马政府表示，现行的政策将主要人员驱逐出军队，危害了军队的效率。Kevin Connolly在华盛顿报道。

90年代初，新出现的“不问不说”(Don't Ask, Don't Tell)政策成为一项折衷案，允许同性恋男女在美国军队服役，但是禁止他们的公开行为。随着美国对同性恋权利的态度取得稳定的进展，该折衷似乎有点过时。奥巴马总统在国情咨文中承诺废止这项措施。尽管一些高级军官仍然反对，国防部长罗伯特·盖茨告诉参议院军事委员会，他希望看到变革。

美国无人机在巴基斯坦进行了大规模的空袭，击毙阿富汗边境至少10名好战分子。自12月末阿富汗东部一起自杀式爆炸杀害7名CIA特工以来，美国加强了无人机的袭击力度。Jonny Hogg报道。

巴基斯坦安全消息来源称，至少10名基地组织和塔利班战士在美国无人机袭击中丧失，这是近几周一系列类似行动中最新也是最大规模的一次。他们表示，无人机在巴基斯坦和阿富汗边境北瓦齐里斯坦的不同目标发射了18枚导弹。目前，塔利班高级头目马哈苏德是否在一月份类似的袭击中丧生还不确定。

乌克兰和俄罗斯互相公开指责对方从事间谍活动。该事件发生两周前，俄罗斯大使在缺席5个月之后返回乌克兰，距离乌克兰第二轮总统选举还有一周时间。James Rodgers报道更详细信息。

乌克兰表示，5名俄罗斯间谍被抓获时，身上携带藏在钢笔内的照相机，其他间谍设备以及2,000美元，据称这是给一名乌克兰联络人的贿赂。乌克兰安全部门负责人表示，这5人试图窃取军事机密。其中4人被驱逐出乌克兰，另外一人仍被拘留。俄罗斯联邦安全局(FSB)确认了被拘事件，但是否认乌克兰的说法。FSB表示，他们的行为是为了对乌克兰安全部门招募俄罗斯人作出回应。

英国主流医学杂志《柳叶刀》正式收回12年前发表的一份研究。该研究称麻腮风和自闭症之间存在联系。英国医学总会表示，这份研究的作者Andrew Wakefield医生不诚实，不负责任。该研究导致注射这种疫苗的儿童数量大大减少，因为许多父母认为这种疫苗不安全。

十年前，一架协和式超音飞机在巴黎城外坠毁，造成113人死亡。日前，美国大陆航空公司和5名男子在法国接受审判。他们被指控过失杀人，因为一份官方报告称，在起飞过程中，这架飞机撞上一块金属片，该金属片是大陆航空公司一家架飞机上脱落的。所有被告均否认任何过失。

持枪分子袭击了粮食护卫队之后，联合国提醒警惕海地反复多变的形势。还有报道称安置上月地震幸存者的帐篷中暴力和洗劫事件频发。太子港，Nick Davis报道。

三周前在地震中受伤的海地人的医疗需求仍然是一个问题。太子港部分地区零星爆发的团伙暴力事件使得伤者的长期治疗和医疗小组的工作更加困难。联合国报告称，一个粮食护卫队遇袭，海地警方增加了巡逻力量。美国军方指责团伙暴力的威胁延误了Cite Soleil等社区的粮食分发工作。过去，这是一个臭名昭著的地区，数百人在5年前的政治不稳定期间遇难。

美国情报部门负责人称，最近谷歌在中国受到的网络袭击是一个警钟。在参议院情报委员会听证会上，Dennis Blair表示，网络恶意行为的范围前所未有，手段也更加成熟。他说，无论是美国政府还是私人部门都无法全面控制胡保护国家信息基础设施。

下月奥斯卡金像奖提名在好莱坞宣布。科幻影片《阿凡达》和伊拉克战争片《拆弹部队》分别被提名9个奖项，包括最佳影片奖。