英国新闻听力 大赦国际警告卡塔尔未改善劳工处境（在线收听）

The Malaysian Prime Minister, Najib Razak, says he has ordered the country's Navy and maritime authorities to try to find and rescue migrants stranded at sea. It comes a day after Malaysia and Indonesia agreed to provide temporary shelter to such migrants, who include Bangladeshis and Rohingya Muslims fleeing persecution in Myanmar. Here is Danny Aeberhard.

Only days ago, Malaysia was preventing boatloads of migrants from landing on its shores. But in the face of pressure from the United Nations and the international community, it seems to have completed a policy u-turn. Prime Minister Najib Razak said in a tweet that Malaysia has to prevent the loss of life. Thousands of migrants are believed to be at sea, many enduring desperate conditions. Some have been abandoned by their crews amid a crackdown on people smuggling. Meanwhile, efforts to find a long-term solution to the crisis are continuing. Later on Thursday, the Malaysian Foreign Minister is to visit Myanmar for talks.

Islamic State militants have captured the ancient Syrian city of Palmyra from pro-government forces. There are fears that the militants will destroy Palmyra's two-thousand-year-old ruins, as Jim Muir reports.

The collapse of government forces of Palmyra was a sudden with army and local militia fighters abandoning the town after Islamic State militants forced their way into its northern quarters. The state media said the forces have pulled out after assuring the evacuation of most of the town's inhabitants. Many of the priceless moveable artefacts have already been removed to safety elsewhere. But there are fears that the temples and columns of the site itself may be demolished by IS as it's done to sites in Iraq. International appeals and concern are only likely to make that more probable, since IS, which sees ancient monuments as idolatry, delights in outraging world opinion.

The human rights organisation, Amnesty International, says Qatar must do more to improve conditions for migrant workers as it prepares to host the 2022 Football World Cup. Amnesty said the government had made little progress on promises made a year go. x reports.

Last year, the government said it would change the system, under which workers have to seek permission from their employers to leave the country or change jobs. Today, Amnesty, which has been in regular contact with the Qatari government and workers, says little progress has been made. But Qatar's Labour Prime Minister, Dr. Abdullah bin Salih Al-Khulaifi, insists the Gulf state is using its hosting of the World Cup as a catalyst for change. Dr. Abdullah says he's ninety percent sure changes in employment law will be made by the end of this year.

The owner of an auction house in Florida has been sentenced to three years in jail for helping to smuggle rhino horns, elephant ivory and coral from the U.S. to China. Christopher Hayes was caught in a sting operation.

BBC News.

The Pentagon has, for the first time, released surveillance footage of an island that China is building in a disputed part of the South China Sea. The video, along with audio recordings of the Chinese Navy warning the plane to leave the area, was broadcast by CNN, which was on board a U.S. surveillance flight on Wednesday. Beijing lays claims on large parts of the South China Sea and has been building the artificial islands for several years. Neighbouring countries contest the claim.

A cleanup operation is underway on beaches and seas near the sea city of St. Barbara in California, after an oil spill caused by eruption pipeline. The oil company involved has estimated that two and a half thousand barrels had leaked, of which a fifth, it said, had gone into the ocean.

Scientists in Britain say a study of the effects of paracetamol in mice suggests that women who use the painkiller extensively during pregnancy might damage the reproductive health of the unborn sons. Britain's health body says pregnant women should take the drug only if necessary and for the shortest possible time. Smith reports.

Paracetamol can be important in pregnancy, for example, helping to treat fevers that would otherwise cause harm. But researchers at the University of Edinburgh say women using it when not entirely necessary should think again. Their experiment tried to mimic human pregnancies implanting human fetal tissue into mice. When taken for a week, the drug disrupted the production of testosterone. This hormone is critical to the development of male reproductive systems.

The German police raid on a suspected art trafficking gang's warehouse has turned up valuable Nazi era sculptures not seen for a quarter of a century. The find includes two monumental horse sculptures by Josef Thorak, which once stood outside Adolf Hitler's Chancery in Berlin.

马来西亚总理纳吉布·拉扎克下令该国海军和海事当局努力搜救被困海上的移民，就在一天前，马来西亚和印尼决定向这些移民提供临时栖身处，这些移民包括孟加拉国人和逃避缅甸迫害的罗兴亚穆斯林。丹尼·爱博哈德报道。

就在几天前，马来西亚阻止移民船只登陆本国海岸，但面对联合国和国际社会的压力，该国的政策似乎来了个大转弯。总理纳吉布·拉扎克在推特上发文称，马来西亚必须阻止生命损失。据悉已有数千名移民在海上，很多都在受着绝望遭遇的煎熬。对人口走私的打击使得有些人被船员抛弃，同时，目前仍在努力寻找这一危机的长期解决办法。周四晚些时候，马来西亚外长将前往缅甸进行商谈。

伊斯兰国武装分子已从亲政府军队手中夺走叙利亚古城巴尔米拉，人们担心这些武装分子会毁掉巴尔米拉有着2000多年历史的遗迹。吉姆·缪尔报道。

政府军是突然之间抛弃了巴尔米拉的，由于伊斯兰国武装分子用武力闯入该市北部城区，军队和地方民兵就放弃了该市。国家媒体称，在确保撤离该市大多数居民后，军队就撤出了。很多可移动的无价文物已被转移到其他安全地方，但人们仍担心这里的神庙和廊柱会被IS摧毁，就像该组织在伊拉克所做的那样。而国际上的呼吁和担忧只会让IS更可能这么做，因为该组织视古代纪念物为偶像崇拜，以违背国际意见为乐。

人权组织大赦国际称由于卡塔尔在准备2022年足球世界杯，就必须做更多来改善其移民工人的条件。大赦国际称对于一年前做下的承诺，政府取得的进步甚微。

去年，政府称将改变制度，据此，工人们必须得到雇主的允许才能离开该国或换工作。今天，一直与卡塔尔政府和工人们保持联系的大赦国际称所取得的进展甚微。但卡塔尔的工党首相阿卜杜拉坚称本国在利用举办足球杯的契机来促进变革，阿卜杜拉称他90%确信将在今年年底之前实现雇佣法方面的变革。

佛罗里达州一家拍卖行的老板因帮助将犀牛角、象牙和珊瑚从美国走私到中国而被判3年徒刑，克里斯多夫·海耶斯是在一次诱捕行动中被抓的。

BBC新闻。

五角大楼首次公布有关中国在南中国海争议区域建造岛屿的监控视频，这段视频和中国海军警告飞机离开该区域的声音资料一起在CNN上播放，周三这架美国飞机在进行监控飞行。北京对南中国海大片区域声称主权，几年来一直在那里建造人工岛屿。邻近国家也都声称有主权。

在输油管道爆裂导致漏油事故后，加州滨海城市圣芭芭拉的海滩和海上进行了清理行动。相关石油公司估计有2500桶油泄露，其中有五分之一已经进入海洋。

英国科学家称，扑热息痛对小白鼠的影响表明，妇女怀孕期间过量使用这种止痛药可能会损害其未出生儿子的生殖健康。英国医疗机构称孕妇应该必要时才使用这种药，而且要在尽可能短的时间内使用。史密斯报道。

扑热息痛在孕期很重要，比如可以帮助治疗可能会造成伤害的发烧。但爱丁堡大学的研究者称，在不是完全必要时妇女应该三思后再使用。他们的实验试图模仿人类怀孕过程，将人类胎儿组织植入小白鼠。服药一周后，这种药物会扰乱睾丸素的声称，这种荷尔蒙对男性生殖系统的发育很关键。

德国警方对嫌疑艺术走私团伙库房进行突袭，发现了消失25年的纳粹时期无价雕塑。这些发现包括约瑟夫的两个纪念马匹雕塑，它们一度耸立在阿道夫·希特勒在柏林的法庭外。