英国新闻听力 法国官方调查印度洋岛上飞机残骸（在线收听）

French transport officials are investigating a piece of aircraft wreckage washed up on the Indian Ocean island de la Reunion to see if it comes from a missing Malaysian airliner. US sources say investigators who've seen the photographs have a high degree of confidence the debris is a wing component from a Boeing 777, the same model as the missing plane. Tom Bateman reports from Washington.

"The debris was discovered by people cleaning up a beach on Reunion and according to one witness, it appeared to have been in the water a long time. An image which has emerged online shows the wreckage covered in shells. French air transport officials are trying to establish where the debris came from while the safety officials here in the US believe it to be a component from the trailing edge of a wing from a Boeing triple seven. Two hundred and thirty-nine people were on board to fly from Kuala Lumpur to Beijing. Malaysian government says a team has been sent to Reunion to examine the wreckage."

Russia has used its veto at the United Nations to block the setting of an international tribunal to prosecute those who shot down a Malaysian airliner over Eastern Ukraine a year ago. The Security Council was considering a draft resolution from Malaysia, the Netherland, Australia, Belgium and Ukraine. Russia’s ambassador to the UN, Vitaly Churkin, said the aims of the resolution’s supporters were purely political.

"The draft that was put to vote today lacked any legal grounds and precedents. The authors of the draft refused to act in the spirit of cooperation and put it to vote knowing beforehand that that will not lead to a positive result. This, in our opinion, means that for them, political and propaganda aims were more important than practical ones."

The Afghan presidency has declared that the Taliban leader Mullah Omar is dead. It said there was credible information indicating that Mullah Omar died two years ago in Pakistan. The Afghan government said prospects for peace talks with Taliban were now better than ever. A White House spokesman Eric Schultz urged the militants to take up the offer of peace talks starting in a few days time.

"We do believe, um, the Taliban has an opportunity to make genuine peace with the Afghan government and rebuild their lives in peace in Afghanistan. They can accept the government of Afghanistan’s invitation to join a peace process and ultimately become part of a legitimate political system in Afghanistan or they can choose to continue fighting Afghans and destabilizing their own country." Neither the Taliban nor Parkistan have commented.

Prosecutors in United States have announced a murder charge against the University of Cincinnati policeman who shot died an unarmed black man earlier this month. Samuel Dubose was shot in the head after being stopped because his car license plate was missing.

World news from the BBC.

The Indian president has rejected a last-minute appeal for clemency by Yakub Memon, who was sentenced to death for his role in a series of bomb attacks in Mumbai in 1993. Mr Memon is due to be executed in the next few hours. The attacks killed 257 people.

The French government says the operator of the channel tunnel has agreed to important investments to improve security at its terminal in Calais. Hundreds of migrants have been attempting to reach Britain, disrupting train services. France has deployed an extra 120 riot police in Calais.

Scientists say they've spotted an aurora similar to the northern and southern lights outside the solar system for the first time. An international research team detected this spectacular light show in the Lyra Constellation about 18 lightyears away. Our science corresponent Rebecca Morelle has more.

"A shimmering aurora is one of the earth's most dazzling displays. And in fact, the luminous glow can appear around all the planets in our solar system, but now a light show is being spotted deeper in space around a brown dwarf, an object too small to become a star, but too big to be a planet. It looks similar to the northern light but it is more red than green, and up to a million times brighter. The discovery's puzzled scientists."

A new report says valuble ancient forest in Cambodia has been lost at an unprecedented rate. The campaign group Forest Trend says large corporations using legitimate development permits to clear land illegally. The researchers say trees have been cleared to create rubber plantations, which, in many cases, are materialized.

And briefly, Argentine football legend Diego Maradona has accused his ex-wife of stealing nearly nine million dollars from his bank accounts. Maradona said on a live television programme that his childhood sweetheart was “a thief”.

法国交通官员正在调查被冲到印度洋留尼旺岛上的一片飞机残骸，看它是否属于失踪的马航飞机上的部件。美国方面称看过图片的调查人员十分确信残骸属于波音777飞机的机翼部件，失踪的马航飞机就是这个机型。汤姆·贝特曼在华盛顿报道。

“这片残骸是被清洁留尼旺岛沙滩的人员发现的，一名目击者称残骸似乎在水里很久了。互联网上的一张图片显示残骸上覆盖着贝壳，法国航空交通官员在努力确定残骸从何处来，美国安全官员认为它是波音777机翼的后缘。当时有239名乘客乘机从吉隆坡飞往飞机，马来西亚政府称已经派出一支团队来调查这片残骸。”

俄罗斯在联合国使用否决权，反对成立国际法庭来起诉一年前在乌克兰东部击落马航飞机的凶手。安理会正在考虑马来西亚、荷兰、澳大利亚、比利时和乌克兰提出的一份决议草案，俄罗斯驻联合国大使丘尔金称这份决议支持者的目的是纯粹出于政治考虑。

“今天这份被否决的草案缺少任何法律依据和先例，草案的起草者拒绝以合作精神行事，在就草案进行投票之前就已经知道它不会导致积极的结果。在我看来，这对他们来说，政治和宣传目的比现实的目的更重要。”

阿富汗总统宣布塔利班领袖毛拉·奥马尔已经死亡，称有可靠情报表明奥马尔是两年前在巴基斯坦死亡的。阿富汗政府称现在与塔利班进行和谈的前景比以前任何时候都要好，白宫发言人埃里克·舒尔茨敦促该武装组织接受几天后开始和谈的要约。

“我们确实相信，塔利班有机会与阿富汗政府实现真正的和平，并在阿富汗的和平环境中重建自己，他们可以接受阿富汗政府的邀请加入和平进程，并最终成为阿富汗合法政治体系的一部分，否则他们可以选择与阿富汗继续作战并颠覆自己的国家。”塔利班和巴基斯坦都未对此发表评论。

美国检察官宣布对本月早些时候开枪打死手无寸铁黑人的辛辛那提大学警察以谋杀罪起诉，塞缪尔·杜博斯因车牌失踪而被警察拦截，然后头部被警察开枪击中。

BBC世界新闻。

印度总统拒绝了雅各布·梅蒙最后要求宽恕的请求，此人因参与1993年孟买系列爆炸袭击案而被判死刑，他将在几小时后被处决。当时的袭击案导致257人丧生。

法国政府称海峡隧道的运营商同意投资改善其在加莱终点站的安全防范，有数百名试图抵达英国的移民扰乱了隧道的秩序。法国已派遣另外120名防暴警察到加莱。

科学家称首次在太阳系外发现与南北极类似的极光，一个国际研究小组在大约18光年之外的天琴座发现了这一壮观的光影秀。科学记者丽贝卡·莫雷勒报道。

“闪烁的极光是地球上最迷人的景象之一，事实上，这种光亮可以出现在太阳系的任何行星上，但现在科学家在一颗棕矮星周围的太空的深处发现了这场光线秀，这颗棕矮星不足以大到成为恒星，也不小到足以成为行星，这种极光与北极光很相似，但红色的部分比绿色的多，而且要比极光亮100万倍。这一发现令科学家们感到不解。”

一份最新报告称柬埔寨宝贵的古代森林正以前所未有的速度减少，活动组织森林趋势称大公司使用合法的开发许可来非法伐木。研究者称这些公司将树木砍伐掉来建立橡胶种植园，目前已经有很多橡胶园被建立起来了。

阿根廷足球传奇马拉多纳指控前妻从他的银行账户中窃取近900万美元的资金，马拉多纳在一个电视直播节目中称他童年时代的甜心是“窃贼”。