英国新闻听力 美国再度放缓阿富汗撤军计划（在线收听）

Presiden Obama has announced an extension tothe US military presence in Afghanistan, reversingan election pledge to end America's longest war. Close to 10,000 troops are to remain in the countryfor much of next year, with that number halving by the time Mr. Obama leaves office at thestart of 2017. From Washington, here's Jone Sopel. Addressing the American people from theWhite House, the President said that despite significant improvements, the security situation inAfghanistan was still fragile, and maintaining a significant US force in the country was vital tocontinue to train Afghan forces and to maintain the fight against militants. By the time thePresident leaves office in January 2017, that number would have halved. But that is stillsignificantly higher than he'd originally intended.

Prosecutors in Scotland and the United States say they have identified 2 new Libyan suspectsin the Lockerbie bombing, when a Pan Am plane was blown up in 1988. The BBC believes themen are Mohammed Abouajela Masud, who is currently in prison in Libya, serving a 10-yearsentence for suspected bomb-making, and Abdullah al-Senussi, Colonel Gaddafi's former Chiefof Intelligence. Frank Gardner has more details. Abdullah al-Senussi was married to Gaddafi'ssister. He was known as the Butcher. He was his Intelligence Chief. He came from very humbletribal origins. But here at one point, he was reported to have ordered guards to fire downthrough the grids, through the grills, of a prison, machine-gunning protesters in a prison. Andhe's currently in prison and facing a death sentence. So if investigators do get him, I'd imaginehe'd be pretty keen to offer himself up to go to the Hague or Scotland, or wherever he can, toget away from that death sentence.

The Pentagon says that a weekend airdrop of ammunition was successfully delivered to SyrianArab rebel forces, and there was no indication that any of it ended up at the hands of othergroups. The Defence Department issued the statement to correct its early comments thatsuggested some of the supplies may have been picked up by Kurdish fighters.

Reports from northeast Nigeria say there have been at least 2 biggest explosions at a mosquenear the city of Maiduguri. Details of casualties were unclear. But local traders spoke of manydead. David Bamford has the latest details. Nigerian media, quoting local traders, said thatmany people were killed in 2 explosions during evening prayers at the mosque in the Maidugurisuburb of Mulai. Injured casualties have been ferried to the local hospital. A senior official saidthe blasts were thought to be the result of an attack by suicide bombers. Maiduguri is frequentlytargeted by the Islamist group, Boko Haram. On Wednesday, 3 more bombs exploded in thecity, killing at least 4 civilians. World news from the BBC.

The former Head of the Army's Intelligence Service in the Brazilian state of Sao Paulo has died, aged 83. The retired Colonel, Carlos Brilhante Ustra, has been accused by human rights groupsof ordering the illegal arrests and torture of some 500 left-wing activists in the early 1970s, when Brazil was under military rule.

An opposition Venezuelan politician, Manuel Rosales, has been arrested, 6 years after fleeingthe country amid corruption allegations. Mr. Rosales, a former presidential candidate, deniesany wrongdoing, and says the charges were politically-motivated. He said he was planning totake part in the opposition campaign for December's parliamentary elections.

The World Bank is planning to offer extra help to Syria's neighbouring countries, who arehosting huge numbers of refugees from the civil war. Our economics correspondent, AndrewWalker, reports. Millions of refugees are now in countries bordering Syria. The largest numberare in Turkey. But it's the much smaller economies of Lebanon and Jordan that face far morefinancial strain. Because they are classified as middle-income countries, the World Bank can'tprovide grants or cheap loans. Instead, it wants to lend to those countries, while 8 donornations cover at least part of the interest cost. The World Bank officials said that the idea hasbeen well-received by many potential donors, and he hoped that funds could be paid out in 4 to 6 months. Andrew Walker.

Researchers in the United States have discovered that our ancestors were probably just assleep-deprived as we feel today. They looked at tribes in Namibia, Tanzania and Bolivia, whoselifestyle has hardly changed for thousands of years. The average sleep was about 6.5 hours pernight. That's similar to industrial societies, where artificial lights, TVs, smartphones andcaffeine often get the blame for ruining our sleep. Many of the tribes people live into their 60sand beyond. 

奥巴马总统宣布将放缓阿富汗撤军计划，而此举也与他上任时所承诺的撤军计划背道而驰。在2016年的大部分时间里，阿富汗将维持近1万名美军，在2017年年初任期期满之前，他将保留一半美军。请听乔恩·苏珀尔为您从华盛顿发回的报道。总统在白宫表示称，尽管我们取得了明显的进展，但是阿富汗的安全局势仍然风云变幻，对于训练阿富汗武装，继续打击恐怖分子来说，美军在阿富汗的存在仍然至关重要。在2017年2月总统卸任之前，美军驻阿数量将减半。然而，这一数字远超过他起初的预想。

美国和苏格兰的检察机关发表声明称，两名利比亚人被列为了洛比克空难嫌疑人，1988年，当时一架泛美航空飞机在空中发生爆炸。据BBC推测，这两名嫌疑人有可能是马苏德，他因为制造炸弹而被判有期徒刑为十年，目前被关押在利比亚监狱，另一名是卡扎菲的前情报局头目努西。请听弗兰克·嘉德内的报道。努西是卡扎菲的妹夫。他是有名的刽子手。他曾是卡扎菲的情报局局长。他出生于卑微的部落家族。然而有报道称，努西曾让守卫站在关押抗议者的栏杆上，并向下进行机枪扫射。目前，努西仍被关押在监狱，并面临死刑判决。如果调查人员想要将他引渡，我想他会迫不及待地前往海牙或是苏格兰，或是其它能够让他逃避死刑判决的地方。

五角大楼表示称，周末向叙利亚反动派的空投行动非常成功，无迹象表明武器落入了其它组织之手。国防部发表声明，纠正之前有关物资或落入库尔德武装之手的言论。

有报道称靠近东北部城市迈杜古里的一座清真寺至少发生两次大规模爆炸。伤亡情况尚不清楚。但当地商人表示称有许多遇难者。请听大卫·班福德的最新报道。尼日利亚媒体援引当地商人的话说，迈杜古里郊区姆莱的一座清真寺发生两次爆炸袭击，袭击造成多人死亡，当时人们正在做晚祷。伤者已被送往医院。一名高级官员认为这是一起自杀式爆炸袭击。迈杜古里频繁遭到恐怖组织“博科圣地”的袭击。周三，该城又遭到了三起爆炸袭击，造成至少四人死亡。BBC全球新闻。

前军事情报部部长在巴西圣保罗去世，享年83岁。上世纪70年代，因非法逮捕并虐待500名左翼活动分子，上校卡洛斯·布里汉德·由斯特拉曾遭到人权组织控告，当时的巴西正处于军事统治之下。

由于深陷腐败指控，逃离六年的委内瑞拉反对派政界人士曼努埃尔·罗萨莱斯终被逮捕。前总统候选人罗萨莱斯对犯罪行为给予否认，并称这些指控存在政治动机。他表示称他将参加反对12月份议会选举的活动。

由于叙利亚内战战火，周边国家大量接收难民，世界银行计划对这些国家提供额外帮助。请听本台经济学记者安德鲁·沃克的报道。目前，数百万难民生活在叙利亚周边国家。其中难民数量最多的国家为土耳其。然而，黎巴嫩和约旦却承担着更大的经济负担。由于他们是中等收入国家，导致世界银行无法向他们进行拨款，或是提供廉价贷款。如果进行贷款，那么八大捐助国则需要至少支付部分借款利息。世界银行官员表示称，该计划得到了许多潜在捐助国的同意，他希望资金能够在4-6个月之内得到支付。安德鲁·沃克

美国研究人员发现，我们的祖先或许和我们今天一样缺觉。研究人员对纳米比亚、坦桑尼亚以及玻利维亚的部落民族进行了研究，他们的生活方式几千年来少有变化。他们每天的平均睡眠时间为6.5小时。这一数字与当今工业社会相近，电灯、电视、智能手机、咖啡因通常会让我们熬夜。许多部族人寿命都在60或60以上。