VOA新闻听力教程News No.8

[00:00.00]News No. 8 [00:05.80]At 15 hours universal time. Here is the news on the Voice of America. [00:19.96]I'm Frank Whitis in Washington. [00:22.18]8.1 A Roman Catholic Bishop in Guatemala has been assassinated by unidentified attackers. [00:27.85]The Bishop had investigated human rights abuses by the military. [00:31.29]VOA central American correspondent Michael Dratz reports. [00:34.98]Guatemalan church authorities say Bishop Juan Gerardi was killed late Sunday by a blow to the head from stone-throwing assailants. [00:43.47]The 75-year-old church leader was apparently ambushed as he was returning to his home from a visit with relatives. [00:50.42]Police have offered no motive for the attack and the assailants remain unidentified. [00:56.24]Bishop Gerardi was the second ranking member of Guatemala City archdiocese. [01:01.20]He had served as general coordinator of a Truth Commission that had documented military involvement in human rights [01:07.92]abuses during a 3-decade civil war that killed about 150,000 people. [01:13.64]Church officials say Bishop Gerardi had survived two previous assassination attempts during military rule in the 1980s. [01:21.71]Michael Dratz,VOA news,Central America Bureau. [01:25.32]8.2 Canadian Prime Minister Jean Cartienne is expected to press Cuban President Fidel Castro to release four jailed dissidents during talks today in Havana. [01:33.91]Canadian officials say Mr.Cartienne will also make a general appeal on behalf of more than 300 other political prisoners. [01:40.57]Mr.Cartienne is the first Canadian leader to visit Cuba in more than two decades. Upon his arrival in Havana Sunday, [01:47.28]he told the Cuban President that all nfitions in the Western Hemisphere must adapt to changes. [01:52.01]Mr.Castro in return used harsh language to denounce the US economic embargo against Cuba as unjust and unacceptable. [02:00.06]8.3 The Yugoslav army says its troops have clashed with gunmen trying to smuggle weapons into the troubled Kosovo Province from Albania. [02:08.03]The army says three ethnic Albanian separatists Were killed and four wounded. [02:12.23]It says large quantities of weapons,ammunition and equipment were found at the site of the clash in Kosovo near the Albanian border. [02:19.34]There was no independent confirmation of the Yugoslav army's account. [02:23.96]8.4 Afghanistan's warring factions have agreed to a 5-point agenda during a second day of peace talks today in Pakistan. [02:33.42]The cochairman of the talks says the agenda agreed to by the Taliban [02:37.65]and Northern Opposition Alliance includes negotiations on the formation of a council of religious scholars. [02:44.83]The council would be responsible for negotiating a peace plan that would end two decades of war in Afghanistan. [02:52.77]8.5 At least 21 people are dead and three wounded after an attack by unidentified gunmen in a remote village in Pakistan. [03:02.02]As VOA Islamabad correspondent Meredith Buel reports local officials are blaming the killings on neighboring India. [03:08.66]Police told VOA more than ten unidentified gunmen opened fire with automatic weapons on members of two large families in Pakistani controlled Kashmir. [03:16.73]The attack occurred in Bindala village in Dinbenber District about 200 kilometers southeast of the state capital of Muzaffarahad. [03:23.39]The village is near the line of control that separates Indian and Pakistani Kashmir. [03:27.41]Police say women and small children were killed in the attack. [03:30.44]Local officials say evidence found at the scene of the killing indicates that the gunmen were from neighboring India. [03:35.33]Earlier this month 26 Hindus were killed in Indian Kashmir. [03:38.91]Officials blamed Moslem militants for the killings. [03:41.39]Both Islamabad and New Delhi accuse each other of instigating violence in Kashmir and both countries denied the charge. [03:46.90]India and Pakistan have fought two wars over Kashmir. [03:49.38]New Delhi controls 2/3 of Harmali Region and Islamabad controls the rest. [03:53.74]Meredith Buel,VOA news,Islamabad. [03:56.54]8.6 A Pakistani court has upheld the government request to freeze all movable and immovable assets of former Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto. [04:04.69]The accountability bench of the Lahore High Court says all her domestic and foreign assets have been frozen. [04:10.36]The assets include bank accounts of Ms.Bhutto, [04:13.26]her husband Asif Ali Zardari and mother Nusrat Bhutto. [04:17.02]The court has set May 22 as the next date for a hearing of the case filed by the government based on her tax declarations. [04:50.27]8.7 A British man who was reported arrested in Iran on spy charges is free and has left the country. [04:56.99]Iran's foreign minister says the man was detained while filming in the Kurdistan Region. [05:01.82]He says the incident is in the past and the man is no longer in Iran. [05:06.29]The arrest was first reported Sunday by a conservative Iranian newspaper. [05:10.70]Britain says it could not confirm the arrest or the release of the man. [05:15.95]8.8 Turkish Prime Minister Mishu Yema is backing away from a deal to dissolve the government in October and hold early elections next March. [05:24.36]Mr.Yema says neither his party nor his coalition partners want early polls. [05:29.06]East week,Mr.Yema reached a deal for early elections with the leftist party leader Dennis Bicar, [05:34.63]whose support in parliament is crucial for Turkey's minority coalition. [05:38.63]This is VOA news. [05:41.05]8.9India has denied a US newspaper report that Russia is helping India build a sea-launched ballistic missile that could carry a nuclear warhead. [05:51.97]VOA New Delhi correspondent Douglas Faction has the story. [05:55.40]The New York Times reports that Russia has been helping India for three years with the project despite US opposition [06:00.67]and the assurance from Russia that it is not assisting New Delhi. [06:04.15]The newspaper says the missile is believed to have a range of more than 300 kilometers and is meant to be launched from submarines. [06:10.36]An Indian defense ministry spokesman flatly denies the report. [06:13.60]We believe this. Recently India does not have any project like this. [06:18.72]Defense analysts have expressed fears of a missile racing in South Asia. [06:22.22]Pakistan recently announced that it has test-launched a new land-based missile with a range of 1,500 kilometers. [06:27.76]Pakistan and India fought three wars. [06:29.72]Both have nuclear capability. [06:31.50]Douglas Faction, VOA news, New Delhi. [06:34.14]8.10 A Japanese court has ordered the government to pay damages to three South Korean women who were forced to serve in Japanese military brothels in World War II. [06:42.55]It is the first time a Japanese court has ruled in favor of the former sex slaves. [06:47.22]8.11 Results from Nigeria's widely boycotted parliamentary poll indicate the pro-government United Nigeria Congress Party has taken a strong lead over four other pro-government United Nigeria Congress Parry [06:54.17]has taken a strong lead over four otehr pro-government parties. [06:58.04]The Saturday vote was boycotted by the opposition. [07:01.38]8.12 The UN Security Council meets today to review the trade embargo imposed on Iraq after it invaded Kuwait in 1990. [07:08.12]The council is expected to continue the sanctions following the latest report by Chief UN Arms Inspector Richard Butler. [07:13.97]Mr.Butler says his teams made virtually no progress in the last six months to verify Iraq has destroyed its banned weapons. [07:21.08]And US Ambassador to the UN Bill Richardson also says Iraq must do more. [07:25.62]The issue is Iraq has to provide long-term access, long-term information. [07:30.87]They have to stop concealing data. [07:32.86]They have to provide documents. [07:34.56]Iraq says it has met all conditions for ending the sanctions. [07:38.32]8.13 US Mideast envoy Dennis Ross is to hold separate talks again today with the Israeli and Palestinian leaders to set the stage for next week's round of meeting in London. [07:47.07]The latest mediation attempt by Mr.Ross comes amid sharp criticism of the stalled peace process from US Secretary of State Madeleine Albright. [07:54.57]Ms Albright says the Mideast peace process is in grave danger and must stop going around in circles. [08:00.81]In an American television interview today, [08:02.98]Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak says he is deeply concerned. [08:06.50]"Concerning the Middle East problem, I think now it's nearly li freezed, [08:13.43]no activity,no progress for the last two years. [08:18.10]So,I think I am going to meet with Prime Minister Netanyahu on Tuesday. [08:22.49]I hope that we would find something to push the peace process a little bit forward that is." [08:30.54]During a speech New York Sunday night, Secretary Albright said it is no longer enough just to talk about having more talks. [08:37.51]Ms Albright will meet separately with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Palestinian leader Yasser Ararat May 4 in London. [08:45.37]She says it will then become clear whether Mr.Ararat and Mr.Netanyahu are prepared to make the tough choices required to advance the peace process. [08:53.89]8.14 These are the hour's news headlines. [08:56.89]A Roman Catholic Bishop is murdered in Guatemala. [09:00.26]Canadian Prime Minister Jean Cartienne is said to ask Cuban President Fidel Castro to release four jailed political dissidents. [09:08.15]And unidentified gunmen in Pakistani controlled Kashmir killed at least 21 people during a raid on a remote village. [09:16.70]That's the news on the Voice of America.

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