http://192.168.2.6/english/20070302BBC.mp3

The American Senator John McCain says he is entering the race to be the Republican Party candidate for the presidency. The news was confirmed by Mr. McCain during a television chat show. James Westhead reports from Washington.

The announcement came as no surprise, although the venue was unusual, a late night TV talk show. As he sat down in the chair, Senator John McCain told his host, David Letterman, “I am going to be a candidate for the presidency.” The Vietnam veteran and former prisoner of war has long been a political celebrity. Seven years ago, he lost a bruising battle for the presidential nomination to George W. Bush. At times, a critic of the way the Iraq war has been managed, he's recently emerged as the most outspoken supporter of the president's surge of extra troops.

Eleven years after the end of the war in Bosnia Herzegovina, the European Union has announced big cuts in its peacekeeping force in the former Yugoslav republic. It said the force, called EUFOR, would be reduced by two thirds in coming months, with just 2,500 soldiers remaining. Britain, which has heavily involved in military operations in Iraq and Afghanistan, is expected to announce on Thursday that it's pulling out most of its 700 troops in Bosnia. The Chairman of the joint Bosnian presidency, Nebojsa Radmanovic, said the republic could now ensure stability by itself.

The Italian Prime Minister Romano Prodi has won a vote of confidence in the Upper House of Parliament, allowing him to continue in office with the reformed coalition government. The narrow victory in the Senate by a margin of just 5 votes came a week after Mr. Prodi resigned following Parliamentary opposition to his foreign policy. Mr. Prodi's supporters, including Sports Minister Giovanna Melandri, were pleased with the outcome.

“I think it's, it was very important to start again, and it was important to make sure that this government has its majority and we are back to work again.”

Councilors in the American city of New York have approved a resolution, banning the use of the word "nigger". The BBC correspondent in New York says the measure to ban the racial slur is largely symbolic as those who continue to use the word face no punishment. The word has been appropriated by some African Americans as a term of endearment, and appears in rap and hip-hop songs. However, the resolution's proponents say the word has now become popular among other ethnic groups, something which they find unacceptable, given its racist connotation.

Share prices have fallen again on Asian stock markets, continuing the slide that began on Tuesday. The Nikkei Index in Tokyo was down by 0.81 percent at the close of trading, while stock markets in Shanghai and Hong Kong were also lower. In the United States, the Chairman of the Federal Reserve, Ban Bernanke, said he still expected moderate growth for the US economy, despite the week's stock market falls.

You're listening to the latest World News from the BBC in London.

The UN's drug control body is warning that international trade in fake and unregulated drugs is rising. In its annual report, the International Narcotics Control Board said that about 10% of the world's medicines were now fake, and that in the developing world the proportion was more than a quarter. Jo Maggivery reports.

Consumers may buy unregulated drugs for practical reasons because they are cheaper, easier to get hold of, or just because fakes are now so sophisticated they can't tell what's genuine and what isn't. The call now is for governments to improve their monitoring in regulation of drugs. The World Health Organization says at the moment 6 out of 10 countries don't have a proper system in place.

Fresh attempts have been made to reconcile the Ugandan government and the rebels of the Lord's Resistance Army, the day after a ceasefire between them expired. Leaders of the Acholi people, one of the communities most affected by the 20-year insurgency, are to meet in the next few days to try to restart talks between the two sides. Caroline Allan reports.

Negotiations of grounds will hold over power-sharing proposals. And the issuing of arrest warrants by the International Criminal Court have been blamed for doing little to bring the two sides together. Although the LRA and the Ugandan military have agreed not to attack each other, Ugandan ministers have told Parliament that they will defend their right to use force if the LRA comes out of hiding from across the border in the Democratic Republic of Congo and harasses or attacks innocent people.

An advanced force of African Union peacekeeping troops is reported to have landed in southern Somalia. A correspondent for the BBC quotes government sources and airport staff in the town of Baidoa as saying that some 30 military personnel had arrived by plane. The troops are believed to be from Uganda, which has agreed to send 1,500 peacekeeping troops to Somalia, as part of an AU force. The Ugandan military spokesman, however, denied that Ugandan troops are in Somalia.

And that's the latest BBC World News.

Vocabulary
Slur: n. statement, accusation, etc that may damage sb’s reputation, esp when untrue: 诋毁；诽谤；中伤： any suggestion that I accepted bribes would be a monstrous slur. 谁说我受贿就是对我恶意中伤。
Narcotics: n. drug that affects the mind [屏蔽]剂；[屏蔽]：narcotics are a major threat to health. [屏蔽]是危害健康的大敌。