http://192.168.2.6/english/20061220VOA.mp3

[1] Officials in Jordan say King / will invite the rival Palesitinian factions for talks as the groups fought / battles in the Gaza Strip today. The officials say the Jordanian King plans to invite the Fatah faction of Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas and the ruling group Hamas for talks on defusing tensions. Meanwhile, fighting erupted between the rival Palestinian forces in the Gaza Strip, testing a two-days ceasefire. Robert Bourger reports from the VOA Bureau in Jerusalem.

Gunmen from the ruling Islamic religious group Hamas and the rival Fatah faction fought fierce battles in several parts of Gaza City. Clashes erupted at a hospital and at a key security agency controled by moderate Palestinian President and Fatah leader Mahmoud Abbas. The fighting tested the shaky ceasefire aimed at halting a week about unrest that has raised fears of Palestinian civil war. Gunbattles escalated Saturday after Mr. Abbas called earlier elections in a bid to topple the Hamas-led government. Hamas called it a / and / that the elections will not take place. Neither side is backing down.

Robert Bourger, for VOA news, Jerusalem.

[2] Iran's President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad has again threatened retaliation if the UN Security Council imposes sanctions because of Tehran's nuclear programe. In a Speech Day, Mr. Ahmadinejad warned Britain, France and Germany that Iran will consider their support for UN sanctions as an act of hostility. But he did not say how Iran would retaliate. The three European countries have drafted a sanction’s resolution for the Security Council to consider.

[3] British Prime Minister Tony Blair is holding talks with leaders of the United Arab Emirates today. It's the final leg of his regional tour aimed at boosting Mideast peace effort. Mr Blair's office says the Prime Minister should discuss ways to support Palestinian authority President Mahmoud Abbas whose Fatah faction is / and increasingly violent / with the governing Islamic militant group Hamas. Mr. Blair held talks with Israeli and Palestinian leaders before traveling to the UAE. The British leader's visit coincides with the Emirates first national elections where hand / the voters are choosing members of its advisory body seen as an eventual / to a national parliament.

[4] A Libyan court has convicted six foreign health workers of deliberately infecting hundreds of children with the virus that causes AIDS and sentenced them to death. The verdict brought / condemnation from Europe and from international human rights groups. VOA correspondent Charles MacDonna has more from our Mideast Bureau.

The court issued the death sentences after convicting five Bulgarian nurses and a Palestinian doctor of deliberately infecting more than 400 children with HIV, the virus that causes AIDS. A defense lawyer said the trial was unfair and the verdict will be appealed. The defendants have been imprisoned for seven years. This is the second time they have been sentenced to death. A first trial verdict was overturned in 2005 and a new trial was ordered after international / over the fairness of the proceedings. Human rights groups and AIDS scientists say the second trial was no better. The court refused to throw out the confessions of the three of the accused which they have repeatedly said were obtained under torture. The court also refused to allow international AIDS experts to testify on behalf of the defense or to admit scientific research that could have pointed that health workers’ innocence.

Charles MacDonna, VOA news, Cairo.

[5] The US Defense Department says insurgent and sectarian attacks in Iraq have / a record high over the last three months to about 1,000 incidents each week. A Pentagon report says the M Army of radical Shiite cleric Muqtada al-Sadr has passed al-Qaida as the biggest threat to civilians. The report says the Iraqi government is trying but failing to put for national unity between / factions and says Iraqi politicians are often not willing or not able to compromise. Meanwhile in Iraq today, gunmen stole hundreds of thousands of dollars in the second major / in Baghdad this month.

The verdict brought / condemnation from Europe and from international human rights groups.
....living in China
what the hell is the word "human right" mean...