http://192.168.2.6/english/20070301BBC.mp3

The London stock market which is opening now after share prices fell again in Asia and the Pacific on the second day of a worldwide slide. The Dow Jones Index in New York closed down by more than 3% on Tuesday, the heaviest fall there since the 9/11 attacks in 2001. On the Shanghai Stock Exchange in China, shares also fell initially before recovering to close almost 4% up. The sell-off was triggered by a fall of almost 9% on the Shanghai market on Tuesday. From there Chratine.Sommothore. reports.

A bit of backpedaling from China's communist government was enough to spill the Shanghai Stock Exchange a second day of losses. Tuesday sell-off was caused in part by fears that Beijing might start taxing people on their stock market earnings. There has been a gold rush atmosphere in the Shanghai market, leading to comparisons with the dot-com bubble six years ago. Ordinary Chinese people have been rushing to invest. Many were relieved on Wednesday when the state Media said the government wouldn't be introducing a tax on share-dealing profits.

The European aircraft manufacturer Airbus is expected to announce 10,000 job cuts later today as part of a restructuring plan. Airbus has been plagued by financial and technical difficulties in the development of its new A380 super jumbo jet. It hopes to streamline its operation by shedding jobs mostly in France and Germany. But the head of the European Metal Workers' Federation Peter Sharon said the unions would fight any redundancies or closures.

"We are strongly opposed to any side closure. We are strongly opposed to any sell-off of sites. And we are strongly opposed to any redundancies. We will not accept any force redundancies at all that it is the first point on our platform."

Israeli soldiers have raided the Palestinian town of Janean in the West Bank and killed 3 people. Two of those who died were identified as militants. It's not clear if the third person killed was a fighter or a Palestinian civilian. Israeli troops have also returned in force to the West Bank city of Naples from which they withdrew only yesterday after a big incursion on Sunday.

A car bomb has detonated in the Iraqi capital Baghdad, killing ten people and wounding at least seven. The explosion happened in a commercial district in the south of the city.

The Cuban President Fidel Castro has spoken in his first live broadcast since having intestinal surgery nearly seven months ago. Mr. Castro spoke on the telephone with his Venezuelan counterpart Hugo Chavez who transmits a daily radio program in Caracas. In an exchange of greetings, Mr. Castro hailed President Chavez as a dear friend and said he was feeling stronger every day. Fidel Castro's not been seen in public since he became ill and has only been seen since then on still photographs and some video clips broadcast by Cuban State Television.

World News from the BBC.

The British Foreign Secretary Margaret Beckett is in Afghanistan for talks a day after a suicide bomb attack aimed at the visiting American Vice President Dick Cheney killed nine people. Charles Havelen. report from Kabul.

The Foreign Office says Mrs. Beckett's visit will underline Britain's commitment to Afghanistan which will shortly be getting 1,400 more British troops as part of the NATO-led force aiming to bring stability here. Mrs. Beckett may also be smoothing ruffled feathers. British-Afghan relations have had their tensions recently. Some in the Afghan government accuse London of being soft on Pakistan which got into Afghanistan isn't sufficiently clamping down on the Taliban. Britain strongly denies such accusations.

The Sri Lankan Navy says it has repulsed an attack at sea by Tamil Tiger guerrillas and fired on a ship it suspected of gunrunning for the rebels. The sea battle took place off the port in northeastern Sri Lanka. The freighter was hit by Naval gunfire during a separate incident to the south. Roland.Berk. reports from Colombo.

Navy fast-attack craft detected a flotilla of 14 armed vessels heading size. In a clash that followed, the Navy says two Tiger boats were destroyed and three damaged. It estimates 15 rebels were killed; 2 sailors were wounded. Later another Navy patrol detected a suspicious ship in the deep sea around 180 nautical miles south of the island. After a challenge and warning shots, the Navy fired on the 17-meter-long vessel, setting it ablaze.

The American Space Agency NASA says hailstones have damaged the space shuttle Atlantis, delaying its planned launch next month for several weeks. A hailstorm battered the shuttle's external fuel tank, leaving hundreds of tiny dents of its satellite's launch pad at Cape Canaveral in Florida. The shuttle was due to spend 11 days in space.

BBC World News.


Vocabulary
Flotilla: n. small fleet of warships. 小[屏蔽]： a destroyer flotilla 驱逐舰的[屏蔽]
Nautical: adj. of ships, sailors or navigation 船舶的； 海员的；航海的： nautical terms, 航海术语
Hailstone: n. A hard pellet of snow and ice 冰雹