UN Security Council Approves International Force for Afghanistan
Breck Ardery
United Nations
20 Dec 2001 21:25 UTC
The United Nations Security Council has unanimously approved a resolution authorizing an international security force for Afghanistan.
The resolution authorizes the force for a six-month period to assist the interim Afghan government in providing security in and around the Afghan capital of Kabul. The resolution calls on all Afghans to cooperate with the security force and notes that all Afghan parties have agreed to withdraw their military units from Kabul.
Jeremy Greenstock
Britain will be leading the force and British ambassador Jeremy Greenstock told reporters the first group of troops will arrive in Kabul in time for the official start of the interim government on Saturday. "The United Kingdom is ready to go," he said. "We will have a small number of troops on the ground on the day, Saturday, in Kabul. The full British contingent will be in place a certain number of days thereafter."
Mr. Greenstock said if the interim government decides it wants the security force to deploy outside of the Kabul area, it would require a additional Security Council resolution.
AP
John Negroponte
United States ambassador John Negroponte said U.S. military forces will continue to operate in Afghanistan but not as part of the security force. "Our forces are there with a particular set of responsibilities, which is to root out the al-Qaida and fight against the remnant elements of the Taleban. In other words a war-fighting mission," he said.
Mr. Negroponte indicated that there should be no conflict between the mission of U.S. forces and the international security troops in Afghanistan.
DEVELOPMENT REPORT: Tuberculosis Control Program in India
By Jill Moss
Broadcast: December 9, 2002
This is the VOA Special English Development Report.
There are more people with tuberculosis in India than in any other country in the world. Each year, tuberculosis infects about two-million people in India and kills nearly five-hundred-thousand people. However, this is starting to change. Researchers
recently studied a tuberculosis control program in India. The study says the program has saved about two-hundred-thousand lives and more than four-hundred-million dollars.
The New England Journal of Medicine published a study about the tuberculosis control program in October. The Indian government started the program in nineteen-ninety-three. Since that time, about three-and-one-half million patients have been examined for tuberculosis. Almost eight-hundred-thousand patients have received medical treatment.
Also, more than forty percent of India's population can now get tuberculosis services. And more than two-hundred-thousand health workers have been trained to examine and treat people with the disease. This makes India's tuberculosis control program one of the world's largest public health programs.
Thomas Frieden of the United States was one of the people who wrote the study. He says that India's tuberculosis control program has strengthened the country's general health care system. For example, he says the quality of work done in laboratories has improved.
However, Doctor Frieden says the program includes only half of India. He says the goal is to continue the program while extending it to the rest of the country. Doctor Frieden believes this will be difficult because of health threats from the virus that causes AIDS and because some forms of tuberculosis are resistant to drugs.
Currently, the World Health Organization estimates that about one-third of the world's population are infected with the bacteria that cause tuberculosis. Tuberculosis becomes active in only about ten percent of all cases. However, it can remain in a victim's lungs for years or even a lifetime.
Infected people spread tuberculosis by releasing particles from their mouths when they cough, sneeze, spit or talk. Signs of the disease include high body temperature and coughing.
A person with active T-B must take medicine each day for six to nine months to halt progression of the disease.
This VOA Special English Development Report was written by Jill Moss.
The kidnapping of a light plane has ended peacefully in Frankfurt, Germany.
The kidnapper landed the plane at the Frankfurt Airport after circling over the city for hours, and was arrested soon after landing.
Local police said the man had a firearm with him and appeared "bewildered."
The kidnapper said earlier that he would damage nobody and wanted to commemorate with this action a killed woman astronaut in the crash of the US spaceship Challenger.
The person, who spoke German, kidnapped the plane at the Babenhausen Airport in the Hesse state Sunday afternoon.
***
Two Chinese people have been confirmed dead and four injured in more Tel Aviv suicide bomb attacks.
Chinese Ambassador to Israel, Fan Jianmin, confirmed the report, saying one of the dead is 41-year-old construction worker Li Pei from Weifang city in east China’s Shandong province, while the other one is 50-year-old business woman Zhang Minmin from East China’s Zhejiang Province.
The suicide bombs exploded in downtown Tel Aviv. Foreign workers, including Chinese, often come to its many coffee bars and restaurants. So far, at least 23 people are confirmed dead and 100 wounded: seven remain in critical condition.
***
A strong earthquake has struck China's northwestern Xinjiang Autonomous Region, but no damage or casualties were immediately reported.
The 5.4-magnitude quake struck on Saturday. Its epicenter was located 30 kilometers east of Xinjiang's northwestern Jiashi county.
***
China says it will continue to ban trade in ivory and its products in accordance with UN obligations to protect Endangered Species.
Those found guilty of the illegal purchase, transportation or smuggling of one elephant tusk or 6 kg of ivory products will be sentenced to at least ten years in prison.
China has imposed a complete ban on commercial trading in ivory and ivory products ever since 1991.
Earlier reports said China would become the fourth country to be allowed to conduct ivory trade, after South Africa, Namibia and Botswana. China denies the report, saying it is groundless, and only adds to unnecessary misunderstanding in the international community.
***
China has announced plans to make four types of generic HIV drugs in 2003.
A triple-drug "cocktail" in China costs about 3,600 US dollars per person per year.
The cost puts the drugs far out of the reach of most of the country's citizens, where the average annual income is around 700 US dollars.
***
China's home-grown 3G developer, Datang Mobile Communications Equipment Co., says the mobile technology is still in development.
Datang says the 3G technology, called TD-SCDMA, will not be available until 2004 at the earliest.
TD-SCDMA is a potential rival to Europe's WCDMA service and U.S. Qualcomm Corp's CDMA2000.
The technology's readiness could determine when fixed-line phone operators China Telecom and China Netcom receive licenses to build 3G networks.
Analysts say the Chinese government may ask either of the two to adopt TD-SCDMA.
***
Well-known Chinese film star Liu Xiaoqing's 19 properties have been put to auction, netting six and a half million yuan, or 800 thousand US dollars.
The popular actress has been accused of tax evasion worth about 1.7 million US dollars.
During the auction on Sunday, her 18 real estate assets were sold. The money gained will be used to pay off her tax debts.
But her Shenzhen property failed to be auctioned off. The taxation department says it will continue to levy the unpaid taxes.
***
A book detailing the diverse cuisine of 26 ethnic groups has been published in southwest China’s Yunnan Province.
The “Collection of Dian Cuisine” includes 1,000 distinctive dishes from the province. Dian is the abbreviated name of Yunnan.
The book provides cooking instructions, historical background, pictures of each dish and cultural and geographical information about the origin of each one. The dishes from the Wa, Lisu, Nu and Dulong minorities are the first recorded in the book.
Known as ‘The kingdom of plants and animals”, Yunnan is home to a rich variety of foods.
Premier Zhu Rongji urges China’s foreign exchange department to maintain the balance of international payments over the coming year.
Zhu Rongji made the comment while inspecting the Administration of Foreign Exchange on Friday. He says China will face a severe external economic situation this year. The department should therefore deepen reforms, improve exchange controls and deal cautiously with convertibility under capital accounts. An early-warning system must also be developed.
*****
China's largest industrial zone, the Bohai Economic Rim, is also the country’s third-largest economic area after the Yangtze and Pearl River zones.
Bohai Economic Rim refers to the economic area surrounding the Bohai Sea, covering Liaoning, Hebei and Shandong provinces. The local economy and foreign trade account for 25 percent of China’s total.
Since the 1990s, the Bohai economic zone has formed advanced information, electronics and auto industries after integrating regional resource advantages.
*****
Scientists say a large Antarctic ice sheet is melting and could be gone in 7,000 years, possibly raising sea levels worldwide by 4.8 meters.
Based on geological measurements, researchers have found that the West Antarctic Ice Sheet started retreating about 10,000 years ago and is still melting at the rate of about two inches a year.
*****
Beijing plans to offer its new metro route’s interior design for public tender.
The 26km-long number 4 route goes south-to-north, covering four major districts – Beijing.
It will have 22 stops, including the Summer Palace and the busy shopping areas.
Upon completion the route will be the mainstay for Beijing’s transportation network.
1--Do you want black or white coffee?
2--White, please.
1--Look! There's a folk concert tomorrow evening.
Do you want to go?
2--I don't like folk music very much.
1--What kind of music do you like?
2--I like classical music. Do you?
1--Not very much. Classical music sends me to sleep.
2--I don't believe you.
1--It's true.
2--You are funny!
1--So are you! How about another coffee?
===================================
注解：
1）black or white coffee：加糖或加牛奶的称作white
coffee.什么也不加的称作black coffee.
2）folk concert：民间音乐会。folk作“民间的”、
“具有民族传说的”解。如folk dance，folk music,
folk songs, folk tale等。
3）classical：经典的。如classical music, classical
literature等。
4）How about...?（你以为）...怎么样？征询对方的意见时
常用的句型。如，征询关于时间安排的意见时，可以说How
about tomorrow？征询活动内容时可以说How about playing
tennis now?征询人选意见可以说How about Jane?等
Find out how Spiellberg became one of Hollywood's most successful movie directors
Most of us can remember the titles of our favorite films. Few however, can remember the director of those films--with a few exceptions. One of them, Steven Spielberg, is a household name. He has entertained the world with stories of a daring archeologist. He's made us cry with the tale of a space alien who just wanted to go home. He's scared us with sharks and dinosaurs. And he brought us the horrors of World War II in Schindler's List and Saving Private Ryan.
Spielberg developed an interest in movies at an early age. At 12, he started making his own short films with his dad's movie camera. He sometimes enlisted his mother's help. She would make movie props for him. Spielberg's three sisters also liked to be in his movies--he "killed" them all several times.
At age 16, Spielberg made his first feature-length film, Firelight. His family rented a local movie theater to show it. The film earned back its whole budget in one night--US$500.
Questions for Discussion :
What is your favorite Spielberg film? Explain the film's plot to a friend.
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