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.
China has taken temporary anti-dumping measures against imports of purified anhydride acid made in South Korea, India and Japan.
China's foreign trade ministry says the dumping of purified anhydride acid imported from the three countries has caused substantial damage to Chinese industries.
Meanwhile, the ministry has also begun to impose temporary anti-dumping measures against imports of caprolactam made in Japan, Belgium, Germany, the Netherlands and Russia.
The ministry requires importers of the two products made in these countries to pay cash deposits to Chinese customs.
***
The State Economic and Trade Commission, or SETC says China closed nearly 5,000 illegal filling stations last year in a move that should help protect its two major state- run oil companies from unfair competition from smaller operators.
The government shut them down for various breaches of the law, including unauthorized use of land, low fuel standards and inaccurate weights and measures.
Such actions against illegal operators help to reinforce the retail market dominance of the state-run oil companies, China National Petroleum Group and China Petroleum & Chemical Group.
In a recent decree issued by the SETC, only state- designated companies are allowed to engage in franchise operations, and gasoline station franchisees are only permitted to sell oil products supplied by the franchiser.
***
China Minsheng Banking Corporation, the country's sole privately controlled lender, says it aims to list shares in Hong Kong or New York in the first half of 2004.
An official at the Beijing-based bank revealed Minsheng's plan for an overseas listing to reporters, but declined further comment.
Minsheng Bank is one of four banks currently listed on the Chinese mainland and debuted yuan-denominated shares in Shanghai in 2000.
Minsheng currently employs more than 4,000 workers in 126 outlets throughout the country and posted a net profit of nearly 80 million US dollars for the first nine months of 2002.
***
The largest US life insurer is moving to make China its largest foreign market.
New York Life Insurance says it has teamed up with one of China's most powerful industrial groups, Haier Group, to establish a joint-venture life-insurance firm in Shanghai.
The 50-50 venture will mainly target China's emerging middle class as potential customers along with expatriates.
The joint venture is seeking government approval to open for business in nine Chinese cities simultaneously.
New York Life Insurance says it plans to aggressively seek other projects in China for direct financing and introduce more innovative products to the market.
***
General Electric's subsidiary company, GE Medical Systems, is set to double its business volume in China in the next three years.
As a global leader in medical information and technology, GE Medical Systems offers medical equipment including
X-ray, CT and MRI.
GE Medical Systems China says it expects to achieve 2 billion US dollars sales volume by 2005.
The company says it is also considering making China its global purchasing base.
GE Medical China's sales volume is estimated to have reached 1 billion US dollars in 2002 after a steady 50 per cent annual growth.
Its volume is expected to grow by more than 50 per cent in 2003.
***
US stocks surged on Monday, bolstered by hopes that the Bush administration's 600-billion-US-dollar economic stimulus plan can jump-start US growth and help cure the market of its 3-year hangover.
US President George W. Bush is soon expected to announce the details of the stimulus package, that will include proposals to eliminate taxes on dividends, speed up reductions in income tax rates and allow companies to quickly write off more of their investments.
The Dow Jones industrial average surged two percent to 8773. And The technology-heavy Nasdaq Index rose nearly two and a half percent, to 1421.
European stocks closed mostly higher, having reversed midafternoon losses, as profit warnings pressured insurers and airlines.
London's FTSE-100 index fell slightly to 4001. Paris's CAC 40 index rose over half a percent to settle at 3210 while Frankfurt's DAX index advanced over two percent to end Monday's session at 3157.
The Chinese government has strongly condemned the suicide bomb attacks in Tel Aviv, and called for restraint from both sides to prevent the violence from further escalating.
At a press conference in Beijing, the Chinese foreign ministry spokeswoman says the Chinese government has always been strongly opposed to the resolution of conflicts through violent means.
At least 23 civilians were killed and some 100 others wounded in two bomb attacks Sunday evening in downtown Tel Aviv. Two Chinese people have been confirmed dead and six other injured.
*****
A ceremony has been held in Paris to celebrate the establishment of a Chinese Cultural Center in the city, which aims to reinforce bilateral relations between China and France.
Speaking at the ceremony, China's Ambassador to France Wu Jianmin stresses the equal importance of culture and trade in Sino-French ties. He also expressed the wish that overseas Chinese in France would make more efforts to promote cultural cooperation between the two countries.
*****
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.
*****
China will attract more talents back from abroad to meet the ever increasing demand for well qualified people since its entry into the World Trade Organization.
The vice director of the Ministry of Personnel, said Sunday that more development parks for returned students should be set up to encourage them to come back and work. He noted that preferential policies could be adopted to attract those with skills that are urgently needed.
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
Spielberg got poor grades in high school and wasn't accepted to any film schools. Instead he regularly bluffed his way onto Universal Studios' lot. He used an empty office as his own while trying to talk producers into looking at his films.
His 22-minute film called Amblin' won awards at Venice and Atlanta film festivals. It also caught attention of the head of Universal's TV division. He signed Spielberg to a seven-year contract. At 20, Spielberg was the youngest director ever to get such a deal.
In 1974, Spielberg made his feature film debut with Sugarland Express. Spielberg really impressed producer Richard Zanuck with his skill in managing movie scenes. But audiences were less than thrilled with his efforts. The film performed poorly at the box office.
Catch Me If You Can
Steven Spielberg's newest film, Catch Me If You Can, is based on the true story of Frank Abagnale Jr. (Leonardo DiCaprio).
Abagnale stole money by making fake documents and pretending to be other people. He successfully pretended to be a doctor, lawyer and airline pilot, all before his 18th birthday. By age 17, he was also the most successful bank robber in the history of the United States. FBI agent Carl Hanratty (Tom Hanks) make it his mission to capture Abagnale.
1975 was a different story, however. Spielberg was chosen to direct Jaws. In an interview with a New York magazine, Spielberg said, "Parts of the book terrorized me. I tried to translate my fear into visual language." He succeeded. People flocked to theaters to be scared out of their wits.
Questions for Discussion :
Have you ever bluffed your way through something? If so, what happened?
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