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.
Chief weapons inspector Hans Blix says key disarmament issues remain concerning Iraq after 60 days of search for its alleged weapons of mass destruction and urges Baghdad to take the issue more seriously.
In his formal report to the 15-nation council on inspection work, Blix said the reports prepared by his weapons inspection team do not contend that weapons of mass destruction remain in Iraq, nor do the reports exclude that possibility.
He urged the Iraqi government to take the questions raised by UN weapons inspectors seriously rather than brushing them aside.
Blix said that Iraqi still has “unresolved disarmament issues” including VX nerve gas, anthrax and Scud-type missiles.
Meanwhile, Mohamed Elbaradei, director-general of the International Atomic Energy Agency, says that no evidence has been found showing that Iraq has revived its nuclear program, and a “credible assurance” that Iraq has no such weapons is possible within months.
In his briefing to the UN Security Council on the findings, ElBaradei said his inspectors found no evidence of Iraq’s hidden nuclear activities and intended to go on.
He added inspectors should be able within the next few months to provide credible assurance that Iraq has no nuclear weapons program.
After chief UN inspectors Hans Blix and ElBaradei briefed the Security Council on their assessment of Baghdad’s compliance with Resolution 1441, Iraqi ambassador to the UN Mohammed al-Douri says that Iraq has offered active cooperation with the UN weapons inspectors.
***
A senior Chinese envoy to the UN says the inspection process by the UN should continue and more time is needed.
Zhang Yishan, Chinese deputy envoy to the UN, says that since the job of the UN weapons inspectors has not been completed, China hopes the inspectors would go on with their work entrusted by the Security Council Resolution 1441 “impartially, objectively and professionally.”
The Chinese envoy also urged Iraq to be more cooperative with the UN inspectors, and abide by relevant UN resolutions.
Chinese Foreign Minister Tang Jiaxuan said earlier last week that the submission of a report by UN chief weapons inspectors only marks a new beginning of the inspection process.
***
Russian Foreign Minister Igor Ivanov has denied recent Western and Arab media reports that Moscow has proposed that Iraqi President Saddam Hussein resign and take shelter in Russia.
Ivanov describes the media reports on this problem as "a product of unscrupulous people who want or wanted this to happen", saying they are seeking to cast a shadow on Russia's principled policy on the issue.
On North Korea's nuclear crisis, Ivanov says that sanctions against Pyongyang may worsen the situation.
He stresses the crisis should be settled primarily through a direct dialogue between Washington and Pyongyang.
***
Indian Foreign Minister Yashwant Sinha says his country’s policies towards China are based on the belief that Indian and Chinese development and prosperity are a certainty.
He told an international conference on Asian security in New Delhi that India's policies are not based on a fear of Chinese power or envy of China's economic achievements.
Sinha stressed that military conflict is unlikely between the two major Asian nations because they both have overlapping interests and seek a larger global role.
He claims that India never pursues, nor makes policies, toward China based on the belief that conflict in inevitable.
***
Palestinian National Authority (PNA) Cabinet Minister Saeb Erekat has urged the US to move as soon as possible to help end the increased Israeli military escalation against the Palestinians.
Erekat's call came after Israeli Defense Minister Shaul Mofaz threatened to reoccupy all the Gaza Strip, and after Israeli intensive military operations in the Gaza City killed 12 Palestinians on Sunday.
Erekat said that the Palestinians urged the US to move as quickly as possible to end the Israeli aggression on the Palestinian people.
On Monday, the Palestinian Islamic Resistance Movement (Hamas) and the Islamic Jihad (Holy War) refused to recognize the Palestine Liberation Organization as representatives of the Palestinian people.
The two groups said there must be an alternative political leadership, instead of the PNA, to lead the Palestinian people.
China has lifted restrictions on foreign firms investing in Chinese futures brokerage firms.
The move is seen as providing a boost to China's futures market, which continues to struggle after a 10 year operation to clean up corrupt practices.
It will also help China meet World Trade Organization requirements to open up its capital markets.
This will allow foreigners to actually participate in futures trading, but no time has been set for such a move.
*****
US-based CDMA Qualcomm Inc. is gearing up to launch its technology in China soon.
Qualcomm will be rolling out CDMA in China with the help of mobile network provider China Unicom and several other partners, including Ericsson, Lucent Technologies, Nortel and Motorola.
China Unicom says it hopes CDMA can help it overtake China Mobile as China's number one mobile phone company.
Currently most of China's mobile phones run on the GSM system. But China Unicom has ordered about 1.2 billion US dollars in telecom equipment to set up CDMA cell sites and base stations.
*****
The relationship between Cathay Pacific and the Dragonair has been strained by an escalating battle over the passenger market in China.
Cathay does not now fly into the mainland but has announced it wants to offer services between Hong Kong and Shanghai, Beijing and Xiamen.
Dragonair has objected to Cathay's entry into the mainland market, where Dragonair earns the bulk of its profits.
*****
The Chinese women's national team has landed a 2-0 victory over its arch-rival the US in the four-nation invitational tournament, taking sweet revenge over its loss in the 1999 World Cup final.
With the win, China leads the standings with four points from two games in the competition.
Earlier, Olympic champions, Norway, tied with Germany 2-2.
On Wednesday, china takes on Norway in their final round-robin game, while the US faces Germany.
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
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