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 to work for a peaceful resolution on North Korean nuclear issue
Chinese President Jiang Zemin states that China always supports a non-nuclear Korean Peninsula and calls for dialogues to peacefully resolve the nuclear crisis in the region.
He said this when meeting an envoy from South Korea President-elect Roh Moo-Hyun, Lee Hae-chan in Beijing on Thursday.
Jiang Zemin says China supports President Kim Dae-jung's sunshine policy on North Korea and welcomes the president-elect's decision to stick to it. He points out that staying non-nuclear is beneficial for a peaceful and prosperous Korean Peninsula.
Lee Hae-chan says South Korea will continue to make efforts to improve inter-Korean relations, and that South Korea and China share common ground on the North Korean nuclear issue. The envoy says South Korea is willing to cooperate with China to seek a peaceful resolution to the crisis.
***
Russia to back UN Security Council resolution on DPRK issue
A Russian official says Moscow will support a UN Security Council's resolution on the nuclear crisis in North Korea, should a direct dialogue shape up between Pyongyang and Washington.
Deputy Foreign Minister Alexander Losyukov says Moscow believes that if the issue is moved to the UN, this will not contribute to inducing a constructive and trustful dialogue between the two sides.
The Russian delegation abstained from voting on the draft resolution passed by the IAEA Thursday to denounce North Korea.
***
UNMOVIC says arms inspections fail to achieve breakthrough
A UN spokesperson says no breakthrough has been seen in the weapons inspection mission, despite positive cooperation from Iraq.
The spokesman announced that Al-Samoud and Al-Fatah missiles have been found in Iraq and that UN missile experts have concluded that their ranges were beyond the permitted 150 kilometers.
He revealed the issue would be included in Blix and ElBaradei's reports.
The spokesman also says Iraq's National Assembly had not approved legislation banning biological and chemical weapons and urged the Iraqi parliament, which is expected to meet on Friday, to pass the legislation.
However, Iraqi Deputy Prime Minister Tariq Aziz said no missile in Iraq breaks the UN-set range limit and Iraq is “doing its best” to cooperate with weapons inspectors.
In Washington, US President George W. Bush urged the UN to show its resolve to act on the Iraq issue.
***
Chinese university students call for peaceful solution to Iraqi problem
Students of the Beijing University have called for a peaceful solution to the Iraqi problem within the UN framework.
Chairman of the Student Union of the university, Ruan Cao, says they hope the UN can deal with the crisis and avoid war, so as to pave the way for future world peace.
Most of the students agree there is still hope to solve the problem politically and all parties concerned should spare no efforts for this end.
***
Li Lanqing requests to continue to develop the elderly cause
Vice Premier Li Lanqing says governments at all levels should act to ensure the well-being of the nation's senior citizen population.
He says local governments should quicken the construction of community service facilities for retirees as well as set up necessary support and outreach programs.
He also says medical insurance and subsistence safeguards for senior citizens in rural areas should be a priority.
The Vice Premier advocates more government-sponsored senior education, cultural enrichment activities, and the safeguarding of seniors' rights.
He notes that China's elderly population of more than 130 million is projected to rise to 400 million by 2050.
***
Pneumonia Patients in Two Cities Recovered
Patients from two cities in south China's Guangdong have recovered from the unknown pneumonia strain that has hit the province.
Director of the Chinese Center for Disease Control and Prevention, Li Liming says the disease is confined to certain regions of the province.
“There have been no reports of any new cases for 4 successive days in the province. And no such cases have been found in any other cities across the country.”
But Li Liming stresses that time is still needed to identify the true cause of the outbreak.
The director added that the unidentified lung disease was also an effective test of the country's disease prevention and control system.
“Currently, our check-up facilities are still lagging behind, and we are trying to perfect the public health sector's supervision and pre-warning systems.”
Six cities in Guangdong province have had cases of the unknown lung disease, and no conclusion has been reached as to whether the 300 infected people were struck by the same virus or bacterium.
The deputy director of the State Forestry Administration says China will further improve monitoring and supervision to prevent harmful organisms from abroad entering the country.
He told a conference Thursday in Beijing that the rapid development of international trade has increased the threat of such organisms coming into China.
*****
The Chinese Education Minister has urged the country to fully tap its human resources potential.
She says China is a country rich in human resources, and that their development and the improvement of the nation's education levels are essential for continued economic growth in the country.
*****
As spring draws near, people in China, South Korea, and Japan are again preparing for possible sandstorms.
While everyone hates sandstorms, scientists find that sandstorms are helpful at least in one way: they reduce the damage caused by acid rain.
Chinese and Japanese scientists have found out that the sand can neutralize acid and thus make it less harmful to plants and the soil.
The finding has taken some of the sting from the accusation by some countries that China is one of the main countries responsible for acid rain.
It has also won wide support from Japanese and Korean scientists.
*****
China has applied to the UN for the traditional martial art of Shaolin kungfu to become an intangible cultural relic. Although many people see official designation of being an intangible cultural relic as an honour, an article in China Youth Daily says being selected will not help revitalize the art.
The article calls for more substantial moves to revitalize Chinese culture instead of showing it off.
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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