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BBC 2010-11-07BBC News with Jonathan WheatleyA record ransom has been paid to Somali pirates in exchange for a South Korean tanker. About $9m was paid for the Samho Dream, which was seized in April while carrying oil from Iraq to the United States. In a separate move, nearly $3m was paid for the Golden Blessing, a Chinese-owned chemical tanker registered in Singapore. Somali pirates are holding at least 25 other ships. Kevin Mwachiro reports.The Chinese tanker has already been released and is reported to be under Chinese naval escort to safer waters. It had been in pirate hands since April, anchored off the coastal town of Hobyo in central Somalia. The ships 23 crew members are said to be in good health. Its reported that the South Korean tanker with its cargo of oil and 24 crew will be released later in the day.Pope Benedict has criticised what he called the return of anti-church attitudes in Spain during his first day of a visit to the country. He said Spain was experiencing a drive towards secularisation like theyd seen in the 1930s.This clash between faith and modernity, both very lively, is happening again today in Spain. For the future of the faith, it is this meeting, not a confrontation, but a meeting between faith and secularism, which has a central point in Spanish culture. In this regard, I am thinking of all the main Western countries, but especially about Spain.The comments are a reference to the civil war era, during which Republican forces killed thousands of priests and nuns and burnt churches.Several airlines have suspended flights to the Indonesian capital Jakarta because of fears that volcanic ash spewing from Mount Merapi could damage aircraft engines. Some international flights have been diverted to other airports, although domestic flights appear largely unaffected.The government of Haiti says more than 500 people are now known to have died in the current cholera epidemic. Serious flooding caused by Hurricane Tomas has raised fears that the disease will spread. Our correspondent Laura Trevelyan is in Haitis second biggest city, Leogane, where flooding remains a serious problem.Weve just arrived in Leogane. Now this town was 90% destroyed by the earthquake in January, and now the main roads are flooded. Its flooded almost to my knee. And whats happened is that people living in the camps that were set up for the earthquake survivors, those camps are now flooded, and so for the second time in a year, people have been made homeless. Not only is Haiti trying to recover from the earthquake, deal with the cholera outbreak, and now the aftermath of the hurricane.A strike by BBC journalists is in its second day. Members of the National Union of Journalists are protesting at changes to their pensions. The BBC says it wont be improving its final offer to staff.World News from the BBCThe 2,000-year-old House of the Gladiators in the ruins of ancient Pompeii in southern Italy has collapsed. Pompeii, a Unesco World Heritage Site, was destroyed by an eruption of Mount Vesuvius back in 79 AD. David Willey now reports.No one was injured in the collapse which occurred at dawn and was discovered by guards when they arrived for work. The area was closed to tourists. The building excavated from the volcanic ash, which destroyed Pompeii in 79 AD, was damaged by Allied bombs during the Second World War. Part of it was covered by a heavy modern concrete roof built in the 1950s, which was weakened by water infiltration.President Barack Obama on a 10-day tour of Asia has announced $10bn worth of trade deals with India. The White House says the deals will help support more than 50,000 jobs in the United States.Burma is holding its first general election for 20 years on Sunday. The military, which has ruled Burma for almost 50 years, has called the elections. But the main opposition party, the National League for Democracy, led by the Nobel laureate Aung San Suu Kyi, is boycotting them. And candidates supporting the military are expected to win most of the seats. The British ambassador in Burma, Andrew Heyn, told the BBC he didnt think the elections were a sign of real change.Theres nothing in these elections themselves that could give us grounds for optimism. That doesnt mean we turn our backs and walk away. We continue to press for progress after the elections, and if that progress happens, we will of course welcome it. But in and of themselves, these elections dont mark a step for progress.Sports news now: Williams driver Nico Hulkenberg took pole position for the Brazilian Grand Prix. The four main championship hopefuls will line up right behind Hulkenberg in this seasons penultimate race. In football, Manchester United secured a late win over Wolves in the Premier League.BBC News由latonars在2小时前整理的生词：nun n. 修女Allied adj. (一战的)协约国; (二战的)同盟国penultimate (only before noun) adj. 倒数第二的 just before the last oneVOA 2010-11-06From Washington, this is VOA News.At least 70 more are killed in the biggest Indonesian volcano eruption since the 1870s; and a suicide blast kills 50 in a Pakistani mosque. Im Frances Alonzo reporting from Washington.Indonesias Mount Merapi has unleashed a violent eruption that more than doubled its earlier death toll to about 120 people. It also forced evacuation camps to relocate, and the president there has declared the situation a national disaster. Sara Schonhardt reports from Jakarta.Relief workers Friday scrambled to relocate panicked evacuees after Merapis latest blasts, which killed scores of people. The eruption has continued nonstop since late Thursday, sending hot gas clouds, ash and debris raining down. Officials extended the evacuation area to 20 kilometers from the crater, since the latest victims were killed when a superheated gas cloud set fire to villages 18 kilometers away. Sara Schonhardt for VOA News, Jakarta.Pakistani officials say a suicide blast has torn through a mosque in northwestern Pakistan, killing at least 50 people. Authorities say more than 80 others were wounded in the attack during Friday prayers in Darra Adam Khel. Thats a town in Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa province. There was no immediate claim of responsibility.Radical Muslim cleric Abu Hamza, who is wanted in the United States on terrorism charges, has won an appeal to keep his British passport. Hamza is currently serving a seven-year prison term in Britain for inciting his followers to attack non-Muslims. Hes been fighting attempts to extradite him to the United States to face criminal charges.Afghan officials say a suicide bomber has killed at least nine people in a crowded bazaar in the remote northwestern province of Faryab. Officials say Fridays attack by a teenager targeted the leader of a local council who was wounded in the blast along with at least 30 other people.Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu heads to the United States on Saturday on a five-day visit aimed at shoring up US support for Israel. VOA Jerusalem correspondent Luis Ramirez reports.Mr. Netanyahus spokesman Mark Regev says the Israeli leader will first stop in New Orleans on Sunday for an annual meeting of North American Jewish groups. He says talks with Obama administration officials are also on Mr. Netanyahus agenda.We have meetings lined up with Vice President Joe Biden, with Secretary of State Clinton, and we are looking forward to discussing with them how to ensure the continuation of the peace talks that started in the beginning of September in Washington.Prime Minister Netanyahu will not meet with President Obama, who is scheduled to be on a trip to Asia during the entire length of the Israeli leaders visit. Luis Ramirez, VOA News, Jerusalem.A passenger plane crash in a mountainous area of Cuba has killed all 68 people aboard the turboprop airliner. Cubas Civil Aviation Authority confirmed there were no survivors among the 40 Cubans and 28 foreign nationals. Search and rescue crews pulled bodies from the wreckage of the twin turboprop plane in central Cubas Sancti Spiritus province. Thick vegetation in the area shrouded that crash site.Meanwhile, Hurricane Tomas is lashing earthquake-ravaged Haiti with high winds and rains, as forecasters have warned of flooding and dangerous conditions. The US National Hurricane Center says the center of the storm is expected to pass west of Haiti on Friday. Forecasters warn that Tomas could dump up to 25 centimeters of rain in some areas.US President Barack Obama left Friday for a ten-day trip to Asia. Hes on a mission to increase economic ties with the regions emerging economies. Mr. Obamas first stop will be in India, where he will spend four days visiting the financial center of Mumbai and the capital of New Delhi, accompanied by several US business leaders.Thousands of BBC journalists walked out of the state-funded television and radio broadcaster on Friday in a 48-hour strike over cuts in their pension plans. The strike by some 4,000 members of the National Union of Journalists disrupted TV and radio shows enjoyed by millions, forcing the station to run pre-recorded or repeat programs.US stock market indexes were mixed as trading got underway on Friday. The Dow Jones Industrial Average and the NASDAQ edged down less than 0.1%, while the S&P 500 rose 0.2%.More details at . Im Frances Alonzo, VOA News.NPR 2010-11-05From NPR News in Washington, Im Lakshmi Singh.President Obamas charting a path for working with a newly empowered GOP in Congress. NPRs Ari Shapiro reports that following a cabinet meeting this morning, the president talked about his postelection hopes of picking up bipartisan support for his agenda.The White House is trying to regroup after an election that gave Republicans a House majority and shrank the Democrats lead in the Senate. President Obama told reporters after his cabinet meeting, voters sent a message.They want us to focus on the economy and jobs and moving this country forward. Theyre concerned about making sure that taxpayer money is not wasted, and they want to change the tone here in Washington.Mr. Obama says he invited the Democratic and Republican leaders from the House and Senate to a White House meeting on November 18th. He wants to set an agenda for the lame-duck session of Congress that includes extending Bush-era tax cuts for the middle class, extending unemployment insurance and ratifying a nuclear arms treaty with Russia. Ari Shapiro, NPR News, the White House.Despite the White Houses conciliatory tone today, the Senates top Republican, Mitch McConnell of Kentucky, says the GOPs gains Tuesday were good but wont go far enough unless theres a change in the White House.We can hope the president will start listening to the electorate after Tuesdays election. But we cant plan on that. And it would be foolish to expect that Republicans will be able to completely reverse the damage Democrats have done as long as a Democrat holds the veto pen.Senator McConnell speaking today at the Heritage Foundation in Washington, D.C.In Nevada, an active-duty Navy SEAL and two other men face federal charges for allegedly smuggling machine guns from overseas to sell in the United States. From member station KUNR, Brandon Rittiman has details.Prosecutors say all three men were arrested yesterday after undercover agents bought guns from a fourth man in their operation. The agents say that unnamed gun dealer bragged he was getting his weapons from a Navy SEAL, who was bringing them back from Iraq. According to court documents, he cooperated with the authorities and led them to the Navy SEAL, 33-year-old Nicholas Bickle, whos based in San Diego. Bickles accused of conspiring with the man in Las Vegas and another in Colorado to sell as many as 32 gunsmore than half of them automatic. Prosecutors say many had Iraqi military marks on them. Each man faces five years in prison and a quarter of a million fine if convicted on conspiracy charges. Prosecutors also file then array of weapons charges against the men. For NPR News, Im Brandon Rittiman.Two consecutive weeks of declines in Americans filing their first unemployment claims didnt make it to a third week. The Labor Department reports initial applications rose by 20,000 to a seasonally adjusted 457,000 last week.On Wall Street, though were seeing US stocks soar, Dow was up 220 points at last check at 11,435.This is NPR News.A federal judge reluctantly halted the trial today of the man accused of kidnapping Elizabeth Smart, who was held captive for nine months eight years ago. NPRs Howard Berkes reports that a federal appeals court ordered the delay due to concerns about the jury.Attorneys for accused kidnapper Brian David Mitchell sought the delay after a jury was seated this morning. Theyd asked a federal appeals court ea