BBC news 2007-06-11 加文本

BBC 2007-06-11


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BBC World News with John Jason.

First results from the parliamentary election in France suggest that President Nicholas Sarkozy's party is on course for a big majority. If confirmed in next weekend's final round of the election, the results would give his center right UMP party up to 80% of the seats. Mr. Sarkozy needs strong parliamentary support for his program of social and economic reforms, as Emma Jane Curby reports from Paris.

The exit polls confirm that President Sarkozy is well on the way to getting exactly what he wants: a big conservative majority in parliament which will back his ambitious program of social and economic reforms. Although this is only the first round of voting in a two-stage election, the early results suggest the opposition socialists are floundering and could see their already limited influence weakened much further.

The people of Belgium in legislative elections have voted to oust the center right Prime Minister Guy Verhofstadt and his coalition of liberals and socialists after eight years in power. Results in the key Dutch-speaking region of Flanders have shown big gains by the Flemish Christian Democrats, paving the way for a new administration. In a statement, Mr. Verhofstadt said that the electorate had chosen a new majority. He is expected to offer his resignation on Monday to King Albert.

President Bush is in Bulgaria on the last leg of his European tour. He is having talks on Monday with the Bulgarian President Georgi Purvanov and the Prime Minister Sergei Stanishev. It’s thought that discussions will include the proposed siting of an American missile defense system in Europe and the future of the Serbian province of Kosovo. Earlier in Albania, Mr. Bush called for swift action to give Kosovo independence.
"The people of Kosovo need to know that it is a solid, firm position even though there's diplomacy and talks. They just hope that there is some way that we can reach an accommodation with a variety of interests so that the transition to independence will be as smooth and easy as possible."

China has been accused of grossly exploiting workers including children making official merchandise for next year's Olympic Games in Beijing. A report by an international campaign group PlayFair 08 quotes what it says examples of exploitation at four factories in southern China. Helen Wilkinson reports.

The research by the global pressure group PlayFair alliance focused on four factories making official products such as clothes and stationery. Once there investigators found children as young as twelve were working on the production line. They also discovered adults were being paid 14 pence an hour. Responding to the report, the International Olympic Committee said / it didn't have direct control over all official products, but it had set standards that it expected cities and manufacturers to follow.

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American researchers have predicted that the number of people suffering from the degenerative brain disease Alzheimer's will quadruple by 2050. A study presented to an Alzheimer's conference in Washington says that one in eighty five people will then have the disease and that millions of people will need to be looked after in nursing homes.

Hundreds of thousands of people have turned out in the Brazilian city of Sao Paulo for the annual gay pride march said by the organizers to be the biggest in the world. In typical Brazilian fashion, there are stunning costumes, floats and music, but not quite everything is lighthearted. As Gary Duffy reports from the parade in Sao Paulo.

It seemed most of Sao Paulo was in party mood as the crowds made their way along the city's most famous street, A. for this annual parade. The organizers say this is the largest gay pride event in the world. And in terms of the number of tourists it attracts, it's second only to the Rio Carnival. Most people came to enjoy the music, costumes and floats. But the parade also had a serious message, this year's theme is calling for a world free of racism, sexism and homophobia.

The space shuttle Atlantis has docked with the international space station in the latest stage of the program which is ultimately aimed at future manned missions to Mars. The maneuver involved dramatic backwards somersault in space before the docking was completed. The shuttle will stay there for a week so that crew members can install electricity generating solar panels at the station.

This season's Formula one newcomer, the British driver Lewis Hamilton has won his first Grand Prix, starting from pole position in the Canadian Grand Prix and leading to the finish. Hamilton now leads the championship 8 points ahead of his McLaren teammate and the reigning champion Fernando Alonso, who finished in seventh place. BMW's Nick Heidfeld finished second with Alexander Wurz of Williams behind him in third.

BBC World News.
Vocabulary

Alzheimer's disease: 早老性痴呆症（可导致年老者大脑早衰，丧失记忆、语言等能力的疾病。

backwards somersault: 后空翻