BBC在线收听下载:德国总理默克尔称确保英国有序脱欧

BBC News, hello, I'm Jerry Smit.

The German Chancellor Angela Merkel has promised again to work till the last hour to try to ensure that Britain leaves the EU in an orderly fashion. She told parliament in Berlin that she was in the interests of all sides, and urged everybody to focus on the task ahead.

It's clear that this is no easy task, but if we want an orderly solution, then we have to concentrate all our efforts in the remaining days on making it possible. And I believe that with the withdrawal documents, sufficient progress has been made.

Mrs. Merkel said EU leaders were told intensive discussions later today above the British Prime Minister Theresa May's request to extend the deadline for Brexit, Britain's exit till the thirtieth of June. She said leaders were minded to grant it if the British parliament approved the exit deal next week, and if such a move didn't jeopardize European Parliamentary elections in May.

Search and rescue teams in Southern Africa are continuing to look for people stranded by the floods following Cyclone Idai which brought havoc to Mozambique, Malawi and Zimbabwe last week. Emergency aid operations have been stepped up to bring food, water and shelter to hundreds of thousands of people displaced across the region by the storm. Here is Virgo King.
There's been no rain overnight in Beira and none this morning. Rescue flights are again underway from the city's airport. The operation has so far depended on a small number of helicopters, as few as four, with thousands of people still stranded in remote districts. Flying over one area about half an hour from Beira, we saw hundreds of people gathered on different patches of high ground. The World Food Program is expecting more helicopters to arrive today and in the next few days, increasing the capacity for rescue and the delivery of food and medical supplies.

The Prime Minister of New Zealand Jacinda Ardern has announced an immediate ban on the sale of assault rifles and military-style semi-automatic weapons. The measure comes six days after a gunman stormed mosques in the city of Christchurch, murdering fifty people. Ms. Ardern said more legislation would follow.

The weapons available in New Zealand are only part of the problem and loopholes with our current law continue to exist. Be assured this is just the beginning of the work we need to do.
The country will observe a two minutes silence on Friday to remember the Christchurch victims.

News from the BBC.