美国沃尔玛性别歧视案开庭 沃尔玛或赔偿上百亿

　　President Obama has said he does not rule out supplying American weapons to opposition figures in Libya. In a series of television interviews, he says he’s looking at all options in the current crisis. He said that Colonel Gaddafi was greatly weakened. Steve Kingstone reports from Washington.

　　Barack Obama was repeatedly pressed on whether he would supply the Libyan rebels with US military hardware. “I’m not ruling it out, but I’m also not ruling it in.” he replied, stressing that all options were being examined. The president confirmed that America would supply what he called “non-lethal assistance” to the opposition--humanitarian aid, medical supplies and communications equipments. He said coalition military action had left Colonel Gaddafi on his heels and greatly weakened and added that was his expectation that the Libyan leader would ultimately step down.

　　Earlier, the British Foreign Secretary William Hague said that the coalition forces might allow equipments to be sent to people in Libya to defend themselves. He was speaking after an international conference on Libya in London. While as the talks took place in London, forces loyal to Colonel Gaddafi launched a new offensive in eastern Libya, driving out rebels from towns they had recently captured. The BBC’s Ben Brown in the eastern town of Ajdabiya says the rebels have had a very bad day.

　　Colonel Gaddafi’s forces hit back very hard indeed. Around the town of Bin Jawad, there’s been ferocious fighting there. The rebels, hundreds of them up at the front line, fired Katyusha rockets among other things at the Gaddafi forces. The Gaddafi fighters hitting back with heavy weapons. But the aftershock is that the rebels have had to retreat from Bin Jawad and also where here in from Ras Lanuf as well, an important oil town with a large oil refinery.

　　科特迪瓦前总理阵营攻占多个战略要地

　　Other news now. And Laurent Gbago, the leader of Ivory Coast who refused to step down following elections last year, has appealed for an immediate ceasefire in the face of advances by opposition forces. His spokesman called for talks mediated by the African Union. John James reports from Bouake.

　　As the pro-Ouattara fighters move south, they met great resistance from the official state forces publicly at least remain loyal to President Gbagbo. In the major western town of Daloa in the heart of the country’s cocoa-producing region, pro-Ouattara forces captured a major army barracks without much of a fight. On further south, the town of Issia was abandoned by the security forces before the pro-Ouattara fighters arrived. From there, only the town of Soubre remains before fighters reach the coast and the key port of San Pedro. In the east, on the border with Ghana, progress has been even faster.

　　伊拉克地方议会大楼遭袭击

　　Iraqi officials have said they believe Sunni militants linked to al-Qaeda were responsible for a bloody siege on Tuesday, in which more than 50 people were killed. The violence took place at a local government building in Tikrit. A fierce gun battle ended when the attackers, numbering about eight, blew themselves up.

　　World News from the BBC.

　　美国沃尔玛性别歧视案开庭 沃尔玛或赔偿上百亿

　　The United States Supreme Court has been hearing evidence on whether a major sex discrimination case can go ahead against the retail giant Wal-Mart. A group of former Wal-Mart employees want to bring a class action lawsuit on behalf of more than a million women who work for the company. Rajini Vaidyanathan now reports from Washington.

　　In one corner, it’s the world’s largest retailer; in the other, a group of its own employees. Six women who worked for the company Wal-Mart alleged they were unfairly overlooked for pay rises and promotion in favour of less experienced male colleagues. If the Supreme Court decides it should go ahead, it would mean more than a million women who’ve worked for the retail store since 1998 would be eligible for a pay-out. Wal-Mart denies any claims of sexism, saying it’s won awards for its female-friendly policies and it has many senior women employees.

　　美国大学决定对07年校园暴力事件提起上诉

　　An American university says it will appeal against the decision to fine it over a campus rampage in 2007 by a gunman, who killed 32 people. The US Department of Education levied the maximum $55,000 fine, accusing the authorities at Virginia Tech of waiting too long to notify students that a gunman on the loose.

　　快递公司将制作炸弹材料运往土耳其 英国着手调查

　　A major investigation is underway in Britain into how a fake bomb was transported on the UPS cargo plane from Britain to Turkey without being detected. The package was placed inside a wedding cake box. A British government spokesman said that the incident was being treated very seriously and there would be an examination of carriage procedures.

　　古巴领导人劳尔卡斯特罗会晤美国前总统卡特

　　The former United States President Jimmy Carter has held talks in Havana with the Cuban leader Raul Castro. Details of the meeting have not been made public. Mr Carter said he’d earlier had talks with officials about an imprisoned American communications contractor Alan Gross, but stressed he’d not come to secure his release. The case has raised tensions between Havana and Washington.

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