利比亚反对派连夺两座重镇 中东媒体称卡扎菲军队已处守势

　　利比亚反对派连夺两座重镇 中东媒体称卡扎菲军队已处守势

　　Rebel forces in Libya have made a rapid advance westwards against government troops helped by international air strikes which have destroyed many of Colonel Gaddafi’s tanks and artillery. Explosions have been heard in the capital Tripoli and the government’s stronghold of Sirte. Earlier, rebels captured the oil ports of Ras Lanuf and Brega. Ben Brown reports.

　　It’s been a remarkable day for the rebels. They’ve now advanced westwards along the coastal highway. Town after town has fallen to them--Brega, Uqayla, Ras Lanuf, Bin Jawad. The rebels are in a state of high excitement. They’ve been firing their guns into the air in exuberant celebration. But the truth is they'd never have made this breakthrough if it hadn’t been for the devastating coalition air strikes outside Ajdabiya on Thursday and Friday. The rebels claimed they could be in Sirte tomorrow, Colonel Gaddafi’s birthplace and his heart lands.

　　A rebel spokesman in another Libyan city Misrata told the BBC the fighting was continuing for control of the main roads through the city. He said the rebels were being helped by aerial attacks by Western forces.

　　“This is the first night of major, major activities and major bombings by the international community along Misrata. They have bombed all his resources and barracks along Misrata, so we are getting much needed and much appreciated and great help from the international forces and the international community.”

　　北约接过美国指挥棒 助利比亚反对派

　　NATO has agreed to take control of all international operations in Libya. The organisation’s Secretary General Anders Fogh Rasmussen said the decision would take immediate effect. From Brussels, here’s Chris Morris.

　　The secretary general says the alliance’s decided to take on the whole military operation in Libya. “We will implement ‘all aspects’ of the United Nations resolution,” Mr Rasmussen said in a recorded statement. NATO has already agreed to enforce the arms embargo and patrol a no-fly zone over Libya. But the mission to protect civilians was more sensitive, because it involved debate about what exactly are legitimate military targets on the ground. The precise details of the rules of engagement have not been revealed, however. Alongside the Nato command structure, there will be a separate high-level committee of representatives from all countries taking part in military action, including Arab states. Chris Morris

　　叙利亚警民冲突持续已造成数十人死亡

　　The Syrian government has admitted that at least 12 people, including members of the security forces, have been killed during the past two days in an anti-government protest in the coastal city of Latakia. Another 200 people were wounded when unidentified gunmen opened fire on protesters. Some demonstrators have accused government forces of being behind the violence. The authorities have blamed armed gangs and outsiders for trying to destabilize Syria.

　　World News from the BBC

　　以色列首次部署“铁穹”防火箭弹系统

　　Israel has activated a new anti-missile defense system to shoot down rockets fired from Gaza. The system called Iron Dome is operating near the city of Beersheba in the south of the country. Palestinian militants have fired more than 80 rockets into southern Israel in recent days. Israel says its aircraft attacked Gaza on Sunday, killing two members of the Palestinian militant group Islamic Jihad, who were preparing an attack.

　　默克尔执政联盟在德国巴登符腾堡州选举中败北

　　The German Chancellor Angela Merkel has suffered a humiliating result in a key regional election in the state of Baden-Wuerttemberg. Results so far indicate her Christian Democrat Party will lose power in the state, which is held for six decades. The German Foreign Minister Guido Westerwelle of the liberal FDP expressed his disappointment.

　　“It’s a bad day for us liberals. We’ve lost the vote today. The nuclear energy issue seems to have been the deciding theme that concerned everyone. It was a vote on the future of nuclear energy. The frightful events in Japan, the nuclear mishap in Fukushima and the consequences for us in Germany, those were the deciding factors in this local election.”

　　福岛核电站辐射量严重超标 工人纷纷撤离

　　The operators of the Japanese nuclear power plant crippled by the earthquake and tsunami more than two weeks ago have reported the highest levels of radiation so far. Workers fled the reactor at the Fukushima complex when a reading showed water 10 million times more radioactive than normal. A spokesman later said that figure might have been wrong. But he confirmed that any workers near the contaminated water would receive four times their annual maximum radiation dose in just one hour.

　　巴斯克武装独立派同意接受“国际验证”停火

　　The armed Basque separatist movement Eta says it would accept what it calls “informal international verification” of its ceasefire. Eta called a truce last year and in January said it would be permanent. But the Spanish government has refused to recognise it.

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