all because of love

The Taliban in Afghanistan has dismissed a NATO plan to withdraw troops from the country by the end of 2014. The Taliban said the plan was a sign of failure. It said the plan would extend a meaningless and unwinnable war. NATO leaders agreed on the plan Saturday during a meeting in Portugal. They said by 2014, international troops will be only providing support in Afghanistan. Afghanistan's election committee says it has rejected 19 candidates who appeared to win in the country's parliamentary elections. Election officials said they reached their decision after charges of treat cheating were upheld. An official said the candidates do not have a right to appeal the decision. The committee has been investigating about 2,500 complaints. These complaints were considered the most serious after the September 18 elections.

The Palestinian president says he will not return to peace talks with Israel unless it stops building Jewish settlements on all land that Palestinians want for an independent state. Mahmoud Abbas spoke in Cairo Sunday after talks with Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak. President Abbas said he would reject a new Israeli ban on settlement building if it did not include eastern Jerusalem. The Palestinians want that area for a future capital. Israel says it has the right to build anywhere in the city, Israel calls Jerusalem its undivided capital. Talks between Israel and the Palestinians halted after the end of a 10-month ban on Jewish settlement building in the West Bank. The United States has proposed another 90-day ban.

Iraqi police say gunmen have killed an Iraqi television reporter in his home in Mosul. Police say the attackers raided the house of Mazin Mardan Sunday. Mr. Mardan worked for the Al-Mousiliyah satellite station. Media rights group Reporters Without Borders say violence in Iraq has killed more than 230 media workers since the 2003 invasion. This makes the Iraq War the deadliest conflict for the press since World War II. Also Sunday an American soldier was killed during an action in northern Iraq, no other details were available.

Newspapers in Iran say President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad is urging girls to marry at the age of 16. He says he wants to change what he considers the immoral Western influence causing Iranian girls to marry at a later age. Newspapers say Mr. Ahmadinejad reported the average age at marriage in Iran of 24 years for girls and 26 for boys. The Iranian president also criticized Iran's family planning programs. Those programs worked to slow a high population growth rate.

Saudi state media say King Abdullah will leave for the United States Monday to be treated for back problems. The official Saudi news agency says medical tests show the Saudi leader has a bone out of place and a mass of blood around his back bone. His doctors advised treatment in the United States. Crown Prince Sultan will return from a visit to Morocco to lead the country while the King is away.

You are listening to the news in VOA Special English.

European Union finance ministers have agreed to rescue Ireland's troubled economy. The ministers discussed the issue during a telephone conference Sunday. The ministers and Irish officials say the plan is unlikely to cost more than $136 billion, as some reports had estimated. Irish Prime Minister Brian Cowen and his government are also working on a plan of budget cuts. They hope to reduce deficits by more than $20 billion a year. Ireland is the second EU member to ask for economic help this year. Greece got a $145 billion rescue plan from the EU and International Monetary Fund in May.

The top American military officer says reports show that North Korea is expanding nuclear activities that could be a danger to peace in that area. Admiral Mike Mullen, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff commented Sunday on an American television news program. A private American security company last week released satellite pictures it says show building is taking place at the Yongbyon nuclear center. An American nuclear expert says he was shown a new nuclear center during a recent visit to North Korea. Siegfried Hecker said the North Korean nuclear center had hundreds of centrifuges for enriching uranium.

A new report on Crime in America calls St. Louis, Missouri the most dangerous city in the United States. CQ Press publishes the yearly study. It says St. Louis replaces Camden, New Jersey which was at the top of the list last year, as well as in 2003 and 2004. The list is based on the size of a city's population and information on murders, rapes, robberies, attacks and vehicle thefts there. St. Louis had more than 2,000 violent crimes for 100,000 residents. The national average was 429 crimes for the same number of people. Camden came in second on the list, followed by Detroit and then Flint, Michigan. Fifth on the list was Oakland, California.

People fighting the spread of AIDS are praising the leader of the Roman Catholic Church for permitting the use of condoms under some conditions. UNAIDS chief Michel Sidibe said the pope's decision is an important and helpful step forward. Condoms can be used to prevent pregnancy and protect against the spread of disease during sex. Pope Benedict wrote about the issue in his new book, Light of the World. He said sex workers could use condoms because they reduce the spread of infection.

And now briefly, here again is the major news of the hour.

The Taliban in Afghanistan has dismissed a NATO plan to withdraw troops from country by the end of 2014. The Palestinian president says he will not return to peace talks with Israel unless it stops building Jewish settlements on all land that Palestinians want for an independent state. And European Union finance ministers have agreed to rescue Ireland's troubled economy.

And that's the news in VOA Special English coming your way from Washington WORLD NEWS - 00:30 UTC, November 17th, 2010 MP3 节目录音下载 (2.87 M)

It is 00:30 universal time, I'm Mario Ritter in Washington.

Defense Secretary Robert Gates says military action against Iran's nuclear program would only make it, in his words \"deeper and more secretive\". He said economic restrictions against Iran are having an effect by causing divisions among Iranian leaders. Secretary Gates spoke Tuesday in Washington to a policy conference. He said any military action against Iran would bring together a divided nation and make Iran's leaders work harder to get nuclear weapons.

Thailand has sent suspected arms dealer Viktor Bout to the United States to be tried on terrorism charges. The Russian man was taken from a prison in Bangkok and put on a flight to the United States Tuesday. He is expected to arrive in New York late Tuesday. Viktor Bout is accused of selling weapons used in conflicts in Africa, the Middle East and South America. The United States wants to try him for plotting to kill Americans and supporting a terrorist organization. The Russian government has denounced the move as illegal. The ministry said it was the result of political pressure on Thailand by the United States.

Health officials in Haiti confirmed Tuesday that cholera has killed more than 1,000 people. The officials say 1,034 people have died because of the disease. More than 16,700 others have been taken to hospitals or medical centers since cholera cases were first reported last month. Protestors have accused United Nations peacekeeping troops from Nepal of bringing the disease to Haiti. There were violent demonstrations against U.N. troops on Monday. At least 2 people were killed in clashes between protestors and the U.N. troops.

Security forces were deployed across Guinea's capital Tuesday. The deployment comes one day after officials said opposition leader Alpha Conde won the runoff presidential election. At least 66 people have been injured in violence since the election results were announced late Monday. Guinea's military rulers have banned all public demonstrations. The military says it will not let violence stop the move to civilian rule. On Tuesday, supporters of Mr. Conde cheered in the streets as he visited parts of Conakry after morning prayers. Election officials say he won 52.5 percent of the votes. Officials said former prime minister Cellou Dalein Diallo received 47.5 percent. Both men have appealed for calm. Mr. Diallo says he will dispute the election results.

You are listening to the news in VOA Special English.

United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon says the U.N. hopes to increase the number of peacekeepers in Sudan before a special vote in January. The vote will decide whether southern Sudan will become an independent country. Mr. Ban told the U.N. Security Council Tuesday that a failed vote could restart violence in the area. The Secretary-General did not say how many extra troops the U.N. could send. But he said it would not be enough to prevent a return to war if violence begins. British Foreign Minister William Hague said urgent action is required by the north and south to guarantee a peaceful and fair vote.

Vice President Joe Biden says failure by Congress to approve a nuclear arms control treaty with Russia this year will endanger national security. Mr. Biden said Americans will have no way to confirm Russia's nuclear weapon supplies without approval of the New Start Treaty. He said without the deal cooperation between the two nations will weaken. The United States and Russia hold 90 percent of the world's nuclear weapons. Earlier Tuesday a Republican party lawmaker said he does not think the Senate has time to consider the deal this year.

Rescue workers are still searching for survivors of a building collapse in New Delhi. The collapse killed at least 66 people Tuesday. Officials said at least 30 people are believed to be trapped underneath the wreckage, about 80 others were injured. Hundreds of family members crowded the area around the wreckage as rescuers and volunteers searched. They demanded answers from New Delhi officials about how the building fell down in minutes. The cause of the collapse is not clear.

A subcommittee of the United States House of Representatives has found congressman Charles Rangel guilty of violating ethics rules.The congressman was found guilty on 11 of 12 charges mostly related to financial wrong doing. The charges included failing to report earnings from a home he owns in the Dominican Republic. Congressman Rangel was not present Tuesday when the subcommittee announced its ruling. He walked out of a meeting on Monday. He left after saying he did not have a lawyer there to defend him. The full Ethics Committee will now meet to decide how to punish Mr. Rangel. It will then make a suggestion to the full House of Representatives.

The United Nations has added to its list of world cultural treasures. The United Nations Educational and Scientific Organization added 46 cultural products to its list of important treasures Tuesday in Nairobi, Kenya. These include flamenco dance and music from Spain and French cooking. UNESCO described flamenco as a \"form of identity of many communities and groups\" in Spain, it described French cooking as \"supporting togetherness and the pleasure of taste\". The list also included carpet weaving in Azerbaijan and Iran, and acupuncture from traditional Chinese medicine. Briefly here again is the major news of the hour.

Defense Secretary Robert Gates says military action against Iran's nuclear program would only make it, in his words \"deeper and more secretive\". Thailand has sent suspected arms dealer Viktor Bout to the United States for trial on terrorism charges. And health officials in Haiti have confirmed that cholera has killed more than 1,000 people. That's the news in Special English, I'm Mario Ritter. ----------------------------------------

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