美联社新闻一分钟 2007-09-03

（单词翻译）

A US negotiator says North Korea has agreed to declare and disable all of its nuclear facilities by the end of the year. He says this is a promising¹ start to improving multi-national relations with the communist country, Six-Party Talks scheduled for later this month.

Hurricane Felix has been upgraded to a category four storm. It has already battered² the Caribbean islands of Aruba, Curasao and Bonaire. But only downed trees and power outages have been reported. Felix is expected to skirt Honduras and hit Belize as a category four storm on Wednesday.

Idaho Senator Larry Craig's resignation is the talk of Washington. Democratic Senator Patrick Leahy, Republican Senator John Ensign and other lawmakers are relieved to see a swift end to Craig's sex scandal. Republican leaders praise the move as the party has been rocked with multiple sex scandals in recent months.

Pope Benedict XVI is urging young people to take better care of the environment. The pontiff's eco-friendly message says natural resources like water need to be preserved and shared to avoid conflict.