中英双语新闻 奥巴马任命贾兰德担任最高法院大法官（在线收听）

Hello, I'm Sue Montgomery with the BBC news.

President Obama has nominated a moderate judge Merrick Garland to the vacancy to the US Supreme Court, setting up a showdown with Republicans. The appointment has to be ratified by the senate but its Republican majority has vowed to block any court nominee from Mr Obama. Barbara Plett-Usher has more from Washington.

President Obama chose justice Garland as the best option for a consensus candidate somebody who is a liberal but not a hard-down-the-line liberal, more of a centrist candidate in many ways. Somebody who has been supported by both Republicans and Democrats in the past and who has a reputation for decency and fair-mindedness.

The Brazilian president Dilma Rousseff has defended the appointment of her predecessor Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva as chief of staff. Ms Rousseff said the former leader was a skillful political negotiator who would help kick off an economic recovery. Hours after the announcement, protectors gathered outside the presidential palace in Brasília. Julia Carneiro has just sent this report.

Lula is being investigated by police and the move to bring him into government is seen by many as an attempt to shield him from charges. His new role grants him special privileges and he cannot be prosecuted by regular courts, only by the Supreme Court. Protests against his appointment have broke in at least four Brazilian cities including the capital Brasília where around 2000 people gathered outside the presidential palace. The anger spread to the lower house where MPs held a chaotic session loudly chanting resignation, calling president Dilma Rousseff to leave her post.

President Obama has ordered new sanctions against North Korea following its recent nuclear and missile tests. Earlier, the White House has accused North Korea of using American citizens as political pawns. After Pyongyang sentenced the US student Otto Warmbier to 15 years of hard labour for crimes against the state, the White House spokesman Josh Earnest called for the student's immediate release.

The allegations for which this individual was arrested and imprisoned would not give rise to arrest or imprisonment in the United States or in just about any country in the world. Now despite official claims that US citizens arrested in North Korea are not used for political purposes, it is increasingly clear that the North Korean government seeks to use these US citizens as pawns to pursue a political agenda.

Local authorities in Somalia and Kenyan forces who're deployed in the country say they've killed 30 suspected members of the militant group al-Shabab in two separate battles. The authorities in the semi-autonomous region of Puntland say 11 Islamists were killed and the Kenyan army said its forces killed 19 militants in southern Somalia.

World news from the BBC.

Pro-Russian rebels in Ukraine's breakaway province of Donetsk has begun issuing passports in an effort to show their independence from the government in Kiev. The leader of the self-proclaimed Donetsk People's Republic Alexander Zakharchenko said the passports were an important step on the path towards state-building and could be used to travel to neighboring Russia. Moscow has not officially recognized the territory which now uses the Russian rouble as its official currency.

Police in France say they've arrested four suspected Islamist militants as part of a wider investigation into a possible plot against French targets. Computer equipment has also been seized. The Interior Minister Bernard Cazeneuve said the authorities have received information that one of those arrested might commit violent attacks but also urged caution.

We have information about one person that suggested he could undertake violent attacks in France. This man could have been in contact of people in Syria and members of IS.

The US central bank, the Federal Reserve has kept its interest rate unchanged because of fears for the health of global economy. The tight rate remains 0.25 precent to 0.5 percent after being raised for the first time in nearly a decade in December. The Federal Reserve had previously indicated that it was planning for a small interest rate raise this year totaling one precent but that's now being scaled back.

White House officials say president Obama will make a historical address to the Cuban people when he visits the island next week. The official said that in this speech Tuesday, the last day of his trip, Mr Obama will talk about the complicated history between the two countries. He will be the first sitting US president to visit Cuba for almost 90 years.

苏·蒙哥马利为你播报BBC新闻。

奥巴马总统提名温和派梅里克·贾兰德担任美国最高法院法官，这是与共和党进行的最后摊牌。该任命已经得到参议院的批准，但其共和党多数派誓言要阻挠奥巴马的任命的任何法官人选。芭芭拉·皮莱特·亚瑟在华盛顿报道。

奥巴马总统选择贾兰德作为经过协商产生的最佳候选人，他是一位自由派人士，但又不是强硬的自由派，在很多方面更像是位中间派人士，他曾经得到共和党和民主党的支持，因作风正派和做事公正而著称。

巴西总统迪玛·罗塞夫任命前总统路易斯·伊纳西奥·卢拉·达席尔瓦为参谋长并为这个决定辩护，她说这位前总统是位经验丰富的政治协商者，可以帮助促进经济的复苏。就在宣布任命几小时后，抗议者聚集在巴西利亚总统官邸外，茱莉亚·卡内罗报道。

卢拉目前在接受警方调查，而任命他担任公职的决定被很多人看来是在保护他免受指控，他的新职位将赋予他特权，可以不受常规法庭的起诉，只能被最高法院起诉。至少4个巴西城市举行了反对任命他的抗议，首都巴西利亚有大约2000人参加了总统官邸外的抗议。这股愤慨蔓延到了下议院，议员们在吵闹中举行了会议，他们要求总统迪玛·罗塞夫下台。

针对朝鲜最近的核测试和导弹测试，总统奥巴马下令对朝鲜采取新的制裁措施。早些时候，白宫指责朝鲜拿美国公民来作为政治筹码，在平壤判定美国学生犯有颠覆朝鲜罪并判刑15年劳改后，白宫发言人乔希·厄内斯特呼吁立即释放这名学生。

在美国或世界上任何其他国家，这名学生被捕和被囚禁的所谓理由都不成立。现在尽管官方声称朝鲜逮捕美国公民不会用作政治目的，但目前看来越来越明显的一点是，朝鲜政府希望使用这些美国公民作为筹码来实现政治目的。

索马里地方当局和被派遣到索马里的肯尼亚部队称在两次战斗中击毙了30名阿尔沙巴布组织嫌疑分子，半自治地区普特兰的地方当局称有11名伊斯兰分子被杀，肯尼亚军队称其在索马里南部杀死19名武装分子。

BBC世界新闻。

乌克兰分离地区顿涅茨克省的亲俄叛军开始颁发护照，这是为了表明该地区独立于基辅政府。自封为顿涅茨克人民共和国领袖的亚历山大·扎哈尔琴科称颁发护照是朝着建国的重要一步，护照可以被用来到邻国俄罗斯旅行。莫斯科尚未正式承认该地区，目前该地区使用俄罗斯的卢布作为官方货币。

法国警方称在对针对法国目标的可能阴谋的调查中逮捕了4名伊斯兰嫌疑武装分子，还查获了电脑设备。内政部长伯纳德·卡赞纽尔称当局得到情报称其中一名被捕者可能会实施暴力袭击，并提醒保持警惕。

我们得到关于一名嫌疑分子的情报，称此人可能会在法国实施暴力袭击，此人可能与叙利亚的人和伊斯兰国组织成员有联系。

出于对全球经济的担忧，美国央行美联储保持利率不变。去年12月美国加息，这是近十年来的首次，此后利率一直保持在0.25到0.5之间。美联储此前表示计划今年小幅度加息，使之达到1%，但现在开始保持较低的利率水平。

白宫官员称奥巴马总统下周将访问古巴并对古巴人民发表历史性的讲话，官方称在周二奥巴马访问的最后一天，他将发表演讲，他将谈及两国之间复杂的关系。奥巴马将是近90年以来首位访问古巴的在位的美国总统。