英国新闻听力 美国最高龄死刑犯自然原因去世（在线收听）

On the second day of a major offensive against the Taliban in the southern Afghan province of Helmand, NATO-led forces have killed 12 civilians by mistake. A NATO statement said two rockets veered off target. Martin Patience reports.

According to military officials, the two rockets were supposed to target insurgents who they say were firing from a compound. But the weapons missed their target by 300 meters, killing the civilians in Marjah. In a statement, NATO-led forces say they've suspended the use of this particular rocket while they investigate. Despite the deaths, commanders say the operation is proceeding as planned. Progress, however, has been slow in Marjah town as forces clear homemade bombs and booby traps from roads and compounds.

The American Secretary of State Hillary Clinton has urged Iran to reconsider what she called its “dangerous policy decisions”. In a speech in the Gulf state of Qatar, she said Iran's actions over its nuclear program were leaving the international community little choice but to impose tougher sanctions. Mrs Clinton is trying to rally regional support for such a move.

The American Vice President Joe Biden has said that he believed China will back the possible sanctions against Iran. Such a move would mark a change in approach by China, which is a permanent member of the UN Security Council. Speaking on NBC's Meet the Press, Mr Biden said he was confident it could be achieved.

"We have the support of everyone from Russia to Europe and I believe we will get the support of China to continue to impose sanctions on Iran to isolate them, to make it clear that in fact they cannot move forward. I think we've made significant progress."

The President of Kenya Mwai Kibaki has refused to allow the Prime Minister Raila Odinga to suspend two ministers over corruption allegations. Mr Odinga had taken action after auditors found that millions of dollars had been diverted from public programs. From Nairobi, here is Will Ross.

If you ever wanted a sign of just how fractious and uncoordinated Kenya's coalition government was, this is it. First of all, Kenya's Prime Minister Raila Odinga announced the suspension of the Agriculture Minister William Ruto and Education Minister Samuel Ongeri. He said two recent investigations into corruption laid credible foundations for the ministers to be investigated. Just hours later, President Mwai Kibaki said the two ministers were still in office because he had not been consulted, and because he said the prime minister did not have the power to sack ministers.

The head of the UN anti-drugs office in West Africa, Alexandre Schmidt, has said addiction is now a serious problem in the region, which has become a transit route for cocaine trafficked from South America to Europe. Speaking ahead of the drugs conference in Senegal, Mr Schmidt said trafficking is also a threat to the rule of law and governance there. Analysts estimate almost 1/3 of the cocaine destined for Europe now passes through West Africa.

The far-right British National Party has abolished its whites-only membership policy to allow black and Asian people to join. The party, which wants a halt to immigration into Britain, voted to change its constitution at an extraordinary general meeting after it was threatened with legal action by the government-funded Equality and Human Rights Commission. The party's leader Nick Griffin said people from ethnic minorities would be welcomed as long as they agreed with BNP principles. He said the party should no longer be branded as racist.

The oldest death row inmate in the United States has died of natural causes at the age of 94. The prison authorities in Arizona said Viva Leroy Nash died at the state prison in Florence. Nash was sentenced to death in 1983 for shooting a salesman after escaping from jail, but he staved off his execution with a series of appeals.

The best-selling British thriller writer and former champion jockey Dick Francis has died at the age of 89. His 42 novels including Forfeit and Whip Hand have been translated into 30 languages and have sold tens of millions of copies worldwide. Here is Nick Higham.

Dick Francis was one of those rare people who succeed in two quite different fields, a top jockey who became an author with worldwide sales of more than 60 million. As a professional jockey after World War Two, he rode more than 300 winners. When he retired in 1957, he wrote his autobiography, and his first novel Dead Cert was published in 1962. Another followed each year. The books provided readers with plenty of intrigue but no sex. They were once described as “crime novels for gentlefolk”.

A team from the United States has won the oldest and most prestigious competition in sailing, the America's Cup. The BMW Oracle trimaran beat the defending champions, the Swiss-owned team Alinghi, off the coast of Valencia in Spain. It was the first time in 18 years that America had won the Cup, which it had traditionally dominated.

对阿富汗南部省份Helmand塔利班分子展开的重大进攻的第二天，北约领导的军队错杀了12名平民。北约发表的一份声明表示，两枚火箭弹偏离了预定目标。Martin Patience报道。

据军事官员所说，这两枚火箭弹原本射击目标是他们所说的在一栋建筑内开火的反叛分子。但是武器偏离既定目标300米，错杀Marjah的平民。在一份声明中，北约领导的军队表示，他们正在对此事进行调查，在此期间，他们暂停这种火箭弹的使用。尽管造成平民伤亡，指挥官表示，这次行动将按计划继续进行。然而，由于军队必须清除道路和建筑中的自制炸弹和饵雷，Marjah镇的进展非常缓慢。

美国国务卿希拉里·克林顿敦促伊朗重新考虑她所说的“危险的政治决定”。在海湾国家卡塔尔发表讲话时，希拉里表示，伊朗在核项目方面的行动使国际社会别无选择，只能施加严厉制裁。希拉里希望就制裁行动获得区域支持。

美国副总统乔·拜登曾经表示，他相信中国将支持对伊朗实施制裁。此举将标志着联合国安理会常任理事国中国态度的转变。在NBC的Meet the Press节目中，拜登表示，他相信一定能够达成这个目标。

“我们获得了从俄罗斯到欧洲每一个国家的支持，我相信，我们最终会得到中国的支持，对伊朗实施制裁，对他们进行孤立，明确表示他们不可能前进。我认为我们已经取得了重大进展。”

肯尼亚总统姆瓦伊·齐贝吉(Mwai Kibaki)拒绝允许总理瑞拉·欧迪加(Raila Odinga)因腐败指控而暂停两位部长的职务。审计官员发现公共项目中数百万美元被挪用后，欧迪加采取了行动。内罗毕，Will Ross报道。

如果你曾经希望寻找肯尼亚联合政府分裂和不协调的迹象，这里就是。首先，肯尼亚总理瑞拉·欧迪加(Raila Odinga)宣布暂停农业部长William Ruto和教育部长Samuel Ongeri的职务。他说，最近进行的两项腐败调查提供了可靠的证据，应该对这两位部长进行调查。几小时之后，总统姆瓦伊·齐贝吉(Mwai Kibaki)表示，这两位部长仍然在职，因为无人咨询他的意见，他说，总理无权解雇部长。

联合国驻西非禁毒办公室负责人Alexandre Schmidt表示，毒瘾已经成为该地区的严重问题。该地区已经成为可卡因由南美运往欧洲的通道。在塞内加尔毒品会议上发表讲话时，Schmidt表示，毒品运输业对该地区的法律秩序和政府管理造成了威胁。分析家估计，大约三分之一运往欧洲的毒品取道西非。

极右政党英国国家党(British National Party) 取消了只接收白人成员的政策，允许黑人和亚洲人加入。该政党希望停止其他国家向英国移民。此前，该正当受到英国政府提供资金的平等和人权委员会司法行动的威胁，在随后举行的特别会议上，他们投票对宪法作出改变。该党领袖Nick Griffin表示，只要赞成英国国家党的方针，少数民族人口也将受到欢迎。他说，英国国家党将不再拥有民族差别主义的标签。

美国年龄最大的死刑犯因自然原因去世，享年94岁。监狱官方表示，Viva Leroy Nash在Florence州立监狱去世。1983年，Nash因越狱后枪杀一名推销员而被判处死刑，但是经过一系列上诉，他的处决得到延缓。

英国著名侦探小说作家兼前冠军骑师弗朗西斯(Dick Francis)去世，享年89岁。他的42部小说被翻译成30多中语言，包括《丧失》和《执鞭之手》在内，共在全世界售出数千万册。

弗朗西斯(Dick Francis)是为数不多的在两个完全不同的领域取得卓越成就的人之一，一位骑师成为全世界销量超过6千万册的作家。作为第二次世界大战后的一位骑师，他共获得300多次冠军。1957年退休时，他撰写了自传，他的第一部小说Dead Cert在1962年出版。以后每年都出版一部小说。这些小说为读者呈现了大量的阴谋。他们曾经被描述为“上流人士的犯罪小说”。

来自美国的一只帆船队赢得了帆船比赛最高荣誉——美洲杯。甲骨文宝马号帆船队在西班牙巴伦西亚海岸击败了卫冕冠军瑞士Alinghi队。这是18年来美国首次赢得传统上占优势的美洲杯帆船比赛。