BBC新闻附字幕:标准普尔降低美国信誉等级

BBC News with Marion Marshall

The White House has called on US politicians from both parties to work together to tackle the country's fiscal and economic problems. The appeal comes a day after the American credit rating was downgraded by the Standard & Poor's agency. The agency said the last-minute standoff between the parties over the raising of the US debt ceiling made it less likely that the growing political divides could be bridged in future. John Chambers is the chairman of Standard & Poor['s].

"We took a dimmer view of the political settings in the United States - the governability. The fact that you had a debt ceiling agreement that resulted in the government not reaching an agreement until 10 hours before they had a cash management programme, I mean, this is not how most highly-rated governments run themselves."

The BBC Washington correspondent says the White House has implicitly blamed the Republicans for the downgrade as they blocked President Obama's efforts to cut the US deficit.

More than 200,000 Israelis across the country have joined protests against the rising cost of living. The largest demonstration was in Tel Aviv, where demonstrators chanted slogans like "people before profits". It's the third Saturday of protests and the largest yet. Wyre Davies reports from Jerusalem.

If the Israeli government was hoping this extraordinary movement of middle-class protesters was losing momentum and direction, the message from the streets of Tel Aviv, Jerusalem and other cities across the country is that they are not giving up. Inspired by the success and impact of social uprisings in the Arab world, the goal of the Israeli protesters isn't political change, but they are demanding the government of Benjamin Netanyahu do something to tackle the soaring cost of living. The inaffordability of housing, childcare and even some basic foods has driven many Israelis to despair.

Afghan officials say 31 Americans and seven local soldiers have been killed in a helicopter crash in eastern Afghanistan. It's America's biggest loss there in a single incident. The helicopter, carrying US special forces, was involved in an anti-terrorism operation in Wardak province. The Taliban say they shot it down. Nato is investigating the incident.

Local authorities in China are reported to have pulled down a monument to Japanese settlers that provoked attacks by nationalists and outrage on the Internet. The stone memorial was put up near the northeastern city of Harbin last month. Charles Scanlon has more.

Chinese newspapers carried pictures of the monument being daubed with red paint and battered with hammers. The five men who carried out the attack were arrested but then quickly released. They were hailed as heroes on Internet chat sites. The seven-metre-high monument was put up last month as a memorial to 5,000 Japanese settlers who died in the chaotic aftermath of Japan's surrender in 1945. Chinese nationalists said it was an insult to the millions of Chinese people killed during the Japanese invasion of the 1930s and 40s.

World News from the BBC

The ringleader of the US military guards who photographed their abuse of suspected Iraqi insurgents at the Abu Ghraib prison has been freed. A US army spokeswoman said Charles Graner was released from a military jail at Fort Leavenworth in Kansas after serving more than 6.5 years of a 10-year sentence. Mr Graner was convicted of leading his six-member team in the sexual humiliation of naked prisoners.

The militant Islamist group al-Shabab has abandoned its positions in the Somali capital Mogadishu. The Somali President Sheikh Sharif Sheikh Ahmed hailed it as a victory, but al-Shabab described the move as a tactical withdrawal. Here's our East Africa correspondent Will Ross.

They left Mogadishu at night by the lorry load, but the fighters from the Islamist militant group al-Shabab may be back. A spokesman said they would now use guerrilla tactics, so grenade attacks, landmines and more suicide bombings can be expected. This al-Qaeda-linked group still holds much of southern Somalia, where it has imposed its strict version of Islamic law. Punishments include beheadings, amputations and stoning people to death. It's not yet clear whether al-Shabab's withdrawal from Mogadishu will make it any easier for aid agencies to reach victims of the drought.

Rebels in Libya have launched a new offensive in the west of the country. After fierce fighting with Colonel Gaddafi's forces, they appeared to have captured the town of Bir al-Ghanam, about 80km from Tripoli. It's the closest they've got to the capital so far.

Syrian activists say a large number of tanks have been deployed in the town of Deir al-Zour and around the city of Homs. There have been reports of further shelling in the city of Hama overnight after, activists say, at least 22 people were killed by the security forces during widespread protests on Friday. International condemnation of the violent repression of the protests has continued to grow, with Gulf Arab states calling on the Syrian government to stop the bloodshed.

BBC News

白宫呼吁美国两党政治家团结起来解决国家财政和经济问题。此前一天，标准普尔降低了美国债务的信誉等级。该机构表示，两党针对提高美国债务限额最后一分钟仍然处于僵持状态，这意味着两党之间不断扩大的政治分歧将来也不可能弥补。标准普尔主权评级委员会主席John Chambers表示：

“我们对美国的政治背景和执政能力比较悲观。在距离最后期限只有十个小时的时候两党才针对提高债务限额达成协议，这只能表现出政府运作的效率非常低。”

BBC驻华盛顿记者表示，白宫含蓄的谴责这次评级降低是由于共和党人，因为他们阻止奥巴马总统削减美国赤字的努力。

全国200,000多名以色列人参加了反对生活成本上涨的抗议活动。最大的示威活动发生在特拉维夫，示威者高呼“人民重于利益”的口号。这是连续第三个周六发生抗议活动，也是目前为止规模最大的一次。Wyre Davies在耶路撒冷报道。

如果以色列政府希望中产阶级这次发动的声势浩大的抗议活动失去动力和方向，来自特拉维夫，耶路撒冷和全国各地其他城市的信息是，他们不会放弃。受到阿拉伯世界社会抗议活动成功和影响的激励，以色列抗议者的目标不是政治变革，他们要求内塔尼亚胡政府采取措施抑制不断上升的生活成本。难以支付房屋，儿童保健，甚至一些基本食品的状况使许多以色列人陷入绝望的境地。

阿富汗官员表示，一架直升飞机在阿富汗东部坠毁，造成31名美国人和7名当地士兵死亡。这是美国在阿富汗单一事故中损失最惨重的一次。搭载美国特种兵的直升飞机参加了瓦尔达克省的反恐行动。塔利班分子称这架飞机是被他们击落的。北约正在对该事故展开调查。

据报告，中国当地官员拆除了日本开拓团遇难者纪念碑。当地政府为日本侵略者立碑的行为激发了爱国主义者的攻击和网民的愤怒。该纪念碑于上月在东北城市哈尔滨附近建立。Charles Scanlon报道详细内容。

中国报纸刊登了该纪念碑被涂红油漆并被斧头砸过的照片。砸碑的五名男子被逮捕但是很快被释放。他们在互联网聊天室被推举为英雄。这座7米高的纪念碑上月建立起来，纪念在1945年日本投降之后的混乱中死亡的5,000名日本开拓团成员。中国爱国主义者表示，这对于三四十年代日本侵华战争中遇难的数百万中国人来说是莫大的侮辱。

BBC世界新闻。

拍摄美国军队在Abu Ghraib监狱虐待伊拉克反叛分子嫌疑人的罪魁祸首已经获释。美国军队一名女发言人表示，Charles Graner被判十年监禁，现已服刑超过6.5年，从堪萨斯城的莱文沃斯堡军事监狱获释。Graner被宣判带领六人组成的小组性侮辱裸体的囚犯。

伊斯兰激进组织青年党放弃了在索马里首都摩加迪沙的堡垒。索马里总统谢赫·谢里夫·谢赫·艾哈迈德称这是重大胜利，但是青年党称这是战略性撤退。我们的东非记者Will Ross报道。

他们在夜间乘卡车离开摩加迪沙，但是伊斯兰激进组织青年党的战士可能还会回来。一名发言人表示，他们现在采用游击战略，这样就可能发动手榴弹，地雷和更多自杀式爆炸袭击。这个与基地组织有关的团体仍然控制着索马里南部大部分地区，严格实施伊斯兰教法。惩罚方法包括斩首，截肢和用石头把人砸死。目前还不清楚青年党从摩加迪沙撤退是否能让救助机构救援干旱受害者更加容易。

利比亚叛军在西部发动了新的进攻。与卡扎菲上校的军队进行了激烈的战斗之后，他们似乎已经占领了的黎波里80千米处的小镇Bir al-Ghanam。这是他们目前为止占领的距离首都最近的地方。

叙利亚活动积极分子表示，他们在Deir al-Zour和霍姆斯城周围部署了大量坦克。积极分子表示，在周五大规模的抗议活动中，至少22人被安全力量杀害，随后，哈马市夜间又遭遇了炮击。国际社会对暴力镇压抗议活动的行为提出严厉谴责，海湾阿拉伯国家要求叙利亚政府停止这种血腥的杀戮行为。