The Yemeni President Ali Abdullah Saleh has signed a deal to transfer power to his vice-president, ending his rule of more than 30 years.
The agreement followed nine months of protests in Yemen. Frank Gardner reports.

Three times Yemen's president has agreed to step down; three times he's gone back on his word. But today in the capital city of his powerful neighbour Saudi Arabia, President Ali Abdullah Saleh finally signed an agreement to transfer power, ending his 33-year rule.Saleh's opponents are saying he's the latest dictator to be toppled by this year's Arab uprising. But even if this time the president does stick to his word and leave office, this will not be the end of Yemen's troubles.

The latest attempt to restore calm in an area of Tahrir Square in Cairo, where there have been violent clashes between demonstrators and police, has broken down. Leaders from a local mosque had appealed for a truce, but police have again used tear gas against the protesters. Meanwhile, small fires have been lit in the square in the hope that the rising smoke will carry the tear gas with it. There's been mounting pressure on Egypt to end what the UN human rights chief has called "excessive force" against demonstrators.

The head of an independent commission of inquiry in Bahrain into the violent suppression of pro-democracy protests in February has given a detailed account of the abuse suffered by many detainees. From Bahrain, here's Rupert Wingfield-Hayes.

The chief of the Independent Commission of Inquiry found the Bahraini authorities guilty of illegal arrests, forced confessions, unfair trials and the systematic use of torture. In his speech in reply, King Hamad welcomed the report. He talked of this being a day that will be remembered in the history of Bahrain. But a short distance away in a Shia neighbourhood of Bahrain, they were burning tyres and calling for the king to step down. Speaking with Professor Bassiouni after the speeches, he admitted it will very much depend now on what Bahrain's king does with the report: will he push for reform and remove hard-liners from his government, or will he use the report as window dressing to appease opinion in America and Europe.

The global fund to fight Aids, tuberculosis and malaria has decided not to fund any new programmes as a result of cuts in its resources from donor nations. The fund says it will continue to support only essential services in existing programmes after a shortfall of hundreds of millions of dollars. A spokesman for the fund told the BBC the cuts put the progress in combating disease at risk and threatened the lives of people in the developing world.

The Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan has apologised for the killing of more than 13,000 Kurds by the Turkish military in the 1930s. Mr Erdogan is the first Turkish leader to apologise for the killings, which took place when the military used aerial bombardment and poisonous gas to pacify Kurds in central Turkey. But some Kurds see Mr Erdogan's apology as an opportunistic move against the main opposition party, which was in power at the time of the massacre.

World News from the BBC

Germany has struggled to borrow all the money it sought from the financial markets. The government wanted to sell $8bn worth of 10-year bonds, but managed only half that. Here's Andrew Walker.
Sometimes these partial failures, if you like, of government bond sales do occur, but this one is regarded by a lot of people in the financial markets as being particularly unwelcome - partly I think a general spread of the anxiety about the whole euro area, spreading from first the smaller peripheral countries to some of the larger ones like Italy, even France. And now it does look like some investors are more reluctant than they were to hold even German government debt.

Brazil is temporarily suspending the American company Chevron from drilling for oil in its territory. The National Petroleum Agency said it would suspend Chevron Brazil's activities until it had established the cause of an oil spill off the coast of Rio de Janeiro. Chevron has apologised for the leak.

A court in France has agreed to a request by Panama for the extradition of its former military ruler Manuel Noriega. He's wanted for embezzlement and the murder of two opponents during his time in power between 1983 and 1989. He's been serving a prison sentence in France for money laundering.

An American auction house is selling artefacts from the failed Apollo 13 mission to the Moon in 1970. This includes the checklist which helped the crew return to Earth after an oxygen tank exploded on board. Here's Jane Peel.

"OK, Houston, we've had a problem here."

"This is Houston. Say again, please."

"Houston, we've had a problem."

"Houston, we've had a problem" was the mother of all understatements. An explosion on board the spacecraft two days into Nasa's third mission to the Moon left the three astronauts in grave danger.

Commander Jim Lovell had just 15 minutes to make a series of critical mathematical calculations before a loss of power threatened to strand them in space. It is Commander Lovell's checklist that's being auctioned in Dallas next week.

BBC News

BBC电台Jonathan Izard为您报道。
也门总统阿里?阿卜杜拉?萨利赫签署了一项协议，将权力移交给副总统，结束他超过30年的统治。该协议的签署紧跟在也门9个月的抗议活动之后。Frank Gardner报告。

也门总统曾三次同意下台，也三次食言。但今天在强大的邻国沙特阿拉伯首都，总统阿里?阿卜杜拉?萨利赫终于签署协议，移交权力，结束他33年的统治。萨利赫的反对者说，他是最近即将被今年的阿拉伯起义打倒的独裁者。但即使这个时候，总统还是履行了卸任承诺，但这不会是也门动乱的结束。

开罗解放广场上此前发生示威者与警察间的暴力冲突，目前试图恢复平静的最新尝试失败。当地清真寺的领导人已呼吁停战，但警方再次对示威者使用了催泪瓦斯。同时，广场上有人点火，试图烧尽催泪瓦斯。近来要求埃及停止向示威者施加联合国人权组织所称的“过度使用武力”的压力不断增加。

巴林的独立调查委员会负责人就2月对亲民主抗议者的暴力镇压事件发布了一个更具体的名单，关于众多未判决囚犯受到的虐待。Rupert Wingfield-Hayes在巴林为您报道。

独立调查委员会的负责人发现巴林当局有非法逮捕，逼供，不公正审判，系统使用酷刑等罪行。他说这是巴林历史中铭记的一天。在距巴林很近的什叶派居民区，他们焚烧车胎，要求国王下台。在巴西乌尼教授发言后的谈话中，他承认这事的发展全看巴林国王的报告：他是否奋力争取改革，开除政府成员中的强硬派，还是利用这次报告的机会平息对美国和欧洲的看法。

由于捐赠国的资源削减，抗击艾滋病、结核病和疟疾全球基金已决定不再资助新的项目。比先前缺少几亿美元后，该基金表示将仅仅继续现有项目的基本服务。基金的一位发言人告诉BBC电台资金削减置抗击疾病的进程于险地，并威胁着发展中世界人民的生活。

土耳其总理埃尔多安已经就20世纪30年代土耳其军方杀害13,000名土耳其人一事而道歉。埃尔多安是第一个为杀戮而道歉的土耳其领导人。当时军方在土耳其中部使用空中轰炸和毒气平息库尔德人。但一些库尔德人视埃尔多安的道歉为对付主要的反对党---共和人民党的投机行为，大屠杀时期执政的正是该党派。
BBC电台，世界新闻。

德国欲借得原本应在金融市场寻求到的全部资金。政府想售出价值80亿美元的10年期债券，但只完成了40亿。Andrew Walker报道。

有时候，政府国债销售的小失败确实会发生，但是这一次在金融市场中的大多数人眼里，是特别不受欢迎的。我认为对整个欧元区的焦虑蔓延是其中一个原因。首先从较小的周边国家，蔓延到如意大利，甚至法国这样较大的国家。现在看来，投资者既不愿意购买国债，这还不如承担德国政府的债务。

巴西是暂令美国雪佛龙公司停止在其领土上进行石油钻井。国家石油管理局表示将暂停巴西雪佛龙的活动，直到它已确定里约热内卢近海漏油的原因。雪佛龙公司已就泄漏一事致歉。

一个法国的法庭已同意巴拿马对前军事统治者诺列加的引渡请求。他因1983年至1989年间掌权时贪污和谋杀两个对手而被通缉。在服刑，他又因洗钱一直在法国的监狱服役。

美国拍卖行正在拍卖“阿波罗13”号登月飞船的文物，包括在舱内氧气罐爆炸后帮助宇航员返回地球的清单。Jane Peel报道。

“好的，休斯顿，我们这出现问题了。”

“我是休斯顿，请再说一次。”

“休斯顿，我们这出问题了。”

“休斯顿，我们这里出问题了”这句话是轻说实情的开始。登月飞船上的舱内爆炸发生在美国航空航天局第三个月球任务开始后的两天，将三名宇航员置于了危难中。在功率损耗可能将他们搁浅在太空中之前，指挥官吉姆?洛弗尔只有15分钟时间，进行一系列至关重要的数学计算。这就是下周即将在达拉斯拍卖的指挥官洛弗尔的清单。

BBC新闻。

重点讲解

1. go back on背弃，违背
eg: You have promised; now, don't go back on me. 你已允诺，现在你不能对我失约。

2. dictator [dik'teit?, 'dikteit?] n.独裁者

3. topple ['t?pl] vt.将…推翻, 打倒
eg: How can we topple the chief from his position of trust? 我们怎样才能把主任从他的位置上赶下台？

4. commission of inquiry 调查委员会

5. detainee  [,de:tei'ni:] n. 被扣押者，未判决囚犯

6. mosque  [m?sk] n.清真寺

7. truce [tru:s] n.休战, 停战(协定);停止争辩(的协议)；中止,暂停
eg: They'll transact with the enemy for truce. 他们将与敌方谈判停火事宜。

8. mounting ['maunti?] a. 逐渐增加的
eg: Our living expenses are mounting up. 我们的生活费用正在增高。

9. push for 奋力争取
eg: Do not push me for an answer to your request . 不要催促我答复你们的请求。

10. hard-liner n.强硬派，不妥协者、
appease  vt.平息，抚慰，姑息
eg: A good dinner will appease your hunger. 丰盛的晚餐将为你充饥。

11. shortfall [??:tf?:l] n.差额，缺少；缺口；亏空
eg: There will be a shortfall in wheat supplies this year. 今年的小麦供应会有一定数量的短缺。

12. pacify ['p?sifai] vt.平定，使平静；在(有战争的地区、国家等)实现和平
eg: He tried to pacify the protesters with promise of reform. 他试图以改革的承诺安抚抗议者。

13. aerial ['ε?ri?l] a.空气的, 空中的
eg: Aerial photographs are available for sale to the public. 航空照片可供市民选购

14. bombardment [b?m'ba:dm?nt] n.轰炸，炮击

15. opportunistic [,?p?tju:'nistik] a.机会主义的,机会主义者的，投机取巧的
eg: The modes of propaganda are opportunistic and the polemics can be vicious. 宣传的模式是投机取巧的，诡辩是可恶性的。

16. euro area 欧元区

17. peripheral [p?'rif?r?l]  a.周围的, 边缘的；外围的

18. reluctant [ri'l?kt?nt] a.不情愿的, 勉强的
eg: He was very reluctant to help. 他很不愿意帮忙。

19. suspend [s?'spend]  vt.暂停, 终止，暂时禁止
eg: The management decided to suspend negotiation. 管理部门决定中止谈判。

20. extradition [,ekstr?'di??n] n.(根据条约或法令对逃犯等的)引渡
eg: Article 15 Where there is no extradition treaty to go by, the Requesting State shall make a reciprocity assurance. 第十五条在没有引渡条约的情况下，请求国应当作出互惠的承诺。

21. auction house 拍卖行

22. checklist ['t?eklist] n.清单，目录册，检查表

23. oxygen tank 氧气瓶，氧气筒

24. understatement n.不充分的陈述;保守的陈述
eg: That little bit of understatement is typical of her. ”这种克制是她的典型特点。

25. critical ['kritik?l] a.决定性的, 关键性的, 危急的
eg: Controlling access to water is critical. 控制水源的使用权非常重要。

26. strand [str?nd] vt.使滞留,使搁浅 
eg: The strand party radio to request help. 受困的旅游团用无线电请求帮助。