High-level Mideast peace talks resume

中东再次召开高层和平会谈

Jerusalem -- Israel and the Palestinians resumed high-level peace talks Wednesday, three weeks after the collapse of negotiations at Camp David, saying much remains to be done before their leaders can convene another Mideast summit. The meeting came as Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat, speaking during a visit to Indonesia, said he will "reassess" whether to declare an independent Palestinian state unilaterally on September 13. He has promised in the past to make such a declaration if no permanent peace agreement with Israel is achieved by that date, but the United States has warned against the move and some other countries have pushed the Palestinians to continue peace talks instead. In Jerusalem, the Israeli and Palestinian delegations met for five hours, said Moshe Debi, an aide to Shlomo Ben-Ami, the acting Israeli foreign minister. U.S. envoy Dennis Ross was expected to present new proposals for bridging the gaps, a Palestinian official said.

（耶路撒冷）在大卫营谈判破裂三周后，以色列及巴勒斯坦周三再度展开高层和平会谈，他们表示在双方领导人再次召开中东高峰会之前，许多工作仍有待完成。会议展开同时，巴勒斯坦领袖阿拉法特也于访问印尼期间发表演说表示，他将「重新评估」是否将于九月十三日片面宣布成立一个独立的巴勒斯坦国。阿拉法特过去曾经承诺，以巴双方若未能在此日期前达成永久和平协议，他将宣布独立建国，但美国方面已对这样的作法提出警告，同时，也有一些国家向巴勒斯坦施压，希望他们继续进行和谈。以色列代理外长班雅米的一名幕僚人员戴比表示，以色列及巴勒斯坦的代表团在耶路撒冷会晤近五个小时。一名巴勒斯坦官员表示，一般预料美国特使罗斯将提出新方案以缩小双方的歧见。

=============================================

Health News

British scientists should be allowed to clone human embryos for use in a wider variety of medical research, the government's chief medical officer, Liam Donaldson, said Wednesday. In 1990 parliament approved embryo research mainly into treating infertility and avoiding disability in children. But on Wednesday Donaldson called for the scope of permissible research to be widened. In a report titled "Stem Cell Research: Medical Progress with Responsibility," Donaldson affirmed his support for an expansion of "the rapeutic cloning" research.

英国政府首席医学官员唐纳森周三表示，英国科学家应被获准复制人类胚胎以应用于更多种类的医学研究上。英国国会在一九九○年已批准主要用于治疗不孕症及防治孩童残疾的胚胎研究工作。然而，唐纳森周三更进一步呼吁放宽合法研究的范围。唐纳森在一篇以「干细胞研究：负责的医学进步」为题的报告中，坚定地表达他对扩大「医疗性复制」研究的支持立场。