on his cabinet to emergency talks in the 10)kremlin.

october 27

the russian government is under pressure to reveal the type of gas it used to end the hostage crisis in a moscow theatre yesterday. there is mounting suspicion that the mystery gas may have killed some or many of the victims. the death toll has now risen to more than one hundred and sixty including 118 hostages and dozens of chechen rebels.

russia is counting the cost of the bloody end to a three-day hostage crisis at a moscow theatre. president vladimir putin has been visiting the survivors of the terrifying ordeal in hospital. he apologized to the victim's relatives in a 11)televised address for not being able to save the lives of all the captives. but putin said the ending of the hostage-taking proved russia cannot be brought to its knees by terrorists.

gas was released into the theatre as russian special forces stormed the building early yesterday. the russian interior minister defended the use of the knockout gas, saying many more people would have been killed if the chechen rebels had detonated their explosives. many of the hostages had to be brought out unconscious. the rebels had been threatening to blow up the theatre unless russian troops withdrew from their muslim homeland. the majority of the chechen rebels, including their leader, mobsav baryev, were shot during the raid, several with bullets to their head, apparently as they lay sleeping from the gas. three of the gunmen who fled the theatre and about thirty of their 12)accomplices were arrested in the moscow area.

officials have maintained a virtual silence on the exact number of victims. the health ministry said nine of the hostages died because of heart problems, shock, or lack of medicine. but it was not known how the others died. speculation is mounting that some of them were killed as a result of their exposure to the gas which russian officials are refusing to identify. and relatives and friends of the victims have been barred from entering the hospitals to visit their loved ones who are recovering from the ill effects of the

gas.

news 1 政治

united nations security council is 13)deadlocked on whether to accept a tough new us resolution authorizing the use of force against iraq. washington is facing stiff opposition from china, russia and france.

after two days of intense discussions, there was still no sign that the un security council was any closer to reaching an agreement on washington's tough, new resolution on iraq. china, russia and france want to give iraqi leader, saddam hussein, a chance to disarm first, only authorizing the use of force in a second resolution if bagdad fails to comply with weapons inspections. but the us is pushing for a single resolution that would allow force to be used against bagdad.

john negroponte (u.s ambassador to u.n.): we've put on the table the text of a resolution which we believe, if iraq were to cooperate, could achieve this purpose and we're now engaged in a very intense dialogue with the other permanent members of the security council to see if we can forge some kind of consensus on this.

us president, george bush, has been hinting that his patience is wearing thin and the un had better hurry up.

george bush: for the sake of having an international body which is effective, the united nations must make the resolve, must be resolved to deal with this person. must resolve itself to be something more than the league of nations. must resolve itself to be more than just a debating society.

chief un weapons inspector, hans blix, who met russian foreign minister igor ivanov in moscow, said he was positive that agreement would be reached. but ivanov said washington's draft resolution did not fulfill the requirements the russians are calling for.

news 2 体育

the chinese basketball sensation, yao ming, has arrived in the us to begin his nba career. that story tops tonight's sports wrap.

yao ming finally touched down in houston, texas where he will join the rockets for the coming nba season. yao, who was the first pick in the draft, signed a four-year deal with the rockets worth 17.8 million us dollars. he's expected to begin practicing with his new teammates this week.

news 3 体育

well, in soccer, arsenal will have to wait at least a week before 14)clinching a second-round 15)berth in the european champions league. arsenal suffered a surprise 2-1 defeat to auxerre, france, but the londoners still top group a. and liverpool scored an impressive 3-1 win at spartak, moscow, and are three points behind group leaders, valencia.

莫斯科人质事件

十月二十四日

在俄罗斯，一群全副武装的车臣叛匪连夜突袭了俄罗斯剧院，劫持了剧院里的700人。叛匪威胁将炸毁剧院，除非俄罗斯把军队从车臣撤回。

劫匪正在与俄罗斯当局进行谈判，这个谈判是政府试图结束僵局而作出努力的一部分。为了表达对谈判的诚意，劫匪不久前释放了至少5名人质。

莫斯科剧院外的现场宛如战场，装甲车载着大量的全副武装的特种部队包围了整个剧院。自从40名车臣分裂分子连夜突袭了一个包括西方人在内的有400-700人正在观看音乐会的剧院，所有特种部队提高了警戒状态。全副武装、脸戴面具的持枪劫匪开始朝天鸣枪并且高喊：“停止在车臣的战争。”叛匪声称他们身上绑上了爆炸物品，并威胁如果遭到特种部队的进攻，将射杀人质和炸毁大楼。

但俄罗斯当局无视威胁，决定安全武装部队将通过武力接管这幢