英国新闻听力 08（在线收听）

BBC News with Sue Montgomery.

In a vote that stunned Wall Street and the White House, the US House of Representatives has rejected the government's 700-billion-dollar rescue plan for the American financial system. More than two-thirds of Republicans and over a third of the Democrats in the House voted against the plan, ignoring appeals from President Bush to support it. From Washington, here's Virginie Vigeant.

Following three hours of tense debate in the House, the bill was defeated by 228 to 205. House Republicans said their decision to vote against the plans followed an attack by Nancy Pelosi, the Democratic Speaker of the House on President Bush's economic policies. The Democrat Barney Frank, a key architect of the bill, hit back at those comments, urging all sides of the House to work together to push a bill through.

Speaking a short time ago, the US Treasury Secretary, Henry Paulson, said the government's plan to address the crisis facing the American financial sector was much too important to simply let fail. Mr. Paulson said he'd be working with congressional leaders to get something done as quickly as possible. He was asked what features a new plan would need to have.

"We had a plan that we’d worked very hard on that did the job, gave us the tools we needed to protect, the, the financial markets, to protect the American people. So where we go from here is something we’re gonna be working on with congressional leaders, because we, we, we need to get something done and we're gonna be working hard on it.

President Bush expressed his disappointment but said he would continue to work on a solution to the crisis.

“We put forth a plan that was big, because we got a big problem. Our strategy is to continue to address this economic situation head-on. And we will be working to develop a strategy that will enable us to continue to move forward. “

In New York, share prices plummeted as traders watched the US government's financial rescue package being rejected in Congress. Gred Wood reports.

The Dow Jones Averages closed more than 700 points lower, its biggest one-day points fall on record. This is a glimpse of a horrible future for the banks, where they have to come to terms with their own bad mortgage debts and their share prices are driven ever lower with more of them perhaps going out of business.

European stock markets also suffered heavy losses with shares in London and Paris closing more than 5% down. As the fallout from the financial crisis continues, the largest banking corporation in the United States, Citigroup, announced it was taking over the country's sixth biggest bank, Wachovia.

This is Sue Montgomery with the latest World News from the BBC.

Research carried out for the Brazilian government suggests that the Amazon Rainforest is being lost at an alarming rate. More than 750 square kilometers were destroyed last month. The country's environment minister blamed the rise partially on elections that are coming up, suggesting that local officials turned a blind eye to illegal logging so they can gain votes. However, the environmental group, Greenpeace, believes the rise is also related to the increase in global food prices with farmers wanting more land.

A senior American military commander has warned that militants pose a threat to Pakistan's very existence. General David Petraeus, who is recently appointed as the commander of US Central Command, said Pakistan had to deal with the problem. "You've heard the newly-elected President Zardari, you've heard the army Chief and others all recognize that this is in a sense an existential threat, this is a threat to Pakistan's very existence, and it is one with which they must deal. Now they can deal with it in a comprehensive manner, there will be Pakistani solutions to some of these and that's what they want. Our job should be to support them.

A group of European tourists and their guides seized by gunmen in southern Egypt ten days ago has arrived in Cairo after being freed by Egyptian commandos. Egyptian officials said about half of the kidnappers were killed during the rescue operation.

A legal battle in Italy over the discovery of the perfectly preserved mummified body of a hunter, who died 5, 000 years ago, has finally been settled. A German couple stumbled on the body 17 years ago in a snow-covered mountainous region of Italy. On Monday, the local Italian council finally acknowledged their claim to finders' fee, and agreed to pay more than 217, 000 dollars. However, the agreement came too late for one of the finders who died four years ago.

BBC News