Six children dead, five hurt in Colombia fighting

哥伦比亚发生枪战六名孩童死亡五人受伤

Medellin -- A group of students got caught in cross-fire between Marxist rebels and the army in a war-torn corner of Colombia on Tuesday. Six children were killed and five injured, a medical official said. The children, aged six to 11 years, were strolling through the countryside during a school trip near the town of Pueblo Rico when shooting erupted between an army unit and National Liberation Army (ELN) guerrillas. An army officer accused the ELN, Colombia's second largest guerrilla force, of using the children as "human shields" after two of their fighters were killed in a battle earlier in the day. There was no independent confirmation of the charge.

（美德林）哥伦比亚一名医疗人员表示，一群学生周二受困在信奉马克思主义的反叛军及军方互相射击的枪林弹雨中。这场枪战发生在哥国一处饱受战火摧残的地区，并造成六名孩童丧生，另有五名孩童受伤。这群年纪介于六到十一岁的孩童，在参加学校到波得勒黎各镇附近远足的时候，散步经过一处乡村地区，而当时军方与「全国解放军」游击队正爆发枪战。一名军方的军官指控「全国解放军」在他们的两名士兵于当天稍早的一场枪战中丧生后，利用这些孩童作为「人墙」。「全国解放军」是哥国第二大的游击势力。这项指控目前尚未经过中立第三方的确认。

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North Korea said ready to open U.S. ties

北韩表示随时准备与美国建交

Seoul -- The leader of long-reclusive North Korea said he would open ties with the United States right away if it removes his country from a list of terrorism-sponsoring nations, South Korea's state media reported Sunday. "The U.S. is putting a cap of a terrorist nation on us," the Yonhap news agency quoted Kim Jong Il as saying. "As soon as they remove it, we would open ties with the U.S. -- even tomorrow." North Korea is one of seven countries branded by the U.S. State Department as a sponsor of terrorism. Under U.S. law, that bars all but humanitarian aid to the North's government and rules out bank loans from international financial organizations, which are heavily influenced by Washington.

（汉城）南韩国营媒体周日报导，长期与外界隔绝的北韩领导人表示，美国若将北韩从资助恐怖活动的国家名单中去除，北韩愿意立即与美国建立邦交。南韩「联合新闻社」引述金正日的谈话表示：「美国将恐怖国家的帽子扣在我们头上。一旦他们把我们除名，即使是明天，我们也立刻会与美国建交。」北韩是被美国国务院贴上资助恐怖活动卷标的七个国家之一。除了人道援助之外，美国法律禁止一切与北韩的接触，同时也将北韩向国际金融组织申请贷款的资格摒除在外，而这些金融组织受华府影响甚深