人生|言叶

WASHINGTON – The air in more than 300 U.S. counties is simply too dirty to breathe, the government says, ordering a multibillion-dollar expansion of efforts to clean up smog in a host of cities and towns nationwide.

Scientists say the federal action, which will lower ozone limits, is still not enough to significantly reduce heart and asthma attacks from breathing smog-clogged air, and they want the Environmental Protection Agency to issue a more stringent requirement.

Electric utilities, oil companies and other businesses have lobbied hard for leaving the smog rule alone, saying the high cost of lower limits could hurt the economy and noting that many communities still haven't met requirements set a decade ago.

EPA Administrator Stephen Johnson, already a target of intense criticism over emissions linked to global warming and regulation of mercury from power plants, decided to take the middle ground when it comes to smog.

The EPA at a news conference Wednesday planned to direct that air must contain no more than 75 units of ozone, or smog, for every billion units of air in order to be considered healthy, a reduction from the current maximum concentration of 80 to 84 parts per billion.

The new ozone standard will serve as the benchmark for state and local officials as they design pollution control measures. The EPA gives states years to meet the needed reductions, and areas with the worst pollution are likely to have as long as a decade to comply.

Ozone is a product of nitrogen oxides and other organic chemical compounds from motor vehicles, power plants, manufacturing and industrial plants. As it comes into contact with the sun's rays it is seen as the smog that hangs in much of the nation's air, aggravating respiratory problems for tens of millions of people.

An estimated 85 counties of the more than 700 that have monitoring stations exceed the current 80 parts per billion concentration, according to the latest EPA calculations. More than 320 counties exceed the tighter 75 parts per billion standard.

Health experts say smog under the current ozone regulation – even in areas where the limit is being met – causes hundreds of premature deaths among the elderly and health problems for thousands of young children and people with asthma and other respiratory illnesses.

An independent EPA advisory group of scientists last year said an ozone standard of 60 to 70 parts per billion is needed to provide an adequate margin of protection for the millions of people susceptible to respiratory problems. A similar conclusion was reached by a second advisory board on children's health.

In December, 111 health scientists, in a letter to Johnson, urged the EPA to adopt the science panels' findings.

Clean air advocates called the latest EPA reduction a move in the right direction – but also a political compromise that does not go far enough.

“It's disheartening that once again EPA has missed a critical opportunity to protect public health and welfare by ignoring the unanimous recommendations of its independent science advisers,” said William Becker, executive director of the National Association of Clean Air Agencies, whose members will be developing programs to meet the federal air quality requirement.

Becker acknowledged that the tighter the standard the more difficult it will be to meet, but he said: “The public deserves the right to know whether the air they breathe is healthy.”

In recent weeks, some of the most powerful industry groups in Washington have waged an intense lobbying campaign at the White House, urging the administration to keep the current standard.

Electric utilities, the oil and chemical industries and manufacturing groups argued that lowering the standard would require states and local officials to impose new pollution controls, harming economic growth, when the science has yet to determine the health benefits conclusively. The 80 parts per billion standard was enacted by the EPA in 1997, but its implementation was delayed for several years because of court challenges by industry groups.

“Hundreds of counties haven't been able to meet the current standard set a decade ago,” said John Kinsman, senior director for environment at the Edison Electric Institute, which represents most of the country's power companies. “Moving the goalpost again will inflict economic hardship on those areas without speeding air quality improvements.”

The EPA has said, based on various studies, cutting smog from 80 to 75 parts per billion would prevent between 900 and 1,100 premature deaths a year and mean 1,400 fewer nonfatal heart attacks and 5,600 fewer hospital or emergency room visits. A separate study suggests that tightening the standard to 70 parts per billion could avoid as many s 3,800 premature deaths nationwide.

The EPA by law is not supposed to consider economic cost in establishing the federal health standard for air quality. The agency has estimated that new pollution control efforts to comply with a 75 parts per billion standard would cost as much as $8.8 billion a year, although it acknowledged that does not take into account reductions in health care costs that could be even greater.

TEXT 

The trial has begun at the International War Crimes Tribunal in The Hague of three Croatian generals. Ante Gotovina, Ivan Cermak and Mladen Markac, are charged with responsibility for the murder and mistreatment of Serbs during the war in Croatia 13 years ago. The three generals deny the charges. The prosecutor Alan Tieger told the court many other senior figures from that time were implicated.
The three men were not alone. Foremost among their co-participants in this joint effort to force Serbs in Krajina was president Franjo Tudjman, the president of the Republic of Croatia and the supreme commander of its armed forces, as well as other high-ranking officials.

British MPs say they fear that many children who've been taken out of school are being forced to marry against their will. A parliamentary committee is being studying the results of an investigation into children (mostly of Pakistani and Bangladesh origin) whose names have disappeared from British school registers. He said he thought this was often because the children's families deem them to become too westernized. Shazia Qayum told the BBC she felt ignored by the authorities in Britain, when, as a teenager, her parents tried to force her to marry.
My parents have arranged my marriage in Pakistan. And because I disagreed to that marriage I was kept prisoner in my own home at the age of 15. I wasn't allowed to attend and finish my education. Unfortunately no one from the authorities, no one from the Education Welfare, no one from the social services, no one asked the question where I was. I felt invisible.

The BBC has launched its new Arabic television station. The managing director of the BBC World Service Nigel Chapman said television has become the main media for news in the Arab world and that the launch was an essential step for the BBC. Sebastian Archer watched the station go on air.
That's the Venturer presenter xxx welcoming viewers of BBC's much-awaited New Venture Arabic TV. The station's first bulletin led with the latest bomb attack in Pakistan. BBC Arabic TV will from now on be broadcasting for 12 hours a day with a budge of some 40 millions a year. The BBC is hoping that the channel will fill a need in the Arab world for more impartial news presentation. But it's entering a crowded market and some analysts wondered if the BBC might have left the move a little too late.

The head of the European Central Bank Jean-Claude Trichet has expressed concern over the continued rise of the euro which has hit a record high against the dollar. Mr. Trichet told a meeting of central bankers in Switzerland that disorderly currency movements were undesirable for economic growth. The fall in the value of the dollar has helped to push up the price of oil to record levels.

The authorities in Nigeria say they found a large stockpile of weapons and a private oil pipeline belonging to a militant leader in the oil-rich Niger Delta region. A Nigeria military spokesman said the underground pipeline led from the oil refinery in Port Harcourt to the home of Tom Ateke, the leader of the Niger Delta Vigilantes.

NOTE

be charged with ...
deny the charge(s)
be implicated in sth = to be involved in a crime; to be responsible for sth bad:
Senior officials were implicated in the scandal.
Foremost among ... was sb.
the supreme commander of ...

take sb. out of school => whose name have disappeared from school registers
against one's will
an investigation into ...
people of ...(eg. Chinese) origin
be kept prisoner
the Education Welfare Service
be (not) allowed to do sth.

be an essential step for ...
watch the station go on air
lead with ... (eg. Instead, the bulletin led with a report on how the foreign media had covered the military ideas of the current leader, Kim Jong-il.)
broadcast for 12 hours a day
with a budget of ...
fill a need in the ...(eg. Arab/broadband/young child's) world for ...
news presenter => (impartial/partial) news presentation
enter a crowded market
leave the move (a little) too late

express concern over(/about) ...
hit a record high against ...
the(/a) fall in the value of the dollar
push up ...(eg. state spending) to record levels

a large stockpile of
the(/an) oil refinery
... lead from ... to ...

TEXT

The Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert has denied that Israel is talking to the Islamist Movement Hamas about a truce in the Gaza Strip. Mr. Olmert said Israel had no reason to strike Gaza since a decrease of rocket fire from the territory, a point also made by the Israeli Defence Minister Ehud Barak.
At the moment there is no agreement, I don't think the issue of an agreement is the most urgent one. On the contrary we see the possiblity of ____ confrontation. If studies in Ashkelon can be held without Grad rockets and if life goes on in Sderot and the Sapir College without Qassams rockets, I do not think we should complaint about another quiet day. However, as soon as we need to act, we will take action.

Hamas spokesman Ismail Haniya said Hamas was working with Egyptians on a truce that would lead to the lifting of what he called a blockade on the Palestinian people.

The American armed force in Iraq say five US soldiers've been killed in a bomb blast in Baghdad. xxx has just sent this report.
Witnesses said the members of the American patrol were walking in a street in central Baghdad when a suicide bomber walked up to them and exploded his device. An US military spokesman said that four of the Americans died at the scene and the fifth died later. An Iraqi interpreter was wounded in the attack. An estimated six Iraqi civilians were also injured.

Earlier Iraqi police said a prominent Sunni Arab tribe leader was killed in a suicide bomb attack at his house southeast of Baquba. Thair Ghadhban al-Karkhi was a member of the mainly Sunni neighbourhood or Awakening Councils which work with the military in combating Al-qaeda in Iraq.

The Serbian coalition government has just been formaly dissolved. And caretaker Prime Minister Vojislav Kostunica has asked President Boris Tadic to call early elections. The government has proposed the elctions be hold in May. xxx reports from Belgrade.
Serbia's government has formally proposed that the country's parliament be dissolved and new elections held following the collapse of the ruling coaliton. At a brief cabnet meeting it was said that the government could not continue in office. The political parties in the governing coalition have not been able to agree on a united policy over Kosovo and Serbia's relations with the European Union. A fresh ballot is seen as a way out of the deepening political crisis. The government's proposal will now be put to the president Boris Tadic. He has the power to dissolve Parliament and order a snap election.

The Polish Prime Miniter Donald Tusk is due to hold talks with President Bush on his first visit to  the White House since taking office last November. The two men are expected to discuss US plans to install intercept missiles in Poland, but Mr. Tusk is likely to bargain for US help in beefing up Poland's air defences and modernising the military.

NOTE

work with sb. on sth.

die at the scene
An estimated ...(number) civilians have died ... (eg: An estimated 100000 civilians have died in Iraq as a direct or indirect consequence of the March 2003 US-led invasion, according to a new study.)

caretaker = Often used to modify another noun: a caretaker government 临时政府
propose that ...(should be/be)
continue in office
order a snap election
call early elections
ruling coalition = governming coalition

hold talks with ...
take office
Air Intercept Missile
bargain for ...
beef up = strengthen

TEXT

The Malaysian Prime Minister Abdullah Badawi says he has no plans to resign despite his governing coalition suffering its worst electoral performance in half a century. The spokesman for Mr. Abdullah said he would take the oath of office on Monday and would form a government. The man who handpicked Mr. Abdullah as Prime Minister, his long-serving predecessor Mahathir Mohamad has called for his resignation, accusing him of doing irreparable damage to his party, the coaliton and the entire government.
My view is he has destroyed UMNO (the United National Malays Organisation), destroyed the BN (Barisan Nasional) and he has been responsible for this massive defeat. He needs to consider steping down.

State media in Zimbabwe says President Robert Mugabe has approved a new law to give blacks Zimbabweans a majority stake in public and foreign-owned companies. The move comes three weeks before the presidential election. xxx reports.
For President Mugabe and his ruling ZANU-PF party, the Indigenization Bill is a natural stage in establishing the country's economic independence. But to the opposition Movement for Democratic Change (party), the law is a cynical attempt to buy public support ahead of elections during less than three weeks' time. Independent economists say that rather than helping the economy, the new law is also likely to cripple foreign investment, madly needed to help stem the country's inflation now officially running at over 100, 000%.

After more than 15 years of waiting, a group of Bhutanese refugees in Nepal has begun a journey to a new life overseas. 17 families have been taken from refugee camps to the Nepal capital Kathmandu and they are expected to go on soon to America and to New Zealand. They are from among more than 100,000 Nepali speaking people who were forced to leave Bhutan when ____ stripped them of their citizenship.

At least 18 people were killed and more than 40 injuried when a passenger train collided with a bus in Argentina. The wreackage of the bus was scattered across the railway line near the town of Dolores. It's been on its way to the beach resort of Mar del Plata from the captal Buenos Aires. There were no reports of casulties among passengers on the train.

Israel has annonced plans to restart work on up to 750 new homes in the West Bank, close to Jerusalem. Under the terms of the peace process, the building of settlements by Israel in the West Bank is supposed to be frozen. xxx reports from Jerusalem.
This lastest decicion by the Israeli Prime Minister to approve the construction of up to 750 new homes has provoked an angry reaction from the Palestinian leadership. One of the Palestinian negotiators Saeb Erekat said the decision undermines the peace process. According to a report in Israel, the decision to restart the development was pushed by an ultra-Orthodox party in Israeli governing coalition. The housing units in Givat Zeev are being marketed to ultra-Orthodox Jews.

The Syrian government has invited Saudi Arabia to an Arab summit in Damascus later this month. The invitation has been delayed because of a dispute between the two countries including the political crisis in Lebanon, which has overshadowed the summit preparations. It's not clear whether the Saudi monarch, King Abdullah, would attend. Saudi Arabia is among the countries which back the pro-western Lebanonese government while Syria suppports the opposition. The two sides acccuse each other of blocking a deal to end the Lebanese crisis.

 

NOTE

have no plans to do sth.
despite ... => in spite of
take the oath of office
form a government
handpick sb. as ...
call for sb.'s resignation => sb. needs to consider stepping down
do irreparable damage to ...

approve a new law
take/acquire/be given a majority stake in ...
foreign-owned => state-owned / nation-owned
indigenise = bring under the control of native people 国有化 => indigenization
a natural stage in doing sth.
a cynical attempt to buy public support
ahead of
cripple ...
madly need => badly need
stem =  [vn] to stop sth that is flowing from spreading or increasing => stem inflation
inflation running at ...
ZANU-PF party <-> main oppositon Movement for Democratic Change party

strip sb. of sth.

restart work on ... new homes => build settelements => development
under the terms of ...
be supposed to be ...
provoke an ...(eg. angry) reaction from sb.
undermine ...
be marketed for sb.

back sb. => support sb.
block a deal to do sth.

TEXT

The polls have closed in Malaysia after a general election that has highlighted rising tensions between the majority Malays and the country's ethnic minorities. The Prime Minister, Abdullah Badawi, is expected to be returned to power, but the opposition may increase its share of the vote.
The result is a foregone conclusion - another win for Prime Minister Abdullah Badawi and his National Front coalition, but the significant change is that margin of victory is expected to be smaller than last time round. There're three main ethnic groups in Malaysia. Rising tension between the Malay majority and Indians in particular is expected to boost support for the opposition parties. If they can make significance in ____, the coalition may be forced to consider a new direction.

The Supreme Court in China says it overturns 15% of all death sentences handed down by the lower courts last year. A senior judge said the reasons included lack of evidence and unlawful procedures.
According to human rights groups, China execute more people than any other nation in the world, but critics say the Chinese courts that hand down those death sentences are deeply flawed. They claim there's no judicial independence, that many officials are corrupt or poorly trained and the defendants have few rights. In recent years, several high-profile cases have drawn attention to some of those problems.

President Evo Morales of Bolivia has suffered a major blow to his plans to change the way the country is run. The country's top Electoral Court has ruled that referendum schedule ____ on the new constitution can not go ahead. It said that there was not enough time to ensure the necessary electoral guarantees. Our South America correspondent Daniel Schweimler reports.
This is probably the biggest setback Evo Morales has suffered since he became President of Bolivia a little over two years ago. His planned new Constitution is the key part of his plan to radically change the way the country is run, giving greater power to Bolivia's large indigenous population, to women and to the poor. But his plans have faced tough opposition every step of the way, mostly from the oil- and gas-rich eastern provinces which want to keep more of the wealth they produce for themselves and don't see why they should support Bolivia's poll.

A potentially explosive border dispute in Latin America appears to be over, after the presidents of Venezuela, Colombia and Ecuador shook hands in a public show of reconciliation at a regional summit. The three presidents, Hugo Chavez of Venezuela, Alvaro Uribe of Colombia and Rafael Correa of Ecuador have been treating furious accusations and insults over a border incursion a week ago, when Colombia troops raided a Farc rebel base inside Ecuador. It led to the region's worst diplomatic crisis in many years. To help resolve the dispute, Colombia has promised that its forces will never again violate the territory of its neighbours.

NOTE

return to power => step down from power
The margin of victory is small/large.
boost => Environmental concerns boost support for GM food crops.

overturn a ...(eg. prison/death) sentence => hand down a .... sentence
hand down = make and pronounce an official decision, especially a court verdict
deeply flawed
judicial independence
high-profile case 影响力广泛的典型案例

suffer a ...(eg. devastating/severe/fatal/serious/double/mortal/crippling) blow to ...
rule out a referendum on ...
=> Prime Minister xxx has ruled out a referendum on the Treaty's ratification.
indigenous = native => original
=> indigenous peoples/inhabitants/languages of the area

treat furious accusations and insults over ... => exchange accusations and insults over ...(eg. the issue of ...)
raid => attack => strike => storm => invade => violate => incursion

TEXT

Crowds of mourners have gathered in Jerusalem for the funerals of 8 students killed in an attack by an Arab gunman in western Jerusalem. President Bush, the Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas and the United Nation Secretary General Ban Ki-moon have all condemned the attack.
At the Mercaz Harav ____, there was a mood of grief and anger, the speeches were emotional. Thousands of people gathered outside the religious school in West Jerusalem to mourn the 8 students who were killed late on Thursday. One rabbi said the murders were "a barbaric activity". "Who would do this?" he asked. The congregation which spilled onto the streets was segregated. Many of the speakers and people in the crowd wept. xxx is the wife of the head of the ____.
Here's boys and my boys. Here's my boys. They come to my house. What can we say? Precious, precious boys who did nothing but study Koran into good deeds that's all.
There's considerable security in Jerusalem. This is a killing that's caused great defence in the city.
The gunman who were shot dead by security guards was an Arab resident of East Jerusalem. His sister told the BBC the Israelis have come to the family home and taken away all male relatives and his fiancee.

Georgia has strongly criticised Russia's decision to lift trade restrictions on the separatist Georgian region of Abkhazia. It described the move as an extremely dangerous provocation. The Foreign Ministry has said Russia was encouraging separatism and attempting to infringe the sovereignty and territory integrity of Georgia. We just heard that Abkhazia has called on the international community to recognize its independence from Georgia.

Zimbabwe says it will not allow observers from western countries critical of President Robert Mugabe to monitor general elections late this month. A state-run newspaper wrote that the Foreign Minister has said the government was not inviting those who believe that the elections were free and fair only if the opposition won. xxx reports from South Africa.
The list of invitees includes five Asian countries like China, Indonesian and Iran, Zimbabwe's neighbours in Africa and a host of regional organisations like Pan-African Parliament, but what's striking are those countries or organisations not invited - the formal colonial power Britain for example, along with every European state apart from Russia. US and UN are also absent. None have ____ diplomats or really permanently ____ in Zimbabwe.

China has issued an unusually energetic call to its ally, Sudan, to do more to stop the fighting in Darfur. China's Darfur envoy Liu Guijin said his government was gravely concerned about what he called "humanitarian disaster" in the province. Correspondents say China's been stunned by Western accusations of its colluding with the Sudanese government.

NOTE

...(eg. Thousands of Iraqis/Workers/hundreds of people/crowd) spill onto the streets
segreate => disperse => break up

lift ... strictions on ...
infringe the sovereignty and territory integrity of ...

be critical of sb. on ...
=> Gingrich said he will be supportive of John McCain over Obama or Clinton but would be critical of him on issues where he disagrees.
state-run => state-owned
a host of => A whole host of difficulties has / have arisen.
What's striking are ...
along with ...
apart from ... = except for = aside from

issue an ... energetic call to ...
be gravely concerned about ...
collude with sb.

TEXT

As Kenya tries to rebuild itself after two months of post-election clashes, the BBC has learned of serious allegations of state-sanctioned violence. The allegations emerged as parliament is due to open on Thursday preparing the way for a new coalition government. From Nairobi, here's Karen Allen.
The allegations of meetings hosted at State House add to the growing suspicions that post-election violence was orchestrated on both sides of the political divide. ____ meetings ____ recruit the Mungiki, a banned militia, as a defense force to protect the business interests of the Kikuyu, fellow tribesmen of the President. Sources inside Mungiki say it was a renegade branch of the outfit that was responsible for the violence in Nakuru, once the worst flash point during the clashes. Police sources have told the BBC that in the hours leading up to the violence there, they had orders not to stop mini-bus taxis packed with armed men when they arrived at police checkpoints.
A government spokesman in Nairobi Alfred Mutua described the BBC story as preposterous, baseless and defamatory. No such meetings has taken place, he declared.

Russia's state gas monopoly Gazprom says it's close to reaching an agreement with Ukraine which could lead to a full resumption of gas supplies to its neighbour. From xxx, here is xxx.
Gazprom says Russia and Ukraine are working on a joint-statement that would see the full resumption of supplies of gas between the two former Soviet nations. Earlier the Ukrainian Prime Minister Yulia Tymoshenko had said that her country would do everything to ensure the supplies of gas, so other European countries would not be affected by the riot. At a press conference in the capital, Kiev, she said Ukraine would ensure stability and that gas would keep on coming as scheduled. Cazprom earlier said the Ukraine's planning to reduce supplies of Russia's destined for parts of Europe. So, media crisis appears to be close to a solution, but the underlying problems remain. The two countries have fundenmental disagreements over prices and how gas should be traded.

A NATO official has said that Uzbekistan is once again allowing the United States and its allies to use military facilities in the country for their operations in Afghanistan. The NATO official Robert Simon made the comments during a visit to Moscow. Uzbekistan evicted American forces from the airbases they were using in 2005 after the US joined condemnation of the Uzbek authorities for firing on protestors in the town of Andijan. The forces there will continue using another airbase.

NOTE

be due to do sth.
prepare the way for ...(eg. a new coalition government) => lay the ground for ...
flash point => the point at which violence occurs
in the hours leading up to ...(eg. his wife's death, the ceremony, verdict)
have orders not to do sth.
describe ... as ...

state gas monopoly
it's close to do sth.
reach an agreement with sb.
a/the full resumption of ...
work on a joint-statement
destined for => a letter destined for Hong Kong
appear(seem) to be close to a solution
have ... disagreements over ...

evict sb. from ...
condemnation of sb. for doing sth. => condemn (for) sth.
fire on sb.

The BBC has learnt of allegations of state-sanctioned violence in Kenya during the turmoil that followed last December's disputed presidential poll.

Sources allege that meetings were hosted at the official residence of the president between the banned Mungiki militia and senior government figures.

The aim was to hire them as a defence force in the Rift Valley to protect the president's Kikuyu community.

The government denied the allegations, calling them "preposterous".

"No such meetings took place at State House or any government office," government spokesman Alfred Mutua told the BBC.

He said the government had been cracking down on the sect for the last year, arresting their leaders.

"There's no way the president or any government official would meet openly or even in darkness with the Mungiki," he said.

Gangs with machetes

The allegations come as parliament prepares to open on Thursday, laying the ground for a new coalition government.

Although parliament's focus will be on healing ethnic divisions and creating a coalition government - allegations of state involvement with a banned Kikuyu militia, known as Mungiki, will not go ignored, the BBC's Karen Allen in Nairobi says.

She says there is growing suspicion that some of the violence that led to 1,500 people being killed and hundreds of thousands displaced was orchestrated by both sides of the political divide.

The BBC source, who is a member of the Kikuyu tribe and who is now in hiding after receiving death threats, alleged: "Three members of the gang met at State House... and after the elections and the violence the militias were called again and they were given a duty to defend the Kikuyu in Rift Valley and we know they were there in numbers."

On the weekend of 25 January, the Rift Valley towns of Nakuru and then Naivasha were the focus of the some of the worst post-election violence.

Eyewitnesses spoke of non-Kikuyu homes being marked, then gangs with machetes - who they claim were Mungiki - attacked people who were from other ethnic groups.

Sources inside the Mungiki have told the BBC that it was a renegade branch of the outfit that was responsible for violence, not them.

A policeman who was on duty at the time, who has spoken to the BBC on condition of anonymity, has also pointed to clear signs of state complicity.

He alleges that in the hours before the violence in Nakuru, police officers had orders not to stop a convoy of minibus taxis, called "matatus", packed with men when they arrived at police checkpoints.

"When we were there... I saw about 12 of them [matatus] packed with men," he said.

"There were no females... I could see they were armed.

"We were ordered not to stop the vehicles to allow them to go."

But Mr Mutua said that the government deployed the military to deal with the Kikuyu youth who had tried to take the law into their own hands.

"The Kenyan government... used helicopters to drive them away, arrested them and actually got to kill quite a few of them torching houses," he said.

"The government stamped on them immediately."

The allegations come at a time of growing concern that there was pre-planned violence on both sides of the political fence, in the aftermath of Kenya's disputed election result.

The International Crisis Group has already raised such concerns and Human Rights Watch is expected to publish its report making similar claims shortly.

There are plans to establish a Truth and Reconciliation Commission in the coming weeks to examine claims of election violence.

The allegations are likely to be among the themes investigated by a commission created to address the issue of post-election skirmishes.