媒體英語會帶大家一起學習 BBC 撰稿人在報道世界大事時常用到的單詞和短語。

海地霍亂受害者向聯合國下達了最后通牒。受害者說如果聯合國在未來60天內不展開有關索賠的談話，他們將采取法律行動。受害者指責聯合國維和部隊的士兵將霍亂病菌帶進了海地并污染了其水源。請聽 BBC Mark Doyle 的報道：

The cholera epidemic began in Haiti near a camp for UN soldiers where there were leaking sewage pipes. Some human waste was also dumped outside the camp near a river. One of the UN's own experts on cholera, Danielle Lantagne, told the BBC it was "most likely" the disease originated in the UN camp. It housed UN soldiers from Nepal, where cholera is endemic.

The UN rejected an earlier call for compensation in this unprecedented case against the world body, saying it was immune from such claims. But the victims' lawyers say the UN is breaking international law. If mediation talks don't begin within 60 days, the lawyers say, they'll open legal proceedings in New York with claims totalling many billions of dollars.



The lawyers say they'll file claims for $100,000 for the families of those who have lost a loved one and $50,000 for every one of the hundreds of thousands of people who have fallen sick. The UN has said very little on the matter, apart from to insist it is immune from legal proceedings. At the same time it may also be true that the United Nations simply doesn't know what to do in the face of what could have been a series of catastrophic and deadly errors. In private, UN officials say they're facing a moral crisis. Now they may be about to confront a very public legal battle as well.