It is 00:30 universal time and here is the news in Special English.
The head of the United Nations has urged world leaders to confirm their promises to sharply reduce world poverty, hunger and disease within 5 years. UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon spoke Monday as he opened a 3-day meeting on the Millennium Development Goals. These included reducing hunger and childhood death rates, improving the health of mothers and guaranteeing early education for all children. French President Nicolas Sarkozy spoke to the meeting. He said France will increase its payments to the UN Fund for AIDS, tuberculosis and malaria by 20% in the next 3 years. Both Mr. Sarkozy and Mr. Ban said developed nations can not use the current economic conditions as a reason for doing less.
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