Hourly News updated 10:00 2011/10/12

 U.S. to consult with partners to send strong message to Iran: Clinton

U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton says the U.S. is planning to consult with its partners on how to send a strong message to Iran.

The comments come in response to the alleged¹ assassination² attempt on the Saudi ambassador in the United States.

Clinton says any further measures may "further isolate³" Iran in the international community.

The US Justice Department has charged two men in connection with a plot to kill the Saudi ambassador.

One of the two, who is not in custody⁴, is a member of Iran's al-Quds brigade, which is a secretive arm of the Iranian military which is accused of supporting and training terrorists.

The pair are accused of trying to hire an undercover agent to assassinate⁵ Saudi Arabia's ambassador to the US using explosives.

The Iranian government is denying the allegation, saying the story is a "prefabricated scenario⁶."

 

 

China currency bill passes U.S. Senate

The U.S. Senate has now passed its controversial legislation connected to China's currency.

The Senate bill, which is designed to press China to let its currency rise, will now be sent to the US House of Representatives.

House leaders have already expressed their dissatisfaction with the Senate bill, meaning it's not likely to become law.

The bill calls for tariffs⁷ on imports from countries which deliberately⁸ undervalue their currencies.

China has warned that the bill could seriously affect the country's currency reforms and lead to a trade war between the two economies.

 

 

U.S. Senate kills Obama's jobs plan

The U.S. Senate has defeated President Barack Obama's jobs plan.

In the procedural vote, both Republicans and some Democrats⁹ have raised objections to both stimulus¹⁰ spending and a tax on the rich.

The 447-billion-dollars bill will have to go back to committee to either be re-tooled or scrapped¹¹.

Obama put forward his jobs plan in September to try to tackle the near double digit¹² unemployment and to spur the sluggish¹³ US economy.

The whole jobs package includes measures including payroll¹⁴ tax cuts for employers and employees, new investment in infrastructure¹⁵ projects, as well as a tax increase on million-dollar earners.

Republicans are strongly opposed to increasing taxes.

 

 

12 Chinese confirmed dead on Mekong River: FM spokesman

China's Foreign Ministry¹⁶ now says that 12 Chinese citizens are dead, and one remains¹⁷ missing, following last week's attack on two ships in Thailand.

The statement follows the identification of the bodies pulled from the Mekong River.

Around 50 family members of the victims are now gathered on Yunnan's border areas, waiting for permission to head to Thailand to identify the bodies.

The Chinese sailors were killed last week following an attack by suspected pirates.

 

 

China, Russia pledge to further boost bilateral¹⁸ ties, energy cooperation highlights

China and Russia have now reached a critical agreement on oil pricing.

The agreement has come following meetings between Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin and Premier¹⁹ Wen Jiabao here in Beijing.

At the same time, Putin says Russia and China are nearing a deal when it comes to the pricing of natural gas.

Energy pricing is one of the key issues under discussion between Putin and Chinese leaders this week in Beijing.

Putin arrived in China yesterday as part of the two country's regularly-scheduled meetings.

Putin is set to meet with President Hu Jintao later this morning.

He also has time blocked off to meet with leading Chinese lawmaker Wu Bangguo today as well.

 

 

Israeli cabinet approves prisoner swap²⁰ deal

The Israeli cabinet has approved a prisoner exchange with Hamas.

With only three of the 29 members of the Israeli cabinet voting against the plan, the agreement paves the way for the eventual²¹ release of Gilad Shalit.

The Israeli soldier has been held for some five years by the Islamic Resistance Movement.

In exchange, the Israeli side will release just over a thousand Palestinian prisoners.

Around three hundred of them are believed to be high-priority prisoners, many of whom are serving life sentences for their role in attacks on Israel.

 

 

Polling in Liberia ends peacefully

Security personnel and elections officials both say that voting in Liberia has gone off very smoothly²².

The polling for both the presidential and legislative²³ elections is now over.

Voters in the West African country have voted to elect both a president and 88 lawmakers.

Incumbent²⁴ President Ellen Johnson-Sirleaf, the first woman elected as the head of state in Africa, is up against 15 other candidates.

The results of the vote are expected in two weeks.

 

 

Grounded cargo²⁵ ship captain charged in New Zealand court

The captain of the stricken cargo ship, grounded off the coast of New Zealand, has now been formally charged.

The 44-year old man from the Philippines, whose name hasn't been revealed, could face up to a year in jail if eventually convicted.

He's been remanded into custody until his next court appearance.

The charges come after the cargo ship became grounded on a reef in New Zealand's territorial²⁶ waters last week.

So far about 40 tonnes of oil have leaked from the striken ship.

Around 70 cargo containers, potenitally carrying environmentally damaging materials, have also fallen into the sea.

1 alleged   

a.被指控的，嫌疑的

参考例句：

• It was alleged that he had taken bribes while in office. 他被指称在任时收受贿赂。
• alleged irregularities in the election campaign 被指称竞选运动中的不正当行为

2 assassination   

n.暗杀；暗杀事件

参考例句：

• The assassination of the president brought matters to a head.总统遭暗杀使事态到了严重关头。
• Lincoln's assassination in 1865 shocked the whole nation.1865年，林肯遇刺事件震惊全美国。

3 isolate   

vt.使孤立，隔离

参考例句：

• Do not isolate yourself from others.不要把自己孤立起来。
• We should never isolate ourselves from the masses.我们永远不能脱离群众。

4 custody   

n.监护，照看，羁押，拘留

参考例句：

• He spent a week in custody on remand awaiting sentence.等候判决期间他被还押候审一个星期。
• He was taken into custody immediately after the robbery.抢劫案发生后，他立即被押了起来。

5 assassinate   

vt.暗杀，行刺，中伤

参考例句：

• The police exposed a criminal plot to assassinate the president.警方侦破了一个行刺总统的阴谋。
• A plot to assassinate the banker has been uncovered by the police.暗杀银行家的密谋被警方侦破了。

6 scenario   

n.剧本，脚本；概要

参考例句：

• But the birth scenario is not completely accurate.然而分娩脚本并非完全准确的。
• This is a totally different scenario.这是完全不同的剧本。

7 tariffs   

关税制度； 关税( tariff的名词复数 )； 关税表； （旅馆或饭店等的）收费表； 量刑标准

参考例句：

• British industry was sheltered from foreign competition by protective tariffs. 保护性关税使英国工业免受国际竞争影响。
• The new tariffs have put a stranglehold on trade. 新的关税制对开展贸易极为不利。

8 deliberately   

adv.审慎地；蓄意地；故意地

参考例句：

• The girl gave the show away deliberately.女孩故意泄露秘密。
• They deliberately shifted off the argument.他们故意回避这个论点。

9 democrats   

n.民主主义者，民主人士( democrat的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• The Democrats held a pep rally on Capitol Hill yesterday. 民主党昨天在国会山召开了竞选誓师大会。
• The democrats organize a filibuster in the senate. 民主党党员组织了阻挠议事。 来自《简明英汉词典》

10 stimulus   

n.刺激，刺激物，促进因素，引起兴奋的事物

参考例句：

• Regard each failure as a stimulus to further efforts.把每次失利看成对进一步努力的激励。
• Light is a stimulus to growth in plants.光是促进植物生长的一个因素。

11 scrapped   

废弃(scrap的过去式与过去分词)； 打架

参考例句：

• This machine is so old that it will soon have to be scrapped. 这架机器太旧，快报废了。
• It had been thought that passport controls would be scrapped. 人们曾认为会放开护照管制。

12 digit   

n.零到九的阿拉伯数字，手指，脚趾

参考例句：

• Her telephone number differs from mine by one digit.她的电话号码和我的只差一个数字。
• Many animals have five digits.许多动物有5趾。

13 sluggish   

adj.懒惰的，迟钝的，无精打采的

参考例句：

• This humid heat makes you feel rather sluggish.这种湿热的天气使人感到懒洋洋的。
• Circulation is much more sluggish in the feet than in the hands.脚部的循环比手部的循环缓慢得多。

14 payroll   

n.工资表，在职人员名单，工薪总额

参考例句：

• His yearly payroll is $1.2 million.他的年薪是120万美元。
• I can't wait to get my payroll check.我真等不及拿到我的工资单了。

15 infrastructure   

n.下部构造，下部组织，基础结构，基础设施

参考例句：

• We should step up the development of infrastructure for research.加强科学基础设施建设。
• We should strengthen cultural infrastructure and boost various types of popular culture.加强文化基础设施建设，发展各类群众文化。

16 ministry   

n.(政府的)部；牧师

参考例句：

• They sent a deputation to the ministry to complain.他们派了一个代表团到部里投诉。
• We probed the Air Ministry statements.我们调查了空军部的记录。

17 remains   

n.剩余物，残留物；遗体，遗迹

参考例句：

• He ate the remains of food hungrily.他狼吞虎咽地吃剩余的食物。
• The remains of the meal were fed to the dog.残羹剩饭喂狗了。

18 bilateral   

adj.双方的，两边的，两侧的

参考例句：

• They have been negotiating a bilateral trade deal.他们一直在商谈一项双边贸易协定。
• There was a wide gap between the views of the two statesmen on the bilateral cooperation.对双方合作的问题，两位政治家各自所持的看法差距甚大。

19 premier   

adj.首要的；n.总理，首相

参考例句：

• The Irish Premier is paying an official visit to Britain.爱尔兰总理正在对英国进行正式访问。
• He requested that the premier grant him an internview.他要求那位总理接见他一次。

20 swap   

n.交换；vt.交换，用...作交易

参考例句：

• I will swap you my bicycle for your radio.我想拿我的自行车换你的收音机。
• This comic was a swap that I got from Nick.这本漫画书是我从尼克那里换来的。

21 eventual   

adj.最后的，结局的，最终的

参考例句：

• Several schools face eventual closure.几所学校面临最终关闭。
• Both parties expressed optimism about an eventual solution.双方对问题的最终解决都表示乐观。

22 smoothly   

adv.平滑地，顺利地，流利地，流畅地

参考例句：

• The workmen are very cooperative,so the work goes on smoothly.工人们十分合作，所以工作进展顺利。
• Just change one or two words and the sentence will read smoothly.这句话只要动一两个字就顺了。

23 legislative   

n.立法机构，立法权；adj.立法的，有立法权的

参考例句：

• Congress is the legislative branch of the U.S. government.国会是美国政府的立法部门。
• Today's hearing was just the first step in the legislative process.今天的听证会只是展开立法程序的第一步。

24 incumbent   

adj.成为责任的，有义务的；现任的，在职的

参考例句：

• He defeated the incumbent governor by a large plurality.他以压倒多数票击败了现任州长。
• It is incumbent upon you to warn them.你有责任警告他们。

25 cargo   

n.(一只船或一架飞机运载的)货物

参考例句：

• The ship has a cargo of about 200 ton.这条船大约有200吨的货物。
• A lot of people discharged the cargo from a ship.许多人从船上卸下货物。

26 territorial   

adj.领土的，领地的

参考例句：

• The country is fighting to preserve its territorial integrity.该国在为保持领土的完整而进行斗争。
• They were not allowed to fish in our territorial waters.不允许他们在我国领海捕鱼。