Hourly News updated 10:00 2011/10/13

 Controversial U.S. currency bill does "more harm than good": USCBC

The U.S.-China Business Council is now wading¹ in on the controversial US Senate bill connected to China's currency.

The USCBC is suggesting the bill would do more harm than good.

The US-China Business Council has been a strong advocate for seeing the Renminbi become more in-line with the market.

However, the business organization says the Senate bill could derail that.

The Senate-sponsored bill -- which still needs House and Presidential approval -- could lead to tarriffs on countries the US feels artificially undervalues its currency.

 

 

China demands safe return of Chinese ships, sailors: FM spokesman

The Chinese foreign ministry² says the Chinese government is now working with Thailand, Myanmar and Laos to try to ensure the safe return of Chinese sailors who are currently stranded³ on the Mekong River.

The three countries are going to help assist Chinese patrol boats to reach the stranded ships to aid their safe travel back to China.

Numerous Chinese cargo⁴ boats, along with dozens of crew members, are trapped along the Mekong River, after the major southeast Asian waterway was shut down to commercial boat traffic following last week's attack on Chinese crews.

 

 

Thirteen miners trapped in flooded mine in NE China

Officials with a local government in Heilongjiang have now revealed that 13 miners are trapped in a flooded coal mine.

The miners have been trapped since late Tuesday afternoon at the mine in the city of Jixi, which is about 50 kilometers from Heilongjiang's southeast border with Russia.

Rescue work is underway.

It remains⁵ unclear at this point what caused the mine to flood.

 

 

China lends helping⁶ hand to cash-strapped small firms

The State Council, China's Cabinet, has now given its formal approval to an earlier pledge by Premier⁷ Wen Jiabao to help out cash-strapped small businesses here in China.

The promise of more central government support comes following revelations that dozens of small business owners in the city of Wenzhou -- which is virtually all driven by small and medium-sized enterprises -- have either fled or killed themselves because of the massive debt they owe.

Around 80 small business owners in the city owe a combined 1.6-billion US dollars in loans they took out from non-banking consortiums.

The business owners in Wenzhou began approaching private financiers amid the heavy tightening⁸ on bank loans here in China this year.

 

 

Gaddafi's fourth son captured in Sirte: NTC defense⁹ official

Fighters with Libya's transitional government now say they've captured one of Muammar Gaddafi's sons in the city of Sirte.

Mutassim Gaddafi is the elder Gaddafi's 4th son.

He was a national security advisor¹⁰ under his father's rule, and is believed to have been coordinating¹¹ the pro-Gaddafi stand in Sirte.

Meanwhile, an NTC official has suggested that they will announce they have complete control of Sirte in the next 24-hours.

The transitional government in Libya has said that it will declare national liberation once Sirte is completely under its control.

 

 

US imposes sanctions on Iran's airline over ambassador killing¹² attempt

The US government has imposed sanctions on a commercial Iranian airline which it says provides funds and transport for Iran's elite¹³ forces.

The sanctions follow the alleged¹⁴ plot to assassinate¹⁵ Saudi Arabia's ambassador to Washington.

The US is claiming that Iran is behind the plot, an accusation¹⁶ that is being firmly reputed by Iran.

Under the sanctions, Mahan Air's US assets will be frozen and US companies will be banned from doing business with them.

Saudi Arabia is on record saying Iran will "pay the price" for the alleged plot.

 

 

Christmas Day underpants bomber¹⁷ pleads guilty

A Nigerian man accused of trying blow up a US-bound flight on Christmas Day two years ago has pled guilty to all charges.

24-year-old Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab has admitted to all eight charges against him in court, including terrorism and attempted murder.

Anthony Chambers¹⁸, his standby attorney, says his client made the decision by himself.

He faces a life sentence.

The Nigerian hid powerful explosives inside his underwear and boarded a flight from Amsterdam to Detroit on Christmas Day in 2009.

However, he failed to detonate the explosive device after passengers and crew restrained him and extinguished the flames.

Al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula claimed responsibility for the botched attack.

 

 

U.S. House Oks long-stalled trade agreements

The U.S. House of Representatives has finally approved three free trade agreements with South Korea, Colombia and Panama.

The Senate is expected to ratify¹⁹ the bill.

The United States signed the trade agreements with South Korea, Colombia and Panama during the tenure²⁰ of Bush number 1.

But the Democratic-controlled Congress at the time never brought the agreements up for a vote.

This has given the Obama administration time to renegotiate areas it found objectionable.

 

 

6 killed in Southern Calif. shooting

At least six people are dead, and three others have been seriously wounded, after a shooting in California.

A man burst into a beauty salon²¹ just south of Los Angeles and opened fire.

The suspect was then arrested a few blocks away.

Police say the man had numerous weapons in his vehicle.

While the motive²² for the rampage remains unclear, it's being reported that the suspect may have been involved in a domestic dispute with one of the women working at the beauty salon.

1 wading   

（从水、泥等）蹚，走过，跋( wade的现在分词 )

参考例句：

• The man tucked up his trousers for wading. 那人卷起裤子，准备涉水。
• The children were wading in the sea. 孩子们在海水中走着。

2 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。

3 stranded   

a.搁浅的，进退两难的

参考例句：

• He was stranded in a strange city without money. 他流落在一个陌生的城市里， 身无分文，一筹莫展。
• I was stranded in the strange town without money or friends. 我困在那陌生的城市，既没有钱，又没有朋友。

4 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。

5 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。

6 helping   

n.食物的一份&adj.帮助人的，辅助的

参考例句：

• The poor children regularly pony up for a second helping of my hamburger. 那些可怜的孩子们总是要求我把我的汉堡包再给他们一份。
• By doing this, they may at times be helping to restore competition. 这样一来, 他在某些时候,有助于竞争的加强。

7 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。

8 tightening   

上紧，固定，紧密

参考例句：

• Make sure the washer is firmly seated before tightening the pipe. 旋紧水管之前，检查一下洗衣机是否已牢牢地固定在底座上了。
• It needs tightening up a little. 它还需要再收紧些。

9 defense   

n.防御，保卫；[pl.]防务工事；辩护，答辩

参考例句：

• The accused has the right to defense.被告人有权获得辩护。
• The war has impacted the area with military and defense workers.战争使那个地区挤满了军队和防御工程人员。

10 advisor   

n.顾问，指导老师，劝告者

参考例句：

• They employed me as an advisor.他们聘请我当顾问。
• The professor is engaged as a technical advisor.这位教授被聘请为技术顾问。

11 coordinating   

v.使协调，使调和( coordinate的现在分词 )；协调；协同；成为同等

参考例句：

• He abolished the Operations Coordinating Board and the Planning Board. 他废除了行动协调委员会和计划委员会。 来自辞典例句
• He's coordinating the wedding, and then we're not going to invite him? 他是来协调婚礼的，难道我们不去请他？ 来自电影对白

12 killing   

n.巨额利润；突然赚大钱，发大财

参考例句：

• Investors are set to make a killing from the sell-off.投资者准备清仓以便大赚一笔。
• Last week my brother made a killing on Wall Street.上个周我兄弟在华尔街赚了一大笔。

13 elite   

n.精英阶层；实力集团；adj.杰出的，卓越的

参考例句：

• The power elite inside the government is controlling foreign policy.政府内部的一群握有实权的精英控制着对外政策。
• We have a political elite in this country.我们国家有一群政治精英。

14 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

15 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。

16 accusation   

n.控告，指责，谴责

参考例句：

• I was furious at his making such an accusation.我对他的这种责备非常气愤。
• She knew that no one would believe her accusation.她知道没人会相信她的指控。

17 bomber   

n.轰炸机，投弹手，投掷炸弹者

参考例句：

• He flew a bomber during the war.他在战时驾驶轰炸机。
• Detectives hunting the London bombers will be keen to interview him.追查伦敦爆炸案凶犯的侦探们急于对他进行讯问。

18 chambers   

n.房间( chamber的名词复数 )；（议会的）议院；卧室；会议厅

参考例句：

• The body will be removed into one of the cold storage chambers. 尸体将被移到一个冷冻间里。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• Mr Chambers's readable book concentrates on the middle passage: the time Ransome spent in Russia. Chambers先生的这本值得一看的书重点在中间：Ransome在俄国的那几年。 来自互联网

19 ratify   

v.批准，认可，追认

参考例句：

• The heads of two governments met to ratify the peace treaty.两国政府首脑会晤批准和平条约。
• The agreement have to be ratify by the board.该协议必须由董事会批准。

20 tenure   

n.终身职位；任期；(土地)保有权，保有期

参考例句：

• He remained popular throughout his tenure of the office of mayor.他在担任市长的整个任期内都深得民心。
• Land tenure is a leading political issue in many parts of the world.土地的保有权在世界很多地区是主要的政治问题。

21 salon   

n.[法]沙龙；客厅；营业性的高级服务室

参考例句：

• Do you go to the hairdresser or beauty salon more than twice a week?你每周去美容院或美容沙龙多过两次吗？
• You can hear a lot of dirt at a salon.你在沙龙上会听到很多流言蜚语。

22 motive   

n.动机，目的；adv.发动的，运动的

参考例句：

• The police could not find a motive for the murder.警察不能找到谋杀的动机。
• He had some motive in telling this fable.他讲这寓言故事是有用意的。