Hourly News updated 10:00 2011/10/14

 Family members of the 12 murdered sailors now arrived in Thailand

29 family members of the 12 sailors who were murdered during a hijacking¹ of their cargo² ships in on the Mekong River have now arrived in Thailand.

A memorial service has been held at the scene where the attack took place.

The victims' families are now undergoing the process of identifying their loved-ones.

The family members of the victims arrived with a group of Chinese patrol vessels³.

Those boats have been dispatched to escort another 164 stranded⁴ Chinese sailors and their 28 cargo ships back home.

Meanwhile, one of the 13 Chinese sailors on board the two boats attacked last week remains⁵ missing.

 

 

Former Taiwan leader gets new prison term for bribe⁶ taking in bank mergers⁷

An appeals court has now re-instated the earlier conviction of former Taiwan leader Chen Shui-bian.

Chen has been sentenced to 18-years in prison on the restored conviction of taking bribes⁸ in connection with bank mergers.

His wife's previous conviction has also been restored.

She's been sentenced to 11-years in prison by the high court.

The pair was originally convicted in 2009 of taking bribes worth some 600-million New Taiwan Dollars.

Around a year ago, a district court overturned their convictions.

The pair can appeal this latest verdict.

 

 

US, S Korea leaders reassure⁹ alliance following approved FTA

US President Barack Obama and his South Korean counterpart Lee Myung-Bak have met in Washington.

The meeting comes just hours after the U.S. congress approved a long-delayed free trade deal between the two countries.

(Male English soundbites/1014 Obama)

"Our alliance reflects a broader truth. The United States is a Pacific nation and America is leading once more in the Asia-Pacific and with our landmark¹⁰ trade agreement, we will bring our nations even closer, creating new jobs for both our people and preserving our edge as two of the most dynamic economies in the world."

Both Obama and Lee are hailing the new FTA as a win for both countries.

 

 

Slovakia approves the EFSF

Slovakia's parliament has now approved expanding the size and power of the EU bailout fund.

The approval comes after the parliament rejected the proposal in the first vote earlier this week.

Slovakia is the last of the 17 eurozone nations to approve adding to the 440 billion euro bailout fund.

The expanded fund is empowered to buy eurozone government debt and offer lines of credit to both member states and their banks.

 

 

U.S. hedge fund tycoon¹¹ sentenced to 11 years in jail for insider trading

The man convicted in one of the world's biggest hedge fund scams has now been sentenced to 11-years in prison.

A court in New York has also fined Raj Rajaratnam 10-million dollars.

The co-founder of the Galleon¹² Group was arrested in late 2009, after police discovered Rajaratnam gained close to 64-million dollars in insider trading.

He was later convicted on 14-counts of conspiracy¹³ and securities fraud.

The Sri Lanka-born Rajaratnam ran Galleon, worth some 7-billion US dollars at one point, until his arrest, which was part of the largest crackdown on hedge fund insider trading in US history.

 

 

ICTY not to sever¹⁴ Mladic trial

The courts in the Hague have decided¹⁵ not to split the trial of former Bosnian-Serb commander Ratko Mladic into two parts.

The trial chamber¹⁶ has turned down that request by the prosecution¹⁷, suggesting that making the move because of "speculative¹⁸ and unsubstantiated" reports about Mladic's health aren't enough reason to split the trial.

Prosecutors¹⁹ had asked for the trial to be divided into two parts: The first dealing²⁰ with the death of some 7-thousand muslim men and boys in Srebrenica, and the second into the 43-month seige of Sarajevo.

Splitting the trial into two parts would expodite the potential conviction of Mladic on at least one of the charges.

 

 

Johnson-Sirleaf leads with 44.5 pct votes in preliminary results of Liberian polls

Liberia's elections commission has now released the official preliminary results of this week's voting.

Incumbent²¹ President Ellen Johnson-Sirleaf holds a significant lead, garnering²² 44.5-percent of the vote so far.

Her closest compeditor, Winston Tubman, holds 26.5-percent of the votes cast.

A former warlord, Senator Prince Y. Johnson sits in 3rd in the presidential voting with 13.5-percent of the vote.

Johnson-Sirleaf is hoping to secure her second-straight victory in Liberia's presidental election, which would put her in office for another 6-years.

The final tally²³ won't be complete for at least another week.

 

 

Berlusconi calls for confidence vote

Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi has now formally called for a confidence vote in his government.

Berlusconi has been forced to ask for the approval of the Italian parliament in his government, following his coalition²⁴'s failure to have a budget report passed this week.

In issuing the call, Berlusconi has ruled out the idea of an early election, saying it would hurt the country at a critical moment.

While Berlusconi's coalition government is expected to survive the confidence vote, frustrations²⁵ over austerity cuts in the country are leading to significant political discord²⁶ in Italy.

1 hijacking   

n. 劫持, 抢劫 动词hijack的现在分词形式

参考例句：

• I have been told about the hijacking . 我已听说了那次劫机事件。 来自英汉 - 翻译样例 - 口语
• They are taking measures to guarantee against the occurrence of hijacking. 他们正采取措施防止劫机事件的发生。

2 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。

3 vessels   

n.血管( vessel的名词复数 )；船；容器；（具有特殊品质或接受特殊品质的）人

参考例句：

• The river is navigable by vessels of up to 90 tons. 90 吨以下的船只可以从这条河通过。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• All modern vessels of any size are fitted with radar installations. 所有现代化船只都有雷达装置。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》

4 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。

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 bribe   

n.贿赂；v.向…行贿，买通

参考例句：

• He tried to bribe the policeman not to arrest him.他企图贿赂警察不逮捕他。
• He resolutely refused their bribe.他坚决不接受他们的贿赂。

7 mergers   

n.（两个公司的）合并( merger的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• Mergers fall into three categories: horizontal, vertical, and conglomerate. 合并分为以下三种：横向合并，纵向合并和混合合并。 来自辞典例句
• Many recent mergers are concentrated within specific industries, particularly in retailing, airlines and communications. 现代许多合并企业集中进行某些特定业务，在零售业、民航和通讯业中更是如此。 来自英汉非文学 - 政府文件

8 bribes   

n.贿赂( bribe的名词复数 )；向（某人）行贿，贿赂v.贿赂( bribe的第三人称单数 )；向（某人）行贿，贿赂

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。
• corrupt officials accepting bribes 接受贿赂的贪官污吏

9 reassure   

v.使放心，使消除疑虑

参考例句：

• This seemed to reassure him and he continued more confidently.这似乎使他放心一点，于是他更有信心地继续说了下去。
• The airline tried to reassure the customers that the planes were safe.航空公司尽力让乘客相信飞机是安全的。

10 landmark   

n.陆标，划时代的事，地界标

参考例句：

• The Russian Revolution represents a landmark in world history.俄国革命是世界历史上的一个里程碑。
• The tower was once a landmark for ships.这座塔曾是船只的陆标。

11 tycoon   

n.有钱有势的企业家，大亨

参考例句：

• The tycoon is on the verge of bankruptcy.那名大亨濒临破产的边缘。
• The tycoon has many servants to minister to his needs.那位大亨有很多人服侍他。

12 galleon   

n.大帆船

参考例句：

• The story of a galleon that sank at the start of her maiden voyage in 1628 must be one of the strangest tales of the sea.在1628年，有一艘大帆船在处女航开始时就沉没了，这个沉船故事一定是最神奇的海上轶事之一。
• In 1620 the English galleon Mayfolwer set out from the port of Southampton with 102 pilgrims on board.1620年，英国的“五月花”号西班牙式大帆船载着102名

13 conspiracy   

n.阴谋，密谋，共谋

参考例句：

• The men were found guilty of conspiracy to murder.这些人被裁决犯有阴谋杀人罪。
• He claimed that it was all a conspiracy against him.他声称这一切都是一场针对他的阴谋。

14 sever   

v.切开，割开；断绝，中断

参考例句：

• She wanted to sever all her connections with the firm.她想断绝和那家公司的所有联系。
• We must never sever the cultural vein of our nation.我们不能割断民族的文化血脉。

15 decided   

adj.决定了的，坚决的；明显的，明确的

参考例句：

• This gave them a decided advantage over their opponents.这使他们比对手具有明显的优势。
• There is a decided difference between British and Chinese way of greeting.英国人和中国人打招呼的方式有很明显的区别。

16 chamber   

n.房间，寝室；会议厅；议院；会所

参考例句：

• For many,the dentist's surgery remains a torture chamber.对许多人来说，牙医的治疗室一直是间受刑室。
• The chamber was ablaze with light.会议厅里灯火辉煌。

17 prosecution   

n.起诉，告发，检举，执行，经营

参考例句：

• The Smiths brought a prosecution against the organizers.史密斯家对组织者们提出起诉。
• He attempts to rebut the assertion made by the prosecution witness.他试图反驳原告方证人所作的断言。

18 speculative   

adj.思索性的，暝想性的，推理的

参考例句：

• Much of our information is speculative.我们的许多信息是带推测性的。
• The report is highly speculative and should be ignored.那个报道推测的成分很大，不应理会。

19 prosecutors   

检举人( prosecutor的名词复数 )； 告发人； 起诉人； 公诉人

参考例句：

• In some places,public prosecutors are elected rather than appointed. 在有些地方，检察官是经选举而非任命产生的。 来自口语例句
• You've been summoned to the Prosecutors' Office, 2 days later. 你在两天以后被宣到了检察官的办公室。

20 dealing   

n.经商方法，待人态度

参考例句：

• This store has an excellent reputation for fair dealing.该商店因买卖公道而享有极高的声誉。
• His fair dealing earned our confidence.他的诚实的行为获得我们的信任。

21 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。

22 garnering   

v.收集并（通常）贮藏（某物），取得，获得( garner的现在分词 )

参考例句：

• And at the forefront was Bryant, garnering nothing but praise from his coaches and teammates. 而站在最前沿的就是科比，他也因此获得了教练和队友的赞美。 来自互联网

23 tally   

n.计数器，记分，一致，测量；vt.计算，记录，使一致；vi.计算，记分，一致

参考例句：

• Don't forget to keep a careful tally of what you spend.别忘了仔细记下你的开支账目。
• The facts mentioned in the report tally to every detail.报告中所提到的事实都丝毫不差。

24 coalition   

n.结合体，同盟，结合，联合

参考例句：

• The several parties formed a coalition.这几个政党组成了政治联盟。
• Coalition forces take great care to avoid civilian casualties.联盟军队竭尽全力避免造成平民伤亡。

25 frustrations   

挫折( frustration的名词复数 )； 失败； 挫败； 失意

参考例句：

• The temptation would grow to take out our frustrations on Saigon. 由于我们遭到挫折而要同西贡算帐的引诱力会增加。
• Aspirations will be raised, but so will frustrations. 人们会产生种种憧憬，但是种种挫折也会随之而来。

26 discord   

n.不和，意见不合，争论，（音乐）不和谐

参考例句：

• These two answers are in discord.这两个答案不一样。
• The discord of his music was hard on the ear.他演奏的不和谐音很刺耳。