Hourly News updated 10:00 2011/10/17

 Stranded¹ Chinese sailors escorted home from Thailand after deadly attack

Some of the stranded Chinese shipping² crews have now returned home after being stranded in northern Thailand following the deadly attack on two Chinese merchant ships on the Mekong river earlier this month.

A total of 11 cargo³ boats with 78 sailors have now returned to Yunnan.

Families, relatives, close friends and officials were at the port to welcome the crews back home.

164 sailors aboard 26 ships became stranded on the Mekong in Thailand after shipping was halted following the attacks on the two Chinese ships.

15 other ships stranded on the Mekong following the halt to shipping are expected to arrive back in Yunnan over the coming days.

Meantime, a working team from China is now in Chiang Rai County in Thailand to help with the investigation⁴ into the deadly attack that killed 12 Chinese sailors.

 

 

No new leak point in seabed found at Bohai oil platforms: official

The State Oceanic Administration is now reporting that there don't appear to be any new leaks coming from ConocoPhillips China's oil platforms in Bohai Bay.

As part of a national off-shore oil field check which began this past weekend, the Administration says certain achievements have been made in sealing off the leaks in Bohai Bay.

A massive leak from one of ConocoPhillips China's platforms this summer polluted some 55-hundred square kilometers of the ocean in Bohai Bay.

The leak, the worst ever in China, caused significant environmental damage and severly affected⁵ the local fishery industries in Liaoning and Hebei.

 

 

At least 20 killed by mudslide in El Salvador

At least 20 people have been killed in a major mudslide in El Salvador.

Heavy rains in the Central American country are being blamed for the disaster.

This brings the death toll⁶ brought on by the heavy rains in El Salvador to 27.

Meanwhile, a number of new deaths are also being reported in neighboring Guatamala and Honduras, where around 40 people have been killed in rain-triggered flooding or slides.

 

 

Bulldozers raze⁷ Gaddafi compound

Bulldozers have now begun demolishing⁸ Muammar Gaddafi's main compound in Tripoli.

A senior army officer says the Bab al-Aziziya compound area will be turned into a public park.

Some residents in Tripoli have already turned one of the courtyards inside the compound into a weekly pet market.

The heavily fortified⁹ compound was one of the major targets of NATO warplanes before Tripoli fell to the National Transitional Council in August.

Meantime, street fighting is still raging in the city centre of Gaddafi's hometown of Sirte.

Witnesses say the situation in Sirte is chaotic¹⁰, with widespread looting being reported.

 

 

AL discusses Syria

Foreign ministers from Arab League countries are now calling for the Syrian government and the opposition¹¹ to hold talks within half a month.

Arab countries, as part of an emergency meeting, are also discussing whether to expel Syria from the Arab League.

Arab states have been demanding an end to the bloodshed and are calling for major political reforms in Syria.

Meantime in Yemen, fierce street battles have flared¹² up between government troops and the opposition army in the capital Sana'a.

This comes just hours after embattled Yemeni President Ali Abdullah Saleh went on state television to blast the opposition for trying to orchestrate a coup¹³.

Local doctors say at least six protesters have been killed.

 

 

Kenyan forces cross into Somalia to hunt for al Shabaab militia¹⁴

Kenyan security forces have crossed the border into Somalia to pursue al-Shabaab militants¹⁵.

A joint¹⁶ operation has been launched in agreement with Somali government forces in the hunt for the Islamic groups who kidnapped two Spanish, French and one British women in the past few days.

Witnesses say military planes and helicopters are flying over the border with Somalia.

 

 

Liberia to hold second-round presidential election in November

Liberia is expected to hold a second-round presidential election on November 8th, as no candidate has taken an absolute majority in the first round of polling.

The country's National Election Commission has announced that newly-named Nobel Peace Prize laureate Ellen Johnson-Sirleaf is leading with 44 percent of the votes.

Her main competition, Winston Tubman, holds just over 32-percent support.

Meanwhile, Tubman has withdrawn¹⁷ an earlier demand for a recount, saying he will take part in the runoff.

 

 

Saudi king hospitalized for back surgery

Saudi Arabia's aging King is now in hospital for surgery.

King Abdullah is undergoing back surgery to repair back trouble.

The 88-year old King underwent back surgery in the United States last year to deal with complications brought on by a slipped disc.

This time he's being treated in the Saudi capital Riyadh.

 

 

China's first A380 starts its virgin¹⁸ flight this Monday

China's first A380 is set to take off this morning in its maiden¹⁹ flight from Beijing to Guangzhou.

China Southern Airlines is the first airline operating the Airbus A380 in China, and the 7th in the world.

The double decker plane will fly between Beijing and Guangzhou until October 26th, and then between Shanghai and Beijing from October 27th to 29th.

Tickets are already sold out for the superjumbo's eight luxury suites²⁰, which cost around 35-hundred kuai on the Shanghai-Beijing route.

The jet's international routes have yet to be announced.

1 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。

2 shipping   

n.船运（发货，运输，乘船）

参考例句：

• We struck a bargain with an American shipping firm.我们和一家美国船运公司谈成了一笔生意。
• There's a shipping charge of ￡5 added to the price.价格之外另加五英镑运输费。

3 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。

4 investigation   

n.调查，调查研究

参考例句：

• In an investigation,a new fact became known, which told against him.在调查中新发现了一件对他不利的事实。
• He drew the conclusion by building on his own investigation.他根据自己的调查研究作出结论。

5 affected   

adj.不自然的，假装的

参考例句：

• She showed an affected interest in our subject.她假装对我们的课题感到兴趣。
• His manners are affected.他的态度不自然。

6 toll   

n.过路(桥)费；损失，伤亡人数；v.敲(钟)

参考例句：

• The hailstone took a heavy toll of the crops in our village last night.昨晚那场冰雹损坏了我们村的庄稼。
• The war took a heavy toll of human life.这次战争夺去了许多人的生命。

7 raze   

vt.铲平，把(城市、房屋等)夷为平地，拆毁

参考例句：

• The nuclear weapons stored by the United States alone are sufficient to raze the planet.仅美国储存的核武器就足以毁灭地球。
• The earthquake made the city raze to the ground.地震把这个城市夷为平地。

8 demolishing   

v.摧毁( demolish的现在分词 )；推翻；拆毁（尤指大建筑物）；吃光

参考例句：

• The machine was designed specially for demolishing old buildings. 这种机器是专为拆毁旧楼房而设计的。 来自《用法词典》
• Conventional demolishing work would have caused considerable interruptions in traffic. 如果采用一般的拆除方法就要引起交通的严重中断。 来自辞典例句

9 fortified   

adj. 加强的

参考例句：

• He fortified himself against the cold with a hot drink. 他喝了一杯热饮御寒。
• The enemy drew back into a few fortified points. 敌人收缩到几个据点里。

10 chaotic   

adj.混沌的，一片混乱的，一团糟的

参考例句：

• Things have been getting chaotic in the office recently.最近办公室的情况越来越乱了。
• The traffic in the city was chaotic.这城市的交通糟透了。

11 opposition   

n.反对，敌对

参考例句：

• The party leader is facing opposition in his own backyard.该党领袖在自己的党內遇到了反对。
• The police tried to break down the prisoner's opposition.警察设法制住了那个囚犯的反抗。

12 Flared   

adj. 端部张开的, 爆发的, 加宽的, 漏斗式的 动词flare的过去式和过去分词

参考例句：

• The match flared and went out. 火柴闪亮了一下就熄了。
• The fire flared up when we thought it was out. 我们以为火已经熄灭，但它突然又燃烧起来。

13 coup   

n.政变；突然而成功的行动

参考例句：

• The monarch was ousted by a military coup.那君主被军事政变者废黜了。
• That government was overthrown in a military coup three years ago.那个政府在3年前的军事政变中被推翻。

14 militia   

n.民兵，民兵组织

参考例句：

• First came the PLA men,then the people's militia.人民解放军走在前面，其次是民兵。
• There's a building guarded by the local militia at the corner of the street.街道拐角处有一幢由当地民兵团守卫的大楼。

15 militants   

激进分子，好斗分子( militant的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• The militants have been sporadically fighting the government for years. 几年来，反叛分子一直对政府实施零星的战斗。
• Despite the onslaught, Palestinian militants managed to fire off rockets. 尽管如此，巴勒斯坦的激进分子仍然发射导弹。

16 joint   

adj.联合的，共同的；n.关节，接合处；v.连接，贴合

参考例句：

• I had a bad fall,which put my shoulder out of joint.我重重地摔了一跤，肩膀脫臼了。
• We wrote a letter in joint names.我们联名写了封信。

17 withdrawn   

vt.收回；使退出；vi.撤退，退出

参考例句：

• Our force has been withdrawn from the danger area.我们的军队已从危险地区撤出。
• All foreign troops should be withdrawn to their own countries.一切外国军队都应撤回本国去。

18 virgin   

n.处女，未婚女子；adj.未经使用的；未经开发的

参考例句：

• Have you ever been to a virgin forest?你去过原始森林吗？
• There are vast expanses of virgin land in the remote regions.在边远地区有大片大片未开垦的土地。

19 maiden   

n.少女，处女；adj.未婚的，纯洁的，无经验的

参考例句：

• The prince fell in love with a fair young maiden.王子爱上了一位年轻美丽的少女。
• The aircraft makes its maiden flight tomorrow.这架飞机明天首航。

20 suites   

n.套( suite的名词复数 )；一套房间；一套家具；一套公寓

参考例句：

• First he called upon all the Foreign Ministers in their hotel suites. 他首先到所有外交部长住的旅馆套间去拜访。 来自辞典例句
• All four doors to the two reserved suites were open. 预定的两个套房的四扇门都敞开着。 来自辞典例句