Hourly News updated 08:00 2011/10/31

 Turkey ends searching for quake survivors¹

Officials in Turkey have now officially ended the search for survivors in eastern Turkey's quake-stricken province of Van.

One week after the 7.2-magnitude earthquake hit the region, officials say they are now shifting their focus toward removing wreckage² and helping³ the homeless.

The last person to be rescued from the rubble⁴ was a 13-year-old boy on Friday, bringing the total number of rescued to 188.

In the worst-hit town of Ercis, emergency crews are now also preparing to end rescue operations.

Meanwhile, thousands of displaced earthquake victims in Ercis have spent another freezing night in makeshift tents.

More than 43-thousand tents have so far been delivered to the province of Van.

So far just over 600 people are confirmed dead, while over 4-thousand others are listed as injured.

 

 

People outside Bangkok flood defense⁵ dismantle⁶ sandbags; Yingluck calls for confidence

In Bangkok, people have come head-to-head in at least three disputes along the flood defense wall that separates the capital from its neighboring provinces.

On the city's northeastern border, people living outside the protection wall have been tearing down sandbag piles and hacking⁷ down an earthen flood barrier.

So far, central Bangkok remains⁸ safe, despite a second day of high tides.

Thai Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra is now urging people to remain confident in the government's ability to handle the crisis.

"Hopefully ... I can't say that because it depends on the levels of the sea and sometime it's about the stability of the way we put sandbags, hopefully sandbags are strong enough. if sandbags not flow over, it should be ok."

So far, Thailand's worst flooding in over half a century has killed more than 380 people and forced some 100-thousand others from their homes.

 

 

Rare snowstorm kills 5 in US East Coast

A rare October-snowstorm has killed at least 5 people and left 3 million in the US East Coast without power.

The storm has also disrupted traffic and grounded flights from the mid-Atlantic coast to New England.

The US National Weather Service says the early season storm is going to continue across New England before heading into Canada.

The first measurable snow in New England usually falls in early December.

New England received a record 7.5 inch of snow in October back in 1979.

 

 

Chinese president arrives in Vienna for state visit to Austria

Chinese President Hu Jintao has arrived in Vienna for a state visit to Austria.

During his stay, the Chinese President is expected to meet with his Austrian counterpart Heinz Fischer and other Austrian leaders.

The two sides are expected to sign seven intergovernmental agreements covering issues including the economy, trade, environmental protection, water conservancy, education and culture.

Following his Austria trip, Hu Jintao will travel to France for the next G20 meeting slated⁹ for Thursday and Friday in Cannes.

 

 

9 Thai army men charged with murdering 13 Chinese sailors on Mekong River

Thai police have now formally charged 9 Thai army officers with the murder of 13 Chinese sailors on the Mekong River earlier this month.

The group of army officers is facing charges of murder and tampering¹⁰ with evidence.

All of them are denying the charges against them.

Thailand's deputy Prime Minister is stressing that neither the Thai government nor the Thai Army is behind the murder.

 

 

China to maintain its family planning policy: official

China's family planning chief is now on record as saying that we shouldn't expect any changes to this country's family planning policy.

Li Bin¹¹, director of the State Population and Family Planning Commission, says maintaining the one-child policy will help keep the population figures in check.

He also contends the maintenance of the policy will also help with the gender¹² imbalance in this country.

 

 

Atambayev wins presidential election in Kyrgyzstan -- CEC

Election officials in Kyrgyzstan say Prime Minister Almazbek Atambayev has easily won the country's presidential election.

Atambayev has garnered¹³ close to 63-percent of the vote.

Sunday's election is the country's first since former President Kurmanbek Bakiyev was ousted¹⁴ in April of last year.

 

 

Australian court ends Qantas strike

An Australian court has ended the strike and employee lockout that abruptly¹⁵ grounded Qantas, stranding¹⁶ tens of thousands of passengers worldwide.

The airline is expected to be flying again by this afternoon.

Qantas employees in Australia have either walked off the job or have refused to work overtime¹⁷ over concerns that some of Qantas' 35-thouand jobs are going to be moved overseas as part of restructuring.

 

 

Demonstrators, cathedral authorities agree to talks on ending St Paul's protest camp

Demonstrators and senior leaders of the Church of England met on Sunday to discuss the occupation of the grounds at St. Paul's Cathedral.

The protesters have been camped out in the grounds of the Cathedral for the last two weeks, demonstrating against corporate¹⁸ greed.

The occupation of the grounds by the roughly 200 protesters has forced the Church of England to shut down the iconic London landmark¹⁹ for a period of time.

1 survivors   

幸存者，残存者，生还者( survivor的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• The survivors were adrift in a lifeboat for six days. 幸存者在救生艇上漂流了六天。
• survivors clinging to a raft 紧紧抓住救生筏的幸存者

2 wreckage   

n.（失事飞机等的）残骸，破坏，毁坏

参考例句：

• They hauled him clear of the wreckage.他们把他从形骸中拖出来。
• New states were born out of the wreckage of old colonial empires.新生国家从老殖民帝国的废墟中诞生。

3 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。

4 rubble   

n.（一堆）碎石，瓦砾

参考例句：

• After the earthquake,it took months to clean up the rubble.地震后，花了数月才清理完瓦砾。
• After the war many cities were full of rubble.战后许多城市到处可见颓垣残壁。

5 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。

6 dismantle   

vt.拆开，拆卸；废除，取消

参考例句：

• He asked for immediate help from the United States to dismantle the warheads.他请求美国立即提供援助，拆除这批弹头。
• The mower firmly refused to mow,so I decided to dismantle it.修完后割草机还是纹丝不动，于是，我决定把它拆开。

7 hacking   

n.非法访问计算机系统和数据库的活动

参考例句：

• The patient with emphysema is hacking all day. 这个肺气肿病人整天不断地干咳。
• We undertook the task of hacking our way through the jungle. 我们负责在丛林中开路。

8 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。

9 slated   

用石板瓦盖( slate的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• Yuki is working up an in-home phonics program slated for Thursdays, and I'm drilling her on English conversation at dinnertime. Yuki每周四还有一次家庭语音课。我在晚餐时训练她的英语口语。
• Bromfield was slated to become U.S. Secretary of Agriculture. 布罗姆菲尔德被提名为美国农业部长。

10 tampering   

v.窜改( tamper的现在分词 )；篡改；（用不正当手段）影响；瞎摆弄

参考例句：

• Two policemen were accused of tampering with the evidence. 有两名警察被控篡改证据。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• As Harry London had forecast, Brookside's D-day caught many meter-tampering offenders. 正如哈里·伦敦预见到的那样，布鲁克赛德的D日行动抓住了不少非法改装仪表的人。 来自辞典例句

11 bin   

n.箱柜；vt.放入箱内；[计算机] DOS文件名:二进制目标文件

参考例句：

• He emptied several bags of rice into a bin.他把几袋米倒进大箱里。
• He threw the empty bottles in the bin.他把空瓶子扔进垃圾箱。

12 gender   

n.（生理上的）性，（名词、代词等的）性

参考例句：

• French differs from English in having gender for all nouns.法语不同于英语，所有的名词都有性。
• Women are sometimes denied opportunities solely because of their gender.妇女有时仅仅因为性别而无法获得种种机会。

13 garnered   

v.收集并（通常）贮藏（某物），取得，获得( garner的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• Mr. Smith gradually garnered a national reputation as a financial expert. 史密斯先生逐渐赢得全国金融专家的声誉。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• He has garnered extensive support for his proposals. 他的提议得到了广泛的支持。 来自辞典例句

14 ousted   

驱逐( oust的过去式和过去分词 )； 革职； 罢黜； 剥夺

参考例句：

• He was ousted as chairman. 他的主席职务被革除了。
• He may be ousted by a military takeover. 他可能在一场军事接管中被赶下台。

15 abruptly   

adv.突然地，出其不意地

参考例句：

• He gestured abruptly for Virginia to get in the car.他粗鲁地示意弗吉尼亚上车。
• I was abruptly notified that a half-hour speech was expected of me.我突然被通知要讲半个小时的话。

16 stranding   

n.（船只）搁浅v.使滞留，使搁浅( strand的现在分词 )

参考例句：

• The airport had to be closed, stranding tourists. 机场被迫关闭，造成游客滞留。 来自辞典例句
• The stream of history had changed course away from him, stranding him in failure. 历史潮流已经改变方向，与他背道而驰，使他陷于失败之中。 来自辞典例句

17 overtime   

adj.超时的，加班的；adv.加班地

参考例句：

• They are working overtime to finish the work.为了完成任务他们正在加班加点地工作。
• He was paid for the overtime he worked.他领到了加班费。

18 corporate   

adj.共同的，全体的；公司的，企业的

参考例句：

• This is our corporate responsibility.这是我们共同的责任。
• His corporate's life will be as short as a rabbit's tail.他的公司的寿命是兔子尾巴长不了。

19 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。