Hourly News updated 15:00 2011/11/11

 Chinese president meets US business leaders

Visiting Chinese President Hu Jintao says deepening China-US cooperation in economy and trade is not only in the interests of the two peoples but also important to the world economic recovery.

He made the remarks during a meeting with US business leaders from a broad cross-section of industries in Honolulu, Hawaii, ahead of the APEC summit.

Hu Jintao urged Chinese and US businesses to properly settle trade frictions¹, saying efforts should be made to avoid politicizing economic and trade issues and trade protectionism.

The Chinese President arrived in Honolulu earlier in the day for the APEC summit scheduled for Saturday and Sunday.

 

China, U.S. vow² to strengthen cooperative partnership³

China says it's willing to build a cooperative partnership with the United States based on mutual⁴ respect, mutual benefit and win-win results.

Chinese Foreign Minister Yang Jiechi made the remarks during a meeting with U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton in Hawaii, ahead of the annual APEC summit.

He said under the current situation, China is ready to make concerted efforts with the US to deepen understanding and enhance mutual trust, and to better carry out the consensus⁵ reached by the two countries' leaders. 

For her part, Clinton voiced her hope that the two sides would join hands to make U.S.-China relations develop smoothly⁶. 

The same day the Chinese foreign minister also met with his Indonesian counterpart Marty Natalegawa on bilateral⁷ relations and other topics.

 

Clinton: 21st century will be U.S.' Pacific century

U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton has declared that the 21st century will be the United States' Pacific Century. 

Speaking in Hawaii ahead of the APEC summit, Clinton said as the war in Iraq winds down and efforts in Afghanistan to transition begins, the US is to pivot⁸ its diplomatic efforts to the Asia-Pacific region.

"What will happen in Asia in the years ahead will have an enormous impact on our nation's future, and we cannot afford to sit on the sidelines and leave it to others and determine our future for us."

At the APEC summit, Clinton said the United States will drive an agenda including promoting green growth, regional integration⁹ and next generation regional trade agreements represented by the Trans- Pacific Partnership, which the US is actively¹⁰ pursuing at the summit.

 

Rescuers struggling to reach trapped miners in SW China

Hundreds of rescuers are continuing to search for 22 miners trapped underground after a gas leak occurred in a coal mine in southwest China's Yunnan Province.

Ventilation machines are pumping excess methane¹¹ gas out of the mine near the city of Qujing. 

The accident has already killed 21 people.

Local work safety officials say the private mine was operating without a license¹² for a year.

Zhao Tiechui is deputy director of the State Administration of Work Safety.

"The safety production license of the private mine had been revoked¹³ on November 28, 2010, but it continued to operate till now. This is illegal. This accident is caused by illegal operation and lack of supervision¹⁴."

 

Former ECB vice¹⁵ president named as Greece's new PM

Former European Central Bank vice-president Lucas Papademos has been named as Greece's new prime minister.

The announcement comes following days of negotiation¹⁶ efforts among political leaders to reach a deal.

Papademos will replace Greece's outgoing Prime Minister George Papandreou who decided¹⁷ to resign after a disastrous¹⁸ call for a referendum on the European aid package.

The new government will be sworn in this Friday.

 

NDRC official: China faces "great pressure" in meeting 2015 emissions²⁰ target

A senior Chinese official says the country is facing great pressure in trying to meet its emission¹⁹ reduction target by 2015, as the country is still rapidly industrializing.

The State Council has just approved a plan to reduce carbon dioxide emissions by 17 percent per unit of GDP by 2015. The plan also maps out precise emission indicators²¹ for local governments. 

But Gao Shixian with the energy research institute under the National Development and Reform Commission says maintaining rapid economic growth creates huge pressure for the government's efforts to save energy and cut emissions.

Gao added that China's goal of boosting non-fossil-fuel energy usage will also create challenges for meeting the emissions target.

 

NASA plans to launch car-size Mars rover in November

US space agency NASA is preparing for launching its Mars rover Curiosity.

The car-sized probe will examine one of the most intriguing²² areas on the Red Planet. It's in final preparations for a launch from Florida 's Space Coast on Nov. 25.

Scheduled to land on the Mars in Aug. 2012, the one-ton rover will examine Gale²³ Crater²⁴ during a nearly two-year prime mission.

1 frictions   

n.摩擦( friction的名词复数 )；摩擦力；冲突；不和

参考例句：

• Family frictions can interfere with a child's schoolwork. 家庭中的争吵会影响孩子的学业。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• As far as we are concerned, these frictions are not of our own making [have been imposed on us]. 就我们来说，这种摩擦是被动式的。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》

2 vow   

n.誓(言)，誓约；v.起誓，立誓

参考例句：

• My parents are under a vow to go to church every Sunday.我父母许愿，每星期日都去做礼拜。
• I am under a vow to drink no wine.我已立誓戒酒。

3 partnership   

n.合作关系，伙伴关系

参考例句：

• The company has gone into partnership with Swiss Bank Corporation.这家公司已经和瑞士银行公司建立合作关系。
• Martin has taken him into general partnership in his company.马丁已让他成为公司的普通合伙人。

4 mutual   

adj.相互的，彼此的；共同的，共有的

参考例句：

• We must pull together for mutual interest.我们必须为相互的利益而通力合作。
• Mutual interests tied us together.相互的利害关系把我们联系在一起。

5 consensus   

n.(意见等的)一致，一致同意，共识

参考例句：

• Can we reach a consensus on this issue?我们能在这个问题上取得一致意见吗？
• What is the consensus of opinion at the afternoon meeting?下午会议上一致的意见是什么？

6 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。

7 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。

8 pivot   

v.在枢轴上转动；装枢轴，枢轴；adj.枢轴的

参考例句：

• She is the central pivot of creation and represents the feminine aspect in all things.她是创造的中心枢轴，表现出万物的女性面貌。
• If a spring is present,the hand wheel will pivot on the spring.如果有弹簧，手轮的枢轴会装在弹簧上。

9 integration   

n.一体化，联合，结合

参考例句：

• We are working to bring about closer political integration in the EU.我们正在努力实现欧盟內部更加紧密的政治一体化。
• This was the greatest event in the annals of European integration.这是欧洲统一史上最重大的事件。

10 actively   

adv.积极地，勤奋地

参考例句：

• During this period all the students were actively participating.在这节课中所有的学生都积极参加。
• We are actively intervening to settle a quarrel.我们正在积极调解争执。

11 methane   

n.甲烷，沼气

参考例句：

• The blast was caused by pockets of methane gas that ignited.爆炸是由数袋甲烷气体着火引起的。
• Methane may have extraterrestrial significance.甲烷具有星际意义。

12 license   

n.执照，许可证，特许；v.许可，特许

参考例句：

• The foreign guest has a license on the person.这个外国客人随身携带执照。
• The driver was arrested for having false license plates on his car.司机由于使用假车牌而被捕。

13 revoked   

adj.[法]取消的v.撤销，取消，废除( revoke的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• It may be revoked if the check is later dishonoured. 以后如支票被拒绝支付，结算可以撤销。 来自辞典例句
• A will is revoked expressly. 遗嘱可以通过明示推翻。 来自辞典例句

14 supervision   

n.监督，管理

参考例句：

• The work was done under my supervision.这项工作是在我的监督之下完成的。
• The old man's will was executed under the personal supervision of the lawyer.老人的遗嘱是在律师的亲自监督下执行的。

15 vice   

n.坏事；恶习；[pl.]台钳，老虎钳；adj.副的

参考例句：

• He guarded himself against vice.他避免染上坏习惯。
• They are sunk in the depth of vice.他们堕入了罪恶的深渊。

16 negotiation   

n.谈判，协商

参考例句：

• They closed the deal in sugar after a week of negotiation.经过一星期的谈判，他们的食糖生意成交了。
• The negotiation dragged on until July.谈判一直拖到7月份。

17 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。

18 disastrous   

adj.灾难性的，造成灾害的；极坏的，很糟的

参考例句：

• The heavy rainstorm caused a disastrous flood.暴雨成灾。
• Her investment had disastrous consequences.She lost everything she owned.她的投资结果很惨，血本无归。

19 emission   

n.发出物，散发物；发出，散发

参考例句：

• Rigorous measures will be taken to reduce the total pollutant emission.采取严格有力措施，降低污染物排放总量。
• Finally,the way to effectively control particulate emission is pointed out.最后，指出有效降低颗粒排放的方向。

20 emissions   

排放物( emission的名词复数 )； 散发物（尤指气体）

参考例句：

• Most scientists accept that climate change is linked to carbon emissions. 大多数科学家都相信气候变化与排放的含碳气体有关。
• Dangerous emissions radiate from plutonium. 危险的辐射物从钚放散出来。

21 indicators   

（仪器上显示温度、压力、耗油量等的）指针( indicator的名词复数 )； 指示物； （车辆上的）转弯指示灯； 指示信号

参考例句：

• The economic indicators are better than expected. 经济指标比预期的好。
• It is still difficult to develop indicators for many concepts used in social science. 为社会科学领域的许多概念确立一个指标仍然很难。

22 intriguing   

adj.有趣的；迷人的v.搞阴谋诡计(intrigue的现在分词)；激起…的好奇心

参考例句：

• These discoveries raise intriguing questions. 这些发现带来了非常有趣的问题。
• It all sounds very intriguing. 这些听起来都很有趣。 来自《简明英汉词典》

23 gale   

n.大风，强风，一阵闹声（尤指笑声等）

参考例句：

• We got our roof blown off in the gale last night.昨夜的大风把我们的房顶给掀掉了。
• According to the weather forecast,there will be a gale tomorrow.据气象台预报，明天有大风。

24 crater   

n.火山口，弹坑

参考例句：

• With a telescope you can see the huge crater of Ve-suvius.用望远镜你能看到巨大的维苏威火山口。
• They came to the lip of a dead crater.他们来到了一个死火山口。