Hourly News updated 09:00 2011/11/17

 Education authority urges inspection¹ of school buses after deadly accident kills 20

China's Ministry² of Education is calling for an urgent nationwide inspection of school buses.

The announcement comes after a severely³ overloaded⁴ school bus collided with a truck in Gansu, killing⁵ 20, includuing 18 pre-schoolers.

The bus, designed to carry 9, was carrying 64 when the accident happened.

The emergency notice issued by the central authorities calls for a safety review of all the school buses across the country.

Any of them found to be at risk are to be pulled off the road.

 

 

Shenzhou-8 departs from in-orbit lab, ready for return

 

Shenzhou-8 is now getting ready to return to earth.

The unmanned spacecraft has now decoupled from the Tiangong-1 prototype space lab, and is due to return to earth later tonight. 

As part of its time in space, Shenzhou-8 has successfully docked twice with Tiangong-1. 

The experiments are critical to help establish a manned Chinese space station by 2020.

 

 

China central bank to fine-tune⁶ policies, keep prices stable

 

The People's Bank of China now says it will continue to maintain its current prudent⁷ monetary⁸ policies.

But at the same time, the central bank also says its going to make its policies more "targeted and flexible".

The PBOC now says it preset or fine tune the policies according to changes in the domestic and global economy.

The central bank's decision comes amid growing speculation⁹ about how the authorities plan to move the economy forward, given that GDP growth in the third quarter expanded at the slowest pace in two years.

However, the PBOC report also warns that the future trend of consumer prices remains¹⁰ unclear, saying the foundation for stable price levels is still not solid.

 

 

Lucas Papademos government wins confidence vote

 

Greece's new coalition¹¹ government has won its first confidence vote by a wide margin¹².

255 of the 300-member parliament have voted to support the unity¹³ government of Lucas Papademos.

The vote should now pave the way for the Papademos-government to radify the new eurozone bailout for Greece.

The radification is being viewed as critical to keeping the country from defaulting.

"The European mechanisms¹⁴ that were created for the financial support and to deal with the crisis do not have the firepower. And its operational flexibility¹⁵ is also required to avert¹⁶ the spreading of the crisis."

Papademos is trying to build up support to try to secure its new 130 billion euro bailout deal.

However, he is facing a number of key challenges.

Opposition¹⁷ leader Antonis Samaras has been refusing to provide the written guarantee demanded by the EU to meet the terms of the bailout.

 

 

Monti, cabinet ministers sworn in as Italy's crisis-saving gov't

 

Italy's new government has now been sworn in.

New Prime Minister Mario Monti and his new cabinet are now set to begin their daunting¹⁸ task of trying to stave off Italy's heavy debt-driven financial crisis.

Monti and his team, which is composed of experts in their respective fields who are not politicians, were sworn in after the new Italian prime minister publicly unveiled his cabinet. 

The new government is expected to face a confidence vote in both chambers¹⁹ of parliament on Thursday and Friday.

 

 

Arab League to send observers to Syria within three days

 

The Arab League now says that it will send in observers, should Syria decide to implement²⁰ the peace plan that it's put forward.

The proposal for observers is now in the hands of the Syrian government.

The latest move by the Arab League comes following Syria's move to release nearly 18-hundred detainees.

The release of prisoners is part of a set of committments the Syrian government agreed to, to try to end the violence in the country.

Other steps would also include removing the Syrian military from urban areas and setting up talks with the opposition.

 

 

White House shooting suspect arrested: report

 

A man is now under arrest in connection with a shooting at the White House in the US Capital.

The suspect has been arrested in Pennsylvania in connection with Friday's shooting.

Two bullets were fired at the White House Friday evening.

One of the bullets managed to hit a window, which is made of bullet-proof glass.

The Secret Service says the 21-year old suspect has a record of arrests in a number of other states.

 

 

U.S. seeks more cooperation opportunities with China: Obama

 

U.S. President Barack Obama says that the U.S. sees future in the Asia-Pacific region and wants more cooperation opportunities with China. 

When addressing Australia's Parliament in Canberra, Obama says Asia is critical to achieving his highest priority: creating jobs and opportunity for the American people.

Obama has also reaffirmed that the US is not increasing its military presence in Australia due to the threat from the rising China.

 

 

China proposes tighter air quality index from 2016

 

China's environment watchdog says PM 2.5, a new and tighter air quality index, is going to be implemented²¹ nationwide in 2016.

The move comes amid mounting public criticism of the current air pollution monitoring standards.

The current standard being used only calculates particles 10-micrometers or higher.

A recent spate²² of high-pollution in Beijing has prompted a lot of discussion about the air-quality standards, given that there is a wide disparity in what the local government reports, compared to the standards used by others, including the US embassy.

1 inspection   

n.检查，审查，检阅

参考例句：

• On random inspection the meat was found to be bad.经抽查，发现肉变质了。
• The soldiers lined up for their daily inspection by their officers.士兵们列队接受军官的日常检阅。

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 severely   

adv.严格地；严厉地；非常恶劣地

参考例句：

• He was severely criticized and removed from his post.他受到了严厉的批评并且被撤了职。
• He is severely put down for his careless work.他因工作上的粗心大意而受到了严厉的批评。

4 overloaded   

a.超载的，超负荷的

参考例句：

• He's overloaded with responsibilities. 他担负的责任过多。
• She has overloaded her schedule with work, study, and family responsibilities. 她的日程表上排满了工作、学习、家务等，使自己负担过重。

5 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。

6 tune   

n.调子；和谐，协调；v.调音，调节，调整

参考例句：

• He'd written a tune,and played it to us on the piano.他写了一段曲子，并在钢琴上弹给我们听。
• The boy beat out a tune on a tin can.那男孩在易拉罐上敲出一首曲子。

7 prudent   

adj.谨慎的，有远见的，精打细算的

参考例句：

• A prudent traveller never disparages his own country.聪明的旅行者从不贬低自己的国家。
• You must school yourself to be modest and prudent.你要学会谦虚谨慎。

8 monetary   

adj.货币的，钱的；通货的；金融的；财政的

参考例句：

• The monetary system of some countries used to be based on gold.过去有些国家的货币制度是金本位制的。
• Education in the wilderness is not a matter of monetary means.荒凉地区的教育不是钱财问题。

9 speculation   

n.思索，沉思；猜测；投机

参考例句：

• Her mind is occupied with speculation.她的头脑忙于思考。
• There is widespread speculation that he is going to resign.人们普遍推测他要辞职。

10 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。

11 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。

12 margin   

n.页边空白；差额；余地，余裕；边，边缘

参考例句：

• We allowed a margin of 20 minutes in catching the train.我们有20分钟的余地赶火车。
• The village is situated at the margin of a forest.村子位于森林的边缘。

13 unity   

n.团结，联合，统一；和睦，协调

参考例句：

• When we speak of unity,we do not mean unprincipled peace.所谓团结，并非一团和气。
• We must strengthen our unity in the face of powerful enemies.大敌当前，我们必须加强团结。

14 mechanisms   

n.机械( mechanism的名词复数 )；机械装置；[生物学] 机制；机械作用

参考例句：

• The research will provide direct insight into molecular mechanisms. 这项研究将使人能够直接地了解分子的机理。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• He explained how the two mechanisms worked. 他解释这两台机械装置是如何工作的。 来自《简明英汉词典》

15 flexibility   

n.柔韧性，弹性，（光的）折射性，灵活性

参考例句：

• Her great strength lies in her flexibility.她的优势在于她灵活变通。
• The flexibility of a man's muscles will lessen as he becomes old.人老了肌肉的柔韧性将降低。

16 avert   

v.防止，避免；转移(目光、注意力等)

参考例句：

• He managed to avert suspicion.他设法避嫌。
• I would do what I could to avert it.我会尽力去避免发生这种情况。

17 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。

18 daunting   

adj.使人畏缩的

参考例句：

• They were faced with the daunting task of restoring the house.他们面临着修复房子的艰巨任务。
• Starting a new job can be a daunting prospect.开始一项新工作有时会让人望而却步。

19 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

20 implement   

n.(pl.)工具，器具；vt.实行，实施，执行

参考例句：

• Don't undertake a project unless you can implement it.不要承担一项计划，除非你能完成这项计划。
• The best implement for digging a garden is a spade.在花园里挖土的最好工具是铁锹。

21 implemented   

v.实现( implement的过去式和过去分词 )；执行；贯彻；使生效

参考例句：

• This agreement, if not implemented, is a mere scrap of paper. 这个协定如不执行只不过是一纸空文。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》
• The economy is in danger of collapse unless far-reaching reforms are implemented. 如果不实施影响深远的改革，经济就面临崩溃的危险。 来自辞典例句

22 spate   

n.泛滥，洪水，突然的一阵

参考例句：

• Police are investigating a spate of burglaries in the area.警察正在调查这一地区发生的大量盗窃案。
• Refugees crossed the border in full spate.难民大量地越过了边境。