Hourly News 每日新闻 2014-01-09

 Chinese leader stresses vitality¹ and order in rule of law

Chinese President Xi Jinping has called to promote social justice and equality in the country's political and legal affairs. 

He made the comments during a just-concluded central meeting for political and legal workers here in Beijing.

President Xi Jinping called for the Communist Party of China to take a greater role in guiding the country's political and legal affairs, urging a balance between "vitality and order."

The President says ensuring social stability is the basic task of the country's political and legal work, and promoting social justice and equality its core values.

He affirms that people's interests must be safeguarded.

Xi Jinping has also asked officials in the legal and political system to promote transparency in their work and be open to public supervision², adding any violations³ will be severely⁴ punished.

 

Chinese spokeswoman refutes criticism of FM's African visit

The Chinese government has issued a statement, saying Foreign Minister Wang Yi's current African visit is not aimed at hurting any third country.

Foreign Ministry⁵ Spokeswoman Hua Chunying made the remarks in response to criticism that Wang Yi's African visit is targeted at Japan. 

Hua Chunying noted⁶ it's a tradition of Chinese diplomacy⁷ to visit Africa at the beginning of a new year to show China's emphasis on African countries.

Japanese leader Shinzo Abe will reportedly make a stop in Africa after the top Chinese diplomat's African tour.

Hua Chunying said it is a miscalculation for any country to make such accusations⁸ about Chinese interest in Africa.

 

Fighting continues in South Sudan as peace talks in stalemate

Fighting between South Sudan's government troops and rebel forces have continued as peace talks in neighboring Ethiopia make slow progress.

Fighting has been ongoing⁹ around the city of Bentiu and the rebel-held town of Bor.

Thousands of people are fleeing Bentiu amid fears of a governmental offensive to recapture the oil-rich area. 

The clashes come as talks to halt the violence faced further delay on Wednesday following the government's imprisonment¹⁰ of 11 alleged¹¹ coup¹² plotters.

The rebels initially¹³ demanded the detainees be released before the talks, but have since agreed to negotiate a ceasefire and the status of the detainees.

The lack of progress in the peace talks has unnerved international mediators, who worry South Sudan could spiral into full-blown civil war.

The fighting is the worst in the country since it won independence from Sudan in 2011.

 

Iraq PM urges al-Qaida fighters in west to give up

Iraqi authorities are urging a ceasefire from the al-Qaida linked militants¹⁴ in the western Anbar province, after the area was besieged¹⁵ by government troops.

Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki says battle will continue, but also hints at a possible pardon if the militants give up the fight.

Clashes have been raging since late December in Anbar.

Iraqi forces and fighters from pro-government Sunni tribes have been battling al-Qaida-linked militants to try to recapture the city of Fallujah and Ramadi.

An air-strike launched by government forces hit several locations used by al-Qaida-linked militants in the city of Ramadi on Wednesday.

Iraqi forces describe the strike as effective.

It comes after gunmen attacked an Iraqi army barracks in a Sunni area north of Baghdad, killing¹⁶ 12 soldiers.

 

Ousted¹⁷ Egypt president Morsi's trial adjourned¹⁸ to Feb. 1

The criminal trial of Egypt's ousted former president has been delayed until February 1st.

State TV in the country is saying bad weather prevented Mohamed Morsi's transport to court.

He was due in court on Wednesday for the second session of his trial on charges of inciting¹⁹ the killing of protesters in December 2012.

The Muslim Brotherhood²⁰'s leaders have called on members to rally to Morsi's defense²¹.

Meanwhile, tensions between the interim²² government and the Muslim Brotherhood continue. 

The government declared the Brotherhood "a terrorist group" last month.

 

U.S deep freeze to ease

The United States weather forecasters say the arctic blast is slowly easing its grip on the country.

The U.S. National Weather Service forecasts weather will return to normal across much of the country in the coming days after 50 cities set new record low temperatures.

The forecaster has lifted the extended blizzard²³ warning for the Buffalo²⁴ area in western New York. 

Meanwhile, temperatures finally climbed above freezing across much of Georgia in the southeastern U.S.

So far, at least 21 people have died since Sunday and more than 11 thousand flights were grounded.

 

Bank of China issues 2.5 bln RMB-Denominated bonds in London

Bank of China's London Branch has issued 2.5 billion RMB-denominated bonds for the first time.

The bonds will be listed on the London Stock Exchange. 

The funds raised from the deal will all be retained in London.

The General Manager of the branch says it aims to support further development of the London offshore²⁵ RMB market as well as Britain-China bilateral²⁶ trade and investment. 

Bank of China is the global coordinator²⁷ for this issue, and HSBC, UBS and Bank of America Merrill Lynch have been appointed as the Joint²⁸ Lead Managers.

 

CASS forecasts China's GDP growth at 7.5 pct in 2014/xinhua

A leading Chinese think-tank is predicting this year's GDP growth will stay at around 7.5 percent.

The report is from the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences.

Nearly half of the economists²⁹ surveyed say local governments will have difficulities paying their debts.

The Chinese goverment will publicize its 2013 economic performance report on January 20th.

The prediction for last year was 7.5 percent.

1 vitality   

n.活力，生命力，效力

参考例句：

• He came back from his holiday bursting with vitality and good health.他度假归来之后，身强体壮，充满活力。
• He is an ambitious young man full of enthusiasm and vitality.他是个充满热情与活力的有远大抱负的青年。

2 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。

3 violations   

违反( violation的名词复数 )； 冒犯； 违反（行为、事例）； 强奸

参考例句：

• This is one of the commonest traffic violations. 这是常见的违反交通规则之例。
• These violations of the code must cease forthwith. 这些违犯法规的行为必须立即停止。

4 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。

5 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。

6 noted   

adj.著名的，知名的

参考例句：

• The local hotel is noted for its good table.当地的那家酒店以餐食精美而著称。
• Jim is noted for arriving late for work.吉姆上班迟到出了名。

7 diplomacy   

n.外交；外交手腕，交际手腕

参考例句：

• The talks have now gone into a stage of quiet diplomacy.会谈现在已经进入了“温和外交”阶段。
• This was done through the skill in diplomacy. 这是通过外交手腕才做到的。

8 accusations   

n.指责( accusation的名词复数 )；指控；控告；（被告发、控告的）罪名

参考例句：

• There were accusations of plagiarism. 曾有过关于剽窃的指控。
• He remained unruffled by their accusations. 对于他们的指控他处之泰然。

9 ongoing   

adj.进行中的，前进的

参考例句：

• The problem is ongoing.这个问题尚未解决。
• The issues raised in the report relate directly to Age Concern's ongoing work in this area.报告中提出的问题与“关心老人”组织在这方面正在做的工作有直接的关系。

10 imprisonment   

n.关押，监禁，坐牢

参考例句：

• His sentence was commuted from death to life imprisonment.他的判决由死刑减为无期徒刑。
• He was sentenced to one year's imprisonment for committing bigamy.他因为犯重婚罪被判入狱一年。

11 alleged   

a.被指控的，嫌疑的

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。
• alleged irregularities in the election campaign 被指称竞选运动中的不正当行为

12 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。

13 initially   

adv.最初，开始

参考例句：

• The ban was initially opposed by the US.这一禁令首先遭到美国的反对。
• Feathers initially developed from insect scales.羽毛最初由昆虫的翅瓣演化而来。

14 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。

15 besieged   

包围，围困，围攻( besiege的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• Paris was besieged for four months and forced to surrender. 巴黎被围困了四个月后被迫投降。
• The community besieged the newspaper with letters about its recent editorial. 公众纷纷来信对报社新近发表的社论提出诘问，弄得报社应接不暇。

16 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。

17 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。

18 adjourned   

（使）休会， （使）休庭( adjourn的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• The court adjourned for lunch. 午餐时间法庭休庭。
• The trial was adjourned following the presentation of new evidence to the court. 新证据呈到庭上后，审讯就宣告暂停。

19 inciting   

刺激的，煽动的

参考例句：

• What are you up to inciting mutiny and insubordination? 你们干吗在这里煽动骚动的叛乱呀。
• He was charged with inciting people to rebel. 他被控煽动民众起来叛乱。

20 brotherhood   

n.兄弟般的关系，手中情谊

参考例句：

• They broke up the brotherhood.他们断绝了兄弟关系。
• They live and work together in complete equality and brotherhood.他们完全平等和兄弟般地在一起生活和工作。

21 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。

22 interim   

adj.暂时的，临时的；n.间歇，过渡期间

参考例句：

• The government is taking interim measures to help those in immediate need.政府正在采取临时措施帮助那些有立即需要的人。
• It may turn out to be an interim technology.这可能只是个过渡技术。

23 blizzard   

n.暴风雪

参考例句：

• The blizzard struck while we were still on the mountain.我们还在山上的时候暴风雪就袭来了。
• You'll have to stay here until the blizzard blows itself off.你得等暴风雪停了再走。

24 buffalo   

n.(北美)野牛；(亚洲)水牛

参考例句：

• Asian buffalo isn't as wild as that of America's. 亚洲水牛比美洲水牛温顺些。
• The boots are made of buffalo hide. 这双靴子是由水牛皮制成的。

25 offshore   

adj.海面的，吹向海面的；adv.向海面

参考例句：

• A big program of oil exploration has begun offshore.一个大规模的石油勘探计划正在近海展开。
• A gentle current carried them slowly offshore.和缓的潮流慢慢地把他们带离了海岸。

26 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。

27 coordinator   

n.协调人

参考例句：

• The UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs, headed by the Emergency Relief Coordinator, coordinates all UN emergency relief. 联合国人道主义事务协调厅在紧急救济协调员领导下，负责协调联合国的所有紧急救济工作。
• How am I supposed to find the client-relations coordinator? 我怎么才能找到客户关系协调员的办公室？

28 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。

29 economists   

n.经济学家，经济专家( economist的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• The sudden rise in share prices has confounded economists. 股价的突然上涨使经济学家大惑不解。
• Foreign bankers and economists cautiously welcomed the minister's initiative. 外国银行家和经济学家对部长的倡议反应谨慎。 来自《简明英汉词典》