Hourly News 每日新闻 2014-03-13

 China's annual parliamentary session to conclude

The National People's Congress, China's top legislature, is set to conclude its annual session later on today.

Several key documents, including the government work report and both national and local budgets, are set to be put up for votes as part of the closing meeting.

Chinese Premier¹ Li Keqiang is due to hold a news conference following the closing session.

 

Israel strikes Gaza targets; PLO decides not to extend peace talks

Tensions are on the rise between Israeli and Palestinian forces in Gaza and Southern Israel.

Israeli forces have launched a series of strikes on sites in northern and southern Gaza said to be targeting militant² strongholds.

Israel has also closed the crossing points with the Gaza Strip.

All of these follow a series of rocket attacks into southern Israel earlier in the day on Wednesday.

Dozens of rockets have been fired from points along the border in the Gaza Strip into southern Israel.

At least 8 of the rockets have exploded in populated areas.

No word at this point about casualties on either side.

The uptick in violence and rhetoric³ comes on the heels of an announcement by the Palestine Liberation Organization that it has decided⁴ not to extend its current peace talks with the Israeli government beyond April.

 

At least 2 dead, 18 injured in New York buildings explosion

At least 2 people are dead and a number of others missing following a massive explosion inside a building in New York City.

The explosion, believed to have been caused by a gas leak, was strong enough to level two 5-story buildings adjacent to the building where the initial blast took place in New York's East Harlem area.

At least 18 others have been hurt.

Around 250 fire fighters have been on the scene trying to battle the subsequent fires and search for more victims in the rubble⁵ of the buildings.

 

Kerry to meet Russian FM on Ukraine

The foreign ministers of the United States and Russia are set to meet in London on Friday to discuss the rising tensions in Ukraine.

The meeting between John Kerry and Sergei Lavrov is scheduled to take place just two days before a controversial referendum is set to be held in Crimea, where voters are being asked to decided whether or not they want to seceed from Ukraine and re-join Russia.

In announcing the meeting, Kerry says he plans to present Lavrov "certian choices" to try to difuse the situation.

The Russian side has signalled it will respect the outcome of the vote in Crimea, while the US and its European allies have questioned the vote's legitimacy⁶.

Sunday's referendum in the Crimea is the latest in a series of moves which have been escallating tensions in Ukraine following a parliamentary vote by lawmakers in Kiev last month to oust⁷ Ukranian President Viktor Yanukovych from his position.

 

European lawmakers threaten trade deal veto unless U.S. mass surveillance stops

The European Parliament has formalized an earlier threat to veto any forthcoming trade pact⁸ between the EU and the United States unless the US side stops spying on European institutions.

European lawmakers have passed a formal resolution with the threat, which also calls on EU officials to suspend its bank data and so-called Safe Harbor agreements with the United States as well.

The formalized threat by the European Parliament comes on the heels of last year's revelations by NSA whistleblower Edward Snowden that the US spy agency routinely monitored high-level US and European meetings, along with bugging⁹ the phones of European leaders, including German Chancellor¹⁰ Angela Merkel.

 

UAE slams Iraqi PM's "terrorism" charges on Saudi Arabia

The United Arab Emirates is jumping to the defense¹¹ of its Gulf¹² neighbor amid allegations by Iraq's leadership that Saudi Arabia is supporting terrorism in his country.

The UAE's government has summoned the Iraqi ambassador in connection with recent comments made by Iraqi Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki.

Nuri al-Maliki has suggested Saudi Arabia, along with Qatar, is openly funding Sunni insurgents¹³ in Iraq's western Anbar province.

The UAE's Minister of Foreign Affairs has since issued a condemnation¹⁴ of the statement, suggesting the comments by Maliki are without foundation.

Iraqi forces have been struggling to fight a growing insurgency¹⁵ among members of the Sunni population in the western regions of Iraq which have left hundreds dead so far this year.

 

Canada ends military operations in Afghanistan

Canada has become the latest NATO country to officially bring its military operations to an end in Afghanistan.

A flag-lowering ceremony has taken place at ISAF headquarters in Kabul to mark the end of Canada's 12-year involvement in the Afghan mission.

Canada was one of the first NATO countries to send in troops into Afghanistan following the ouster of the Taliban, and at one point maintained the 3rd largest international contingent¹⁶ of troops in the country, behind the US and Britian.

Canadian forces were responsible for securing the Kandahar region, which is where the Taliban was founded.

Around 40-thousand Canadian troops took part in the Afghan mission, with 158 of them killed in action.

1 premier   

adj.首要的；n.总理，首相

参考例句：

• The Irish Premier is paying an official visit to Britain.爱尔兰总理正在对英国进行正式访问。
• He requested that the premier grant him an internview.他要求那位总理接见他一次。

2 militant   

adj.激进的，好斗的；n.激进分子，斗士

参考例句：

• Some militant leaders want to merge with white radicals.一些好斗的领导人要和白人中的激进派联合。
• He is a militant in the movement.他在那次运动中是个激进人物。

3 rhetoric   

n.修辞学，浮夸之言语

参考例句：

• Do you know something about rhetoric?你懂点修辞学吗？
• Behind all the rhetoric,his relations with the army are dangerously poised.在冠冕堂皇的言辞背后，他和军队的关系岌岌可危。

4 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。

5 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。

6 legitimacy   

n.合法，正当

参考例句：

• The newspaper was directly challenging the government's legitimacy.报纸直接质疑政府的合法性。
• Managing from the top down,we operate with full legitimacy.我们进行由上而下的管理有充分的合法性。

7 oust   

vt.剥夺，取代，驱逐

参考例句：

• The committee wanted to oust him from the union.委员会想把他从工会中驱逐出去。
• The leaders have been ousted from power by nationalists.这些领导人被民族主义者赶下了台。

8 pact   

n.合同，条约，公约，协定

参考例句：

• The two opposition parties made an electoral pact.那两个反对党订了一个有关选举的协定。
• The trade pact between those two countries came to an end.那两国的通商协定宣告结束。

9 bugging   

[法] 窃听

参考例句：

• Okay, then let's get the show on the road and I'll stop bugging you. 好，那么让我们开始动起来，我将不再惹你生气。 来自辞典例句
• Go fly a kite and stop bugging me. 走开，别烦我。 来自英汉 - 翻译样例 - 口语

10 chancellor   

n.(英)大臣；法官；(德、奥)总理；大学校长

参考例句：

• They submitted their reports to the Chancellor yesterday.他们昨天向财政大臣递交了报告。
• He was regarded as the most successful Chancellor of modern times.他被认为是现代最成功的财政大臣。

11 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。

12 gulf   

n.海湾；深渊，鸿沟；分歧，隔阂

参考例句：

• The gulf between the two leaders cannot be bridged.两位领导人之间的鸿沟难以跨越。
• There is a gulf between the two cities.这两座城市间有个海湾。

13 insurgents   

n.起义，暴动，造反( insurgent的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• The regular troops of Baden joined the insurgents. 巴登的正规军参加到起义军方面来了。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• Against the Taliban and Iraqi insurgents, these problems are manageable. 要对付塔利班与伊拉克叛乱分子，这些问题还是可以把握住的。 来自互联网

14 condemnation   

n.谴责; 定罪

参考例句：

• There was widespread condemnation of the invasion. 那次侵略遭到了人们普遍的谴责。
• The jury's condemnation was a shock to the suspect. 陪审团宣告有罪使嫌疑犯大为震惊。

15 insurgency   

n.起义；暴动；叛变

参考例句：

• And as in China, unrest and even insurgency are widespread. 而在中国，动乱甚至暴乱都普遍存在。 来自互联网
• Dr Zyphur is part an insurgency against this idea. 塞弗博士是这一观点逆流的一部分。 来自互联网

16 contingent   

adj.视条件而定的；n.一组，代表团，分遣队

参考例句：

• The contingent marched in the direction of the Western Hills.队伍朝西山的方向前进。
• Whether or not we arrive on time is contingent on the weather.我们是否按时到达要视天气情况而定。