Hourly News 每日新闻 2014-04-04

Chinese woman abducted¹ in Malaysia
Malay authorities say they believe the suspects involved in the kidnapping of a Chinese national on Wednesday evening at a resort in eastern Malaysia are now likely in Philippine waters.
The head of the police forces in Sabah says the group of armed men, believed to be Filipino, are no longer in Malaysian territory.
Authorities also say they suspect there may have been someone coordinating² with the suspects inside the resort where the women were taken from.
So far no ransom³ has been demanded.
The pair were taken Wednesday evening while on the jetty of a popular resort in Sabah.
 
Malaysian PM ends trip to Perth as search for MH379 continues
Today's search effort for missing flight MH370 is already underway. It's been nearly a month since the plane disappeared.
Malaysian Prime Minister Najib Razak has just finished a trip to Perth, Australia, where he reviewed search operations and met with his counterpart, Australian Prime Minister Tony Abbott.
The two leaders have promised to do everything possible to locate the airliner,.
Some eight planes and nine ships, including seven Chinese vessels⁵ scoured⁶ the search area on Thursday.
The Malaysia Airlines flight from Kuala Lumpur to Beijing had 239 passengers and crew on board. 154 of those people are Chinese.
 
Envoys⁷ from U.S., Japan, ROK to meet on issues related to DPRK
Special envoys from the United States, Japan and the South Korea are scheduled to meet in Washington on Monday to discuss the North Korean nuclear issue.
The talks come amid heightened tensions in the region, following multiple short- and medium-range missile tests by North Korea in recent weeks.
Topics include how to pursude the "verifiable denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula in a peaceful manner."
Earlier this week, North and South exchanged artillery⁸ fire in each others' territorial⁹ waters.
Pyongyang has also threatened to conduct what it calls a "new form" of nuclear testing, in response to hostile US policies.
 
Kerry urges Israeli and Palestinians to lead peace talks
U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry says Israeli and Palestinians have to make decisions and compromises in order to obtain peace.
Kerry made the comment during a visit to Algeria after Middle East peace talks ran into trouble with the Israelis and Palestinians accusing each other of failing to honor commitments.
Earlier, Israel refused to release a group of Palestinian prisoners as promised unless it received assurance that the Palestinians will continue with negotiations¹⁰ beyond an initial end-of-April deadline.
As a response, Palestinians signed 15 UN conventions as part of renewed campaign to win UN recognition.
Kerry earlier cancelled a visit to Ramallah after the Palestinians signed the conventions.
 
Syrian troops kill 20 rebels near Damascus
The Syrian government says its troops have killed 20 rebels during a wide-scale offensive in the eastern countryside around the capital, Damascus.
The action on Thursday targeted a rebel-held area in the suburb of Jobar, regarded as a hotbed of the insurgency¹¹.
The Syrian troops decided¹² to rid the eastern rim⁴ of Damascus of armed rebels following the army's successive victories in the country's central and northern regions.
More than 150,000 people were killed and millions displaced in Syria since opposition¹³ started protests in 2011, which later turned into war between the Syrian army and armed rebels.
 
More people return to displacement¹⁴ sites amid upsurge in violence in CAR
Large numbers of people in Central African Republic's capital have been returning to UN shelter sites because of the recent surge in violence.
The United Nations blames new fighting over the last two weeks around Bangui's airport.
It says 20-thousand internally displaced persons have taken refuge at two shelter sites.
Over the past three months, more than 80-thousand people from CAR have found shelter in Cameroon, the Democratic Repubic of Congo, the Republic of Congo, and Chad.
Nearly a million people have been displaced by the increasingly sectarian fighting in CAR.
 
Residents in central Italy poisoned by mercury for 30 years: report
People living across a wide area in central Italy have been eating mercury-poisoned food for more than 30 years.
That's according to a latest report submitted to the courts in a trial over contamination by the Italian Higher Institute for Health.
The report says that there is a "concrete danger for human health" and that the heavy metal is getting into the food chain through soil, sedmiment, and surface water.
Investigators¹⁵ began a probe in 2007 looking into contamination in a chemical industrial area near the city of Pescara.
More than 20 people are currently under investigation¹⁶.
 
Researchers design trees easier to break down for paper production
Scientists in the Unite States say they have genetically¹⁸ engineered trees making them easier to break down to produce paper and biofuel.
The study, published in the US journal Science, says this development means fewer chemicals and less energy will be required as the trees are processed.
The research focused on a polymer found in wood known as lignin.
Researchers used a gene¹⁷ found in an herb called DangGui, or Chinese angelica, and successfully transferred it into poplar trees.
The resulting trees appear to be no different than their natural cousins when grown in greenhouse conditions, but the lignin in those trees is easier to break down.
 

1 abducted   

劫持，诱拐( abduct的过去式和过去分词 )； 使（肢体等）外展

参考例句：

• Detectives have not ruled out the possibility that she was abducted. 侦探尚未排除她被绑架的可能性。
• The kid was abducted at the gate of kindergarten. 那小孩在幼儿园大门口被绑架走了。

2 coordinating   

v.使协调，使调和( coordinate的现在分词 )；协调；协同；成为同等

参考例句：

• He abolished the Operations Coordinating Board and the Planning Board. 他废除了行动协调委员会和计划委员会。 来自辞典例句
• He's coordinating the wedding, and then we're not going to invite him? 他是来协调婚礼的，难道我们不去请他？ 来自电影对白

3 ransom   

n.赎金，赎身；v.赎回，解救

参考例句：

• We'd better arrange the ransom right away.我们最好马上把索取赎金的事安排好。
• The kidnappers exacted a ransom of 10000 from the family.绑架者向这家人家勒索10000英镑的赎金。

4 rim   

n.(圆物的)边，轮缘；边界

参考例句：

• The water was even with the rim of the basin.盆里的水与盆边平齐了。
• She looked at him over the rim of her glass.她的目光越过玻璃杯的边沿看着他。

5 vessels   

n.血管( vessel的名词复数 )；船；容器；（具有特殊品质或接受特殊品质的）人

参考例句：

• The river is navigable by vessels of up to 90 tons. 90 吨以下的船只可以从这条河通过。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• All modern vessels of any size are fitted with radar installations. 所有现代化船只都有雷达装置。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》

6 scoured   

走遍（某地）搜寻（人或物）( scour的过去式和过去分词 )； （用力）刷； 擦净； 擦亮

参考例句：

• We scoured the area for somewhere to pitch our tent. 我们四处查看，想找一个搭帐篷的地方。
• The torrents scoured out a channel down the hill side. 急流沿着山腰冲刷出一条水沟。

7 envoys   

使节( envoy的名词复数 )； 公使； 谈判代表； 使节身份

参考例句：

• the routine tit for tat when countries expel each other's envoys 国家相互驱逐对方使节这种惯常的报复行动
• Marco Polo's travelogue mentions that Kublai Khan sent envoys to Malgache. 马可波罗游记中提到忽必烈曾派使节到马尔加什。

8 artillery   

n.(军)火炮，大炮；炮兵(部队)

参考例句：

• This is a heavy artillery piece.这是一门重炮。
• The artillery has more firepower than the infantry.炮兵火力比步兵大。

9 territorial   

adj.领土的，领地的

参考例句：

• The country is fighting to preserve its territorial integrity.该国在为保持领土的完整而进行斗争。
• They were not allowed to fish in our territorial waters.不允许他们在我国领海捕鱼。

10 negotiations   

协商( negotiation的名词复数 )； 谈判； 完成（难事）； 通过

参考例句：

• negotiations for a durable peace 为持久和平而进行的谈判
• Negotiations have failed to establish any middle ground. 谈判未能达成任何妥协。

11 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

12 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。

13 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。

14 displacement   

n.移置，取代，位移，排水量

参考例句：

• They said that time is the feeling of spatial displacement.他们说时间是空间位移的感觉。
• The displacement of all my energy into caring for the baby.我所有精力都放在了照顾宝宝上。

15 investigators   

n.调查者，审查者( investigator的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• This memo could be the smoking gun that investigators have been looking for. 这份备忘录可能是调查人员一直在寻找的证据。
• The team consisted of six investigators and two secretaries. 这个团队由六个调查人员和两个秘书组成。 来自《简明英汉词典》

16 investigation   

n.调查，调查研究

参考例句：

• In an investigation,a new fact became known, which told against him.在调查中新发现了一件对他不利的事实。
• He drew the conclusion by building on his own investigation.他根据自己的调查研究作出结论。

17 gene   

n.遗传因子，基因

参考例句：

• A single gene may have many effects.单一基因可能具有很多种效应。
• The targeting of gene therapy has been paid close attention.其中基因治疗的靶向性是值得密切关注的问题之一。

18 genetically   

adv.遗传上

参考例句：

• All the bees in the colony are genetically related. 同一群体的蜜蜂都有亲缘关系。
• Genetically modified foods have already arrived on American dinner tables. 经基因改造加工过的食物已端上了美国人的餐桌。 来自英汉非文学 - 生命科学 - 基因与食物